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Putting money up front for OBC - anyone done this?

activeac

By activeac,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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activeac

activeac

Posted
Posted

Instead of using a credit card and carrying a wad of cash, I was wondering about calling Carnival and paying cash up front so when we arrive our account is already set up as On Board Credit. How feasible is this and has anyone done this before? If you have done it - did everything go smoothly?

 

Thank you,

 

Denise

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VolzCruiser

VolzCruiser

Posted
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While not exactly the same as you are proposing. I have used gift cards that I have gotten from my boss to get OBCs for cruises that I have gone on. Everything has gone well for me except Carnival won't put the OBC to your account until about 2 months before your cruise. So I would advise that you keep and exact record of amounts and confirmation numbers just in case.

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Drazilcruz

Drazilcruz

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We did it in April! Not only was everything prepaid on the cruise (tips etc.) but we had $800 in our onboard acct. all ready for us to start using it! We did not use all of it and had a check waiting under the cabin door on the last morning for $317. Nice to go home with some money :D after a vacation for once! Every payday for 2 months prior to the cruise we would call Carnival fun ship dollars dept. and use our debit card to purchase fun ship dollars over the phone and have them applied directly to our account. Worked without a hitch!

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mr jailerman

mr jailerman

Posted
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Instead of using a credit card and carrying a wad of cash, I was wondering about calling Carnival and paying cash up front so when we arrive our account is already set up as On Board Credit. How feasible is this and has anyone done this before? If you have done it - did everything go smoothly?

 

Thank you,

 

Denise

I did this in June for my Imagination Cruise and everything went fine:). Just tell them when you are ordering that you want the funds placed on your Cash Account. One thing that I DID NOT KNOW is that they say you DON'T get the differance back in cash at the end if you don't use it (Or so I was told) :eek::confused:.. So I just ordered $300.00 worth as I knew that my bill would go past that so it would not be an issue for me. Hope that helps a little..:o

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js

js

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Hi. I'm sailing Dream next August.

How/when do I prepay my tips? Can I do it when I pay final payment?

I would like this done prior to my cruise.

Also, do I get little "coupons" to put in envelopes to give out the last day so the crew knows I am tipping?

Thank you.

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simpleman

simpleman

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One thing that I DID NOT KNOW is that they say you DON'T get the differance back in cash at the end if you don't use it (Or so I was told) :eek::confused:.. So I just ordered $300.00 worth as I knew that my bill would go past that so it would not be an issue for me. Hope that helps a little..:o

 

That is only if the OBC is from Carnival. If you put funds on your S&S account in cash, fun ship dollars, etc. you will get any unused funds returned.

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smileyone

smileyone

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I've done it. I just purchase fun ship dollars online and in the address section I put "Apply to Booking # ?????? as OBC". I get an email immediately showing the purchase and then in a day or two I will get another one letting me know that the credit has been applied. When I print my final documents, it shows my OBC on the paperwork. I have not had any problems and I also received a check under the door for the unused portion which was only $37. I am an overplanning. I try to plan an exact amount for everything that we could possibly do.

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mr jailerman

mr jailerman

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That is only if the OBC is from Carnival. If you put funds on your S&S account in cash, fun ship dollars, etc. you will get any unused funds returned.

I was told the very opposite thing.. I was told that any of my OBC that I had gotten from my cabin price reductions was refundable should I NOT use it all but that the Fun Ship dollars that I had placed directly on my Account were not. I didn't think that sounded right but I did ask two different employes (As you should always do when talking to Carnival as the rules on things often change with other people:rolleyes::D) and they both told me the same thing. If fact, I asked a third person while I was on the ship and that person told me that any leftover credit (FROM THE Purchased OBC-NOT CASH PLACED ON THE ACCOUNT, for those of you that may have misunderstood me before) would be MAILED to my home :rolleyes::).. In any event, My final bill was over twice what I had bought for OBC, So there was nothing left either way :)...

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vacation_junkie

vacation_junkie

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Instead of using a credit card and carrying a wad of cash, I was wondering about calling Carnival and paying cash up front so when we arrive our account is already set up as On Board Credit. How feasible is this and has anyone done this before? If you have done it - did everything go smoothly?

 

Thank you,

 

Denise

 

We do this every cruise and it works out fantastic for us.

 

We purchase fun ship dollars..and instead of having them mailed to us we have them applied to our booking as an OBC.

 

In January we had a refund for the Fuel surcharge..and added funds to it a bit at a time...our bill at the end of the Cruise was 12 cents!!!!!

 

It was kinda of funny walking down to the pursers desk to pay it...lol

 

My in-laws are travelling with us in January..its their first vacation ever! So I plan on suprising them with some $$ on their account as well. Usually the 1st night they leave a slip on your bed that tells you that you have a gift of funship dollars and how much!!!

 

If you don't use it all , you can withdraw it at the Casino at the end!!!

 

My son is doing chores to earn some Fun money for January. I load a seperate amount on his card..once its gone,,,its gone! but it teaches him responsibility...and at 9..its getting him to clean his room ..so works out GREAT!!!!

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yogi2929

yogi2929

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I did this in June for my Imagination Cruise and everything went fine:). Just tell them when you are ordering that you want the funds placed on your Cash Account. One thing that I DID NOT KNOW is that they say you DON'T get the differance back in cash at the end if you don't use it (Or so I was told) :eek::confused:.. So I just ordered $300.00 worth as I knew that my bill would go past that so it would not be an issue for me. Hope that helps a little..:o

 

I assume that you would have gotten a check for the unspent monies. But if it was cash you wanted, couldn't most of it have been obtained thru the casino thru your Player's Bank? This is how we cleared our OBC.

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recyclelady

recyclelady

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I can't understand giving money to anyone in advance. Why not leave the $ in your own account, draw interest on the money and pay the bill when it comes?

 

I certainly have the money to pay off our cruise right now, but I would not pay it off until final payment for this very reason.

 

(But I am also one of those folks who pays credit cards off in their entirely each month and never carries any balance....)

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vacation_junkie

vacation_junkie

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I can't understand giving money to anyone in advance. Why not leave the $ in your own account, draw interest on the money and pay the bill when it comes?

 

I certainly have the money to pay off our cruise right now, but I would not pay it off until final payment for this very reason.

 

(But I am also one of those folks who pays credit cards off in their entirely each month and never carries any balance....)

 

Some people do it so they put themselves on a budget for thier vacation. They know this is the amount ahead of time and tend not to go over their spending.

 

Some feel it is better to have everything paid upfront then to come home and have a big credit card bill reminding you what you spent on your vacation.

 

We do it because we are Canadian & when they convert our tab over we end up paying a conversion percentage on top of the exchange rate. I also buy the funship dollars when the canadian dollar is high so we can get the best exchange rate.

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jerseygirl79

jerseygirl79

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Let me see if I understand this correctly.

 

I can call Carnival or go online and purchase a gift certificate for myself. I then ask for the money to be placed on my OBC as cash?

 

Is this correct? What do I get for confirmation?

 

This would be great!

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