Pre-purchasing Onboard Credits - Princess

[OzKiwiJJ]

Cool, lots of spending money at a good rate.:D

 

More important for paying off the credit card after the port visits and three days in Hong Kong. I'd already covered all of our expected onboard costs.

[MelbourneCruiser]

got a question about this topic i want to get some OBC for my upcoming cruise but the price is 110 Australian dollars will that get me 110 Australian dollars? slightly concerned about this cause of the odd amount would have thought it would be 100 for 100 Australian dollars so i would like to know for sure what i'm getting.

[OzKiwiJJ]

got a question about this topic i want to get some OBC for my upcoming cruise but the price is 110 Australian dollars will that get me 110 Australian dollars? slightly concerned about this cause of the odd amount would have thought it would be 100 for 100 Australian dollars so i would like to know for sure what i'm getting.

 

It might be best to phone them since your cruise will be an AUD onboard cost cruise. The Princess website seems to get confused with the AUD cruise costs. They are very helpful when you phone them and will probably be able to do the transaction there and then. The number is 1300 551 853.

[Johhno]

Spoke to my Princess Cruise Holiday Planner today.

 

The exchange rate on your booking is US$100 for AU$125. IE .80c AU

 

Cheers

Johhno.

[thistledoo]

More important for paying off the credit card after the port visits and three days in Hong Kong. I'd already covered all of our expected onboard costs.

 

I had some OBC to be refunded from Princess earlier this year and it took 52 days from disembarkation for the refund to reach my credit card. I don't know if this is the normal processing time.

[cruise flotsam]

Thank you. I will keep the long refund time in mind when I buy obc I am trying to work out what I will spend on board

[OzKiwiJJ]

I had some OBC to be refunded from Princess earlier this year and it took 52 days from disembarkation for the refund to reach my credit card. I don't know if this is the normal processing time.

 

That's a bit ridiculous. It should be as quick as getting billed - it's only a reverse transaction, after all.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Spoke to my Princess Cruise Holiday Planner today.

 

The exchange rate on your booking is US$100 for AU$125. IE .80c AU

 

Cheers

Johhno.

 

Whose booking, Johnno?

 

Mine or MelbourneCruisers?

[thistledoo]

That's a bit ridiculous. It should be as quick as getting billed - it's only a reverse transaction, after all.

 

As mentioned, I don't know if that is the normal time, but I had to chase it up. It was only for a smallish amount.

[MicCanberra]

I had some OBC to be refunded from Princess earlier this year and it took 52 days from disembarkation for the refund to reach my credit card. I don't know if this is the normal processing time.

 

Carnival have a 6 week refund time from when head office receives it, so 52 days was good. I had a refund from a Cunard cruise in April last year actually refunded in September.

[Aus Traveller]

I had some OBC to be refunded from Princess earlier this year and it took 52 days from disembarkation for the refund to reach my credit card. I don't know if this is the normal processing time.

Couldn't you have got the excess out in cash at the end of the cruise? That is what we have always done. :)

[OzKiwiJJ]

Couldn't you have got the excess out in cash at the end of the cruise? That is what we have always done. :)

 

Do you get it out at the Guest Services desk?

 

Actually I wondered about getting some out during our cruise, to use in Thailand and Vietnam. Is that possible?

[MelbourneCruiser]

If i remember correctly they will only let you get your money back at the end of your cruise be sure to ask when your putting the money down though cause who knows what they will say

 

didint think to answer your other question but yes at the guest services desk if that is the same place you put your cash down on your account.

Edited January 14, 2016 by MelbourneCruiser

[MicCanberra]

Do not be surprised if you cannot get money out until the end of the cruise.

[SallyO55]

Hi I'm Canadian and sailing on the Sun Princess in Oct./16 and the ship is in AU dollars. Can I go from Can$ to Au$ without using US$ to buy obc ?

[lizzy77]

Hi I'm Canadian and sailing on the Sun Princess in Oct./16 and the ship is in AU dollars. Can I go from Can$ to Au$ without using US$ to buy obc ?

 

 

Use your Canadian Credit Card and nominate for your bank to do the currency exchange for any on board purchases.

[lorri111]

Hi, how often does Princess change its currency rate? I notice if I pre purchase my gratuities for May cruise it is at exchange rate of 0.80 and am wondering how long this will last. I would be paying it on a debit card to avoid credit card fee - does it have to be on same debit card I would be using for final bill or must it be same one to avoid confusion (my husband and I plan to carry cards in different currencies)

[Relaxing Robbies]

Hi, how often does Princess change its currency rate? I notice if I pre purchase my gratuities for May cruise it is at exchange rate of 0.80 and am wondering how long this will last. I would be paying it on a debit card to avoid credit card fee - does it have to be on same debit card I would be using for final bill or must it be same one to avoid confusion (my husband and I plan to carry cards in different currencies)

 

Not sure how often the exchange rate changes. When you ring and purchase onboard credit you can use any card you like to pay, even American Express, and they never charged me any extra to pay by credit card for that, only for the cruise payment. I don't think they charged a credit card fee for paying the gratuities in advance either.

[lorri111]

What proof do you get that you have paid OBC or gratuities?

[OzKiwiJJ]

What proof do you get that you have paid OBC or gratuities?

 

It shows in your personalizer after final payment date. Gratuities are under Payments and Credits. OBC is under Onboard Reservations - at the bottom.

[lorri111]

So no confirmation at time of payment? Can OBC be done after final payment date and still pick up old exchange rate?

[Relaxing Robbies]

What proof do you get that you have paid OBC or gratuities?

 

If you ring and purchase onboard credit it does not show in your personaliser because you are actually "gifting" them to yourself and it may be a surprise. They email you a document called a Special Services Summary showing the details. Sometimes the email takes a few hours to arrive, but you can always ring and they will resend it.

[lorri111]

I see you can purchase it via personaliser, maybe that gives some confirmation?

[MicCanberra]

I see you can purchase it via personaliser, maybe that gives some confirmation?

 

Yes it will provide confirmation, although if you have a TA they will receive the confirmation instead so just contact them to pass it on if you do not hear anything from them.:D

[OzKiwiJJ]

So no confirmation at time of payment? Can OBC be done after final payment date and still pick up old exchange rate?

 

I just got an email saying I'd paid $xxx for Special Services at time of "booking" my OBC over the phone, then after final payment it all showed up on my personalizer. Note - I actually didn't have to pay up front for the OBC, it was just added to the amount I had to pay at final payment but I had booked the cruise using a FCC if that makes any difference.

 

I was able to buy more at the original exchange rate a couple of weeks ago and, as far as I am aware, the exchange rate had changed by then. Check in your personalizer, it will show the rate (in an obscure manner) - if it's $110 then it's the .90 rate, if it's $125 then it's the .80 rate.