Non Refundable OBC and the Butler

[roger001]

In the past, I have issued a gratuity voucher to the butler and the concierge, for their tips, using my OBC and on board account.  In the past, the Non Refundable OBC was used for that purpose.  Having just completed a cruise and finally looking at the closing statement, I find that the Non refundable was not permitted to be used, and I left $65.47 behind.   Is this something new...a change?    I emailed NCL and they sent a canned reply that I will be contacted in 4 to 6 weeks!  They can sometimes be aggravating.....more so lately.  

[smplybcause]

So I've seen posts in the last month or so where extra gratuity at specialty dining or gratuity at the spa is not counted towards non-refundable. Seems like the butler is included in that group. Can't tell you when exactly the change was though as I know I've seen previously on here people say non-refundable can be used for extra gratuities but not DSC and seems that's changed. 

[roger001]

16 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

So I've seen posts in the last month or so where extra gratuity at specialty dining or gratuity at the spa is not counted towards non-refundable. Seems like the butler is included in that group. Can't tell you when exactly the change was though as I know I've seen previously on here people say non-refundable can be used for extra gratuities but not DSC and seems that's changed. 

Thanks.  Non refundable is becoming pretty worthless......

[smplybcause]

6 minutes ago, roger001 said:

Thanks.  Non refundable is becoming pretty worthless......

 

It seems, with the exception of Cruise Next, NCL is pushing to use it for things that they don't have to expense the full dollar amount. In other words if you give $10 to say your specialty dining server NCL has to hand over the full $10, but if you buy something in one of those $10 sales it only cost NCL the price of the goods which is probably like $3. 

[roger001]

6 minutes ago, smplybcause said:

 

It seems, with the exception of Cruise Next, NCL is pushing to use it for things that they don't have to expense the full dollar amount. In other words if you give $10 to say your specialty dining server NCL has to hand over the full $10, but if you buy something in one of those $10 sales it only cost NCL the price of the goods which is probably like $3. 

Yea.  I'm sure that is it.   And, realizing that many guests are eating at the speciality restaurants on the dining package or Platinum vouchers, for those that are not the restaurant prices are getting crazy.  Here's a current Cagney's menu.  My wife does really like the "jumbo" crab cake, (not that Jumbo).  But they are priced at $14 each which requires even with a dining package an additional $5 charge, plus another 20% gratuity.  And the prime rib at $32 I was looking forward to, tasted like a piece of roast beef.  Plus of course if you're paying, the starter, a side, a dessert are all considerably extra.   I gotta tell you, NCL is starting to not be a "wonderful" experience so much anymore to me.   Never thought I would, but after 23 NCL cruises, I might try another cruise line to compare.  

[don't-use-real-name]

It would seem that NCL is manipulating the books on the use of the OBC.

 

Know the differences between OBC - Refundable and NON-Refundable

 

It is a basic understanding that NON-Refundable OBC can not be used to pay the DSC.

Everything else is fair game - use it or lose it - it can't be taken off the ship at disembarking.

 

OBC that you purchased with your own cash is refundable - - - if there is a balance left on your

account at disembarking you can claim petty cash or a check will be mailed to your address of record.

 

If NCL gave you OBC or some types of TA OBC these are NON-Refundable - - -

NOT FREE MONEY - but FREE CREDIT !

 

Back to manipulating the OBC - - -

The order in which transactions are processed versus remaining OBC gets to be a problem

toward the end of the cruise and the Final Invoice is tendered to your cabin door.

One thing about the N/R OBC use it all up before 10pm the last night of the cruise and then get

an invoice of your account and dispute any charges at that time - don't wait until 8am the morning

of disembarking and wait in line to rectify the issue - missing you ground transportation.

 

Guest Services (Purser) may not have enough cash to satisfy every guest request.

Also the Casino may also be in the same position and closed the morning of disembarking.

 

When short of cash and NCL would not cash my Travelers Checks I used a voucher to pay the tips

to the Butler and Concierge giving them a onboard credit to their employee account.

You can do this at anytime without alerting them to a credit gift being given to them as you would

giving cash at the end of the cruise going down the gangplank.

[roger001]

NCL did answer my complaint regarding Non-Refundable OBC.   Although I have in the past used it several time, no  problem, to leave a suite crew gratuity, they basically say now to "stick it".  I still think they are full of it in that a gratuity to the Butler and Concierge is not a service charge in that it is totally optional.  I guess they change their philosophy sometime since my previous cruise before this one.   Can't fight City hall....or at least not worth the effort.     

 

As per our policy, onboard credit may be used as payment for any charges incurred onboard, such as, bar and lounge purchases, gift shop purchases, etc. It cannot be used for purchases off the vessel or for service charges or casino. It is not transferable and has no cash value other than payment of an onboard account. There will be no refund or subsequent certificates issued for any unused portion of this credit.

[smplybcause]

I believe the old T&Cs said something like cannot be used for service charges but can be used for gratuities. But the gratuities part is no longer there. 

[Turtles06]

On 2/24/2020 at 9:53 PM, don't-use-real-name said:

It is a basic understanding that NON-Refundable OBC can not be used to pay the DSC.

Everything else is fair game

 

Based on my recent experience, that's not correct.   When we were on the Gem last month, we had a good amount of non-refundable OBC.  The second night on board, we ate at Le Bistro using one of our Plat vouchers, and added an additional (optional) gratuity at the end, to be charged to our account.  To my surprise, that amount showed up in our account as a charge to our balance, and not as a reduction of our OBC.   I asked Guest Services about this, and was told that any optional gratuities processed by the specialty restaurants are charged to your account and cannot be paid for by non-refundable OBC.    That is just absurd.

 

As for the OP not being able to use non-refundable OBC to give an additional, optional gratuity to the butler, that seems to be new as well.  We have done that in the past.  I'm glad that, on this cruise, we did not try to do that (we used good old fashioned cash), and thus did not experience the disembarkation morning surprise that the OP did.

 

  

[bedfordmom]

How about if I buy a drink or soda, (neither of us are on the beverage plan).  Can I use the non-refundable OBC for that? 

[esm54687]

12 minutes ago, Turtles06 said:

 

Based on my recent experience, that's not correct.   When we were on the Gem last month, we had a good amount of non-refundable OBC.  The second night on board, we ate at Le Bistro using one of our Plat vouchers, and added an additional (optional) gratuity at the end, to be charged to our account.  To my surprise, that amount showed up in our account as a charge to our balance, and not as a reduction of our OBC.   I asked Guest Services about this, and was told that any optional gratuities processed by the specialty restaurants are charged to your account and cannot be paid for by non-refundable OBC.    That is just absurd.

 

As for the OP not being able to use non-refundable OBC to give an additional, optional gratuity to the butler, that seems to be new as well.  We have done that in the past.  I'm glad that, on this cruise, we did not try to do that (we used good old fashioned cash), and thus did not experience the disembarkation morning surprise that the OP did.

 

  

and apparently the inability to use non-refundable obc in the casino (the load a slot machine and withdraw minus 3% trick) is new. I was able to do this back in May 2019.

[esm54687]

2 minutes ago, bedfordmom said:

How about if I buy a drink or soda, (neither of us are on the beverage plan).  Can I use the non-refundable OBC for that? 

Post 7

 

"bar and lounge purchases" 

[Turtles06]

1 minute ago, esm54687 said:

and apparently the inability to use non-refundable obc in the casino (the load a slot machine and withdraw minus 3% trick) is new. I was able to do this back in May 2019.

 

Before our January cruise, I'd asked about that here as well, looking for recent experiences.   Since someone reported the money had been charged back to their account the morning of disembarkation (surprise!), while others were insisting you could still do it, I decided not to risk it and to use the OBC to buy two Cruise Next certificates.  They've since been applied to an existing booking, so we did not lose any of that OBC.  Whew.

[don't-use-real-name]

3 minutes ago, bedfordmom said:

How about if I buy a drink or soda, (neither of us are on the beverage plan).  Can I use the non-refundable OBC for that? 

Yes you can do that.

 

 

 

[don't-use-real-name]

Seems like the rules change with every sailing.

Formerly way back with when the Mayflower sailed to Plymouth you could pay any charges with any barter (OBC).

Then the introduction of the DSC came along and you were restricted from paying this with beaver pelts wampum NR OBC.

 

If NCL is going to be difficult about the NR OBC or any OBC being used to pay gratuities to the crew (NOT DSC)

then the guest is going to have execute Plan "B" and use the Casino as the bank with a 3% service charge.

Now even that is under review dispute innuendo etc.

 

Best burn all the bridges and use up the NR OBC to a point that the balance owing will be on your credit card

at final disembarking.  Pre-pay the DSC if you can (pre-cruise payment you may get a discount).

As for tips - bring sufficient cash to accomplish this (avoid using foreign ATMS with hefty service charges)

And as I noted earlier NCL does not cash travelers checks - Oh so guest friendly !

 

But the idea of using the NR OBC to purchase those Cruise Next Certificates is perfect - that is if you plan

to cruise NCL with more restrictions than ever on your next cruise - LOL ! 

 

And of course all this is "FOR YOUR CONVENIENCE" !

 

I still LIKE NCL but wonder who is at the helm of Customer Service running this cruise line ?

Edited February 26, 2020 by don't-use-real-name

[Beachiekeen]

We tried to do this on the POA in November and were told we couldn't.  We didn't know what the rules were so we accepted it, but others onboard told us we should have been able to use it.  We were out of cash so we had vouchers issued to our butler and steward like a PP posted.  

 

We had a ton of OBC thanks to a huge price drop after final payment.  (And thanks to this board for telling me how to get it.)  We ended up getting a bottle of Dom Perignon and drank it on our 10-year wedding anniversary.