Using OBC to pay for gratuities on HAL

[seekatz]

We have a sizable amount of OBC for our HAL cruise coming up.  In the past, we were able to use OBC to pay for our gratuities on our onboard account.  We are just checking to see if this still applies. 

[versuco]

We used our OBC for gratuities on the Zaandam in September.

[Mary229]

Usually yes but there can be exceptions.  I call HAL for clarification. 

[zgscl]

I have always been able to use the OBC for gratuities. 

[rodndonna]

If you haven't prepaid gratuities and they get added to your account daily I expect they would be deducted from your non-refundable OBC.

 

We just returned from a cruise where we had extra OBC (we had HIA with drinks, dining, excursions and our gratuities were prepaid). We used some of the OBC by applying extra gratuities when we had to sign for drinks at bars or dining venues. Those gratuities charges were then always paid through our OBC (which as non-refundable). I would imagine the standard daily gratuities charges would be handled the same way.

 

[Haljo1935]

2 hours ago, rodndonna said:

If you haven't prepaid gratuities and they get added to your account daily I expect they would be deducted from your non-refundable OBC.

 

We just returned from a cruise where we had extra OBC (we had HIA with drinks, dining, excursions and our gratuities were prepaid). We used some of the OBC by applying extra gratuities when we had to sign for drinks at bars or dining venues. Those gratuities charges were then always paid through our OBC (which as non-refundable). I would imagine the standard daily gratuities charges would be handled the same way.

 

Correct - non-refundable OBC is used first, then refundable. You can see that on the TV, App and printed statement at the very bottom - breaks out non-refundable and refundable. 

[Hlitner]

We have often used OBC (both non refundable band refundable) to pay the daily grats.   In fact, it will be done automatically on a daily basis unless you make other arrangements with the Guest Services folks.  
 

Our strong advice to any HAL cruiser remains the same:  check your onboard account on a daily basis (easily done in the app, TV, or by stopping at Guest Relations).  Erroneous overcharges are quite common on HAL.  When it happens, see or msg Guest Relations to correct the issue.

 

Hank

[DaveOKC]

Used mine for two weeks on the Volendam in Sept.

 

[kluv2cruz]

And… if I have excess non refundable onboard credit, other than buying un-needed gift store items, how else can I get this $? Can I use in slot machines? Any other ideas?

[Caribbean Chris]

6 hours ago, kluv2cruz said:

And… if I have excess non refundable onboard credit, other than buying un-needed gift store items, how else can I get this $? Can I use in slot machines? Any other ideas?

Shore excursions, specialty restaurants, surcharges for premium entrees, a bottle of good wine with dinner, alcohol drinks that exceed the included drink package price…

[DaveOKC]

8 hours ago, kluv2cruz said:

And… if I have excess non refundable onboard credit, other than buying un-needed gift store items, how else can I get this $? Can I use in slot machines? Any other ideas?

Flowers for the stateroom.  We also use it for transfers to the airport after our cruise.  You are not supposed to use it in the casino, but sometimes it works, but you never know for sure until the last minute so I do not chance it.  Also thermal spa.

[Mandalay1903]

9 hours ago, kluv2cruz said:

And… if I have excess non refundable onboard credit, other than buying un-needed gift store items, how else can I get this $? Can I use in slot machines? Any other ideas?

While onboard, I have been able to have the non-refundable OBC applied to the cost of prepaid HAL shore excursions.  The ShoreEx department was kind enough to apply the non-refundable OBC to the excursion and credit my onboard account such that I get a cc refund at the end of the voyage. Need to be careful to not touch the excursions paid with HIA+ benefits.

[VMax1700]

9 hours ago, kluv2cruz said:

And… if I have excess non refundable onboard credit, other than buying un-needed gift store items, how else can I get this $? Can I use in slot machines? Any other ideas?

I have used it to give a tip to 'favorite beverage attendant' by getting him/her to give me a docket to sign for a drink and then adding the tip.  Taken from Non refundable OBC (as it is the only type I had!)

[DaveOKC]

2 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

I have used it to give a tip to 'favorite beverage attendant' by getting him/her to give me a docket to sign for a drink and then adding the tip.  Taken from Non refundable OBC (as it is the only type I had!)

Good idea!

 

[Mandalay1903]

On 10/11/2023 at 5:08 AM, Hlitner said:

Erroneous overcharges are quite common on HAL.  When it happens, see or msg Guest Relations to correct the issue.

This is so true. A very common error is being charged for a cocktail or glass of wine while on the Signature Beverage Package/HIA. Guest Services will quickly correct the inadvertent error.

[Mandalay1903]

8 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

I have used it to give a tip to 'favorite beverage attendant' by getting him/her to give me a docket to sign for a drink and then adding the tip.  Taken from Non refundable OBC (as it is the only type I had!)

Good idea, but does this tip go solely to the individual or into a larger pool for the beverage department or the broader hotel department?

[VMax1700]

8 minutes ago, Mandalay1903 said:

Good idea, but does this tip go solely to the individual or into a larger pool for the beverage department or the broader hotel department?

This is the question that I asked two different beverage servers in different locations and both confirmed that it goes directly to the server named on the docket.

[Mandalay1903]

30 minutes ago, VMax1700 said:

This is the question that I asked two different beverage servers in different locations and both confirmed that it goes directly to the server named on the docket.

Thanks! That's great to know.

[Banditswife]

We have used OBC in the casino by charging our room while at the slot machines.  But evidently this doesn't always work.  We do check our account frequently while onboard.  Just an FYI about gratuities: they are deducted daily, not in a lump sum.  So if you have pre paid or OBC, it shows as a credit, then deducts daily.  My son got confused on this- he saw a bunch of credit (pre paid grats) then it disappeared on a daily basis.  I wish they would just deduct the entire amount at the begining.  But I guess deducting daily allows us to remove tips if needed- which we have never done.

Edited October 16, 2023 by Banditswife

[Hlitner]

3 hours ago, Mandalay1903 said:

This is so true. A very common error is being charged for a cocktail or glass of wine while on the Signature Beverage Package/HIA. Guest Services will quickly correct the inadvertent error.

We had posted that on our 6 week Westerdam cruise (March-May) we were overcharged for drinks (covered by the HIA package) ONLY 11 times!  After the first few issues, we were able to resolve the issue by simply using the HAL App to msg Guest Services.  After a few times they no longer bothered to all us to confirm the issue and simply removed the charge.  But it kept happening and HAL seemed to have no interest in correcting their internal accounting problem.  In fact, a few of us noticed that the errors always favored HAL.  At the time we speculated that if they did this to a few hundred passengers (on every cruise) there would likely be a significant number of folks who did not check their accounts and notice the overcharges.  More than one other poster questioned whether these HAL overcharges (which have been an issue for many years) were deliberate.  They correct the errors when they are reported and pocket the overcharges when not reported?

 

Hank

 

 

[Mandalay1903]

13 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

We had posted that on our 6 week Westerdam cruise (March-May) we were overcharged for drinks (covered by the HIA package) ONLY 11 times!

Gee that's far, far worse than I experienced on any of my several recent cruises including the Westerdam. I saw only onesy-twosies, and I never had to confirm the overcharge.  Would be worth a solid discussion with the Hotel Director while onboard if it happened again. For something like that I would bypass the Beverage Manager...

[Hlitner]

35 minutes ago, Mandalay1903 said:

Gee that's far, far worse than I experienced on any of my several recent cruises including the Westerdam. I saw only onesy-twosies, and I never had to confirm the overcharge.  Would be worth a solid discussion with the Hotel Director while onboard if it happened again. For something like that I would bypass the Beverage Manager...

I had posted this in a blog, at the time, but will give you a short version.  Many of the overcharges were simply because DW dared to order a Cosmopolitan.  HAL, in their infinte wisdom, had decided that this very common cocktail exceeds the HIA limit by $1 + tip.  But rather than just charging her that $1, they would keep charging her the full price of the drink.  The bar tender told us he was imputting the drink properly and even the beverage manager had nothing to say.  The Hotel Manager was missing in action (we think she hid in her office) for most of the cruise.  Guest Relations had nothing to say other than "we have brought it to the attention of the beverage department."  

 

While this does not sound like a big deal, DW would often drink 2 or 3 cosmos a day and many were charged to our account at over $13 per drink.  There was also the usual overcharges related to free meals in the PG (we are 5* Mariners and had 2 for that perk plus more from HIA).  

 

Folks have been posting about HAL's accounting issues for many years, but it seems to have become a lot worse with the HIA program.  Nobody onboard wanted to take ownership (and fix the problem) and those folks who are in high management made themselves scarce.  I would speculate that this is a system-wide software problem, and we all know that when it comes to software, HAL can take years to deal with "issues." 

 

Hank

[Mandalay1903]

5 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Hank

Couldn't agree with you more about the HAL software "issues". Some of the worst and stalest systems I've seen (and as a CPA I've seen a lot), and they never improve relative to the latest state of the art.

 

I understand the issues you're describing about the Cosmo pricing. On our last two voyages there was a printed sign that stated that the HIA price limit would be deducted from [most] beverage orders which exceed that limit, and only the net difference would be charged (plus tip on the net). I took a photo of the sign just in case. If I recall, that was a policy change by HAL sometime in the past couple of years and prior to the change they would charge the full amount for a beverage order exceeding the HIA limit. The previous policy had no sense of fairness to customers, nor would it build customer loyalty.

[Hlitner]

43 minutes ago, Mandalay1903 said:

Couldn't agree with you more about the HAL software "issues". Some of the worst and stalest systems I've seen (and as a CPA I've seen a lot), and they never improve relative to the latest state of the art.

 

I understand the issues you're describing about the Cosmo pricing. On our last two voyages there was a printed sign that stated that the HIA price limit would be deducted from [most] beverage orders which exceed that limit, and only the net difference would be charged (plus tip on the net). I took a photo of the sign just in case. If I recall, that was a policy change by HAL sometime in the past couple of years and prior to the change they would charge the full amount for a beverage order exceeding the HIA limit. The previous policy had no sense of fairness to customers, nor would it build customer loyalty.

What was more strange was that sometimes the Cosmos would go through with the $1 add-on and other times it would charge to full drink price (something like $14.16).  And it often happened when it was input by the same bar tender.  Go figure.  One of the bar tenders became frustrated when we mentioned the problem and started to ring up her cosmo orders as lemon drops which were within the HIA price limit!   At one point, Guest Services told us it was the fault of the bar tender until we pointed out that it had happened in several different bars with different bar tenders/waiters.

 

Lots of excuses, but no solutions.  DW provided the best solution, after the cruise, when she told me not to book anymore HAL cruises (the accounting issues were only a tiny part of her reasoning).  Per her instructions, our booked future cruisers are with Princess, Oceania, Silverseas and Seabourn.  We would also be happy to add more Explora Journeys and Viking Ocean to the mix if, and when, we find the right itinerary and price.

 

Hank

[cruzn single]

Just last week I had a lot of non-refundable OBC.  On the last evening of the cruise I went to Guest Services and signed a paper to transfer that $$$ to the Crew Appreciation fund.  Easy peasy.  I had a little refundable credit which they gave me in cash.