Discounted Carvival Gift Cards

[lisa702]

On buying the Carnival gift cards from AARP has anyone noticed how long it now takes to receive them? I ordered mid April and still waiting. I contacted them and was told it now takes up to 3 months so just be aware. I may not get them before my final payment is due in 3 weeks.

[bury me at sea]

21 minutes ago, lisa702 said:

On buying the Carnival gift cards from AARP has anyone noticed how long it now takes to receive them? I ordered mid April and still waiting. I contacted them and was told it now takes up to 3 months so just be aware. I may not get them before my final payment is due in 3 weeks.

 

I am totally confused by this.  Last I knew AARP offered only e-gift cards for Carnival, no physical cards.  The card and pin numbers were e-mailed virtually immediately upon purchase.

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, LMKakaThing2 said:

 

I actually found a great deal for 5 days on the Paradise in September. Received a casino offer for $25pp plus drinks on us and $100obc. Taxes were $199, but couldn’t pass up only paying $249. I don’t think I’ve ever paid less than $249pp, so to find a cruise all in for 2ppl was a no brainer.

We’ll being buying the gift cards to use as additional obc, but we’re going to wait until the day before we leave home. No sense in buying them now when there’s still a lot of uncertainty with the cruising.


Sent from my iPhone

 

I just booked for august 31 out of Galveston. I wouldnt say was a great deal but was the best deal I could find for august out of Galveston. Dream is a nice ship so if it goes it will be a nice cruise.

 

Jimbo keeps saying he doesnt think cruises will go in august.

 

I have carnival freedom oct 4th, so I couldnt grab one of those cheaper prices, need more than 2 weeks between. Payment was due in a week so he wanted it paid now. 

 

I just want a vacation. If it gets cancelled I still got 7 days oct 4th. I just dont have the inclination to fool with gift cards. Pulled out the old credit card. So 2 months from now I might cruise. I am so ready. Yippee. 

 

Carnival never sends me good deals. I wish they would quit trying to send me to Australia.

 

I'm sure if you are booking expensive cruises gift cards are worth it. I'll think about it if I want to book a more expensive cruise like panama.

[Linda the Book Lover]

1 hour ago, lisa702 said:

On buying the Carnival gift cards from AARP has anyone noticed how long it now takes to receive them? I ordered mid April and still waiting. I contacted them and was told it now takes up to 3 months so just be aware. I may not get them before my final payment is due in 3 weeks.

You should receive an email. My emails came within minutes. The sender if you purchased through AARP would be AARP Rewards. I have never had an issue with getting my cards almost instantly.  Ask them to resend the email. 

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, lisa702 said:

On buying the Carnival gift cards from AARP has anyone noticed how long it now takes to receive them? I ordered mid April and still waiting. I contacted them and was told it now takes up to 3 months so just be aware. I may not get them before my final payment is due in 3 weeks.

Every since AARP changed their program and my points went down the drain, I never went back. 

Had started up with Allstate back then and currently sit on over half a million points.  Also have enough cards on hand to pay off my final balance on next year's Mardi Gras cruise.  And I also already prepaid Cheers for the two of us and got 400 in cruise cash when they had the 20% off sale awhile  back.

[jeniceglassman]

This post was from 12/26/2019. A lot of things have changed. Princess has canceled Sea, SF, Vancouver 7 day cruises

for Sept & Oct.  Guess it i small price to pay for living on the West Coast, but still ouch!

[AmberTeka]

It was a HUGE hassle to get my refund.  I had been told  that $400+ ( cruise credit) would be added to a reservation I booked for March 2021. That was some weeks ago..  So that means I have to call Carnival again. and just the thought makes me grit my teeth.  I love to cruise, I have always loved Carnival. so from now on,..after I use the gift cards I received for the refund, it will be  in cash.
That might just be  me. But for me, it is not worth the hassle.

[NavyCruiser]

Here's today's AARP offer:

 

DIGITAL GIFT CARD

$500 Carnival gift card

$448 $500 Value

Not enough of us are taking vacations. While you can make a million excuses to not use up that vacation time, know that it’s best for your health if you take it. With plenty of ports of departure to choose from and destinations from the Bahamas to Europe, you're sure to find your perfect excuse to finally take the trip you've been waiting for.

Add to Cart

DISCLAIMER

*You may purchase up to 5 gift cards per month. Limited time offer while supplies last. Fulfilled as a digital gift code.

TERMS

Carnival® offers closed loop prepaid cards (Gift Cards) to customers. Standard Gift Cards have no expiration date. Once activated, Gift Cards may not be resold; Gift Cards are not refundable or redeemable for cash, expect where required by law. Gift Cards purchased from sources other than Carnival® or designated partners will not be honored. Carnival® may refuse, cancel or hold for review Gift Cards and Gift Card orders in cases where it suspects fraud, mistake, alteration, violations of law or policies or these Terms and Conditions. Lost, stolen or damaged Gift Cards will not be replaced. These Terms and Conditions and all matters arising out of or relating to the Gift Cards will be governed by the laws of the State of Florida without giving effect to any choice of law rule. Gift Cards can be redeemed for or on any cruise sold or operated by Carnival Cruise Line®, except onboard those sailings operating in a non-USD functional currency onboard. PIN number verification is required for redemption and balance inquiry with no exceptions. For full list of Terms and Conditions and balance inquiry please visit http://www.carnivalgiftcards.com.

[NavyCruiser]

Hurry, there's a "Limit of 5/month"

So only $2500....

[Organized Chaos]

8 hours ago, firefly333 said:

Carnival never sends me good deals. I wish they would quit trying to send me to Australia.

 

I'm sure if you are booking expensive cruises gift cards are worth it. I'll think about it if I want to book a more expensive cruise like panama.

 

You're getting the Australia emails too? I've gotten two in less than a week. And they say, "Recommended by your Personal Vacation Planner, [name]" at the top, with his contact info. at the bottom. I don't know if he's actually sending them or if it's automated. He should know that we're not cruising out of Australia.

 

Expensive or not, we love using the gift cards. We're not going to turn down saving hundreds of dollars on a cruise. Right now, we're sitting on a couple cards that will just about pay off our Jan. cruise. We're holding onto them, though, and not applying them yet. Not because we're worried about the state of cruises, because we aren't at all, but there's a slight chance we might have to cancel it ourselves and just need to see how some things play out.

 

I don't believe at all that Carnival's going to go bankrupt. Donald had already said back in April that Carnival Corp. as a whole was prepared just in case the shutdown happened to last the rest of the year. I don't believe it will, though. August is still 2 months away and I'm optimistic that we'll be in a much better place by then.

 

To be blunt, we're finally starting to see more upbeat threads on the forum and I think it's unfortunate that some people can't help but 💩 all over them with the continued negative speculations.

[firefly333]

I hadnt cruised for a while and came back and the rules I knew are quite different.

 

Last time I cruised travel agent sites couldnt undersell carnival. I was seeing some prices advertised that didnt match carnival site. I finally called today and booked a august cruise. .. odd thing is the date cant be booked any longer on carnival site. Poof. ..once my booking went thru. Maybe only saved $70, but I didnt know big box sites could do that. That's new to me from when I last cruised.

 

The price is now gone but there was a cruise I was interested in that was hundreds less. 

 

Now if I can only get on a cruise without it being cancelled lol. 

 

 

[SNJCruisers]

13 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I hadnt cruised for a while and came back and the rules I knew are quite different.

 

Last time I cruised travel agent sites couldnt undersell carnival. I was seeing some prices advertised that didnt match carnival site. I finally called today and booked a august cruise. .. odd thing is the date cant be booked any longer on carnival site. Poof. ..once my booking went thru. Maybe only saved $70, but I didnt know big box sites could do that. That's new to me from when I last cruised.

 

The price is now gone but there was a cruise I was interested in that was hundreds less. 

 

Now if I can only get on a cruise without it being cancelled lol. 

 

 

The big box sites and even some of the middle sized agencies book group space when bookings open up and they have an allotment of cabins that they can sell at a discount while other cabins on the Carnival  site could be higher cost wise as time goes on.  On top of this, these same agencies may offer a piece of their commission as an incentive to offer people to book through them.  This works two ways, the more cabins they sell, the higher the commission percentage they get from Carnival and thus the more of a discount or OBC package they are able to provide.

[Oldpeoplecruising]

On 6/1/2020 at 6:55 PM, fuzfoz said:

OK so...update on AARP CARNIVAL Gift Cards. It seems they change the plan and rules pretty regularly. I purchased 3 $100 gift cards which was limit at the time in May. Today, June 1st the were offering $500 gift cards for $448 and there was a limit of 5. So, if you're planning some Carnival cruising you should pick some up soon!

DANG!!!! And I literally just paid off my balance this evening for my cruise ( final payment was not due until 1/21).  If I had known this, I would have had my parents by the cards for me and use them instead!!!!     I guess I did not research hard enough!

[SNJCruisers]

36 minutes ago, Oldpeoplecruising said:

DANG!!!! And I literally just paid off my balance this evening for my cruise ( final payment was not due until 1/21).  If I had known this, I would have had my parents by the cards for me and use them instead!!!!     I guess I did not research hard enough!

Know about Allstate?  You can get 12% off right now, so 440 for 500 card.  Do a search on CC, multiple threads.

[Joe817]

11 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Know about Allstate?  You can get 12% off right now, so 440 for 500 card.  Do a search on CC, multiple threads.

Agreed! I gave up on AARP when they went to e-cards instead of the hard plastic cards they used to sell. So for me it's Allstate all the way for me. We paid off our upcoming cruise(fingers crossed) with the g.c.'s we got from Allstate. And have accumulated enough points to buy g.c.'s and pay off for the cruise after that! 

[Floriduh]

I have looked all though the AARP site and have never found these cards. Where are they?

 

Nevermind: Found it.

 

Edited June 5, 2020 by Floriduh

[Organized Chaos]

On 6/4/2020 at 12:20 PM, Joe817 said:

Agreed! I gave up on AARP when they went to e-cards instead of the hard plastic cards they used to sell. So for me it's Allstate all the way for me. We paid off our upcoming cruise(fingers crossed) with the g.c.'s we got from Allstate. And have accumulated enough points to buy g.c.'s and pay off for the cruise after that! 

 

When they upped the monthly limit to 3/month, that helped. And since my wife & I each have an account, that makes 6/month if we really wanted to. The e-cards have their uses. For example, when Carnival ran that 20% off Cruise Cash sale back in April, it was for a limited time, so buying the e-cards and getting them right away came in handy. 20% off the Cruise Cash combined with buying it using 10% off gift cards = more money left in our pockets. 🙂 Back in the day, when Allstate & AARP were both ran by Deluxe Rewards, they often sold nothing but e-cards. We do like to take the physical cards onboard the ship with us, but I don't mind the e-cards when buying things online or paying down the balance. No shipping fees in nice, too.

 

Before their big change, I was using nothing but AARP for cards and hoarding my Allstate points. Our cruise back in March was the first time I ever touched our Allstate points. Since we only cruise once/year (if that), I have enough Allstate to cover us for the next 15-20 years.