Onboard Credit use

[dianef]

Anyone able to use obc that cruise line gives or travel agent gives for paying gratuities?They seem to be strict and says gift cards cannot be used for paying port charges and taxes paying for cruise.Always able to use it on Carnival and Princess.Have not been on Celebrity in a long time.

[Bo1953]

Of course you can use OBC (any type) for gratuities, that is if you do not have an AI package and are being charged them daily to your on-board account.

 

As for port charges and taxes, I have not known anyone to be able to do that, BUT if you used an X gift card at time of your reservation, pending on the amount accepted by X, it will cover some if not all of your port charges and/or taxes.

 

The caveat is at initial deposit/reservation.

 

bon voyage

[jwlane]

Very confusing post!  Is it about OBC or gift cards?  Or BOTH?  T&C on a Gift Certificate (I'm copying directly off one) says, "can ONLY be used for new bookings, not to be used to settle any ship board charges".

[cruisestitch]

The OP is conflating two things, extrapolating the strictness on gift cards to possible strictness on OBC, however they are two separate and unrelated things.

Edited June 16, 2023 by cruisestitch

[dianef]

I was asking about 2 different situations.Can obc be used for gratuities?I called and spoke to someone and they said no.Does not make sense.Also,another question was can you use Celebrity gift cards to pay your for the port charges and government fees part of your cruise?Was also told no on that.Just wondering if anyone recently was able to use their obc for gratuity?

[bikerunner]

1 minute ago, dianef said:

I was asking about 2 different situations.Can obc be used for gratuities?I called and spoke to someone and they said no.Does not make sense.Also,another question was can you use Celebrity gift cards to pay your for the port charges and government fees part of your cruise?Was also told no on that.Just wondering if anyone recently was able to use their obc for gratuity?

Tips are automatically posted to your account.  Your obc is posted to your account as a credit.  I did this in the past when I did the only cruise I did not do All inclusive for.  Yes you can use obc for grats.  

 

Im guessing celebrity gift cards are just posted to the account and pay whatever they cover.  I dont think they cover specific items, system is not built for that.  Has a total due and the gift cards just reduce the total.that is due.  I think your inferring this is a casino comp cruise and all you owe is port and taxes.  Then yes the gift cards should work as they are just being used to deduct whats due.  

[jwlane]

2 hours ago, dianef said:

 can you use Celebrity gift cards to pay your for the port charges and government fees part of your cruise?

All the rules.

[CaribbeanBound]

You absolutely CAN use OBC for gratuities.  Done it on over a dozen Celebrity cruises.

[dianef]

1 hour ago, CaribbeanBound said:

You absolutely CAN use OBC for gratuities.  Done it on over a dozen Celebrity cruises.

Glad to hear that.When I called someone told me you can’t. I will have more than enough to pay gratuities.I think you can’t use OBC in casino so will have to use rest for something else.
 

Also TA confirmed gift cards can only be use for fare and not taxes or fees.Only $500 pp or $1000 per cabin.Usually go on Carnival or Princess and they let you use it for anything.Save 29 percent buying through AARP.

[dianef]

Just now, dianef said:

Glad to hear that.When I called someone told me you can’t. I will have more than enough to pay gratuities.I think you can’t use OBC in casino so will have to use rest for something else.
 

Also TA confirmed gift cards can only be use for fare and not taxes or fees.Only $500 pp or $1000 per cabin.Usually go on Carnival or Princess and they let you use it for anything.Save 10 per cent through AARP.

 

[CaribbeanBound]

You CAN also use OBC in the casino, but only the winnings can be cashed out.

[the penguins]

8 hours ago, dianef said:

Glad to hear that.When I called someone told me you can’t. I will have more than enough to pay gratuities.I think you can’t use OBC in casino so will have to use rest for something else.
 

Also TA confirmed gift cards can only be use for fare and not taxes or fees.Only $500 pp or $1000 per cabin.Usually go on Carnival or Princess and they let you use it for anything.Save 29 percent buying through AARP.

We convert all our OBC to cash in the Casino.

[dianef]

24 minutes ago, the penguins said:

We convert all our OBC to cash in the Casino.

Are you saying if I had $100 obc left I can put it in a slot machine,do a few pulls and cash out?I have done that on Carnival but didn’t think I could do it on  Celebrity

[the penguins]

1 hour ago, dianef said:

Are you saying if I had $100 obc left I can put it in a slot machine,do a few pulls and cash out?I have done that on Carnival but didn’t think I could do it on  Celebrity

I understand that's how some people do it. Opinion varies on whether it is strictly allowed and which ships permit it.

We don't do it that way as we want to have fun so we play roulette by playing corners on a table with a  $5 minimum bet  as follows:

1) draw $50 in promotional chips from the cashier.

2) at the table keep the promotional chips on your right.

3) on each spin we bet 5 X $1 chips  with each chip covering 4 numbers which gives us pretty much an even bet. 

4) When we win we get $8 in real cash chips which go on a pile to our left. After a win the winning chip stays on the table reducing our next bet to $4 which tips the odds slightly in our favour.

5) continue to play just using the promotional chips and when those are spent cash in the winnings and walk away. Note: we only cash in in multiples of $5 the difference we leave as a tip.

We repeat daily, until all our OBC has been spent.

Never chase loses or bet more when winning.

We have a lot of fun playing this way and the risk is tiny (over the course of a cruise we have never lost) and even if we did it would be a small price to pay.

Not saying our way is right or wrong but it works for us. Whatever you choose enjoy.

 

 

[LadyBerard]

4 hours ago, the penguins said:

I understand that's how some people do it. Opinion varies on whether it is strictly allowed and which ships permit it.

We don't do it that way as we want to have fun so we play roulette by playing corners on a table with a  $5 minimum bet  as follows:

1) draw $50 in promotional chips from the cashier.

2) at the table keep the promotional chips on your right.

3) on each spin we bet 5 X $1 chips  with each chip covering 4 numbers which gives us pretty much an even bet. 

4) When we win we get $8 in real cash chips which go on a pile to our left. After a win the winning chip stays on the table reducing our next bet to $4 which tips the odds slightly in our favour.

5) continue to play just using the promotional chips and when those are spent cash in the winnings and walk away. Note: we only cash in in multiples of $5 the difference we leave as a tip.

We repeat daily, until all our OBC has been spent.

Never chase loses or bet more when winning.

We have a lot of fun playing this way and the risk is tiny (over the course of a cruise we have never lost) and even if we did it would be a small price to pay.

Not saying our way is right or wrong but it works for us. Whatever you choose enjoy.

 

 

We would like to try this.  When you say, "put a chip on each corner," is it possible for you to show me where exactly to put the chip with a picture?  I've only played roulette putting a chip on a number of playing red/black.  We usually play blackjack or craps.

[mahasamatman]

Celebrity also claims you cannot use OBC for medical expenses, and that's also false.

[the penguins]

2 hours ago, LadyBerard said:

We would like to try this.  When you say, "put a chip on each corner," is it possible for you to show me where exactly to put the chip with a picture?  I've only played roulette putting a chip on a number of playing red/black.  We usually play blackjack or craps.

Ok remember you are trying to cover 20 numbers with 5 chips and no duplicates/repeats.

The picture shows the layout of the numbers .

Lots of permutations the chips go on the diagonals.
The following is an example;

between 2 & 4, 8 & 10, 17&19, 23 & 27 and 29 & 31

Dont worry if you can’t reach the Croupiers will place your chips if you leave them on the table and just call out the diagonal you want.

For a bit of extra fun you can occasionally put one of the chips between 0 & 00 - we do it once every session.

Good luck. By the way it was a Croupier who first suggested we play this way when we attended one of the free teach you to play sessions. 

 

 

[Jim_Iain]

Yes you can use OBC both NR and Refundable for both Tip and additional tips.

 

I believe the confusion may be with your reference to Gift Cards.   They are a totally different animal and my understand they can only be used for booking a cruise not for OBC.    On the otherhand you or others can purchase an OBC form Celebrity.

[LadyBerard]

58 minutes ago, the penguins said:

Ok remember you are trying to cover 20 numbers with 5 chips and no duplicates/repeats.

The picture shows the layout of the numbers .

Lots of permutations the chips go on the diagonals.
The following is an example;

between 2 & 4, 8 & 10, 17&19, 23 & 27 and 29 & 31

Dont worry if you can’t reach the Croupiers will place your chips if you leave them on the table and just call out the diagonal you want.

For a bit of extra fun you can occasionally put one of the chips between 0 & 00 - we do it once every session.

Good luck. By the way it was a Croupier who first suggested we play this way when we attended one of the free teach you to play sessions. 

 

 

Thank you to both of you!

[39august]

We do this on roulette with non-refundable OBC every cruise. Lots of fun and we always win at least a little and sometimes, a lot!

[agape01]

I am wondering whether has anyone used On Board Cruise Credit to make the deposit for a future cruise or the on board cruise credit cannot be used towards that.

[the penguins]

12 minutes ago, agape01 said:

I am wondering whether has anyone used On Board Cruise Credit to make the deposit for a future cruise or the on board cruise credit cannot be used towards that.

Has to be new money - the OBC is only for your current cruise it can't even be moved to the second section of a B2B. Of course if you " convert it to cash" in the Casino you can use that cash for the deposit.

[WestLakeGirl]

You need a credit card for the deposit.

[mahdnc]

On 6/17/2023 at 2:00 AM, the penguins said:

We convert all our OBC to cash in the Casino.

 

We convert our cash into memories in the Casino.

[the penguins]

14 minutes ago, mahdnc said:

 

We convert our cash into memories in the Casino.

Whatever "floats your boat'.