Can OBC from HAL be used before the cruise to book ship excursions?

[Iamthesea]

Along with the $200 (per person) ship excursion bonuses, for booking "Have It All", we will also receive $300 OBC from HAL.   We would like to go ahead and book a few ship excursions.  Can both be used before the cruise when booking those excursions online?  

[SDARCH]

You can book using the Have it All allowances, but not your OBC.  That has been my experience in the past and may have changed.  From what I understand, the OBC is not technically in your account to spend until you board the ship.

[Crew News]

7 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

Along with the $200 (per person) ship excursion bonuses, for booking "Have It All", we will also receive $300 OBC from HAL.   We would like to go ahead and book a few ship excursions.  Can both be used before the cruise when booking those excursions online?  

You can book excursions with your $200 bonus but now with the $300 OBC.  OBC cannot be used before boarding the ship.  On Embarkation Day go to the EXC desk and use your OBC to book excursion.  Note that waiting until you board may mean popular excursions may be sold out.   

 

Use your OBC to pay your Crew Appreciation bill and/or Specialty Restaurants.

Edited October 20, 2022 by Crew News

[Florida_gal_50]

I have known people that were able to book excursions 3 days before the cruise with obc.  This was pre pandemic. 

[Cruise Suzy]

1 hour ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I have known people that were able to book excursions 3 days before the cruise with obc.  This was pre pandemic. 

No longer allowed.

[Banditswife]

We are in a similar position.  Carnival does allow you to use OBC prior to being onboard.  But HAL does not, I have tried.  I was also told OBC could not be used for crew incentive.  I hope you are correct Crew News.

2 hours ago, Crew News said:

You can book excursions with your $200 bonus but now with the $300 OBC.  OBC cannot be used before boarding the ship.  On Embarkation Day go to the EXC desk and use your OBC to book excursion.  Note that waiting until you board may mean popular excursions may be sold out.   

 

Use your OBC to pay your Crew Appreciation bill and/or Specialty Restaurants.

 

[Iamthesea]

2 hours ago, Crew News said:

You can book excursions with your $200 bonus but now with the $300 OBC.  OBC cannot be used before boarding the ship.  On Embarkation Day go to the EXC desk and use your OBC to book excursion.  Note that waiting until you board may mean popular excursions may be sold out.   

 

Use your OBC to pay your Crew Appreciation bill and/or Specialty Restaurants.

Exactly.  Our cruise is so popular, we cannot wait to get onboard.  Excursions will already be booked.

2 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I have known people that were able to book excursions 3 days before the cruise with obc.  This was pre pandemic. 

Celebrity started allowing guest to use OBC, from them, before embarkation a few years ago.  Very nice to get that paid and taken care of.  At least we will be able to get at least one 'free' excursion booked before we go.  The others we will have to pay up front.  No big deal as we plan to book others with CC Roll Call.  Hopefully we will get to use OBC for the Crew Appreciation.  We will have a total of $650, I believe.  That's not counting the excursion credit.  Thank you!

[Florida_gal_50]

9 minutes ago, Iamthesea said:

Exactly.  Our cruise is so popular, we cannot wait to get onboard.  Excursions will already be booked.

Celebrity started allowing guest to use OBC, from them, before embarkation a few years ago.  Very nice to get that paid and taken care of.  At least we will be able to get at least one 'free' excursion booked before we go.  The others we will have to pay up front.  No big deal as we plan to book others with CC Roll Call.  Hopefully we will get to use OBC for the Crew Appreciation.  We will have a total of $650, I believe.  That's not counting the excursion credit.  Thank you!

Yes for sure you can use the obc for the crew appreciation.

[Crew News]

26 minutes ago, Banditswife said:

We are in a similar position.  Carnival does allow you to use OBC prior to being onboard.  But HAL does not, I have tried.  I was also told OBC could not be used for crew incentive.  I hope you are correct Crew News.

 

Crew Appreciation used to be called "Hotel Service Charge" paid per person/day.

[Banditswife]

Just now, Crew News said:

Crew Appreciation used to be called "Hotel Service Charge" paid per person/day.

Yes, I think they keep changing the name for gratuities.  I might be mistaken, but in Oct of 2022 I think they called it crew incentive.  At any rate, from this thread I have learned we can use our promotional credit to partially pay our "crew appreciation" or whatever they call it these days.  Thank you for all the info you provide on these boards.  I believe we sailed with you through the canal several years ago.

[Crew News]

33 minutes ago, Banditswife said:

Yes, I think they keep changing the name for gratuities.  I might be mistaken, but in Oct of 2022 I think they called it crew incentive.  At any rate, from this thread I have learned we can use our promotional credit to partially pay our "crew appreciation" or whatever they call it these days.  Thank you for all the info you provide on these boards.  I believe we sailed with you through the canal several years ago.

I have never made a full transit of the canal but several partials.  Three full transits have been cancelled and I am hopeful for next October's full transit.

[Banditswife]

29 minutes ago, Crew News said:

I have never made a full transit of the canal but several partials.  Three full transits have been cancelled and I am hopeful for next October's full transit.

Ok, sorry, I must have you confused with someone else.  I do appreciate all the info you share with this board.  We've done 3 full transits. 2 with HAL & 1 with Carnival.  Loved them all.  Hope you enjoy yours next Oct.

[azdrydock]

Do excursions booked on board cost the same as online bookings?

[Crew News]

4 minutes ago, azdrydock said:

Do excursions booked on board cost the same as online bookings?

Yes.  If you wait to book while onboard, there is a high probability that you will just be put on a waitlist.  Excursions involving flying have very limited seats so must be booked as soon as you book the cruise.

[REOVA]

30 minutes ago, azdrydock said:

Do excursions booked on board cost the same as online bookings?

Not always. When I have OBC to use, I book excursions with credit card at least before the 3 days from embarkation so I can get them before they sell out. Then once onboard I go to EXC desk and have them credit my card account and deduct from OBC. But you need to make sure which tours are full so EXC doesn't lose them when they cancel/rebook (they shouldn't but never know). Also check what you paid preboard and current price onboard price. Some do increase onboard so if you have other tours that haven't had a price increase (or are not full yet), you can rebook those first. I did have to pay a higher price once but it was only $10-20 total. 

[azdrydock]

1 hour ago, Crew News said:

Yes.  If you wait to book while onboard, there is a high probability that you will just be put on a waitlist.  Excursions involving flying have very limited seats so must be booked as soon as you book the cruise.

 

46 minutes ago, REOVA said:

Not always. When I have OBC to use, I book excursions with credit card at least before the 3 days from embarkation so I can get them before they sell out. Then once onboard I go to EXC desk and have them credit my card account and deduct from OBC. But you need to make sure which tours are full so EXC doesn't lose them when they cancel/rebook (they shouldn't but never know). Also check what you paid preboard and current price onboard price. Some do increase onboard so if you have other tours that haven't had a price increase (or are not full yet), you can rebook those first. I did have to pay a higher price once but it was only $10-20 total. 

Thanks 

We booked our "must have" excursions in advance and plan on waiting until we board for the rest. Some times we wait until the last minute to decide to  do a tour, walk around the port or stay on the ship.  Since the restart new excursions have been added on a daily basis sometimes the day before port arrival. You may be able to switch to the new excursion at the last minute with no penalty, but not always

 

We haven't been on HAL for a while but on other lines the agent generated OBC's were not available until after sailing but since they appeared as a credit on the invoice it came off the bottom line.

 

[ozblue_7]

Our $200 each bonus onboard credit states not to be used in casino or gratuities. A quick search comes up with differing views yes and no. I,m nervously holding off booking excursions that I would really like to book now as we have no other use for obc.

 

There doesn’t seem to be a definite answer?

[azdrydock]

On 11/26/2022 at 5:36 PM, ozblue_7 said:

Our $200 each bonus onboard credit states not to be used in casino or gratuities. A quick search comes up with differing views yes and no. I,m nervously holding off booking excursions that I would really like to book now as we have no other use for obc.

 

There doesn’t seem to be a definite answer?

I went into the archives and dug out my last HAL invoice from early 2019

The first few lines read as Gift Orders which were my OBC's  that totaled to $500

 

The next few lines  read as "Hotel Service Charge" and each one decremented  my OBC by $16.00

 

There is a difference between a gratuity and the Hotel Service charge. I would assume that a gratuity is a non invoiceable tip that you would give a crew member in lieu of or addition to the Hotel Service Charge. I can't comment on Casino charges. 

 

As others have stated you can book now on your credit card and then once onboard cancel and rebook. You can tell the risk factor by checking the excursions a few days prior to sailing and see if they are waitlisted or sold out and double check with EXC desk before cancelling.

 

Last cruise we were on (not HAL) there were dramatic differences between the internet and onboard prices. Besides new excursions some excursions that were marked sold out were available, This was do to allowing increased bus capacity due to the lifting of Covid restrictions and more drivers available. 

 

 

My experience has been that as long as it appears on your invoice your OBC covers it. 

 

When I book a onboard future cruise, the deposit has to be done with a credit card thus it does not appear on the invoice.

 

 

[ozblue_7]

Thanks for your help. It seems almost unanimous that I can use my HAL provided obc to part pay my daily crew appreciation charge.