OBC Question

[sjcruiser]

We're going on the Oasis in a few weeks. We have a significant amount of OBC (several hundred pp) from Royal and our travel agent. We prepurchased the drink package and prepaid gratuities. It's been awhile since we've been on Royal, but previously and on other lines you were able to use the OBC in the casino to play slots by uploading money/charging it to your S&S card. My B.I.L. whos's new to Royal pointing out that on his documentation, it says this isn't permitted or allowed, which I confirmed on my documentation. Has this changed with Royal and not allowed anymore? Thanks

[Clarea]

We're going on the Oasis in a few weeks. We have a significant amount of OBC (several hundred pp) from Royal and our travel agent. We prepurchased the drink package and prepaid gratuities. It's been awhile since we've been on Royal, but previously and on other lines you were able to use the OBC in the casino to play slots by uploading money/charging it to your S&S card. My B.I.L. whos's new to Royal pointing out that on his documentation, it says this isn't permitted or allowed, which I confirmed on my documentation. Has this changed with Royal and not allowed anymore? Thanks

You can still get cash at the casino for a 5% fee.

[JRudy33]

Can you use your OBC to purchase items, such as purses, jewelry, etc., from the gift shops?

[Clarea]

Can you use your OBC to purchase items, such as purses, jewelry, etc., from the gift shops?

Yes.

[JRudy33]

Ok that's great. Thank you.

[cruiserinsg]

You can still get cash at the casino for a 5% fee.

 

Does it imply if get cash from the casino with 5% fee, I can offset it from my OBC? :)

[Clarea]

Does it imply if get cash from the casino with 5% fee, I can offset it from my OBC? :)

Yes, the cash you get from the casino is charged to your onboard account, which in turn is offset by OBC.

[sjcruiser]

Yes, the cash you get from the casino is charged to your onboard account, which in turn is offset by OBC.

 

Thanks for the responses. I was sure it still worked the same way, but after reading the cruise documentation, I started questioning whether they really started clamping down on things.

[Cruising Couple from Fl]

I thought I read on another post that they were not letting you get cash in the casino and charging it to your account any more

[Clarea]

I thought I read on another post that they were not letting you get cash in the casino and charging it to your account any more

A while back I read that they were not giving cash, they were giving a ticket. However, you could put the ticket in a slot machine and immediately cash out.

[Merion_Mom]

Exactly. They will no longer hand you money to "go play in the casino". You ask for the funds for the slot machine, they give you that amount on a coupon, you insert it into a slot machine, play one or two spins (or, of course, as many as you want) and cash out. Most ships now have a machine to cash out, so you don't even have to avoid eye contact with the cashier. :D

[Grandma Petania]

Despite the warnings, I was handed $300 cash by the casino cashier (and my account was charged $315) on the Oasis 3 months ago. Of course RCI would prefer that you spend it in the shops and restaurants, etc., and may eventually enforce those rules. If you have any OBC on your account, they will always draw from that before charging to your credit card. If I have any OBC, I don't pre-pay anything that can be paid onboard--gratuities, internet, et al

[GUT2407]

I thought I read on another post that they were not letting you get cash in the casino and charging it to your account any more

 

I heard the same.

[nlcruiser01]

Hi Everyone, first time poster here although I spent considerable time on this site in preparation for our April 24 cruise on NOS. I truly appreciate the info available on CC from the many experienced cruisers.

 

I'd set up a cash account as we'd purchased considerable OBC at the 1.10 rate RCL was offering to Canadians and withdrew cash from the casino twice during our cruise. There was a sign posted near the cashier's office advising that they do not dispense cash so we asked for a ticket in the required amount each time and played the slots a couple of times before "cashing out". We'd then return to the cashier a couple of hours later to get our USD (to avoid making it look obvious what we were doing) and had no problems getting our money with no 5% surcharge. We could not find a machine in the casino that would allow us to cash out without going to the cashier.

 

Hope this helps.

[Clarea]

Hi Everyone, first time poster here although I spent considerable time on this site in preparation for our April 24 cruise on NOS. I truly appreciate the info available on CC from the many experienced cruisers.

 

I'd set up a cash account as we'd purchased considerable OBC at the 1.10 rate RCL was offering to Canadians and withdrew cash from the casino twice during our cruise. There was a sign posted near the cashier's office advising that they do not dispense cash so we asked for a ticket in the required amount each time and played the slots a couple of times before "cashing out". We'd then return to the cashier a couple of hours later to get our USD (to avoid making it look obvious what we were doing) and had no problems getting our money with no 5% surcharge. We could not find a machine in the casino that would allow us to cash out without going to the cashier.

 

Hope this helps.

Welcome to the posting world of Cruise Critic, and thank-you for the report.

[sjcruiser]

Thanks all for the information. We "plan" on using all our obc onboard in the specialty restaurants, gratuities, shops, etc. (we have a beverage package already), but wanted to know just in case there's a few dollars left at the end.