MamaTortuga Posted May 5, 2015 #1 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Has anyone applied for the card while on the ship? What free gifts do they give you and how do you earn credit for the cruise that you're currently on? And most importantly is the card even worth it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Singer4Him Posted May 5, 2015 #2 Share Posted May 5, 2015 We applied on a cruise but didn't get it. Not sure why not because when we got back home, we applied again and got it. I don't recall what the gifts were other than a good size Carnival bag. I used it for getting groceries, etc. until my daughter "relocated" it. ;) Since getting the card, we've been able to rack up quite a few points. I will be using those points to go toward our upcoming cruise. Anything that you put on the card from Carnival (payments, excursions, on-board spending, etc.) will earn you double points. I hope this helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
isaiahsnana Posted May 5, 2015 #3 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Just did this, got a drawstring back pack and a lanyard. You get 5000 points for your first purchase, which can be the pay off of your current sign and sail bill. The points are supposed to be the equivalent of $50 to spend on your next cruise or to get gift cards to various stores and restaurants. You get double points for any Carnival purchase (cruise deposits, bon voyage gifts, sign and sail cards, pay off cruise, excursions, etc.). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vitamin_Sea Posted May 5, 2015 #4 Share Posted May 5, 2015 (edited) I did it on the CCL website a couple years ago. . Gave me 10K points. Enough for $100 OBC Edited May 5, 2015 by limoguy1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gremlinbangles Posted May 5, 2015 #5 Share Posted May 5, 2015 The interest on this card is high but if you pay it off each month it's a good way to get obc. Aa already said you get double points for carnival purchases. So we pay for our cruise and use on board to get points for the next cruise. Works for us! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaTortuga Posted May 5, 2015 Author #6 Share Posted May 5, 2015 Nice! I may do it just to have a card that will get me rewards I'll actually want. I plan on paying it off each month anyway so the interest shouldn't be an issue. I was going to apply online but I figured I might as well wait a few days and get some freebies. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theriac Posted May 6, 2015 #7 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Not sure if Carnival does this or not but I've had credit companies cancel my card for always paying on time every month because they made no money on me. At least 3 cards dropped me for this. Now I always let like $5 or $10 roll over and pay that a week later with interest to keep my cards in line and let the banks feel like they won. Its terrible how I can loan them my money and they only wanna give me 1 or 2 % back but they loan me money and they want 14%. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gremlinbangles Posted May 6, 2015 #8 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Not sure if Carnival does this or not but I've had credit companies cancel my card for always paying on time every month because they made no money on me. At least 3 cards dropped me for this. Now I always let like $5 or $10 roll over and pay that a week later with interest to keep my cards in line and let the banks feel like they won. Its terrible how I can loan them my money and they only wanna give me 1 or 2 % back but they loan me money and they want 14%. Haven't done that to me yet. I have been using it that way for about 2 years. But your right they do strange things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theriac Posted May 6, 2015 #9 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Haven't done that to me yet. I have been using it that way for about 2 years. But your right they do strange things. I wasn't specifying Carnivals card with that, but other loyalty cards I had would drop me after about 4-5 years which confused me since I was adamant about paying on time. After talking to a few people that was the conclusion I was given why I was being dropped so I would always let like $5 dollars roll over and pay the small interest and fortunately haven't been dropped since. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gremlinbangles Posted May 6, 2015 #10 Share Posted May 6, 2015 I wasn't specifying Carnivals card with that, but other loyalty cards I had would drop me after about 4-5 years which confused me since I was adamant about paying on time. After talking to a few people that was the conclusion I was given why I was being dropped so I would always let like $5 dollars roll over and pay the small interest and fortunately haven't been dropped since. Definitely a good thing to know. Obviously they don't like us that they don't make money off of and we get the freebies. I have been trying to decide whether it's worth using the card to get enough points for obc or just buy the gift cards at Verizon for the reduced rate ie 90 dollars for the 100 gift card. I have to charge 9000 to get the 90 obc from Mastercard. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theriac Posted May 6, 2015 #11 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Definitely a good thing to know. Obviously they don't like us that they don't make money off of and we get the freebies. I have been trying to decide whether it's worth using the card to get enough points for obc or just buy the gift cards at Verizon for the reduced rate ie 90 dollars for the 100 gift card. I have to charge 9000 to get the 90 obc from Mastercard. Could you purchase the GCs through Verizon with the Carnival Mastercard? The old Two Birds One Stone theory. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gremlinbangles Posted May 6, 2015 #12 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Could you purchase the GCs through Verizon with the Carnival Mastercard? The old Two Birds One Stone theory. Actually I have done that but I get single points for it. If I use the MC to pay the carnival bill I get double points. For the life of me I can't do the math to see which way is best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theriac Posted May 6, 2015 #13 Share Posted May 6, 2015 (edited) I would think it would work out best using Verizon and buying with Carnival CC as that would give 11% off instead of just double points being 2% paying direct with Carnival. I could be doing math wrong as its early, but I would think that would be your best bet. No CC that I know of gives 10%. You may get lucky and get a rate of 10% but definitely not getting it back. Edited May 6, 2015 by theriac Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
faroozi Posted May 6, 2015 #14 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Not sure if Carnival does this or not but I've had credit companies cancel my card for always paying on time every month because they made no money on me. At least 3 cards dropped me for this. Now I always let like $5 or $10 roll over and pay that a week later with interest to keep my cards in line and let the banks feel like they won. Its terrible how I can loan them my money and they only wanna give me 1 or 2 % back but they loan me money and they want 14%. I have never kept a balance on any of my cards in the past 15 years. (Before that I was a teenager) I have never paid credit card interest and I can't imagine paying interest just to keep a card when there are so many credit cards out there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gremlinbangles Posted May 6, 2015 #15 Share Posted May 6, 2015 I would think it would work out best using Verizon and buying with Carnival CC as that would give 11% off instead of just double points being 2% paying direct with Carnival. I could be doing math wrong as its early, but I would think that would be your best bet. No CC that I know of gives 10%. You may get lucky and get a rate of 10% but definitely not getting it back. I'm still sitting here letting the coffee take effect but I think I see what you are saying. I have a cruise later this a month so let's say I get a 1000 dollars worth of gift cards from Verizon it would cost me 900. I would also get 900 points a on mc which is a worth about 9 dollars so my gain Is basically 109 dollars. Right? Now if I buy 1000 dollars a and charge to my mc I get 2000 points which is basically 20 dollars...oh yea that makes a sense actually. And only 2 cups of coffee. Wonder how fast those Verizon card come if I order today? Thanks! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theriac Posted May 6, 2015 #16 Share Posted May 6, 2015 It may end up costing me $0.50 a month to keep this card going that I get a lot of benefits with and luckily I've gone years now without having some close accounts on me. It could have been for a number of reasons but the consensus always was because they weren't making money on me. It could have been because I was younger and they were high interest cards hoping to make money off a dumb 19 year old and they realized it wasn't happening. Like I said I've had multiple cards drop me and I had never paid a cent before that in interest. I wasn't recommending that what anyone do just sharing personal experience. I'm ok with paying under a dollar a month though to make sure they're always working when needed. Especially since I earn more then that with my points Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gremlinbangles Posted May 6, 2015 #17 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Rats! Just went to buy carnival gift cards at Verizon and they are out. Ah well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaTortuga Posted May 6, 2015 Author #18 Share Posted May 6, 2015 I didn't think about getting the gift cards with Verizon. I don't have Verizon but my boyfriend does. I'll get him to look into it. Is it something that has to be mailed? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gremlinbangles Posted May 6, 2015 #19 Share Posted May 6, 2015 I believe so. It's been a while since I bought any. You just have to watch for their availability. For a 100 gift card you use 1000 Verizon points and pay 90 dollars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douglinc@msn.com Posted May 6, 2015 #20 Share Posted May 6, 2015 We got the Carnival Master Cards several years ago and have just about stopped using them. You only get one point per dollar you spend and 2 if it is spent on Carnival. They other cards we have pay 2 to 5% on almost every purchase. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruadhin Posted May 6, 2015 #21 Share Posted May 6, 2015 It may end up costing me $0.50 a month to keep this card going that I get a lot of benefits with and luckily I've gone years now without having some close accounts on me. It could have been for a number of reasons but the consensus always was because they weren't making money on me. It could have been because I was younger and they were high interest cards hoping to make money off a dumb 19 year old and they realized it wasn't happening. Like I said I've had multiple cards drop me and I had never paid a cent before that in interest. I wasn't recommending that what anyone do just sharing personal experience. I'm ok with paying under a dollar a month though to make sure they're always working when needed. Especially since I earn more then that with my points Please forgive me, but I find your story hard to believe. I have had reward style cards for years and years now. I have never carried a balance and I have never had a card cancelled on me. In fact, I get mailers every month from the exact companies I currently use offering me another card. Now, we did have a friend who had her card cancelled. I heard this second hand from my wife, apparently her friend was making multiple payments during the month. Taking it at face value, I guess they found it to be a hassle to process. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MamaTortuga Posted May 6, 2015 Author #22 Share Posted May 6, 2015 We got the Carnival Master Cards several years ago and have just about stopped using them. You only get one point per dollar you spend and 2 if it is spent on Carnival. They other cards we have pay 2 to 5% on almost every purchase. This is one of the main reasons why I was on the fence about the card. I have a hotel rewards card that gives way more points for non hotel purchases. I guess I would have to look into how many points are needed for different things in order to determine how much I would have to spend in the long run to make it worth it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
douglinc@msn.com Posted May 6, 2015 #23 Share Posted May 6, 2015 Please forgive me, but I find your story hard to believe. I have had reward style cards for years and years now. I have never carried a balance and I have never had a card cancelled on me. In fact, I get mailers every month from the exact companies I currently use offering me another card. Now, we did have a friend who had her card cancelled. I heard this second hand from my wife, apparently her friend was making multiple payments during the month. Taking it at face value, I guess they found it to be a hassle to process. I have several credit cards and have not carried a balance in the last 20 years and have never had one canceled for not carrying over a balance. This is the first time I've ever heard of this, there must be another reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bruadhin Posted May 6, 2015 #24 Share Posted May 6, 2015 I have several credit cards and have not carried a balance in the last 20 years and have never had one canceled for not carrying over a balance. This is the first time I've ever heard of this, there must be another reason. That would be my belief as well. There must be more to this story. A credit card company can make money off a person who pays the balance off in full each month. Sure, it isn't as profitable as the guy who carries a balance, gets hit with numerous fees, etc. But it is still profitable. Also, it helps keep volume and merchant numbers up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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