Is converting OBC to cash possible anymore?

[Elaine2007]

I am sailing this fall (hopefully) and was enticed to book Carnival due to their generous gift of $500 OBC (plus another $100 for shareholder).  To be honest, I have no clue what to do with it all.  I am saving $200 for gratuities for 2 (7 nt) but I have no interest in anything else.  I don't gamble, I have no interest in excursions because I've done most of them, no interest in more food (specialty dining) because I'm never hungry after the first day, don't drink alcohol, and have no interest in spa treatments.  In the past, which was a long time ago, I would go to the purser's desk and they would give me cash and charge it to my cabin.  I would spend the cash at the ports or take it home.  This time Carnival seems like they've caught on and they are making it harder to get cash.  They told me the casino would allow cash advances against credit/debit cards for 5% charge but that my OBC is non-refundable and must be spent on the ship.  I've read about people converting it to casino chips and then cashing out on the final day.  I could try that but I would risk losing $300 if it converts back to OBC and is lost.  Does anyone know of any loopholes?  Has Carnival closed all options to convert OBC to cash?

[Sweetnspicy]

I’ll go with you and you can spend it on me. 🤣

[bury me at sea]

Elaine, no one has sailed on Carnival for a year.  Last time i sailed it was still possible to cash out at the casino.

[firefly333]

Wasnt there a sweet shop where you could buy gift certificates or something?

 

I'm buying a nice watch with my obc. Maybe some booze, excursions. Steak house and a glass or three of wine lol. 

[cruisingguy007]

The casino is the only way and they frown on you avoiding the 3% fee to get casino chips by loading up at a slot and then going to the cage to cash out. You can do it once but they will lock your card up after that and you'll have to go to the cage for a "naughty talk" lol but they will unlock it after that. 

[Jasonsterling]

Why would you have to wait until the final day to cash out the casino chips if that's still a possible avenue. You should be able to cash them out almost immediately and then if it didn't work and reverted back to OBC then, I don't know. Can you apply it toward purchasing a future cruise while on the ship? I have no idea but maybe you could use it that way. Honestly I admire your restraint. I definitely will spend the entire OCB and then some on nothing more than I normally buy. 

[CruiseHealing]

12 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

The casino is the only way and they frown on you avoiding the 3% fee to get casino chips by loading up at a slot and then going to the cage to cash out. You can do it once but they will lock your card up after that and you'll have to go to the cage for a "naughty talk" lol but they will unlock it after that. 

With millions of dollars in OBC due to C19 cancelations, I would not be surprised that Carnival blocks the casino route.  I also would think that they limit jewelry purchases.  So that limits services, premium restaurants, bar services and retail Shops. Why?  Large profit margins in these areas for Carnival.

[cruisingguy007]

8 minutes ago, Jasonsterling said:

Why would you have to wait until the final day to cash out the casino chips if that's still a possible avenue. You should be able to cash them out almost immediately and then if it didn't work and reverted back to OBC then, I don't know. Can you apply it toward purchasing a future cruise while on the ship? I have no idea but maybe you could use it that way. Honestly I admire your restraint. I definitely will spend the entire OCB and then some on nothing more than I normally buy. 

 

If you go the slot route then yes. If you like table games (I love craps) then you have to load up and cash out but they don't like that since you are essentially getting a free cash advance on your credit card. Theoretically, you're correct in that you could easily stick to slots and avoid the extra hassle but I'd assume they would be amenable if you had some consistency of play and weren't so overt about it. They track your play which is why it's nearly impossible to avoid the naughty talk if you load up on the slots (only a few min of play) and cash out for chips at the cage vs loading up at the beginning and  spreading out your play. It would certainly look better but I doubt there is anything they could do if you simply loaded up and cashed out for cash (and not chips for table games). 

[Elaine5715]

1 hour ago, Elaine2007 said:

I am sailing this fall (hopefully) and was enticed to book Carnival due to their generous gift of $500 OBC (plus another $100 for shareholder).  To be honest, I have no clue what to do with it all.  I am saving $200 for gratuities for 2 (7 nt) but I have no interest in anything else.  I don't gamble, I have no interest in excursions because I've done most of them, no interest in more food (specialty dining) because I'm never hungry after the first day, don't drink alcohol, and have no interest in spa treatments.  In the past, which was a long time ago, I would go to the purser's desk and they would give me cash and charge it to my cabin.  I would spend the cash at the ports or take it home.  This time Carnival seems like they've caught on and they are making it harder to get cash.  They told me the casino would allow cash advances against credit/debit cards for 5% charge but that my OBC is non-refundable and must be spent on the ship.  I've read about people converting it to casino chips and then cashing out on the final day.  I could try that but I would risk losing $300 if it converts back to OBC and is lost.  Does anyone know of any loopholes?  Has Carnival closed all options to convert OBC to cash?

 

56 minutes ago, bury me at sea said:

Elaine, no one has sailed on Carnival for a year.  Last time i sailed it was still possible to cash out at the casino.

"Cashing out" at the casino sounds like you can walk up and get cash from the casino which you can not do.  

You just load your OBC into a slot machine, input the requested information, spin once, cash out and take your card to the cage and then they will give you the cash (hopefully)

[Elaine5715]

3 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

If you go the slot route then yes. If you like table games (I love craps) then you have to load up and cash out but they don't like that since you are essentially getting a free cash advance on your credit card. Theoretically, you're correct in that you could easily stick to slots and avoid the extra hassle but I'd assume they would be amenable if you had some consistency of play and weren't so overt about it. They track your play which is why it's nearly impossible to avoid the naughty talk if you load up on the slots (only a few min of play) and cash out for chips at the cage vs loading up at the beginning and  spreading out your play. It would certainly look better but I doubt there is anything they could do if you simply loaded up and cashed out for cash (and not chips for table games). 

A one spinner player is not uncommon as some people just "have a little flutter".  They don't even look down that far on their reports.  They are watching for the top players

[cruisingguy007]

19 minutes ago, CruiseHealing said:

With millions of dollars in OBC due to C19 cancelations, I would not be surprised that Carnival blocks the casino route.  I also would think that they limit jewelry purchases.  So that limits services, premium restaurants, bar services and retail Shops. Why?  Large profit margins in these areas for Carnival.

 

I doubt they will. It would lock up the system entirely. I suspect there may be a rule change about OBC conversions but halting the system as is would be foolish. It would kill two birds with one stone but the second bird is merely frowned upon. They actually want that play but also want the 3% vig on the chips. Plus having passengers dumping those OBC into machines is another way to reduce their values and snatch some back. I don't see how they could do both, allow play and also remove the ability to cash out. 

Edited April 11, 2021 by cruisingguy007

[cruisingguy007]

4 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

A one spinner player is not uncommon as some people just "have a little flutter".  They don't even look down that far on their reports.  They are watching for the top players

 

To me it really makes no sense since you could cash out and then rebuy chips anyway but they do watch what you are doing. Trust me, I've gotten "the talk" lol. I suspect loading up and then cashing out would draw some scrutiny, not sure what they could do about it though. 

[bury me at sea]

16 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

 

"Cashing out" at the casino sounds like you can walk up and get cash from the casino which you can not do.  

You just load your OBC into a slot machine, input the requested information, spin once, cash out and take your card to the cage and then they will give you the cash (hopefully)

 

Correct.

[Elaine2007]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

Wasnt there a sweet shop where you could buy gift certificates or something?

 

I'm buying a nice watch with my obc. Maybe some booze, excursions. Steak house and a glass or three of wine lol. 

Gift certificates a good idea.  And maybe some jewelry.  I just figured getting cash would be ideal but I'll have to wait and see how successful people are who sail before me, if there are any.

[Elaine2007]

1 hour ago, Jasonsterling said:

Why would you have to wait until the final day to cash out the casino chips if that's still a possible avenue. You should be able to cash them out almost immediately and then if it didn't work and reverted back to OBC then, I don't know. Can you apply it toward purchasing a future cruise while on the ship? I have no idea but maybe you could use it that way. Honestly I admire your restraint. I definitely will spend the entire OCB and then some on nothing more than I normally buy. 

I'm not sure why people suggested waiting until the final day unless it's because to do so sooner would revert the chips back to OBC (just guessing).  It's not really restraint that limits my spending.  I use to live right near a port and did these sailings so many times that it's more of a "been there, done that" feeling.  I just enjoy the experience as a whole...relaxation, jacuzzis, party atmosphere, food, escaping.  I'm sure I could find things to spend the OBC on if it turns out I can't cash it...art auction, jewelry, bingo, specialty coffee, gift certificates, etc.  I'm just checking out my options.  But I'll probably have to wait until a few ships sail over the summer to find out what really to expect.

[sfcjallen]

Why not make some crew members very happy and leave some extra large tips on specialty coffee purchases or soft drink purchases. You can also try your luck on bingo or the cash things they sell at the bingo games. 

[firefly333]

34 minutes ago, Elaine2007 said:

Gift certificates a good idea.  And maybe some jewelry.  I just figured getting cash would be ideal but I'll have to wait and see how successful people are who sail before me, if there are any.

I think it's called cherry on top where you buy gift certificates

[bafinegan]

33 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I think it's called cherry on top where you buy gift certificates

Unless they change the rules, you can go to Cherry On Top and buy Carnival gift cards.  THis is what hubbs and I plan to do.  We have $1400 OBC for our Aug 2021.  Plan on converting 1/2-2/3 of that into those gift cards to pay off our Jan 2022 cruise.

[Earthworm Jim]

2 hours ago, CruiseHealing said:

With millions of dollars in OBC due to C19 cancelations, I would not be surprised that Carnival blocks the casino route.  I also would think that they limit jewelry purchases.  So that limits services, premium restaurants, bar services and retail Shops. Why?  Large profit margins in these areas for Carnival.

 

Wouldn't jewelry also have a large profit margin? I don't really know but I always assumed the profit on jewelry, either at sea or on land, was bigger than almost anything.

 

(Or at least anything legal)

[Elaine5715]

14 minutes ago, Earthworm Jim said:

 

Wouldn't jewelry also have a large profit margin? I don't really know but I always assumed the profit on jewelry, either at sea or on land, was bigger than almost anything.

 

(Or at least anything legal)

The shops, casino and spa aren't owned by Carnival. 

[SRQbeachgirl]

1 hour ago, bafinegan said:

Unless they change the rules, you can go to Cherry On Top and buy Carnival gift cards.  THis is what hubbs and I plan to do.  We have $1400 OBC for our Aug 2021.  Plan on converting 1/2-2/3 of that into those gift cards to pay off our Jan 2022 cruise.

 

This is brilliant! We have three cruises booked with total OBC of $1,500 and your post just gave me a way to almost pay for a fourth! 😆

[SNJCruisers]

7 hours ago, Elaine2007 said:

Gift certificates a good idea.  

As Firefly mentioned, go to Cherry on Top and buy Carnival gift cards in 100.00 increments that you can then use towards your next cruise.

[SNJCruisers]

6 hours ago, bafinegan said:

We have $1400 OBC for our Aug 2021.  

You really think your cruise for August will actually go?  I'm 50/50 for Halloween on the Mardi Gras.

[FiremedicMike151]

Whatever is leftover isn’t sent to you at the conclusion of your cruise?

[bafinegan]

6 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

You really think your cruise for August will actually go?  I'm 50/50 for Halloween on the Mardi Gras.

 

I also think it's 50/50. If it gets canceled, we will just transfer it to our 1/2022 Mardi Graz cruise.  The AUg cruise was a transfer from a canceled Jan, 2021 cruise.