How to use up OBC

[DKF97]

My dad has over $1200 in nonrefundable OBC. He doesn't drink, gamble, or take ship excursions. He's not interested in the steakhouse or photos. He's thinking maybe he could shop for xmas presents at the shops, but I have my doubts he could manage to use up so much with their selections. I thought I had read that he could cash out in the casino, but my pvp said he could only cash out winnings, not the original amount he uses. I thought maybe we could give him cash and he could transfer some to our account. Is there any way of doing that besides putting us on his account?

[CoconutJD]

He could buy himself a nice watch with that.

[firemanbobswife]

Have him move over a couple hundred at a time to his account from the slot machines (he may have to play a little) and then go cash it out at the cage. I have done it a ton of times and quite frequently leave with more money than I go with!

[winddawn]

He could go to Guest Services and ask how he could move it to the accounts of some of the other passengers in your group. It can't hurt to ask and that would be better than just giving it back.

[reerun25]

Have him move over a couple hundred at a time to his account from the slot machines (he may have to play a little) and then go cash it out at the cage. I have done it a ton of times and quite frequently leave with more money than I go with!

 

Not ever having played the slot machines, can you go into a little more detail about how to do this? Are you saying you put your S&S card in the slot machine, and move say $200 to the machine. Play a couple of games, and say lose $30, then you can cash out and walk away with $170 cash in hand? How does one cash out?

[luv2trvlnow]

My dad has over $1200 in nonrefundable OBC. He doesn't drink, gamble, or take ship excursions. He's not interested in the steakhouse or photos. He's thinking maybe he could shop for xmas presents at the shops, but I have my doubts he could manage to use up so much with their selections. I thought I had read that he could cash out in the casino, but my pvp said he could only cash out winnings, not the original amount he uses. I thought maybe we could give him cash and he could transfer some to our account. Is there any way of doing that besides putting us on his account?

How did you get 1200 in nonrefundable OBC? If some of it is from price drops using Early Saver it has been refundable for me. Last year I had over $500 OBC credit left on the last day and I went to Guest Services and they gave me the money that was remaining in cash.

Not ever having played the slot machines, can you go into a little more detail about how to do this? Are you saying you put your S&S card in the slot machine, and move say $200 to the machine. Play a couple of games, and say lose $30, then you can cash out and walk away with $170 cash in hand? How does one cash out?

Yes, you put your S&S card in the machine and go through the steps of setting up an account. I think the most you can put into the account at one time is $300. My husband did this one day and then played a little. The next day he put an additional $200 into his account and played a little. He was only $5 down. He then went to the cashier and cashed out the casino account and they gave it to him in cash. We used that cash to pay for our private excursions, taxis, etc. while in the 4 ports of call.

The money you put into the casino account will appear as an entertainment charge on your S&S account. So that lowers your OBC if you have any. Just make sure you play some. If you cash out without playing they might not let you do it again.

Sharon

Edited May 28, 2014 by luv2trvlnow

[firemanbobswife]

Not ever having played the slot machines, can you go into a little more detail about how to do this? Are you saying you put your S&S card in the slot machine, and move say $200 to the machine. Play a couple of games, and say lose $30, then you can cash out and walk away with $170 cash in hand? How does one cash out?

 

Yes. You charge your S&S account however much you want when you put your card in the machine. Play a little bit - there's no set amount, then upload it back to your card. Go to the casino cashier and tell them you want to cash out. That's it. Simple and easy.

[michelle1836]

is this from price drops? I have always been able to get that money at the end of a cruise in a check

[Jgilbert813]

He could sit by the bar and randomly pick up people's bar checks...:rolleyes:

[edinboro cruiser]

Like a few others have said go to the casino. I did it a few tines on my b2b in January

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[ccruisequeen]

Get photo albums or a new camera in the photo shop. They make great gifts any time of year

 

 

[jcearth]

If you don't want to fool with the slots, just ask the cashier at the casino cage for chips and charge it to your sign and sail card - you can cash them out whenever you wish. However, there is a 3% surcharge if you do it this way (for $1200, that would be $36)

[DKF97]

Thanks everyone! Yes it is from early saver price drops, I always thought they were refundable also, but pvp said no and I've never tested it because we don't have any problem using it up generally. His documents don't say that is is nonrefundable, it just has it listed and then it lists $25 as refundable, that $25 is from the military appreciation month promotion. Anyway thanks again!

[thinfool]

He can book and pay for some nice excursions for the whole family. He can buy soda or coffee cards for any who like that. He can treat someone to a spa treatment. Or get one himself. He can take everyone to the onboard restaurant.

 

Quite a number of ways to burn thru that much OBC.

[Badfinger]

Last year on the Magic we had about $1400 in OBC due to price drops. The guy at the desk said it was non-refundable. I went to their little kiosk machine and withdrew cash against my OBC. Not knowing if it would really work, I started with $200 then checked my account the next day. No problems as I had the cash and my OBC decreased by $200. Two more $600 withdrawals and my OBC was down to zero...and I had a pile of cash in the safe. Of course we then charged a few items and gratuities against our account, but I would have rather had a small bill at the end then risk losing OBC.

[hawaiissunshine1]

This may be a silly question, but if he books his next cruise at the future cruise desk, will they charge his S&S card? If so, he could essentially get a free cruise! I don't know if this would work... just an idea :)

[mommom of 7]

This may be a silly question, but if he books his next cruise at the future cruise desk, will they charge his S&S card? If so, he could essentially get a free cruise! I don't know if this would work... just an idea :)

 

They don't credit you S&S, your deposit will come off the credit card you booked with. If you don't have a card on file you will have to pay some other way.

[DKF97]

Last year on the Magic we had about $1400 in OBC due to price drops. The guy at the desk said it was non-refundable. I went to their little kiosk machine and withdrew cash against my OBC. Not knowing if it would really work, I started with $200 then checked my account the next day. No problems as I had the cash and my OBC decreased by $200. Two more $600 withdrawals and my OBC was down to zero...and I had a pile of cash in the safe. Of course we then charged a few items and gratuities against our account, but I would have rather had a small bill at the end then risk losing OBC.

 

I didn't know you could withdraw cash from your obc! That would be the quickest, easiest way to deal with it.

 

Sent from my Galaxy S4

[hawaiissunshine1]

They don't credit you S&S, your deposit will come off the credit card you booked with. If you don't have a card on file you will have to pay some other way.

 

Bummer... thanks for clearing it up, I haven't ever booked while on a cruise, so i wasn't sure.

[jdbmga]

Last year on the Magic we had about $1400 in OBC due to price drops. The guy at the desk said it was non-refundable. I went to their little kiosk machine and withdrew cash against my OBC. Not knowing if it would really work, I started with $200 then checked my account the next day. No problems as I had the cash and my OBC decreased by $200. Two more $600 withdrawals and my OBC was down to zero...and I had a pile of cash in the safe. Of course we then charged a few items and gratuities against our account, but I would have rather had a small bill at the end then risk losing OBC.

 

There is an option to cash out OBC on the kiosk? Is there a charge for this?

[RHilla619]

Wow thats a lot of OBC, and makes it a little tricky considering he doesn't drink/gamble. As others have suggested I would just go to the casino cage request to "purchase" $1,200 of chips against his S+S account effectively whipping out his OBC and eat the $36 charge. Later on in the cruise just cash out the chips and walk away with the cash.

[suzycruiser2]

Someone else on here said that you can buy Carnival gift cards with your Sign and Sail card at Cherry on Top.

[Cruise-Crazy]

Maybe a nice watch in the gift shop. :D

[Micahs Grandad]

How did you get 1200 in nonrefundable OBC? If some of it is from price drops using Early Saver it has been refundable for me. Last year I had over $500 OBC credit left on the last day and I went to Guest Services and they gave me the money that was remaining in cash.

 

Yes, you put your S&S card in the machine and go through the steps of setting up an account. I think the most you can put into the account at one time is $300. My husband did this one day and then played a little. The next day he put an additional $200 into his account and played a little. He was only $5 down. He then went to the cashier and cashed out the casino account and they gave it to him in cash. We used that cash to pay for our private excursions, taxis, etc. while in the 4 ports of call.

The money you put into the casino account will appear as an entertainment charge on your S&S account. So that lowers your OBC if you have any. Just make sure you play some. If you cash out without playing they might not let you do it again.

Sharon

 

we had this problem on our last cruise. Didnt totally understand how to do this so we took 100 from our account and put it on the casino account and without playing cashed it out. They didnt appreciate that so they said if we did it without playing again they would not let us do a transfer.

 

So we than transferred $ 600 than went to cage and got chips, played a few hands of roulette and cashed the whole thing out.