Excursions and OBC

[BIG_Steve]

If I recall, CCL bills you right away if you book an excursion on line, ahead of time. Is that correct? If that's the case, is there any way to apply an OBC that my travel agent gave us towards an excursion booked ahead of time?:confused:

 

If not, then I have to spend my OBC on drinks and souvenirs or I'll lose it? :mad:

 

Thanks

Edited February 5, 2014 by BIG_Steve

[Pyxie]

I have no idea on the OBC (first time cruiser), but they do charge you right away for the excursion when you book through them. I just booked one last week.

[cruizinisthebest]

Is it an excursion only OBC? If so, you can only use it to book excursions once onboard. I have an OBC from my TA for general use, but I can't use it in advance for anything.

[tanyaewa]

I just booked 2 excursions and had to pay ahead with cc.

[BIG_Steve]

I guess it could go towards tips? As I mentioned, this OBC is from the travel agent, not Carnival.

[CoconutJD]

Technically, you don't actually receive the OBC until you're onboard. There's no way to use it in advance, you have to use it on the ship.

 

That being said, you could maybe book the excursion online, and then cancel and re-book it once you're onboard... I don't know if the refund for the cancelled excursion would go back on your card or as OBC for the cruise though.

[nickel1522]

OBC that you get from a price adjustment through Carnival is given once on the boat on your Sign and Sail Card. If you do not use all of the OBC then you get it back as a refund at the end as either cash or check. As for cancelling excursions, I have never cancelled, but I did have an incident where I booked early online and then once I got on the boat realized they had charged my son when they shouldn't have. I went to the excursions desk and they did not refund my credit card, but instead gave me the credit as OBC on my Sign and Sail Card.

[Buckett]

It's such a coincidence you asked this question, just yesterday I was wondering the same thing about the $350 OBC I have for my HAL cruise to Alaska in June...excursions are not cheap and I was wishing somehow I could book now and use the OBC for the excursions but alas you can not. I may just wait til I'm on board, crossing fingers that the one I want is not full! :eek:

 

I know part of it will be used for the daily auto-tip, which is great, and I will probably buy a soda card too. Just wish you could use it to pre-purchase excursions! :rolleyes:

Edited February 5, 2014 by Buckett

[carrieluvsgreg]

I guess it could go towards tips? As I mentioned, this OBC is from the travel agent, not Carnival.

 

I would just plan on it going toward gratuities. It's really 6 of one, half-dozen of the other. You could prepay the gratuities and book excursions onboard, or book excursions now and use the obc to pay for gratuities.

[BIG_Steve]

It's such a coincidence you asked this question, just yesterday I was wondering the same thing about the $350 OBC I have for my HAL cruise to Alaska in June...excursions are not cheap and I was wishing somehow I could book now and use the OBC for the excursions but alas you can not. I may just wait til I'm on board, crossing fingers that the one I want is not full! :eek:

 

I know part of it will be used for the daily auto-tip, which is great, and I will probably buy a soda card too. Just wish you could use it to pre-purchase excursions! :rolleyes:

 

On NCL, you don't get dinged until you're on board, so OBC works fine against excursions. You should ask on the HAL board how the line does it.

 

PS, Alaska is all about the excursions, not the ship or shopping in port, so my advice is don't scrimp on excursions if you don't have to.

 

Have a great trip, and don't forget "Layers-layers-layers" (and waterproof shoes)

[BIG_Steve]

I would just plan on it going toward gratuities. It's really 6 of one, half-dozen of the other. You could prepay the gratuities and book excursions onboard, or book excursions now and use the obc to pay for gratuities.

 

I understand, thanks. I asked because a few months back someone posted that they had a TA OBC, and weren't told that it could not be used for tips (hey, that's what they said) until shortly before disembarkation. They bought a few things in the gift shop and lost the rest of the OBC. I guess I'll just wait until the tide goes down at the cust service desk, then ask.