Seriously? Can't use OBC for tips?

[emilygrace]

Or gratuities, or service charge, or whatever the terminology is with NCL. We are getting OBC from NCL (booked during a promo) and I am reading the boards and doing searches and from what I'm gathering, OBC cannot be used for this?

 

So not only does NCL have the highest service charges in the industry (at the mass market level), even higher than Cunard, they then tell you OBC will not cover it.

 

I've only cruised on NCL once before and didn't have OBC, so this is all new to me.

 

Or maybe I'm interpreting this whole thing incorrectly and the OBC will be credited to my account regardless of where the charges are from?

[Cubechick]

The OBC will be applied to anything on your on board account (unless the rules have changed??).

[Sauer-kraut]

Yes, like cubechick said, it goes as a credit on your account and then everything will be debited from your account, like a cheque book. The more you spend the less the OBC will cover...

 

You cannot WITHDRAW cash from your OBC to tip stewards and others if you so choose but it will cover any expenses you add to your account.

 

As to Cunard, you are incorrect, as Cunard bases the daily service charge on cabin category. It therefore ranges from $11-$13 per person per day, so NCL is taking the average for each passenger. ;)

[johnql]

To the OP: relax. Whatever you have read is probably outdated. OBC can absolutely be used for the Daily Service Charge.

[mpk218]

Deep Breaths Deep Breaths .

 

Its all ok ;)

[Planer's Edge]

To the OP: relax. Whatever you have read is probably outdated. OBC can absolutely be used for the Daily Service Charge.

 

Not correct. If all you have for on board charges is the DSC then OBC will not cover it. OBC will cover anything on your on board account except DSC.

 

PE

[Zimomiller]

You have to remember that OBC is funny money.

It is only good onboard and it is only good where NCL wants it to be good.

 

Remember, for everything sold onboard (except tips) NCL has a very healthy profit margin.

 

By only allowing you to use OBC against purchases that are marked up several hundred percent, NCL lowers it's true cost of the OBC.

 

I bet the true "cost" to NCL of OBC is 25% or less of the stated value.

[johnql]

Not correct. If all you have for on board charges is the DSC then OBC will not cover it. OBC will cover anything on your on board account except DSC.

 

PE

Simply not true. OBC shows up on your shipboard account like any other credit. Any charge goes against it, including DSC.

[Mrs. H.]

Simply not true. OBC shows up on your shipboard account like any other credit. Any charge goes against it, including DSC.

 

 

I agree 100% with Johnql!!

[david_sobe]

Think of on board credit like a gift card. Restaurants will not allow you to use the gift card to tip either. They also will not allow you to take money off the card. So NCL is not any different than any other business when it comes to gift cards/on board credit.

[gatorsfam]

If anyone wants to know for sure, please send some OBC's my way and I'll let you know how it works out :)

[Planer's Edge]

Simply not true. OBC shows up on your shipboard account like any other credit. Any charge goes against it, including DSC.

 

Not to be argumentative, but read the first part of my post. If all you have on your on board account is DSC then your OBC will not pay off the balance. That fact comes from ship's personnel.

 

PE

[johnql]

Not to be argumentative' date=' but read the first part of my post. If all you have on your on board account is DSC then your OBC will not pay off the balance. That fact comes from ship's personnel.

 

PE[/color']

I did read the first part of your post and I lean towards believing it. However, I would love to hear a first-hand report of this actually happening.

 

Let's face it - neither of us has probably been in this situation - i.e., having no charges on our shipboard account other than the DSC.

 

So, let's hear it from a CCer who has had first-hand experience with this - not something you've heard, not something you've been told. I want to hear from somebody who has actually gone through it. Has anyone actually been forced to cover the DSC out of his own pocket (and not allowed to use OBC) because his shipboard account had no other charges other than the DSC?

[lambs2]

Not to be argumentative' date=' but read the first part of my post. If all you have on your on board account is DSC then your OBC will not pay off the balance. That fact comes from ship's personnel.[/color']

 

PE

While the above may be technically true, I can attest from personal experience with six NCL cruises under our belt that DSC charges can be paid with OBC. However, we always have a few other charges like a few drinks and at least one night at a specialty restaurant and we NEVER leave any OBC unspent and always have some charges still on our credit card. A couple times we only owed a couple more dollars (careful planning!), so I KNOW that OBC funds had to be used to pay our DSC. Unless something has changed since last May...

[Mrs. H.]

While the above may be technically true, I can attest from personal experience with six NCL cruises under our belt that DSC charges can be paid with OBC. However, we always have a few other charges like a few drinks and at least one night at a specialty restaurant and we NEVER leave any OBC unspent and always have some charges still on our credit card. A couple times we only owed a couple more dollars (careful planning!), so I KNOW that OBC funds had to be used to pay our DSC. Unless something has changed since last May...

 

I also make sure I use up ALL my OBC. Two years ago we had $550 and I was afraid we wouldn't be able to use it all. Wound up on the last day purchasing something and owing them $23. lol

I believe what they are asking here is if you purchse NOTHING AT ALL, will the $72 or $84 (not sure how many days they charge for), come off your

bill.

I say yes since you start out with a credit and they keep putting the $12 debit on your bill that it will just keep reducing the beginning balance.

[sparks1093]

Not to cloud the issue but there are two types of OBC, the type that NCL gives you for a promotion and the type you or someone else buys for you from the bon voyage section. I would presume the latter type could be used for anything, after all it's been purchased for that purpose. All of the terms and conditions that I've read regarding the first type of OBC state that it may be used for ANY onboard purchase (the caps appear in the t&c).

 

So I guess the question comes down to, does the DSC count as an onboard purchase.:confused:

 

(On my upcoming Sun cruise I have all of $20 OBC, so I doubt this will be an issue for us;).)

[RichNY]

Simply not true. OBC shows up on your shipboard account like any other credit. Any charge goes against it, including DSC.

 

 

John ..I'm with you on this one. On our upcoming Jewel cruise we have $300 in on board credits. I just checked the accompanying paper work and there are no restrictions..It even goes to say " You're free to use it wherever "

[newmexicoNita]

Or gratuities, or service charge, or whatever the terminology is with NCL. We are getting OBC from NCL (booked during a promo) and I am reading the boards and doing searches and from what I'm gathering, OBC cannot be used for this?

 

So not only does NCL have the highest service charges in the industry (at the mass market level), even higher than Cunard, they then tell you OBC will not cover it.

 

I've only cruised on NCL once before and didn't have OBC, so this is all new to me.

 

Or maybe I'm interpreting this whole thing incorrectly and the OBC will be credited to my account regardless of where the charges are from?

 

Years ago that was the case, but now at OBC is exactly that. It will show up on your final statement and can be used for anything. We have done this many times over the past few years.

 

Final charges: 875.00

 

OBC 75.00

 

total bill 800.00

 

It makes no difference how the OBC got on your account.

 

Nita

[RichNY]

I did read the first part of your post and I lean towards believing it. However, I would love to hear a first-hand report of this actually happening.

 

Let's face it - neither of us has probably been in this situation - i.e., having no charges on our shipboard account other than the DSC.

 

So, let's hear it from a CCer who has had first-hand experience with this - not something you've heard, not something you've been told. I want to hear from somebody who has actually gone through it. Has anyone actually been forced to cover the DSC out of his own pocket (and not allowed to use OBC) because his shipboard account had no other charges other than the DSC?

 

 

Thats an excellent point that's often missed on CC....If it said enough on CC the it automatically becomes true.....:rolleyes:

[newmexicoNita]

Not correct. If all you have for on board charges is the DSC then OBC will not cover it. OBC will cover anything on your on board account except DSC.

 

PE

 

I hadn't thought about it that way. I guess you are correct. How many people actually do not spend a dime other than DSC? That was my thought I guess. As for not spending anything and wanting to use an OBC for DSC, I can understand why the cruise line will not do this and certainly would think the OP would understand as well.

 

Nita LOL

[sdmike]

It doesn't make sense that a $400 OBC would fully cover a $350 service charge (for example) IF there was another charge on the bill, but not if there wasn't. So I could put one beer on my account and then the OBC would cover the entire service charge too?

 

On RCI we had over $800 in OBCs for the 5 of us (from our travel agent), and there was no issue paying our service charge with it. I know...different line..but likely similar policy

[mpk218]

May I ;)

 

Hello I have a quick question that gets asked quiet a bit .

 

If you have an On board credit through either sales promotion or TA gift

 

can that be used to pay off the Daily service charge ($12 pp per day )

 

even if you make no other purchases while on board ?

"

Dear Mr. XXXXXX,

Yes, you can use onboard credit to pay for service charges and anything else you decide to buy onboard.





Sincerely,

 

Carmen Rencurrell- Executive Office/ Resolution Specialist

crencurrell@ncl.com

1-800-327-9020 | EXT 7676 | fax 305-468-2169

Norwegian Cruise Line®

[newmexicoNita]

It doesn't make sense that a $400 OBC would fully cover a $350 service charge (for example) IF there was another charge on the bill, but not if there wasn't. So I could put one beer on my account and then the OBC would cover the entire service charge too?

 

On RCI we had over $800 in OBCs for the 5 of us (from our travel agent), and there was no issue paying our service charge with it. I know...different line..but likely similar policy

 

getting it from your TA is very different. That is an amount she or he paid to the cruise line, an OBC from the cruise line is money that was never paid. It is like a $25 gift certificate from the restaurant directly compared to one someone purchased for you.

 

NIta

[RichNY]

May I ;)

 

Hello I have a quick question that gets asked quiet a bit .

 

If you have an On board credit through either sales promotion or TA gift

 

can that be used to pay off the Daily service charge ($12 pp per day )

 

even if you make no other purchases while on board ?

 

"

Dear Mr. XXXXXX,

 

Yes, you can use onboard credit to pay for service charges and anything else you decide to buy onboard.

 

 

Sincerely,

 

 

Carmen Rencurrell- Executive Office/ Resolution Specialist

crencurrell@ncl.com

1-800-327-9020 | EXT 7676 | fax 305-468-2169

Norwegian Cruise Line®

 

Thanks ...that should answer the question....we'll see.....:rolleyes:

[emilygrace]

Wow, I run out to the store and come back to all these replies! Thanks for all your input.

 

We tend to not spend very much on board. We're not drinkers (maybe one or two on a week long cruise) and I'm not a shopper, so don't buy anything in the shops on board. This is why I was researching what OBC would cover. Our OBC is only $100 and it is from NCL, not any outside source. But our DSC will total $168 for the two of us, since we only use one credit card.

 

I guess I'll just wait and find out at the end of our cruise. The reason I was asking was because if it CAN'T be used for the DSC I would try to spend it on board, which is exactly what NCL wants me to do.

 

BTW, when I mentioned that this charge is even more than Cunard I was basing it on the type of cabin we usually book, which is definitely not a suite. So it would be $11 pp per day on Cunard for us.

 

Again, thanks for all your quick replies!