Onboard Credit to Pay for Oceania to Do a Visa?

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

Does anyone have any experience with using their onboard credit to pay for a visa they've asked Oceania to obtain for a passenger?  If it matters, in my case it would be Oceania loyalty credit for doing a particular number of cruises. .

[ratflinger]

I think one would be wise to arrange their own visas.  The TA should be able to help.  Depending upon Oceania to do it seems to be inviting disappointment.

[Vallesan]

2 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Does anyone have any experience with using their onboard credit to pay for a visa they've asked Oceania to obtain for a passenger?  If it matters, in my case it would be Oceania loyalty credit for doing a particular number of cruises. .

  
I haven’t but am using the service in a few weeks …. I’m assuming if will be taken from my OBC?

[osandomir]

If you pay for visa through Oceania it’ll be a separate line on your invoice and you will pay for it with your credit card at final payment. In one case, though, when it was a visa on arrival we refused to pay upfront and it was deducted from our account when Oceania arranged it for us on board the ship.

[1985rz1]

1 hour ago, Vallesan said:

  
I haven’t but am using the service in a few weeks …. I’m assuming if will be taken from my OBC?

Ask your TA, but the Visa service is a third party contractor, and the fees are pass-throughs, so I doubt O would normally be amenable to using SBC for Visas obtained prior to the cruise.  

 

@osandomir Was the cost charged to your onboard account on which you available SBC?

Edited January 12 by 1985rz1

[Psoque]

2 hours ago, ratflinger said:

I think one would be wise to arrange their own visas.  The TA should be able to help.  Depending upon Oceania to do it seems to be inviting disappointment.

I agree with this one.  When you pay your cruise line or go through a “preferred” third party company to obtain your visa, you are basically paying someone (in this case, the third party company AND Oceania, through kickbacks to them) money for the work you actually end up doing yourself.  Even if you use a third party company, YOU would still need to type in all of the information online, most likely scan in your passport pages, etc., in the same way you would do when applying for a visa directly with the country you are visiting.  There’s nothing convenient about using a company when obtaining a visa from most countries.

[osandomir]

22 minutes ago, 1985rz1 said:

Ask your TA, but the Visa service is a third party contractor, and the fees are pass-throughs, so I doubt O would normally be amenable to using SBC for Visas obtained prior to the cruise.  

 

@osandomir Was the cost charged to your onboard account on which you available SBC?

Yes, it was deducted from non-refundable SBC, but as I said it was for visa on arrival and not for the tourist visa required to be processed before boarding the ship. We contacted Oceania prior to boarding and were confirmed that visa on arrival can be payable on board. So I advise you to call Oceania and get a confirmation from them regarding your particular cruise destinations.

[Vallesan]

Obtaining a visa  for Cambodia was not practical for us as it would have meant a 430 mile round trip, twice, as you have to apply in person. The other alternative was to send the passports and paperwork via the postal service, which here in the UK, is absolutely abysmal. I didn’t fancy the idea of having to get an emergency passports if they got lost.

I spoke with my TA about Oceania getting a visa on board and apparently they can do it without paperwork. The cost is what it is. Sometimes in life you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place!

[GeezerCouple]

19 hours ago, IWantToLiveOverTheSea said:

Does anyone have any experience with using their onboard credit to pay for a visa they've asked Oceania to obtain for a passenger?  If it matters, in my case it would be Oceania loyalty credit for doing a particular number of cruises. .

This doesn't quite make sense, if you think about it from O's position.

What if you don't end up taking the cruise (e.g., you get sick).

They've paid the money for your visa from your OBC, not from an invoice to you that you have to pay.

If you cancel the trip, the OBC isn't relevant anymore.  But O would have forked out the money on your behalf anyway.

 

It's one thing to use OBC "in advance" when it's being used to pay for a cruiseline service, such as upscale dining (which doesn't cost extra on O, but does/might on other lines).  They aren't giving any outside/non-ship party some money that they plan to collect from you.

The visa gets paid for, and it doesn't matter if you ever show up or not:  The visa is still paid for, by O on your behalf, and waiting for you.  It can't be "returned" or "sold to another passenger", or such.

 

Use the OBC for something "on board", something provided by O, not something they are paying someone else for in advance for you..

 

Now, *IF* they allow the OBC to be used for this, I'd be surprised, unless you've agreed to reimburse them once they've paid...

But hey... I've heard of crazier things, so it's "worth asking them"... 😉 

 

GC

[Vallesan]

2 hours ago, GeezerCouple said:

This doesn't quite make sense, if you think about it from O's position.

What if you don't end up taking the cruise (e.g., you get sick).

They've paid the money for your visa from your OBC, not from an invoice to you that you have to pay.

If you cancel the trip, the OBC isn't relevant anymore.  But O would have forked out the money on your behalf anyway.

 

It's one thing to use OBC "in advance" when it's being used to pay for a cruiseline service, such as upscale dining (which doesn't cost extra on O, but does/might on other lines).  They aren't giving any outside/non-ship party some money that they plan to collect from you.

The visa gets paid for, and it doesn't matter if you ever show up or not:  The visa is still paid for, by O on your behalf, and waiting for you.  It can't be "returned" or "sold to another passenger", or such.

 

Use the OBC for something "on board", something provided by O, not something they are paying someone else for in advance for you..

 

Now, *IF* they allow the OBC to be used for this, I'd be surprised, unless you've agreed to reimburse them once they've paid...

But hey... I've heard of crazier things, so it's "worth asking them"... 😉 

 

GC

We were due to go to Cambodia several years ago and Oceania were to do our visas. The ship didn’t dock because of bad weather so we weren’t charged. My guess is that a ship does the visas when they’ve docked in port. But I may be wrong.