Gift question on personaliser

[Jo and Rob]

I've been reading that it is cheaper to buy a gift of OBC rather than using my credit card on board as they are going to apply a charge to use the credit card! :eek:

 

The charge has been highlighted on our Caribbean Princess roll call but I don't see it on my personaliser? :o We have requested to be charged in dollars rather than pounds.

 

I see where to prepay gratuities, drinks packages and shore excursions but can't see where I can gift myself on board credit. Any ideas?

[Pam in CA]

It's under "Gifts & Services": http://www.princess.com/learn/cruise-gifts-celebrations/gifts-and-services/

 

You can either send yourself a gift of OBC or you can purchase a gift card and once onboard, give the gift card to the Passenger Services Desk to apply the OBC to your account. I think the gift card is the better way to go.

[LeeW]

Read this post on avoiding letting Princess do any currency conversions and giving yourself OBC:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2216326

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes in the gift section. ;)

[GandM-nq]

I've been reading that it is cheaper to buy a gift of OBC rather than using my credit card on board as they are going to apply a charge to use the credit card! :eek:

 

The charge has been highlighted on our Caribbean Princess roll call but I don't see it on my personaliser? :o We have requested to be charged in dollars rather than pounds.

 

I see where to prepay gratuities, drinks packages and shore excursions but can't see where I can gift myself on board credit. Any ideas?

Jo and Rob. I see you are from England. The answers above are from US cruisers. Some of their answers they gave are true for them. But not necessarily correct for us foreigners.

 

Ring your local Princess Cruises (UK) customer service and tell them you would like to buy OBC for your cruise. They will sell you the OBC gift (that is in $USD amounts), but will charge you a £ GBP amount for that OBC. Buying this way means you are making a purchase in your own currency. So no currency fees or foreign transaction fees (like some banks like to charge) because you are buying locally in your local currency.

 

Also, as LeeW has pointed out, this has been discussed in other threads ( like http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2216326 ). Princess has used a favourable conversion rate in working out how much this $USD OBC will cost you in £ GBP. If the cruise is this year, it appears the conversion rate could be $1.66 USD to the £ GBP. Cruises next year have a less favourable conversion rate used. Not sure what the rate used is for purchases for next years cruises.

 

So, what conversion rates are Princess using for purchases on your cruise? If you work out your gratuities amount owed in $USD (amount for room type x days x persons in cabin), and then look at how much your pre-paid gratuities is on your Personalizer for cruise, you should be able to work out the rate they are using. (£ GBP pre-paid gratuities amount divided by the $USD amount of cruise gratuities ). This conversion rate should be the same as used for the buying of OBC (in $USD) but paying in £ GBP if purchased locally from Princess in your local currency.

Edited June 3, 2015 by GandM-nq

[wickedwitchofthewest]

Hi Jo and Rob

Just ring Southampton and ask to buy on-board credit. They will charge you in £ for varying amounts of $. They only offer in amounts of £50 but will quote you how much you will get if you ask for example £500 with you paying either below or above that amount depending on what you choose.

The amount you will pay varies but when I bought mine I got $800 for £503 - better than using the bank.

It wont show up on your cruise personaliser as it is a 'gift' but your room steward will have vouchers for you to show you have the amount you have bought.

The only receipt you will get is your bank statement.

See you in August

[Jo and Rob]

Thank you for all the advice. If we have some OBC left over do we get it back in dollars? If we get vouchers from the steward does that mean if we didn't hand them in we could use them on our next cruise?

 

Do you have the phone number for Southampton?

Edited June 3, 2015 by Jo and Rob

[wickedwitchofthewest]

The vouchers just show you have been gifted the money. It is already on your on-board account. Any monies left over will be credited to the card you have registered to that account.

This is what happened for me last time.

[wickedwitchofthewest]

The phone no for Southampton is 0843 374 4447

[wickedwitchofthewest]

Omit the last 7! That's 0843 374 4444

[Jo and Rob]

Omit the last 7! That's 0843 374 4444

 

Thank you. If they put the balance back on the card do you then lose out due to converting the currency back?

 

Can you collect the balance in dollars if there is anything left? Are you able to buy it with credit card without charge?

[wickedwitchofthewest]

You can draw the money out in dollars through the casino on the last night but not sure how you do it. Believe they will put the money back on the card in whatever currency you decide to charge the card in.

You will need to ask if there is a charge for using a credit card as the last couple of times I have done this I have always used my debit card.

[Pink-belle]

Any remaining balance can be withdrawn from the pursers desk in US$. Gifting yourself OBC is treated as a normal sterling credit card transaction. No cash advance fees.

[DebbieMacG]

I rang today and got $1000 for £600 that's a much better rate than anywhere at 1.666 :D There was no mention of a fee for a credit card and exactly £600 is reserved on the account.

[GandM-nq]

Jo and Rob,

 

Pink-belle is correct.

 

Buying the OBC over the phone from your local Princess, the purchase is charged to your credit card as a £ amount. That is your local currency - it is like any other purchase in £ that you make on your credit card.

 

When you get to the ship, in your cabin will be the 'gift card' announcing that you have $ USD 'gifted' to your account. This 'gift card' is not a voucher that you hand in to redeem. The amount gifted is actually on your cabin's folio account already.

 

At the end of the cruise, any of this gifted OBC that is unspent can be returned to you in $ USD cash at account settlement, or you can have the remaining credited back to your folio linked credit card. If opting for the charge back to credit card, ask for it in $USD. Let your bank convert it back to £ GBP. Yes, your bank will charge a fee for currency conversion, but will use the then current rate when converting back to £ GBP.

 

Tip: Make sure you ask for an email confirming the purchase from Princess. Take a copy of this email with you on the ship. Just in case your gift isn't there, you have the email with full details of purchase that you can take down to the pursers for them to sort it out.

Edited June 3, 2015 by GandM-nq