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Slight inconvenience with gift cards

Razor_Poke

By Razor_Poke,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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Razor_Poke

Razor_Poke

Posted
Posted

I forgot to mention this in my recent review of the Dream.

 

I had $525 in gift cards upon check in, some of the PayPal digital gift cards and the others were the real cards from AARP.

 

When presented at the counter, the lady said she didn't know how to do gift cards and told me to go to guest services once on board.

 

Luckily I had FTTF so i got service quickly. Those things are understandably a pain because each one has to be entered individually. It probably took a good 15 minutes to enter the 9 that I had.

 

Anyway, just a heads up. I'm not sure if the agent was straight with me or if she just didn't want to deal with it.

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splintz

splintz

Posted
Posted

i have used many on the computer or phone to book a cruise or pay for excursions. have not used them on board yet. can you put them in yourself at the kiosks? or does it have to be done by guest services.

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babs125

babs125

Posted
Posted
i have used many on the computer or phone to book a cruise or pay for excursions. have not used them on board yet. can you put them in yourself at the kiosks? or does it have to be done by guest services.

 

 

You can do it at the kiosks.

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TerReuv

TerReuv

Posted
Posted

We used gift cards for our S&S card on our last cruise and the check in person was not able to apply them. We, too, had to go to GS to apply them. That was before I knew I could apply them at the Kiosk.

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firemanbobswife

firemanbobswife

Posted
Posted (edited)

The lady that checked me in in February straight up asked me if I had any gift cards when she saw my cash account. She offered to apply them right then and there. I was a little surprised since every other time I had to go to GS or the kiosks. She printed out a receipt for each one and had me sign.

 

She asked if I gambled much and said she loves to go cruising and spends a ton of time in the casino and gets free cabins all the time. I would have loved to been on the ship with her. It would have been a blast!

 

Anyway, I think it depends on who you get.

Edited by firemanbobswife
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bar1068

bar1068

Posted
Posted

With regards to the kiosks, are they any better with being able to swipe the magnetic strip on the gift card? My experience has not been good, and had read here others said the same.

 

I mostly get ecards rather than the physical plastic cards when I can, unless a good deal on the physical card, if I gotta type in the number, don't really need the card for that with an ecard....but if the kiosks have improved could get plastic next time.

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winddawn

winddawn

Posted
Posted
i have used many on the computer or phone to book a cruise or pay for excursions. have not used them on board yet. can you put them in yourself at the kiosks? or does it have to be done by guest services.

Gift cards cannot be applied to S&S at the kiosks onboard. You have to take them to Guest Services.

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zdcatc12

zdcatc12

Posted
Posted

I mostly get ecards rather than the physical plastic cards when I can, unless a good deal on the physical card, if I gotta type in the number, don't really need the card for that with an ecard....but if the kiosks have improved could get plastic next time.

 

Just curious about this, what is the difference whether you type in a number off an e-mail printed out or on your phone or type in a number off the card, isn't it the same thing?

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janjan3839

janjan3839

Posted
Posted

We were able to put the gift cards into our accounts at the kiosks on the Breeze in July. No problem. I ended up putting in more than I used, and about week later received a refund in the mail. A gift card, that I can use in January on the Vista!

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firemanbobswife

firemanbobswife

Posted
Posted
Just curious about this, what is the difference whether you type in a number off an e-mail printed out or on your phone or type in a number off the card, isn't it the same thing?

 

 

It's the same thing. With the cards you get via email you can print them or just save the pics on your phone. It doesn't matter either way and I have done it both ways.

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bar1068

bar1068

Posted
Posted (edited)
Just curious about this, what is the difference whether you type in a number off an e-mail printed out or on your phone or type in a number off the card, isn't it the same thing?

 

Point was if the cards would load at the kiosk by swiping the magnetic strip, I would get cards. That way should be more efficient, less room for error.

 

Since they don't swipe, I get ecards. Store the emails on my phone, enter the numbers when I get onboard. Not a huge deal, just prefer not to carry cards.

 

But, seems most of the deals ie. AARP or Verizon are only for physical cards, not ecards.....Carnival has run a couple of deals, and with those I've been able to get ecards in the past...not seen any Carnival deals lately.

 

This is, you know, like a preference thing...kinda like the discussion about carrying your s&s card in a pocket or lanyard...its whatever works best as perceived by the individual.

Edited by bar1068
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cruizinisthebest

cruizinisthebest

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Posted
Gift cards cannot be applied to S&S at the kiosks onboard. You have to take them to Guest Services.

 

Not true. At least not for the Freedom or the Sunshine for me. A friend of mine had no trouble on the Splendor back in May.

 

Not every port allows you to load them there. Sometimes you have no choice but to do it on the ship via kiosk or guest services. Being that they could never be loaded ahead of time, I don't find the process an inconvenience. Comes with the territory. I do purchase a little cruise cash for all of us so that I don't NEED to load them right away. Usually by the evening, the kiosks and lines have died down.

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simplelife

simplelife

Posted
Posted
Gift cards cannot be applied to S&S at the kiosks onboard. You have to take them to Guest Services.

 

We are just off Magic. The kiosk would not process our cards so we went to guest services and had them applied. The person who assisted us said that the kiosks could not process gift cards because a signature was needed.

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