Carnival Fun Ship Dollars Question?

[cosmo cruiser]

I ordered a Fun Ship Certificate for my BIL for our upcoming Legend 1/27/07 cruise as a Christmas gift. When I ordered it the lady on the phone said he could just take the certificate to the pursers desk and they would apply it to his sign-n-sail account. When the certificate arrived yesterday I read the back and it states it MUST (in capitol letters) be mailed 15 days prior to cruising and before our documents arrive by certified mail to the Carnival offices in Miami? Now I am concerned that by the time I give it to him for Christmas we will have only about 30 days or so until we sail and we should be getting our documents very shortly after Christmas. Has anyone used the Fun Ship certificates and just taken them to the pursers desk to have them applied? I wouldn't have ordered the official certificate if I had known they would need to be mailed certified to Miami to be used. I would have just typed up a pretend certificate and gave him cash. It just seemed like a fun gift idea as we cruise together every year. Thank-you in advance for sharing your experience using the Fun Ship Dollars.:)

[truecruiser]

i'll be very interested in the responses you get, b/c i asked for funship dollars for christmas, and b/c of what i've read on here, i just planned to bring them w/ me on my feb cruise. i'm not wild about mailing in the equivalent of cash. i'd rather hand it over in person. have you contacted carnival and asked them if they've had a change in policy?

[molme]

Cosmo

 

We will be sailing with you on the Legend in Jan. I told our son and DIL that they could give us some Fun Ship dollars for our cruise and didn't realize that they had to be sent to CCL. I just figured that we could take them with us and have them applied to our Sign and Sail card. I hope someone can answer your question that has used them.

 

See you in about 44 days.

[LoraJ]

I ordered some for my fiance for Xmas. I was told to take it to the pursers office. I hope someone can clarify.

[Evilmumrah]

I think if you search the board you will find many, many people who have cashed these certificates at the Purser's desk. I bought some as gifts myself and plan on having the recipients do just that.

[BrendaB1]

You CAN take them to the Pursers Desk. Do a SEARCH on Funship Dollars. Lots of threads with many replies should give you plenty of info.

[socal cruzin]

Hey all no worries u can walk right up to the purser and apply them to your sail and sighn account.

we did this the last two years on the victory.

 

i to read the back last cruise(may 6th 06)and was skeptical but every thing was as they said,u dont even need them to mail it out it can be applied directly to your sail and sighn via computer when u arrive.

its the way to go with funship dollars its all paid for and any thing u dont use they cut u a check on the last night.

 

have fun any more questions just ask.:D

[cruise.freak]

We bought them for out last cruise and took them to the pursers desk and had them applied with no problem.

[truecruiser]

You CAN take them to the Pursers Desk. Do a SEARCH on Funship Dollars. Lots of threads with many replies should give you plenty of info.

 

think YOU missed IT! i know there are tons of threads on here saying you can apply them on board at the purser's desk. but, the OP was indicating that her funship dollars specifically state that they must be mailed in to be applied. for me, the question became whether or not there was a change in policy from the responses previously poosted here. just b/c something is posted on here a couple of months ago and was valid at that time, does not mean that policies will not change, and that questions shld not be raised regarding them!

[bills blasters]

I have the letter right here that I received after ordering funship dollars for our cruise.

It says

"if this is for onboard credit guest may take these certificates onboard to the pursers office to redeem"

[celticd1]

Just wanted to pop in here and invite cosmo cruiser and molme to the Roll Call thread for the Legend sailing 1/27/07. :) We have a great group of folks posting and we are all looking forward to this cruise! Hope you join us!

 

Legend 1/27/07 Roll Call

 

As far as the original question, my BF and I ordered Fun Ship Dollars for his parents who are sailing in February. They also specifically state on the back that they are to be mailed to Carnival first. However, based on the info that I have read here (from recent, frequent cruisers whos opinion I trust) we advised them to simply take them to the pursers desk and have them applied directly to their S&S account. Now after reading bills blasters post I am even more confident that the Fun Ship Dollars will be accepted no problem.

 

As far as calling Carnival :p ......if your experience is anything like most, you will get a different answer each time you call. :rolleyes: Honestly, I check CC for the most accurate info........works every time! :)

[kujobie]

They've always said that on them, but you won't have a problem cashing them on-board. They're meant to be used as gifts, that's why they tell you to send them in, in case you want to surprise the giftee and not tell them about the gift ahead of time. If you are purchasing them for yourself, it is much easier just to call Carnival and have $$ directly deposited into your Sail and Sign account. You can do this at any time, in any increment, as often as you'd like. Much easier than having to deal with certificates.

[Bazoo]

I think the MUST part refers to the 15 days ahead not that you MUST send them in. As in, if you want them available on the cruise they must be sent in at least 15 days before you sail.

Happy Cruising...

[serene56]

think YOU missed IT! i know there are tons of threads on here saying you can apply them on board at the purser's desk. but, the OP was indicating that her funship dollars specifically state that they must be mailed in to be applied. for me, the question became whether or not there was a change in policy from the responses previously poosted here. just b/c something is posted on here a couple of months ago and was valid at that time, does not mean that policies will not change, and that questions shld not be raised regarding them!

 

I have been buying funship dollars since 2000. On the back of the coupon it does state they must be mailed in 15 days before. THe coupons have always said that. SO it is not a new policy.

I do not feel comfortable mailing the coupons in... there will be no proof they were sent or receieved. I take the coupons every cruise and place them at the Pursers desk. (IF anything was questioned I would just said I receieved them as gifts a few weeks ago.- but nothing was ever questioned.)

 

I buy a $25.00 funship dollars each pay so by the time I cruise i have 700.00.

 

If you dont spend all the monies you get a check back at the end of the week that you can cash for free at the pursers desk or jsut cash it at home.

 

Funship dollars are the best money saver for me. I wish other cruiselines had them available.

[truecruiser]

I have been buying funship dollars since 2000. On the back of the coupon it does state they must be mailed in 15 days before. THe coupons have always said that.

 

thanks serene. you've answered the question with the "key" info. thanks again.

[cosmo cruiser]

:) Thank you, I feel better about my gift idea now after reading the responses. I just didn't want to make my BIL's gift complicated, it's supposed to be a fun gift for him.

 

I did call Carnival as some suggested, however I called twice and received two different answers! No surprise there, so I came to the boards to get a real answer! Unlike Bill Blasters I didn't get the same letter with my certificate. My letter just said Thank You for purchasing the certificate.

 

celticd1-Thanks for the invite to the roll call. I have been reading it for months and enjoy doing so. It seems for the most part like a group that already are friends so I didn't chime in. I am an experienced cruiser but I don't post often as sometimes this board can be a little harsh. Sometimes safer to just read and keep my comments to myself!

 

Looking forward to a much needed vacation in only 39 days! See ya there.

[celticd1]

:) celticd1-Thanks for the invite to the roll call. I have been reading it for months and enjoy doing so. It seems for the most part like a group that already are friends so I didn't chime in. I am an experienced cruiser but I don't post often as sometimes this board can be a little harsh. Sometimes safer to just read and keep my comments to myself!

 

Looking forward to a much needed vacation in only 39 days! See ya there.

 

You're welcome! :) Happy to hear you have been reading the thread! Please feel free to jump right in, none of us have met yet, we are all getting aquainted and can't wait to meet!

 

See ya soon....:D

[rickcop44]

One other thing you might consider. If your purpose in getting Fun Ship Dollars is to simply use them as an OBC, why not just tell the Carnival rep when you call to place the order that you want to purchase an onboard credit for your cruise? I've done this for my wonderful wife the past two years and she always has a nice onboard credit waiting for her when we board. I did it again last week for our upcoming February cruise on Valor. I called Carnival, told the rep I wanted to purchase a $500.00 onboard credit, gave her my booking number and credit card info and within 10 minutes, I had a confirming e-mail from Carnival advising me of the OBC and that I would receive a follow up confirmation in the mail. That's a heck of a lot easier than mailing in Fun Ship certificates (and risk getting them lost in the mail) or having to go stand at the Purser's desk when you board to have them applied. Just an alternative.

[truecruiser]

One other thing you might consider. If your purpose in getting Fun Ship Dollars is to simply use them as an OBC, why not just tell the Carnival rep when you call to place the order that you want to purchase an onboard credit for your cruise? I've done this for my wonderful wife the past two years and she always has a nice onboard credit waiting for her when we board. I did it again last week for our upcoming February cruise on Valor. I called Carnival, told the rep I wanted to purchase a $500.00 onboard credit, gave her my booking number and credit card info and within 10 minutes, I had a confirming e-mail from Carnival advising me of the OBC and that I would receive a follow up confirmation in the mail. That's a heck of a lot easier than mailing in Fun Ship certificates (and risk getting them lost in the mail) or having to go stand at the Purser's desk when you board to have them applied. Just an alternative.

 

What happens if GF, you can't make the cruise b/c of some medical or other emergency? Do you get your money back?

[rickcop44]

Truecruiser: I would certainly think a refund would be in order since it's still my money until I actually make an onboard purchase. I know on one of our recent cruises, my missus got a check back at the end of our cruise for the balance since she hadn't used the entire credit I bought for her. I'm sure, however, that if I'm wrong on this point, someone will correct me.

[truecruiser]

yeah. i wld hope that the OBC that you actually pay for (by way of funship dollars or otherwise), wld be treated differently than an OBC for a price reduction (which for some reason i'm thinking you wldn't get back). maybe someone will clarify this. anyone?

[Shelby23]

I ordered a Fun Ship Certificate for my BIL for our upcoming Legend 1/27/07 cruise as a Christmas gift. When I ordered it the lady on the phone said he could just take the certificate to the pursers desk and they would apply it to his sign-n-sail account. When the certificate arrived yesterday I read the back and it states it MUST (in capitol letters) be mailed 15 days prior to cruising and before our documents arrive by certified mail to the Carnival offices in Miami? Now I am concerned that by the time I give it to him for Christmas we will have only about 30 days or so until we sail and we should be getting our documents very shortly after Christmas. Has anyone used the Fun Ship certificates and just taken them to the pursers desk to have them applied? I wouldn't have ordered the official certificate if I had known they would need to be mailed certified to Miami to be used. I would have just typed up a pretend certificate and gave him cash. It just seemed like a fun gift idea as we cruise together every year. Thank-you in advance for sharing your experience using the Fun Ship Dollars.:)

 

Don't worry about mailing it. Last Oct. I went on the Conquest. I ahd recieved funship dollers in a large amount as a gift. I just went down to the prusers desk on the 2nd day and it was not a problem. I was concerned about sending it in the mail. It was applied to my account right away. Just bring them with you.

[serene56]

yeah. i wld hope that the OBC that you actually pay for (by way of funship dollars or otherwise), wld be treated differently than an OBC for a price reduction (which for some reason i'm thinking you wldn't get back). maybe someone will clarify this. anyone?

OBC is all treated differntly. depends on where you get it. Some cant be used for tips and casino. some can be used for anything. ALWAYS check with where you got it--what its good for- can it be transferrable..or can it be given back at the end of the cruise.

[cpayne]

I am trying to purchase fun ship dollars on th carnival.com website. I would like to give these as a wedding gift as the couple is taking a Carnival cruise for their honeymoon. The problem is I want the gift certs mailed to ME and not to the couple so I can include them with my card and other gifts.

 

The website makes it appear as if they have to be mailed directly to the recipient and cannot be mailed to me. They are asking for the message I want to include with the gift certs, the recipients address and their sale date. Do I need to call CCL direct to purchase and have sent to me? If so, what number do I call? There are so many different numbers for Carnival!

 

Thanks.

[truecruiser]

i think you just call the Bon Voyage Dept at 1-800-929-6400.