Combining accounts of 2 cabins? Charges and OBC

[travelingirl70]

We are looking to book 2 cabins, one for DH and me and one for our kids (17 & 21). The way it breaks down, it makes sense for us to take the Explore 4 (in a suite, we get extras) but book the kids without it, since the 17 year old can not (and the 21 year old SHOULD NOT) take full advantage of the SBP. The kids will just pay for drinks as they go.

 

As it works out, we will have a HUGE OBC in the suite ($800+) from our TA. The kids will have about $300. Since the kids will have to pay gratuities, plus their drinks, their bill will likely be higher than ours. Everything is going to my credit card, so do they combine all of the accounts at the beginning of the cruise?

 

Say, the kids' bill is $600 and our bill is $600..... Can they take both OBCs, then just charge me the balance of $100? I'm pretty sure Celebrity did it that way for us a few years ago but not sure how HAL will. With Celebrity, it worked ONLY because both cabins were assigned to me as the responsible party for payment. That would be the same here. (Lucky kids!)

 

Does that make sense?

[blizzardboy]

We are looking to book 2 cabins, one for DH and me and one for our kids (17 & 21). The way it breaks down, it makes sense for us to take the Explore 4 (in a suite, we get extras) but book the kids without it, since the 17 year old can not (and the 21 year old SHOULD NOT) take full advantage of the SBP. The kids will just pay for drinks as they go.

 

As it works out, we will have a HUGE OBC in the suite ($800+) from our TA. The kids will have about $300. Since the kids will have to pay gratuities, plus their drinks, their bill will likely be higher than ours. Everything is going to my credit card, so do they combine all of the accounts at the beginning of the cruise?

 

Say, the kids' bill is $600 and our bill is $600..... Can they take both OBCs, then just charge me the balance of $100? I'm pretty sure Celebrity did it that way for us a few years ago but not sure how HAL will. With Celebrity, it worked ONLY because both cabins were assigned to me as the responsible party for payment. That would be the same here. (Lucky kids!)

 

Does that make sense?

Do you mean the accounting part or not treating your 21 yr old like a responsible adult? ;)

Each cabin will have a separate accounting. Your child is of legal age so is not considered a dependent, but I'm sure HAL will be happy to take your card for security and final payment. The OBC will be by cabin, so the kids will only have the $300 on their account.

Edited July 23, 2016 by blizzardboy

[travelingirl70]

Do you mean the accounting part or not treating your 21 yr old like a responsible adult? ;)

 

I was joking that my son, who turns 21 in December, better not be drinking 15 drinks a day!!!!

 

So, if the OBC is by cabin, I guess one way to deal with that is to charge everything extra to ours. Ship excursions, etc., right? I can still charge 4 people to my cabin even if the other 2 are in a different one? The OBC for the kids will cover their gratuities, so after that, I want to burn mine before laying down more cash.

 

If I buy a beverage card for the kids (the debit type card, not the SBP), can I buy that on MY account even though DH and I have the SBP? That would be another way to do it.

[RuthC]

List yourself as the responsible party to be charged for all on-board expenses for both cabins.

Once on board (you can wait a day), double check that the arrangements are as you wish.

 

You want all the credits and all the expenses for both cabins, and all four people, on one account. The total credits will be listed at the beginning of the accounting, and the charges will be subtracted until they are used up.

This can be accomplished, but you want to be sure it has been before you get too far along.

[travelingirl70]

List yourself as the responsible party to be charged for all on-board expenses for both cabins.

Once on board (you can wait a day), double check that the arrangements are as you wish.

 

You want all the credits and all the expenses for both cabins, and all four people, on one account. The total credits will be listed at the beginning of the accounting, and the charges will be subtracted until they are used up.

This can be accomplished, but you want to be sure it has been before you get too far along.

 

Great! Thanks! That's exactly how it worked on Celebrity.

[blizzardboy]

I was joking that my son, who turns 21 in December, better not be drinking 15 drinks a day!!!!

 

So, if the OBC is by cabin, I guess one way to deal with that is to charge everything extra to ours. Ship excursions, etc., right? I can still charge 4 people to my cabin even if the other 2 are in a different one? The OBC for the kids will cover their gratuities, so after that, I want to burn mine before laying down more cash.

 

If I buy a beverage card for the kids (the debit type card, not the SBP), can I buy that on MY account even though DH and I have the SBP? That would be another way to do it.

I can't handle 15 drinks a day! I'm glad you and your spouse are up to the challenge. FYI...your son could probably drink you under the table. :)

[travelingirl70]

I can't handle 15 drinks a day! I'm glad you and your spouse are up to the challenge. FYI...your son could probably drink you under the table. :)

 

You are probably right. We won't drink 15 drinks a day either. But the Explore 4 add on for our suite is only $700 total. Figure $324 in gratuities, 50 for Pinnacle Grill, $200 for Internet (even if you wanted to discount that, you could) and the SBP costs us about $100 bucks each for a 12 day cruise. If I have ONE drink and one bottle of water a day, I come out ahead.

 

The difference for the kids' cabin just doesn't make sense. They don't get the gratuities or the internet. So basically they just get Pinnacle Grill and the beverage package.

[blizzardboy]

List yourself as the responsible party to be charged for all on-board expenses for both cabins.

Once on board (you can wait a day), double check that the arrangements are as you wish.

 

You want all the credits and all the expenses for both cabins, and all four people, on one account. The total credits will be listed at the beginning of the accounting, and the charges will be subtracted until they are used up.

This can be accomplished, but you want to be sure it has been before you get too far along.

 

We ran into a problem putting everyone on one account when we had kids 21 or over in their own cabin with the explanation, "they are legal adults". They had no problem letting us use our card to secure and pay, but they assign OBC by cabin and would not let us combine same and kept a separate folio on the cabin. Hopefully you'll have better luck.

Edited July 23, 2016 by blizzardboy

[travelingirl70]

We ran into a problem putting everyone on one account when we had kids over 21 in a cabin with the explanation, "they are legal adults". They had no problem letting us use our card, but they assign OBC by cabin and would not let us combine same. Hopefully you'll have better luck.

 

I do have another option.....

 

I used one of those websites to let online TA's quote me the best price and one has come in much less than the others! No TA OBC. But, when you compare the Neptune Suite, my typical online TA will give me $800 OBC. This TA gives $0 but the total cruise fare for the same cabin is $1500 less. So, I net out $700 and don't have to worry about allocating the OBC. It makes me worry, though. The old saying, "If it's too good to be true...."

 

I wish we were allow to discuss TAs here. Would love to get some feedback. Are there other sites where TA reviews/feedback are allowed?

Edited July 23, 2016 by travelingirl70

[blizzardboy]

You are probably right. We won't drink 15 drinks a day either. But the Explore 4 add on for our suite is only $700 total. Figure $324 in gratuities, 50 for Pinnacle Grill, $200 for Internet (even if you wanted to discount that, you could) and the SBP costs us about $100 bucks each for a 12 day cruise. If I have ONE drink and one bottle of water a day, I come out ahead.

 

The difference for the kids' cabin just doesn't make sense. They don't get the gratuities or the internet. So basically they just get Pinnacle Grill and the beverage package.

 

You can use your OBC once on board to buy them a soft drink package or whatever. You can always use your OBC to buy someone else a "gift amenity". If memory serves me correctly, unused OBC provided by a TA or other third party, is refundable if unused. HAL promo OBC is nonrefundable. I have no personal knowledge of the OBC refund policy as we find the amount of fun enjoyed usually far exceeds the OBC, and we've had some substantial amounts to play with. After all, fun is the "raison d'etre"!

Edited July 23, 2016 by blizzardboy

[Tampa Girl]

I guess I am missing something here. But if the costs of both cabins are going on your credit card, does it really make a difference as to whether you have one account or two?

[travelingirl70]

I guess I am missing something here. But if the costs of both cabins are going on your credit card, does it really make a difference as to whether you have one account or two?

 

The issue is using up the OBC for our cabin. If my kids' charges all have to go to their room and I can't apply some of my OBC, I'm probably going to lose out. Unless, as blizzardboy said, TA OBCs are refundable.

 

With $800 in OBC, and beverages, gratuities and internet already paid for, and the fact we tend to do shore excursions on our own, I will never burn through that much OBC. My kids, however, would need to pay gratuities and beverages, so they would. I wanted to combine them for a total of $1100, the majority of which would be spent by my kids.

[kazu]

I do have another option.....

 

I used one of those websites to let online TA's quote me the best price and one has come in much less than the others! No TA OBC. But, when you compare the Neptune Suite, my typical online TA will give me $800 OBC. This TA gives $0 but the total cruise fare for the same cabin is $1500 less. So, I net out $700 and don't have to worry about allocating the OBC. It makes me worry, though. The old saying, "If it's too good to be true...."

 

I wish we were allow to discuss TAs here. Would love to get some feedback. Are there other sites where TA reviews/feedback are allowed?

 

That is not all that unusual. some TA's give OBC and some discount. Discount usually works out in your favour.

 

As long as you don't need "handholding" and as long as there are no "tricks" (cancellation fees, change fees, etc.) and the payment goes to HAL (Holland America shows on your credit card bill), then I would say why not?

 

You will be saving $ and your OBC worries are all taken care of :)

 

Now you just need to take care of the two cabins. Seems like a good solution to me and, of course, if you want, you can buy OBC for your cabin, their's or both.

[Tampa Girl]

 

The issue is using up the OBC for our cabin. If my kids' charges all have to go to their room and I can't apply some of my OBC, I'm probably going to lose out. Unless, as blizzardboy said, TA OBCs are refundable.

 

With $800 in OBC, and beverages, gratuities and internet already paid for, and the fact we tend to do shore excursions on our own, I will never burn through that much OBC. My kids, however, would need to pay gratuities and beverages, so they would. I wanted to combine them for a total of $1100, the majority of which would be spent by my kids.

 

Now I understand - thanks for explaining. You could use some of it up by Pinnacle dinners, of course. But that would be a lot of dinners. I love to spend other people's money. I will be thinking about it. You might also find something you really, really want in the shops. What about classes onboard or wine tasting, or bottles of wine for dinners. They are not included in the Explore 4. Beauty shop, spa, etc., etc.?

[dakrewser]

The issue is using up the OBC for our cabin. If my kids' charges all have to go to their room and I can't apply some of my OBC, I'm probably going to lose out. Unless, as blizzardboy said, TA OBCs are refundable.

 

With $800 in OBC, and beverages, gratuities and internet already paid for, and the fact we tend to do shore excursions on our own, I will never burn through that much OBC. My kids, however, would need to pay gratuities and beverages, so they would. I wanted to combine them for a total of $1100, the majority of which would be spent by my kids.

 

Any OBC from your TA that is not used will be credited to your credit card at final settlement, so no need to worry which cabin something gets charged to as long as both are covered by the same CC. I agree with Blizzardboy 100% on that - one of the few things we do agree about! :)

[lazey1]

Possibly you could use your own OBC in the casino, make a couple of pulls on one of the slot machines then cash out the balance. With the cash in hand you can pay the kids charges at the front desk a couple of days before the cruise ends instead of putting the charges on your credit card.

 

Something to think about at least.

[Boytjie]

I can't handle 15 drinks a day! I'm glad you and your spouse are up to the challenge. FYI...your son could probably drink you under the table. :)

 

Just because the SBP allows up to 15 drinks per day does not mean you have to drink 15 drinks per day. ;)

[blizzardboy]

Any OBC from your TA that is not used will be credited to your credit card at final settlement, so no need to worry which cabin something gets charged to as long as both are covered by the same CC. I agree with Blizzardboy 100% on that - one of the few things we do agree about! :)

 

Oh come on...I agree with you more than you know. It's just more fun to slap you than pat you on the back! :)

[blizzardboy]

Just because the SBP allows up to 15 drinks per day does not mean you have to drink 15 drinks per day. ;)

 

I've been saying something similar about climbing Everest, but they keep doing it cuz it's there!

Edited July 23, 2016 by blizzardboy

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

The front office should be able to help .

[DSLibrarian]

I want to assure you that what blizzardboy says is correct. TA OBC is refunded if it isn't used and HAL provided OBC is used first. We returned from our Zuiderdam cruise a little over 2 weeks ago. We had almost $1800 total OBC. ($900 HAL and $880 from our TA.) I had to work hard to spend the $900 HAL OBC (especially since we had Explore4 so SBP was included!!) but we managed to spend it all. Within 2 days of disembarkation we had a refund on our credit card for all of the TA OBC and even a little extra for some port fees that were refunded as well.

 

I suggest buying your kids beverage cards online as gifts before boarding and they will be ready for them in the room at embarkation.

Edited July 24, 2016 by DSLibrarian

[Mamascott]

My mom was able to have my gratuities and room charges transfered to her room, so she could pay for those. I put my card down on my room for thing I wanted to get, so she wasn't charged for those. So at the end of the cruise, the only thing on my bill were a couple things I charged, and hers had all the gratuities, and anything else she wanted to pay for, including a couple beverage cards.

[bra1nchild]

We just returned from 7 days on the Westerdam. Prior to sailing, I called HAL to arrange for all charges for the 4 cabins to be placed on our bill. All charges, OBC and port refunds combined onto one account and our children/grandchildren never saw a bill. {If they had, there might have been less drinking]

 

The quickest way to check if this has been done is to print your own account at the kiosks; if all of the cabins and OBC are printed, you are good to go; if not, then go to the Front Desk.

[travelingirl70]

We just returned from 7 days on the Westerdam. Prior to sailing, I called HAL to arrange for all charges for the 4 cabins to be placed on our bill. All charges, OBC and port refunds combined onto one account and our children/grandchildren never saw a bill. {If they had, there might have been less drinking]

 

The quickest way to check if this has been done is to print your own account at the kiosks; if all of the cabins and OBC are printed, you are good to go; if not, then go to the Front Desk.

 

Thanks! This is so helpful!!!