Cancellation Refund Using Gift Cards?

[Wombservice]

We’re scheduled to cruise in May and I basically paid off my whole cruise using Allstate Carnival Gift Cards.  We still hope to cruise and did purchase “cancel for any reason” insurance when we first booked - but I am immune compromised, so we’re not sure how all this will play out.  My question:  If Carnival cancels our cruise (or for that matter, if I cancel through our insurance), will we be reimbursed with gift cards instead of cash?  $2,500.00 worth?  Thanks all!

[pcvtmom]

I'd love to know the answer to this, also, as it is exactly what I did for our Med cruise this summer.

[Bases5]

Yes on a gift card.   I'm in the minority but I don't like the gift card's for that reason. 

$2500 tied up in gift cards.   I had to cancel for a medical reason and then one thing lead to another and we could not cruise for a couple years.  

 I only had $500 tied up but still could have used the cash. 

For us the 10% saving is not worth the risk. but its a great value for most.

 

[Stick93]

Prob could sell the cards on eBay for 10% discount. 
just saying..

 

good luck with this cruise - we all feel for you. 

[13cheermom]

Yes this made me rethink the whole gift card process.  Even though with this Alaskan cruise (airfare, excursions, hotels).  We are all in for over 10K for our family of 4, so at about 1K for savings, thought it was worth it.  🤔  Now if our cruise were to get cancelled, it would be a big pain to have to reschedule or use that much in GC in the next 2 years when we already have others booked on different cruise lines.  After we get through this one, might reconsider my choice of payment for the cruises we have booked for next year. 😅

[bobandsherry]

Prob could sell the cards on eBay for 10% discount. 
just saying..
 
good luck with this cruise - we all feel for you. 

And then you pay 10% fee to eBay, plus 3% fee to PayPal, and then cost of postage with signature required. And then still run the risk of someone scamming you. So that's much more than 10% discount. Just saying....

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[bobandsherry]

Yes this made me rethink the whole gift card process.  Even though with this Alaskan cruise (airfare, excursions, hotels).  We are all in for over 10K for our family of 4, so at about 1K for savings, thought it was worth it.  [emoji848]  Now if our cruise were to get cancelled, it would be a big pain to have to reschedule or use that much in GC in the next 2 years when we already have others booked on different cruise lines.  After we get through this one, might reconsider my choice of payment for the cruises we have booked for next year. [emoji28]

I don't know how many cruises you've been on, but how many have you had to cancel? To put into perspective we've done 24 and never cancelled.

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[13cheermom]

32 minutes ago, bobandsherry said:

I don't know how many cruises you've been on, but how many have you had to cancel? To put into perspective we've done 24 and never cancelled.

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Actually about that many also over the past 12 years.  We've always used the GC and have saved a lot over the years and have never had to cancel either, thankfully.  I guess this might just be the one to get us, lol.  Of course it would be the most costly one of all, even our European 14-day cruise wasn't this expensive with excursions and all.  We are of course taking our 2 adult daughters with us, hence the extra large bill.  We don't plan on cancelling ourselves but in light of the current situation we aren't sure what will happen between now and mid May in Seattle.  Princess is having a tough time right now and is who we booked with for this bucket list cruise to Alaska (inside passage).  I actually encouraged my daughters to buy the gift cards and save some money to help with their cost of the trip. 🤣  Feel kinda bad now knowing it might be an epic fail at this point.  But gotta keep positive and move on.  Just wondering how we all would use that much in GC on a line we don't sail regularly and we already have 2 other cruises booked for next year.  🙄

[bobandsherry]

Actually about that many also over the past 12 years.  We've always used the GC and have saved a lot over the years and have never had to cancel either, thankfully.  I guess this might just be the one to get us, lol.  Of course it would be the most costly one of all, even our European 14-day cruise wasn't this expensive with excursions and all.  We are of course taking our 2 adult daughters with us, hence the extra large bill.  We don't plan on cancelling ourselves but in light of the current situation we aren't sure what will happen between now and mid May in Seattle.  Princess is having a tough time right now and is who we booked with for this bucket list cruise to Alaska (inside passage).  I actually encouraged my daughters to buy the gift cards and save some money to help with their cost of the trip. [emoji1787]  Feel kinda bad now knowing it might be an epic fail at this point.  But gotta keep positive and move on.  Just wondering how we all would use that much in GC on a line we don't sail regularly and we already have 2 other cruises booked for next year.  [emoji849]

Can't worry about if it's a fail until it is. Worse case is you can sell the gift cards for about 25% of face value. There are companies that buy and sell gift cards. Since you bought for 10% discount, plus maybe even some cash back or other rewards for buying the cards and paying with credit card, you also have maybe another 1% to offset. So maybe 14% hit. However, if you'll cruise in next year just save them, apply to your S&S on next cruise, then you can cash out at casino using the charge and cash out.

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[luv2trvlnow]

4 hours ago, Wombservice said:

We’re scheduled to cruise in May and I basically paid off my whole cruise using Allstate Carnival Gift Cards.  We still hope to cruise and did purchase “cancel for any reason” insurance when we first booked - but I am immune compromised, so we’re not sure how all this will play out.  My question:  If Carnival cancels our cruise (or for that matter, if I cancel through our insurance), will we be reimbursed with gift cards instead of cash?  $2,500.00 worth?  Thanks all!

I would think that if Carnival cancels your cruise you would receive gift cards.  If you used $2500 worth of gift cards that is what you would get back.  

 

But here is the kicker.  If you cancel your cruise isn't Carnival giving you a future cruise credit because you are on one of the cruises purchased before March 6 and departing before June.  If they give you a credit you cannot use your travel insurance.  The insurance company will say you are not out anything since the credit can be used.  Therefore you have no loss.  I am not sure what the terms are on the credit since I cancelled our cruise before they announced their new cancellation policy.  We will be getting back 75% of our deposit which means a loss of only $75 and we are not tied into spending a credit on Carnival within a certain time frame.  We had "cancel for any reason" also.

Edited March 8, 2020 by luv2trvlnow

[Wombservice]

Thanks to all for replying.......I was afraid that was the reality!  We do have another cruise with Carnival already planned for September, 2021, so we could just apply the refunded gift cards to that cruise if we need to cancel.  But the point raised about Carnival giving the opportunity to reschedule the May cruise so the insurance may not cover is something I hadn’t considered.......I only like to sail out of NY because we can drive to the port, so that really limits the cruises available going forward.

Having never cancelled a cruise before, I never even considered how using gift cards could impact a refund - thanks you guys for the info!