New to cruising .On board credit?

[newlady]

Hi I am booked to go on my first cruise for 30 years. I read that some people have on board credit. How do you get that? Is there an automatic amount of credit for everyone or is this just a special deal some people get? When I booked it wasnt mentioned.

[Gilliano]

It depends. Last year P & O gave it to a lot of people who booked up early, but then again the prices started off a lot higher. I enquired last June for cruises in 2005 and was told by one travel agent they were not doing on board credit for 2005, but were reducing some of the prices quite substantially, which they did. I booked an Arcadia cruise with them for January 2006 and got two weeks for £800. I personally would prefer to have a cheaper cruise, because in the past a lot of people have stated that they were unable to spend all the credit they were allocated, thus it went to waste.

 

It usually happens if you book early and each travel agent has selected cruises on which they offer obc. It can also happen when booking late, if the cruises are not so popular.

[mufi]

That is a good point, I assumed that if you did not spend all the on board credit (don't think this would apply to many though) you would get a refund or at least some sort of added credit on a future cruise. This surely would only be someone who did not have any drinks from the bar, did not do any shopping aboard and did not use any other facilities or go on any trips.

 

David.