Princess OBC: Not “real” money?

[LH25]

You seem to be missing the point. What we are talking about is a reservation and Princess says their OBC is worthless for buying that reservation. It is good enough to book a tour before boarding but not food. Princess already has an account set up for me. They have my credit card information AND they have credited me with OBC. Prohibiting me from using what has been credited to my account seems like they are going out of their way to take more money out of my pocket while hoping I don’t get around to using their untouchable OBC.

 

Do you frequent restaurants where you are required to put the meal, in full, on your credit card two months in advance?

 

 

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I'm not sure that's apples to apples, since in the restaurant example, I won't be using funds that they gave me to pay.

[NavyVeteran]

Basically it's been well laid out. Your onboard credit can be used before the cruise only for excursions. Restaurant reservations and all other stuff will be paid for out of your OBC only once onboard. We make our specialty restaurant reservations immediately once onboard. Celebrity now allows you to use your OBC to book their excursions but that's it. I was under the impression anything you paid for with credit card before cruise and you cancel once onboard you would get back as credit on your card but not hundred percent sure of that.

You receive a credit to your credit card only if you cancel before the cruise (I don't remember exactly how many days before). If you cancel onboard, you receive refundable OBC.

 

My brother and I just returned from a Panama Canal cruise on the Caribbean Princess. We had each reserved two shore excursions in advance - I reserved mine with my OBC and he reserved his by paying with his credit card. When we boarded, my folio showed the OBC and the excursions charges separately; his folio did not show any charges for the excursions. We then each cancelled one of the excursions onboard. On my folio, the charge for the cancelled excursion disappeared - no charge and credit; the charge just disappeared. On his folio, the charge for the other prepaid excursion appeared on his folio along with a refundable OBC for the amount he prepaid for his excursions. This worked out great for us. Since we were charging to the same credit card, our folios were combined. Since I had a lot of nonrefundable OBC, his excursion used that instead of his refundable OBC for the prepaid excursions - so we received a larger refund.

 

Note that the refundable OBC for cancelling a prepaid excursion goes to the passenger who was registered for the excursion - not to the person who paid the credit card charge.

[CruisinFinsUp]

We have never had an issue booking specialty dining reservations as soon as we get on board. There is lots of availability. If you reserve on board, you are able to ask what night various dinner themes occur in the main dining room and book specialty dining the night you aren't as fond of the dinner theme.

 

We also calculate the OBC we have vs our onboard spending, and decide whether or not to prepurchase drink packages or anything else.

Then when we board, we have a short list of "todo's" to reserve and buy, and then we are done.

 

As you say you are on for "a few weeks" it sounds like you are doing back to backs. As such, you can even make your dining reservations onboard a cruise ahead.

 

When we did B2B we were able to goto the purser's desk and confirm that our onboard account rolled over to the next cruise, instead of closing out. That way any OBC from left after the first leg was rolled over to the next.

[Cruzer1001]

Three things. I suspect but do not know for a fact that pre-boarded specialty restaurant reservations have a higher no show rate than ones that have been paid for pre-boarding. If someone makes a reservation prior to boarding and does not show up at the specialty restaurant the night of the reservation without cancelling, then no one else can use that time slot since the specialty restaurant is holding the slot expecting the reserved party to use it; and the revenue for that time slot is lost. If the reservation is paid for in advance, then the restaurant gets the money for the no-show or the cruiser will cancel in advance because they do not want to lose their $29.00/person, giving the restaurant a chance to fill the vacated slot..

 

 

 

Secondly, when we cruise, we make the specialty restaurant reservation when we first board. That allows us to use OBC to pay for it when we dine.

 

 

 

And, thirdly, some OBC is refundable if not used during the cruise; some is not refundable and must be used or lost. Check and see the terms of your OBC.

 

 

 

Thanks for proving my point! It would seem that Princess does not see their OBC as “real” money; they only consider it real money when the customer takes it out of their pocket. Whether you bill your Specialty dining to your credit card or your OBC it still costs you the customer and the restaurant gets its $29.95pp. Why would they care if you “no-show”?

 

 

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[Cruzer1001]

We have never had an issue booking specialty dining reservations as soon as we get on board. There is lots of availability. If you reserve on board, you are able to ask what night various dinner themes occur in the main dining room and book specialty dining the night you aren't as fond of the dinner theme.

 

 

 

We also calculate the OBC we have vs our onboard spending, and decide whether or not to prepurchase drink packages or anything else.

 

Then when we board, we have a short list of "todo's" to reserve and buy, and then we are done.

 

 

 

As you say you are on for "a few weeks" it sounds like you are doing back to backs. As such, you can even make your dining reservations onboard a cruise ahead.

 

 

 

When we did B2B we were able to goto the purser's desk and confirm that our onboard account rolled over to the next cruise, instead of closing out. That way any OBC from left after the first leg was rolled over to the next.

 

 

 

You brought up something I never thought of here. We were never advised in any communication that our cruise was or is considered to be a B2B. It really doesn’t make any difference except for the fact that the night I wish to reserve in a Specialty restaurant happens to be day one of the second leg — a night which is reserved for Suite guests (first refusal?).

 

I have no problem paying $60, but still think it is stupid to want the customer to pay up front when you are holding their money already.

 

 

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[voljeep]

Sorry, but no... it's NOT "their"/"your" MONEY until after the cruise in the event you have some refundable OBC left on your account, and you have received and cashed the non-descript check in the mail:evilsmile:

[Cruzer1001]

I'm not sure that's apples to apples, since in the restaurant example, I won't be using funds that they gave me to pay.

 

 

 

Would you go if they said, “Your meal is free, but you have to pay for it first on your credit card and then we will give you credit to come again in the future”.

 

 

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[Cruzer1001]

Thank you everyone for your helpful responses, especially my friend who knows about Haweater Dollars! While we have cruised on a number of lines Princess Cruises is the first place this issue has come up. Lots of theories and attempts to justify an odd policy but no real reason so we can and will live within the rules as we enjoy what should be a fabulous trip.

Enjoy yours!

 

 

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[tothemall&beyond]

I don't believe it is refundable. We just wait until we are on the ship to make reservations usually as soon as we board and use our OBC to pay for them. It is a shame that Princess will not let us use our OBC for reservations. We are grateful that they will allow us to use OBC for shore excursions however. For a very short while when they started making pre-reserved shore excursions pay as you reserve, they would not let us use OBC. Luckily that has changed now.

 

Are you sure they have changed the shore ex policy? I know b/c I just tried to reserve one for a cruise next week, and it would not take my OBC.

Edited February 10, 2018 by tothemall&beyond

[Cruiser411]

Thank you everyone for your helpful responses, especially my friend who knows about Haweater Dollars! While we have cruised on a number of lines Princess Cruises is the first place this issue has come up. Lots of theories and attempts to justify an odd policy but no real reason so we can and will live within the rules as we enjoy what should be a fabulous trip.

Enjoy yours!

 

 

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Enjoy your cruise. And not to beat a dead horse here, I think the problem is simply a system's issue. They don't have it programmed into their website to allow paying for specialty restaurants with OBC yet. As far as I know, they didn't have specialty restaurant reservations anywhere until fairly recently. You certainly couldn't call them up (and still can't) to make reservations, they'd tell you to wait till you board. It's probably going to be a system enhancement somewhere down the line.

[voljeep]

call again, and if you get the same results - ask to speak to a supervisor

[beachgirl50]

We are off on the Regal Princess for a few weeks in a couple of months and have a few hundred dollars of OnBoard Credit to use. But on their website this OBC is not good enough to make a restaurant reservation, and you must put an immediate, prepaid charge on a credit card (or PayPal?). So the $12K+ they took of my money plus my $300 OBC isn’t enough for a restaurant reservation?

I guess my question is: Is the Specialty Restaurant reservation charge on my credit card refundable once on board when I can then use Princess’ fake money?

I’d like to know this before I book my next Celebrity cruise.

 

 

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Hi --- We were recently on the Caribbean Princess, and a friend made a reservation at a specialty restaurant (Sabatini's) several weeks prior to cruising, requiring a credit card payment. When she got onboard and decided to change the reservation to Crown Grill, she was able to make the new reservation using shipboard credit and receive a refund to her credit card for the original reservation. She had to make a stop at the Customer Service desk to obtain the credit. Hope this helps!

[pompeii]

For the first time ever, we had excess non-refundable credits at the end of the cruise. We gave it to the tip pool. You can get a form at the service desk. It can not be used to augment a tip for an individual.

 

I didn't know you could do this. I generally don't have OBC left over, but it's good to know I could put it in the tip pool if I wind up with a little left.

[pablo222]

so we can and will live within the rules as we enjoy what should be a fabulous trip.

 

I think with your attitude, you can easily prevent that.

[JF - retired RRT]

Like was said, you have to spend the obc while onboard. If you pre reserve dining or an excursion, etc, they'll charge your cc.

 

We had $700 obc last cruise. We purposely spent $3 over just so we didn't accidentally leave anything on the table like we did the time before. hehe

 

We're cheap, cheap. :D

I'm cheap, cheap, cheap. We usually have between $800-1000 in OBC. I calculate gratuities, any excursions we book (great way to pay for UST, Chef's Table, etc.), specialty restaurants (usually do at least 1 time), then use the remainder in the casino. Play a little with the "ship's" money and cash out. Don't care if we lose a little, because it didn't come out of our pocket. Often, we win a little.;p

[Mike45LC]

I used all of my non-refundable OnBoard Credits with no problem. Two Soda and More packages, gratuities, a few excursions, Crown Grill, a couple of bar/coffee charges, and the casino. No problem!!

 

Just wait until you are on board to spend.

[NavyVeteran]

You brought up something I never thought of here. We were never advised in any communication that our cruise was or is considered to be a B2B. It really doesn’t make any difference except for the fact that the night I wish to reserve in a Specialty restaurant happens to be day one of the second leg — a night which is reserved for Suite guests (first refusal?).

They do not reserve all of the spaces in the specialty restaurants for suite guests on embarkation/turn-around evening. They do not allow you to reserve in advance online. However, you should be able to reserve onboard during the first leg. If the DINE line won't take your reservation, talk with the head waiter at the specialty restaurant you want to reserve. I don't think you will have a problem.

[Funkat]

Are you sure they have changed the shore ex policy? I know b/c I just tried to reserve one for a cruise next week, and it would not take my OBC.

 

I was able to use OBC for excursions for our cruise next month.

[lizblackey]

I just made Crown Grill reservations online for our April cruise and I was able to use OBC for it.

 

 

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[geoherb]

You brought up something I never thought of here. We were never advised in any communication that our cruise was or is considered to be a B2B.

I guess most folks realize it's a b2b cruise when they see the ship return to the originating port halfway through the cruise.

 

The ability to make reservations for the specialty restaurants before the cruise begins is a fairly recent phenomenon. I remember when we did shorty b2b cruises for New Year's three years ago. We were able to make reservations for our second leg on the last day of the first cruise. We met a lot of folks who were upset that they could not get reservations on the second cruise.

[long cruiser]

We like the on board credit for tips,especially on 32 day cruises, plus on board spending money.

long c ruiser

[pablo222]

The ability to make reservations for the specialty restaurants before the cruise begins is a fairly recent phenomenon.

 

Previously, many people here lamented not being able to book in advance -- which apparently can be done

on other cruise lines.

[Happy2cruise]

I just made Crown Grill reservations online for our April cruise and I was able to use OBC for it.

 

 

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I just tried making reservations for our 4/1 cruise and when checking out the only pay options were paypal or credit card.....nothing for using OBC:confused:

[Cruzer1001]

I guess most folks realize it's a b2b cruise when they see the ship return to the originating port halfway through the cruise.

 

 

 

The ability to make reservations for the specialty restaurants before the cruise begins is a fairly recent phenomenon. I remember when we did shorty b2b cruises for New Year's three years ago. We were able to make reservations for our second leg on the last day of the first cruise. We met a lot of folks who were upset that they could not get reservations on the second cruise.

 

 

 

As far as our trip is concerned the ship is not returning to the originating port.

 

 

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[wrongwaywatson]

Why do you feel the need to book the restaurant ahead of time? We book the Crown Grill any we have never had a problem getting a reservation for when we want it, after we are onboard.