How to spend $1,800 in OBC?

[gcorgain]

Hi,

 

We are on the Capetown to Rio cruise in January 2023. I somehow manage to have $1,800 in non refundable OBC. There are few extra cost shore excursions on this voyage. So how would you spend the credit? We aren't real spa guys, although we might do one in this situation. Anything else we should splurge on?

[Gcto]

8 minutes ago, gcorgain said:

Hi,

 

We are on the Capetown to Rio cruise in January 2023. I somehow manage to have $1,800 in non refundable OBC. There are few extra cost shore excursions on this voyage. So how would you spend the credit? We aren't real spa guys, although we might do one in this situation. Anything else we should splurge on?

Couple of ideas: 

1. See what excursions they offer. You can use the OBC for the ones you have to pay for... 

2. Depending on your amount of sea days, Regent will offer a bunch of special events. Wine tasting dinner (alwys nice imho ), Wine or whiskey tasting...  or get a good bottle of wine to splurge.  

3. There's always the "boutique" to get things... heck even op jewelry etc.  Do some early christmas shopping 🙂

4. And you can also donate it to the crew fund I believe. 

 

 

[honumaui]

Jewelry, jewelry.jewelry. I have some really nice pieces from Regent cruises that I wear a lot. If we had spa treatments I would have enjoyed them but nothing to take home.

[MadisonBay]

Thanks for the suggestions.  We are also on the January Capetown to Rio cruise with the same 'problem' - a bucketload of OBC. There are only 4 ports and very few Regent Choice excursions. 

This is certainly a good 'problem' to have.  But I welcome any other ideas.

 

[SusieQft]

Do they have wine pairing dinners and/or lunches?  What about a pre- or post- cruise hotel or excursion?  Can you use your OBC for that?

[bitob]

3 hours ago, MadisonBay said:

Thanks for the suggestions.  We are also on the January Capetown to Rio cruise with the same 'problem' - a bucketload of OBC. There are only 4 ports and very few Regent Choice excursions. 

This is certainly a good 'problem' to have.  But I welcome any other ideas.

 

We are on same cruise but going all the way to Buenos Aires. I never have problem spending lol

[mj_holiday]

DH always stocks up on cologne

[chuckw]

We always buy some things for the crew and give them to reception.

[DeepFreeze63]

We're on the cruise two before you and have rented a Regent van in Walvis Bay (which we have been to before) for our family of 4. I'll try to post an evaluation about it. The wine-pairing lunches are nice but often cancelled due to lack of interest.

[wcsdkqh]

Last time I checked onboard (pre-Covid) a non-refundable OBC could not be donated to the Crew Fund. It would be nice if that policy has changed recently.

[mrstanley]

How did you end up with so much OBC?

[RetiredandTravel]

Not sure who originated this George  Best? Tug McGraw? but

 

"I'd spend most of it on booze, women & gambling.  I'd squander the rest."

 

Actually these days its woman singular 😁

Edited July 11, 2022 by RetiredandTravel

[Arlopop]

Mighty interested in this thread.  Our first Regent Cruise is April ‘23 (we previously cruised Silversea), and we too have an abundance of OBC ($1200).  Being new we feel inadequately prepared for options regarding its use.  So, keep adding ideas for us.

Edited July 11, 2022 by Arlopop

[Arlopop]

3 hours ago, mrstanley said:

How did you end up with so much OBC?

In our case Regent offered a 2 suite upgrade and $1000 OBC recently and we took advantage of it.  Our agent added another $200 OBC.

We’ve looked at the excursions for our two weeks and to be honest the ones with out of pocket costs aren’t that interesting to us. 
I guess we’ll just hit the wine cellar.  Lol

[RetiredandTravel]

We had a $1000 used it all on wine, good wine every night.  There is also the spa, if you aren't a spa person but on a longer cruise you may want a manicure hairdo etc.  Spa is expensive. There are also cigars & high end  scotch/cognac.  We went to the shops nothing of interest for us there.   Lastly you could upgrade an excursion to private.  My post above was a joke quite sure you can't use the OBC in casino.

 

I think it would be nice if you could donate a portion of the OBC for an additional tip for the crew.  Don't think that's currently possible.

 

 

 

 

Edited July 11, 2022 by RetiredandTravel

[honumaui]

Just an idea. If you wanted to donate it to the crew, you could use it in the shops and get gifts for them but nothing big as they don't have much storage room. I guess they could ship stuff home from a port.

[Wendy The Wanderer]

If it were me I'd look into hiring a car through Regent for a private excursion.

[Boatmans Lady]

8 minutes ago, Wendy The Wanderer said:

If it were me I'd look into hiring a car through Regent for a private excursion.

Do you know if you can use your obc to hire a car for the day on disembarkation? 

We have a night flight home and also have lots of obc. 

[GOARMY]

TS:

 

"Sounds" as if your Regent segment is similar to one of our previous. That one was Nov-Dec 2015 aboard Mariner--Cape Town to Rio. Ours was preceded by a great pre-cruise Safari outside Port Elizabeth, South Africa, at Camp Figtree. (Part of Regent's "package".)

 

But, that was pre-COVID.  And, so-much has changed.  it continues to evolve.   

 

Consider one aspect which has not been specifically-addressed in earlier posts: 

 

Suggest you obtain very-specific information from your Travel Advisor (TA) and/or a Regent representative as early as possible (ASAP) as to what portion, or portions of any OBCs you are granted are deposited into what specific pocket of that OBC suit.

 

Some are in the "Use it or Lose It" while onboard pocket; other dollars may be in a refundable pocket which, if not utilized onboard, can be redeemed in cash on the last day of the cruise; or via check issued by your TA.  

 

Again, this aspect is a constantly moving target.  

 

We have a currently-booked Regent mid-2023 B/t/B segment(s) on Navigator which has, due to numerous advertised and accepted upgrades, resulted in obtaining well-over $2,000,00 OBCs.  

 

So, this is not a small point.  Do not wait until you are onboard to get details.  

 

Have a great cruise.  

 

GOARMY!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Wendy The Wanderer]

12 hours ago, Boatmans Lady said:

Do you know if you can use your obc to hire a car for the day on disembarkation? 

We have a night flight home and also have lots of obc. 

If Regent offers this then I assume you could.

[2012_Alaska_bound]

16 hours ago, RetiredandTravel said:

I think it would be nice if you could donate a portion of the OBC for an additional tip for the crew.  Don't think that's currently possible.

 

 

As implied in some of the responses above, there are two kinds of OBC, refundable and non-refundable. I'm sure the OBC given by Regent is non-refundable. However sometimes OBC given by TAs is refundable.

You can cash in any refundable OBC and then donate it to the crew fund. Just go to reception and they will do it for you.

Pleased to say that Regent charges your non-refundable OBC first and saves the refundable OBC for you until last.

 

On your account, they will indicate what you have in each category.

Edited July 12, 2022 by 2012_Alaska_bound

[gcorgain]

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I have checked with my TA and this is the non-refundable OBC. I have another $500 refundable OBC that I hope to get refunded. 🙂

 

One further question: how do you find out about the special wine lunches, whiskey tastings, etc?

[Ladys Mom]

14 minutes ago, gcorgain said:

Thanks everyone for the suggestions. I have checked with my TA and this is the non-refundable OBC. I have another $500 refundable OBC that I hope to get refunded. 🙂

 

One further question: how do you find out about the special wine lunches, whiskey tastings, etc?

They possibly will be in the Passages.  Or you could find out from your butler, if you have one, or from the maitre d' in Compass Rose.  If you are interested just ask around, there are lots of people who know about them.  The wine lunches and dinners are wonderful.  Because you are on a transatlantic there will be several of them.  Also I would recommend hiring a car and driver for the day through the Regent shore excursion apps.  It is a comfortable way to see Rio, in particular, and you can see a lot more than you will see on a group tour.  The guide is there for you.

[2012_Alaska_bound]

36 minutes ago, gcorgain said:

One further question: how do you find out about the special wine lunches, whiskey tastings, etc?

 

Most reliable way to sign up is go the Wines of the Old and New World tasting (included) on the morning of the first sea day which will be listed in Passages (sometimes a side picture ad). This is where you can taste many of the included wines and meet the sommeliers. They will have a sign up for the wine lunches or dinners at this event. The wine tasting is a great way for the sommeliers to get to know you and learn your preferences. I only like dry wines, so they are used to my asking at dinner about what I would like. You can ask for any of the included wines in any venue. They may have to go get it from somewhere, so you might need to be patient. They generally have a red and a white that is recommended at each meal, but if they aren't to your taste, just ask for something else.  I seem to find a couple whites and a couple reds as my "fallbacks" for the cruise within a couple days.

On our Splendor TA in April, the Sommeliers were taking sign up on embarkation day in La Veranda during lunch. We only had one on the TA and it was a champagne tasting lunch.

 

Or ask the sommelier in one of the restaurants. Or call reception and have them leave a message for the head sommelier.

 

I think they are a GREAT way to use OBC!

[UUNetBill]

When we're in butler suites, we ask the butler for events like that, otherwise we are definitely NOT shy about asking our best friends (signified by the wearing of a tastevin around their neck) to let us know when they are.