OBC Question

[Jcol5786]

Hello - We have booked our cruises through the website when there is a good price and also on the ship through NextCruise. With NextCrusie we like the reduced deposit and the $100/person OBC for balcony room but you are paying the current rate for the cruise which can vary.  Having just did our second cruise as D it's nice to have that little OBC buffer when 4 drinks aren't quite enough🙂.  My question is I don't recall seeing an OBC credit offered when booking directly. Do you typically get the same OBC  when booking directly or is it only available when booking through NextCruise? Prehaps it's time to get a TA? 

[not-enough-cruising]

11 minutes ago, Jcol5786 said:

Hello - We have booked our cruises through the website when there is a good price and also on the ship through NextCruise. With NextCrusie we like the reduced deposit and the $100/person OBC for balcony room but you are paying the current rate for the cruise which can vary.  Having just did our second cruise as D it's nice to have that little OBC buffer when 4 drinks aren't quite enough🙂.  My question is I don't recall seeing an OBC credit offered when booking directly. Do you typically get the same OBC  when booking directly or is it only available when booking through NextCruise? Prehaps it's time to get a TA? 

I have never seen OBC included with a direct web site based booking. 
 

[DaKahuna]

15 minutes ago, Jcol5786 said:

  My question is I don't recall seeing an OBC credit offered when booking directly. Do you typically get the same OBC  when booking directly or is it only available when booking through NextCruise? Prehaps it's time to get a TA? 

 

 The OBC is given for booking onboard.  In my experience, it is not normally extended when you book direct. 

[Merion_Mom]

There are really only three ways to get OBC: 

Book with NextCruise. 

Book with a travel agent who offers it. 

Own at least 100 shares of RC stock.

[firefly333]

5 minutes ago, not-enough-cruising said:

I have never seen OBC included with a direct web site based booking. 
 

Actually I've seen it and gotten some promotional obc from booking last year maybe 3 times. Not lately. Not much but it all counts. 

[Jcol5786]

Thanks for the replies. Recently we have be doing NextCruise so that should be fine. We will be back onboard in early May so we will have to book a couple more. If they offer OBC with the 6 month pick your cruise that will help if we see a good price that we want to take advantage of.

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, Jcol5786 said:

Thanks for the replies. Recently we have be doing NextCruise so that should be fine. We will be back onboard in early May so we will have to book a couple more. If they offer OBC with the 6 month pick your cruise that will help if we see a good price that we want to take advantage of.

You have 60 days to pick a cruise.  After that you do not get the OBC.  12 months from booking the next cruise certs expire and are cancelled, no refund, if a date is not selected.

[OCVTSGIRL]

If you have the Royal Caribbean credit card, you can earn points which can be used for OBC.  They usually offer points for signing up.

Edited January 31, 2023 by OCVTSGIRL

[Merion_Mom]

4 minutes ago, OCVTSGIRL said:

If you have the Royal Caribbean credit card, you can earn points which can be used for OBC.  They usually offer points for signing up.

 

But it's not a good credit card, as compared to almost every other card.  You are better off getting a card that gives you better cash rewards.  You'll earn more cash than the OBC is worth, for the same amount of charges.

[ONECRUISER]

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Actually I've seen it and gotten some promotional obc from booking last year maybe 3 times. Not lately. Not much but it all counts. 

Agree, Booked all my Cruises online Royal Site last 5 yrs, currently have 2 Booked with some OBC available from Royal. Also had 1-2 with OBC Cruises I did in 2022. All from Promo when Booked

Edited February 1, 2023 by ONECRUISER

[seapad]

2 hours ago, Jcol5786 said:

Hello - We have booked our cruises through the website when there is a good price and also on the ship through NextCruise. With NextCrusie we like the reduced deposit and the $100/person OBC for balcony room but you are paying the current rate for the cruise which can vary.  Having just did our second cruise as D it's nice to have that little OBC buffer when 4 drinks aren't quite enough🙂.  My question is I don't recall seeing an OBC credit offered when booking directly. Do you typically get the same OBC  when booking directly or is it only available when booking through NextCruise? Prehaps it's time to get a TA? 

If you book directly on the RCL website, there is no OBC, UNLESS there is a promo going on. 
You can also do a Next Cruise booking, get the $100 OBC, and then transfer the booking to your TA (within 30 days) and likely get extra OBC from the TA as well. Double dipping is fun 🙂 
Bear in mind that you will likely have to increase the deposit to the regular amount when you transfer it to your TA. 
 

[Mum2Mercury]

3 hours ago, Merion_Mom said:

There are really only three ways to get OBC: 

Book with NextCruise. 

Book with a travel agent who offers it. 

Own at least 100 shares of RC stock.

Or with the Royal Caribbean VISA card. 

Or by purchasing it yourself or having it gifted it from a friend.  

Or by getting a price reduction after you've paid /taking the price difference in OBC.  

[Ourusualbeach]

3 hours ago, seapad said:

Bear in mind that you will likely have to increase the deposit to the regular amount when you transfer it to your TA.

That is only required if your TA is moving you into a group.

[seapad]

1 hour ago, Ourusualbeach said:

That is only required if your TA is moving you into a group.

I see, thx

[shellunderwater]

Also, MyVegas app game can be used to earn OBC.

 

We've redeemed about $1K in OBC and never spent a dime on in-app purchases.  But we've been doing it a long time.

[SimonStern]

How long does it take to process points from the RC CC to OBC when initiated thru the BoA website?