On board credit as a gift

[CruisingLover]

My father in law would like to give us on board credit as a Christmas gift this year for a cruise we are taking summer of 2019. How does one go about purchasing on board credit?

 

Thanks!

[Ourusualbeach]

Just call Royal.  You need the ship, sail date and reservation, they can add it directly to your account.

[sh2738]

They can just go online and go to gifts and select gift certificates to but it. Then you can redeem it for OBC. 

[CruisingLover]

Thanks everyone! 

[SRF]

He could also just give you a check and you could pay off your on board bill, partially using that money.

[Clarea]

8 hours ago, sh2738 said:

They can just go online and go to gifts and select gift certificates to but it. Then you can redeem it for OBC. 

 

This is too complicated, better to just call as suggested and have it done in one shot.

[dwayneb236]

Gift Certificates can be a hassle and they must be redeemed at a certain point before the cruise. I've read about people missing the time frame and thinking they can be redeemed on the ship. Nope.

I actually had issues when I redeemed some in the past. My cruise was paid off and I added a couple of them. Checked my account and it now showed I owed a balance on my cruise and it was past final due date. Not a good thing. Took several calls to get it fixed. Contacted Mr. Bailey's email and a representative was assigned to my case. Was fixed with a little bit of extra OBC thrown it but it was a bit stressful. 

Now I just call Royal and have money put in my account directly. 

[sh2738]

It’s a matter of preference to what you consider to be a hassle and what is easier. Personally if I have to call them, that’s a hassle to me personally. I much prefer to do everything online and I personally find it much easier. 

 

But I do agree that if you are going to do gift certificates that you need to watch the deadlines really carefully. My cruise is so far out that I I have plenty of time to request and redeem gift certificates. So you do need to be careful. 

[dwayneb236]

I LOVE doing things online. I guess I'm just a little soured on the certificates because of my firsthand problems with them. Kind of makes me leery of their system. 

[orville99]

Our children get them for us all the time (birthdays; anniversary; Christmas; etc.) and they always purchase them online. When we decide which cruise we want to apply them to, we redeem them online as well. It is a simple process that is very clearly described on the certificate itself.