Shipboard Credit

[duquephart]

What, exactly, is onboard/shipboard credit? I see many cruises advertising "Up to $1,000 Shipboard Credit Per Couple" as an enticement but what does that mean? If a person purchases beverage packages, excursions, etc. before embarking what is left to use this credit for? Sorry if this has been worked over elsewhere but having gotten several conflicting answers in regard to future cruise credit I'm not up for any further shenanigans.

[Peregrina651]

There are two kinds of OBCs given. There are those given by Viking and those given by a Travel Agent.

 

Those given by Viking can be used on MVJ (My VikingJourney) for purchases prior to embarking -- definitely for shore excursions and I'm not sure about other items (drinks package, grats) which can be paid for before sailing on MVJ.  Someone who has actually used them for other items will have to chime in. The only thing that really should be dealt with before sailing are the excursion, because they may sell out; grats and beverage package can be taken care of when you board.

 

Those given by a travel agent are not added to your account until closer to sailing and won't be available on MVJ for any purchases.

 

Other shipboard purchases that you can use a credit for are gratuities,  spa services (massages, beauty treatments, hair salon, exercise classes), premium drinks that are not covered under the drinks package (such as that $85 shot of single malt whisky and wine by the bottle), purchases in the shop, a visit to the medic, purchases in any of the shops on board.

 

 

 

 

 

[worldtraveler1234]

We just booked a cruise with $1500 sbc issued by Viking. We used $1188 for the beverage package and prepaid gratuities on the invoice. The remaining $312 shows  as available under Profile in MVJ. Hope this helps.

Shipboard Credits will be automatically applied to your purchases of excursions, beverage package, and prepaid gratuities. Shipboard Credits that are unused will transfer to your shipboard account 7 days before your Journey.

[Heidi13]

Further to Peregrina's explanation, this was our experience with credits.

 

We had extensive Shipboard Credits from Viking outlined on the contract, some of which were allocated to excursions and the remainder for onboard spend. All these were non-refundable credits. All were shown in MVJ, but only the amount allocated to excursions was available to use prior to the cruise (note - we have included drinks, grats, etc). The credits from our TA were refundable credits and were not shown in MVJ, we only saw them once aboard the vessel.

 

Once onboard the ship our remaining Shipboard Credit showed as "Refundable" or "Non-refundable". The non-refundable was any credits provided by Viking and the refundable was amounts from the Travel Agent or any cost re-imbursements. Although some credits were shown as "Spa" and others as "Shops", when onboard their were no restrictions on where they were used.

 

If you cancel a pre-booked optional excursion the credit shows on your account depending on how you paid for the excursion. If you used Shipboard Credits, it shows as non-refundable, but if you paid with a credit card, it shows as refundable credit.

 

We found that all shipboard purchases are automatically charged to non-refundable credits first

[duquephart]

3 hours ago, worldtraveler1234 said:

We just booked a cruise with $1500 sbc issued by Viking. We used $1188 for the beverage package and prepaid gratuities on the invoice. The remaining $312 shows  as available under Profile in MVJ. Hope this helps.

Shipboard Credits will be automatically applied to your purchases of excursions, beverage package, and prepaid gratuities. Shipboard Credits that are unused will transfer to your shipboard account 7 days before your Journey.

 

We have the vouchers we received for a future cruise when our planned cruise canceled and we choose the 125% option. At "Profile" in MJV it reads Vouchers will be automatically applied to your purchases for this journey, including cruise fare, air, hotel extensions, excursions, beverage package, and prepaid gratuities, and must be used before your journey begins. In addition to this Viking is offering "shipboard credit" by way of making up for several "misunderstandings" in regard to the use of the original vouchers. Our TA states "Viking will post the shipboard credit to your onboard account just prior to the sailing." It is this second credit I wonder about. We will be usung the "vouchers" for prepaid grats, bev package, excursions, etc. before the cruise with the goal of "using up" as much of their value as we can (we have already upgraded our cabin and airfare). Once aboard we will have, essentially, nothing left to purchase as far as the cruise itself is concerned. Will we be able to "use up" this "onboard account" in, say for instance, the jewelry store? Maybe we'll have to visit Torshaven every night and get half sloshed on high buck brandy? Assuming we won't get a straight answer from Viking (it would be the first) we are looking to the experts here for information. Thanks.

 

 

[zalusky]

Viking is pretty tough on this.  We booked just before May 1 and they started offering these May 1 and later.  If we cancelled and rebooked we would have had to rebook insurance which would have been more of a hit than the credit.  They did give us $100 per person but still kind of cheezy.

[Peregrina651]

7 hours ago, Heidi13 said:

this was our experience with credits.

 

Yes, but note that Heidi13 was on the World Cruise and things sometimes are handled very differently on the WC than they are on short voyages.  It is kind of like comparing oranges and tangerines.

[Peregrina651]

1 hour ago, zalusky said:

Viking is pretty tough on this.  We booked just before May 1 and they started offering these May 1 and later.  If we cancelled and rebooked we would have had to rebook insurance which would have been more of a hit than the credit.  They did give us $100 per person but still kind of cheezy.

 

This is only an issue if you buy your insurance from Viking.

 

If you buy your insurance from a third-party, they will transfer it to the new booking --and they don't require that you pay for the entire policy at booking.

[zalusky]

2 hours ago, Peregrina651 said:

 

This is only an issue if you buy your insurance from Viking.

 

If you buy your insurance from a third-party, they will transfer it to the new booking --and they don't require that you pay for the entire policy at booking.

Lessons being learned.  I decided to try a new travel agent rather than a big box one and so far I am questioning the value add.

[Clay Clayton]

Speaking of lessons learned...we used the refundable OBC provided by our travel agent to pre-pay gratuities before embarkation on our (half)Transatlantic.  I won’t be doing this again. Prior to the Covid change which brought us back to Miami rather than to Barcelona for disembarkation, we had been discussing purchasing a future cruise with the onboard consultant. That would have generated some more non-refundable OBC which we didn’t need.  If I hadn’t of prepaid the gratuities, then that new OBC would have paid those and we would have left the ship with the refundable amount our TA provided.
 

As it turned out, we didn’t book a future cruise, but because I had prepaid those gratuities it took several phone calls and emails to get back the three days worth that we didn’t use on our shortened cruise. For those who had not prepaid, they were never charged for those three days. 
 

Short version of all this is, I won’t be prepaying in the future!

[duquephart]

Prepaid gratuities = oxymoron. Or marketing BS. Your choice.

[Clay Clayton]

Or simply an easier way for those of us who didn’t love taking dollars along to stuff in envelopes at the end of the cruise.
 

 

 

[duquephart]

6 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

Or simply an easier way for those of us who didn’t love taking dollars along to stuff in envelopes at the end of the cruise.
 

 

 

 

Do you send "gratuity" money to a restaurant you intend to eat at several months in advance?

[Jim Avery]

This thread has drifted into an area often covered.  Traditionally gratuities are extra payment for extra services.  Pre paid gratuities are actually a tax or service fee or cover charge.  I have said before and say again that Viking needs to include this tax in the cost of the fare.  They include so much that this outlier cover charge really sticks out.  Even the mass market lines seem to include tips in just about every weekly promotion.  Again, this charge are not "gratuities".  Especially since conversations with crew indicate they are told gratuities are "part of their salary".  Quite a few crew have told me they do not get a separate "bonus" amount based on our gratuity charges.  Viking, stop calling it gratuities and further more include it in the fare.  You include port charges and lots more so why not??  

Edited May 20, 2020 by Jim Avery

[Clay Clayton]

29 minutes ago, duquephart said:

 

Do you send "gratuity" money to a restaurant you intend to eat at several months in advance?

No but I also don’t pay the restaurant bill several months in advance so don’t understand your point. 

[duquephart]

22 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

This thread has drifted into an area often covered.  Traditionally gratuities are extra payment for extra services.  Pre paid gratuities are actually a tax or service fee or cover charge.  I have said before and say again that Viking needs to include this tax in the cost of the fare.  They include so much that this outlier cover charge really sticks out.  Even the mass market lines seem to include tips in just about every weekly promotion.  Again, this charge are not "gratuities".  Especially since conversations with crew indicate they are told gratuities are "part of their salary".  Quite a few crew have told me they do not get a separate "bonus" amount based on our gratuity charges.  Viking, stop calling it gratuities and further more include it in the fare.  You include port charges and lots more so why not??  

 

My nomination for "Post of the Month."

 

Viking tries to mask a service fee by callig it something it is not. Given that the crew never sees a bonus I am convinced that there are shenanigans going on here.

[duquephart]

10 minutes ago, Clay Clayton said:

No but I also don’t pay the restaurant bill several months in advance so don’t understand your point. 

 

My point is that there is no such thing as "prepaid" gratuities. Gratuities are, by definition, granted after the service is rendered and are based on the quality of that sevice. Viking handles it this way to disguise a service charge.

[Heidi13]

10 hours ago, duquephart said:

 

My point is that there is no such thing as "prepaid" gratuities. Gratuities are, by definition, granted after the service is rendered and are based on the quality of that sevice. Viking handles it this way to disguise a service charge.

 

This is one of the few areas where Viking is actually following the industry norms. The Discretionary Service Charges were implemented by the industry in accordance with the wishes of the predominantly US based pax. In other regions of the World where tipping is not prevalent, the tax, as per Jim's excellent description, is included in the fare.

 

Carnival Corp introduce this model on the P&O ships based in UK and it bombed, with most pax refusing to pay. Consequently, it only lasted a few years, as they had to rescind it last year. In Australia it also wouldn't work. Both those markets will not accept this model.

 

You may not concur, but in the overall US market, it is sadly accepted and expected.

 

I totally agree with Jim, come on Viking, you don't follow other industry norms, so when the ships re-commence operations time to get rid of the DSC tax and include it in the fare.

[duquephart]

3 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

This is one of the few areas where Viking is actually following the industry norms. The Discretionary Service Charges were implemented by the industry in accordance with the wishes of the predominantly US based pax. In other regions of the World where tipping is not prevalent, the tax, as per Jim's excellent description, is included in the fare.

 

Carnival Corp introduce this model on the P&O ships based in UK and it bombed, with most pax refusing to pay. Consequently, it only lasted a few years, as they had to rescind it last year. In Australia it also wouldn't work. Both those markets will not accept this model.

 

You may not concur, but in the overall US market, it is sadly accepted and expected.

 

I totally agree with Jim, come on Viking, you don't follow other industry norms, so when the ships re-commence operations time to get rid of the DSC tax and include it in the fare.

 

"Accepted and expected"? By whom? It is clearly a fee of some sort paid to the payroll account of Viking for distribution as it sees fit. It's five miles away from being a gratuity in any common usage of the term. I agree that Viking should end this charade. I think at present they are too busy trying to decide what "shipboard/onboard credit" is.

[deec]

Has anyone ever compared US prices to UK or Australia fares?  My brain is too foggy from "quarantine fatigue" to attempt all the currency conversions and trying to find costs outside the US.

 

I agree include this "tax", so that all passengers pay it...Viking please stop asking for "gratuities".  If these funds truly are not going to staff of the ship I am on,   I may forego paying them!!!  It seems that there is no penalty to the hard working crew and I will save on the cruise fare....all port charges and taxes truly included.  Just not sure I would not feel "guilty" about not tipping.

 

 

[Peregrina651]

Just now, deec said:

Has anyone ever compared US prices to UK or Australia fares?  My brain is too foggy from "quarantine fatigue" to attempt all the currency conversions and trying to find costs outside the US.

 

I agree include this "tax", so that all passengers pay it...Viking please stop asking for "gratuities".  If these funds truly are not going to staff of the ship I am on,   I may forego paying them!!!  It seems that there is no penalty to the hard working crew and I will save on the cruise fare....all port charges and taxes truly included.  Just not sure I would not feel "guilty" about not tipping.

 

 

 

I've done it a few times to answer questions here.  The prices turned out to be close enough. 

[duquephart]

1 hour ago, deec said:

Has anyone ever compared US prices to UK or Australia fares?  My brain is too foggy from "quarantine fatigue" to attempt all the currency conversions and trying to find costs outside the US.

 

I agree include this "tax", so that all passengers pay it...Viking please stop asking for "gratuities".  If these funds truly are not going to staff of the ship I am on,   I may forego paying them!!!  It seems that there is no penalty to the hard working crew and I will save on the cruise fare....all port charges and taxes truly included.  Just not sure I would not feel "guilty" about not tipping.

 

 

 

You aren't tipping ----- nothing to feel guilty about. Viking should be paying staff wages out of cash flow like any business,

[Heidi13]

13 hours ago, duquephart said:

 

"Accepted and expected"? By whom? 

 

As per my previous post, this is the expectation of the majority of N/America based cruisers. Doesn't apply in markets that have a different tipping culture.

[Heidi13]

2 hours ago, deec said:

Has anyone ever compared US prices to UK or Australia fares?  My brain is too foggy from "quarantine fatigue" to attempt all the currency conversions and trying to find costs outside the US.

 

 

 

UK prices are often higher, but that is fairly consistent across other products. Same with flights, I can book a R/T flight to UK and will pay less than my dad booking the same flight, but starting in UK. Haven't compared the P&O prices since they had to terminate trying to charge tips, or DSC.

 

With respect to Australian pricing, while I didn't have access to Australian prices, when we booked our 2015 WC R/T Sydney, the per diem cost was a little higher than a similar cabin on the WC departing L/A. No additional tips or DSC costs onboard the R/T Sydney cruise, but if we booked the L/A cruise it would have been the standard charges.

[duquephart]

22 minutes ago, Heidi13 said:

 

As per my previous post, this is the expectation of the majority of N/America based cruisers. Doesn't apply in markets that have a different tipping culture.

 

I expect to see to it that service staff receive an appropriate level of gratuity for services rendered. I do not expect to make contribute to payroll slush fund.