I just loaded up on AARP Carnival gift cards

[crystalspin]

6 hours ago, BoozinCroozin said:

I will get 6 $500 cards when the time is right. By 5 at the end of February and another one at the beginning of March. Full pay date is March 9. I only have to pay the cruise fair remaining which is about $2,400.

For Carnival cards you can get them all at once, I learned above.

[Bevv]

2 hours ago, Chaz212 said:

What happens if they go belly up?  Does AARP reimburse you?

No ones you buy it it is yours, no refunds.   Also if you lose the numbers, you are out the $$. I wait to buy them till right before I book a cruise. If I felt that Carnival had a potential of going belly up soon I would not be purchasing them.

 

[BoozinCroozin]

11 hours ago, Chaz212 said:

What happens if they go belly up?  Does AARP reimburse you?

No, it is a gift card. If they go under, which won't happen, the GC's are worthless.

Edited October 16, 2022 by BoozinCroozin

[LasVegasSolo]

I liked them because every little bit helps me to do more.  So I get a bit of savings buying the cards from AARP then I get the points on the CC.  I am not always the smarts bargain buyer but I like these.  

[sunonfire]

Has anyone used them to apply to the onboard account?

[Schoifmom]

12 minutes ago, sunonfire said:

Has anyone used them to apply to the onboard account?

Of course.  You can use them to purchase Cruise Cash prior to cruising (remember that this is use it or lose it) or simply apply them at the port, at Guest Services, or using the Kiosk.  No issues at all.  We do it all the time.

[Joe817]

12 minutes ago, Schoifmom said:

Of course.  You can use them to purchase Cruise Cash prior to cruising (remember that this is use it or lose it) or simply apply them at the port, at Guest Services, or using the Kiosk.  No issues at all.  We do it all the time.

As do we. We typically buy enough to pay off our cruise, then use a few to fund our onboard account(sail & sign card). It's worked out great for us. 

[kdr69]

I wish there were places to purchase gift cards here in Canada

[luvs2beachit]

I have been on the AARP site for over an hour and I have not been able to find the Carnival gift cards with 10% discount.  I would really appreciate it if someone could give me some directions.  TIA

[ngrund]

1 hour ago, luvs2beachit said:

I have been on the AARP site for over an hour and I have not been able to find the Carnival gift cards with 10% discount.  I would really appreciate it if someone could give me some directions.  TIA

They would not be on the main site-

 

 https://www.aarp.org/rewards/

 

Once logged in you would go to "redeem rewards" and you should see the gift cards available

 

Carnival cards are for AARP members only, so filter for members only-

 

If you are not  a member, just join (you do not have to be over 50 just have to pay the fee)

[luvs2beachit]

On 10/19/2022 at 8:49 PM, ngrund said:

They would not be on the main site-

 

 https://www.aarp.org/rewards/

 

Once logged in you would go to "redeem rewards" and you should see the gift cards available

 

Carnival cards are for AARP members only, so filter for members only-

 

If you are not  a member, just join (you do not have to be over 50 just have to pay the fee)

Thanks for taking time to provide the directions!  Yes, I am a member so I think I 

will log out and log back in just in case.  Thanks again for the link.

[ngrund]

8 hours ago, luvs2beachit said:

Thanks for taking time to provide the directions!  Yes, I am a member so I think I 

will log out and log back in just in case.  Thanks again for the link.

I started with this many years ago so I don't remember, but you also need to do a couple of extra clicks to sign up for the AARP rewards program

[dorchrislen]

This is also off topic, but does anyone know how to get the balance to go toward expenses while on the cruise? I thought I saw someone else post that you could no longer take the print out of the E gift certificate to guest services and get them to put it on the Sail & sign card. I hope this isn’t the case because I have a balance of almost 300 after paying for my cruise, gratuities, and pre-orders. I want to use the balance toward drinks, but I don’t want to buy cheers because my son doesn’t drink.

[Joe817]

Sure you can. Go here....

 

https://carnival.ourgiftcards.com/checkbalance

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

So, let me get this straight (I have not read the whole thread), but if I purchase these I can use them to both pay towards my cruise fare and/or utilize as OBC?

 

I see that they also have them for Celebrity (coming up in 3 weeks for us)... same general idea?

 

Any downsides to this (not worried about Carnival going under any time soon, lol) ??

 

How many can you purchase? I mean, can you purchase 10+ of the $500's ?

 

THANKS,

Tom

[Colorado Beach Bum]

2 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

So, let me get this straight (I have not read the whole thread), but if I purchase these I can use them to both pay towards my cruise fare and/or utilize as OBC?

 

I see that they also have them for Celebrity (coming up in 3 weeks for us)... same general idea?

 

Any downsides to this (not worried about Carnival going under any time soon, lol) ??

 

How many can you purchase? I mean, can you purchase 10+ of the $500's ?

 

THANKS,

Tom

Yes, both cruise fare and once onboard towards your expenses.  Just add them to your account via the kiosk or guest services.  I believe the limit is 25 cards per month. 

[ZoeyVictoria]

1 minute ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

So, let me get this straight (I have not read the whole thread), but if I purchase these I can use them to both pay towards my cruise fare and/or utilize as OBC?

 

I see that they also have them for Celebrity (coming up in 3 weeks for us)... same general idea?

 

Any downsides to this (not worried about Carnival going under any time soon, lol) ??

 

How many can you purchase? I mean, can you purchase 10+ of the $500's ?

 

THANKS,

Tom

There is a limit of 25 premium cards per calendar month.
 

I used $84 of a $100 gift card to pay for the steakhouse online.  I got on the ship with two $100 gift cards and the one with the $16 balance.  I was able to easily use a kiosk to apply the two $100 cards, but it would not accept the $16 card, so I took it to Guest Services.  They applied it in seconds.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

NICE !!

 

That's better than the 3% cash back I get on my credit card for travel charges... though not as sweet at the $50 gas cards for $40 at Publix when they're running that promo, lol !  🙂

 

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Celebrity offers the option of purchasing casino credits ahead of time online. They'll give you 10% more than you pay for (basically pay for $50 in chips and get $55 once onboard). Using these gift cards towards that sounds like a very good deal... and, I suppose, the 2% cash back on my credit card for the purchase of the cards (since AARP would not fall under travel expenses or dining)....  10% + 10% + 2 %

 

A few more "angles" like this and I can travel for free, LOL

 

Do these cards have an expiration date?

 

Tom

[Colorado Beach Bum]

4 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

NICE !!

 

That's better than the 3% cash back I get on my credit card for travel charges... though not as sweet at the $50 gas cards for $40 at Publix when they're running that promo, lol !  🙂

 

Tom

Just started doing it on the last cruise.  Can’t believe I was giving up the 10% discount all these years.  Works great and helps offset some of those casino expenses. 

[luv2trvlnow]

3 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

So, let me get this straight (I have not read the whole thread), but if I purchase these I can use them to both pay towards my cruise fare and/or utilize as OBC?

 

I see that they also have them for Celebrity (coming up in 3 weeks for us)... same general idea?

 

Any downsides to this (not worried about Carnival going under any time soon, lol) ??

 

How many can you purchase? I mean, can you purchase 10+ of the $500's ?

 

THANKS,

Tom

The Celebrity and Royal cards can only be used for new bookings.    This is under the Rewards terms that you can see by clicking the red arrow.   Carnival cards do not have that restriction, they can be used for anything.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

11 hours ago, luv2trvlnow said:

The Celebrity and Royal cards can only be used for new bookings.    This is under the Rewards terms that you can see by clicking the red arrow.   Carnival cards do not have that restriction, they can be used for anything.

 

That is VERY good to know - whew, almost purchased a few for our cruise next month. I went in and took a closer look at that and saw that they are indeed much more restrictive !

 

I picked up 10 of the Carnival "cards" last night. Do they offer these things all the time, or do they just pop up on the radar for a few days/weeks and then disappear for a time?

 

Also, if you use one of these to pay off a cruise - what happens to those $'s if you end up cancelling (prior to final payment, w/refundable deposit booking)?

Tom

[Thenagers]

21 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

That is VERY good to know - whew, almost purchased a few for our cruise next month. I went in and took a closer look at that and saw that they are indeed much more restrictive !

 

I picked up 10 of the Carnival "cards" last night. Do they offer these things all the time, or do they just pop up on the radar for a few days/weeks and then disappear for a time?

 

Also, if you use one of these to pay off a cruise - what happens to those $'s if you end up cancelling (prior to final payment, w/refundable deposit booking)?

Tom

I use the cards to pay for everything except the deposit. My CC has travel insurance for anything I buy with it so I should be covered if something happens as long as I paid anything for the trip with it. They are offered all the time but sometimes sell out. I used them to pay for Cucina last year but Carnival temporarily closed that venue because of staffing. They sent me a refund on a new Carnival gift card. 

[luv2trvlnow]

1 hour ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

That is VERY good to know - whew, almost purchased a few for our cruise next month. I went in and took a closer look at that and saw that they are indeed much more restrictive !

 

I picked up 10 of the Carnival "cards" last night. Do they offer these things all the time, or do they just pop up on the radar for a few days/weeks and then disappear for a time?

 

Also, if you use one of these to pay off a cruise - what happens to those $'s if you end up cancelling (prior to final payment, w/refundable deposit booking)?

Tom

If you pay off your cruise with the gift cards, Carnival will refund that money in another gift card, not cash or credit to your credit or debit card.  That can take up to a few weeks to receive.  This holds for anything you pay for with a gift card and then cancel, including excursions and fun shop purchases.

 

Like Thenagers said the gifts cards are usually there.  They are not a limited time offer.  Sometimes they are sold out and you will have to wait until they get more inventory in.  It becomes a juggling act of when to buy.  If you buy too early and then cancel you have a gift card replacement instead of your money back.  If you wait too late you run the chance of them being sold out.

 

I am glad you saw my post and checked the restrictions on the Celebrity cards before you purchased.  Of course you would be able to use them if and when you booked another cruise on Celebrity later. 

[tcmagnum]

Can someone walk me through the process of how to put a gift card bought on the AARP web page toward a booking with Carnival?

 

Do we just go to our booking with Carnival and then enter the gift card number (like we would be adding a credit card but under gift card)?

 

Is it really that easy?

Anything I might be missing?  I understand if Carnival goes belly up - loose it all.

 

New to Carnival after a long absence.