Well, we used up the huge amount of OBC!

[AandBmom]

What a unique position to be in..... we ended up with $3,000 in onboard credit b/c of past cancellations, lower prices, etc.   

 

Here are the best ways we found to use credit

 

daily tipping amount

cheers package

soda package for kids

kids were allowed to pick treats at the candy shop a few times

sky zone trampoline park for kids

bought family photos

gift shop purchases

some nice tequila to take home

cologne for our teens

some casino play

teppanyaki dinner

pedicures

increased tips

 

I used the last $50 in a slot machine at 11:59pm on the last night. 

 

Not sure how it will be going back to no OBC in future , but this sure was fun.  

[ontheweb]

17 minutes ago, AandBmom said:

What a unique position to be in..... we ended up with $3,000 in onboard credit b/c of past cancellations, lower prices, etc.   

 

Here are the best ways we found to use credit

 

daily tipping amount

cheers package

soda package for kids

kids were allowed to pick treats at the candy shop a few times

sky zone trampoline park for kids

bought family photos

gift shop purchases

some nice tequila to take home

cologne for our teens

some casino play

teppanyaki dinner

pedicures

increased tips

 

I used the last $50 in a slot machine at 11:59pm on the last night. 

 

Not sure how it will be going back to no OBC in future , but this sure was fun.  

No excursions? The one time I was not sure we could use all our OBC, DW bought the most expensive Anne of Green Gables excursion (was on HAL), and my worries were gone.

[gnegron22]

I used some of my OBC to book a Future Cruise.  I found out from my PVP that some of it could be used since some of it was a CXL cruise. 

[siestakeys04]

That’s was some good OBC 

[teknoge3k]

Having lots of OBC is fun! We have $2700 for our upcoming cruise and I have no clue how I am going to spend it.

 

We will not do excursions through Carnival, we use the locals instead. I know we can use it for gratuities, but we've prepaid them and I'll likely leave it as is. 

 

We have hundreds of pictures from ships, as we bought the "unlimited print & digital images" package Carnival had a few years ago. 

 

We have Cheers as part of our promo, so don't need that. 

 

I know John Heald stated we couldn't buy gift cards with some of the OBC. If I can't do that, I'll likely buy a bunch of GoPro cameras or something and sell them on Ebay. 

[Astromaid]

On 3/27/2022 at 12:43 PM, gnegron22 said:

I used some of my OBC to book a Future Cruise.  I found out from my PVP that some of it could be used since some of it was a CXL cruise. 

How did you use it for a future cruise? Did you book the future cruise onboard? I thought we had to use it or lose it.

 

[Virga]

18 minutes ago, Astromaid said:

How did you use it for a future cruise? Did you book the future cruise onboard? I thought we had to use it or lose it.

 

 

My PVP mentioned that if some of the OBC was from fully paying for a cancelled cruise, some of THAT was a special kind of FCC/OBC hybrid that could be transferred to another booking.  It wasn't applicable to any of ours so I didn't have him explain it fully.  

[let's go cruising]

We just got $760 because the price of the cruise was lowered. Came here to read what to spend it on. I am humbled by your amount! I didn't know we could use it for gratuities. We were thinking wine package and spa. Maybe an excursion, but we don't know if we'll do any Carnival excursions. 

 

This is the most fun problem ever!

[HarborHermit]

Never had the onboard credit problem, but it was a lot of fun reading about yours. 🤪

[Ralphinsc]

We had a little over $1100.

 

Prepaid gratuities

Rented a cabana at Amber cove

Cheers for both adults

Bubbles for the Teen

Booked an excursion in Grand Turk

And spent the last little bit to bridge over onboard internet for the teen and I

 

Went further than I thought, but completely spent before the cruise

[mouche]

Thanks for the suggestions, we have $1,197 for our upcoming Mardi Gras cruise.

[BRLady31]

Can you use it on the casino?  I could easily lose all my credits there!

 

[kicia]

Yes, you can use it in the casino.

 

[sgttami]

I always laugh when people say they don't know how they will use all their OBC.

 

I'd use all of what they gave me and by the 3rd day, I'd be looking for more...

 

it's happy $$$$$$$$!

 

[gnegron22]

On 3/28/2022 at 5:55 PM, Virga said:

 

My PVP mentioned that if some of the OBC was from fully paying for a cancelled cruise, some of THAT was a special kind of FCC/OBC hybrid that could be transferred to another booking.  It wasn't applicable to any of ours so I didn't have him explain it fully.  

That is what our is/was we had 5 cruises CXL/rescheduled between 2020-2021 that where fully paid.   

Edited April 2, 2022 by gnegron22

[SDPadreFan]

Our PVP was able to get the difference between the FCC we had from COVID canceled cruises and the much lower rates we paid for new cruises during the You Only Turn 50 Once sale credited back to our credit card. Otherwise we would have had about $1100 OBC on a 7 day and over $2500 OBC on our 12 day. We will still have the $600 OBC COVID Bonus on each cruise. No problem spending that. We also have over $1100 OBC on our upcoming 10 day Alaska but its easy to burn that up on excursions.

[firefly333]

I bought 6 nights of pay restaurants and 2 watches. Might have bought something else but remember those biggies. I wanted a new citizens watch, then later thought maybe I should have bought one self winding, but the sales guy misquoted the prices. 

 

[RumpunchGirl]

On 3/29/2022 at 5:56 AM, Ralphinsc said:

We had a little over $1100.

 

Prepaid gratuities

Rented a cabana at Amber cove

Cheers for both adults

Bubbles for the Teen

Booked an excursion in Grand Turk

And spent the last little bit to bridge over onboard internet for the teen and I

 

Went further than I thought, but completely spent before the cruise

I am not able to use my OBC to prepay my gratuities. When I click on the PAY NOW button, it only gives me the option to pay with a credit card.  We were able to buy beverages for our room, a shore excursion and specialty dining. We have a lot of OBC left so I'm confused. Any thoughts?

[Joe817]

2 hours ago, RumpunchGirl said:

I am not able to use my OBC to prepay my gratuities. When I click on the PAY NOW button, it only gives me the option to pay with a credit card.  We were able to buy beverages for our room, a shore excursion and specialty dining. We have a lot of OBC left so I'm confused. Any thoughts?

Your OBC will be used automatically to pay the gratuities at the end of the cruise without you having to do anything. Gats are automatically deducted from your OBC balance on the last day of the cruise. Any thoughts? Yes! Go to the steakhouse, purchase a few shore excursions; go to the casino and have a good time. Go to the funs hops and buy a bottle of really nice liquor. The variations are endless! 

[trbarton]

On 3/28/2022 at 7:05 AM, teknoge3k said:

Having lots of OBC is fun! We have $2700 for our upcoming cruise and I have no clue how I am going to spend it.

 

We will not do excursions through Carnival, we use the locals instead. I know we can use it for gratuities, but we've prepaid them and I'll likely leave it as is. 

 

We have hundreds of pictures from ships, as we bought the "unlimited print & digital images" package Carnival had a few years ago. 

 

We have Cheers as part of our promo, so don't need that. 

 

I know John Heald stated we couldn't buy gift cards with some of the OBC. If I can't do that, I'll likely buy a bunch of GoPro cameras or something and sell them on Ebay. 

Could you download $ in the casino & then cash it out?

 

Tom😀

[mondello]

2 hours ago, trbarton said:

Could you download $ in the casino & then cash it out?

 

Tom😀

You can try but, seems you have to make an effort to actually play some in the casino before cashing out. Casino knows from tracking play and has been known to freeze players Casino bank.

[o-state girl]

If you like your room steward or a particular waiter a lot, you can go to guest services and have additional tips charged to your sail and sign account for them.  Guest services gave me a little receipt with the amount on it, and I put it in a thank you card for our room steward.  

[Clairescurtains]

I was amazed that we got a refund for the approx 25$ of OBC that we had left from a December cruise. We mostly used ours on drinks and bingo cards.

 

[13cheermom]

15 minutes ago, Clairescurtains said:

I was amazed that we got a refund for the approx 25$ of OBC that we had left from a December cruise. We mostly used ours on drinks and bingo cards.

 

Do you remember how long it took to receive that refund in regards to the actual cruise date?  Also did it come in the form of a check as others have stated?  Thanks!

[Clairescurtains]

27 minutes ago, 13cheermom said:

Do you remember how long it took to receive that refund in regards to the actual cruise date?  Also did it come in the form of a check as others have stated?  Thanks!

It was a check, I don't remember how long it took. I was very surprised to get it since I thought it was non refundable due to a cancelled and re-booked cruise. One of many.🙄