NCL gift card or OBC?

[drewdrewcruiser]

My sister is cruising in Jan 2020 and I would like to give her a Christmas gift related to her trip.  I read that NCL gift cards have dormancy fees if not used.  Would it be better to just give her OBC?  If she doesn't use it all, can it be refunded to her or will it be forfeited? 

[shof515]

obc is better and is refundable

[Oakman58]

Give her the onboard credit and if she doesn't use all of it she will get a refund.  NCL gift cards suck in my opinion.

[drewdrewcruiser]

2 hours ago, shof515 said:

obc is better and is refundable

Do you know if it gets refunded to her or to original payment which would be my credit card? I'd rather it go back to her. 

[Sam Ting]

Why don’t you just give her cash in an envelope marked marked for her cruise and forget all the drama with the gift cards or obc. 

[LrgPizza]

I prefer the gift cards. Sure, you need to use them within a certain amount of time, but how hard is that to manage? Unlike OBC, the recipient can use it to actually pay on the cruise fare before sailing.

[CookieShip]

48 minutes ago, Sam Ting said:

Why don’t you just give her cash in an envelope marked marked for her cruise and forget all the drama with the gift cards or obc. 

Exactly! Can fancy it up a little by pairing with an item they'll need/use on the cruise. 

[drewdrewcruiser]

1 hour ago, Sam Ting said:

Why don’t you just give her cash in an envelope marked marked for her cruise and forget all the drama with the gift cards or obc. 

Because knowing my sister, she will just use the cash to buy something for my kid and I want it to be for her.  

[drewdrewcruiser]

1 hour ago, LrgPizza said:

I prefer the gift cards. Sure, you need to use them within a certain amount of time, but how hard is that to manage? Unlike OBC, the recipient can use it to actually pay on the cruise fare before sailing.

Cruise is next month and already paid in full.  My sister found a stack of unused gift cards while cleaning her room so apparently, they're not that easy to manage for her. 😂. I'll go with the OBC.