Carnival Gift Card - 10% Bonus Offer

[billymatt]

Did anyone actually buy a card for their father? It will be interesting to see how this promo plays out, and whether Carnival decides they made or lost money from it. For us, we're planning a cruise in 2018 that probably would have been pushed much further out. So, hopefully they offer this again. :)

 

I made my wife and three year old son buy me some GCs over the weekend, so yes, someone did!:D

[Stateroom_Sailor]

As far as I can think of, these are the ways that cruise line is making money off this:

 

1. "Free" Loan. In our case, the bulk of it being 3 years away!

2. Lost/Stolen cards. People misplace them, or delete their e-mail codes.

3. Expired cards. A few of these freebies will never get redeemed.

4. Booking incentive. An extra cruise already paid for, sign me up!

5. Splurge. Hey, that free money is easiest to spend!

6. Competition. This is good for morale and bang per buck!

 

The one way they can lose money:

 

1. Discounted Cruise. If you have an upcoming cruise, and include the freebie money into your existing budget, the cruise line is losing 10%.

 

 

 

Which side wins, probably the first. ;)

[crusinpsychRN]

For those who had difficulties with the site--like I did--one didn't go through, one did--Carnival has screwed this up big time!

 

They just now called to fix the problem I had Saturday. I sure hope that promo code comes in an email before long--so I don't need to spend another bunch of time on the phone!

 

The second purchase worked fine on Sunday but trying to get help on the one I never got the email for was a major pain.

[loanshark]

As far as I can think of, these are the ways that cruise line is making money off this:

 

1. "Free" Loan. In our case, the bulk of it being 3 years away!

2. Lost/Stolen cards. People misplace them, or delete their e-mail codes.

3. Expired cards. A few of these freebies will never get redeemed.

4. Booking incentive. An extra cruise already paid for, sign me up!

5. Splurge. Hey, that free money is easiest to spend!

6. Competition. This is good for morale and bang per buck!

 

The one way they can lose money:

 

1. Discounted Cruise. If you have an upcoming cruise, and include the freebie money into your existing budget, the cruise line is losing 10%.

 

 

Which side wins, probably the first. ;)

 

 

 

I am going to take an educated guess here. Over the last year, I have seen many Carnival promotions that have had reduced deposits.... much more so than in the past. Also the free cruise offers that have been mentioned on here lead me to believe that Carnival's cash flows may be a little low compared to previous years' data. That being said, it wouldn't surprise me if Carnival purposely ran this promotion as a test, to see if it would increase their incoming revenues to bring them more in line with their historical levels.

 

Judging by the responses on this thread, most people are using the 10% bonus as allowing them to do a little extra splurging on the future vacations. (Mentions of drinks, future on-board credit, etc...). Very few are mentioning something to the effect of I'm making 10% on whatever I buy in gift cards, as I will be cashing out at the casino when I go on my cruise in a few weeks or a few months. That being said, this promotion will probably be a "win" for Carnival, as the 10% extra that is being obtained is goinged to be used for items that have fairly high markups. (Drinks, Excursions, Photos, etc...)

Edited June 17, 2014 by loanshark

[loanshark]

For what it's worth, they will probably lose money on me....

 

I ended up buying $1042 in gift cards to pay off a $1145.72 balance that I was due to pay off in the next 60 days anyway. I already had quite a bit of on-board credit available on this cruise ($100 stock / $100 future cruise credit / $200 promotional credit based on the rate code I booked).

 

I bought additional gift cards that will be credited to my S/S account in a few months when I board, and which will be withdrawn as cash at the casino while on board.

 

Not only did they lose $103.72 that I was going to pay anyway, but I now have a pretty solid 10% return on investment from them for the additional gift cards purchased.

[LVDFW]

Delete

Edited June 17, 2014 by LVDFW
Wrong thread

[Stateroom_Sailor]

For what it's worth, they will probably lose money on me....

 

Same here, other than I'm going to book a Carnival cruise sooner because of the promo. We spend about $30 a day on the ship, that's my budget no matter where the money comes from. I actually have $300 OBC for Adventures of the Seas, and am going to have to beef it up a bit, otherwise I would take the balance home.

 

By the way, whoever was talking about buying American Express cards at Office Depot, why not go ahead and buy them AND use them to buy the Carnival Cards? 10% + 10% would seem like a good combo to me. :confused:

[angiem0217]

Still no card. 😡

 

 

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[BLGBEACHGAL]

Still no card. 😡

 

 

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I still don't have mine either

[gremlinbangles]

Nope here either but hasn't been 48 hrs yet

 

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[VirtualCEO]

its been 48 hrs for me and no card

[cruizinisthebest]

Nothing here either.

 

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[NCTribeFan]

I'm not going to spend any more or less than I normally would, simply because I have a bonus e-card.

 

Yes, the bonus is "free" money, but it's just going on my S&S account once I board. I didn't purchase thousands of dollars of cards, so my bonus will be rather small ($20 + $50). It will almost cover the tips! :p But I'll also have OBC of $100 as a shareholder, $50 (my 1/2 of $100 OBC for group booking), and whatever else our group leader doles out to us for booking xx cabins. While not a big spender, I'll have no trouble using it all.

 

I'll use the $200 card to pay off my 1/2 of the balance of the November cruise. Haven't decided what to do with the $500 card. I'll probably use it while on board in November. If not, I'll get the balance back. I'm guessing I'll cruise again some time between Splendor cruises. No way will I make it from November until the next October without getting in another cruise! ;)

 

No bonus e-card last night at midnight or this morning at 5 am. I'll give them at least another 24 hours before becoming irate. Must remember that they weren't prepared to deal with Monday's purchases. It's not like I'm sailing this weekend (unfortunately).

[JinxyB]

I bought a 'test' $200 card on Sunday evening to see if it was legit and if I would get the bonus e-card. Both were emailed to me immediately. I thought I had until midnight Monday to buy another, so I waited. Once I saw they were extending the promo until 11:59 Monday, I bought a $1000 card e-card. I received the confirmation email immediately, but no bonus/promo card yet. In fact, my credit card was not charged until yesterday evening, so maybe they are just running behind. If I don't get the promo/bonus $100, I will be demanding a refund.

[angiem0217]

Has anyone called them yet?

 

 

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[gremlinbangles]

I haven't. I figure they need time and the original email s said 24 to 48 hrs

 

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[DirtDiver]

I haven't received my promo, or called yet. I figured I'd give them till tomorrow morning. If someone calls, please post what you had to go through.

[princessliz]

Just got this email from Carnival, so it appears we should see them within 10days and maybe not 48 hours (I did the ecard):

 

Dear Princessliz,

 

Thank you for contacting Carnival Cruise Lines. We received your e-mail message and appreciate the opportunity to be of assistance.

 

 

The promotion did indeed run through 11:59p.m. on June 16th and the promotional card will be issued separately from the purchased gift cards, within 10 days.

 

Thank you again for allowing us to be of assistance. If there is anything else we can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask.

Sincerely,

 

Shelly Young

Guest Solutions Specialist

Carnival Cruise Lines | 3655 NW 87th Avenue | Miami, FL 33178 |

800-438-6744

iCare@carnival.com

[sleepygirl1]

Just got this email from Carnival, so it appears we should see them within 10days and maybe not 48 hours (I did the ecard):

 

Dear Princessliz,

 

Thank you for contacting Carnival Cruise Lines. We received your e-mail message and appreciate the opportunity to be of assistance.

 

 

The promotion did indeed run through 11:59p.m. on June 16th and the promotional card will be issued separately from the purchased gift cards, within 10 days.

 

Thank you again for allowing us to be of assistance. If there is anything else we can do for you, please don't hesitate to ask.

Sincerely,

 

Shelly Young

Guest Solutions Specialist

Carnival Cruise Lines | 3655 NW 87th Avenue | Miami, FL 33178 |

800-438-6744

iCare@carnival.com

 

Thanks for the update. I guess I'll give them a little longer before contacting them.

[Noremacc]

Since the screw up on their end with the end date of the promotion, I am guessing that they have to go in and manually generate the 10% bonus gifts on all orders from Monday, 6/16. That may be what is taking longer on the ones ordered Monday. I am just glad I don't cruise until August, as these bonus cards expire. I can wait the 10 days or so to get them.

[disneyaholicraquel]

I just received my bonus card and I ordered Monday around 3 pm EST

Edited June 18, 2014 by disneyaholicraquel

[SteveYXE]

Ordered a $500 email gift card at around 2am Monday. Just received my $50 bonus a few minutes ago! Leaving on the Legend on Sunday!

 

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Edited June 18, 2014 by SteveYXE

[princessliz]

Yay! My $100 promo card just arrived in my email! Just to confirm, I purchased the $1000 ecard on Monday. Then made a couple of phone calls after I realized the promo had ended, but that got me NO WHERE! Then I sent the email. So, today I finally got the response to my email and a few minutes later the email with the promo card. I'm confident Carnival will rectify for everyone... just taking some time!

[TM&K]

I just received mine as well!

[telutel]

As the title says, I just got my Promo Gift Cards! Very happy!