OBC Refunds

[datone]

We have an upcoming cruise where we have  US $250 of non-refundable OBC.   We also want to pre-purchase another US $250 of OBC.   Just wondered what is the situation if we do not end up using it all.   I know we don't get the non-refundable back but do we get back any OBC we pre-purchase ourselves?

[skynight]

33 minutes ago, datone said:

We have an upcoming cruise where we have  US $250 of non-refundable OBC.   We also want to pre-purchase another US $250 of OBC.   Just wondered what is the situation if we do not end up using it all.   I know we don't get the non-refundable back but do we get back any OBC we pre-purchase ourselves?

Yes. Non-refundable is automatically applied first to on board spending, then refundable. Any unused balanced is refunded to you. If the balance is $25 or under you can get it at passenger services. Larger amounts are either credited back to your credit card or sent by check.

[frugaltravel]

Why pay for an OBC that you think in advance you might not use? Why not just pay after the charge? Seems so much easier to me.

[geoherb]

But it can take a long time. I'm still waiting for a refund from my Alaskan cruises that ended July 3. 

[rocklinmom]

Wow that seems like a long time. My refund check came exactly four weeks after our cruise ended. 

[MCC retired]

Seems silly to buy OBC with the chance of not using it all up (never an issue for us) .

Why not make sure that you are getting the most "free" OBC that you can ?

OBC from Shareholder , Military , TA Group Amenity , TA Gift , TA Cruise Night Sale ?

[Micahs Grandad]

Last morning of cruise we go to guest services and get cash for our obc. Last few times no wait at all.

[FritzG]

We got off the Pacific Princess on September 24th, and we got our refund checks on 10/8.  

 

[Pierlesscruisers]

6 hours ago, geoherb said:

But it can take a long time. I'm still waiting for a refund from my Alaskan cruises that ended July 3. 

 

Wow, that is a long wait. Might want to check on that with Princess.  The longest I've ever had to wait was about 8 weeks one time.  I just got notified by the post office that our refund from our last cruise which ended the 19th of Sept will be delivered today!

 

Tom

[JF - retired RRT]

7 hours ago, Micahs Grandad said:

Last morning of cruise we go to guest services and get cash for our obc. Last few times no wait at all.

So you always spend your OBC down to $25 or less?

[JF - retired RRT]

10 hours ago, datone said:

We have an upcoming cruise where we have  US $250 of non-refundable OBC.   We also want to pre-purchase another US $250 of OBC.   Just wondered what is the situation if we do not end up using it all.   I know we don't get the non-refundable back but do we get back any OBC we pre-purchase ourselves?

How long is your cruise? If it's a 7 day and there are 2 of you, your gratuities will use almost all of the $250. If you plan on doing other spending, then buying more OBC could make sense but as suggested by frugal above, just wait til you're on board and let your credit card take care of it after the cruise. 

If you buy OBC ahead of the cruise, you're giving Princess a "free" loan on $250. Not much, if it's one person, but it adds up with a company as big as Carnival Corp.

[voljeep]

15 minutes ago, JF - retired RRT said:

How long is your cruise? If it's a 7 day and there are 2 of you, your gratuities will use almost all of the $250. If you plan on doing other spending, then buying more OBC could make sense but as suggested by frugal above, just wait til you're on board and let your credit card take care of it after the cruise. 

If you buy OBC ahead of the cruise, you're giving Princess a "free" loan on $250. Not much, if it's one person, but it adds up with a company as big as Carnival Corp.

it's not a financial decision .. it's more of a personal preference / budgeting decision about not getting sticker shock at the end of the cruise when you final bill is presented

 

we've done it before ... it's just a down payment on my wife's "drink package" ....

 

a perfect situation is owing less than $100 at the end of the cruise, at least for us

[Micahs Grandad]

1 hour ago, JF - retired RRT said:

So you always spend your OBC down to $25 or less?

Usually or manage so we owe them a small amount. That is why we get a statement of account every couple of days.

 

Since most of our cruises have free grats these days and we get free coffee cards now that we are elite have to manage our account a bit more creatively than in the past.

[datone]

23 hours ago, frugaltravel said:

Why pay for an OBC that you think in advance you might not use? Why not just pay after the charge? Seems so much easier to me.

I am in Australia and if I pre-purchase OBC through Princess Australia the exchange rate is better.  Doing this I also avoid extra card fees as it is not an overseas transaction.   Tips are taken care of as well in advance.

[JF - retired RRT]

1 hour ago, datone said:

I am in Australia and if I pre-purchase OBC through Princess Australia the exchange rate is better.  Doing this I also avoid extra card fees as it is not an overseas transaction.   Tips are taken care of as well in advance.

Ah! Wondered where the "Gold Coast" was

[jrcruisealong]

I was also wondering if they are refundable when purchased ahead of time. I like the idea of being able to prepurchase them since I can buy them in Canadian, with a decent exchange rate, and also buy them through PayPal. But if I do buy them through PayPal, would they refund any leftover to PayPal or send a cheque?

[satxdiver]

The refund check goes to you no matter how you may have pre-paid obc.  Your folio is like a bank account.  They put all the credits (OBC mostly) on your folio (account) and then they start subtracting things you have purchased say from a bar, dining room, shops, excursions etc.  With each charge your account decreases just like a checking account.  At the end of the cruise if there is still money left in your folio, they will look at what  to do with it.  If you had refundable OBC then they would refund the money and if you had no refundable OBC then the money is lost.  Just think of it as a bank checking account where the balance goes down with each purchase from the original deposit (OBC).

Edited October 16, 2019 by satxdiver

[frugaltravel]

1 hour ago, jrcruisealong said:

I was also wondering if they are refundable when purchased ahead of time. I like the idea of being able to prepurchase them since I can buy them in Canadian, with a decent exchange rate, and also buy them through PayPal. But if I do buy them through PayPal, would they refund any leftover to PayPal or send a cheque?

Any refundable OBC I have ever received has been a check regardless of how I paid. YMMV.

[geoherb]

On 10/15/2019 at 3:06 PM, Pierlesscruisers said:

 

Wow, that is a long wait. Might want to check on that with Princess.  The longest I've ever had to wait was about 8 weeks one time.  

 

I checked after eight weeks. Somehow Princess messed up my refund. It did not match what my final statement showed. I was on back-to-back cruises, and the ship's accounting of refundable OBC differed from how Princess did it on land. I got an agent to agree with me a month ago. She said it could take four to six weeks for my refund check to arrive.

[Pierlesscruisers]

1 hour ago, geoherb said:

 

I checked after eight weeks. Somehow Princess messed up my refund. It did not match what my final statement showed. I was on back-to-back cruises, and the ship's accounting of refundable OBC differed from how Princess did it on land. I got an agent to agree with me a month ago. She said it could take four to six weeks for my refund check to arrive.

 

Glad you finally got it straightened out and hope you get it soon.  It's always nice to get "free money!"!!

 

Tom