Back where I belong after trying others...couple of questions

[Id rather be diving]

We will be back on Princess after taking a couple of cruises on other lines. Here are my questions for those that have been relatively recent on Princess.

 

1. Are formal nights gone? Is it all cruise casual or chic now? We are on 14 days to the Baltic in Sept.

 

 

2. If purchasing casino credits ahead of time, do you still get a voucher in your room that you exchange at the cashier for cash or is it on your room account?

 

 

3. If you buy too much OBC ahead of time, do you get the cash back at the end?

 

 

Thanks,

Kari

[moki'smommy]

There are still formal nights, at least on cruises of 7 or more nights.

 

If you buy too much OBC, they will refund up to $25 in cash at Passenger Services. After that, they will send you a check within about 3 weeks. They say 6 weeks, but ours came in about 3.

 

Don't know about casino.

[ggprincess2004]

Don' know about purchasing casino credits, but the casino is a great place to cash out extra obc instead of waiting for Princess to send that check.

[Host CJSKIDS]

They still do formal nights on cruises of 5 nights or more unless that has changed recently.

 

As others have said, you will get any OBC that is purchased back. You can either wait for the check or get the cash out at the casino.

[cdngrl]

my last cruise was 2 weeks ago and the 7 night cruise had 2 formal nights.

[moki'smommy]

my last cruise was 2 weeks ago and the 7 night cruise had 2 formal nights.

And my 10 night in April had 2 formal nights.

[donaldsc]

This may sound like a stupid question but why in the world would anyone want to BUY on board cr4edit ahead of time. Is there any advantage to doing it? Seems like you are just making a zero interest short term loan to the cruise company.

 

Same question about buying casino credits. Why????

 

DON

[neverbeenhere]

To control their budget. ?

[moki'smommy]

This may sound like a stupid question but why in the world would anyone want to BUY on board cr4edit ahead of time. Is there any advantage to doing it? Seems like you are just making a zero interest short term loan to the cruise company.

 

Same question about buying casino credits. Why????

 

DON

I totally agree. The only reason I can see is if you are trading non-US currency and trying to capture a good exchange rate.

[Host CJSKIDS]

Another great reason to buy OBC ahead of time.... you are trying to do something like fulfill the Amex Platinum promo of spending $500 and getting $100 back and have already paid your cruise in full!

[JF - retired RRT]

OP: by the time you cruise, the casino OBC that you purchase may be loaded on your cruise card.

There is at least one thread on here that the newest version of the coffee card is showing up on the cruise card...no more paper.

[sueandkent]

This may sound like a stupid question but why in the world would anyone want to BUY on board cr4edit ahead of time. Is there any advantage to doing it? Seems like you are just making a zero interest short term loan to the cruise company.

 

Same question about buying casino credits. Why????

 

DON

 

For us Canadians we can pre-purchase OBC and Casino credit at 1.25 through Princess, my current C.C. exchange rate is about 1.32 so it’s better for us to do it that way. We always just cash out any remaining through the casino as noted on this thread.

[Yukonjake]

This may sound like a stupid question but why in the world would anyone want to BUY on board cr4edit ahead of time. Is there any advantage to doing it? Seems like you are just making a zero interest short term loan to the cruise company.

 

Same question about buying casino credits. Why????

 

DON

 

It could well be a stupid question. Luckily, I'm a not-too-bright guy, who manages his money badly. I'd rather not have a cruise worth of purchase, booze, ultimate ship tour, souvenirs for the kiddies, etc, applied to my credit card at the end of the trip. So, the day before every payday, I purchase OBC for my upcoming trip with the cash that I didn't find a way to blow from my last payday.

 

Like I said, I'm dumb with money, but this approach works for me.

[satxdiver]

There are several reasons as listed to purchase OBC or casino credits which range from exchange rate to USD to managing the cruise expense. Nice to hear that the CDN exchange rate is so favorable. I live in the US and sometimes go into Canada so the exchange rate at the border is very nice.

 

Formal nights still exist in name only for the most part. Pax are pushing the standards more and more. Males can get by with dockers, button shirt and athletic shoes. Princess still balks at shorts and tshirts on formal night.

 

Last cruise at a 2 top near our table and served by our waiters, the male wore a pie hat (type of hat) every night in the MDR. No he never took it off. I have seen a trend for men to wear suits without ties and then there is the dark tshirt with a sport coat over it. Non-formal night I saw several men enter in shorts and tshirt plus a few enter wearing caps.