If you book a Royal Caribbean cruise during a certain promotion or with a travel agent, there's a chance you might get some free onboard credit to spend.
As with anything that's "free," there are some restrictions as to how you can use it. You can't, for instance, use it to pay off some of your unpaid cruise fare.
Knowing how to spend your Royal Caribbean onboard cruise wisely will help ensure you maximize its value and, therefore, your overall cruise vacation.
What is Royal Caribbean onboard credit?
The best way to define onboard credit (OBC) is free money that you get to spend while on your Royal Caribbean cruise.
Every ship in Royal Caribbean's fleet is cashless. Whenever you purchase a drink, buy something at the onboard shop, or order an upcharge item in the Main Dining Room, you'll use your SeaPass card, rather than cash or your personal credit/debit card.
At the conclusion of your cruise, the total balance is settled to the payment method you authorized Royal Caribbean to charge.
OBC is simply money that, if not used beforehand through the Cruise Planner, will be applied to your SeaPass account to lower your final balance, rather than a specific purchase.
Read more: 18 easy ways to save money on a Royal Caribbean cruise (2024)
How can you get Royal Caribbean onboard credit?
While there are many ways you can secure some OBC for your next Royal Caribbean cruise, you might not have access to all of them.
The easiest way to get onboard credit is from someone else, whether it's Royal Caribbean or another entity, such as a travel agency.
When you go to Royal Caribbean's website, their ongoing promotion will be displayed on the homepage. Sometimes, one incentive is onboard credit, in addition to discounted fares and even kids sail free offers.
If OBC is being offered at that moment, the specific amount you receive is dependent upon which stateroom category you book.
While you may see "up to $600 in onboard credit" advertised, it's unlikely that you'll get the full amount. It's important to read the deal's rules and conditions. Most of the time, suites are the only eligible category for receiving the full advertised amount, whereas interior and ocean view cabins receive far less.
If you're on a Royal Caribbean cruise, you can get OBC by booking your next cruise before you disembark
To combat the post-cruise blues, consider booking your next sailing while onboard! In addition to giving you another cruise to look forward to, you can take advantage of Royal Caribbean's onboard booking bonus.
If there are any ongoing promotions, you'll get up to $600 extra in onboard credit simply by visiting NextCruise. This is one of the most lucrative ways to secure a lot on OBC for your next sailing to apply towards fun add-ons like shore excursions, drink packages, and more.
Of course, the amount you get is determined by a few different factors, including the length of your cruise and what cabin you book. If, for instance, you book a 4-night cruise in an interior room, you'll receive less than someone who opts to book a 10-night cruise in one of Royal Caribbean's expansive suites.
Read more: 16 tips to not waste money on your first cruise
Book with a travel agent
Personally, I won't ever book a cruise without a travel agent. Not only do I value the information that they're able to provide, but I love the perks that often accompany utilizing an agent.
For instance, while sailing onboard Freedom of the Seas in July 2023, I emailed my travel agent while I was still on the ship to try and a book cruise for October 2023. She advised me to visit NextCruise to take advantage of the onboard booking bonus and then transfer the booking to her.
Not only was she able to get me a group rate that saved me hundreds of dollars on a balcony, but I ended up with $100 in OBC to spend!
The amount of onboard credit that a travel agent is able to give does vary; however, it is one of the ways that they differentiate themselves from one another to try and earn business.
Certain third parties, such as American Express, also offer OBC if you book through them
Through American Express' Cruise Privileges Program, you can get $100 - $300 of OBC on select sailings that are 5+ nights. The program, however, can only be used by those who hold a valid personal or business Platinum or Centurion card.
Other third parties tend to offer some sort of onboard credit as an incentive to book with them, too. Cruises.com, for instance, offered up to $1,500 in onboard credit back in December 2023. Upon reading the fine print, however, the amount of credit you'd get is based on your total cruise fare, with those spending between $1,000 and $1,999 only getting $50.
Read more: Best websites to book a cheap cruise
Royal Caribbean Visa credit card
If you're a devout Royal Caribbean fan, you might want to look into applying for their branded Visa credit card. This allows guests to earn points that can be redeemed for onboard credit, amongst other things.
You'll earn two points for each dollar spent on qualifying Royal Caribbean and Celebrity Cruises purchases and one point for every $1 spent on all other purchases, including groceries, gas, etc.
With a minimum of 5,000 points, you can get $50 of onboard credit to use on your next sailing.
Royal Caribbean Group shareholder
If you own at least 100 shares of Royal Caribbean Group stock when you cruise, you'll get some OBC.
Note, however, that this perk is only available for the stateroom that the shareholder is assigned to. If, for instance, you are a family of four split between two staterooms and only one parent has 100 shares, the second stateroom won't get any OBC using this method.
On cruises that are 5 nights or less, you'll get $50 in OBC, while you'll get $100 for those that are between 6 and 13 nights. Finally, for cruises that are 14+ nights, you'll get $250 in OBC.
Active or retired military members
Occasionally, Royal Caribbean offers OBC to active and retired armed forces members, including those from the United States Army. Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, National Guard, Reserves, or Canadian National Defense.
Nobody's perfect. If there's any kind of issue with your booking, Royal Caribbean will usually try and resolve it with OBC
Things like poor service, billing inaccuracies, etc., are often met with onboard credit to try and help rectify the issue as quickly as possible.
Of course, this is not an ideal way to get OBC because it most likely means that you're dealing with some frustration, and that is never an enjoyable part of vacation.
Cancelled cruise
While a last-case scenario, Royal Caribbean does have to cancel cruises sometimes. It could be because of a hurricane, health crisis, maintenance issue, or anything else that the company deems as an unsafe reason to sail.
Sometimes, you might be given OBC to make up for the disappointment of having your cruise canceled. If that occurs, the OBC is in addition to a full refund and/or future cruise credit to redeem on a future sailing.
If I already have a future cruise credit, am I able to use it like onboard credit?
No, future cruise credit and onboard credit are two different things that serve different purposes.
Onboard credit is solely for purchases made on your specific cruise, whereas future cruise credits can only be applied toward the cruise fare of another sailing. You cannot convert onboard credit into a future cruise credit and vice versa.
Royal Caribbean's onboard credit is non-refundable, so you won't get a cash refund if you do not use it all
If you have any leftover OBC on the morning of disembarkation, you shouldn't expect a refund to your credit/debit card. Since onboard credit is essentially a "gift" that's meant to encourage onboard spending, you lose it if you don't use it.
Additionally, OBC cannot be rolled over to a future cruise that you have booked. In other words, if you have $50 remaining after a cruise on Wonder of the Seas, you won't see it pop up on your SeaPass account when you board Freedom of the Seas the following month.
The only exception is refundable onboard credit, which is usually the result of canceling a purchase, such as a shore excursion or specialty dining reservation. As long as the cancellation was done within a specific timeframe, it will be refunded to your credit card, as it wasn't a free gift from the cruise line or another entity.
Now that you know what Royal Caribbean onboard credit is and how to get it, what's the best way to use it?
Pre-cruise purchases through Royal Caribbean's Cruise Planner
To make the most out of your OBC, you'll want to redeem it through the Cruise Planner before your cruise, as this is where you'll find add-ons for a discounted price. If you want until you are on the ship, you will most likely pay more for the same thing.
Through the Cruise Planner, you can book things like spa treatments, shore excursions, drink packages, specialty dining, select extra-cost onboard activities, Wi-Fi packages, photos, and more.
While it's unlikely that your OBC will cover the entirety of all the add-ons you want for your vacation, it will help reduce the impact on your wallet!
Royal Caribbean's Vitality Spa, for instance, isn't cheap. $50 or $100 in onboard credit is not going to pay for a single treatment; however, you can book a massage or facial through the Cruise Planner and apply the OBC toward the overall cost.
Once you are on your cruise, you can head to the spa and enjoy your pre-paid treatment knowing that you didn't pay full price!
Similarly, shore excursions can be pretty expensive, especially if you are cruising with a large family or going to a scenic destination like Alaska. If you use your OBC towards a tour you and your family want to do through the Cruise Planner, you won't have to worry about it selling out!
Gratuities
Something that's not included in your cruise fare is gratuities, which essentially are just the tips that go towards crew members. They are divided between the hardworking crew members who work to make your vacation memorable, including cabin stewards, dining and culinary services staff, the guest services team, and others who work behind the scenes.
At the time of writing, the automatic daily gratuity charge is $18.00 per person, per day in standard staterooms (Junior Suites and below) and $20.50 per person, per day for those staying in a suite.
If you don't pre-pay them ahead of time, they'll be billed to your onboard account, which your onboard credit can help offset at the end of your sailing.
Note that there's no way to pre-pay for gratuities using OBC.
Read more: 10 do's and don'ts of cruise ship tipping
Laundry
Rather than coming home with a suitcase full of dirty clothes, why not return from your cruise with clean laundry?
Royal Caribbean offers some full-service laundry for an additional cost, including wash & press, pressing only, steaming only, and dry clean & press.
Like gratuities, you can't book this ahead of time, so if you do decide to take advantage of one of these services, your OBC will help to deduct the cost from your final statement.
Read more: Do Cruise Ships Have Irons and Ironing Boards?
Souvenirs
Stores onboard Royal Caribbean ships are outfitted with more than just branded merchandise.
While you can certainly purchase a ship model or t-shirt, you'll also find other everyday options, such as designer sunglasses, clothing, toys, and more.
If you want to save extra money, look for sales advertised in the Cruise Compass.
Drinks
If you want a Royal Caribbean drink package, your best bet is to purchase it ahead of time through the Cruise Planner. While they are not the cheapest add-ons in the world, if you are planning on drinking a lot during your cruise, a drink package can save you money.
Otherwise, you can purchase each drink individually from any bar, lounge, or restaurant on the ship.
While some drinks are included in the cost of your base fare — like water, coffee, juices, tea, and milk — certain drinks will cost you extra, with the most notable being those fruity cocktails, wine, beer, and anything else alcoholic.
If you purchase a cocktail here and there, you may just have enough onboard credit to cover your bar tab for the duration of your cruise!
Read more: 25 drinks to order if you have a cruise drink package
Adventure Ocean after-hours care and Royal Tots
While Adventure Ocean does offer complimentary youth programming, it's only free until 10pm. After that, you'll incur an hourly charge.
Additionally, Royal Tots is never free. You'll have to pay $6 per hour during the day and $8 per hour at night to have some adult-only time.
Thankfully, if billed to your onboard account, your OBC can be used to help give you that much-needed alone time!
Casino
If you want to play at a slot machine but find yourself without any cash, you can charge a certain amount to your SeaPass account, which can then be offset by any OBC that you may have.
If you really can't think of any way to spend your onboard credit, you can simply bill your account and then cash out, taking the OBC as cash!
Elizabeth Wright
Elizabeth graduated from New York University's Arthur L. Carter Journalism Institute with her M.A. in Journalism in May 2023. Growing up, she had the privilege of traveling frequently with her family and fell in love with cruising after sailing on the Oasis of the Seas her freshman year of high school. She wanted to pursue a career that highlighted her passion for travel and strengths as a writer.
