12 month financing offer with 0% interest

[Gman2004]

I called Carnival about 1 hour ago to check on rates for a weekend gateway for me and my wife. The agent I spoke to said they are offering a limited time opportunity through Synchrony Financial to finance your cruise with 0% interest. You have to do a credit application. If approved your entire cruise amount is charged to the account and you’ll make 12 equal payments with 0% interest. We are looking to sail on the Ecstasy 3 day cruise on 11/14. It is only $659 for an ocean view for 2 people. I have the money to pay for it, but I thought it was pretty cool that I could charge the entire amount and only pay $55 per month for the next 12 months and not be charged any interest. Apparently it is something Carnival is testing and only a few agents in the call center can offer it during the test.

Edited October 1, 2014 by Gman2004

[ncovert]

I called Carnival about 1 hour ago to check on rates for a weekend gateway for me and my wife. The agent I spoke to said they are offering a limited time opportunity through Synchrony Financial to finance your cruise with 0% interest. You have to do a credit application. If approved your entire cruise amount is charged to the account and you’ll make 12 equal payments with 0% interest. We are looking to sail on the Ecstasy 3 day cruise on 11/14. It is only $659 for an ocean view for 2 people. I have the money to pay for it, but I thought it was pretty cool that I could charge the entire amount and only pay $55 per month for the next 12 months and not be charged any interest. Apparently it is something Carnival is testing and only a few agents in the call center can offer it during the test.

 

Huh... thanks for sharing your experience.

 

Happy sailing!

[lollylew]

That kind of sounds cool :-) Let's see if it works out 😊

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[T. Advisor King]

How is that significantly better than the normal terms where you put some token amount down (last time was $50 per person, for us) and then pay the entire balance off just a couple weeks before the cruise? The standard Carnival terms seem like a better "zero interest" financing plan than having to pay the entire balance off in equal monthly payments.

 

I'm probably missing something, so I'll stick around for the replies.

[falkcor]

How is that significantly better than the normal terms where you put some token amount down (last time was $50 per person, for us) and then pay the entire balance off just a couple weeks before the cruise? The standard Carnival terms seem like a better "zero interest" financing plan than having to pay the entire balance off in equal monthly payments.

 

I'm probably missing something, so I'll stick around for the replies.

 

I believe that the difference, as detailed above, is that you would be able to continue to make the payments AFTER the actual cruise is taken.

 

op mentioned 11/14 cruise date. So book now in 10/14, take the cruise in a month, and you have the subsequent balance of 12 months to pay for the cruise, at 0% interest. This is new, if I read that right.

[OCruisers]

Sadly, it will encourage some to take cruises they actually can't afford.:(

[mrneil001]

Not sure if this is worth the credit pull...

[Gman2004]

I believe that the difference, as detailed above, is that you would be able to continue to make the payments AFTER the actual cruise is taken.

 

op mentioned 11/14 cruise date. So book now in 10/14, take the cruise in a month, and you have the subsequent balance of 12 months to pay for the cruise, at 0% interest. This is new, if I read that right.

 

Exactly! I have the money to pay for it, but I'd rather make small monthly payments.

 

I bought a new house in Decmeber and purchased hardwood floors with a similar offer only it was 6 months equal payments with 0% interest. I did it through GE Capital. Apparently Synchrony Financial is formerly GE Capital.

Edited October 1, 2014 by Gman2004

[Gman2004]

Sadly, it will encourage some to take cruises they actually can't afford.:(

 

I would venture to guess that some are doing that now only they are paying interest on their regular credit cards.

[jennmaybe]

Not sure if this is worth the credit pull...

 

Definitely not. We also don't want to be paying for a cruise 6 months after we took it. Besides, we like using our credit card that gives us points that we use for travel.

[bruadhin]

Not sure if this is worth the credit pull...

 

Are you implying one hard check on someone's credit is enough to tank their credit score? If so, they were already in a bad spot regarding their credit.

 

I generally take advantage of every one of these offers I can find and my credit score is still exceptionally high. The key is to only buy what you were going to buy anyway and to make sure you pay it off in full and on time.

 

A previous poster is correct though, people will end up booking cruises they really can't afford. In fact, Synchrony is counting on it. They don't make money on 0%, but they definitely make it when you go past the 12 months and they get to charge you all the deferred interest and new interest.

[hirent]

Not sure if this is worth the credit pull...

 

Credit checks do not affect the scores; late payments & missed payments do!

As long as you keep fulfilling your obligations, reasonable amount of credit checks do not affect your credit scores.

Only an abnormal amount of checks in a short period of time will draw a flag.

[Cruiseaholichal]

I would be very wary of the pricing,;)

[Gman2004]

I would be very wary of the pricing,;)

 

The financing offer can be used with any promotion. Early Saver is not available on the sailing I looked at, but I asked how it impacts Early Saver repricing. He told me outside final payment the cruise is repriced and a credit in that amount is applied to the account.

[9876]

Just make sure to pay it off by the end of the promotion period. The last thing you want is to pay all that retroactive interest that will be charged if you don't.

Edited October 1, 2014 by 9876

[Isa65]

Travel Agents are already doing this. Payment plans (weekly, monthly) with zero interest.

But I've never heard of payments AFTER the cruise is over.

[falkcor]

Sadly, it will encourage some to take cruises they actually can't afford.:(

 

plenty of people already do that every cruise. They use credit cards, and often pay interest, or already use those that offer the 0 percent for expressly that reason. This is not something new to the consumer, its just new to see the cruise line themselves 'hook it up'

[falkcor]

Not sure if this is worth the credit pull...

 

for some of what I assume is the target demo, it actually could be a good thing. Assuming they don't have a lot of hard inquiries in a short period (as discussed by others) it would not have a large effect.

 

further, if approved, and they took on that obligation, somewhat sizeable at that, paid on time and in full, it could actually be advantageous.

 

finally, its not as if a lot of people don't already apply for the CCL MasterCard onboard. This is not much different really.

 

it will work for some people. It may make no sense to those that want to or can pay in full on day one. But I don't think anyone should be judging frankly.

Edited October 2, 2014 by falkcor

[overeasy]

I think I'll stick with the layaway plan.

BUT

I can see how some folks might buy a Bigger Better Cruise if they can pay it off later.

[bplazo]

I make sure that I have everything paid before I cruise because it would be too depressing to get a bill after the cruise.

[bury me at sea]

Carnival allows one to pay as comfortable prior to final payment date at 0% interest. Not interested in paying for last cruise while planning next cruise. Flame away, I consider this as total spam.

[cruizinisthebest]

carnival allows one to pay as comfortable prior to final payment date at 0% interest. Not interested in paying for last cruise while planning next cruise. Flame away, i consider this as total spam.

 

ita!

[Vitality08]

Exactly! I have the money to pay for it, but I'd rather make small monthly payments.

 

I bought a new house in Decmeber and purchased hardwood floors with a similar offer only it was 6 months equal payments with 0% interest. I did it through GE Capital. Apparently Synchrony Financial is formerly GE Capital.

 

It is. I have a Value City furniture card. The offer was 3 years no interest. A month or so ago I logged in to GE Capital to look at my statement and it went to Synchrony Financial.

[scoobyfish]

Whoever thought that credit pulls does not affect your credit should be aware that it is a fallacy. It certainly is a factor that goes into your credit score.

[Illyria]

If you need to use a financing plan to go on a cruise, you cannot afford the cruise, plain and simple.

 

It's an absolute fact that a hard credit pull affects your credit score (it's not a major influence, but it still counts). Also, I suspect that this type of 0% financing offer would be on par with 0% promotions that you get at places like furniture or appliance stores (buy now, pay nothing until year 20xx) - these are counted by credit bureaus as "last resort" credit, not necessarily fairly, but it basically has a worse effect on your credit than a normal credit line would.