Is converting OBC to cash possible anymore?

[glrounds]

19 minutes ago, NightOne said:

 

It is FREE money. Money you didn't pay the cruise line. (with some exceptions)

 

So you are complaining about spending free money on high margin items?

 

First of all, I'm not complaining. I took the full refund TWICE. I don't know whose quote it was, but I liked the idea of a FULL REFUND and IF [operative word} you booked another cruise you would receive a 25% discount on that cruise. Of course, Carnival doesn't like this idea because they can't use the monies they already have for your canceled cruise while they burn through Millions waiting for cruising to resume.

If you were in business you would know that a $300 CREDIT on merchandise or services isn't the same as $300 CASH. This is especially true with high margin items which most everything on board a cruise ship is. This DEVALUES the OBC credit.

 

Secondly, I'll gladly put the debate to rest. I never attempt to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of time and it annoys the pig.

Edited April 20, 2021 by glrounds

[SNJCruisers]

40 minutes ago, NightOne said:

 

Since you won't quit beating a dead horse ... and I was the one who posted it originally ... let me clarify what I was trying to say:

 

Cruisers got either:

 

1. Full Refund to their original form of payment for what you paid

 

OR

 

2. A future cruise credit (FCC) in the amount of their cruise fare paid and $600 per cabin (double occupancy) in OBC on a future cruise you book

 

In EITHER case cruisers get ALL of their money back. Those that don't ask for the refund and instead apply it to a future cruise also got OBC.

 

Furthermore, the $600 OBC does not stack. So if you had a January cruise cancel, you book at March cruise with the FCC and apply the $600 OBC, the March ends up cancelling, and you rebook a June cruise you still on get $600 OBC and not $1200. Therefore, if you have multiple rebooks cancel you could have 15 cancelled cruises but only 7 $600 OBCs.

 

Now give it a rest FFS.

 

 

I did not beat the dead horse.  Glrounds brought it up so I had to refer to your post for clarification.   I also said that there was no stacking in my post earlier today so if there was indeed a double cancellation, you only received 600 in OBC not 1200.

Your detailed explanation this time is much better than the convoluted mess from 4/13/21 @ 311 pm.  Enjoy your 4200 in OBC

Edited April 20, 2021 by SNJCruisers

[SNJCruisers]

21 minutes ago, glrounds said:

 

First of all, I'm not complaining. I took the full refund TWICE. I don't know whose quote it was, but I liked the idea of a FULL REFUND and IF [operative word} you booked another cruise you would receive a 25% discount on that cruise. Of course, Carnival doesn't like this idea because they can't use the monies they already have for your canceled cruise while they burn through Millions waiting for cruising to resume.

If you were in business you would know that a $300 CREDIT on merchandise or services isn't the same as $300 CASH. This is especially true with high margin items which most everything on board a cruise ship is. This DEVALUES the OBC credit.

 

Secondly, I'll gladly put the debate to rest. I never attempt to teach a pig to sing. It's a waste of time and it annoys the pig.

That's why the marketing department at Carnival are idiots.  They decided to give away 300 or 600 in OBC that those in the know could either cash out or buy gift cards with, which really throws a monkey wrench into things since Carnival would have preferred that people actually spend it on board.

All of their competitors have instead issued a 125% credit good on a future cruise.  The cruise lines get to hold onto your money and at the same time with all of the pent up demand they raise cruise prices so that the 25% kicker is not worth much.  For example, we are currently booked on a cruise at the end of August on RCI out of Bayonne.  If it cancels, I will flip it to an early June cruise for 2022.  At this point, we'll have about 50 bucks left over from the 25% kicker.  It's a wash for RCI and this is the proper way to do it and all cruise lines with the exception of Carnival are doing it this way, giving a "credit" in cruise cost instead of OBC that can be turned into cash and put right back into the cruisers pocket.  Once again, another idiot move by the marketing geniuses at Carnival.

[Elaine5715]

On 4/16/2021 at 2:57 PM, serene56 said:

 I have never had that happen on any cruise we have taken.    IF you use your card and go to the cage to get money-- that person needs to work in order to get your money off your sign and sail card.   IF you go to the slot and cash it out yourself there is no fee     No work for the worker      and no naughty talk from anyone.      WHy would they lock your card?      I cash out at a slot machine each night onboard .   

Your card locks at the slot machine if you load in money and hit "Cash Out" without spinning the reels at least once.  My card has locked when I have upload new cash to the machine, get the "Machine Not Ready" error, it diverts to the player bank and instead of trying again, I say "bag it" and move to a new machine.  If I stay at the machine until the upload takes or I play out of my player's bank, the card does not lock.  

[NightOne]

1 hour ago, SNJCruisers said:

That's why the marketing department at Carnival are idiots.  They decided to give away 300 or 600 in OBC that those in the know could either cash out or buy gift cards with, which really throws a monkey wrench into things since Carnival would have preferred that people actually spend it on board.

All of their competitors have instead issued a 125% credit good on a future cruise.  The cruise lines get to hold onto your money and at the same time with all of the pent up demand they raise cruise prices so that the 25% kicker is not worth much.  For example, we are currently booked on a cruise at the end of August on RCI out of Bayonne.  If it cancels, I will flip it to an early June cruise for 2022.  At this point, we'll have about 50 bucks left over from the 25% kicker.  It's a wash for RCI and this is the proper way to do it and all cruise lines with the exception of Carnival are doing it this way, giving a "credit" in cruise cost instead of OBC that can be turned into cash and put right back into the cruisers pocket.  Once again, another idiot move by the marketing geniuses at Carnival.

 

OBC CAN be a much better deal for the customers on lower priced cruises.

 

Example: Let's say I have 2 cruises booked. One is $700pp base and the other is $1200pp base.

 

With 125% FCC I get $875 and $1500 pp or $175pp and $300pp added money

 

With $300pp OBC I am getting $300pp and $300pp added money that I must used onboard

 

So for cheaper cruises the OBC is better.

 

Now let's say I have a $1800pp cruise. In that case I would get $2250pp or $450pp extra money vs 300pp.

 

Carnival has a lot more fares at $1200 and below so I think the OBC route is better in the long run.

[Jamesatgsu]

I've used the Casino trick in the past, though really just to get cash without using ATM (though I switched to Schwab and they refund me that ridiculous ATM fee onboard). 

 

Whether or not it will work moving forward is unknown. It doesn't seem that hard for Carnival to cut off the ability to cash out winnings from using your S&S card, but would be a challenge to keep OBC separate from Casino winnings, so I imagine no matter what the ability to convert OBC to Casino funds will remain.

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, NightOne said:

 

OBC CAN be a much better deal for the customers on lower priced cruises.

 

Example: Let's say I have 2 cruises booked. One is $700pp base and the other is $1200pp base.

 

With 125% FCC I get $875 and $1500 pp or $175pp and $300pp added money

 

With $300pp OBC I am getting $300pp and $300pp added money that I must used onboard

 

So for cheaper cruises the OBC is better.

 

Now let's say I have a $1800pp cruise. In that case I would get $2250pp or $450pp extra money vs 300pp.

 

Carnival has a lot more fares at $1200 and below so I think the OBC route is better in the long run.

I fully agree with you that the OBC is better for the Carnival cruiser.  That is why I called the marketing geniuses at Carnival idiots because the 125% FCC that every one of their competitors is giving out is better for those companies money wise.  It's like Carnival is swimming upstream like the fish on NCL's carpeting. 

[cruisingguy007]

7 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Your card locks at the slot machine if you load in money and hit "Cash Out" without spinning the reels at least once.  My card has locked when I have upload new cash to the machine, get the "Machine Not Ready" error, it diverts to the player bank and instead of trying again, I say "bag it" and move to a new machine.  If I stay at the machine until the upload takes or I play out of my player's bank, the card does not lock.  

 

I've loaded up, spun for a bit, cashed out and then went to the cage to cash up to chips (for table games) and they locked my card even with several spins (more than 10). They ask for your card at the table, maybe just declining is the way to avoid the tracker jacket...lol. 

[Elaine5715]

17 hours ago, Jamesatgsu said:

I've used the Casino trick in the past, though really just to get cash without using ATM (though I switched to Schwab and they refund me that ridiculous ATM fee onboard). 

 

Whether or not it will work moving forward is unknown. It doesn't seem that hard for Carnival to cut off the ability to cash out winnings from using your S&S card, but would be a challenge to keep OBC separate from Casino winnings, so I imagine no matter what the ability to convert OBC to Casino funds will remain.

OBC is always separate from casino winnings.  OBC gets burned for any charges and casino winnings can never be applied to charges without cashing out first.  

[Jamesatgsu]

5 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

OBC is always separate from casino winnings.  OBC gets burned for any charges and casino winnings can never be applied to charges without cashing out first.  

Once you've added money to your casino account on your S&S, it is casino money. It is a direct conversion of OBC to Casino dollars. Your casino bank account can be cashed out for cash. If the cruise ship monitored it the way a casino monitors promotional credit, you'd only get to cash out on winnings, not the promotional credit used for the winnings. Carnival is essentially letting you cash out that promotional credit (OBC). 

 

What I'm suggesting is Carnival would have to change their system to track when OBC is used to fund Casino Dollars (or of course not allow OBC to be used in the casino, which isn't going to happen) in order to prevent the casino trick. It is entirely possible they could do it, but it would require changing the software, which I'm guessing they won't do.

[travelplus]

If I had that much OBC I would be booking Specialty Dining nightly, getting the Drink Package, Shore Excursion and Massage/Spa Pass,

[cruisingguy007]

24 minutes ago, travelplus said:

If I had that much OBC I would be booking Specialty Dining nightly, getting the Drink Package, Shore Excursion and Massage/Spa Pass,

 

This! Plus tossing dice at the craps table! I would have zero problems spending a bunch of OBC. In fact, I wish I had that problem..lol. 

Edited April 22, 2021 by cruisingguy007

[ProgRockCruiser]

46 minutes ago, travelplus said:

If I had that much OBC I would be booking Specialty Dining nightly, getting the Drink Package, Shore Excursion and Massage/Spa Pass,

Just the Cheers package by itself (purchased once you get on board, of course) is enough to consume the entire $600 OBC and then some, assuming 7 day cruise, and assuming you buy it for two pax (since you are required to purchase it for all adults in the same cabin).