Cruise/bar cash vs Sail and Sign card

[Kenster]

What's the advantage of cruise cash account vs just charging drinks, etc to your cabin?  Do you get any discounts for  putting in the cash up front?

[coevan]

mileage, mileage and mileage, use our credit card for everything

[scpirate]

Nope cruise cash your prepaying for your convenience.it helps those that can't manage their finances.

[bury me at sea]

 

Everything you purchase on the ship is charged to your S&S account.  You can pre-fund it with cruise cash, or you can fund it after you board with cash, Carnival gift cards, a debit card (I highly discourage), a credit card, or any combination of these choices.

 

Cruise cash is spend it or forfeit it.  Gift cards and/or cash are settle up at the end of the cruise, credit cards are pay for it after you get home.

 

There is a discount for purchasing the alcoholic Cheers package and the non-alcoholic Bottomless Bubbles prior to cruising.

 

All of these options are explained on the Carnival website.

 

Happy sailing.

 

 

[mafiadon]

22 minutes ago, scpirate said:

Nope cruise cash your prepaying for your convenience.it helps those that can't manage their finances.

That is a pretty snarky remark to make about people you don't even know.  I buy cruise cash because I like to have most things paid up not because I can't manage my finances. Your remarks are uncalled for 

[FTLCruiseGal]

23 minutes ago, mafiadon said:

That is a pretty snarky remark to make about people you don't even know.  I buy cruise cash because I like to have most things paid up not because I can't manage my finances. Your remarks are uncalled for 

Thank you.  I thought this exact same thing about their comments.

 

I do cruise cash for the same reason as you -- so that it is paid for and I don't have to worry about it at the time of the cruise.

Edited May 30, 2019 by FTLCruiseGal

[ober134]

I manage my finances just fine. I'm an accountant. I have a master's degree. I buy cruise cash. It's called budgeting. Still put the balance of spending on a credit card that provides travel points. One thing mentioned above I disagree  with: you can get cruise cash back.... Use sign&sail in casino slot machine.... Take a couple pulls (who knows you might get lucky) then cash out at the office at casino.

[smurfm69]

 We also like to get some cruise cash months in advance to pre pay for some of the purchases we make on the ship.  Keeps the final sail & sign bill low.

[coevan]

1 hour ago, FTLCruiseGal said:

Thank you.  I thought this exact same thing about their comments.

 

I do cruise cash for the same reason as you -- so that it is paid for and I don't have to worry about it at the time of the cruise.

 

 

not being snarky, but is this not describing managing your money. Why not pay when you get home and get the rewards? 

[Purvis1231]

4 minutes ago, coevan said:

 

 

not being snarky, but is this not describing managing your money. Why not pay when you get home and get the rewards? 

I choose to pay off my cruise expense in a variety of ways. Sometimes cruise cash and sometimes a credit card- to each his own. 

[FTLCruiseGal]

37 minutes ago, coevan said:

 

 

not being snarky, but is this not describing managing your money. Why not pay when you get home and get the rewards? 

Who said I don’t get rewards?  I use a credit card with which I earn points to purchase the cruise cash.  

 

Now, to reply to the OP, if you purchase gift cards through AARP or AllState, you do get 10% off ($500 gift card costs you $450).  If you use those gift cards to purchase the cruise cash, you will get a discount that way.

[Schoifmom]

12 hours ago, coevan said:

 

 

not being snarky, but is this not describing managing your money. Why not pay when you get home and get the rewards? 

 

1.  Not everyone has or wants credit cards

2.  Not everyone wants to have a bill that they have to pay for after the vacation is over

3.  Some of us purchase using discounted gift cards (that 10% is worth much more than whatever points or miles you are getting on a credit card)

4.  If you can't afford to pay cash for something, you can't afford it

 

That IS managing your money.

 

Snarky? Yes, you were.  Also, judgmental and insensitive.

Edited May 31, 2019 by Schoifmom

[ray98]

No benefit other than Carnival marketing patting themselves on the back.

[RandomUser123]

The only advantage I see with Cruise Cash is sites sometimes sell carnival gift cards at a discount so people buy them to then put on cruise cash. I have seen posts here saying AARP members get 10% off Carnival Gift Cards. 

[n6uqqq]

41 minutes ago, RandomUser123 said:

The only advantage I see with Cruise Cash is sites sometimes sell carnival gift cards at a discount so people buy them to then put on cruise cash. I have seen posts here saying AARP members get 10% off Carnival Gift Cards. 

If you are buying gift cards that is all you really need. They can be applied to your sail and sign account and any excess funds will be refunded to another gift card after the cruise. No need for any casino trickery 🤣 to get your money back.

[n6uqqq]

2 hours ago, ray98 said:

No benefit other than Carnival marketing patting themselves on the back.

 

You are correct. You pay x dollars and get those exact x dollars back at a later date. That is called a loan in the real world! You can make a case for cruise cash etc when buying it as a gift for someone else taking a cruise.

Edited May 31, 2019 by n6uqqq

[coevan]

3 hours ago, Schoifmom said:

3.  Some of us purchase using discounted gift cards (that 10% is worth much more than whatever points or miles you are getting on a credit card)

 

 

 

I bought $1600 worth of AARP cards to pay for Cheers and charged it to Capital One for $1440 and 2800 miles. Insensitive? to what?

[ray98]

31 minutes ago, n6uqqq said:

 

You are correct. You pay x dollars and get those exact x dollars back at a later date. That is called a loan in the real world! You can make a case for cruise cash etc when buying it as a gift for someone else taking a cruise.

 

Sometimes I wonder how that first meeting went when the idea was proposed.

 

 

 

'Hey guys....I have an idea....we should sell non-refundable paper vouchers that can only be spent on the ship".

'How much of a discount would we offer?'

"None"

'Why would people trade cash for a non-refundable credit of the same value that comes with restrictions when they could just put the cash in a sock drawer and bring it with them?'

"Oh....they will"

"It will never work"

"watch"

[n6uqqq]

15 minutes ago, coevan said:

 

 

 

I bought $1600 worth of AARP cards to pay for Cheers and charged it to Capital One for $1440 and 2800 miles. Insensitive? to what?

 

I call that a good deal!

[Schoifmom]

50 minutes ago, coevan said:

 

 

 

I bought $1600 worth of AARP cards to pay for Cheers and charged it to Capital One for $1440 and 2800 miles. Insensitive? to what?

 

Telling people that they aren't managing their money, just because their method of management is different than yours (which is a very personal, private decision) is insensitive.

[coevan]

2 hours ago, Schoifmom said:

 

Telling people that they aren't managing their money, just because their method of management is different than yours (which is a very personal, private decision) is insensitive.

 

 

 

seriously dude, read my post. I never told anyone how to manage their money. I agreed with another poster. 

[crewsweeper]

Cruise cash/discount cards:  Pay before to lessen what's owed after cruise.

 

S&S: Pay later.

[Organized Chaos]

3 hours ago, coevan said:

I bought $1600 worth of AARP cards to pay for Cheers and charged it to Capital One for $1440 and 2800 miles. Insensitive? to what?

 

In one of the AARP threads 12 days ago, you said you didn't even know what the codes were for. Then you went back to it three days ago just to insult everyone by saying the thread should be locked. Now you say you bought $1,600 worth of AARP gift cards. Were you just lying about not knowing what the codes were for? So you use the rewards program yourself, but just enjoy attacking people in those threads, or what?

 

 

[Organized Chaos]

4 hours ago, RandomUser123 said:

I have seen posts here saying AARP members get 10% off Carnival Gift Cards. 

 

Yes and no. You can get the 10% off Carnival cards through AARP, but you don't have to be a member. You just have to sign up for a free rewards account.

 

If anyone is interested, here's a comment in the main AARP thread that explains more about it. You can look through that thread for more info or post if you have any questions: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2126427-aarp-gift-cards/page/115/?tab=comments#comment-57127082

[Organized Chaos]

14 minutes ago, crewsweeper said:

Cruise cash/discount cards:  Pay before to lessen what's owed after cruise.

 

S&S: Pay later.

 

Your S&S is just the onboard spending account. You still have to link a method of payment to it. So you only pay later if you use a credit/debit card. If you're using Cruise Cash and/or gift cards, that's still your S&S (they have to be deposited into your S&S account). The difference being, those two methods are purchased ahead of time.