S&S Preload Question

[photogineer]

Second cruise coming up in under a week (whoo!) and I have a quick question about the S&S cards. Last cruise I simply tied it to my credit card and let them charge right to it, and that worked out fine so I was planning on doing the same thing this time. Recently I was given a $50 Visa gift card towards my cruise though, and I was wondering how to best use it. Can I just preload my S&S account with the $50 and have it use that before it charges to my credit card? Is there a better way to do this?

 

Also, assuming I can and do use the proposed method, what happens if for example I have $1 left on the prepaid amount and charge $2.49, does it deduct the $1 and put $1.49 on the credit card?

 

Thanks,

Matt

[tnvol8753]

I had already put on my credit card but I had a carnival gift card. I just went to guest services when i got on boardand asked them to put it on and use it first.

 

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[rarasnake]

Visa gift cards are very tricky.. They will not approve a charge, if the amount is not available. Like you were saying, the $2.79 charge and only having a $1.00 on the card. No, the charge would be declined.

 

The best thing to do, is have them do an immediate charge of $50.00 on the card. They can usually credit back what is not used. When you get to the point that the money is all gone, they will call you to come and place another card or cash for the rest of the trip (like they do, if someone's credit card gets declined, I imagine)....

 

**PS. This comes from a person that worked in retail for MANY years and had to deal with American Express, Visa, and Mastercard gift cards all the time. You may want to even call Visa and get your information placed on the card and give them a heads up that you are planning on charging it while on port or on the cruise. They can become very pickled and not allow certain charges through, thinking that it is false, especially if you charge the whole amount off at one time..**

[photogineer]

Visa gift cards are very tricky.. They will not approve a charge, if the amount is not available. Like you were saying, the $2.79 charge and only having a $1.00 on the card. No, the charge would be declined.

 

The best thing to do, is have them do an immediate charge of $50.00 on the card. They can usually credit back what is not used. When you get to the point that the money is all gone, they will call you to come and place another card or cash for the rest of the trip (like they do, if someone's credit card gets declined, I imagine)....

 

**PS. This comes from a person that worked in retail for MANY years and had to deal with American Express, Visa, and Mastercard gift cards all the time. You may want to even call Visa and get your information placed on the card and give them a heads up that you are planning on charging it while on port or on the cruise. They can become very pickled and not allow certain charges through, thinking that it is false, especially if you charge the whole amount off at one time..**

 

I am sorry if I wasn't clear, I had intended to do what you suggested, immediately using up the entire balance of the gift card to preload my S&S. I was just worried about the transition from preload to credit card. There will be no chance of me not going beyond the $50 haha. I already have a credit card on the account through Carnival.com, I still want to use it, I just want to use the $50 first. Is there any way to set it up so it will automatically roll on to the credit card without me having to intervene?

 

Thanks,

Matt

[girlscruise2011]

Another thing you can do is buy yourself a Carnival Gift Card before you cruise. I bought some for Christmas gifts and was able to email them to me to print up. The people I bought them for, brought them to Guest Services and they were applied directly to their S&S account.

 

This way it is done before you cruise and if there is an issue with the card, you can rectify it before you leave.

[rarasnake]

Another thing you can do is buy yourself a Carnival Gift Card before you cruise. I bought some for Christmas gifts and was able to email them to me to print up. The people I bought them for, brought them to Guest Services and they were applied directly to their S&S account.

 

This way it is done before you cruise and if there is an issue with the card, you can rectify it before you leave.

 

When you posted that you would use it all, I was thinking ^^ this.. You may have to register the card, before using it for an online purchase (check the back of the card and it will state a website to go onto). If so, register it, if not, just proceed to do a Carnival gift card.. I haven't seen any issues with people saying they used a gift card and then had their credit card as back up (I would make sure that you go to guest services, as soon as you board, to make sure you get the gift card placed before purchasing anything though)...

[sassy0930]

I agree with buying a carnival gift card or cruise cash for yourself using the Visa before you leave. You can charge the exact amount, no worries about fraud, and it hassle free on board.

[Jenna1983]

Carnival is considered a hotel/hospitality and you cannot use the full amount of the card for a transaction. LThey automatically assume a tip will come out of it and won't allow a certain percentage. I get $75 gift cards for MasterCard/Visa for my work and the most I could ever use off of it with Carnival was $64 of the $75. If I put in $75 it would decline it. So it may not work for you for the $50 (this was online to put towards a cruise payment and to buy a Carnival giftcard ).

Edited March 10, 2014 by Jenna1983

[vamartha]

Pay really close attention to the teeny tiny print on most gift cards. Most of them say valid in all locations that accept Visa/Mastercard/AMEX except cruise ships. I found that I couldn't even get one to go through last fall to purchase cruise cash, but when I called the 800 number, they were able to put it right through.