The NEW Carnival Gift Cards Site is open

[PittsburghGirlee]

Just got my BFF's DH one for Christmas. Excellent timing as we are leaving on the Liberty in January and I was unsure as what to get him......

NOW, just let someone ask me what I want for Christmas;)

PrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrFECT:D:D:D

[cruise_pirate]

You can get any or all the cash out of your onboard acount at any slot machine in the casino, easy peasy.

 

Yes that is a good plan as long as they do not put a stop to it. :). I have not decided which way to go with them yet for our Jan cruise. Part of me says try it, and part of me says just call in the OBC as I have done in the past.

 

 

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[klmorg]

Yes that is a good plan as long as they do not put a stop to it. :). I have not decided which way to go with them yet for our Jan cruise. Part of me says try it, and part of me says just call in the OBC as I have done in the past.

 

 

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Personally, I like to call & have OBC added to my booking. But this is a nice alternative or gift idea (unless you live in Canada:()

[sbnuggie]

Personally, I like to call & have OBC added to my booking. But this is a nice alternative or gift idea (unless you live in Canada:()

 

Who do you call to have OBC added, I used to do the Fun Ship Dollars and have them applied electronically (the old put your booking # in the address line) but that was through the Bon Voyage Department etc but then they stopped letting you do that by disabling the states and making you call them direct. Now thats stopped to go with the Gift Cards.

 

Who do you call to have it done over teh phone now?

[Mom2JJandJ]

Who do you call to have OBC added, I used to do the Fun Ship Dollars and have them applied electronically (the old put your booking # in the address line) but that was through the Bon Voyage Department etc but then they stopped letting you do that by disabling the states and making you call them direct. Now thats stopped to go with the Gift Cards.

 

Who do you call to have it done over teh phone now?

 

According to the website, the FSD's have now been discontinued, and now you HAVE to go with the Gift Cards. They used to have a number to call to apply the $$$ as OBC, but I can't find it anymore. Again, according to the website, you can't call to buy a Gift Card, you have to do it online.

 

Personally, I will be calling the the next couple of weeks to add some OBC to my account for my next cruise, and I'll see what happens then. I will update if there's any new info to update with. I used to just call the Bon Voyage Department when I wanted to do stuff like this... we'll see what happens now.

 

Good luck!!!

Edited December 7, 2012 by Mom2JJandJ

[BSQ]

Currently, you can still buy FSD via the link above. If you want them to be applied to your onboard account, just put the booking number in place of everything that doesn't require an input (state, for example), and you should be good.

 

That has worked every time I've done it previously, and that's been 8 times so far.

 

Good luck!

 

No you can't FSD online form has been non-functioning for a couple months now.

[RuthlessBoss]

Because it says if you apply the funds from a Carnival gift card to your onboard account it will be non-refundable dollars. Not good if you don't spend everything while on board. Either wasted or burnt dollars.

So, use it first for gratuities, then other spending. Don't register a debit nor credit card, or continue S&S with cash.

[Mom2JJandJ]

No you can't FSD online form has been non-functioning for a couple months now.

 

Sorry, not true. More like a couple of days. I just purchased some and had them applied to my onboard account on Sunday the 2nd - AND

 

According to the website, the FSD's have now been discontinued, and now you HAVE to go with the Gift Cards. They used to have a number to call to apply the $$$ as OBC, but I can't find it anymore. Again, according to the website, you can't call to buy a Gift Card, you have to do it online.

Edited December 8, 2012 by Mom2JJandJ

[sparks1093]

It appears like a good program. Personally I would use them primarily as a tool to set aside money for a deposit on a cruise or to pay for the cruise itself (but could see me using them toward the S&S account). One question that I have that I didn't see answered is when do the cards expire, if ever? Will have to research that one. Found the answer:

Q: Does my gift card expire?

A: Standard Gift Cards have no expiration date. Promotional Gift Cards may carry an expiration date which will be printed on the front of the Gift Card.

 

As for the non-refundable issue when used as OBC I would not put all of my cards on my account unless I knew that I was going to use it all. For example, if I bought $1000 in gift cards I would put $500 on the S&S and add the remaining cards as I needed them. Knowing that they never expire means that any remaining cards could be used toward my next deposit:D.

Edited December 8, 2012 by sparks1093

[nukeman]

Gift cards while good idea for some, I am disappointed to find out they do not refund you if you do not use all the money.:mad:

[reerun25]

I think the gift cards are a good idea, but I would like to know if it is still possible to call and have money put on your S&S account prior to sailing. I don't care about the argument the CCL gets to keep my money and I could be earning interest. Pre-paying to build up my S&S helps me personally, if it doesn't work you you, so be it. It was a great thing for me to use, and I would hate for it to not be possible in the future. If the only option is to make me buy the gift cards, and then go to GS on-board to have them applied, that will be crappy. If I use $200 cash and a $100 gift card to get $300 on my S&S, and at the end of the cruise I spent $275, how are they going to determine if the $25 left is from my cash and I get a refund, or if it is from my gift card and I don't get a refund?

[sparks1093]

Gift cards while good idea for some, I am disappointed to find out they do not refund you if you do not use all the money.:mad:

 

I would imagine it's like any other gift card, if you present a $25 gift card at Target for a $12 purchase you still have a $13 balance on your card. Target wouldn't give you a cash refund of that $13 but it is still available for you to use.

[2 cruzen]

not sure why everyone even wants these........??? IMHO just another way for Carnival to hold your money.......and yes, I am a Diamond on Carnival......but all the changes they've made this last year.....I'm just "not a believer" anymore.....

 

If you wish to be diamond on RCCL, you should be booking their cruises, not 4 more on CCL....just making an observation.

[cruise_pirate]

I would imagine it's like any other gift card, if you present a $25 gift card at Target for a $12 purchase you still have a $13 balance on your card. Target wouldn't give you a cash refund of that $13 but it is still available for you to use.

 

Not according to their website. Any unused money is Non refundable.. Hoping for better clarification on this.

 

 

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[Sparky15]

Just a note to all you international people. Not from USA. They say that there will be a Canadian and United Kingdom version sometime soon. Will probably take as long as the loyality program did. The rest of you international people I guess don't matter to Carnival as you cannot buy these cards. I tried to get one yesterday and found that I cannot get one as the rest of you Canadians. Managements solution was to suggest that you buy cruise dollar certificates but they can only be used to buy a cruise. They cannot be used on board the ships.

[crusinpsychRN]

Direct a letter to Gary Cahill. I'm sure he doesn't want to miss out on revenue.

 

(Apology in advance if the board updates and this a nearly a double post, don't know what happened to my first post about this.)

[Danacat222]

My view is that they are GIFT cards, not necessarily meant for someone to use as a savings account towards a future cruise, my bank has an option to put money aside towards a vacation or special purchase and that account is interest earning. My opinion is that a gift card is meant to be given to an individual or individuals as a gift, I don't see the logic in buying them for yourself as one way or another you are paying out of pocket, just save your money for the cruise and don't worry about getting or not getting refunds for unused portions of a gift card. There is not a way to please everyone and i think the intention of the program is very good.

[klmorg]

Gift cards while good idea for some, I am disappointed to find out they do not refund you if you do not use all the money.:mad:

 

All you do is go to a casino slot machine & you can withdraw it from your onboard account; very easy to do. Most gift cards are non-refundable.

[cruise_pirate]

My view is that they are GIFT cards, not necessarily meant for someone to use as a savings account towards a future cruise, my bank has an option to put money aside towards a vacation or special purchase and that account is interest earning. My opinion is that a gift card is meant to be given to an individual or individuals as a gift, I don't see the logic in buying them for yourself as one way or another you are paying out of pocket, just save your money for the cruise and don't worry about getting or not getting refunds for unused portions of a gift card. There is not a way to please everyone and i think the intention of the program is very good.

 

My logic is I take money I save and purchase OBC via my seamiles card and reap double points.

 

If I just take the cash and apply it I get nothing. Works for me cause I always get OBC via the rewards.

[sparks1093]

Not according to their website. Any unused money is Non refundable.. Hoping for better clarification on this.

 

 

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All non-refundable means is you can't get cash back, it doesn't mean that the unused balance doesn't remain on the card for future use (which isn't a refund in any event). I find it hard to believe that CCL would take a card with say, $500 on it, apply $400 toward the sail and sign and then say "sorry, your card balance is now zero because you didn't use it all". (Of course the proof is in the pudding so we will have to wait and see.)

Edited December 8, 2012 by sparks1093

[hcso911]

Love the idea of the gift card but the lines at the guest services desk are going to be hours long with everyone there with all these cards trying to get them on their account..They need to have a way to add them by phone or internet

[DGP1111]

Love the idea of the gift card but the lines at the guest services desk are going to be hours long with everyone there with all these cards trying to get them on their account..They need to have a way to add them by phone or internet

 

A small percentage of passengers will use them, and the process should (but remember, this is CCL) be rather quick.

On some of the ships, the savvy passenger will use one of the self-service kiosks to swap the gift card funds over to onboard credit. Much quicker, and much shorter line.

 

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[shipty2]

Just a note to all you international people. Not from USA. They say that there will be a Canadian and United Kingdom version sometime soon. Will probably take as long as the loyality program did. The rest of you international people I guess don't matter to Carnival as you cannot buy these cards. I tried to get one yesterday and found that I cannot get one as the rest of you Canadians. Managements solution was to suggest that you buy cruise dollar certificates but they can only be used to buy a cruise. They cannot be used on board the ships.

 

 

Just to update this post:I was able to buy four of these (a wedding gift from four different people)yesterday even though I have a Canadian address. I chose the "e gift card option" and put my correct address but added an american zip code . This was after hours on the phone with carnival and the gift card company all telling me I can't order them even though the carnival site states that I can.

[kkitty44]

What else is new... some sites don't even list our province (PEI) when they do have Canadian sales available. C'est la vie...;)

 

Great idea though, I am sure it is just a matter of time when they are available north of the border.

 

I'm in ontario and I'm bummed too. I was buying one for a friend's birthday which is in a few weeks, but... alas... :(

[kkitty44]

All non-refundable means is you can't get cash back, it doesn't mean that the unused balance doesn't remain on the card for future use (which isn't a refund in any event). I find it hard to believe that CCL would take a card with say, $500 on it, apply $400 toward the sail and sign and then say "sorry, your card balance is now zero because you didn't use it all". (Of course the proof is in the pudding so we will have to wait and see.)

 

from what i understand you're correct. i read through all the FAQs yesterday and they don't expire either. but yes you'll be able to use it all. But as you said, you won't get cash back (except where state laws dictate that you can't have non-refundable cards). They also mention on the FAQs that they can't be used on one of the ships (The Spirit, i think) because the Spirit's currency is AUD, not USD.

 

I read all the terms and FAQs and I found them to be pretty normal for a gift card and pretty fair terms. I'll be buying one as soon as they're available in canada. Given their percentage of canadian clients, I'm surprised they didn't make them available to canadians right off the start