What is shipboard credit? (2024)

FAQs

What is shipboard credit? ›

You may have seen deals that include onboard credit and wondered what that entails. Onboard credit — otherwise known as OBC or "cruise cash" — is a promotion that offers cruisers a dollar amount to use toward onboard spending.

Shipboard Credits will be automatically applied to your purchases of excursions, beverage package, and prepaid gratuities. Shipboard Credits that are unused will transfer to your shipboard account 7 days before your Journey.

Sail & Sign® is Carnival's cashless on board credit program, which allows guests to charge onboard purchases and gratuities directly to a personal account for convenience. The Sail & Sign Card must be utilized for all money transactions on board as cash will not be an accepted form of payment.

You will conveniently find your OBCs on your Seapass® card, the personal onboard expense account you'll use for all your onboard expenditures. When you make a purchase or pay for a service on your cruise, the onboard credits are applied.

Necessities and practicalities. Unless you pay tips in advance, most cruise lines add a daily gratuity amount to your cabin account during the cruise. It's something you'll pay one way or another, so using OBC to cover the expense makes sense on ships where it's allowed.