Heads up regarding purchasing excursions with gift cards

[cruisintwinsmom]

I did not know that when purchasing excursions online before the cruise, you cannot combine gift cards from aarp with credit cards to make the purchase.   It caught me by surprise because I paid for the cruise with gift cards from the HA website and credit card combined.  Not sure if it made a difference due to  the gc's where from two different vendors or if the difference was in the excursions and payment for the cruise.

 

Y'all are great about providing information and it was probably on here somewhere, but I didn't see it. It wasn't something I thought to research before purchasing the aarp gc. Sorry if I have duplicated info.

 

Wishing you all smooth sailings!

 

[Mary229]

Yes, you can’t combine credit card and gift cards in a single shore excursions transaction.  It takes a little algebra to figure out how to optimize your purchase.  One thing to note is you can buy a HAL gift card direct from HAL for any whole increment.   So let’s say you need only $3 you can go to the HAL website and buy that $3 gift card. 

[cruisintwinsmom]

2 hours ago, Mary229 said:

Yes, you can’t combine credit card and gift cards in a single shore excursions transaction.  It takes a little algebra to figure out how to optimize your purchase.  One thing to note is you can buy a HAL gift card direct from HAL for any whole increment.   So let’s say you need only $3 you can go to the HAL website and buy that $3 gift card. 

 

[cruisintwinsmom]

Thanks. Good to know. It worked out okay, but I probably would not have bothered with the gift cards. 

 

Can I use any left over amount once onboard?

[Mary229]

8 hours ago, cruisintwinsmom said:

Thanks. Good to know. It worked out okay, but I probably would not have bothered with the gift cards. 

 

Can I use any left over amount once onboard?

Yes you can. Take it to the front desk and apply it to your account 

[cruisintwinsmom]

On 12/27/2022 at 6:34 AM, Mary229 said:

Yes you can. Take it to the front desk and apply it to your account 

Thank you, Mary229!