Can OBC Be Used For Daily Gratuities?

[Astro Flyer]

First time Celebrity cruiser after many days sailing on Princess who deducts the daily gratuities from any type of credit in our onboard account.
 

I did not see that using OBC for gratuities was an option & my TA was told by Celebrity that OBC cannot be used for gratuities. On Princess some types of OBC have exclusions however they are a simple credit to our onboard account from which any debits are deducted.

 

Does Celebrity allow using OBC to pay gratuities? Hopefully yes because we have more OBC than we’d likely use onboard which like on Princess is primarily non-refundable.

 

Thanks to anyone who could provide any insights about my question. 

[davekathy]

9 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

First time Celebrity cruiser after many days sailing on Princess who deducts the daily gratuities from any type of credit in our onboard account.
 

I did not see that using OBC for gratuities was an option & my TA was told by Celebrity that OBC cannot be used for gratuities. On Princess some types of OBC have exclusions however they are a simple credit to our onboard account from which any debits are deducted.

 

Does Celebrity allow using OBC to pay gratuities? Hopefully yes because we have more OBC than we’d likely use onboard which like on Princess is primarily non-refundable.

 

Thanks to anyone who could provide any insights about my question. 

OBC can be used for gratuities whether they are directly from Celebritty or a TA. Your TA is wrong! If you have OBC from Celebrity and a TA the OBC from Celebrity will be deducted first as Celebrity OBC is non refunable. 

Edited August 13, 2022 by davekathy

[Astro Flyer]

Just now, davekathy said:

OBC can be used for Grauities wheter they are directly from Celebritty or a TA. Your TA is wrong! 

Thanks…great! 👍
 

My TA was told by Celebrity that our OBC could not be used for gratuities…apparently it’s not only Princess reps who provide incorrect information.

[RTShaker]

Yes it can. You will see the amount of your OBC reduced every day as the daily charges are added to your account.

[Astro Flyer]

2 minutes ago, RTShaker said:

Yes it can. You will see the amount of your OBC reduced every day as the daily charges are added to your account.

Thanks…then just like Princess.

 

Appreciate the quick replies so we can begin to plan how we’ll spend our OBC.

 

My TA is sailing the same ship in a couple of weeks on a fam cruise & will share her experiences with us. 😊

[Northern Aurora]

Long time Celebrity cruiser "cruisestitch" has assembled a comprehensive list of items/services which folks can use their OBC to purchase.  I hope she posts that list.  Essentially, OBC can be used for almost everything except a deposit on a future cruise.

[rj59]

I just returned from my first Celebrity cruise too, after many on Princess. I asked the question at CS on the ship, but just realize they don't start showing gratuities until the second day of the cruise, and thereafter it shows up each afternoon. The other nice thing I found is Celebrity made their $100 OBC credit available before the cruise, so I bought a soda package for $9/day, and I could have used OBC to upgrade it to include espresso drinks, the package price $18/day or so, plus 20%. They're fairly aggressive about persuading people to buy drinks and dining packages on the ship, just like RC, especially for the minority who don't have all-inclusive. The other gotcha I found out was that their $100 deposit for a future cruise couldn't be taken out of OBC. I ended up with more OBC than I expected, so I ended up with 4 bottles of rum for $52 in my duffel back riding an electric bike from the pier in Seattle to my car, like the Skagway miners who had to carry 100 lb on their back to the Yukon. 

[Astro Flyer]

If I am reading it correctly we can use OBC to pre-purchase the first night dinner at Tuscan Grill with a 33% discount. Just over half of our OBC covers tips so considering that first night discounted dinner.
 

I’m guessing that offer might sell out before boarding the ship and that it would be best to pre-purchase it?

 

Edited August 13, 2022 by Astro Flyer

[Astro Flyer]

15 minutes ago, rj59 said:

I just returned from my first Celebrity cruise too, after many on Princess.

In your opinion how would you compare Celebrity to Princess?
 

I’ve read some opinions that their food was a notch above Princess however taste is a very subjective opinion. Specialty dinners are about twice as expensive as Princess & internet is much more expensive than my PCL elite perk at $5/day.

 

[wrk2cruise]

9 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

If I am reading it correctly we can use OBC to pre-purchase the first night dinner at Tuscan Grill with a 33% discount. Just over half of our OBC covers tips so considering that first night discounted dinner.
 

I’m guessing that offer might sell out before boarding the ship and that it would be best to pre-purchase it?

 

 

Yes I've seen it sell out prior to sailing.  Yes anything you purchase on the Cruise Planner can be paid for with Celebrity OBC.  Just make sure that you provide the amount of OBC you want to use and that it's deducted from the amount due on the checkout page.

[wrk2cruise]

You can also cancel up to I think 24-48hrs prior to the reservation so wouldn't hurt to reserve now and decide later.

[Astro Flyer]

I can see our early December reservation (booked 8 days ago) on the app however when I click on it I only received this notification…do we have to be closer to sailing to access it? I can access more options on their website.

 

[ccqueenanne]

I enjoyed the specialty dining on both Princess and Celebrity, but did find the high prices on Celebrity hard to swallow for similar quality (Crown Grill vs Murano, Sabatini vs Tuscan Grille). The discount for the first night on Celebrity helped, as did our generous OBC balance. Had we not had so much credit, we might have limited ourselves to just that first discounted dinner. 

[bama4cruisin]

On 8/13/2022 at 2:54 PM, Astro Flyer said:

I can see our early December reservation (booked 8 days ago) on the app however when I click on it I only received this notification…do we have to be closer to sailing to access it? I can access more options on their website.

 

You won’t really be able to “do” much via the app til closer, but if you want to reserve something that might sell out, i.e. first night discount for a specialty restaurant, book it on the website now.  As has been mentioned, if you change your mind, cancel . 
 . refund of OBC is virtually immediate, and if by credit card, it is also quick.

[Denny01]

On 8/13/2022 at 2:31 PM, Astro Flyer said:

In your opinion how would you compare Celebrity to Princess?
 

I’ve read some opinions that their food was a notch above Princess however taste is a very subjective opinion. Specialty dinners are about twice as expensive as Princess & internet is much more expensive than my PCL elite perk at $5/day.

 

I enjoyed my Princess cruises (3), but Celebrity is my ‘go-to’ Line of choice. 

 

Comparing:

1. Dining. Found both nice and good quality. thought Celebrity a bit above in the MDR’s, especially the Edge-Class 4 MDRs. Only dined in a specialty once a cruise or so and liked them, but only as something special. Cant really comment on Princess specialty. Celebirty has a much better Oceanview buffet, much better setup and more variety. 

2. SRs. For standard Veranda SRs, I found the Celebrity to be much better. The 3 different Princess ships’ SRs were smaller, no couch or coffee table to have another couple over so we’d upgrade to a mini-Suite on Princess which also had a much bigger veranda, but definitely higher cost. the showers on standard Princess SRs were also Very small, and I’m not a big guy. 

3. Common areas. I think Celebrity is much better designed and handles the crowds much better. Many Princess areas were always packed, more noisy. the theaters on my Princess ships were smaller and we had to get there an hr or so prior to a popular show to get seats together. On Celebrity, not the case…..in most cases. 

4. Service. Both have excellent service and attentive staff. Celebrity may have a bit of an edge, but not much.

5. What about Princess pluses after all that? I enjoyed the coffee cards that allowed us to ‘share’; I loved the International sandwich snack place, forgot its real name, for great light meals.  

 

Again, enjoyed Princess, but I’m biased. 

 

Den

[Astro Flyer]

3 hours ago, ccqueenanne said:

I enjoyed the specialty dining on both Princess and Celebrity, but did find the high prices on Celebrity hard to swallow for similar quality (Crown Grill vs Murano, Sabatini vs Tuscan Grille). The discount for the first night on Celebrity helped, as did our generous OBC balance. Had we not had so much credit, we might have limited ourselves to just that first discounted dinner. 

Thanks for sharing your experiences…based on what I’ve read the specialty restaurants also add an automatic 18% tip whereas on Princess it’s included but sometimes we’ll provide a cash tip for exceptional service.

 

[Astro Flyer]

3 hours ago, bama4cruisin said:

You won’t really be able to “do” much via the app til closer, but if you want to reserve something that might sell out, i.e. first night discount for a specialty restaurant, book it on the website now.  As has been mentioned, if you change your mind, cancel . 
 . refund of OBC is virtually immediate, and if by credit card, it is also quick.

Thanks for the app info.

 

We have booked the first night at the Tuscan Grille with a 33% discount plus purchased a 3 bottle classic wine package (5% discount). I’ve read that we’re allowed 2) 750ml bottles of wine per cabin but on this board it was posted that is now 2 per person. Can anyone confirm that’s changed or is it like Princess who allows 2 fee free bottles (in cabin) & others with a $20 corkage fee for more wine. If we can bring 4 to drink in cabin without any fee or pay a $25 corkage in a dining room we might go that route instead of the slightly discounted wine package with a tip added.

 

Hopefully I correctly understand the process. 🤞

 

Edited August 15, 2022 by Astro Flyer

[DCPIV]

14 hours ago, Astro Flyer said:

Thanks for sharing your experiences…based on what I’ve read the specialty restaurants also add an automatic 18% tip whereas on Princess it’s included but sometimes we’ll provide a cash tip for exceptional service.

 

 

You are correct, but that is a very new development and what appears to be a reaction to sudden global inflation.  I am totally speculating, but I wouldn't be surprised to see other lines adopt something similar or find another method of essentially raising the cost of specialty dining over the coming months.