woodyren Posted February 2, 2015 #1 Share Posted February 2, 2015 (edited) A thread on the buying OBC on the Celebrity website at a great conversion rate got me thinking about if it were possible to do on Royal Caribbean. I made a call to customer support today and asked a few questions (after waiting a long time on hold to get through) . The call centre person said that I could and could buy any amount I wanted at a dollar for dollar basis (Aussie $ to US $). I asked were they sure it was not purchased at a conversion rate and they said no. "It is dollar for dollar" as it is a current offer. I then asked what happens if I don't spend it all and after talking to a supervisor they said it would be returned to my credit card I purchased it with. I did not ask them how this is reconverted back. I was then about to purchase some but when giving my booking number I was then told as I had booked in the USA (through a USA agent) I needed to call Miami to purchase the OBC. I will give them a call when I am home in their business hours. A few questions for those with experience here. Has anyone pre purchased OBC with RCL? Did they do the $=$ conversion? If so could you not cash it out in the casino, take the 5% hit and get the money in US$$ cash? Seems too good to be true (and you know what they say about that) Even so if this is the case it would be a great way the reduce your on board expenses given the sorry state of the Aus$. Edited February 2, 2015 by woodyren Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
stki Posted February 2, 2015 #2 Share Posted February 2, 2015 (edited) A thread on the buying OBC on the Celebrity website at a great conversion rate got me thinking about if it were possible to do on Royal Caribbean. I made a call to customer support today and asked a few questions (after waiting a long time on hold to get through) . The call centre person said that I could and could buy any amount I wanted at a dollar for dollar basis (Aussie $ to US $). I asked were they sure it was not purchased at a conversion rate and they said no. "It is dollar for dollar" as it is a current offer. I then asked what happens if I don't spend it all and after talking to a supervisor they said it would be returned to my credit card I purchased it with. I did not ask them how this is reconverted back. I was then about to purchase some but when giving my booking number I was then told as I had booked in the USA (through a USA agent) I needed to call Miami to purchase the OBC. I will give them a call when I am home in their business hours. A few questions for those with experience here. Has anyone pre purchased OBC with RCL? Did they do the $=$ conversion? If so could you not cash it out in the casino, take the 5% hit and get the money in US$$ cash? Seems too good to be true (and you know what they say about that) Even so if this is the case it would be a great way the reduce your on board expenses given the sorry state of the Aus$. Very interested in how you get on, as we have a few cruises this year on RCI Cheers Tanya Edited February 2, 2015 by stki Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Stuartm Posted February 2, 2015 #3 Share Posted February 2, 2015 A thread on the buying OBC on the Celebrity website at a great conversion rate got me thinking about if it were possible to do on Royal Caribbean. I made a call to customer support today and asked a few questions (after waiting a long time on hold to get through) . The call centre person said that I could and could buy any amount I wanted at a dollar for dollar basis (Aussie $ to US $). I asked were they sure it was not purchased at a conversion rate and they said no. "It is dollar for dollar" as it is a current offer. I then asked what happens if I don't spend it all and after talking to a supervisor they said it would be returned to my credit card I purchased it with. I did not ask them how this is reconverted back. I was then about to purchase some but when giving my booking number I was then told as I had booked in the USA (through a USA agent) I needed to call Miami to purchase the OBC. I will give them a call when I am home in their business hours. A few questions for those with experience here. Has anyone pre purchased OBC with RCL? Did they do the $=$ conversion? If so could you not cash it out in the casino, take the 5% hit and get the money in US$$ cash? Seems too good to be true (and you know what they say about that) Even so if this is the case it would be a great way the reduce your on board expenses given the sorry state of the Aus$. Don't know about RCCl but for our Sapphire Princess cruise last December I rang Princess Australia to buy $1000 on board credit. The on board currency was US$ so I asked the rep how much in AU$ I would need to equal $1000 US. (the Aussie $ was buying about 83c at the time.) She said that it was dollar for dollar. I was doubtful that Princess would be so generous but when I checked my credit card statement only AU$1000 was debited. So I rang again the next day to buy another $1000 and this time I got a US agent. Same deal, dollar for dollar. When we boarded I checked our account expecting to see a couple of credits for around US$800 each but no, 2xUS$1000 was showing. So thank you Princess for the extra on board credit! cheers Stu Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MicCanberra Posted February 2, 2015 #4 Share Posted February 2, 2015 I have bought OBC for both Cunard (and X) and while not quite $ for $ the rates are far better than the current exchange, Cunard gave me a rate of $0.93. With X they said it was $ for $ but I am yet to see what is charged to my card. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisine21 Posted February 2, 2015 #5 Share Posted February 2, 2015 (edited) To put onboard credit on with Celebrity do you need to call them or can you add it through the cruise personaliser? Edited February 2, 2015 by cruisine21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Big_M Posted February 3, 2015 #6 Share Posted February 3, 2015 As you bought in the US, it would need to be purchased in the US at 1USD for 1USD i.e. the same basis as you paid for the cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUT2407 Posted February 3, 2015 #7 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I suspect this window will close before long, but good luck to those who can take advantage while it's open Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MicCanberra Posted February 3, 2015 #8 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I suspect over the phone is the way to go as the website has all sorts of conniptions and crashes half way through.:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
woodyren Posted February 3, 2015 Author #9 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I suspect over the phone is the way to go as the website has all sorts of conniptions and crashes half way through.:D You can only do this over the phone. There is no option to do it via the Royal Caribbean website. I will call in the morning to the USA and see how I can add some for our Quantum cruises but suspect I will be charged in US $$$. I have our next cruise booked through Australia but already have $250 OBC with that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUT2407 Posted February 3, 2015 #10 Share Posted February 3, 2015 You can only do this over the phone. There is no option to do it via the Royal Caribbean website. I will call in the morning to the USA and see how I can add some for our Quantum cruises but suspect I will be charged in US $$$. I have our next cruise booked through Australia but already have $250 OBC with that. Please let us know how it goes, I've never thought of doing it before this came up Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aussie FF Posted February 3, 2015 #11 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Please let us know how it goes, I've never thought of doing it before this came up Agree, that I've not heard of this before. Looking into it.:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruisinCat31 Posted February 3, 2015 #12 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I just read this and rang up and did it! So happy as we usually get cash for the casino to take with us plus all our purchases on board and this worked out much better! Saved heaps and all legit. Even with paying the 5% fee for drawing on your seapass card in the casino it works out much better than the current exchange rate. :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MicCanberra Posted February 3, 2015 #13 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I just read this and rang up and did it! So happy as we usually get cash for the casino to take with us plus all our purchases on board and this worked out much better! Saved heaps and all legit. Even with paying the 5% fee for drawing on your seapass card in the casino it works out much better than the current exchange rate. :) These offers don't stay long, glad you could avail yourself of the offer as well.:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GUT2407 Posted February 3, 2015 #14 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Agree, that I've not heard of this before.Looking into it.:D I knew you could gift OBC [have done it for others] and knew you could gift it to yourself, but always just assumed I'd get the same poor exchange rate and charges as when I pay with Aussie Credit Card at the end of the cruise Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MicCanberra Posted February 3, 2015 #15 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I knew you could gift OBC [have done it for others] and knew you could gift it to yourself, but always just assumed I'd get the same poor exchange rate and charges as when I pay with Aussie Credit Card at the end of the cruise It depends on the timing, currently they are offering great exchange rates. We have previously done it and the rates while better than the normal exchange were not like these prices.:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruisinCat31 Posted February 3, 2015 #16 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I just read this and rang up and did it! So happy as we usually get cash for the casino to take with us plus all our purchases on board and this worked out much better! Saved heaps and all legit. Even with paying the 5% fee for drawing on your seapass card in the casino it works out much better than the current exchange rate. :) Just thought about it and could draw the cash out at the service desk anyway and take it to the casino to avoid the 5% charge. It's even better! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fairywren Posted February 3, 2015 #17 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I've just done it too, but apparently it may not be for all sailings, and she did say that although it's one for one at their end, my bank may have a charge.... I will wait for it to hit the Visa account and will report back:) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
avalon007 Posted February 3, 2015 #18 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Can you buy the OBC for celebrity via their website? If so, where? I couldn't see any option to do that in my reservation. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MicCanberra Posted February 3, 2015 #19 Share Posted February 3, 2015 Can you buy the OBC for celebrity via their website? If so, where? I couldn't see any option to do that in my reservation. Thanks. Yes you can (under gifts for on board) but it is better organised by phone.:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MicCanberra Posted February 3, 2015 #20 Share Posted February 3, 2015 I've just done it too, but apparently it may not be for all sailings, and she did say that although it's one for one at their end, my bank may have a charge.... I will wait for it to hit the Visa account and will report back:) I have received $ for $ for a X cruise, proof is in on my CC. RCI has proved a bit trickier, still waiting for that to go through, but should be the same.:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boeckli Posted February 4, 2015 #21 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Just rang RCI and purchased OBC for our cruise later this month. They debited Australian Dollars to my CBA travelmoney card and I was assured that the funds would be credited at 1:1 to my onboard account. The 'Amenity Confirmation' only states "Currency AUD, Cost x.xx, Received x.xx", so I guess I will only find out once we get on the ship, whether we have received the same amount in US$. I enquired about the ability to do the same for our Nov sailing and was told that yes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisine21 Posted February 4, 2015 #22 Share Posted February 4, 2015 If you don't use all the OBC during the cruise do they deposit it back on your card? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ned49 Posted February 4, 2015 #23 Share Posted February 4, 2015 Just rang RCI and purchased OBC for our cruise later this month. They debited Australian Dollars to my CBA travelmoney card and I was assured that the funds would be credited at 1:1 to my onboard account. The 'Amenity Confirmation' only states "Currency AUD, Cost x.xx, Received x.xx", so I guess I will only find out once we get on the ship, whether we have received the same amount in US$. I enquired about the ability to do the same for our Nov sailing and was told that yes. This sounds to good to be true, what was the phone no that you phoned. Was it the local no or USA. Thanks for any help, I think I will try it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MicCanberra Posted February 4, 2015 #24 Share Posted February 4, 2015 This sounds to good to be true, what was the phone no that you phoned. Was it the local no or USA.Thanks for any help, I think I will try it. RCI and X use 1800 754 500 and follow the prompts.:D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cruisine21 Posted February 4, 2015 #25 Share Posted February 4, 2015 (edited) RCI and X use 1800 754 500 and follow the prompts.:D Just rang and purchased the credit. Also received the confirmation email.Thanks Mic Sent from my iPad using Forums Edited February 4, 2015 by cruisine21 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now