OBCs

[Ep010835]

We are supposed to have a $250 OBC for our upcoming Amazon cruise. I received an email from Regent this past December stating that the OBC would be applied to our sailing within the next 14 days.

 

After logging in to our account, I've searched the View Profile and My Account sections of the RSSC website as throughly as I'm able, I just cannot find any reference to this OBC. Can anyone help?

[Juno56]

It should be on your cruise documents.  It will be itemized as:

 

Group Amenities
$500 Spa or Shipboard Credit per Suite

 

If the shipboard credit is from your TA and not Regent, then I would check with your travel agent.

[Ep010835]

3 minutes ago, Juno56 said:

If the shipboard credit is from your TA and not Regent, then I would check with your travel agent.

 

It is from my TA. I'll check with them. Thanks!

[Juno56]

FYI -  If the shipboard credit comes from a TA, you don't necessarily need to spend it during the cruise.  Non-RSSC credit is often refundable in cash before the end of the cruise.  Check with the Purser's office.  (If you don't use it, it's like a cash rebate.)

Edited March 21, 2019 by Juno56

[poss]

We have $950 in OBC's this time, and there is zero — absolutely zero — that we want to spend it on.   I sure wish some of it was the refundable type, but no.   Obviously, there are worse problems....

 

OP: Enjoy your Amazon cruise!

[Jason OKeefe]

16 hours ago, Ep010835 said:

We are supposed to have a $250 OBC for our upcoming Amazon cruise. I received an email from Regent this past December stating that the OBC would be applied to our sailing within the next 14 days.

 

After logging in to our account, I've searched the View Profile and My Account sections of the RSSC website as throughly as I'm able, I just cannot find any reference to this OBC. Can anyone help?

 

This sounds like the Ambassador Offer submission confirmation email that you received. We recently updated this language as the shipboard credit will not be added unless the eligibility requirements are satisfied. It originally stated the 14 days you mention for it to be applied, however, we clarified this further to make it more clear regarding the eligibility confirmation.  Please verify with your travel advisor or our reservations team to confirm the status.  

[Ep010835]

1 hour ago, poss said:

We have $950 in OBC's this time, and there is zero — absolutely zero — that we want to spend it on.   I sure wish some of it was the refundable type, but no.   Obviously, there are worse problems....

 

OP: Enjoy your Amazon cruise!

 

$950!!!😳

That’s amazing. How in the world did you amass so much?

 

We definitely will. Thanks!!

[SWFLAOK]

Do you have an invoice from directly from Regent or passed on through your TA? It should show what you have, and where it came from.We always have our OBCs  clearly listed on the invoice. Some are from Regent and some are from our TA. Not all excursions are free, so we usually use much of our OBCs on those, and we definitely spend some on laundry. If there's some left that's not refundable, we spend it in the boutique/gift shop, and leave the rest for the crew fund.

[Toofarfromthesea]

On 3/20/2019 at 10:30 PM, Juno56 said:

FYI -  If the shipboard credit comes from a TA, you don't necessarily need to spend it during the cruise.  Non-RSSC credit is often refundable in cash before the end of the cruise.  Check with the Purser's office.  (If you don't use it, it's like a cash rebate.)

 

Yeah, you can't really assume, either way.  I have 450 in OBC from a travel agent on an upcoming cruise that is spend it or lose it.  As you say, always good to check to be sure.

[Travelcat2]

18 hours ago, SWFLAOK said:

Do you have an invoice from directly from Regent or passed on through your TA? It should show what you have, and where it came from.We always have our OBCs  clearly listed on the invoice. Some are from Regent and some are from our TA. Not all excursions are free, so we usually use much of our OBCs on those, and we definitely spend some on laundry. If there's some left that's not refundable, we spend it in the boutique/gift shop, and leave the rest for the crew fund.

 

Just so you know, OBC's cannot be used for the crew fund.  So, whatever you leave is simply forfeited.  

[RJ2002]

2 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Just so you know, OBC's cannot be used for the crew fund.  So, whatever you leave is simply forfeited.  

 

Just to clarify, in a recent thread which I'll bet you remember😉, Jason stated (below) that a refundable OBC can be contributed to the crew fund if it is first converted to cash at reception.

 

The Crew Welfare Fund is a cash account and the reason why we do not offer the ability to charge contributions to your onboard account.  Instead, we offer the ability to complete a cash advance (without any fees) and in turn, donate it to the crew fund.

[Focused1]

48 minutes ago, RJ2002 said:

 

Just to clarify, in a recent thread which I'll bet you remember😉, Jason stated (below) that a refundable OBC can be contributed to the crew fund if it is first converted to cash at reception.

 

The Crew Welfare Fund is a cash account and the reason why we do not offer the ability to charge contributions to your onboard account.  Instead, we offer the ability to complete a cash advance (without any fees) and in turn, donate it to the crew fund.

Yes, we often have refundable OBC left on our account. We cash out on the final cruise days at the front desk and immediately give it back to them to contribute to the Crew Welfare Fund. 

[DaveFr]

55 minutes ago, RJ2002 said:

 

Just to clarify, in a recent thread which I'll bet you remember😉, Jason stated (below) that a refundable OBC can be contributed to the crew fund if it is first converted to cash at reception.

 

The Crew Welfare Fund is a cash account and the reason why we do not offer the ability to charge contributions to your onboard account.  Instead, we offer the ability to complete a cash advance (without any fees) and in turn, donate it to the crew fund.

While you can certainly contribute refundable OBC to the Crew Fund, I believe Jason is describing a procedure whereby you can go to  the Purser and request a cash advance (say $200) and immediately donate the cash to the Crew Fund.  The cash advance amount will be added to your onboard account without any fees and is payable along with the remainder of your onboard account at the end of your cruise.

 

Dave

[RJ2002]

2 minutes ago, DaveFr said:

While you can certainly contribute refundable OBC to the Crew Fund, I believe Jason is describing a procedure whereby you can go to  the Purser and request a cash advance (say $200) and immediately donate the cash to the Crew Fund.  The cash advance amount will be added to your onboard account without any fees and is payable along with the remainder of your onboard account at the end of your cruise.

 

Dave

 

Yes, you are absolutely correct.  Thanks for the clarification of my attempted clarification!  😁

 

TC, apologies for any confusion on me quoting you.  

[SWFLAOK]

4 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Just so you know, OBC's cannot be used for the crew fund.  So, whatever you leave is simply forfeited.  

On Regent, we did as described in the past few posts, based on what we were told when we asked onboard. We had a non-refundable OBC left, so we took a cash advance against our account, and donated it. There may have been a small charge for the cash advance,  but we definitely didn't forfeit our OBC.

On our one and only HAL cruise, we were able to direct our leftover OBC to the crew fund. We have it documented on the closing statement that was pushed under our door on the final morning of the cruise.

[Travelcat2]

1 hour ago, SWFLAOK said:

On Regent, we did as described in the past few posts, based on what we were told when we asked onboard. We had a non-refundable OBC left, so we took a cash advance against our account, and donated it. There may have been a small charge for the cash advance,  but we definitely didn't forfeit our OBC.

On our one and only HAL cruise, we were able to direct our leftover OBC to the crew fund. We have it documented on the closing statement that was pushed under our door on the final morning of the cruise.

 

Okay - that is very interesting - taking a cash advance against your account so that you could donate it.  Did the cash advance come from your credit card or leftover OBC.  I ask because Regent specifically states that OBC's cannot be used for the crew fund.

[ronrick1943]

31 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Okay - that is very interesting - taking a cash advance against your account so that you could donate it.  Did the cash advance come from your credit card or leftover OBC.  I ask because Regent specifically states that OBC's cannot be used for the crew fund.

 

I think that's if it comes from Regent as an OBC, but if your travel agent gives something without Regent-you can do what you want with it.

[SWFLAOK]

28 minutes ago, Travelcat2 said:

 

Okay - that is very interesting - taking a cash advance against your account so that you could donate it.  Did the cash advance come from your credit card or leftover OBC.  I ask because Regent specifically states that OBC's cannot be used for the crew fund.

From our final statement, it appears the cash advance came from the OBC since we had no balance charged to our credit card at the end of the cruise, and the entire value of our OBC was shown as a credit on the statement. I checked our statement and the OBC wasn't marked as being refundable or nonrefundable so maybe it was refundable. We did this at the suggestion of someone at the front desk.

Thanks for pointing out hat the rules say that Regent OBCs can't be used for the crew fund. That wasn't our experience on our previous Regent cruise, or on other cruise lines, but we like to follow the rules so we'll do that on our upcoming  Regent cruises.

[Travelcat2]

SWFLAOK - thanks to you and DaveFr for that explanation.  It seems to be a backdoor way of doing what Regent does not want us to do.  Will definitely keep that in mind!

 

Ron - not all TA OBC's are refundable!  It is important to look at the OBC information cards in your suite when you board.  It will tell you which OBC's are refundable and which are not.  Most of the OBC's we receive from our TA are not refundable.  While I do not understand this completely, some TA OBC's are in conjunction with Regent (or something like that).  

[cwn]

Just now, SWFLAOK said:

 

From our final statement, it appears the cash advance came from the OBC since we had no balance charged to our credit card at the end of the cruise, and the entire value of our OBC was shown as a credit on the statement. I checked our statement and the OBC wasn't marked as being refundable or nonrefundable so maybe it was refundable. We did this at the suggestion of someone at the front desk.

Thanks for pointing out hat the rules say that Regent OBCs can't be used for the crew fund. That wasn't our experience on our previous Regent cruise, or on other cruise lines, but we like to follow the rules so we'll do that on our upcoming  Regent cruises.

 

Your OBC was probably refundable. The Crew fund is a cash fund and therefore any donation has to be in the form of cash. If you (there was a limit of $400 a segment on the WC until the end of last segment) can withdraw cash form your OBC, you can donate that cash to the Crew Fund. There is just no way to make an internal transfer.

 

On the WC, we were told to do this for refundable OCB if we wanted to donate any part or all of the balance to the Crew Fund. This does not work for the non-refundable credit coming from Regent directly or indirectly..

Edited March 23, 2019 by cwn

[ronrick1943]

3 hours ago, Travelcat2 said:

SWFLAOK - thanks to you and DaveFr for that explanation.  It seems to be a backdoor way of doing what Regent does not want us to do.  Will definitely keep that in mind!

 

Ron - not all TA OBC's are refundable!  It is important to look at the OBC information cards in your suite when you board.  It will tell you which OBC's are refundable and which are not.  Most of the OBC's we receive from our TA are not refundable.  While I do not understand this completely, some TA OBC's are in conjunction with Regent (or something like that).  

 

I agree, but what I said was if it's from your TA, but Regent gave it, or funded it it's not refundable.  However if the TA gave it to you from it's own funds (not Regents) it should be refundable because it's like a cash gift.

[SWFLAOK]

I'm a little late on this, but I had time to look through everything I saved from that cruise, including the cards in our stateroom. We did have a 300 dollar OBC from our travel agent that said it was refundable. I'll read those cards more carefully on our future Regent cruises.

[ronrick1943]

1 hour ago, SWFLAOK said:

I'm a little late on this, but I had time to look through everything I saved from that cruise, including the cards in our stateroom. We did have a 300 dollar OBC from our travel agent that said it was refundable. I'll read those cards more carefully on our future Regent cruises.

 

If it was refundable and you didn't spend it all, they should refund fund it to your credit card.

[Travelcat2]

40 minutes ago, ronrick1943 said:

 

If it was refundable and you didn't spend it all, they should refund fund it to your credit card.

 

While it may work that way, we have had to go to Reception and have our refund given to us in cash as they do not have the ability to refund it to your credit card.  The letters we have receive from Reception made is clear (at least to us) that if we do not get the refund, it will disappear.  On the other hand, it is certainly possible that it will go back on your credit card.  I just wouldn't risk it.

[cwn]

Just now, Travelcat2 said:

 

While it may work that way, we have had to go to Reception and have our refund given to us in cash as they do not have the ability to refund it to your credit card.  The letters we have receive from Reception made is clear (at least to us) that if we do not get the refund, it will disappear.  On the other hand, it is certainly possible that it will go back on your credit card.  I just wouldn't risk it.

 

This is true as far as it goes. You need to go to Reception to sign how you want your OBC.....you have the choice or credit card or cash assuming it is the refundable kind. Last time we has a bunch of unused OBC and didn't want to carry that much cash around after the cruise since we were not going straight home. Had it applied to our credit card...it showed up on the card a week or so later.  You just have to fill out the form how you want it.