OBC for excursions

[Sgt Halftrack]

Can I use OBC to pre pay for excursions or must I wait until on board?

[Astro Flyer]

6 minutes ago, Sgt Halftrack said:

Can I use OBC to pre pay for excursions or must I wait until on board?

You can use OBC to pay for tours booked in advance.  

 

Add tours to your cart & it will use available OBC to reserve them.  There’s a warning that you need to complete the process to make the reservation.

[Sgt Halftrack]

Thanks Astro, but what is the process you speak of?

[Astro Flyer]

1 hour ago, Sgt Halftrack said:

Thanks Astro, but what is the process you speak of?

Once you have your tours in your cart you need to complete the payment process.

 

Some people have been disappointed thinking their tours were reserved however they never completed the payment process.  As I recall it warns passengers that tours in the cart must be paid within 24 hours or the reservation will be canceled due to lack of payment.

 

Find tours through the Cruise Personalizer & make payment (OBC or chargecard) to get a confirmed reservation.  I print the confirmation to bring onboard just in case there’s any problem.  Booking early is a hedge against a price increase which has been as much as 50% more for those booking onboard. 

[Sgt Halftrack]

Ok thanks, I’ll give it a try. 

[paul929207]

The OBC has to show on your account for you to use it for pre-booking excursions. 

 

For instance, the Loyalty OBC does not show prior to the cruise, so it cannot be used to pre-book.

[skynight]

Check your cruise personlizer under payments and credits to make certain you have enough OBC in your account(s). If you are booking on line for two, both accounts must have enough OBC to cover the per person tour price. If one account has all the OBC then you have to call Princess to get the OBC applied to both tour bookings.

[Bamer5]

Can you use OBC at the casino.  Princess exchange rate is better than the bank ,so I would like to get some to use at the casino .Is this allowed?

[JF - retired RRT]

19 minutes ago, Bamer5 said:

Can you use OBC at the casino.  Princess exchange rate is better than the bank ,so I would like to get some to use at the casino .Is this allowed?

Yes. Anything you spend on the ship goes against your OBC account if you use your cruise card/medallion. There is one exception AFAIK, if you buy Future Cruise Deposits (FCD) it goes on your credit card.

[satxdiver]

Certain OBC is awarded one per cabin like the stockholder OBC.  It will be applied to the person that owns the stock.  This can make an unbalanced OBC total in that one person will have stockholder OBC and the other occupant will not.  So when it comes to reserving excursions for both, one may have enough OBC and the other person will not.  Time to call Princess.  

[Bamer5]

Thank you for the quick  reply ..

 

[janniebabe]

The other thing is, you have to be about 120 days out from boarding for the excursions to show in your personalizer so you can reserve them.

[Astro Flyer]

1 hour ago, janniebabe said:

The other thing is, you have to be about 120 days out from boarding for the excursions to show in your personalizer so you can reserve them.

My recent experiences is that has changed because I was able to book a tour over 500 days before a cruise.  When they’re available will vary by cruise but most of my recent cruises had tours available 6-12 months in advance.

 

Due to the earlier availability of tours & requiring pre-payment they now issue Shareholder OBC long in advance...my earliest issuance was 2 years in advance.

[janniebabe]

9 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

My recent experiences is that has changed because I was able to book a tour over 500 days before a cruise.  When they’re available will vary by cruise but most of my recent cruises had tours available 6-12 months in advance.

 

Due to the earlier availability of tours & requiring pre-payment they now issue Shareholder OBC long in advance...my earliest issuance was 2 years in advance.

Which cruise were you on that you could do that?  We are headed to the Circle in November and would love to be able to reserve ASAP because I admit it - I am a planning person who wants everything in place EARLY 🙂 . 

[skynight]

9 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

My recent experiences is that has changed because I was able to book a tour over 500 days before a cruise.  When they’re available will vary by cruise but most of my recent cruises had tours available 6-12 months in advance.

 

Due to the earlier availability of tours & requiring pre-payment they now issue Shareholder OBC long in advance...my earliest issuance was 2 years in advance.

My recent experience, this month, regarding stockholder benefit OBC is that the 90 day rule has returned.

[Astro Flyer]

3 hours ago, janniebabe said:

Which cruise were you on that you could do that?  We are headed to the Circle in November and would love to be able to reserve ASAP because I admit it - I am a planning person who wants everything in place EARLY 🙂 . 

I booked tours in June 2018 for our November 2019 cruise on the Sky Princess sailing in the Mediterranean & transatlantic to Ft Lauderdale.  I recently paid for another tour on that cruise so tours are still available to book.  On a previous cruise with a similar itinerary & also on my West Coast cruises they were available about a year in advance.

 

Like you, I usually make plans as early as possible & routinely check for availability which will vary by cruise...good luck. 🙂

[Astro Flyer]

3 hours ago, skynight said:

My recent experience, this month, regarding stockholder benefit OBC is that the 90 day rule has returned.

Thanks & disappointed to learn about your experience...my most recent issuance of SOBC was in September for a May 2020 cruise.  At that time a few posts indicated the 90 day limit had returned but mine was approved.

 

When 90 days was the rule Princess Booking Support agents said that was due to too many passengers having SOBC issued & then canceling the cruise.  My only cancellation was due to a last minute health issue so that doesn’t apply to me.  Maybe they experienced a higher rate of cancellations since issuing SOBC long before final payment.  Since all of my future cruises have SOBC issued I won’t have any personal experiences anytime soon.

 

I appreciate issuing SOBC early to use it to pay to reserve tours.

Edited December 25, 2018 by Astro Flyer

[Ken the cruiser]

12 hours ago, skynight said:

My recent experience, this month, regarding stockholder benefit OBC is that the 90 day rule has returned.

We just booked two 2020 cruises, one in July and one in Nov, two weeks ago and were able to have shareholder benefits added to both of them within two days of faxing Princess the forms. You may want to try again.

[Sgt Halftrack]

Very helpful, thanks much, although my original question was not when but if, OBC could be spent for excursions on an upcoming cruise. My ownership credit showed up in a few days, but not credits from my TA. 

[FTLcruisers]

can I also pre-book internet, a coffee card and bottled water using my OBC or does the pre-booking only work for excursions?

[skynight]

1 minute ago, FTLcruisers said:

can I also pre-book internet, a coffee card and bottled water using my OBC or does the pre-booking only work for excursions?

Only for excursions.

[Grburkart]

On 12/25/2018 at 6:38 AM, janniebabe said:

Which cruise were you on that you could do that?  We are headed to the Circle in November and would love to be able to reserve ASAP because I admit it - I am a planning person who wants everything in place EARLY 🙂 . 

I have all my excursions booked and, of course, paid for. I was able to do that more than 12 months out. I was thinking it was a computer glitch but they stuck. I am on the Emerald for 22 days in the Mediterranean this coming October. 

I, like you, am a planner as well. Drives me crazy to have something out of place. Lol

 

Glenn

[janniebabe]

1 hour ago, Grburkart said:

I have all my excursions booked and, of course, paid for. I was able to do that more than 12 months out. I was thinking it was a computer glitch but they stuck. I am on the Emerald for 22 days in the Mediterranean this coming October. 

I, like you, am a planner as well. Drives me crazy to have something out of place. Lol

 

Glenn

Just got off the chat with Princess and they say it depends on the 3rd party who is offering the excursion if it is available earlier.  They still say that the ones in the area we will be won't be ready until 120 days out.  Thanks and hope you have a great cruise when you go!

[Ombud]

On 12/24/2018 at 6:52 PM, janniebabe said:

The other thing is, you have to be about 120 days out from boarding for the excursions to show in your personalizer so you can reserve them.

Although I cannot book the Fort Lauderdale to Quebec excursions next summer,  I just booked the Melbourne to New Zealand excursions next December. So must depend on 3rd parties.  (Auckland disembark not available yet?)

Edited January 23, 2019 by Ombud

[jagsfan]

The OBC for excursions is a little confusing to me. I booked an excursion for two of us three or four months ago for April. It’s confirmed and says paid by OBC. My OBC in my personalizer and travel summary shows intact. 

I’m a little paranoid and check it every few days to make sure the excursion hasn’t disappeared for nonpayment.

Evidently the OBC is used to guarantee payment and will be charged after we board. Works for me, but it’s not matching up with what I’ve read.