What would you do with 250$ OBC (first time cruising on Indy!)

[Orangepost-it]

Hello! I've been stalking the forums for a while and want to ask expert cruisers what they would spend their OBC on and why :). And possibly convince us to do it as well because we are completely lost (kid at a candy store syndrome)

 

We are in our late twenties and on our honeymoon. Never really had a big vacation before. We are very gregarious and love meeting new people and being active (how would we get on this love and marriage show because it sounds like just our thing). We have an inside guarantee room and don't think we have a cabin assignment yet. We don't plan spending much time in there anyway (if the room is terrible, we can take naps on the lounge chairs on deck, right? Just kidding)

 

We don't want to put it towards gratuities because that has already been factored into our budget. We hope not to overspend too much over our OBC if possible.... Life of a perpetual student and teacher (expensive vacation times without the pay)

 

If we can use it towards casino, what games are fun to play? We are not looking to win money :p, just feel like high rollers. Never been to a casino, but movies make it look like so much fun!

 

Are the specialty dining venues worth it? I think we have 1 formal night (5 night cruise, right?)

 

We budgeted for noncruise excursions, but is there a huge advantage to cruise excursions (Belize and cozumel)?

 

Drink packages seem exorbitant and I feel like I would spend my cruise trying to get my money's worth and not remember my cruise. We will likely stop at 1 to 2 a night (what are the drinks to NOT miss?).

 

Do people usually buy ship souvenirs? Silly question , are those available or is it just the shops?

 

Is the spa a good place to go? Do they offer gym classes (and are they free? One thing that I keep missing on my searches)?

 

Flowrider lessons worth it? Anyone thought it was a good investment? (Never surfed. Can't ski on water, but can ski on snow)

 

And of course - what free things would you not miss?

 

December seems so far away!

 

TIA :)"

[tlbutler33]

Couples Massage for sure....

[Clarea]

I'd look at excursions first. If none seem interesting, then I'd consider Giovanni's Table, or a spa treatment.

[DonnaK]

We are very frugal cruisers, but would have no problem spending $250 OBC.

 

We usually buy one or two photos, but since this is your honeymoon, why not buy a photo package and then take advantage of every photo opportunity (we did this on Celebrity, and came home with almost 300 photos - prints and digital).

 

We buy an internet package to keep in touch with family at home.

 

We do not eat in specialty restaurants because food in the main dining room is plentiful and satisfying so we do not see the need to pay extra for food.

 

We also don't drink more than a few glasses of wine on a cruise, and since we are allowed to carry on two bottles per cabin, we don't spend any additional money on beverages. We just drink what is included (iced tea, flavored water, etc)

 

We don't usually buy excursions through the cruiseline, unless it is something exclusive that cannot be done through a private company. Or, unless the excursion is all-day and takes us far from the ship - it is better to do those through the cruiseline for the security of the ship not sailing away without you if the excursion returns late.

Edited October 7, 2015 by DonnaK

[monctonguy]

Drinks for me.....drink package for sure!

[2CatsInFlorida]

We just got $300 obc on Celebrity Constellation balcony and will spend it on ship excursions in Cozumel. As the excursion ends near departure we feel safer going with the ship package. We will be doing the dolphin excursion, but the dancing chefs will be our next excursion.

[FloatMe]

Not knowing what you consider extras vs. Budgeted, but we spend ours on soda packages, internet, and gratuities. In the end it all gets deducted from your final bill, so you are essentially just adding $250 to your budget. Enjoy.

[setsail]

Its auto used to offset the first 250$ in charges to your seapass account no matter what that may be.

 

We like the SR's and my wife uses the spa.

Edited October 7, 2015 by setsail

[Megs867]

If I remember correctly you can't use OBC for the casino.

 

I think since its your honey moon I would use some of the money for pictures but don't pay for duplicates you can make your own at the so it yourself photo things at walmart ;)

 

I don't pay for cruise excursions through Royal unless its a far distance to travel and you want the return to ship guarantee

I have $100 OBC and figure I will use it for a cupcake decor class, cans of diet cokes, shopping on board and maybe a picture

[Clarea]

If I remember correctly you can't use OBC for the casino....

Not directly, but people can get cash against their onboard account for a 5% fee.

[Megs867]

Not directly, but people can get cash against their onboard account for a 5% fee.

 

 

Oh ok didn't know that

Thanks

[rtazz17]

I know you said gratuities are factored into your budget but if you havent prepaid gratuities then just use the obc for that and then no worries about what to use your obc for.Just use your budgeted gratuities for anything you want,on or off the ship.. Seems to make the most sense to me... Thats what we do..

 

I mean where you put the obc doesnt really matter does it?

 

I think your thread shouldve been " what can we spend our money on when we are on the ship?"Because I think in the end thats what you are wondering.. Believe me you can go through 250 obc in a flash and not even realize where it went...lol

Edited October 7, 2015 by rtazz17

[blackshirt]

If I remember correctly you can't use OBC for the casino.

 

 

Actually you can. Since OBC is just a credit against whatever charges are on your seapass account and since you can withdraw cash from the casino and put it on your seapass account, that means OBC can be used for the casino.

 

To the OP, you do not specify what charges on your seapass account that the OBC is used for. It is just a credit against all charges. Now if you want to budget as if it is for a specific charge, that's fine but you don't need to go to customer services and tell them to apply the credit to specific items.

[Orangepost-it]

Haha thanks everyone!

 

What I mean by the gratuities is that we already budgeted gratuities into our honeymoon account so we are looking for things to spend on outside the gratuities :). This is strictly for our personal budgeting.

 

I didn't even think of a photo package! I am just looking at different options and ideas for what to plan :). We are just going to sit down and plan our obc because I'm a planner, haha.

 

And yes, " where can I spend my money" is a good paraphrase. There are so many options! And as much as I would like, I can't spend it all!

 

If OBC can't be used in the casino , we will simply skip it. Plenty of other things to do :D

 

Vacations can be stressful for me because there are so many different variables. At least on a cruise, most of it is included and there is a schedule!

 

Also, I keep seeing conflicting information about soda. Can I bring a pack and "stick a luggage tag on?"

[Clarea]

... Also, I keep seeing conflicting information about soda. Can I bring a pack and "stick a luggage tag on?"

This is technically against the rules, but frequently allowed. There have been reports of porters at Port Canaveral refusing obvious water or soda packages. Don't know about Port Everglades.

[Travalerie]

I would use it to give yourself freedom! Freedom to get a drink when you want to, that photo you liked from dinner, a specialty coffee in the morning, or something you like at the gift shop. You can get a massage anywhere and they are overpriced on a cruise. Unless you get a port day special, I would skip that. Shore excursions are a good way to spend the money. I would also try a specialty restaurant at least once during your cruise.

[Deptacon]

Buy drink package once onboard

[cb at sea]

Whatever you spend on the ship will go against your credit....you can't really pick and choose what you spend it on...the 1st $250 you spend will use the credit. They will be adding your gratuities to your account daily...

For the casino..use cash. If you take money from your shipboard account, charge a fee, making you a loser before you even start!

[rudeney]

If you do want to spend this in the casino, my advice is to spend the $250 of your cash that you had budgeted to pay gratuities for gambling, then let this $250 OBC go toward the gratuities. As mentioned, OBC is just "credit" for any onboard expenses charged to your account. You can cash out OBC in the casino, but it will cot you 5%. So why pay 5% to use the OBC for gambling when you have already budgeted to spend at least that for gratuities?

[Cruise_Christy]

Personally I would buy the photo package because I love having photos taken and always have a lot of fun with packages.

 

If anything was left over I would spend it on speciality restaurant and/or drinks. If you are big drinkers, then a drinks package would be a good deal. Personally we are okay with 1 drink a night so not good value for us.

 

The spa is at least double, sometimes 3, 4, or 5 times the price that you'll pay for a similar thing from a spa on shore. So personally, I would skip the spa. Some people love it though.

 

For a 5 day cruise $250 should get you unlimited photos + a night in the speciality restaurant + a couple of drinks. Or it might get you ONE couples massage!

 

My last cruise was a 10 day and we went for the photo package and came away with over 150 large, professional looking printed photos as well as a cd with them all on. The photographers learn who has the package and are more than happy to take lots and lots of snaps in my experience :) I'll be getting the package again on my next cruise.

[WaveSplasher]

Our first RCL cruise was also on the Indy and we had USD 200 OBC and I'm no expert but this is what we spent.

 

We didn't take the excursions, didn't use the spa neither did we use them for specialty restaurants.

 

We spent almost half it on laundry since we were on holiday for a month in the US and the cruise was only a week or so long.

 

The rest was spent on drinks and withdrawing for usage in the casino and the logo store.

 

Drinks are a couple of milkshakes, mudpie, beers (they had a beer special on boarding day) with a free cooler bag and daily drink specials(cruise compass)

 

For the Casino, The slot pull is fun, Roulette is exciting as you watch the ball spin and hope for it to land on the spot you want. Lots of choices as well. Or play blackjack. These 3 games are good for beginners.

 

Souvenirs from the logo shop are definitely a must. Like T shirts with the ship and the Ship facts printed on it. There are models but not really good quality.

[GUT2407]

Couples Massage for sure....

 

I'd look at excursions first. If none seem interesting, then I'd consider Giovanni's Table, or a spa treatment.

 

Either of these are good.

 

DW would blow it in the shops.

 

Or use it for Grats and use the money you budgeted for that for spending off the ship.

 

Drinks if you don't have a package.

 

Specialty restaurant is an option, we try to go about once every 10 days on average.

[lambstew]

i would agree with the photo package! We were in Belize a few years ago and we did an all day Mayan ruin excursion through RCL. If that is of interest - the advantage is if you take a RCL excursion and you are late getting back - the ship will wait. The downside is that RCL excursions do cost more and are usually more crowded than a private excursion.....

Whatever you decide to do, have a great time and go with the flow!!

[Summerknight]

Specialty dining, spa, casino and maybe a bottle of bubbly.

[Orangepost-it]

Thanks! How much are these picture packages? Are these staged photographs or candid ones? We are decidedly terrible at posing for pictures...

 

We tried looking at the link from the cruise page but it led us to a different site that didn't have our cruise date yet.

 

Also question, but is there dancing on the ship? Line dancing or the more rowdy kind , haha.