What Can Princess Onboard Credit Be Used for
Onboard credit may be completely new to you lot, but even if yous're a seasoned cruiser there are probably things we tin shed some light on. Commonly abbreviated as "OBC" or referred to equally "shipboard credit", onboard credit can be thought of equally a gift carte du jour of sorts for a specific cruise - money that yous can use on your cruise for whatever number of things, including beverages, shore excursions, retail purchases, and more than. What many people don't realize is there are actually different types of onboard credit, which tin affect how yous can utilise it. Let'south look at how you get onboard credit, what you tin practise with information technology, and what happens if you don't apply it.
How to Get Onboard Credit
In that location are several ways of getting OBC, but virtually ordinarily, it'southward received as a booking incentive. A prowl line will oft offer some onboard credit (every bit piddling as $25, upwardly into the thousands of dollars) to incentivize you lot to book a certain cruise. This means that if your cruise costs $1500 for merely the cruise fare and taxes, but you get $200 in OBC, the start $200 you spend on the send volition cost you nil. This type of onboard credit is often called non-refundable onboard credit, and we'll discuss why that's important below.
Just every bit the cruise line may offering up some OBC your travel agent may too. This is not to exist confused with onboard credit the cruise line may offer if you book through a certain agency, every bit we're talking nigh when a travel agent actually adds in some OBC for your booking - perchance as a gift, or, as some agencies do, as a style of returning some of their own committee to offer a more competitive overall price. Nosotros talk over the advantages and disadvantages of this in our article about the importance of using a good travel agent.
This type of onboard credit by the way, is sometimes referred to as refundable onboard credit, and not simply travel agents can purchase it. Have a friend or family member cruising and want to offering up a souvenir? Y'all tin can phone call the travel agency or prowl line and purchase onboard credit to be placed on their account (which usually also results in a note in the invitee'due south stateroom, explaining where the credit came from).
These aren't the merely ways to become OBC, but they're the nigh common. A cruise line may issue some OBC on your account as a gesture of goodwill if there is say, an embarkation delay, or a mix-up with your reservation. Some cruise line branded credit cards may allow y'all to cash out points as onboard credit likewise. You could even buy OBC for yourself to aid yous budget and prepay for things on your cruise.
What Onboard Credit Can Be Used For
In short, you can utilize onboard credit for nigh any expense y'all incur onboard. We've listed out some examples beneath - merely substantially, if if goes onto your onboard account (just like charging something to your hotel room), your onboard credit will exist automatically applied.
- Spa services, such as massages or haircuts
- Alcoholic drinks (including drink packages)
- Specialty (up-charge) dining
- Shore excursions
- Gratuities (aka service charges)
- Onboard retail purchases (gift shop merch)
- Gambling and other onboard games
- Internet admission
We should note that certain things onboard will not get towards any onboard credit. Ship's medical services for example, are billed independently, and often don't go to your onboard business relationship. Gratuities will unremarkably go toward onboard credit, just whatsoever cash tips of form, is a dissimilar story - and some lines have non allowed gratuities to get towards OBC, but this doesn't seem to be the instance anymore.
Gratuities are an unabridged give-and-take in themselves, so bank check out our commodity which explains who is usually tipped and how.
It should too be noted that more and more cruise lines let you lot book shore excursions, potable packages, and more online in advance of your cruise. More and more lines take added functionality to their website to allow you to utilise your onboard credit when paying for these items online, but some OBC, such as gift onboard credit isn't available until embarkation day.
What happens if you don't use your onboard credit?
If you search this question you'll find many conflicting answers, and that is considering for the well-nigh part, it depends on what type of onboard credit you have. Earlier I explain, know that in scores of cruises, I've had one single prowl in which I didn't apace become through my onboard credit without trying - but information technology tin can certainly happen.
If your OBC was offered as a booking incentive from the cruise line, then it is considered non-refundable - and so y'all either use it or lose it. If you somehow get a lot of this type of OBC and don't apply information technology all by the end of your cruise (once more, this is rare), and then stock upward on staple sundries or other items in the gift shop, run into if yous tin utilize information technology for a future cruise credit if you book another cruise while onboard (almost lines don't allow this - merely it does vary), or become gamble with it (we don't personally gamble, but if you don't use information technology then yous're guaranteed to lose). In the past, i trick was to buy casino chips with non-refundable OBC then cash out - but now most lines requite you "gift chips" for this credit, which must be plaid or turned back into non-refundable credit. If y'all win coin with that play notwithstanding, information technology's yours to keep.
If you're onboard credit is refundable, meaning it was offered upwards every bit a souvenir from your travel bureau, then you lot tin can become back any unused portion at the stop of your cruise. If however yous had both types of OBC, it isn't always clear which is "used" first, so you may want to talk to guest services to be sure, if allowed past cruise line policy, that the non-refundable onboard credit was used upwardly commencement.
Wrapping Up on Onboard Credit
To me, onboard credit is like cash, considering I am confident each and every fourth dimension that I'm going to spend it. Gratuities alone can quickly chip away and onboard credit, and if you lot're buying drinks that too can get-go things right away. Some shore excursions are pricey enough to eat up even generous amounts of OBC all at once. It is important all the same to keep track of how much credit you should take and from what sources - mistakes happen and you want to ensure you become what you paid for (or your friends/family unit gifted you).
More and more than ships permit you to check your onboard account (including whatever OBC) on your stateroom tv, but you can go to guest services at any time to check on your tab besides - just don't wait until disembarkation day, as the queues can go quite long. If you're still unsure of only how onboard credit works, just buy us some for our next prowl and we'll tell y'all all well-nigh it ;-)
Have questions about onboard credit? Have you ever "lost" OBC because you lot didn't use it? Comment below or reach out on Twitter or Facebook!
Source: https://www.cruisehabit.com/what-onboard-credit-obc-how-can-you-use-it
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