All things OBC

[shiner6]

What are your recent experiences with OBC?   Can it be used for the casino?  I purchased specialty dining and excursions  before our cruise and it would not let me use it for that! I had to pay with my CC. If I book another cruise, can it be transferred?

[justafem]

If you had waited to book the specialty dining while on the ship, onboard could have been used.  I find that extremely frustrating too!  We just book when we got on the ship and hope we get the times we want.  

 

Supposedly, we're supposed to be able to use the onboard credit towards excursions.  Haven't tried that one yet, probably won't as our cruise (2 weeks!) is one we've done over and over. 

 

Nonrefundable credit is never transferable.  Refundable, well, they mail a check or cash you out if it's less than $25 (you have to remember to get to, they won't mail a check for less than $25)

 

I don't know if the "casino trick" will still work.  Hoping it does as we have $400 in nonrefundable, that I have no idea how we're going to use it.  Or I see a LOT of specialty dining in our future!

[paul929207]

Prior to the cruise OBC can only be used to pay for Princess excursions. Once

on the ship, it can be used for any expense that is charged to your on board account.

[skynight]

Yes, you can use OBC in the casino at slots or table games. You charge the casino play, example $100, to your on board account and it nets against any credit (OBC) or debit balance. The amount charged is then transferred to your casino account. You then play. Casino accounts have to be cashed out before the deadline on the last evening.

You can use OBC for excursions pre booked or booked on board. 

You can use it to purchase almost anything once on board. Only exception that comes to mind are future cruise deposits.

Most OBC is not re refundable. Use it or lose it. It can not be transferred.

Refundable OBC is returned by check a few months after you disembark. If the amount is $25 or under you can request it from passenger services.

For specialty dining you have to wait until you are on board to have the cost net against your OBC.

[MissP22]

3 hours ago, justafem said:

I don't know if the "casino trick" will still work.  Hoping it does as we have $400 in nonrefundable, that I have no idea how we're going to use it.  Or I see a LOT of specialty dining in our future!

You should withdraw it early in the cruise so you know for sure how much you actually have to spend. 

We might be right alongside you. 😁

[shiner6]

52 minutes ago, MissP22 said:

You should withdraw it early in the cruise so you know for sure how much you actually have to spend. 

We might be right alongside you. 😁

How do you withdraw it to use in the Casino or for Bingo?

 

[MissP22]

44 minutes ago, shiner6 said:

How do you withdraw it to use in the Casino or for Bingo?

 

In that case just spend it, don't withdrawer any until you're sure you won't be using the remainder.

[skynight]

1 hour ago, shiner6 said:

How do you withdraw it to use in the Casino or for Bingo?

 

You charge play to your on board account. If the onboard account has a credit balance (OBC) the charge will net against that credit. With bingo believe the charge is direct to the account. With casino play the amount you wish to gamble, example $100, is charged (added) to your on board account just the same as if you purchased an item in the gift shop, and the amount is transferred to a casino account. It's a simple plus minus accounting system. You must cash out any casino account balance before the deadline on the last evening of the cruise or lose it.

You don't specifically indicate you want to use OBC. When you have OBC your accounts begin with a credit balance and charges net against that balance. 

Edited January 14, 2022 by skynight

[Daniel A]

It's been so long since I've been in a Princess casino, I don't remember if you can bring cash with you to the casino to get chips or do they need to be charged to your onboard folio?

 

If you can use cash, can you use cash for slots too?

 

Thanks in advance.

[Starshine95123]

12 minutes ago, Daniel A said:

 

If you can use cash, can you use cash for slots too?

 

 

 You can use cash in the slots. Sorry, I don’t know about buying chips with cash. 

[Mud_Shark]

Has anyone in the post COVID situation used OBC for the daily gratuity (crew appreciation)?  

 

I noticed something a little different on one of our November cruises that caused me to wonder if they are accounting OBC a little differently these days.  We had pre-paid our gratuities so that was not the issue, but I lost $40 OBC because I ordered 2 princess transfers (ordered while on board), but they charged my account because I ordered it for both of us, but my wife had $40 non refundable OBC on her account, and they did not use it - so we lost it and got billed $40.

So before I assume OBC can still be used for gratuities and end up losing a bigger amount of unused OBC left for gratuities, I would like to hear from someone who has successfully used OBC for that purpose.  Thx.

 

Don

[memoak]

Please remember OBC is “on board credit”.  It can only be used once you are on board

[cr8tiv1]

I used obc for gratuities on October 2021 cruise.  They took it from non-refundable first. 

[rwmiller]

6 hours ago, Daniel A said:

It's been so long since I've been in a Princess casino, I don't remember if you can bring cash with you to the casino to get chips or do they need to be charged to your onboard folio?

We were on the Ruby over New Year. You can buy chips at the tables with cash or charge to your onboard folio. 
 

Bob

[USC Sailor]

4 hours ago, Mud_Shark said:

but they charged my account because I ordered it for both of us, but my wife had $40 non refundable OBC on her account, and they did not use it - so we lost it and got billed $40.

So before I assume OBC can still be used for gratuities and end up losing a bigger amount of unused OBC left for gratuities, I would like to hear from someone who has successfully used OBC for that purpose.  Thx.

 

Don

My husband gets refundable OBC, I asked them to combine our stateroom account, that way they use up my non refundable Shareholder's Benefit for gratuities and purchases before using the refundable credits

[caribill]

6 hours ago, Mud_Shark said:

 I lost $40 OBC because I ordered 2 princess transfers (ordered while on board), but they charged my account because I ordered it for both of us, but my wife had $40 non refundable OBC on her account, and they did not use it - so we lost it and got billed $40.
 

 

a) If both of your accounts are tied to the same credit card, then the balances are combined and all available OBC applied before the remaining amount is charged to your credit card. Did you have a different credit card for each on board account?

 

b) You could have asked Princess to move the transfer cost to your wife's account.

[Daniel A]

9 hours ago, memoak said:

Please remember OBC is “on board credit”.  It can only be used once you are on board

I think OBC can be used to pre-book shore excursions though, but for most you do need to wait until you are on board.

[BridgeMates]

9 hours ago, USC Sailor said:

My husband gets refundable OBC, I asked them to combine our stateroom account, that way they use up my non refundable Shareholder's Benefit for gratuities and purchases before using the refundable credits

 

Hello.  we get shareholder and military obc....are either of these "refundable"

[Mud_Shark]

8 hours ago, caribill said:

 

a) If both of your accounts are tied to the same credit card, then the balances are combined and all available OBC applied before the remaining amount is charged to your credit card. Did you have a different credit card for each on board account?

 

b) You could have asked Princess to move the transfer cost to your wife's account.

We have the same credit card for both accounts.  I blindly assumed that the cost of the transfers would be deducted from our "combined account", not my side of the account, so I did not look at the financial summary at the end of the cruise and only noticed this charge when arriving home. I guess I could have called Princess and asked if this could be corrected, but I simply let it go and wondered if they are doing things differently now.

 

Don

[USC Sailor]

1 hour ago, BridgeMates said:

 

Hello.  we get shareholder and military obc....are either of these "refundable"

Military is refundable, Shareholder is not. It will note on your booking confirmation that Shareholder is not refundable but makes no mention of Military being refundable until you're onboard and can check your stateroom account 😀

Edited January 19, 2022 by USC Sailor
Added pic of our stateroom account

[Coffeeluvr05]

I don't gamble, but reading this thread got me thinking.  When you charge any gambling $$ from the casino, does that just get charged as a Princess cc charge or does your cc interpret that as a cash advance?  There is a big difference!  That could be scary!

[greenie082756]

It used to be that you could use your OBC to make tour reservations w/ Princess.

 

I haven't tried it yet because we are supposed to go to Hawaii in April, and they just might switch around the itinerary.

 

 

[skynight]

50 minutes ago, Coffeeluvr05 said:

I don't gamble, but reading this thread got me thinking.  When you charge any gambling $$ from the casino, does that just get charged as a Princess cc charge or does your cc interpret that as a cash advance?  There is a big difference!  That could be scary!

If you charge casino play to your on board account it nets against any credit or debit balance. At the end of the cruise your cc is charged for any account balance. It is not treated as a cash advance. It is treated as an on board purchase

 

[skynight]

19 hours ago, Daniel A said:

It's been so long since I've been in a Princess casino, I don't remember if you can bring cash with you to the casino to get chips or do they need to be charged to your onboard folio?

 

If you can use cash, can you use cash for slots too?

 

Thanks in advance.

Cash is accepted for table play. Just drop it on the table and the dealer will give you chips. You can also use cash in the slots. Slot payments are made to your casino account via the medallion which you have to set up before your 1st play. You have to cash out your casino account any time but before the deadline on the last evening of the cruise.

 

[caribill]

14 hours ago, Coffeeluvr05 said:

I don't gamble, but reading this thread got me thinking.  When you charge any gambling $$ from the casino, does that just get charged as a Princess cc charge or does your cc interpret that as a cash advance?  There is a big difference!  That could be scary!

 

Princess used to directly charge gambling $$ to your credit card so back then it might have been considered a cash advance. It was also subject to a 3% "convenience fee".

 

As an above post points out, the charge now goes to your onboard account to be settled at the end of the cruise.