bostoncruiser Posted July 22, 2022 Report Share Posted July 22, 2022 We have amassed a significant amount of points on our RC Credit card that can be turned into OBC before our cruise in December. A couple of questions for those of you who have used it: 1) When you redeem it does it just get applied to your cabin for spending during your cruise OR can it be put on your cruise planner to purchase special meals, packages etc before sailing? 2) Can it be used to pay gratuities? 3) Can it be used to pay taxes/port charges - all the special things on your bill on the last day... Thanks! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ubiquitous Cruiser Posted July 22, 2022 Report Share Posted July 22, 2022 1. The last time we redeemed it was added & available for cruise planner purchases. Prior to that it was noted at check-in that we had an OBC. Thinking the timing of when you add drives that. 2. If an OBC, they'll take it for every charge until $0 3. Don't think so as that would take a FCC and not an OBC ChessE4 and bostoncruiser 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Psycho and Barb Posted July 22, 2022 Report Share Posted July 22, 2022 22 minutes ago, bostoncruiser said: We have amassed a significant amount of points on our RC Credit card that can be turned into OBC before our cruise in December. A couple of questions for those of you who have used it: 1) When you redeem it does it just get applied to your cabin for spending during your cruise OR can it be put on your cruise planner to purchase special meals, packages etc before sailing? 2) Can it be used to pay gratuities? 3) Can it be used to pay taxes/port charges - all the special things on your bill on the last day... Thanks! 1. It goes on your Cruise Planner and if you do it early enough you can use it to purchase Special meals, Etc. 2. If it's on your cruise Planner and you haven't spent it...You gratuities will be deducted from it. Your OBC is like a checking account...You spend or the she ship uses it to pay for your tips and once its gone, you will be billed for anything over your OBC. 3. We are not sure about this one because we always pay our taxes and port charges before we ever step on the ship. bostoncruiser 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pattycruise Posted July 22, 2022 Report Share Posted July 22, 2022 port fees/taxes are paid as part of your original bill with the cruise line, they are no billed onboard. If you did not include pre paying your gratuities when you purchased your cruise your OBC can be used towards that. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellcee Posted July 22, 2022 Report Share Posted July 22, 2022 I've redeemed 2x for my next cruise and it usually takes a few days to a few weeks to show up in my OBC. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
natalie.gonzalez Posted July 22, 2022 Report Share Posted July 22, 2022 I just went through this process for our June 2022 cruise. For me, it was a super pain in the ass. I intended to use the points to pay for excursions. However when you go online to redeem the points, the OBC doesn't actually post to your account until a couple weeks before your cruise. This was not going to work for us bc by then the excursions we wanted would be gone. So i called...waited FOREVER to talk to an actual person. Was a complete cluster of an experience getting the OBC to show up immediately so we'd be able to apply it to excursions. I had $2000.00 of OBC, so for me, it was worth being on hold forever but if i had to do it over again, I would have called first and asked the customer service agent convert my points to OBC, rather than doing it on line and then calling. I had no idea when I did it, that my OBC would not post immediately. the whole process was such a pain for me, when we got home from our cruise, I cancelled credit card. bostoncruiser 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ellcee Posted July 22, 2022 Report Share Posted July 22, 2022 33 minutes ago, natalie.gonzalez said: For me, it was a super pain in the ass. I've heard this from others too so you're not the only one. It's always been super easy for me and I've used it since 2018. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted July 22, 2022 Report Share Posted July 22, 2022 It’s always been super easy for us too, but I never needed my OBC up front. We always use it in the casino so I can see where it might be a hassle to get it posted ASAP. Qeyton Dude 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BigKarl Posted July 22, 2022 Report Share Posted July 22, 2022 One other note. If you do not spend all of your OB RC Credit Points you can cash them in for $$ at the end of the cruise. THIS DOES NOT APPLY to any FCC or onboard credits given by RC themselves for ANY promotions or offers they may have. For those points they "are used or lost." Check previous posts here for shenanigans that you can play to also get these redeemed for $$ from some pretty smart cruisers posts. ellcee 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CruiseGus Posted July 23, 2022 Report Share Posted July 23, 2022 22 hours ago, natalie.gonzalez said: I just went through this process for our June 2022 cruise. For me, it was a super pain in the ass. I intended to use the points to pay for excursions. However when you go online to redeem the points, the OBC doesn't actually post to your account until a couple weeks before your cruise. This was not going to work for us bc by then the excursions we wanted would be gone. So i called...waited FOREVER to talk to an actual person. Was a complete cluster of an experience getting the OBC to show up immediately so we'd be able to apply it to excursions. I had $2000.00 of OBC, so for me, it was worth being on hold forever but if i had to do it over again, I would have called first and asked the customer service agent convert my points to OBC, rather than doing it on line and then calling. I had no idea when I did it, that my OBC would not post immediately. the whole process was such a pain for me, when we got home from our cruise, I cancelled credit card. I haven't converted any of my points to OBC yet but from what I have read on the forums, Calling is the way to go as opposed to the on-line method, especially if you want it applied immediately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Done Posted July 23, 2022 Report Share Posted July 23, 2022 Just before the shutdown I had redeemed RC Visa points towards OBC and the funds did not show up on our Cruise Planner. After a couple weeks I called and was told I needed to call the Rewards number. (1-800-305-4626) They said the rewards OBC is applied 2 weeks prior to sailing. She then offered to apply them now if I would like! I said yes and they were available on Cruise Planner within minutes! Given the numerous pandemic cancellations I tried to keep good track of the rewards points as they were move moved from one sailing to another. BTW - they were not moved automatically. They were not available on Planner after I booked a new sailing. I had to call to tell them what cancelled sailing they had been applied to and what sailing to move them to. The good thing was they were always applied immediately. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
wstephensi Posted July 23, 2022 Report Share Posted July 23, 2022 18 minutes ago, Toby said: I had redeemed RC Visa points towards OBC and the funds did not show up on our Cruise Planner. After a couple weeks I called and was told I needed to call the Rewards number. (1-800-305-4626) They said the rewards OBC is applied 2 weeks prior to sailing. She then offered to apply them now if I would like! I said yes and they were available on Cruise Planner within minutes! I had the same experience on my last cruise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kathleen Posted July 23, 2022 Report Share Posted July 23, 2022 You can also use them as payment towards your final cruise payment. I have started using them this way now that we are moving towards a more normal raise schedule. I time it about 6-8 weeks before final payment and I do it on line and never been an issue but good to know the calling may make it even faster. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
smokeybandit Posted July 26, 2022 Report Share Posted July 26, 2022 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
michaelp1446 Posted August 2, 2022 Report Share Posted August 2, 2022 On 7/23/2022 at 3:50 PM, Toby said: Just before the shutdown I had redeemed RC Visa points towards OBC and the funds did not show up on our Cruise Planner. After a couple weeks I called and was told I needed to call the Rewards number. (1-800-305-4626) They said the rewards OBC is applied 2 weeks prior to sailing. She then offered to apply them now if I would like! I said yes and they were available on Cruise Planner within minutes! Given the numerous pandemic cancellations I tried to keep good track of the rewards points as they were move moved from one sailing to another. BTW - they were not moved automatically. They were not available on Planner after I booked a new sailing. I had to call to tell them what cancelled sailing they had been applied to and what sailing to move them to. The good thing was they were always applied immediately. Thanks for info but the telephone number is incorrect: Rewards # is 1-888-305-4626. They will apply sooner if you ask nicely Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
leesam82 Posted August 2, 2022 Report Share Posted August 2, 2022 On 7/22/2022 at 10:16 AM, bostoncruiser said: We have amassed a significant amount of points on our RC Credit card that can be turned into OBC before our cruise in December. A couple of questions for those of you who have used it: 1) When you redeem it does it just get applied to your cabin for spending during your cruise OR can it be put on your cruise planner to purchase special meals, packages etc before sailing? 2) Can it be used to pay gratuities? 3) Can it be used to pay taxes/port charges - all the special things on your bill on the last day... Thanks! 1) & 2) It gets applied to your reservation. You can use it to make purchases on cruise planner or save it to have it offset gratuities 3) You don't really use it to directly pay for those charges but indirectl you can. eg, you apply those credits to your reservation and any new charges will get deducted from there. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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