Carnival Mastercard/ gift card promotion

[CENTEX CRUISER]

I received an e-mail about 1 1/2 months ago saying if we applied for a Carnival Mastercard that we would get a $100 gift card if we we were one of the first 750 applying. My wife received the same message ,as she is signed up for Carnival promotions to be sent to her also. So we applied, got the credit cards, and that was it until today, when we both got the $100 Carnival card. So I went on line, logged in, and applied the $200 to one of our bookings. Not a bad deal. Do any of you actually use the credit cards for points ? I considered it once, but it seems my cash back card may be better.

[douglinc@msn.com]

I don't think the Carnvial Mastercard is a very good deal, we got one a couple of years ago & I'm not impressed. You can only get 1% back on purchases unless it's Carnival realated then you get 2% back. Most cards you can get 5% back on at least some purchases. After our next cruise, I will probably cash in my points and drop it.

[jsfromsc]

When I looked into this in the past, it seemed you had to spend such an enormous amount of money to qualify for a free cruise that you'd be better off just paying for the cruise. I hope you can make it work for you. At least you got the $200 in gift cards.

[CENTEX CRUISER]

Thanks for the replies..:)

[DebBrown]

I am one of those that uses my Carnival M/C for EVERYTHING!! Those points do add up quickly. I paid for my last cruise ($975) by using my points and still have quite a few. Since cruising is my number one vacation destination, this works for me!

[slybear]

:) I too received the $100 gift card today! Since our upcoming cruise is paid in full I'm going to use it to pay part of our gratuities. And I'm still hoping for some more price drops...... Under 95 days 'til Queenie cruises again!

[alrichards4003]

I applied for and was approved for my card on June 6th. I estimated the gift card which they said would arrive within 2-4 weeks would be there around July 4th. I did not think I would ever get it and I got it this morning and can't wait to use it when booking my next cruise next month.

 

I wonder if there was a computer glitch of some kind that everyone would get their cards on the same date?

 

Regardless, just glad i got it.

[Publius1787]

I also got my e-gift card this morning! I used the initial 5000 points to buy a bottle of Sky Vodka for what ended up being $59.95 with my out of pocket being the $9.95! Now we can use this $100 against our sail & sign account. Not a bad deal for basically free. Another thing that makes us love cruising Carnival!

[mhurley0504]

I received the email today too! I'm going to apply the gift card to my ground transportation:) I also have enough points accumulated to get a $100 OBC for our 9/21 cruised to New England/Canada!

[CENTEX CRUISER]

This sounds pretty good. So you get 5000 points for your first purchase ? and does the purchase have to be a certain minimum ?

I also got my e-gift card this morning! I used the initial 5000 points to buy a bottle of Sky Vodka for what ended up being $59.95 with my out of pocket being the $9.95! Now we can use this $100 against our sail & sign account. Not a bad deal for basically free. Another thing that makes us love cruising Carnival!

[Publius1787]

If I remember correctly my first purchase was under $6.00 at lunch and I got the 5,000 points.

[slybear]

The special offer included the $100 gift card & 5000 extra points with your first purchase. Woo hoo!

[alrichards4003]

The 5,000 points does not post to your account until the first statement.

[chocolate melting cake]

I am happy for all of you who received this. I am just wondering about the fact that I was approved on June 5 (kept the email) and have not received anything. I guess I'll wait a couple of days and call Carnival (Barclay said it was a Carnival promotion)???? Especially after reading

 

 

I applied for and was approved for my card on June 6th. I estimated the gift card which they said would arrive within 2-4 weeks would be there around July 4th. I did not think I would ever get it and I got it this morning and can't wait to use it when booking my next cruise next month.

 

I wonder if there was a computer glitch of some kind that everyone would get their cards on the same date?

 

Regardless, just glad i got it.

[careycouponer]

Dang. I wish I'd gotten that email. I wonder what I have to do to get it??

[Vitamin_Sea]

This sounds pretty good. So you get 5000 points for your first purchase ? and does the purchase have to be a certain minimum ?

 

Nope..no minimum purchase

[CENTEX CRUISER]

I think my application was about that long ago. I had called Barclays, the card company, and asked about it to no avail. Then the gift cards popped up about three weeks later..

I am happy for all of you who received this. I am just wondering about the fact that I was approved on June 5 (kept the email) and have not received anything. I guess I'll wait a couple of days and call Carnival (Barclay said it was a Carnival promotion)???? Especially after reading

 

 

I applied for and was approved for my card on June 6th. I estimated the gift card which they said would arrive within 2-4 weeks would be there around July 4th. I did not think I would ever get it and I got it this morning and can't wait to use it when booking my next cruise next month.

 

I wonder if there was a computer glitch of some kind that everyone would get their cards on the same date?

 

Regardless, just glad i got it.

[GeoHack]

I consider the Carnival MC a below average bonus credit card. There are easily 15-20 that offer better perks/bonus. Sorry but 1% is nothing and if you live in the US, there are a slew of cards with much better initial spend bonus perks and ongoing % bonus. Everyone likes to say how they are cruising for free by using their Carnival MC points. They may be cruising for free but they could have gotten at minimum twice the cash back using a number of other cards. Check out any of the credit card point sites and they don't even list the Carnival card as it ranks so low in bang for the buck. I credit card churn and was able to follow my daughter around last year during spring break as she plays ball for her college. There were 3 of us and I used bonus points to fly all 3 of us round trip and stay at upper tier hotel/suites every night and didn't use up half my bonus points. Trip cost would of been in the range of $2500-$3000, but it was truly free as I didn't even use up half my bonus points. With Carnival MC you get $50, but have to spend a fortune to get anything. So in essence you are paying for that cruise. I actually flew round trip with my wife and other child 8 times last year just on bonus points to watch my daughter play. If you're going to spend the money anyways why not utilize the proper cards that meet your spending needs and use those bonus points to pay for your cruise. Many cards offer cash back or gift cards you can sell back at 90 cents on the dollar. If you get $600 sign up bonus that's still $540 cash which is 10 times the Carnival offer.

[CENTEX CRUISER]

Now , after getting 2 gift cards by e-mail, and applying the $200 to one of our cruises, I get another today, but it is the same # as the other. Why I received this, I do not know ?

[alrichards4003]

Now , after getting 2 gift cards by e-mail, and applying the $200 to one of our cruises, I get another today, but it is the same # as the other. Why I received this, I do not know ?

 

I got a second email this morning, almost exactly 24 hours after the first, I checked and it was the same number as well.

[slybear]

I got a second email this morning, almost exactly 24 hours after the first, I checked and it was the same number as well.

 

Me three. I guess it was better to get it twice then not at all!

[alrichards4003]

Me three. I guess it was better to get it twice then not at all!

 

Agreed.

[MEOWSMURPHY]

I am one of those that uses my Carnival M/C for EVERYTHING!! Those points do add up quickly. I paid for my last cruise ($975) by using my points and still have quite a few. Since cruising is my number one vacation destination, this works for me!

 

I'm with you..I also use mine for anything and everything and pay it off each month so no interest to pay. A couple of years ago, after having had the card for 4 yrs, we paid for an 8 day aft ext balcony cabin to the Panama Canal, all OBCharges and gratuities and airfare with points...totally free vacation. To top it off we still had points left...I'm now working on the next totally free vacation...it works for us :D

[DEL67]

When I looked into this in the past, it seemed you had to spend such an enormous amount of money to qualify for a free cruise that you'd be better off just paying for the cruise. I hope you can make it work for you. At least you got the $200 in gift cards.

 

I do not attempt to earn a free cruise with my CCL card rewards, but I do apply them towards Carnival purchases. For example I recently received a $200 credit on my card for applying rewards to my final payment for my upcoming cruise.

[slybear]

I'm with you..I also use mine for anything and everything and pay it off each month so no interest to pay. A couple of years ago, after having had the card for 4 yrs, we paid for an 8 day aft ext balcony cabin to the Panama Canal, all OBCharges and gratuities and airfare with points...totally free vacation. To top it off we still had points left...I'm now working on the next totally free vacation...it works for us :D

 

Nicely done!!!