Cancelled vista sailing- paid in GIFT CARDS

[laurp88]

Hello!

After finding out about the AARP gift cards, I bought a whole bunch and paid the majority of the cruise, the excursions, tips, and transportation (airport back and forth to ship) with the cards.   Now that the cruise is cancelled I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the refund process.   I just called up and the lady was pretty clueless-  she thinks I’ll get gift cards mailed back to me.  But she didn’t sound very convincing.    Is anyone in the same boat?  Anyone have any idea how this works?   I feel like I’m at a loss of a few thousand dollars.  ☹️ 

[laurp88]

I just did more research and it seems in previous instances people did get new cards mailed to them.   I think I’m just being anxious. 

[jbethel11]

6 minutes ago, laurp88 said:

Hello!

After finding out about the AARP gift cards, I bought a whole bunch and paid the majority of the cruise, the excursions, tips, and transportation (airport back and forth to ship) with the cards.   Now that the cruise is cancelled I was wondering if anyone knew anything about the refund process.   I just called up and the lady was pretty clueless-  she thinks I’ll get gift cards mailed back to me.  But she didn’t sound very convincing.    Is anyone in the same boat?  Anyone have any idea how this works?   I feel like I’m at a loss of a few thousand dollars.  ☹️ 

You will get the refunds to both your original payment method (credit card) and the rest in gift cards. Not sure if they are e-gift cards or mailed.

[2wheelin]

Not sure how they handle it when they cancel the cruise but I was told by a PVP that if you cancel, you will be mailed a new gift card which USUALLY arrives in a short time. This may already have been done in your situation. I was inquiring about canceling one reservation and rebooking under a different code. In that situation, if I had booked with Carnival, they would be able to reapply the amount without refunding. However, since I booked with a TA, they would have to mail me a gift card first.

[PalmTree601]

Every time I've had a gift-card-paid balance on my Sail&Sign account at the end of a cruise, I receive a Fedex package with a new physical gift card for the exact refund amount only a few days after the cruise.  My guess is that they would use the same process for you, although I've never had a cruise cancelled on me.  I can also imagine it might take a bit of extra time since they have a LOT of refunds to process...  Good luck! 

 

[Lottacruises]

Stay on them of they don't refund via gift card in a timely manner.  Don't just assume they are taking care of it. Call them and ask if you don't receive it in a few weeks. 

 

A lot of refunds to issue, yes, but it's only for a few sailings. Meanwhile, there are no delays in accepting payment for ALL future cruises  on ALL ships. Don't accept excuses.

Edited June 25, 2019 by Lottacruises

[jc4me]

I have cancelled a cruise that I paid for with gift cards and got the refund sent to me in the form of a gift card.

[scpirate]

10 hours ago, jbethel11 said:

You will get the refunds to both your original payment method (credit card) and the rest in gift cards. Not sure if they are e-gift cards or mailed.

They are mailed .I paid part of my Cuba cruise iwith a gift card .I received one in the mail a week after I cancelled.smart on carnivals part.i was hoping for it all to go on my credit card but now I have to take a carnival cruise.which I' was pretty much done with carnival but we wanted to cruise out our home state one time so Bahamas for the third time here we come.the gift card has been used.

[CA_Cruzing]

Any refunds are always made in the same payment form as received. 

 

If you paid with gift cards, then you’ll receive gift cards as refunded payment. 

 

Physical cards will be mailed to you. If the sum is large, they might arrive express carrier with signature required. 

[SNJCruisers]

4 hours ago, scpirate said:

They are mailed .I paid part of my Cuba cruise iwith a gift card .I received one in the mail a week after I cancelled.smart on carnivals part.i was hoping for it all to go on my credit card but now I have to take a carnival cruise.which I' was pretty much done with carnival but we wanted to cruise out our home state one time so Bahamas for the third time here we come.the gift card has been used.

It is just smart business by Carnival to refund you in the method of payment that you chose to pay with.  The portion of your Cuba cruise that you paid with a gift card will of course be refunded to you with a new gift card.  You do have the option of course to sell that gift card to a relative or friend or business associate  since you wanted to be done with cruising on Carnival.  Of course you're not stuck with going to the Bahamas a third time if you just drive or fly to FLA where you have many options if you decide to not sell your card.  You pay a premium to sail out of Charleston because of no competition and of course you're also stuck with secondary ports as well.

[2wheelin]

According to gift card regulations, they cannot be resold, but you could gift them to someone in exchange for a nice piece of paper with a dollar amount written on it. Then you exchange that piece of paper at the bank for other paper. 😁

Never heard of anyone being charged with resale of gift cards.

[jbethel11]

Just now, 2wheelin said:

piece of paper with a dollar amount written on it

Hehe...cotton-linen-paper...hehe

[ricew001]

Hello. I just dealt with this!!!! The day after the Cuba cancellation I called and changed our cruise to a different ship/date/itin. I had paid for the whole cruise, the excursions, CHEERS!, faster to the fun in gift cards. I got multiple Fed Ex packages with multiple gift cards - got the last one two days ago. I talked to so many people at Carnival and they were all confused. Thankfully it all came back to me, but I'm so glad I kept screenshots and receipts for everything. Be sure to keep all documentation.