OBC

[vetteguy91]

Can you use OBC to book excursions before you board.?

[Real NHDOC]

Nope...it is called ONBOARD credit for a reason...only can be used onboard.  I have heard of people who have booked using a CC beforehand, then going to the excursion desk and asking them to cancel and rebook them on the same excursion so they could use OBC but I have never done that.  That way you would be assured a spot on the excursion in case it booked up early.

 

They refund you in refundable OBC so you get a credit on your account but if you finish with a credit balance you would get that money refunded to your CC.  I have also never completed a cruise with a credit balance so don't know what that's like either!

Edited February 10, 2023 by Real NHDOC

[Hllb]

Its sounds like mostly no (from this thread:

), but that's specific to HAL. I know for a fact with Celebrity you can use OBC to book excursions ahead of time, as I just did it last week. I'm considering switching my cruise to HAL, so this is disappointing, but I suppose not unexpected.

[terrydtx]

21 minutes ago, Hllb said:

Its sounds like mostly no (from this thread:

), but that's specific to HAL. I know for a fact with Celebrity you can use OBC to book excursions ahead of time, as I just did it last week. I'm considering switching my cruise to HAL, so this is disappointing, but I suppose not unexpected.

Yes on Celebrity no on HAL and that is from our personal experience. The only exception is if you a refundable OBC from a source like a TA or family member. You can book the excursion and specialty dinning credit for Have It All before the cruise.

[Crew News]

2 hours ago, Real NHDOC said:

............I have heard of people who have booked using a CC beforehand, then going to the excursion desk and asking them to cancel and rebook them on the same excursion so they could use OBC but I have never done that.  That way you would be assured a spot on the excursion in case it booked up early.

 

A number of years ago I tried canceling a pre-booked excursion and then booking with OBC once I was onboard my ship.  The Excursion Desk did the cancellation on their computer and when they tried to rebook, they told me that I was now #4 on the waitlist.

[shack]

14 minutes ago, Crew News said:

A number of years ago I tried canceling a pre-booked excursion and then booking with OBC once I was onboard my ship.  The Excursion Desk did the cancellation on their computer and when they tried to rebook, they told me that I was now #4 on the waitlist.

 

No bueno.  I used my HIA excursion and specialty dining credits to book the one excursion I really wanted (and at the time it was $99.95; now more than the $100 HIA credit) and the best night at sea for Pinnacle.  Happy with that and will use the other $250 OBC on board, probably for crew appreciation since that wasn't in our HIA pkg.

[Red Haired Lady]

53 minutes ago, Crew News said:

A number of years ago I tried canceling a pre-booked excursion and then booking with OBC once I was onboard my ship.  The Excursion Desk did the cancellation on their computer and when they tried to rebook, they told me that I was now #4 on the waitlist.

Yes, only works with excursions that have not sold out by the time you do this.  Otherwise, if it is an excursion you really want to do, don't risk it.  Just leave the original booking and payment. 

[FLCruiser97]

1 hour ago, Crew News said:

A number of years ago I tried canceling a pre-booked excursion and then booking with OBC once I was onboard my ship.  The Excursion Desk did the cancellation on their computer and when they tried to rebook, they told me that I was now #4 on the waitlist.

Yes. I suppose that is the chance you take when canceling. But some other cruise lines DO let you book ahead of sailing with OBC. I have only sailed HAL twice before so guess this line is one that does not let you use OBC ahead.

[Real NHDOC]

It wasn't until I read the other responses that I did remember that Celebrity (and presumably some others) do let you use OBC before boarding, though, technically they should call it something like "spending money" and shouldn't call it OBC.  HAL has always enforced the strict definition of onboard credit to be used for onboard spending only. 

 

Having said that HAL's system for prebooking things lacks a lot of niceties - like applying the correct mariner's discount or HIA package inclusions to purchases or reservations made online.  For years they have said this was going to be fixed, but it hasn't been.  I assume since it is to their advantage to collect as much money from guests before their cruise begins they will never fix these "glitches".

[Hllb]

13 minutes ago, Real NHDOC said:

It wasn't until I read the other responses that I did remember that Celebrity (and presumably some others) do let you use OBC before boarding, though, technically they should call it something like "spending money" and shouldn't call it OBC.  HAL has always enforced the strict definition of onboard credit to be used for onboard spending only. 

 

Having said that HAL's system for prebooking things lacks a lot of niceties - like applying the correct mariner's discount or HIA package inclusions to purchases or reservations made online.  For years they have said this was going to be fixed, but it hasn't been.  I assume since it is to their advantage to collect as much money from guests before their cruise begins they will never fix these "glitches".

I downloaded the app last night and let’s just say I don’t think IT is their thing LOL. It is so slow and frequently non-responsive. I thought I was actually on the ship trying to use WiFi! Celebrity’s app seems excellent but not HAL’s. Oh well…

[Real NHDOC]

1 minute ago, Hllb said:

I downloaded the app last night and let’s just say I don’t think IT is their thing LOL. It is so slow and frequently non-responsive. I thought I was actually on the ship trying to use WiFi! Celebrity’s app seems excellent but not HAL’s. Oh well…

Agreed.  Their website is terrible, the worst of any cruise line I have experienced.  The Navigator app, though better than it used to be is still very poor (it does work better once onboard but not great).  WIFI on most ships is horrible. 

 

They could have spent some of the time they had during the shutdown fixing a lot of the technical problems they have but did nothing.  Their IT department needs to be ordered to "walk the plank". 

[Hllb]

1 minute ago, Real NHDOC said:

Agreed.  Their website is terrible, the worst of any cruise line I have experienced.  The Navigator app, though better than it used to be is still very poor (it does work better once onboard but not great).  WIFI on most ships is horrible. 

 

They could have spent some of the time they had during the shutdown fixing a lot of the technical problems they have but did nothing.  Their IT department needs to be ordered to "walk the plank". 

I’ve only used Carnival’s app before and it was just ok (in 2018 mins you) so when I tried Celebrity’s it was amazing. 
 

How does the messaging work through the app on board? That’s what we typically use it for most. Carnival’s was hit and miss so I was never sure if my kids got my messages.

[Real NHDOC]

13 minutes ago, Hllb said:

I’ve only used Carnival’s app before and it was just ok (in 2018 mins you) so when I tried Celebrity’s it was amazing. 
 

How does the messaging work through the app on board? That’s what we typically use it for most. Carnival’s was hit and miss so I was never sure if my kids got my messages.

HAL's isn't much better.  Sometimes you get notified of a message, sometimes not.  Most of the time, if you check the app the message is there even if you get no notice of it. 

 

I would not want my life to depend on receiving the messages. 

[terrydtx]

24 minutes ago, Real NHDOC said:

Agreed.  Their website is terrible, the worst of any cruise line I have experienced.  The Navigator app, though better than it used to be is still very poor (it does work better once onboard but not great).  WIFI on most ships is horrible. 

 

They could have spent some of the time they had during the shutdown fixing a lot of the technical problems they have but did nothing.  Their IT department needs to be ordered to "walk the plank". 

Yes of all the cruising apps we have used the Navigator app is the worst. My biggest issue is that you cannot see the dinning menus beyond the current day. It makes it very difficult to determine what days we want dine at a specialty restaurant when the MDR does not have an appealing menu. It can't be that HAL lacks IT abilities as their Flight Ease online site is the best of any cruise line we have used.

[Real NHDOC]

Flight ease isn't exclusive to HAL - it is shared among the Carnival brands and I am not 100% certain it's even something the cruise line has any control over.  I am pretty sure it is an outside service they just link themselves to.  That explains why it works better than any of their other website features, however.

Edited February 11, 2023 by Real NHDOC