What Can You Spend Shipboard Credit on Aboard Seabourn?

Seabourn shipboard credit can be spent on shore excursions, spa treatments, boutique purchases, private guided tours and more. Picture a private tour in port, a treatment at the spa that evening and a keepsake from the boutique on the way back to your suite. Often called onboard credit, it's what makes room for the extras once your fare has covered the essentials.

Here's how to spend it.

What's Already Included in Your Seabourn Fare

A Seabourn fare covers the essentials before you spend anything onboard: an ocean-front suite, every dining venue with no cover charges, premium spirits and fine wines, a stocked in-suite bar and pre-paid gratuities. Even 24-hour in-suite dining arrives course by course, served in your suite or on your veranda.

That's why shipboard credit works differently here. There's no need to set money aside for dinners or drinks, so the credit is free to go toward the excursion you've been dreaming about or a long afternoon at the spa.

For the full list of what every fare includes, our guide to What Exactly Is the Seabourn Difference? walks through it.

Shore Excursions & Private Guided Tours

Shipboard credit can go toward shore excursions and private guided tours, the experiences that turn a port call into a day shaped around what you came to see.

Shore Experiences by Seabourn

Seabourn plans optional excursions in every port of call and sorts them into Collections by interest, so you can filter straight to the kind of day you want. Collections include:

• Cultural Collection: arts, ideas & legacy, including UNESCO World Heritage sites
• Adventure Collection: active, hands-on days, including Ventures by Seabourn® & expedition excursions
• Epicurean Collection: traditional & contemporary local foods and drinks

Shopping with the Chef, a signature experience included on select sailings, introduces you to a port's local food markets. The Epicurean Collection lets you go further, tasting your way through a destination's traditional and contemporary flavors.

With this many choices in every port, a conversation helps. The Cruise Web's Cruise Experts can give you a free consultation to learn what you want from each stop and match you to the excursions that fit.

Private Guided Tours

Prefer a day built entirely around you? Tell your Cruise Expert what you picture: a slow morning among the market stalls, an afternoon with a local guide who knows the quiet side of town, a long lunch with nowhere to be. The Cruise Web's Cruise Experts arrange private tours for solo travelers, couples and small groups, and they handle all arrangement details from the first idea to the last.

All that's left for you is the best part. Linger where something catches your eye, skip the stop that doesn't and let your guide set the rhythm, with not a single logistic to think about.

Have something specific in mind? Start with a free conversation about your ideal day, and bring your custom requests before you sail.

Ventures by Seabourn® in Alaska

On select Alaska sailings, an Expedition Team joins the voyage, and optional Ventures by Seabourn® outings launch straight from the ship by Zodiac or double sea kayak. Picture paddling beneath the towering ice cliffs of Hubbard Glacier, or drifting by Zodiac among the Inian Islands, where humpback whales, Steller sea lions and puffins share the water. Featured outings vary by sailing.

Curious how the expedition ships take this further? Our guide to Seabourn ocean vs. expedition cruises compares the two.

Spa Treatments

Spa treatments aren't included, so the spa is one of the most useful places to spend shipboard credit. Seabourn's spa blends traditional practices from around the world with current techniques, and the menu includes:

• Massages, from hot stone therapy to warm bamboo
• Facials with ELEMIS BIOTEC technology
• Body polishes & wraps, including a salt scrub in lime & ginger or frangipani
• A heated seaweed wrap with massage
• Massage duets for two

Many massages come in 50, 75 or 100-minute sessions, so you can match the treatment to the day: a quick reset between ports or a long, slow afternoon at sea. Traveling with someone? A massage duet places you side by side in a private suite for two.

On Seabourn Encore and Seabourn Ovation, you can also book personalized spa services in a dedicated spa cabana at The Retreat, a top-deck enclave we cover in more detail below. Spa cabana services are by reservation and subject to availability, and treatment menus vary by ship and sailing.

Boutique Purchases

The upscale Boutique onboard Seabourn Encore.

Shipboard credit also works in Seabourn's onboard shops, where you'll find fashion, cosmetics, jewelry, fine watches and branded cruisewear. Choose a souvenir for someone back home, or a keepsake that reminds you of the voyage every time you see it.

Reserve Wine Packages

Premium spirits and fine wines are already part of your fare. Seabourn's Reserve wine list is for the evenings you want to go a step further, and shipboard credit is one way to put it within reach. Picture a bottle from the Reserve list, featuring several hundred rare wines, hand-picked from the world’s best wine-producing regions, on your private veranda as the coastline slides past. At dinner, an optional wine pairing can turn a great meal into the one you talk about all week.

Upgraded Stream Wi-Fi Package

Every Seabourn booking includes complimentary Surf Wi-Fi with unlimited minutes, enough for web browsing, email and social media on one device per guest. Starlink connectivity is on every Seabourn ship, so service is faster and more reliable wherever coverage is available.

The Stream package is the step up. It covers up to two devices per guest and adds video streaming, internet calling, VPN and cloud storage access. Picture a video call home from your veranda while the coastline slides past, or a favorite show streaming in your suite after a long day ashore.

Penthouse and Premium suite guests receive Stream automatically, as do Seabourn Club members at Diamond level and above. If you're booked in a Veranda or Ocean View suite, you can upgrade to the Stream package for a nominal fee, which makes it a natural place to put your shipboard credit to work.

The Retreat on Seabourn Encore and Seabourn Ovation

Some upgrades are about staying connected. This one is about switching off.

Perched atop Seabourn Encore and Seabourn Ovation, The Retreat is a quiet enclave beneath a flower-shaped canopy that shields guests from sun and wind. Fifteen private cabanas ring around a central whirlpool, each designed as its own luxury living room with a large HD television and a refrigerator stocked with beverages. A dedicated Retreat Concierge looks after requests, and Seabourn's mixologists create custom cocktails to go with the champagne.

Cabanas are reserved for a full day, on a port day or a day at sea. They're an extra rather than part of your fare, which makes The Retreat another great place for shipboard credit. It's also home to the spa cabana mentioned above.

With this many ways to spend it, the next question is how the credit itself works.

How Seabourn's Shipboard Credit Works

Terms vary by offer, so your booking details are the final word, but shipboard credit generally works like this:

• The amount is set per suite and depends on your suite category.
• It applies to the first two guests in the suite. Single travelers receive the per suite amount, and third and fourth guests aren't eligible.
• It's issued in US dollars and can only be used onboard.
• It can't be transferred, substituted or redeemed for cash.
• It doesn't cover the casino or the medical center.
• Any balance left at the end of your cruise expires.
• Some offers exclude certain voyages, such as full world and grand sailings.

Because unused credit doesn't carry over, a little planning goes a long way. Your Cruise Expert can map out the excursions, spa days and evenings you'd like to spend it on, so you board with a plan and leave with nothing unspent.

Knowing where the credit goes is half the plan. The other half is matching it to the right voyage.

Plan Your Seabourn Voyage with The Cruise Web

Your fare covers the essentials. The rest is yours to design: the private tour, the spa afternoon, the evening on the veranda. The Cruise Web's Cruise Experts will learn what your ideal voyage looks like and match you to the right sailing and suite. Booking with us includes:

• No booking fees
• A dedicated Cruise Expert from first inquiry through your voyage
• Pricing that's always the same or less than booking direct
• Exclusive offers & added amenities on select sailings
• One-stop planning for flights, hotels, transfers & land tours

Call 1-800-377-9383 or visit CruiseWeb.com to start planning your Seabourn voyage.

Note: Shipboard credit offers, amounts, terms and eligible uses can change, and Seabourn may adjust them at any time. This post is accurate as of its publication date. For the latest details or help planning how to spend your credit, contact our Cruise Experts.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

What is Seabourn shipboard credit?

Seabourn shipboard credit is an onboard credit offered on select voyages as part of special promotions, set per suite and spent during your cruise. Seabourn lists shore excursions, private guided tours, spa treatments, boutique purchases and the upgraded Stream Wi-Fi package among its uses.

Is shipboard credit the same as onboard credit?

Yes. Shipboard credit and onboard credit (often shortened to OBC) describe the same thing: credit to spend onboard during your voyage. Seabourn's official term is shipboard credit.

What is shipboard credit for if most things on Seabourn are included?

Shipboard credit is for the extras. Your fare covers the essentials: your suite, all dining, premium spirits, fine wines and a stocked in-suite bar. Shore excursions, spa treatments, boutique purchases and upgrades like the Stream Wi-Fi package cost extra, so that's where the credit goes.

Can you use shipboard credit on shore excursions?

Yes. Shore excursions and private guided tours are among the uses Seabourn lists for shipboard credit. Terms vary by offer, so check your booking details for how the credit applies to tours arranged before you sail.

Can you use shipboard credit at the spa?

Yes. Spa treatments are among the uses Seabourn lists for shipboard credit, along with reservations at The Retreat on Seabourn Encore and Seabourn Ovation. A separate gratuity applies to spa services.

Does shipboard credit expire?

Yes. Shipboard credit expires at the end of your cruise, regardless of how much is left.

Can shipboard credit be redeemed for cash?

No. Shipboard credit isn't redeemable for cash, and it can't be transferred or substituted. It can only be used onboard, and it doesn't apply to the casino or the medical center.

Is shipboard credit available on every Seabourn voyage?

No. Seabourn offers shipboard credit on select voyages as part of special promotions, and some offers exclude certain sailings, such as full world and grand voyages.

How soon will shore excursions be available for my cruise?

Seabourn's shore excursions are usually available one year before sailing. Booking early gives you more to choose from.

How do you book a premium cruise vacation with personalized service?

Start by choosing the kind of voyage you want, such as an ocean or expedition itinerary, then pick a sailing and suite category. Seabourn suite stays include a personal suite host and attendant who personalize your nightly turndown, manage your laundry needs and see to special requests. A cruise specialist can compare sailings, make the booking and help plan excursions and spa time before you sail.

Why book Seabourn with The Cruise Web?

The Cruise Web has been planning cruise vacations since 1994, and your Cruise Expert stays with you from first inquiry through your voyage, matching you to the right sailing and suite and planning your excursions, spa time and shipboard credit before you board. There are no booking fees, your price is always the same or less than booking direct and select sailings come with exclusive offers and added amenities.