On-Board Credit

[cruise4family]

Hi to all. I read in one of the ship reviews that one of the cruisers was able to get $550 in on-board credits from information they learned from the message board. I'm new to this and have been on 1 cruise, with another scheduled for May 2008. Any information on getting on-board credits would be appreciated. Thanks!

[sea_u_onboard]

I can only tell you about Carnival. Once you book keep checking prices. If the price goes down before final payment they reduce your price. If after you can be eligible for upgrades and OBC. This is clear cut if you book directly through Carnival. If you book through an agency they may have their own rules. Carnival also offers discounts to past guests, cruisers over 55 and military (active, retired, vet with 2 years + honorable service).

 

If you want to learn more about Carnival go to my website - www.seauonboard.com.

 

Happy hunting and welcome to Cruise Critic.

[wieslaw]

Hi to all. I read in one of the ship reviews that one of the cruisers was able to get $550 in on-board credits from information they learned from the message board. I'm new to this and have been on 1 cruise, with another scheduled for May 2008. Any information on getting on-board credits would be appreciated. Thanks!

 

 

Hi, and welcome to the Cruise Critic board.

 

I am not an expert on "on -board credits " but I will try to explain from what I have read on this board, and my explanation is mostly pertaining to RCCL, since that is the line I am mostly familiar with.

 

Some of the people that do get the most OBC are doing it the following way:

They do book a future cruise while on board a cruise ship - that can result in OBC ( from the cruise line) of up to 250 dol. per cabin ( depending on the length of cruise that they booked).

They may later on transfer that booking ( keeping the provided booking number) to a TA that perhaps offers some OBC if they handle your booking ( the TA will get a commission from the cruise line but the TA will share some of the commission with 'you' in the form of OBC ).

Some people are also 'RCL' stock owners - and that too will give them some OBC.

Some people also use the 'cruise line's credit card' that accumulates points and can result in OBC.

So all together, especially if the booked cabin / suite was of the upper price range - can amount to a substantial OBC.

Wes

[cruiserbryce]

usually OBC's are not quite that high...rebooking on board ships is a great way to get them. RC offers OBC's for future cruises of $50-200 based on the length of the cruise...the only one I could think of that was that high though was a booking incentive for the 48 day Repositioning cruise when Mariner of the Seas goes from Port Canaveral to Los Angeles...they were offering some great credits for booking all 3 legs of the cruise

[Go-Bucks!]

Apparently you can get a $550 onboard credit for booking a cruise with an AMEX card. This info came from the Crystal Cruise forum, so I don't know if it only applies to their cruises or any cruiseline. You could probably call AMEX and find out. Here's the quote from the Crystal forum:

 

"Just returned from a wonderful Crystal cruise and I have some questions re: cruise credits. When I booked this past cruise I used AMEX to get the $550 onboard cruise credits."