Using Holland Gift Cards

[tgetz]

I used some of my gift cards to purchase some shore excursions,. If, after we are on the ships the ship cancels a port or shore excursion, or if we just decide to cancel an excursion, do they  refund the money to my shipboard account like normal, or do they refund to a gift card and I have to wait until I get the information from the gift card company??

Next question.  I used a gift card to purchase some of the wine packages. When we get onboard, normally they just credit our shipboard account with the half price discount that as 5 star mariners we receive. In this case, will they do that, or again, will it go to a gift card and we  have to wait until I hear form the gift card company to get the new numbers and passwords??

I just realized they might not give us shipboard credit.. 

Any thoughts or answers greatly appreciated.

[sgvcruiser]

It's "refunded" to the credit card on file. 

[tgetz]

What is refunded to the credit card on file? the shore excursion or the wine package discount?? I have never had that happen,  it  has always gone back on my shipboard account .

I had used the gift cards originally to pay for a cruise that we had to cancel and they did not refund my credit card but they gave me back the gift card numbers and passwords.

[Mtn2Sea]

I don’t know about the wine package question since I always purchase a package once I’m onboard, but my experience with shore excursions is, if a tour is cancelled after your cruise has begun, the refund will show up on your onboard account.  If you still have money available on your account when the cruise ends, a refund will appear on your credit card.  If the tour cancellation occurs prior to the cruise, the money goes back to the gift card.

[tgetz]

tthanks for that input.

[FlaMariner]

The refund policy for shore excursions.....

 

....from the HAL website, this: 

Cancellations for pre-paid tours are allowed up to 3 days prior to cruise embarkation and will be refunded to the credit card used for the purchase. If within 3 days of embarkation, all changes/cancellations must be done onboard the ship and refunds will be applied to your onboard account. If the credit is not fully utilized during the cruise, the balance will be paid to that passenger by the ship's Purser at the end of the voyage. If cancellation occurs onboard after the cancellation deadline for specific shore excursions, a 100% cancellation fee will apply. 

 

and then this if HAL cancels...again from the website:

 

 In the rare instance that tours are cancelled by Holland America Line or the tour operator, the full amount will be refunded within four to six weeks after the voyage ends.

 

My interpretation from all this is that the refund would go back to the original form of payment (gift card) unless within 3 days of embarkation and then handled onboard via onboard account....but perhaps you may want to call the shore excursion number and ask if this is vital to know. 

[sgvcruiser]

3 hours ago, tgetz said:

What is refunded to the credit card on file? the shore excursion or the wine package discount?? I have never had that happen,  it  has always gone back on my shipboard account .

I had used the gift cards originally to pay for a cruise that we had to cancel and they did not refund my credit card but they gave me back the gift card numbers and passwords.

My apology. I jumped to the last part. Mtn2Sea answer is the most definitive one.

[Real NHDOC]

Having experienced it I can tell you definitively that both the wine package discount and any cancelled excursions are put onto your onboard account once the cruise starts. Only if you cancel before the three day window closes does the refund go back to the gift card. 
 

Incidentally if you have small balances left on gift cards you can use those to either prepurchase onboard credit or casino chips in $5 or $10 increments (chips are actually paid in cash at the casino once the cruise starts). Or just ask guest services once onboard to add them to your onboard accounts. Any unspent funds will be refunded to your credit card onfile at the end of the cruise if you finish with a net credit balance. 

Edited March 10, 2023 by Real NHDOC

[FlaMariner]

28 minutes ago, Real NHDOC said:

Or just ask guest services once onboard to add them to your onboard accounts.

 

That's what we do....We rarely buy anything pre-cruise and then we have gift cards credited to our OBC account once onboard by visiting guest services (we bought a bunch of gift cards when they had the 10% bonus).

[tgetz]

Thanks everyone. I knew this board would have the answer. It was  a significant amount of gift cards and bonus cards and i was getting close to the expiration and needed to use them. As always thanks everyone for all your help.

[MomentsNotice]

Has anyone used a HAL gift card purchased through AARP towards purchasing wifi package on HAL website prior to the cruise (not onboard)? 

 

Yesterday I tried purchasing a multi wifi package for $319.99. I used 3 $100 each gift cards plus they asked for my credit card, I assumed for the $19.99 balance. The screen shows the deduction for $300 after entering the gift cards with a balance due of $19.99. However, HAL charged my credit card the FULL $319.99. 

 

The gift cards are still showing $100 value on each. 

 

I called HAL and they could not explain. HAL's credit card dept (which is independent of HAL and sells only gift cards purchased through them on behalf of HAL) said they could provide no info since I didn't purchase the gift card through them. 

 

AARP support closed until Tuesday. 

 

Anyone have direct experience?

[Mary229]

3 minutes ago, MomentsNotice said:

Has anyone used a HAL gift card purchased through AARP towards purchasing wifi package on HAL website prior to the cruise (not onboard)? 

 

Yesterday I tried purchasing a multi wifi package for $319.99. I used 3 $100 each gift cards plus they asked for my credit card, I assumed for the $19.99 balance. The screen shows the deduction for $300 after entering the gift cards with a balance due of $19.99. However, HAL charged my credit card the FULL $319.99. 

 

The gift cards are still showing $100 value on each. 

 

I called HAL and they could not explain. HAL's credit card dept (which is independent of HAL and sells only gift cards purchased through them on behalf of HAL) said they could provide no info since I didn't purchase the gift card through them. 

 

AARP support closed until Tuesday. 

 

Anyone have direct experience?

You cannot mix credit cards and gift cards.   Buy another gift card to finish.  HAL allows you to buy gift cards in any amount on their website so buy a small card there to top off your purchase.  Or buy another AARP and use it for shipboard purchases 

[MomentsNotice]

1 minute ago, Mary229 said:

You cannot mix credit cards and gift cards.   Buy another gift card to finish.  HAL allows you to buy gift cards in any amount on their website so buy a small card there to top off your purchase.  Or buy another AARP and use it for shipboard purchases 

 

1 minute ago, Mary229 said:

You cannot mix credit cards and gift cards.   Buy another gift card to finish.  HAL allows you to buy gift cards in any amount on their website so buy a small card there to top off your purchase.  Or buy another AARP and use it for shipboard purchases 

 

Thanks but are you sure about that? From experience? 

[Mary229]

4 minutes ago, MomentsNotice said:

 

 

Thanks but are you sure about that? From experience? 

Yes. From experience , many times. . 

[MomentsNotice]

ok thanks!

[POA1]

The website has poor split payment handling. I, too, wound up having more charged to my credit card than I expected.

 

If you call in, they can handle split payments. I did that for my Wi-Fi last cruise.

[MomentsNotice]

Who did you call? HAL reservations?

 

Were you using AARP gift card of HAL gift card? 

[Haljo1935]

16 minutes ago, MomentsNotice said:

Who did you call? HAL reservations?

 

Were you using AARP gift card of HAL gift card? 

I called Reservations to split payments last month; it was HAL gift cards purchased through AARP (multiple cards) coupled w/CC.

[Overhead Fred]

Paying with gift cards through the HAL web site seems to be messed up currently. I tried to pay for part of an upcoming cruise (final payment due 1/8) with gift cards (purchased through AARP, but that should not matter) but the payment screen would not let me proceed without adding credit card info. I was using ten $500 cards and picked "pay specific amount" ($5000). I thought it odd that credit card info was required. But since the balance after the gift cards would be $0, I didn't worry about it. They ended up charging all $5000 to the credit card and $0 to the gift cards. 

 

Our PCC said she couldn't help and had us call accounting (888-663-5384). They were able to unwind the credit card charge and suggested entering gift cards one at a time online instead of up to ten at once. They did say they get lots of calls regarding problems using gift cards online. 

 

So I tried the one-at-a-time thing and it still asked for credit card info. Since I knew how that would end up, I surrendered and called the PCC line and did 15 gift cards over the phone to pay off the cruise. It worked, but what a pain in the posterior! 

 

I tried different browsers and logging in as my DW but nothing could get the gift cards to work. 

 

I paid for a cruise last year about this time and everything worked fine using gift cards. 

 

[MomentsNotice]

Just spent 33 minutes online with a representative who said she had split payments previously with no problem. We entered gift card, then credit card info. Still charged me full amount on credit card so I think perhaps you are correct that HAL website having a problem since splitting worked for haljo1935. However, she inquired to a manager and he said they can NOT split payments.

 

I'm going to buy a small gift card and see if I can get into work with just gift cards. Leaving for Asia for my cruise in a few days and I'll like to get this completed. Very frustrating. 

[BermudaBound2014]

HAL website is ridiculous. It just shouldn't be this difficult. I still need to use incognito mode to get anything done and even then it messes up.

[POA1]

2 hours ago, MomentsNotice said:

Who did you call? HAL reservations?

 

Were you using AARP gift card of HAL gift card? 

There's no difference between the AARP version and any other HAL gift card, aside from the price. I called general reservations after trying to split the payment on the (super amazing!) website without luck.

 

IIRC, they could not see my cart. They had to add the internet plan and take the payment.

[POA1]

The only thing you can't use gift cards for are the items under Travel Planning. That would be flights, hotels, transfers, and crew appreciation.

[Jay5]

5 hours ago, Mary229 said:

You cannot mix credit cards and gift cards.   Buy another gift card to finish.  HAL allows you to buy gift cards in any amount on their website so buy a small card there to top off your purchase.  Or buy another AARP and use it for shipboard purchases 

 

If you call into HAL you can.  Just did this after trying to make payment on line with AARP gift cards.  Phone rep was able to enter gift cards and charge my cc for small remaining balance.

[Haljo1935]

3 hours ago, MomentsNotice said:

Just spent 33 minutes online with a representative who said she had split payments previously with no problem. We entered gift card, then credit card info. Still charged me full amount on credit card so I think perhaps you are correct that HAL website having a problem since splitting worked for haljo1935. However, she inquired to a manager and he said they can NOT split payments...

Hi - just to clarify, I didn't split the payment myself online, I called into Reservations and they did it. The only time consuming part, was reading each number while they entered them, including CC number at the end for the final amount. But I didn't hear any frustration of the system not working or them putting me on hold to get assistance. 

Yes, it is frustrating.

 

4 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

I called Reservations to split payments last month; it was HAL gift cards purchased through AARP (multiple cards) coupled w/CC.

 

Edited January 14 by Haljo1935
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