Military OBC Usage Limitations

[coo359a2]

The two OBC's are exactly the same and only one can be used.

 

We have used the Stockholder's OBC for many cruises -- since the military OBC is a new program and I qualify as a 25 year service retiree, we opted to use it for this upcoming cruise.

 

In fact since it is a Back-to-Back cruise, I am using it twice e.g. OBC credit on each leg of the B-to-B.

 

 

After you return from your B2B, please post how your military OBC was applied to your account and if in fact it was listed separately so that only certain charges could be applied against it. That should put all the "speculations" to rest. I'm betting it will be handled as Toto, Caribill and others have said.

[sunneesmile]

Thanks so much for contacting Liza and posting her reply here.

 

I doubt whether this issue will cause anyone to cancel their vacation and I agree that most are truly greatful to Princess for giving military personnel this credit.

 

I think the real question comes in the wording of the policy and started from this: This offer cannot be used for casino credits/charges and gratuities.

 

I think a month or so back people thought that this OBC could not be used for their stateroom gratuities.

 

Either way, all of us are going to do the same things on our cruise and the same items will get charged to our shipboard account and we will pay up the difference with our credit cards at the end. The military OBC is just a little extra fun like a cherry on top.

 

Just go, enjoy, and be greatful that your military service got you something extra.

 

Semper Fi

[Roses2]

For: coo359a2

 

I have the OBC credit print-out for both legs of the B-to-B that I have my TA provide before each cruise.

 

As it always does, it shows as a lump sum of the Future Cruise Credit, Military Credit, and other. It is not broken down by type of OBC and never has been. As so many have posted: an OBC is an OBC and that is how it shows on your on-board account.

 

We will be on the Nov 7th and Nov 14th cruises out of San Juan.

 

I have no problem posting back if Princess suddenly changed how they handle OBC.

 

For Spunkie4 - I saw no advantage or disadvantage to the Military over the Stockholder's OBC. Since the military OBC was new, I decided to use it this time.

[Wildcatllamas]

Not to muddy the waters or anything but I work at a hotel/casino. We issue comps (OBC for a casino) all the time for rooms, food etc. The programs used by most hotel/casino operations are set that a comp can be restricted to specific hotel/restaurant posting codes. An example is a room comp is restricted to posting codes that reflect room revenue. A comp may not exceed the room revenue charge.

 

Now I'm not sure what Property Management System that Princess uses but if they decide to restrict OBC to specific things it isn't that hard to change the program. For our operation here it takes about 10 minutes.

 

I can definitely understand not allowing an OBC to be used for gratuities. We don't allow comps to be used for tips. Those are the responsibilities of the guest and shouldn't be shouldered off onto the company. JMHO.:D

[caribill]

Now I'm not sure what Property Management System that Princess uses but if they decide to restrict OBC to specific things it isn't that hard to change the program. For our operation here it takes about 10 minutes. It is hard when all of the different kinds of OBC are lumped into a single number without a breakdown. (It usually takes me five or ten minutes to figure out how the total OBCs on both accounts was derived.)

 

Some things are restricted, but it is not done by use of an OBC. For example, a passenger may receive an onboard gift from a travel agent for a bottle of (inexpensive) wine. This in in the form of a voucher and it says may only be used for that purpose. Enforcement of this restriction is done by your having to present the voucher to get the wine. The human receiving the voucher will not accept it for another purpose.

 

I can definitely understand not allowing an OBC to be used for gratuities. We don't allow comps to be used for tips. Those are the responsibilities of the guest and shouldn't be shouldered off onto the company. Passenger has no way to apply or not apply an OBC to a specific item such as a gift shop purchase or a gratuity. Both are simply postings (with appropriate codes) by Princess to the onboard account.

 

see above

[coo359a2]

For: coo359a2

 

I have no problem posting back if Princess suddenly changed how they handle OBC.

 

.

 

Thanks

[Astro Flyer]

Yep, that is how it is handled. I'm not sure what point the OP is making:rolleyes:. OBC is a credit and your shipboard charges are debits. I always pre-order Casino Credit, Excursion Credit and my TA always gives me OBC, too. It doesn't matter what the credit is for, I just have fun purchasing the different credits. I purchased $2K for an Excursion Credit on one of my cruises, and never took an excursion, Princess just uses the credits towards my other chargers. It is just that simple.

 

If you read my post again, you'll see the only point being made was to simply pass on the policy given by Liza in response to other CC members' questions about any limitations.

 

I clearly said that my post wasn't about how it would, or would not be implemented. My mistake...getting sucked into a discussion about it's implementation which wasn't my desire.

 

I was just trying to help answer a question...don't know how to make it any clearer & it surprises me how it's now become "my point" which was simply stating the Princess policy. :(

 

Oh well, live & learn...don't want to "beat a dead horse" any longer...lol ;)

[Astro Flyer]

Thanks so much for contacting Liza and posting her reply here.

 

I doubt whether this issue will cause anyone to cancel their vacation and I agree that most are truly greatful to Princess for giving military personnel this credit.

 

I think the real question comes in the wording of the policy and started from this: This offer cannot be used for casino credits/charges and gratuities.

 

I think a month or so back people thought that this OBC could not be used for their stateroom gratuities.

 

Either way, all of us are going to do the same things on our cruise and the same items will get charged to our shipboard account and we will pay up the difference with our credit cards at the end. The military OBC is just a little extra fun like a cherry on top.

 

Just go, enjoy, and be greatful that your military service got you something extra.

 

Semper Fi

 

You're very welcome & thanks for your thoughts which I completely agree with you.

 

It's a great program...thanks again Princess! :)

[Astro Flyer]

Thanks for your considerate & informative posts sharing your expertise on some of the options Princess may have if they decide to implement their policy...or not...particularly to caribill & to Wildcatllamas.

 

Yesterday I allowed my frustration to get to me by thinking that my desire for a simple thread to answer a question about a Princess policy would not be "debated" about it's implementation. My bad...as another post said I was fooling myself to think that it wouldn't be debated. :o

 

Now that all of those opinions on implementation have been discussed, my hope is that my original post stating the Princess policy in response to CC members' questions can be the main point again of this thread.

 

Now I know, there's no such thing as a "simple" thread...whether it's one of the sensitive hot button subjects or not. :)

[Wildcatllamas]

Astro Flyer you brought up a great topic and since my husband received a military OBC for our next cruise I was curious when I saw your post. I felt everyone had good points and since this is relatively new for Princess guess time will tell how it shakes out.

 

I want to thank Princess cruises for doing this for military(active or retired). They didn't have to.

[sunneesmile]

Astro Flyer you brought up a great topic and since my husband received a military OBC for our next cruise I was curious when I saw your post. I felt everyone had good points and since this is relatively new for Princess guess time will tell how it shakes out.

 

I want to thank Princess cruises for doing this for military(active or retired). They didn't have to.

 

AND, I can't wait to hear from the folks that cruising in the next couple of weeks to see how it all went.

[Astro Flyer]

AND, I can't wait to hear from the folks that cruising in the next couple of weeks to see how it all went.

Me too...we sail later this month & hope to have more info to share for anyone interested in one particular experience. If it's limited, it would only affect our gratuities since we don't go to the casino. And fortunately we have some other OBCs without any limitations attached for gratuities. :)

[ChrissyBTX]

Thank you in advance to anybody that can please report back after their cruise, if they were able to use the obc for the regular gratuities charged each day ($10 pp I believe?). My parents are going on a Princess cruise in about 4 weeks and I'm going to help them get the $250 obc. They don't own or use a computer and are not familiar w/ CC. They are elderly and don't book excursions or buy anything on the ship. I'd hate for them to go on the cruise thinking that they could apply the $250 for their daily gratuities and then find out the last day that they couldn't. If they knew in advance, they could at least use some of it for the specialty restaurants or a few bottles of wine. I'd like to be able to give them an answer before they cruise.

 

Pleaseeeeeeeeeee let us know once you've returned. It's much appreciated!:)

[breezyb45]

Hi there. I was fascinated by this discussion. When this program first hit the airways on CC it was like a firestorm on our Ruby Thread. To my knowledge everyone who applied correctly (DD214, current photo ID and booking number) got the credit. The amount of credit depended on the length of the cruise. Our Ruby cruise was 16 days-my husband got $250 OBC.

When they awarded that, and yes I consider it an award from Princess, there was no separation on our reservation.

Now, to the actual credit deduction. WE had all the usual, plus casino charges and they just kept deducting on our bill until we ran out of credit.

Also like to say you can apply for every cruise. We have another one booked for Feb. on the Diamond and we applied and were awarded another $250 credit.

Thanks for listening.

Kathy:D

[Astro Flyer]

Thank you in advance to anybody that can please report back after their cruise, if they were able to use the obc for the regular gratuities charged each day ($10 pp I believe?). My parents are going on a Princess cruise in about 4 weeks and I'm going to help them get the $250 obc. They don't own or use a computer and are not familiar w/ CC. They are elderly and don't book excursions or buy anything on the ship. I'd hate for them to go on the cruise thinking that they could apply the $250 for their daily gratuities and then find out the last day that they couldn't. If they knew in advance, they could at least use some of it for the specialty restaurants or a few bottles of wine. I'd like to be able to give them an answer before they cruise.

 

Pleaseeeeeeeeeee let us know once you've returned. It's much appreciated!:)

I will write myself a note & will reply during our cruise after hopefully seeing a trend either way. I'm not going to "stir the pot" by asking anyone at the PSD but will get regular printouts of our folio. If you get input sooner, then maybe my input would hopefully confirm that info...and that there will be no limits for them.

 

We sail on the 24th & return December 8th and hope to have some actual input from onboard.

 

It'll be an honor to have some info to pass on to your "elderly" parents...but could you define "elderly" just in case I'm in the same category as them??? ;)

 

My parent's were part of the "greatest generation"! :D

[Astro Flyer]

when they awarded that, and yes i consider it an award from princess, there was no separation on our reservation.

Now, to the actual credit deduction. We had all the usual, plus casino charges and they just kept deducting on our bill until we ran out of credit.

also like to say you can apply for every cruise. We have another one booked for feb. On the diamond and we applied and were awarded another $250 credit.

Thanks for listening.

Kathy:d

 

That's great...thanks for sharing! :D

[ChrissyBTX]

I will write myself a note & will reply during our cruise after hopefully seeing a trend either way. I'm not going to "stir the pot" by asking anyone at the PSD but will get regular printouts of our folio. If you get input sooner, then maybe my input would hopefully confirm that info...and that there will be no limits for them.

 

We sail on the 24th & return December 8th and hope to have some actual input from onboard.

 

It'll be an honor to have some info to pass on to your "elderly" parents...but could you define "elderly" just in case I'm in the same category as them??? ;)

 

My parent's were part of the "greatest generation"! :D

 

My folks are in their mid 80's, so yes, I think they're elderly. I'm sure alot of people would call me elderly, too!:D They also live in SoCal and cruise on Princess alot, as well as HAL. I did one Princess cruise with them a couple years ago and it was wonderful. First and only cruise I've done with them. I just called my mom (I'm in TX) and told her about the obc. They're going to call Liza at Princess to get the obc. I'll be following up to make sure they get it and help them if they need my help. She was thrilled. My dad was in the last year of WW2 (he was 18 I believe?) and the Korean war and retired in the early 70's. Thank you so much for your offer! Have a super cruise!

 

And, BreezyB, thank you for your post. So far, it sounds good. Looking forward to seeing what other cruisers say about their obc.

[bajacoral]

When ever or how ever I get OBC, I make sure I buy enough drinks to cover it. That way I know my OBC will never be used for tips.:D:D

[DeepWaterMariner]

I just returned home from a cruise on the Crown and had both FCC and Military OBC as well as an Elite credit. All charges to our account, including gratuities, were covered by the OBC. We didn't have any casino charges so I can't speak to that topic.

[Astro Flyer]

My folks are in their mid 80's, so yes, I think they're elderly. I'm sure alot of people would call me elderly, too!:D They also live in SoCal and cruise on Princess alot, as well as HAL. I did one Princess cruise with them a couple years ago and it was wonderful. First and only cruise I've done with them. I just called my mom (I'm in TX) and told her about the obc. They're going to call Liza at Princess to get the obc. I'll be following up to make sure they get it and help them if they need my help. She was thrilled. My dad was in the last year of WW2 (he was 18 I believe?) and the Korean war and retired in the early 70's. Thank you so much for your offer! Have a super cruise!

 

And, BreezyB, thank you for your post. So far, it sounds good. Looking forward to seeing what other cruisers say about their obc.

 

Well, I think maybe they should have a "military brat" OBC? ;)

 

It's not only the person in the military who is serving our country...so do their supportive families. Their families also experience the frequent moves & time away from their loved ones.

 

So thank's to you & your family for their "sevice" to our country...I salute you!

 

Your parents are from the same "greatest generation" as my parents who are now sadly gone. :(

[coo359a2]

I just returned home from a cruise on the Crown and had both FCC and Military OBC as well as an Elite credit. All charges to our account, including gratuities, were covered by the OBC. We didn't have any casino charges so I can't speak to that topic.

 

 

Thanks for giving us this info on how your charges were covered by all your OBC. This is how it's been done in the past. Now to get an answer back from someone who has used the casino..

[sunneesmile]

Thanks for giving us this info on how your charges were covered by all your OBC. This is how it's been done in the past. Now to get an answer back from someone who has used the casino..

 

Check breezyb45 above...they had casino charges that were deducted from the OBC with no issue.

[coo359a2]

Check breezyb45 above...they had casino charges that were deducted from the OBC with no issue.

 

Thanks - somehow I missed a couple of postings. So know we know how it works. It's great to have extra $'s to spend on your cruise for whatever you want to do.

[vie lee]

I sent in my DD214 and got my credit and don't know if anyone has said this before but for me Princess will get all my business from now on. You can see by my signature that I have been on most major lines several times but from now staying with Princess. I have also sent a letter to them, thanking them and telling them they have a loyal customer in me. :D

Vie Lee

[spunkie4]

Well, I think maybe they should have a "military brat" OBC? ;)

 

It's not only the person in the military who is serving our country...so do their supportive families. Their families also experience the frequent moves & time away from their loved ones.

 

So thank's to you & your family for their "sevice" to our country...I salute you!

 

Your parents are from the same "greatest generation" as my parents who are now sadly gone. :(

 

I was a military brat, wife and mother! Had my father and husband in at the same time and then our son and husband at the same time. Lots of sleepless nights, but so proud of all the men in my family who chose to serve our country.

 

Shirley