Onboard credit

[12times]

First time ever cruising Princess. Can u use onboard credits for gratitudes and in the casino? 

 

 

 

 

[Astro Flyer]

3 minutes ago, 12times said:

First time ever cruising Princess. Can u use onboard credits for gratitudes and in the casino? 

 

 

 

 

OBC is a credit to your onboard account from which all types of debits are deducted including tips & casino.

[12times]

6

2 minutes ago, Astro Flyer said:

OBC is a credit to your onboard account from which all types of debits are deducted including tips & casino.

I read somewhere that Princess would not let u use onboard credit for tips or casino. Have u done it recently?

[Astro Flyer]

5 minutes ago, 12times said:

6

I read somewhere that Princess would not let u use onboard credit for tips or casino. Have u done it recently?

Yes on tips but don’t go to the casino & have read many posts about using OBC for the casino.  Some types of OBC might state it’s not for tips/casino but I’ve never had it enforced for tips nor have I read of anyone having it enforced for tips/casino.

Edited September 3, 2019 by Astro Flyer

[12times]

Ok.Thank you!

[vampiress]

100% for tips, excursions, internet, drinks, specialty restaurants, and shops. 

i don't gamble so i'm unclear on casino. i do know you can buy casino credits in the ship personalizer

Edited September 3, 2019 by vampiress

[skynight]

Yes. All OBC is posted as a credit to your on board account. Any on board expenses, including daily gratuities, casino, drinks, tours, specialty dining, gift shop purchases, etc. are posted to your account as incurred and net against any credit balance. The only exception is the purchase of Future Cruise Deposits. These are charged directly to your credit card.

[JF - retired RRT]

10 hours ago, 12times said:

6

I read somewhere that Princess would not let u use onboard credit for tips or casino. Have u done it recently?

25 cruises on Princess. Every one of them the OBC paid my gratuities and often found it's way to the casino.

ANYTHING you buy on the ship (with the exception of Future Cruise Deposits) is charged to your on board account (folio) and deducted from any OBC that you might have in the account. Once the OBC is gone, your credit card is charged.

[MissP22]

On 9/2/2019 at 9:25 PM, 12times said:

First time ever cruising Princess. Can u use onboard credits for gratitudes and in the casino? 

 

 

 

 

You can but I wouldn't use it for an additional gratuity for individuals.  It will be put into the pot & distributed to everyone. The people who you want to benefit by the additional tip will only get a very small portion of it. 

If you want to tip additional, do it in cash handed to the person.

[schuddle]

I'm a bit concerned about this too.  I just booked a cruise to Hawaii, and was given OBC by the travel agent (Expedia).  In the terms and conditions, it explicitly states that the OBC cannot be used for gratuities or casino charges.  Which is bizarre.  As another example, consider the well known "shareholder benefit" that gives you OBC if you hold stock in Carnival.  The terms and conditions say "This benefit is not transferable, cannot be exchanged for cash and, cannot be used for casino credits/charges and gratuities charged to your onboard account."   See for yourself here: https://www.carnivalcorp.com/shareholder-information/shareholder-benefit

 

Last time I sailed on Celebrity, they had a similar restriction, but were were still able to use our credit in the casino.  The trick was that we were given chips that said "Promotional".  Those chips could not be cashed out.  So we had to actually sit down at a table and play Blackjack for a few hours.  When we won a hand, they gave us real chips that we could cash out, and when we lost, they took away a promotional chip.  Think of it as a form of OBC laundering :-)

Maybe Princess does something similar?  These terms that restrict how OBC can be used are cropping up all over the place, I wonder what the enforcement mechanism is on Princess.

[voljeep]

16 minutes ago, schuddle said:

OBC by the travel agent

you need to edit out the TA name ... not allowed here

[skynight]

9 minutes ago, schuddle said:

I'm a bit concerned about this too.  I just booked a cruise to Hawaii, and was given OBC by the travel agent (Expedia).  In the terms and conditions, it explicitly states that the OBC cannot be used for gratuities or casino charges.  Which is bizarre.  As another example, consider the well known "shareholder benefit" that gives you OBC if you hold stock in Carnival.  The terms and conditions say "This benefit is not transferable, cannot be exchanged for cash and, cannot be used for casino credits/charges and gratuities charged to your onboard account."   See for yourself here: https://www.carnivalcorp.com/shareholder-information/shareholder-benefit

 

Last time I sailed on Celebrity, they had a similar restriction, but were were still able to use our credit in the casino.  The trick was that we were given chips that said "Promotional".  Those chips could not be cashed out.  So we had to actually sit down at a table and play Blackjack for a few hours.  When we won a hand, they gave us real chips that we could cash out, and when we lost, they took away a promotional chip.  Think of it as a form of OBC laundering 🙂

Maybe Princess does something similar?  These terms that restrict how OBC can be used are cropping up all over the place, I wonder what the enforcement mechanism is on Princess.

Terms do say what you reported, but be assured that as August 2019 and on all past Princess cruises OBC is posted to your on board account as credits. Any and all on board expenses* charged to your account will net against the credit and there will be a running net balance. This includes the daily auto gratuity and any casino play that you may charge to your on board account. Regarding casino play, if at a table and you request $100 in chips you will receive $100 in live chips and a $100 charge will be added to your account. If you play at a slot and request $100 your account will be charged $100 and you will have $100 in real money to play. When charging to your on board account the casino expects play. At the tables they can see the play. Slot play is shown on the cashier's computer screen. 

* Future cruise deposits purchased while on board are not charged to your on board account. They are directly charged to your credit card.

[TNTLAMB]

3 hours ago, skynight said:

Terms do say what you reported, but be assured that as August 2019 and on all past Princess cruises OBC is posted to your on board account as credits. Any and all on board expenses* charged to your account will net against the credit and there will be a running net balance. This includes the daily auto gratuity and any casino play that you may charge to your on board account. Regarding casino play, if at a table and you request $100 in chips you will receive $100 in live chips and a $100 charge will be added to your account. If you play at a slot and request $100 your account will be charged $100 and you will have $100 in real money to play. When charging to your on board account the casino expects play. At the tables they can see the play. Slot play is shown on the cashier's computer screen. 

* Future cruise deposits purchased while on board are not charged to your on board account. They are directly charged to your credit card.

 

 

That would be correct. It seems the policy was changed after multiple threads on CC (and others cruise sites) suggested that one need only buy chips and then cash them in to collect cash for their non refundable OBC. But you can (at least I have never been refused) use the OBC to play table games. They will indeed watch to see that you actually gamble and keep track of the money gambled using the OBC AS THEY SHOULD. Is there a way around it? Of course, there are several several, though all involve some risk but none fall into the grey area. The Martingale Strategy on roulette is one such way, just keep track of your chips Winners will be paid with colored table chips that you can color up at the end of the session and redeem for cash. You can do the same  and have less risk (and less payoff) with a modified James Bond Method Bet two lines and and either red/black or even/odd. If you have a good memory the D’Alembert Strategy will also work. 

 

Whichever strategy you use just make sure your clear the board after every spin and use your OBC for every bet. I use a bit more complicated strategy, but the only difference is I either win big, break even very slowly or walk away with no OBC and at least most of it in my pocket in redeemable chips. Unless you have a bad session in which case you should have walked away early. you should expect at least 95 cents for every OBC dollar after 17 spins. If not play another time.

 

Dunno about slots have never played one on a cruise ship Even the poker machines are not actual poker machines but random number generators with a fixed pay out. 

Edited October 30, 2019 by TNTLAMB

[caribill]

13 hours ago, schuddle said:

 In the terms and conditions, it explicitly states that the OBC cannot be used for gratuities or casino charges.  Which is bizarre.  As another example, consider the well known "shareholder benefit" that gives you OBC if you hold stock in Carnival.  The terms and conditions say "This benefit is not transferable, cannot be exchanged for cash and, cannot be used for casino credits/charges and gratuities charged to your onboard account."

 

Although it says that, there has never been a problem using any type of OBC for gratuities or casino charges on Princess.

 

Those charges, along with any other charges, are posted to your on board account. And any charges to your on board account are first satisfied by non-refundable OBC, then by refundable OBC and then any more charges become what you must pay at the end of the cruise.

[USCcruisecrazy]

So, I want to make sure I have this right, since we are cruising on the Sky in 5 weeks and I have a lot of OBC.  If the OBC is refundable (pretty sure all of mine is) then I can use it for chips in the casino and when done for that session, take the chips, cash them in and get greenbacks...is that correct?  But if the OBC was non-refundable, then you can't cash in whatever chips you have left?  Is that what I'm reading?  If that's the case, what can the non-refundable be used for besides purchases on board?  Thanks for the words.

[Ombud]

All I know is that credits are posted to my account with all charges 1st going against non-refundable OBC. When that's gone, they use refundable OBC. When that's gone (and it always seems to be) they post against my credit card on file. This is for all charges on a daily basis (gratuities, slots, blackjack, Vines,  Crooners, Calypso Cove - yes I buy Chicos onboard as I always forget something)

 

If I have something in my casino bank at the end of a cruise I just get cash back. No idea what happens if you forget (like I did on the Royal 10/14/19-10/19/19 oops 😒)

Edited October 31, 2019 by Ombud

[toescat]

I have used onboard credit for shopping, drinks and slot machines and have done so as recently as 8 weeks ago.  

 

[TravelingEA]

On 9/2/2019 at 8:33 PM, 12times said:

6

I read somewhere that Princess would not let u use onboard credit for tips or casino. Have u done it recently?

We used the casino for an ATM in September.

[JF - retired RRT]

5 hours ago, USCcruisecrazy said:

So, I want to make sure I have this right, since we are cruising on the Sky in 5 weeks and I have a lot of OBC.  If the OBC is refundable (pretty sure all of mine is) then I can use it for chips in the casino and when done for that session, take the chips, cash them in and get greenbacks...is that correct?  But if the OBC was non-refundable, then you can't cash in whatever chips you have left?  Is that what I'm reading?  If that's the case, what can the non-refundable be used for besides purchases on board?  Thanks for the words.

No. The accounting system doesn't withhold $$ when you cash out in the casino.

If you have $50 refundable and $50 nonrefundable in your folio, then go to the casino and play. Maybe up a little or down a little, don't want to play anymore. Cash out and whatever is in your casino account will be given to you.

[skynight]

8 hours ago, USCcruisecrazy said:

So, I want to make sure I have this right, since we are cruising on the Sky in 5 weeks and I have a lot of OBC.  If the OBC is refundable (pretty sure all of mine is) then I can use it for chips in the casino and when done for that session, take the chips, cash them in and get greenbacks...is that correct?  But if the OBC was non-refundable, then you can't cash in whatever chips you have left?  Is that what I'm reading?  If that's the case, what can the non-refundable be used for besides purchases on board?  Thanks for the words.

Not correct. Refundable and non-refundable are handled the same way. As you incur on board expenses the accounting system automatically uses the non-refundable amounts first. Once all non-refundable is used up the system then uses the refundable. The casino has no control over the accounting system. The casino just sends the charge to the system as an on board expense, no different than a purchase at a bar or in one of the shops.

[modernmind]

16 minutes ago, skynight said:

Not correct. Refundable and non-refundable are handled the same way. As you incur on board expenses the accounting system automatically uses the non-refundable amounts first. Once all non-refundable is used up the system then uses the refundable. The casino has no control over the accounting system. The casino just sends the charge to the system as an on board expense, no different than a purchase at a bar or in one of the shops.

Nice to hear an emphatic answer. Up til now I thought I was just going to have to call Princess but your answer makes sense and can't imagine it being any different. 

[d9704011]

28 minutes ago, skynight said:

Not correct. Refundable and non-refundable are handled the same way. As you incur on board expenses the accounting system automatically uses the non-refundable amounts first. Once all non-refundable is used up the system then uses the refundable. The casino has no control over the accounting system. The casino just sends the charge to the system as an on board expense, no different than a purchase at a bar or in one of the shops.

I don’t know anything about onboard gambling but USCcruisecazy’s previous question convolved refundabe, non-refundable OBCs and cashing out chips for ‘greenbacks’.  Seems to me that your answer regarding how OBCs are consumed may lead one to believe that non-refundable OBCs can be converted to cash through the casino.

[tothemall&beyond]

7 hours ago, TravelingEA said:

We used the casino for an ATM in September.

Please do not put such things in writing. P reads these posts. Not smart. Then we all lose.

[mamkmm2]

My understanding is as the MedallionNet system comes online and their on ship computer systems become more capable, they won't lump everything together.  The MedallionNet cruise we were just on was pretty detailed with debits and credits, what they were for, additional tips in some of the bars, up to the second reporting, etc.  The onboard credit from our TA can be used for pre-booked excursions.  We've also been able to use OBC from Princess for Princess excursions booked pre-embarkation.  But rules change.  Be prepared.  No different than when they changed the smoking rules or the liquor rules.  Just because something has "always been this way" doesn't mean it is going to stay that way.  

Edited November 1, 2019 by mamkmm2

[Lucky TGO]

Yes you can. I do it all the time. 😁

Tony