Jancruz Posted April 7, 2013 #26 Share Posted April 7, 2013 Good question but, there are three types of OBC I know of.Refundable, such as if someone credits your account with money; non-refundable like most credits such as a 'gift' from your TA (maybe under the covers from O) such as 'free/prepaid' gratuities; and the Ocean Club level OBC. The new invoice layout is much more clear with its breakdown and lists the various credits and has a column to denote if each is refundable or a 'use it of lose it' type. Unfortunately the O Club level OBC does not has such a comment column I anticipate that refundable OBC can be used in the casino ( in effect withdraw as cash less the 5% fee an then use that as a cash deposit in the casino.) I am wondering if more specifically a non-refundable OBC can be used in the casino and also if the Ocean Club level OBC can be used a casino cash. Next sailing is on an R ship so no Culinary Classes. Drinks & excursion packages booked & paid for and gratuities done. Other than a trinket in one of the shops I thought a spin at a card table would be good entertainment for the money (OBC) if I can use it. Any suggestions? No it cant..since youi have to use cash in the casino there is no way to withdraw non-refundable obc ..therefore you have to have cash or charge it to your room plus the 5%..If I know I am going to play in the casino I bring cash with me..I just hate to lose and pay 5% on top of it.. Jancruz1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
no fuss travel Posted April 7, 2013 #27 Share Posted April 7, 2013 When we were on the Marina in February the front desk said we could take foreign currency from our OBC. We did not try that though. We were also told, that the gift from our TA OBC, if we did not spend it, we would be refunded, but would lose the others if we did not use them. We managed to use up all of our non-refundable OBC, Oceania left a message with the security people for us to go and see reception when we returned from our outing the day before we disembarked and reception explained that they needed to pay us out. As we were planning on having a drink with dinner, we then made arrangements with the reception desk to get our refund after dinner. I just went down with the dining room drink receipt and was paid out $18 US, which was what we had left. I did find though it depended on who you talked to at the reception desk. There was this one most delightful Scottish gentleman that worked the front desk, and I preferred to work with him rather than the female staff. He was so pleasant to work with. I also found please and thank you definitely helped when working with the reception staff along with a very friendly smile. It must be tough hearing nothing but complaints, many petty, from cruise passengers. I had a hassle with my boarding card, which they sorted out very pleasantly for me. It only took three trips to get the problem sorted out which may be the reason why they always said good morning, etc each time I passed the desk. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaniele Posted April 7, 2013 #28 Share Posted April 7, 2013 I am new to Oceania and have a question regarding their invoices. I use a TA and only get their invoice which is horrible. Can I get the invoice that the TA gets from Oceania? I get very confused on the invoicing, especially since I can not seem to get the cruise invoice from my TA. Thanks, if anyone has any suggestions. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoHoHo Posted April 7, 2013 #29 Share Posted April 7, 2013 No it cant..since youi have to use cash in the casino there is no way to withdraw non-refundable obc ..therefore you have to have cash or charge it to your room plus the 5%..If I know I am going to play in the casino I bring cash with me..I just hate to lose and pay 5% on top of it..Jancruz1 Thanks Jancruz. This is what I suspected but great to have your reply and get the answer. Being as I have to buy $US in the first place I am a couple of points behind to start with not even considering the 5%. If I 'sell' what is left back (convert back to CDN) I lose a couple more points so usually just keep a small stash of US cash for another trip. Sadly it keeps shrinking. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted April 7, 2013 #30 Share Posted April 7, 2013 Being as I have to buy $US in the first place I am a couple of points behind to start with not even considering the 5%. If I 'sell' what is left back (convert back to CDN) I lose a couple more points so usually just keep a small stash of US cash for another trip. Sadly it keeps shrinking. Since most cruise lines are payable in USD we opened a TD USD Account in Canada & got the TD USD VISA We buy USD when the rate are good & keep them in the USD account until needed Might be worth looking into if you cruise or cross the border a lot The rates are much better than 10 years ago when it was 65 cents on the exchange;) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoHoHo Posted April 7, 2013 #31 Share Posted April 7, 2013 Since most cruise lines are payable in USD we opened a TD USD Account in Canada & got the TD USD VISAWe buy USD when the rate are good & keep them in the USD account until needed Might be worth looking into if you cruise or cross the border a lot The rates are much better than 10 years ago when it was 65 cents on the exchange;) We do travel a fair bit but mostly Europe, etc so Euros and such. Some US too and have such a trip coming up this summer. However always use CC (pay their usually favourable exchange rate) and for local currency ATMs. A casino is one of the few places where a a fair bit of cash is needed. We always make a point of saving up small denomination currency as that is hard to buy in advance. Like to have it for small purchases when first arriving and for room service tips, etc . Thanks for the suggestions though. I will consider. Your point of buying when the rates are favourable is better than my ad-hoc currency purchases and safekeeping in a sock drawer. Oops, have to move it now. I resist crossing the border. Four hour waits this past Easter weekend with lines so long nexus card users could not get into the 'faster' lanes. Apparently some people lost their patience. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare LHT28 Posted April 7, 2013 #32 Share Posted April 7, 2013 We do travel a fair bit but mostly Europe, etc so Euros and such. Some US too and have such a trip coming up this summer. However always use CC (pay their usually favourable exchange rate) and for local currency ATMs. I got tired of paying the hidden Foreign transaction fee on my CC for the cruises At the time they did not have the CC without FTF Yes saw there is a major delay crossing the border & clearing Immigrations for flight to the USA with their work slow down going on It was just a thought Lyn Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RetiredFL Posted April 7, 2013 #33 Share Posted April 7, 2013 We usually keep "seed Money" for Euros, GBP, Swiss Francs and CDN dollars in our safe (Better than a sock drawer). At the end of each trip we have some left over and rather than convert it we save it for a start next time. We even do that for "strange' currencies such as the Hong Kong dollar, Turkisn Lira etc. We never plan to be back in many countries but it is amazing how we seem to return to some places a second time due to an interesting itinerary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
YoHoHo Posted April 7, 2013 #34 Share Posted April 7, 2013 I am new to Oceania and have a question regarding their invoices. I use a TA and only get their invoice which is horrible. Can I get the invoice that the TA gets from Oceania? I get very confused on the invoicing, especially since I can not seem to get the cruise invoice from my TA. Thanks, if anyone has any suggestions. The 'invoice' we receive from our TA is titled 'Guest Statement' and has an O logo as a watermark so it seems to be generated by O's system and sent to me via my TA. The most recent has a new and improved layout clearly separating the two pax on the one invoice. Taxes & fees are no long added in near the end but now as part of the cruise fare same as on the brochures. Also the Guest Statement includes important information such as the various cancellation period and penalties, some other terms & conditions. I am sure O will not send you one directly because all money related issues have to be run through your TA (as they are your Agent now and all that that implies.) Assuming the one you get (and dislike) is different than the one I get (and like) I don't know why your TA will not send you the one from O. It is not as if there are any secret message on mine that your agent does not want you to see. But then if the messages were truly secret I might not recognize them. Any suggestions? If your TA is unable to explain their invoice to you then time to get an agent who can. Even if you are receiving the same statement format that I get if your agent cannot or does not communicate with you in a manner you understand then that is not to your benefit. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaniele Posted April 7, 2013 #35 Share Posted April 7, 2013 The 'invoice' we receive from our TA is titled 'Guest Statement' and has an O logo as a watermark so it seems to be generated by O's system and sent to me via my TA. The most recent has a new and improved layout clearly separating the two pax on the one invoice. Taxes & fees are no long added in near the end but now as part of the cruise fare same as on the brochures. Also the Guest Statement includes important information such as the various cancellation period and penalties, some other terms & conditions. I am sure O will not send you one directly because all money related issues have to be run through your TA (as they are your Agent now and all that that implies.) Assuming the one you get (and dislike) is different than the one I get (and like) I don't know why your TA will not send you the one from O. It is not as if there are any secret message on mine that your agent does not want you to see. But then if the messages were truly secret I might not recognize them. Any suggestions? If your TA is unable to explain their invoice to you then time to get an agent who can. Even if you are receiving the same statement format that I get if your agent cannot or does not communicate with you in a manner you understand then that is not to your benefit. Thank you for the advice and info. I will ask one more time and see what happens. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jancruz Posted April 8, 2013 #36 Share Posted April 8, 2013 Thanks Jancruz. This is what I suspected but great to have your reply and get the answer. Being as I have to buy $US in the first place I am a couple of points behind to start with not even considering the 5%. If I 'sell' what is left back (convert back to CDN) I lose a couple more points so usually just keep a small stash of US cash for another trip. Sadly it keeps shrinking. I know I do the same thing when I lose in the casino I try to keep my stash for the next trip..amazing how small it is getting..I say lets win the lottery!! Jancruz1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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