ULCajunCruiser

I agree with Cuckoo7, it's been several years and Cavetubing.bz was great.  Going back this summer and have them booked again!

29 minutes ago, Esmerelda said:

I just hung up with a very nice gentleman from Carnival.  He entered my GC number/PIN and it went right through. He stated that sometimes, they can be stubborn. I guess I was lucky and got one of those. Thanks again all for your help yesterday.

 

Happy Friday!

Great news!!

OK, so I just ignored the warning, put the amount I wanted to pay using that card in the "other amount" box, hit submit and it worked!!

sorry that didn't post very well, but the point I'm trying to make is that there is no way to actually make a payment!!   I'll try again

Yes n6uqqq, thanks, I tried that.  I'm very familiar with the process, I've done it numerous times.  But today I'm getting this error, which I've never seen before?? 

     The gift card wallet balance exceeds the sailing balance due

I don't know, just hoping it'll go back to normal by Monday!!

I'm having a bad week with these darn cards!!   Now I'm trying to pay off some of what I owe.  But it is not letting me use a card unless I use it all up.  I have countless times used a $500 card to pay a $200 charge, then later used that same card to pay $50, and then finished off when using it a 3rd time.   But today if I have a balance left on the card, it won't allow the transaction to go through.  Hope this is a temporary glitch and not a permanent change!!

Well good news, even though I haven't heard anything back from AARP, I needed to buy some cards!!   Just bought 10 (2 transactions with 5 cards each) with no issues at all.   They must have fixed whatever bug was in there!!

I have not heard back from AARP, but I went ahead and tried again.   No problem, did exactly what i did yesterday and it went straight thru without any issues!  Go figure???

1 minute ago, krissyj89 said:

I had this same issue a couple months ago. Couldn't buy any gift cards, no matter what I did or how many credit cards I used. I contacted them through chat, they asked all the usual questions, and eventually told me they would send my complaint to their "elevated team". After a week, they emailed me and said they fixed the issue. The email said if I had any issues, to contact them:  "If you have any additional questions or concerns, please feel free to reply to this email (consumercare@aarp.org) or telephone a member of the Consumer Care Ombudsman team at (877) 634-8313." But I haven't had any issues since.

Well great, I hope that happens for me.  Thanks for the encouraging news, and for the contact info if they drag their feet!!

1 hour ago, tw67 said:

I understand that reasoning, but we cruise anywhere from 2-4 times a year. We know what we spend money on. The cost of the cruise is the cost of the cruise. I don’t say to myself I am saving 10% so I will do a balcony instead of an inside. We do at least one specialty dining. We get 10% off that. We will do CHEERS, so another 10% there. We don’t buy a lot on the ship, but we do gamble. Plus we can withdraw through a slot machine what we don’t use. I spent less on the NCL ship because we didn’t gamble much because we went with a large family group.

Exactly!!  I save 10% off of the stuff I buy.  It's not an incentive to buy more stuff!!!

11 minutes ago, n6uqqq said:

Did you make sure everything matches completely.... billing address, 3 digit code etc. I had a problem when I tried to buy some for my daughter and use her credit card. AARP wouldn't allow a transaction to go through where the AARP account name didn't match the credit card name. Another time I had trouble because my Google auto fill had changed my billing address slightly. 

Yes checked and double checked.  Cleared cookies, turned off ad blocker, tried different browsers, went line by line (twice) with the AARP service rep!!!  It just wasn't letting me!!  Who knows, it hates me!!!   I'll try again tomorrow

1 hour ago, ab19902 said:

Is there a way you can use another card to purchase the gift cards? I know sometimes you want to maximize and get points on your card, so I figured I would ask.

If I can't get them in another day or so I will have to.  But you're right, I'm trying to maximize the points I get by using it for everything on this trip

I'm venting more than asking a question.   But I am trying to buy some Carnival Gift Cards from AARP.  I've done this many times before, but for some reason it's not allowing the transaction to go through. Called them up and they say try this and try that, which I understand is procedure, but every time I try and it bombs, it's adding $1800 to my pending credit card bill!!   Tried 8 ties and boom that's nearly $15,000 in pending charges.  They can't remove them and my credit card company says they can't remove them.  I only hope that there's no emergency in the next 30 days cause my credit card is now all but useless!!!   More frustrated than anything, thanks for listening!!

1 hour ago, pcvtmom said:

I've booked spa, paid gratuities, paid for specialty dining and excursions with gift cards (online).  I've never had to use the balance on the card. In fact, I just write the amount left on the e-card, so I know how much I have left to spend. I don't know why it didn't work for you, unless it was another glitch!

OP, not sure what happened but what she said is 100% correct.  I constantly use partial values on my gift cards!!

31 minutes ago, Cruiselyne said:

Just bought our drink package at $51.99 on the Jewel of the Seas in August, 2024.

Congrats, Thats a steal!!

Was on her last week and had a great time.  Good food and friendly staff, what else can I ask for.  I really like this class of ship.   It does not have all the new bells and whistles of the newer ships, nor numerous dining options; but what is there is great!!   Always take reviews with a grain of salt, why people get a charge out of bashing is a mystery!!

2 minutes ago, Kelownabccan said:

Found it.....10% off......pay 450 get a 500 card.....or 90 for a 100 card.....interesting way to say....I should have done some more research before paying for three cabins....lol

Yes, I have been using these cards for years (1st from Allstate, now AARP)   Definitely worth the $12!

20 minutes ago, new_cruiser_75 said:

1st, I apologize - I'm sure that this has probably already been asked here but I couldn't quite figure out the best search terms and there are already 250 pages in this thread...

I joined AARP and purchased more than enough in gift cards to cover our cruise. Thank you all for this suggestion! Question: can I only use part of one of these e-cards (saving the rest for later) or can I use it all now leaving me with a positive balance?

OK, if I understand you correctly.   Yes, you can use part of a card and save the rest for later.  This can be done multiple times.  ($500 - $230 = $270, $270 - $75 = $195, $195 - $94.60 = $100.40, etc)  I do not think you can (at least I don't know how) have a $500 gift card use $200 and apply the other $300 to your account.

4 hours ago, new_cruiser_75 said:

I entered gift card info the other day. Received some kind of "success" message but can't figure out where those funds went to, they were definitely not applied to our balance 😕 Any ideas?

As ski_mom said, first check the balance and see if the card was used as you believe:  Carnival - Check Your Balance (ourgiftcards.com)

If the funds are not there, then I'd call the Fun Shops at 1-800-522-7648 and see if they can trace it??

Good luck and let us know

I know in the past there has been a person back there just for food items

On 1/14/2024 at 11:33 AM, msweezie said:

Hi,  I realized I can buy discounted gift cards from AARP, 100$ increments.   If I purchase the drink package for my upcoming Carnival cruise, I see I can pay with a gift card in my cart.  My question is can I use multiple gift cards?

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

Yes you can.   Best of all the site tells you how much you have remaining on your card, so you don't have to try and buy cards to fit what you're buying.   I like the $500 cards and I usually buy 5 at a time.  I pay for my deposit, my cruise fare, shore excursions, wifi, drink package, etc!!

Well hell, now you got me??   I'm not sure.  Sorry

The Erato Street Cruise Terminal at 1100 Port of New Orleans Place, New Orleans, LA 70130

is the closest parking for a Carnival Cruise.   It's basically in the same building as the terminal and accessible via a circular ramp.  It'll be pricey for 14 days, but your car will be off the street and fairly safe during Mardi Gras!!

1 hour ago, MeganGC1983 said:

Oh no! I just reviewed my photos and it’s BBQ… I’m sorry. Wah wah 

gosh darn!!   you had me excited.   Of course I don't hate the BBQ!!   Way better than Fish & Chips