OBC Usage Order?

[POA1]

This has probably been covered before, but throw me a bone here. 

 

If a passenger has the following OBC types, which order are they used in? Also, if you know, which are refundable? 

 

- HAL promo (like Explore 4 or other sale) 

 

- Carnival Shareholder 

 

- Future Cruise Credit OBC 

 

- TA "Gift" OBC 

 

- OBC Purchased by Passenger

 

- OBC gifts from friends, relatives, adoring fans, or government agents

 

Thanks! 

 

 

[canadianbear]

I believe they use the non refundable first.  Even though we received OBC credit from our TA it was non refundable.  Our Carnival stocks not refundable either.  

 

From what you've listed (and I’m not positive) OBC purchased by yourself or family would be refundable.  I’ve never had any left over though.  😳

 

 

[Alberta Quilter]

Any HAL OBC is not refundable, any TA OBC is refundable (guess I'm wrong about that based on Canadian Bear's experience).

 

On my last cruise (Sep/18), my HAL OBC and my shareholder OBC showed separately from my TA OBC.  The HAL OBC was marked clearly that it was not to be refunded or used in the casino.  Towards the end of our cruise, we were able to "withdraw" some of the excess OBC (after they confirmed that the HAL OBC was used in full) to give to the crew members as an additional gratuity, on top of the HSC.

 

I can't help you with the OBC from the other sources that you list as I don't have adoring fans or government agents who would shower me with OBC.

 

We still had leftover OBC and it was refunded to my credit card that was used for the onboard account.

Edited November 28, 2018 by Alberta Quilter

[kazu]

22 minutes ago, POA1 said:

This has probably been covered before, but throw me a bone here. 

 

If a passenger has the following OBC types, which order are they used in? Also, if you know, which are refundable? 

 

- HAL promo (like Explore 4 or other sale) - non refundable

 

- Carnival Shareholder - non refundable

 

- Future Cruise Credit OBC - non refundable

 

- TA "Gift" OBC - refundable in my experience

 

- OBC Purchased by Passenger - refundable

 

- OBC gifts from friends, relatives, adoring fans, or government agents -refundable

 

Thanks! 

 

 

 

I marked them in bold in your post.

 

Basically anything that is purchased by someone (you, TA, adoring fans) is refundable.  HAL generated is not.

 

Non refundable is usually applied first in my experience.  But, no matter how much OBC I have, I always manage to use it up 😉 

[CruiserBruce]

They will use the non-refundable first.

[richwmn]

One thing to mention is that cases exist that OBC that appears to come from the TA is actually a pass thru from HAL and is therefore not refundable. This would be, for example, an OBC that HAL provided as a group benefit to a TA assembled group.

 

Like Alberta Quilter, on my last couple of cruises the non refundable credit was listed at the top of the statement as not be be used for casino or cash.

Edited November 28, 2018 by richwmn

[TrolleyGirl]

On ‎11‎/‎28‎/‎2018 at 2:12 PM, Alberta Quilter said:

 

On my last cruise (Sep/18), my HAL OBC and my shareholder OBC showed separately from my TA OBC.  The HAL OBC was marked clearly that it was not to be refunded or used in the casino.  Towards the end of our cruise, we were able to "withdraw" some of the excess OBC (after they confirmed that the HAL OBC was used in full) to give to the crew members as an additional gratuity, on top of the HSC.

 

Our recent experience was similar regarding the casino and shareholder OBC.   We just got off the Rotterdam this past Sunday (12/2),  all week our room charges showed the shareholder OBC ticking down towards zero by beverage charges and casino charges.  However, on our final statement the casino charges did not go towards the shareholder OBC.  As of Saturday evening, the bill showed a credit of $6, however Sunday morning the final bill showed a balance due.  The casino charges were not applied to the OBC. 
 

So my message is, even though in the past, regardless of what was stated casino charges did tick off the shareholder OBC, but it looks like HAL has made a change and is now following their rule.  It's unfortunate that the phone app that we are given to us onboard is not reflecting this change yet.  So beware.

Edited December 4, 2018 by TrolleyGirl

[Walfam]

We transferred our reservation to a well known big box travel department and picked up more OBCs from them.  That agent told me their own unused OBCs would kick in after we used up the HAL OBCs, and that anything left of the OBCs they issued are refundable to us by a mailed check.   We will probably use them all up, anyway.  

Edited December 4, 2018 by Walfam
Tupo

[AmazedByCruising]

On 11/28/2018 at 7:56 PM, POA1 said:

- OBC gifts from friends, relatives, adoring fans, or government agents

 

 

LOL

[DaveOKC]

2 hours ago, TrolleyGirl said:

 

Our recent experience was similar regarding the casino and shareholder OBC.   We just got off the Rotterdam this past Sunday (12/2),  all week our room charges showed the shareholder OBC ticking down towards zero by beverage charges and casino charges.  However, on our final statement the casino charges did not go towards the shareholder OBC.  As of Saturday evening, the bill showed a credit of $6, however Sunday morning the final bill showed a balance due.  The casino charges were not applied to the OBC. 
 

So my message is, even though in the past, regardless of what was stated casino charges did tick off the shareholder OBC, but it looks like HAL has made a change and is now following their rule.  It's unfortunate that the phone app that we are given to us onboard is not reflecting this change yet.  So beware.

We had the exact same experience on the Rotterdam last March.  It was only a few dollars in my case, but this was the first time it has happened to us.  I am guessing that this situation varies by ship, so be advised to use up the OBC without using it in the casino.