Unused OBC

[terrydtx]

We have sailed since Covid in suites so we have at least $800 or more OBC. We do not gamble so if we have any leftover OBC, we use it in the ship's stores. The last couple of cruises on Equinox and Reflection, both had a nice selection of Tommy Bahama shirts so I made several purchases. I buy TB clothing at home so they were something I would normally buy. We also primarily only book private shore excursions, stopped using ship tour years ago, so the OBC is of not much use for them either. We do use some OBC for specialty restaurants. 

 

I had inquired about using the OBC for extra crew gratuities, but I was told by a Retreat Manager that doing that through guest relations will cause most of the extra gratuity to go into the ship's crew appreciation pool and not all to the person you designate it to.

Edited July 22, 2023 by terrydtx

[billc23]

27 minutes ago, terrydtx said:

 

I had inquired about using the OBC for extra crew gratuities, but I was told by a Retreat Manager that doing that through guest relations will cause most of the extra gratuity to go into the ship's crew appreciation pool and not all to the person you designate it to.

If you ask for the form (they have them in the retreat so no need to go to guest services)  you will see that there are certain crew members that you can direct your extra gratuities to such as your butler and stateroom attendant and others. For the rest, cash tips are best if you want to reward certain crew, but they may be obligated to share them. I recently started sailing Silversea and the best regarded way on Silversea to add gratuities is via the crew resource fund. That way all the behind the scene crew are also rewarded sort of like the crew appreciation pool on Celebrity. 

[terrydtx]

1 hour ago, billc23 said:

If you ask for the form (they have them in the retreat so no need to go to guest services)  you will see that there are certain crew members that you can direct your extra gratuities to such as your butler and stateroom attendant and others.

I know about the people designated on the form, but I was still informed that the majority of what you designate still goes into the pool regardless of what is on the form. I am not arguing the point just pointing out what I was told by the Retreat manager.

[Jim_Iain]

20 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

Do you know if this is standard ship to ship(ok, I admit I started laughing at myself as I typed this)?  It seems to vary from what I’ve seen, or maybe I just misunderstood. 

I know from a lot of experience on 8 different ships that the sweet spot on maximum you can withdrawal at one time is $300.     When I've done this unless I Gamble X amount an auto lock goes on my seapass but was able to do another $300 on Iain's seapass.    On Apex in May the amount was $400.   On the revolutionized ships I was able to withdraw the ships directly from the Slot Machine using the instructions the Cash Cage gives you.   On Solstice I had to go to the Cash Cage and they would charge in increments of $100 and give you $100 slot slips.   

 

On ships that you can do yourself -  You tap your card and create an account.   Default Password is MMDD of birthdate.    You then change your password.    Click on Casino and Charge Card.   They show default of $20, $40 $60 etc  just click other and enter $300.      If you account is locked it will not show you the option for Room Charge and will only allow you to see your points and free play.

[Jim_Iain]

3 hours ago, brockmom said:

Can I please ask for clarification? We are doing a b2b on Reflections in Oct and have a nice sum for both cruises. Are you able to transfer Sbc yourself at the machine or do you have to have the casino cashier move an amount for you ?Several  years ago the cashier had to do it and it could not be moved back. I would hate to have it “ stuck “ for only use in the casino if you know what I mean. It was a long time ago and I know things have changed. Thanks 

Ros 

 

Not sure of Reflection since she has not been revolutionized.    Regardless it is very easy to go to the Cash Cage.      All of the ships I've been on that that I've used the cash cage  they give you slot slips.   I played a little (very little) combined all my slips onto a single cash slip and cashed out.   I then took that slip to the Cash Cage and they gave me the cash.    They are correct, you can't credit it back to your room but I've always been able to cash out.

 

The only time I've had a casino slip I couldn't cash out was when I bought one of the Slot Packages (which I will never do again).  

[Jim_Iain]

19 hours ago, mahasamatman said:

 

I don't know about "often", as I have never seen that. I think it really depends on the ship.

 

I've seen it on every cruise.   Once I take out the Max of $300 or $400,  I am locked out from further withdrawals for 24-48 hours unless I churn about 25%.   It may be how much you have taken off in a single day. 

[billc23]

Please try the method I detailed above. I would take out $600 at a time without a problem. They wanted to give me 6 separate $100 vouchers and when I asked why they said some players want to limit their daily spend to $100 and the separate vouchers are an easy way to do it. They gave me a $600 one without a problem. I had $1800 of NR OBC that I was able to cash out. I did about 5 months of sailing on 4 different ships and the method was different on each one. 

 

I found out the method that worked on the Reflection when my voucher would not work in multiple video poker machines. When I went to the cash desk and told them it would not work, they knew it was a problem. They took the voucher, put it in a slot machine without using an identifying card (Sea pass card) and immediately cash out on the machine and received a new voucher. They then scanned the voucher and gave me cash. I tried the same procedure and it worked! My ID was not embedded on the newly printed voucher. I did do a small amount of gambling and I did combined a few smaller vouchers used for testing purposes so that I would not be bringing back the same amount as I took out.

 

Give it a try and see if it works. 

 

[brockmom]

5 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

 

Not sure of Reflection since she has not been revolutionized.    Regardless it is very easy to go to the Cash Cage.      All of the ships I've been on that that I've used the cash cage  they give you slot slips.   I played a little (very little) combined all my slips onto a single cash slip and cashed out.   I then took that slip to the Cash Cage and they gave me the cash.    They are correct, you can't credit it back to your room but I've always been able to cash out.

 

The only time I've had a casino slip I couldn't cash out was when I bought one of the Slot Packages (which I will never do again).  

Thank you !

[brockmom]

4 hours ago, billc23 said:

Please try the method I detailed above. I would take out $600 at a time without a problem. They wanted to give me 6 separate $100 vouchers and when I asked why they said some players want to limit their daily spend to $100 and the separate vouchers are an easy way to do it. They gave me a $600 one without a problem. I had $1800 of NR OBC that I was able to cash out. I did about 5 months of sailing on 4 different ships and the method was different on each one. 

 

I found out the method that worked on the Reflection when my voucher would not work in multiple video poker machines. When I went to the cash desk and told them it would not work, they knew it was a problem. They took the voucher, put it in a slot machine without using an identifying card (Sea pass card) and immediately cash out on the machine and received a new voucher. They then scanned the voucher and gave me cash. I tried the same procedure and it worked! My ID was not embedded on the newly printed voucher. I did do a small amount of gambling and I did combined a few smaller vouchers used for testing purposes so that I would not be bringing back the same amount as I took out.

 

Give it a try and see if it works. 

 

Thank you ! 

[MisterBill99]

On 7/21/2023 at 10:13 AM, davekathy said:

Verify if it's non refundable or refundable OBC. Non refundable OBC, use or lose. Refundable OBC will be credited back to your Credit Card. 

 

Wanted to add that if it's refundable, make sure to change your registered card to something that doesn't give you a large rebate percent on travel purchases, because it will show up as a refund and you will be penalized that amount. When I am expecting an OBC refund, I change my registered card to a debit card, so it costs me nothing for the return.

[mahasamatman]

On 7/22/2023 at 9:54 AM, Jim_Iain said:

Once I take out the Max of $300 or $400, I am locked out from further withdrawals for 24-48 hours unless I churn about 25%.

 

I took out $400 twice in one day on Summit, Eclipse, and Infinity, and used $5 of that in the slot. These were all cashier transactions, as those ships do not support self-service.

[mahasamatman]

On 7/22/2023 at 10:39 AM, billc23 said:

They gave me a $600 one without a problem.

 

They've always told me the options are $50 or $100 per voucher and no other value was available.

[Jim_Iain]

I never had problems with holds until about 4 months ago and have taken 5 cruises and they all had some type of holds.   There are of course ways to get around it, e.g.   just wait 24-36 hours and try again and take another chunk out.

[mahasamatman]

10 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

I never had problems with holds until about 4 months ago and have taken 5 cruises and they all had some type of holds.

 

Which ships? Our last Celebrity cruises were in March on Infinity, and no issues there.

[billc23]

My advice is strictly for the Reflection and the OP is on the Reflection. Worked on the Reflection for the TA and for 3 weeks in Jan 2023. The Millennium for 3 cruises in February was a little different as was the Infinity b2b in December 2022. Never a hold and I did not need to churn any money. My last Celebrity cruise ended in March so I have no experience since then. 

No harm in someone currently on the Reflection trying what I suggested and verifying if it a viable option or not. Remember, do not put in your sea pass card and use the voucher in several machines. 

 

 

[Luvcrusn]

1 hour ago, MisterBill99 said:

 

Wanted to add that if it's refundable, make sure to change your registered card to something that doesn't give you a large rebate percent on travel purchases, because it will show up as a refund and you will be penalized that amount. When I am expecting an OBC refund, I change my registered card to a debit card, so it costs me nothing for the return.

We get unused OBC-R handed back in cash on the last night to avoid that penalty. 

[MisterBill99]

57 minutes ago, Luvcrusn said:

We get unused OBC-R handed back in cash on the last night to avoid that penalty. 

 

That's also a good option for some. I just find getting it back on my debit card easier than having to deposit the cash once I get home, since I try to charge everything at home and would have to visit a bank branch, which I rarely do.

[CruiseMelissa]

On 7/21/2023 at 1:26 PM, Lastdance said:

OBC for tips is an excellent way to use OBC, IMHO; however, with all of the great ideas posted above, I am sure that you have more than enough ways to go about this...happy spending😊

I saw that this was an option on the Celebrity site, that you can allocate some of your OBC for extra tips for staff.  Do you happen to know if they give you a printout or something that you can give the crew member?  I love physically handing them an envelope and expressing how much we appreciate them.  

[davekathy]

2 hours ago, MisterBill99 said:

 

Wanted to add that if it's refundable, make sure to change your registered card to something that doesn't give you a large rebate percent on travel purchases, because it will show up as a refund and you will be penalized that amount. When I am expecting an OBC refund, I change my registered card to a debit card, so it costs me nothing for the return.

Thanks but I've never had to do that or experienced that with my CC I use. 

Edited July 25, 2023 by davekathy

[mljatsea]

On 7/21/2023 at 10:45 AM, 1Virgo said:

we used OBC and bought an ipad.   You can use up the credit anywhere. 

I did that too quite a few years ago.

 

[jelayne]

3 hours ago, MisterBill99 said:

 

Wanted to add that if it's refundable, make sure to change your registered card to something that doesn't give you a large rebate percent on travel purchases, because it will show up as a refund and you will be penalized that amount. When I am expecting an OBC refund, I change my registered card to a debit card, so it costs me nothing for the return.

I just go to Guest Services on the last night before 10 and ask for my refundable OBC in cash.  Took home over $1k last cruise.

[MisterBill99]

1 hour ago, davekathy said:

Thanks but I've never experienced that with my CC on use. 

 

So they don't take away any rebate you've gotten when you return a purchase? Seems open to abuse (which is my nice way of saying that's not how it works).

Edited July 25, 2023 by MisterBill99

[MisterBill99]

2 minutes ago, jelayne said:

I just go to Guest Services on the last night before 10 and ask for my refundable OBC in cash.  Took home over $1k last cruise.

 

I prefer not to travel with that much cash, especially if I'm flying home. And then I'd have to go to the bank to deposit it. 

[davekathy]

1 minute ago, MisterBill99 said:

 

So they don't take away any rebate you've gotten when you return a purchase? Seems open to abuse.

I have no issues with getting refundable OBC credited back yo my CC.  

[MisterBill99]

Just now, davekathy said:

I have no issues with getting refundable OBC credited back yo my CC.  

 

Not saying that it doesn't work. I'm just saying that your accumulated rebate goes down by the amount "earned".