Use of On Board Credits

[Fairfield Nana]

I am trying to find out when I can use my onboard credits. We don't sail until next May 2020, but plan to book some shore excursions well before we sail. Can I use some OBCs in my account or must I wait until we sail. Looks like they can only be used to purchase items while on board like more expensive drinks (have the Sip & Sail pkg form our booking), or spa usage. Can I use a balance of these OBCs to pay for gratuities?  Thanks....

Edited July 10, 2019 by Fairfield Nana
fix my mistake.

[fishywood]

Any OBC showing in your account may be used to purchase shore excursions in advance. Usually that is just Princess OBC, Travel Agent OBC usually is not added until after you board.

 

Other than for shore excursions the OB in OBC is taken literally. Once onboard they can be used for any or all the items you mentioned above, including the daily service charge.

 

(There is a concurrent thread a bit below on page 1 on the contentious recurring topic of whether certain items are ineligible to be purchased using non-refundable OBC. Tread there if you dare. Or maybe you already have read it thus your need to ask for more clarification here...)

[GUT2407]

As I understand it, if it is showing you can use it to book tours.

[Colo Cruiser]

Yes I agree. Use it for Excursions.

[Aus Traveller]

If you think you will have left-over OBC, check with the Purser's Desk to see how much is refundable. This is better than buying stuff you don't want just to use up the balance.

[Thrak]

Use it in advance for excursions if you like. As for gratuities: Any OBC in your account will be reduced each day to pay for the gratuities. You don't have to do anything about it - they will just take the money.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Yes, you can use it to book excursions but there was a problem when I booked an expensive one for our upcoming Sea Princess cruise. It showed it was using the OBC for both of us but when the charge for the balance went through it was higher than expected as it had only deducted my OBC from the total not DH's. Just another one of Princess' little online bugs! 😡 

Edited July 11, 2019 by OzKiwiJJ

[Fairfield Nana]

Very helpful info & advice--thanks to all!!

[denmarks]

13 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Yes, you can use it to book excursions but there was a problem when I booked an expensive one for our upcoming Sea Princess cruise. It showed it was using the OBC for both of us but when the charge for the balance went through it was higher than expected as it had only deducted my OBC from the total not DH's. Just another one of Princess' little online bugs! 😡 

 

As long as the same credit card is used for both accounts they are added together at the end. Any positive balance on one will cover a negative balance on the other.

[Fairfield Nana]

Good morning Fishywood, a point of clarification please--  regarding your comment above "There is a concurrent thread a bit below on page 1 on the contentious recurring topic of whether certain items are ineligible to be purchased using non-refundable OBC."-- I cannot seem to find this link you refer to.  Can you clarify please, as I'd be most interested in reading it?...Thanks!

[fishywood]

This is the thread I was referring to:

...which was still on page one of the Princess board when this thread was started concurrently. I honestly assumed at the time you had seen that thread and wanted to ask a more general question about using OBC, thus starting your own.