Minimum Amount You Can Put On Your S&S Acct. With Gift Card?

[Joe817]

We have successfully paid off our upcoming cruise with gift cards. Now comes phase 2, with steakhouse, prepaid gratuities, shore excursions, and finally beefing up our S&S account. My question as stated in the title, if I have some funds remaining on the gift cards I'll be using to pay for those things, is there a minimum amount that it needs to be before they can add it to our S&S acct? ie: If I have 2 or 3 gift cards with balances on them below, say $20, or $10 or even $5, maybe less, will Guest Services still add them to my S&S account?

[mz-s]

Sure, why wouldn't they be able to?

[Purvis1231]

No problem, enjoy.

[flwinejunkie]

 

 

 

 

I had a problem with a low balance gift card on a Carnival Magic cruise in December 2018.  I couldn't apply it to my account on a kiosk so I went to Guest Services and absolutely received the worst customer service of my life.  The lady was rude and told me amounts below $10 can't be aplied to S&S card.  If I remember correctly, I only had $8 and $5 and change on 2 different cards.  I mentioned that none of the Customer Service reps I talked to on the phone mentioned anything about left over small balances on a Carnival gift card and I used multiple cards to pay off everything including gratuities prior to the cruise.  And, there wasn't any small writing on the card itself.  I asked if they could do anything for me to compensate for the loss of my money she just said no and stared at me.  I asked specifically for a drink coupon and she said no again with the stare.  When I asked to speak to a Supervisor, she said nobody was available.  When I asked that a Supervisor contact me she said the only thing she could do was to write up my complaint to send it to the corporate office for someone to contact me.  She didn't say a word while she typed for about 10 minutes while supposedly typing up my issue with a smirk on her face the whole time which made me think I would never hear from anybody.

 

My husband was so upset about my treatment that he went and took a picture of the lady.  He returned to guest services later that night when she wasn't there and asked to speak to a Supervisor.     The supervisor agreed the policy is to not apply any amount under $10 to accounts (it goes to charity) and the computer system won't allow them to do it.  She apologized for the poor service and stated she would use this example as a coaching opportunity 1-on-1 with the specific representative and at a future staff meeting.  She then offered 2 drink coupons and a bottle of wine that we used at the Italian restaurant and just paid the difference in price for the more expensive bottle.  Needless to say, we were pleased with this great "service recovery" to make everything right.  Shortly after returning home, we booked a family cruise on Carnival for 2019 and I told my familty to make sure they have at least $10 remaining on a gift card to apply to S&S accounts.  So now more gift card issues for me! 

 

Hope you have a great cruise!

Mary Jon

[Joe817]

4 minutes ago, flwinejunkie said:

 

 

 

 

I had a problem with a low balance gift card on a Carnival Magic cruise in December 2018.  I couldn't apply it to my account on a kiosk so I went to Guest Services and absolutely received the worst customer service of my life.  The lady was rude and told me amounts below $10 can't be aplied to S&S card.  If I remember correctly, I only had $8 and $5 and change on 2 different cards.  I mentioned that none of the Customer Service reps I talked to on the phone mentioned anything about left over small balances on a Carnival gift card and I used multiple cards to pay off everything including gratuities prior to the cruise.  And, there wasn't any small writing on the card itself.  I asked if they could do anything for me to compensate for the loss of my money she just said no and stared at me.  I asked specifically for a drink coupon and she said no again with the stare.  When I asked to speak to a Supervisor, she said nobody was available.  When I asked that a Supervisor contact me she said the only thing she could do was to write up my complaint to send it to the corporate office for someone to contact me.  She didn't say a word while she typed for about 10 minutes while supposedly typing up my issue with a smirk on her face the whole time which made me think I would never hear from anybody.

 

My husband was so upset about my treatment that he went and took a picture of the lady.  He returned to guest services later that night when she wasn't there and asked to speak to a Supervisor.     The supervisor agreed the policy is to not apply any amount under $10 to accounts (it goes to charity) and the computer system won't allow them to do it.  She apologized for the poor service and stated she would use this example as a coaching opportunity 1-on-1 with the specific representative and at a future staff meeting.  She then offered 2 drink coupons and a bottle of wine that we used at the Italian restaurant and just paid the difference in price for the more expensive bottle.  Needless to say, we were pleased with this great "service recovery" to make everything right.  Shortly after returning home, we booked a family cruise on Carnival for 2019 and I told my familty to make sure they have at least $10 remaining on a gift card to apply to S&S accounts.  So now more gift card issues for me! 

 

Hope you have a great cruise!

Mary Jon

Many, many thanks Mary Jon! This is exactly the kind of info I was looking for. 👍

[Angiedw1]

I have bought things online with multiple gift cards. Maybe but some cruise cash with your leftover balances?  That way you can spend it without going to the service desk. Just an idea...

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

49 minutes ago, Angiedw1 said:

I have bought things online with multiple gift cards. Maybe but some cruise cash with your leftover balances?  That way you can spend it without going to the service desk. Just an idea...

Cruise cash has to be purchased in $25 increments.  Also, the online system apparently won't allow you to use gift cards that have less than $10 on them (I have never attempted to use a gift card with less than $10, but it has been reported by others).

 

And, I believe you can't use gift cards at all for fun shop purchases made over the phone.

[linz98144]

They have to have at least $10 to use them onboard. 

Sincerely, came home with a card with $8.62 because guest services wouldn't accept it. Lame