How do I spend $500 OBC?

[Bill B]

:D This is a good problem to have -

 

I just booked my first Silversea cruise - Silver Cloud, 21 days, Ushuaia to Cape Town, March 7, 2019 - and got $500 on board credit. I'm not a 'spa guy', don't gamble... and with Silversea being almost completely all-inclusive; plus, this being an Expedition Cruise (shore excursions/landings included) how am I going to spend it? :(

[carefreecruise]

They have a store on board and you can buy some nicer wine. Of course you could always give it to the employee fund. We have left plenty of credits and don't spend to much time worrying about how to use them.

 

Good luck you will figure it out.

[spinnaker2]

You can purchase wine to take home.

Use for restaurants or excursions or internet upgrade.

Also boutique...

[Stumblefoot]

...got $500 on board credit. ...how am I going to spend it? :(

 

If you like wine, they have some special bottles on the connoisseur list. It's easy to drop $500 in the shop. Or, enjoy other services in the spa that aren't a massage.

 

 

 

 

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[seaver]

What I would do is pack light,and spend obc on dry cleaning/laundry.

[jollyjones]

Buy the unlimited premium wifi package.

 

It'll cost you about $400 but the free hour a day of slow wifi will drive you crazy.

[Observer]

They have a store on board and you can buy some nicer wine. Of course you could always give it to the employee fund. We have left plenty of credits and don't spend to much time worrying about how to use them.

 

Good luck you will figure it out.

 

I am fairly certain that Silversea does not permit contributions to the Crew Welfare Fund from OBCs. I may be mistaken, or it may be different on expedition ships.

[toseaornottosea]

Treat yourself to a massage or two.

[MLeh]

Laundry (if you don’t qualify for free), wine, and a nice souvenir of the trip from the boutique. (I got myself a nice watch with our leftover OBC, but it could just as easily been a gift for someone else. )

 

 

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[Keith1010]

You can also book a private vehicle to take you to the airport or hotel if you are staying over following the end of the cruise.

 

Keith

[UKCruiseJeff]

Bill, if you really are only going to use your obc on stuff simply to use it up, then rather than waste it, my vote is for dividing your obc by 12 ie $40 per bottle and have a word with one of the sommeliers and find out whether they have a few end of bin good quality red bargains hidden that aren't on the list. They often take them off the list when there are only a few left and keep them back for people that ask the right questions. They might be a good price if they were priced a year or so ago, and assuming they are "keepers" could be ripe for drinking.

 

I don't know the price of decent red wine in China but this might be a way of drinking your souvenir over a dozen memorable meals when you could gloat a dozen times over the ingenious use you made of the otherwise possibly wasted obc.

 

As it is red wine it would also clearly be patriotic. :)

Edited October 1, 2017 by UKCruiseJeff

[Bill B]

Thanks for your replies.

 

The topic question is one of those where you know you will look back and ask yourself - Why did I ever think there might be a 'problem'?... but you can't see the answer before hand.

 

I've cruised 15 times on Princess, and two times each on HAL and Costa. With the mainstream cruise lines' changes to generating ever increasing on board revenue, any OBC is devoured VERY quickly (I swear they're trying to figure out how to charge for air... to breathe! :rolleyes:

 

I'll figure it out, but I can't see myself spending on laundry/dry cleaning - there's a self-serve laundromat... and I gave away my tux a couple of years ago (kicking myself for that now). I guess a couple of massages would be good... but I've always been astounded/shocked by the price of spa services on ships (I've been vacationing mostly in SE Asia where a 90 min. massage will run $10) and I don't know if I will be able to bring myself to 'spend' what, I can only imagine, SS will want. :eek: I cut my own hair - just run clippers with no guard over what's left of it on the back & sides. :p Wine is an option, but I'm not an oenophile, and I don't know if I could justify 'spending' when there are perfectly good 'free' options available. That leaves the on board shops... but luggage weight is concern without buying anything to take home.

 

I'm going to do a pre-cruise, Macchu Pichu/Sacred Valley/Cuzco visit on my own before flying to Santiago (the 'cruise' starts there with one-night hotel, transfers and a charter flight to Ushuaia). I also really want to see Iguassu Falls, but putting together a reasonable itinerary that includes both destinations is proving problematic. I suppose $500 would be a 'drop in the bucket' toward the Silvesea, Iguassu Falls pre-cruise land/hotel add-on... same with post-cruise add-ons in Cape Town.

 

P.S.

As it is red wine it would also clearly be patriotic. :)

I'm not Chinese (I just live and work here)... and not a commie. Although, as a Canadian, I guess I could get red and white wines in homage to the colours of the flag. ;)

[UKCruiseJeff]

Bill,

 

I didn't think you were Chinese because you didn't replace your "r"s with "l"s! ;p

 

Enjoy your trip!

[Bill B]

Bill,

 

I didn't think you were Chinese because you didn't replace your "r"s with "l"s! ;p

 

Enjoy your trip!

 

LOL... and you knew I wasn't American because I used a 'U' in colour. :D

Edited October 2, 2017 by Bill B
I can't spell.

[jpalbny]

One other possibility, in addition to all that has been mentioned. On past expedition cruises, the photographer has put together a DVD with a video montage of the trip. They sell it for about $150. It's a good use of OBC.

 

The Silver Cloud expedition ship will keep the specialty restaurant (Le Champagne) which will be an upcharge. So you can spend OBC on that as well if you want.

 

RE: using OBC for wine. We will sometimes use our OBC to buy wine to take off the ship, especially if we are doing a post-cruise stay in a place where wine might be expensive. Iceland, for instance... But you are ending in South Africa, where decent quality wine is stupidly cheap right now due to the very weak Rand. So you don't have to bring your own bottles. When we were there last October, you could buy very nice wine for less than $10 US per bottle. It's almost not worth the hassle to carry your own.

 

Enjoy this unique itinerary! We look at it longingly every time they offer it, but it's just too long for us to do.

[Bill B]

I wish it were a week or so longer and included Antarctica. Oh well, I've been there (HAL's Amsterdam, 2004-05), but of course there were no 'landings'... so it feels kind of 'incomplete'.

 

My main reason for doing this cruise is to visit South Georgia.

[Silver Spectre]

:D This is a good problem to have -

 

 

 

I just booked my first Silversea cruise - Silver Cloud, 21 days, Ushuaia to Cape Town, March 7, 2019 - and got $500 on board credit. I'm not a 'spa guy', don't gamble... and with Silversea being almost completely all-inclusive; plus, this being an Expedition Cruise (shore excursions/landings included) how am I going to spend it? :(

 

 

 

Unfortunately you will not be able to purchase a Paul and Shark puffer jacket, they are $800!!

 

 

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[Bill B]

Unfortunately you will not be able to purchase a Paul and Shark puffer jacket, they are $800!!

 

:eek: I've paid less for a 7-day cruise to Alaska (with single supplement)!