Where did all this OBC come from/how to get rid of it?

[Cruisin4beaches]

I booked a sky suite on Reflection labor day weekend. Usually I get $300.00(for a sky suite) and an extra $50.00 for labor day. When I looked at my cruise planner I had $950.00 in OBC. So we booked lawn club grill first night total $76.00.

I like to try to get it back some way ( wink wink). We don't gamble or wear jewelry. 

What to do??

[cruzzzinma]

If you give extra gratuities, you can use some of the OBC. The retreat concierge has the forms that you use to designate the people the grats go to.

[AnnaNicole]

casino.   cash out.

[mahdnc]

Order lotsa room service

[CaribbeanBound]

Great problem to have. More Ideas:

1. Book excursions

2. Hit the spa

3. Arrange more specialty restaurant meals

4. Hit up the ship's retail stores

5. Double up on the Bingo cards

6. Buy a round of drinks for everyone at the bar

[mahdnc]

Forget the room service idea, it's free for suites. 

[Ken the cruiser]

You can definitely prebook your excursions with your Celebrity OBC. That's what we do and always have a great time on them when we're in port!

[HS2BS]

Refundable obc is truly refundable -on the last day. Go to customer service desk and tell them how much of the refundable credit you want in cash out! We’re presently on the reflection now, and I checked with CS that this is still the policy - yes it is!

We were on Beyond in November, and the Summit last June - both times we were able to withdraw all the unused refundable obc in cash.

 

Hal

[jelayne]

We had $1000 in refundable OBC on our December cruise and took it all in cash at Guest Services the last night of the cruise.

[davekathy]

11 minutes ago, HS2BS said:

Refundable obc is truly refundable -on the last day. Go to customer service desk and tell them how much of the refundable credit you want in cash out! We’re presently on the reflection now, and I checked with CS that this is still the policy - yes it is!

We were on Beyond in November, and the Summit last June - both times we were able to withdraw all the unused refundable obc in cash.

 

Hal

The OBC @Cruisin4beaches has is from Celebrity so it's non refundable OBC.

Edited January 12, 2023 by davekathy

[kokopelli-az]

Here's another thread discussing how to spend OBC:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2805657-what-to-do-with-obc/

 

[Islander500]

Buy liquor, perfume or face creams/make-up in the shops. 
 

[hcat]

spa treatments, jewelry, handbags,  salon,  liquor store, cosmetics store, wine, flowers.   photo products  pvt ships excursions.....

 

special dining events??

Edited January 13, 2023 by hcat

[Georgia_Peaches]

Umm..try to temper your excitement until you know for sure that it’s real OBC and not a “computer error” that will somehow correct itself in a few months time. That actually happened to us when we booked our upcoming Solstice cruise back in August. The computer accidentally doubled out OBC for our Royal suite. For weeks we had $600 extra obc that seemed to magically appear. When I asked my TA about it she said it was their promotion at the time of booking. I learned from a thread here on CC that people who booked suites during our booking window accidentally received double obc. Once realized, it was removed as quickly as it appeared. “Oops… sorry, our bad…”. 
 

I hope yours is legit and if so, have fun doing whatever you like with the extra!

[chrismakris]

We always end up with about $800 in OBC from X.

 

We use it on 3 things:

 

1.  Upgrade drink package(you’re in a suite so it doesn’t matter)

2.  Specialty Restaurants. I can’t justify paying upwards of $60 to eat at another venue on the ship
3.  Duty Free liquor 

 

We normally don’t spend too much on anything else so these three things eat up all our OBC. 
 

If it’s a longer cruise then laundry is another option. 

[dodger1964]

We bought an Ipad with our obc (that was probably 8 years ago...don't know if they still sell them or not).

[terrydtx]

Last year we had a lot of OBC credit and what we didn't use for shore excursions, I spent in the shops for a couple of Tommy Bahama shirts that I really liked and they were reasonably priced. TB shirts are way better than buying Celebrity branded shirts that you can't really wear too much. I do not know how it was done, but after we got home from the cruise, I got a $50 Tommy Bahama gift certificate in the mail as a reward for my recent TB purchases. The only recent TB purchases were the ones on the Reflection.😎

 

We have $1200 OBC on our Apex cruise in September and I hope to buy a couple more TB shirts.

Edited January 13, 2023 by terrydtx

[terrydtx]

5 hours ago, chrismakris said:

3.  Duty Free liquor

When I looked at the Duty Free liquor on the ship, it was priced at about the same prices I pay at Total Wine & More here at home and then I have to get it home when flying home.

[D. B.]

On 1/11/2023 at 1:48 PM, Cruisin4beaches said:

I booked a sky suite on Reflection labor day weekend. Usually I get $300.00(for a sky suite) and an extra $50.00 for labor day. When I looked at my cruise planner I had $950.00 in OBC. So we booked lawn club grill first night total $76.00.

I like to try to get it back some way ( wink wink). We don't gamble or wear jewelry. 

What to do??

OBC's are playable in the Casino. You  load it into a slot machine. Bet one small spin and Cash Out.

 Take the paper ticket to the Cashier and get Real American $$$.

[cruisestitch]

Because this gets asked so often I've compiled a list of things to spend OBC on. The only thing I know of now that you CAN'T buy with OBC is a deposit on a Future Cruise. You need a credit card for that.  Also, there may be some card game in the casino with a cash only buy-in.   If they do a fundraiser, like selling t-shirts to “save the reefs” and the like, expect to need cash for that.  Otherwise, here you go:

 

 

*Acupuncture

*Airport transfers

*Alcove Rental (some ships)

*Apple products etc. and Ilounge classes

*Art Auction Purchases

*Babysitting

*Barber Shop services 

*Behind the Scenes Tours

*Beverages -- Alcoholic, carbonated soft drinks, specialty coffees and teas, bottled water — if not in your package, also beverages above your package limits

*Bingo and Deal or No Deal

*Bottles of wine

*Casino

*Chef’s Table

*Corkage charged if you bring your own bottles of wine to the MDR

*Duty free liquor and cigarettes

*Extra cost entrees and other items in Main Dining Room and specialty restaurants

*Extend Your Stay program

*Fitness classes

*Flowers

*Gelato

*Gift shop souvenirs, purses, watches, cosmetics, clothing, jewelry, etc.

*Gratuities, and extra gratuities

*Guests dining with you in Luminae (applies to Suite Passengers only)

*Guest entertainers' CD's and DVD's

*Hair and nail salon

*Hollywood hot glass experiences (some ships)

*Internet if not in your package, also Internet upcharges 

*Laundry/pressing/drycleaning

*Liquor Tasting events

*Luggage Valet

*Martini Flights

*Medical Center purchases 

*Mini bar

*Portrait photo sessions

*Pay-per-view movies

*Persian Gardens passes

*Personal Training Sessions

*Photos & cameras

*Room service up charge items, and late night delivery fee

*Ryde spinning classes

*Shore Excursions

*Shuttle to town (some ports)

*Spa -- massages and treatments

*Specialty restaurants

*Teeth Whitening

*Telephone calls using ship's system

*Transfer to another passenger's account

*Voyage in Review DVD

*Wine and liquor tastings

*Zumba

[cruisestitch]

10 hours ago, terrydtx said:

When I looked at the Duty Free liquor on the ship, it was priced at about the same prices I pay at Total Wine & More here at home and then I have to get it home when flying home.

The base price might be the same but then don’t you have to pay state sales tax on top of that? There would be no state sales tax if you buy it on the ship

[Ipeeinthepools]

Give it to your room steward or waiter.   Why buy stuff you don't need or want?  Go to Guest services and give it to someone on the crew.

[chrismakris]

14 hours ago, terrydtx said:

When I looked at the Duty Free liquor on the ship, it was priced at about the same prices I pay at Total Wine & More here at home and then I have to get it home when flying home.

We’re Canadian so the prices on some items are cheaper than buying at home. 
 

Our two 1 L bottles of Crown Royal were cheaper than 2 750 ml bottles

[Diamond lover]

17 hours ago, cruisestitch said:

Because this gets asked so often I've compiled a list of things to spend OBC on. The only thing I know of now that you CAN'T buy with OBC is a deposit on a Future Cruise. You need a credit card for that.  Also, there may be some card game in the casino with a cash only buy-in.   If they do a fundraiser, like selling t-shirts to “save the reefs” and the like, expect to need cash for that.  Otherwise, here you go:

 

 

*Acupuncture

*Airport transfers

*Alcove Rental (some ships)

*Apple products etc. and Ilounge classes

*Art Auction Purchases

*Babysitting

*Barber Shop services 

*Behind the Scenes Tours

*Beverages -- Alcoholic, carbonated soft drinks, specialty coffees and teas, bottled water — if not in your package, also beverages above your package limits

*Bingo and Deal or No Deal

*Bottles of wine

*Casino

*Chef’s Table

*Corkage charged if you bring your own bottles of wine to the MDR

*Duty free liquor and cigarettes

*Extra cost entrees and other items in Main Dining Room and specialty restaurants

*Extend Your Stay program

*Fitness classes

*Flowers

*Gelato

*Gift shop souvenirs, purses, watches, cosmetics, clothing, jewelry, etc.

*Gratuities, and extra gratuities

*Guests dining with you in Luminae (applies to Suite Passengers only)

*Guest entertainers' CD's and DVD's

*Hair and nail salon

*Hollywood hot glass experiences (some ships)

*Internet if not in your package, also Internet upcharges 

*Laundry/pressing/drycleaning

*Liquor Tasting events

*Luggage Valet

*Martini Flights

*Medical Center purchases 

*Mini bar

*Portrait photo sessions

*Pay-per-view movies

*Persian Gardens passes

*Personal Training Sessions

*Photos & cameras

*Room service up charge items, and late night delivery fee

*Ryde spinning classes

*Shore Excursions

*Shuttle to town (some ports)

*Spa -- massages and treatments

*Specialty restaurants

*Teeth Whitening

*Telephone calls using ship's system

*Transfer to another passenger's account

*Voyage in Review DVD

*Wine and liquor tastings

*Zumba

Wonderful! Thank you 😀

[miched]

On 1/12/2023 at 10:55 AM, HS2BS said:

Refundable obc is truly refundable -on the last day. Go to customer service desk and tell them how much of the refundable credit you want in cash out! We’re presently on the reflection now, and I checked with CS that this is still the policy - yes it is!

We were on Beyond in November, and the Summit last June - both times we were able to withdraw all the unused refundable obc in cash.

 

Hal

You can cash in refundable credit any time.  You don’t have to wait until the last day

 

The NFC is what it is.   There is no cash refund.  The only way to utilize it is to use it.

 

if you don’t use it you lose it.  The best way to convert it to cash is trying your luck in the casino.  Ask them  in the casino and they will help you.   A little grease helps and is appreciated.  😜

 

Happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌅