Canadian cruisers!!

[molly2kit]

Hi, I just called to add OBC to a Nov 2016 cruise as I am worried they will put the exchange rate higher soon. I wanted to buy 499 for me and 499 for my spouse.

 

We each had 499 US credit previously purchased for this cruise. The rep put me on hold and then came back and told me I could only purchase a 499 credit per cruise - not 499 each. I said we already have 499 each and this seems to be a new policy. She said it just changed a few days ago and that I couldn't buy any more.

 

I asked her to check when the policy changed and what it actually was. After a fair bit of hold time she came back and told me her supervisor said the policy had changed 4 times in the last month and she could go ahead and sell me the two 499 OBCS.

 

 

 

It seems the 10% OBC is still going strong, just a bit tougher to get it.

Edited December 14, 2015 by molly2kit

[cegmar]

Thought I would come and give an update on my onboard credit experience. Just got off the Anthrm of the Seas on Saturday.

 

My onboard credit certificates were waiting for me in my room when I got there, and it was the exact amount that I had purchased. Although it was immediately available to use, it did not appear on my account until the second day. So far so good.

 

Where things got a little difficult is when I tried to get cash from the casino. They refused to give me cash the first time I tried. They said that the new "fleet wide" policy was that only chips or slot vouchers could be given. I asked when this policy started, but they couldn't give me an answer. I decided to wait another day to see a different person at the casino, but was met with the same result.

 

I then decided to go to Guest Services because the RC Gifts & Gear told me that I would be able to get cash from the casino when I purchased the credit. The person at Guest Services apologized and restated the policy of no cash at the casino, but that I could use the ATM if I needed cash. I re-expressed my concern that my spending money for port days was dependant on getting some of my credit. So he leaned in and then suggested that I may want to purchase some chips at the casino, wait a while, and go cash them in as the workaround to the policy.

 

So I decided to play the game and go purchase some chips. The next day I went to cash them in only to be told that they don't cash chips in. What??? Her answer was you purchased them so now you have to play them. I explained that I had changed my mind and that I did not want to play the tables, but to no avail. So I asked that they be converted to slot vouchers, which she was able to do.

 

My wife and I played some slots, and then I decided to cash out the rest for the night as we were tired. When this is done, the machine spits out a cash out voucher. I decided to try my luck with the new person at casino window who immediately took the voucher and gave me cash. Here was the workaround. From that point on I was able to purchase play vouchers, simply stick them in the slot machine, cash out immediately and then proceed to get cash.

 

Kind of a pain, but at least I was able to get to my money.

[son3cruisers]

Thought I would come and give an update on my onboard credit experience. Just got off the Anthrm of the Seas on Saturday.

 

My onboard credit certificates were waiting for me in my room when I got there, and it was the exact amount that I had purchased. Although it was immediately available to use, it did not appear on my account until the second day. So far so good.

 

Where things got a little difficult is when I tried to get cash from the casino. They refused to give me cash the first time I tried. They said that the new "fleet wide" policy was that only chips or slot vouchers could be given. I asked when this policy started, but they couldn't give me an answer. I decided to wait another day to see a different person at the casino, but was met with the same result.

 

I then decided to go to Guest Services because the RC Gifts & Gear told me that I would be able to get cash from the casino when I purchased the credit. The person at Guest Services apologized and restated the policy of no cash at the casino, but that I could use the ATM if I needed cash. I re-expressed my concern that my spending money for port days was dependant on getting some of my credit. So he leaned in and then suggested that I may want to purchase some chips at the casino, wait a while, and go cash them in as the workaround to the policy.

 

So I decided to play the game and go purchase some chips. The next day I went to cash them in only to be told that they don't cash chips in. What??? Her answer was you purchased them so now you have to play them. I explained that I had changed my mind and that I did not want to play the tables, but to no avail. So I asked that they be converted to slot vouchers, which she was able to do.

 

My wife and I played some slots, and then I decided to cash out the rest for the night as we were tired. When this is done, the machine spits out a cash out voucher. I decided to try my luck with the new person at casino window who immediately took the voucher and gave me cash. Here was the workaround. From that point on I was able to purchase play vouchers, simply stick them in the slot machine, cash out immediately and then proceed to get cash.

 

Kind of a pain, but at least I was able to get to my money.

 

Ugh. That's awful. And definitely not what anyone wants to hear.

So, for someone like me, who has never been or played in a casino ( except the ONE time I went in to withdrawal my stateroom credit on my last cruise) what are we suppose to

do? I have $2500 on account for my cruise. I plan to spend some onboard, but was planning on withdrawing at least $800 for private excursions throughout the week .

So I have to get vouchers? Then not play? And cash them in? I'm not really understanding. Would really appreciate a step by step explanation . Slots/tables ... never played them nor do I want to start. Hoping there is an easier way.

Edited December 15, 2015 by son3cruisers

[ladysail2]

I was on Jewel in Sept and Oct. I also received a voucher in the Casino. I also have never really stepped into a Casino to play....but it was easy. There are marked 'voucher' machines. The Casino person will show you where they are..although they do have a sign on them. You simply slip the voucher into the slot...the amount appears on a screen...you press Cash Out...and another voucher spits out. You take that one to the window and get your cash.

 

Doing this is somewhat of a privilege and is a way around the rules of withdrawing cash..even though it is our own money. I hope people just roll with the changes get used to the new way of doing it. Obviously Royal wants us to spend the OBC on the ship and is devising new ways to thwart us from taking it elsewhere.....:D

[Ourusualbeach]

Ugh. That's awful. And definitely not what anyone wants to hear.

So, for someone like me, who has never been or played in a casino ( except the ONE time I went in to withdrawal my stateroom credit on my last cruise��) what are we suppose to

do? I have $2500 on account for my cruise. I plan to spend some onboard, but was planning on withdrawing at least $800 for private excursions throughout the week .

So I have to get vouchers? Then not play? And cash them in? I'm not really understanding. Would really appreciate a step by step explanation . Slots/tables ... never played them nor do I want to start. Hoping there is an easier way.

 

Go to the casino cage. Some ships are still giving cash. If they are not get a voucher for $500 in slot play. Go to slot machine..insert voucher. Press cash out and the machine will give you a pay voucher. Take pay voucher to casino cashier and get cash. Very easy just a pain in the...

Edited December 15, 2015 by Ourusualbeach

[son3cruisers]

Go to the casino cage. Some ships are still giving cash. If they are not get a voucher for $500 in slot play. Go to slot machine..insert voucher. Press cash out and the machine will give you a pay voucher. Take pay voucher to casino cashier and get cash. Very easy just a pain in the...

 

Thank you Ken, I appreciate that! It sounds easy enough. I had a feeling this deal was going to be coming to an end soon.

[son3cruisers]

I was on Jewel in Sept and Oct. I also received a voucher in the Casino. I also have never really stepped into a Casino to play....but it was easy. There are marked 'voucher' machines. The Casino person will show you where they are..although they do have a sign on them. You simply slip the voucher into the slot...the amount appears on a screen...you press Cash Out...and another voucher spits out. You take that one to the window and get your cash.

 

Doing this is somewhat of a privilege and is a way around the rules of withdrawing cash..even though it is our own money. I hope people just roll with the changes get used to the new way of doing it. Obviously Royal wants us to spend the OBC on the ship and is devising new ways to thwart us from taking it elsewhere.....:D

 

Thank you for this! Ok, so I need to look for certain machines. I just need to make sure I don't get a voucher for $500 and put it in the wrong machine!!!!!

[A&L_Ont]

Just make sure you withdrawl the mney you need starting the first night of the cruise. There is a $500 daily limit, so you'd hate to not have enough cash prior to your excursions.

 

You could always put the voucher in the penny slots, do one pull and cash out if they don't have "voucher machine". I don't even know if you have to do a pull, prior to cashing out.

 

I would suggest not inserting your room card. My cynic nature thinks if they track your transactions it will only give them further proof of what we may or may not be up to. That being said the could just read it here.;)

[Z3r0]

Two things. First, I called 'Gifts & Gear' yesterday and wanted to buy $499 for my account and my wifes account. I was told there is no longer a limit, and I could buy any amount I wanted to, so I just added $1000 to my account and it went through flawlessly.

 

Second, as of this morning at 8:20 AM EST, TD bank has their $US exchange rate at 1.3987 (borderless plan) 1.4047 (everyone else) to buy. Meaning we're saving $149.35-$152.35 per $500 transaction. If I have to add an extra step, even if it takes 5 minutes, I'll definitely be happy with the almost $150 in savings. I dont make $1800/hour, so I end up way ahead, and I'm very happy with this situation.

[tinkertwo]

i will say, they are not very consistent. when i did my first purchase i had no idea what i was doing. they asked if i wanted it to credit my husband or myself. not totally understanding this i said myself. it shows on the confirmation as 'guest'. second time i did it they asked me the same thing and i asked if it could not just be credited to the cabin. they said certainly it could and my confirmation shows 'cabin'. i just called back for a third time, was asked the same question and when i said credit it to the cabin he said that was not possible. when i pointed out i had done it he didn't care, it can not be done!

 

they really need to get a plan in place and have everyone follow it.

[Omishjoe]

It was much easier to go to Guest Services to get cash on our October Independence cruise.

Keeping in mind each CSR only had a float of $2000 cash I think, so I had to come back to see the head accountant for the ship to get my $10,000 in cash.

Had to go to her office behind guest services and wait for her to pull the cash from the big safe and run it through the bill counter.

 

Friends who I traveled with had $20,000 OBC and they had no trouble getting it from Guest Services.

 

We gambled daily and only down a little for the week, so all in all a great ROI!

 

Oj!

[Clipper123]

It was much easier to go to Guest Services to get cash on our October Independence cruise.

Keeping in mind each CSR only had a float of $2000 cash I think, so I had to come back to see the head accountant for the ship to get my $10,000 in cash.

Had to go to her office behind guest services and wait for her to pull the cash from the big safe and run it through the bill counter.

 

Friends who I traveled with had $20,000 OBC and they had no trouble getting it from Guest Services.

 

We gambled daily and only down a little for the week, so all in all a great ROI!

 

Oj!

 

And we wonder why this seems to be coming to an end!!! It's a cruise ship not a bank :rolleyes: I'm quite sure the excellent exchange rate is so that Canadians will buy more OBC to spend on the ship, not to pay off their mortgage!

Edited December 15, 2015 by Clipper123

[hancogran]

It was much easier to go to Guest Services to get cash on our October Independence cruise.

Keeping in mind each CSR only had a float of $2000 cash I think, so I had to come back to see the head accountant for the ship to get my $10,000 in cash.

Had to go to her office behind guest services and wait for her to pull the cash from the big safe and run it through the bill counter.

 

Friends who I traveled with had $20,000 OBC and they had no trouble getting it from Guest Services.

 

We gambled daily and only down a little for the week, so all in all a great ROI!

 

Oj!

 

:eek: You're joking, right? :confused: I can understand now why they're putting limits on what you can purchase and what you can withdraw. :rolleyes:

[Omishjoe]

And we wonder why this seems to be coming to an end!!! It's a cruise ship not a bank :rolleyes: I'm quite sure the excellent exchange rate is so that Canadians will buy more OBC to spend on the ship, not to pay off their mortgage!

 

I have been doing this for several cruises just for gambling money. Sometimes I win, sometimes I don't. Gambling is spent on the ship is it not? But feel free to judge me if you must.

 

Oj!

[Omishjoe]

:eek: You're joking, right? :confused: I can understand now why they're putting limits on what you can purchase and what you can withdraw. :rolleyes:

 

The limits have always been there. Haven't you read that if you want more that $499us you have to fax them your information? That's what I do and then you can put whatever amount you like, to do with whatever you want with it. Some prefer the spa and excursions ect. I gamble.

 

They only put limits on what you can withdraw from the casino. Which is why I wanted to let people know about going to Guest Services.

 

But please, feel free to shoot the messenger....

 

Oj!

[LuCruise]

It was much easier to go to Guest Services to get cash on our October Independence cruise.

Keeping in mind each CSR only had a float of $2000 cash I think, so I had to come back to see the head accountant for the ship to get my $10,000 in cash.

Had to go to her office behind guest services and wait for her to pull the cash from the big safe and run it through the bill counter.

 

Friends who I traveled with had $20,000 OBC and they had no trouble getting it from Guest Services.

 

We gambled daily and only down a little for the week, so all in all a great ROI!

 

Oj!

 

Are the rules for withdrawing cash pretty much the same on each ship? Specifically, we'll be on Allure and it seems so much easier to go to Guest Services to take out money rather than any possible funny procedures we need to go through at the casino. We won't need a lot...just maybe $200 for couple ports.

[Clarea]

Are the rules for withdrawing cash pretty much the same on each ship? Specifically, we'll be on Allure and it seems so much easier to go to Guest Services to take out money rather than any possible funny procedures we need to go through at the casino. We won't need a lot...just maybe $200 for couple ports.

My experience has been that Guest Services won't let us take out cash against OBC until the last day of the cruise. Maybe this varies ship to ship. Nothing to lose by asking Guest Services.

[Omishjoe]

Are the rules for withdrawing cash pretty much the same on each ship? Specifically, we'll be on Allure and it seems so much easier to go to Guest Services to take out money rather than any possible funny procedures we need to go through at the casino. We won't need a lot...just maybe $200 for couple ports.

 

If you have your on board expense account set up as cash, which I always do, you can get money from your OBC from guest services anytime. I usually wait until at least the second day for it to show up in my account, otherwise it takes awhile as they have to "track it down" so to speak.

 

If you have your account set up with a credit card, you can only get cash from your OBC on the last day, which is what I've read on this thread.

 

Oj!

[LuCruise]

If you have your on board expense account set up as cash, which I always do, you can get money from your OBC from guest services anytime. I usually wait until at least the second day for it to show up in my account, otherwise it takes awhile as they have to "track it down" so to speak.

 

If you have your account set up with a credit card, you can only get cash from your OBC on the last day, which is what I've read on this thread.

 

Oj!

 

Yes sorry...I meant if your account is set up as cash.

 

We wouldn't need cash until our second port day which is day 4...so we'd be ok to wait to withdraw any cash.

 

But from Bob's response, it doesn't sound like you can withdraw cash on all ships from Guest Services...so guess it does vary from ship to ship.

[Clarea]

... But from Bob's response, it doesn't sound like you can withdraw cash on all ships from Guest Services...so guess it does vary from ship to ship.

Maybe you can, and I just have never tried to make a cash withdrawal when I had a cash account.

[hancogran]

My experience has been that Guest Services won't let us take out cash against OBC until the last day of the cruise. Maybe this varies ship to ship. Nothing to lose by asking Guest Services.

 

This was also our experience on our Brilliance transatlantic this past May. We had to wait till the last day to withdraw from Guest Services and we had ours set up as a cash account. No problem withdrawing from the casino though,

Edited December 16, 2015 by hancogran

[poutanen]

Woo hoo! Well thanks to this thread I just got $499 for each week of my upcoming back to back. Wish I could have bought more. Anyone called in again the next day?

[son3cruisers]

This was also our experience on our Brilliance transatlantic this past May. We had to wait till the last day to withdraw from Guest Services and we had ours set up as a cash account. No problem withdrawing from the casino though,

 

This was our experience as well on the Independence in March. Cash account, and GS would not allow cash withdrawal until last day. Had to go to casino.

[davidsmum]

Woo hoo! Well thanks to this thread I just got $499 for each week of my upcoming back to back. Wish I could have bought more. Anyone called in again the next day?

 

yes, I even called back same day!

I added some each month leading up to our cruise

[Bob7]

be careful of the cards that say no foreign transaction fees. i have seen these and when you look close you may not pay the fee but the exchange rate is higher. this comes from working in the banking industry for 32 years. they are going to get you one way or another. (snip)

Yes I wondered if my new Amazon.Ca Visa from Chase would charge a bad exchange rate b/c there was no transaction fee, so on a day I used it for a USA purchase I also got the exchange rate at 2 places, a border money exchange office and my bank, and there was only a difference of pennies. I was surprised the border exchange was so good, I thought they were bandits.