Strategy for using OBC from TA

[roxievegas]

Our next 28 night cruise on Princess will be our first with Princess. We will have no OBC from Princess, but will have over $900 from TA. I plan to have the OBC pay the gratuities, which I will not pay in advance before boarding. On Celebrity they will not allow you to go to guest services and pay for the full amount on day one for the whole trip - Does Princess?. On Celebrity they will hit the credit card for the daily amount each day - so when I returned home, I had a gratuity charge of $28.00 for each of the 7 nights. I really don't want the have 28 days of gratuity charges.

2nd question - I have found some excursions that I would like to take with Princess - I think I read that you can not book those until 180 days before the cruise ? - And do I have to pay for them at that time, or does it go on my account and then I pay when final payment is do?

thank you in advance for your response

[NavyVeteran]

On Princess, gratuities, shore excursions booked onboard, drinks, and almost anything else spent onboard are charged to your onboard account. If you have a balance remaining after using your OBC, then the balance is charged to your credit card - one charge at the end of the cruise. If you and your cabinmate (or anyone else on the cruise) use the same credit card, then all of the folios are combined at the end of the cruise, and you are charged once for the net amount owed after subtracting OBC.

 

If you book shore excursions in advance, you have to pay when you reserve them (except for the next few months - it is a recent change). You can use OBC to reserve shore excursions in advance - but only if the OBC is already posted to your account and shows in your Cruise Personalizer. OBC from a TA may not show until you are onboard. If not, then you cannot use it in advance. You do not pay for shore excursions at final payment - you either pay when you book them or you pay in your onboard folio.

 

Don't pay attention to the 180 days in advance comment. Some excursions are available to book much earlier than 180 days in advance, and some are not available until later. When they are available in your Cruise Personalizer, then you can book them. Some may be available earlier and others may be added later.

 

There are two main reasons to book Princess shore excursions in advance. Some of them may sell out. Also Princess does increase the price on shore excursions, but any increase does not apply to anyone who has already booked them. In the cases where Princess has a shore excursion sale, you may call and rebook if the price of your excursion has gone down (but they won't automatically adjust the price unless you call to rebook).

 

Depending on the source of the OBC from your TA, it may be refundable. If it is refundable, then you will receive a refund from Princess after your cruise for any unused balance. If it is nonrefundable, then any unused balance is lost. I recommend that you ask your TA for explicit written documentation specifying the amount of the OBC and whether or not it is refundable. Sometimes OBC does not show up on the account at the ship, and it's a lot easier to fix with written documentation. Also get a printout of you onboard folio on the first day or two of the cruise to make sure everything is correct - and check it several times during the cruise.

[Pam in CA]

You don't need a "strategy" as anything charged to your onboard folio is automatically deducted from the OBC. Unlike Celebrity or RCCL, Princess allows OBC from all sources to be combined. You can get shareholder and/or military OBC and it'll be added to your TA's OBC.

[Astro Flyer]

NavyVeteran answered your questions & OBC is a credit to your onboard folio account from which any type of charge is deducted.

 

There are several ways to view folio statements including getting a printout from the Passenger's Service Desk or using your cruise card at a kiosk adjacent to the PSD. You can also view your folio using their free intranet WiFi system Princess@Sea which has many other useful functions.

 

"Simply connect to the ship’s WIFI once onboard, open the browser on your computer, tablet, mobile phone or other device, and Princess@Sea will be the default page that appears. It even operates in "Airplane Mode". No cellular or data charges required!".

 

http://www.princess.com/ships-and-experience/onboard-experience/activities/princess-at-sea/

[Astro Flyer]

You don't need a "strategy" as anything charged to your onboard folio is automatically deducted from the OBC. Unlike Celebrity or RCCL, Princess allows OBC from all sources to be combined. You can get shareholder and/or military OBC and it'll be added to your TA's OBC.

And most OBCs (not sure about OBC purchased by TA?) are viewable when signed in to the Cruise Personalizer & accessing the Payments & Credits tab. There's an asterisk * symbol next to non-refundable types of OBC which as you said is combinable unlike those other cruise lines.

[skynight]

Here is some additional information:

1. Check your Cruise Personlizer under payments & credits it will show you how much OBC is currently posted to your Princess accounts. Many times travel agent OBC does not get posted until you board.

2. If you are active or retired military check out the Princess military benefit. If you own at least 100 shares Carnival Corp. Stock in any kind of account check out the Carnival shareholder benefit. For your voyage the OBC military benefit is $250 max. 2 benefits per cabin if both qualify. The Stockholder OBC benefit is also $250. max one per cabin. All OBC on Princess is stackable, you don’t have to select one or another, it’s all grouped together. Make sure you bring hard copy proof of all OBC’s in case of an issue.

3. Depending on your cabin the Princess gratuity is from $13.50/pp/day to $15.50/pp/day. The amounts are posted to your on board account each evening. There is no daily direct charge to your credit card. There is no need to pay the entire gratuity in one lump sum, but you are free to deposit cash into your on board accounts anytime you like. You are also free to pre-pay the gratuity if you wish.

4. You don’t specifically allocate OBC to certain on board expenses, OBC’s are treated as credits. When you board your accounts will start with a credit balances, which is all your OBC. All on board spending, including the daily gratuity, will be added to your accounts as spent, and your accounts will have a running net balance.

5. At the end of your cruise, assuming you are a couple and using a single credit card, your on board accounts will be summed and combined together for a net balance which is charged to you credit card. If your net balance is a credit you will receive a check for all refundable OBC a few weeks after you disembark.

6. Princess tours. Once tours are shown in your cruise personlizer you can book them on line. Tours now require pre-payment. If you like any OBC currently shown in the cruise personlizer, see no. 1, can be used for reserve Princess tours. You can also elect not to use the OBC it’s up to you. Any Princess tours booked on board are treated as on board expenses and are added to your on board accounts as explained in #4.

6. I think you are sailing on the 28 Hawaii/South Pacific cruise. We took this cruise and the CC roll call was very active with lots of private tours. Check out the roll call if you haven’t already done so. We took a great tour with Patrick in Bora Bora

Additional questions? Just ask.

[NavyVeteran]

One more comment if you are sailing on the 28-day South Pacific cruise out of Los Angeles. Many of the islands visited in the South Pacific do not have much tourist infrastructure. The Princess cruises sell out and there are not people selling tours at the pier. If you do not prebook with Princess or a private vender in advance, you may find yourself there with nothing available. Several people on my cruise were very unhappy that there were no excursions available to book on the ship and nothing to find on the island.

 

The Hawaiian ports are much different. There are a lot of tours available, it is relatively easy for Princess or other venders to add more buses if more people sign up, and you can go on your own with no problem.

[cruzsnooze]

On day one I adjust my gratuity and they do it for the entire cruise as a lump sum and no more daily math to do. If you like the amount they are charging then it will show up daily and you will have the 7 times 2 people charges as you already wrote. You have complete control of the gratuity system, just go to guest services and do what works for you best.

[richsea]

Maybe I am missing something. You have $ 900 obc that you want to use towards tips, but you want to pay all of tge tips on day one? How; by cash? If you want to pay tips on day one, but not use obc, why don't you just pre pay the tips. & use the $900 for excursions, drinks, etc.?

 

Don't know about tge excursions, as someone said, if they tend to sell out, you should try to book then beforehand. You do not have to pay wgen you book on line; you pay on board.