Using onboard credit for excursions

[Richk582]

Is it possible to use onboard credit for excursions?  The reservation agent said it could only be used for dining, spa, or shop spend onboard, not excursions.  I was shocked when she told me that, just want to confirm with the group.

 

TIA!

[Roland4]

1 hour ago, Richk582 said:

Is it possible to use onboard credit for excursions?  The reservation agent said it could only be used for dining, spa, or shop spend onboard, not excursions.  I was shocked when she told me that, just want to confirm with the group.

 

TIA!

Wrong! The only things you cannot use OBC for are crew gratuities (if you want to "top up" for a particular staff member) and onboard bookings. And in the casino when they get around to reopening it. Crystal is one of the few lines that allow you to book excursions online and not have to pay for them at the time of booking. They are automatically charged to your shipboard account.

[Texas Tillie]

1 hour ago, Richk582 said:

Is it possible to use onboard credit for excursions?  The reservation agent said it could only be used for dining, spa, or shop spend onboard, not excursions.  I was shocked when she told me that, just want to confirm with the group.

 

TIA!

 

This is just another reason among many to use a travel agent familiar with the product or at least knows where to get the correct answer. It is really unsettling that a reservation agent would be so uninformed.

 

Patty

[Richk582]

48 minutes ago, Roland4 said:

Wrong! The only things you cannot use OBC for are crew gratuities (if you want to "top up" for a particular staff member) and onboard bookings. And in the casino when they get around to reopening it. Crystal is one of the few lines that allow you to book excursions online and not have to pay for them at the time of booking. They are automatically charged to your shipboard account.

Ok whew!  Thank you for the confirmation

[History&Wine]

My experience with reservation agents at Crystal has been VERY hit and miss.  I agree with Texas Tillie.  My travel agent might not know the answer but she is not afraid to say so and can find the answer. 

 

I don't know of any cruise line that would prohibit using OBC for excursions. 

 

Boarding Serenity one week from today!  😁

[May B]

3 minutes ago, History&Wine said:

My experience with reservation agents at Crystal has been VERY hit and miss.  I agree with Texas Tillie.  My travel agent might not know the answer but she is not afraid to say so and can find the answer. 

 

I don't know of any cruise line that would prohibit using OBC for excursions. 

 

Boarding Serenity one week from today!  😁

I don’t think Crystal’s res. agents have a corner on that market.

[May B]

One of the beauties of Crystal’s method of charging you after the shore excursion has been enjoyed: in case an adjustment becomes necessary, it can be done before the charge is even posted to your acct. Kudos to Crystal for that. It impressed me as a very civilized way of doing things.

[FlyerTalker]

2 hours ago, History&Wine said:

I don't know of any cruise line that would prohibit using OBC for excursions.

 

Viking would not allow me to apply OBC to a pre-booked excursion.  I would have had to cancel the excursion completely and then be at the end of the wait list for the tour.

 

Azamara was also difficult about using OBC for any excursion already booked.

 

All part of why they are towards the low end of my "possible cruises" list.

 

 

[TER777]

7 minutes ago, FlyerTalker said:

 

Viking would not allow me to apply OBC to a pre-booked excursion.  I would have had to cancel the excursion completely and then be at the end of the wait list for the tour.

 

Azamara was also difficult about using OBC for any excursion already booked.

 

All part of why they are towards the low end of my "possible cruises" list.

 

 

Explora makes you pay for excursions when booked, so you can’t use OBC unless you wait to book once onboard. 

[History&Wine]

I'm always learning from Cruise critic posters.  

 

I like Crystal's policy of easy cancellation of excursions just days before departure.   And as May B said the policy of charging after the excursion. 

 

@TER777 That Explora policy would surely curtail pre booking of excursions.  I hope Explora has a decent refund policy? 

[HUNKY]

Viking does allow you to use OBC for the daily service charge.

 

I wish all cruise lines would let you use OBC to pay for shorex booked beforehand.

[TER777]

11 hours ago, History&Wine said:

I'm always learning from Cruise critic posters.  

 

I like Crystal's policy of easy cancellation of excursions just days before departure.   And as May B said the policy of charging after the excursion. 

 

@TER777 That Explora policy would surely curtail pre booking of excursions.  I hope Explora has a decent refund policy? 

I recall someone posting about their experiences re on the Explora board but not what the details were. 

[Roland4]

11 hours ago, HUNKY said:

Viking does allow you to use OBC for the daily service charge.

 

I wish all cruise lines would let you use OBC to pay for shorex booked beforehand.

To the best of my knowledge, and I stand to be corrected, Crystal is the only line that does not require payment at the time of booking for shore excursions. And before someone jumps in here, I am NOT including the "no cost" excursions that some lines offer. 

[cruisingwhenwecan]

I just spoke to a Crystal reservations agent who also said that onboard credit cannot be used for excursions and cannot be used in the shops onboard.  He said onboard credit can only be used for the spa, premium liquor/drinks beyond what is already included in the cruise, and specialty dining beyond what is already complimentary.  
This makes no sense.  You all agree and have experience that onboard credit can be used for all of the above items including excursions and in the shops on board?
 

[TER777]

It’s my experience it can be used for everything except gratuities and contributions to the crew welfare fund. 

[travelberlin]

1 hour ago, cruisingwhenwecan said:

I just spoke to a Crystal reservations agent who also said that onboard credit cannot be used for excursions and cannot be used in the shops onboard.  He said onboard credit can only be used for the spa, premium liquor/drinks beyond what is already included in the cruise, and specialty dining beyond what is already complimentary.  
This makes no sense.  You all agree and have experience that onboard credit can be used for all of the above items including excursions and in the shops on board?
 

You are right, this makes no sense. If this were true, Crystal would be the only cruise line in which OBC cannot be used for excursions or shops onboard. I guess the person you talked is misinformed. 

Edited March 28 by travelberlin

[litigator]

Crystal has to start hiring better people or at least make certain they know what they are talking about. It would be a disaster for Crystals future in my opinion if a customer could not use shipboard credits for shore  excursions or shops. There is no way that the representative was correct.

[May B]

3 hours ago, cruisingwhenwecan said:

I just spoke to a Crystal reservations agent who also said that onboard credit cannot be used for excursions and cannot be used in the shops onboard.  He said onboard credit can only be used for the spa, premium liquor/drinks beyond what is already included in the cruise, and specialty dining beyond what is already complimentary.  
This makes no sense.  You all agree and have experience that onboard credit can be used for all of the above items including excursions and in the shops on board?
 

Definitely not correct, unless there has been a drastic change. It proves our point that not all res. agents are created equal. Excursions and products in the shops are what I used our OBC for in November and what I plan to use it for in June.

 

 

 

 

[2bobs]

Concerning post #14 and following -- perhaps the rep was being "cute" and thought it was April 1 already ?? Only unreasonable explanation that comes to my feeble mind immediately.  Bob S.

[cruisingwhenwecan]

4 hours ago, TER777 said:

It’s my experience it can be used for everything except gratuities and contributions to the crew welfare fund. 

Hi TER777, 

Aren’t pre-paid gratuities already included in Crystal’s cruise fare?  
Are you talking about additional gratuities you may want to give crew above and beyond that? 

[Texas Tillie]

4 hours ago, cruisingwhenwecan said:

I just spoke to a Crystal reservations agent who also said that onboard credit cannot be used for excursions and cannot be used in the shops onboard.  He said onboard credit can only be used for the spa, premium liquor/drinks beyond what is already included in the cruise, and specialty dining beyond what is already complimentary.  
This makes no sense.  You all agree and have experience that onboard credit can be used for all of the above items including excursions and in the shops on board?
 

 

It seems this is a case that shows that everyone should use a travel agent. These kinds of questions are ones where they can get the answer and can keep escalating to higher authorities until they know they have the correct answer. There is no reason to not use a travel agent and this shows there are times when a good travel agent is valuable.

 

Patty

 

P.S. And, yes, Tracie means any extra gratuities. Those are optional and at the guest's discretion.

Edited March 28 by Texas Tillie

[TER777]

10 minutes ago, cruisingwhenwecan said:

Hi TER777, 

Aren’t pre-paid gratuities already included in Crystal’s cruise fare?  
Are you talking about additional gratuities you may want to give crew above and beyond that? 

Yes and yes.

[cruisingwhenwecan]

12 minutes ago, Texas Tillie said:

 

It seems this is a case that shows that everyone should use a travel agent. These kinds of questions are ones where they can get the answer and can keep escalating to higher authorities until they know they have the correct answer. There is no reason to not use a travel agent and this shows there are times when a good travel agent is valuable.

 

Patty

 

P.S. And, yes, Tracie means any extra gratuities. Those are optional and at the guest's discretion.

Thanks Patty,

I am actually in the process of booking through my travel agent.  I happened to call Crystal directly to ask why the cruise I’m booking has no excursions listed for any ports. While I had the Crystal rep on the phone I tried to confirm that I could pay for the excursions with onboard credit - I was shocked to hear him say No.
My TA got the same answer as I did from her TA interface at Crystal - that you can’t use OBC to pay for excursions (which we all know can’t be correct).  The owner of the Travel Agency is going to contact Crystal to get this misinformation resolved.  
Thanks for your help! 

[Keith1010]

I have no idea why a couple of you were told that you could not use on-board credit for excursions. I have confirmed with Crystal that there have not been any changes to how on board non-cash credits can be used.  They can be used for items from the shops, spa/salon, shore excursion, food and beverage items such as the connoisseur wines, spirits, and items such as caviar, the connoisseur items at Umi Uma.  

 

For those of you who asked reservations were you clear that you were not talking about pre-paid excursions (there are some) or customized excursions?  

 

Either the reservations agent didn't fully understand the question or their answer was wrong.

 

Keith

 

[Mrs. Claypool]

As an example, we were on the Serenity last month and we used our on-board credits to buy:

 

1.  A lovely hat for me in the shop,

2. A bottle of connoisseur wine for my husband from the sommelier,
3. A ship’s excursion into the capital city for us both. 

 

No problems whatsoever. 

 

Emily