Pre-Purchase Cheers!/Bon Voyage with Gift Cards

[Pops, Esq.]

Okay, Carnival threw me a curve ball on this. All along, my plan has been to buy gift cards here and there for my onboard account. I've done a good job of collecting them and have covered what I think I will spend. The plan was to get on board and buy Cheers!

 

Good plan, right?

 

Then they changed the Cheers! program and, more importantly, the on-board pricing of the Cheers! program. Now, I would like to buy in pre-board, as I can save $5 per day x 6 days x 2 people. BUT, I go to buy it and they don't take gift cards. I have also noticed they don't take gift cards on bon voyage.

 

I have seen talk that this is a "glitch", but I have no faith that the "glitch" gets fixed any time soon.

 

My question is...Has anyone successfully purchased Cheers! and/or made a purchase from Bon Voyage with gift cards by CALLING Carnival? I know, it probably took me longer to type this post than it would have taken for me to call myself and ask. Oh well.

 

Thanks

[bar1068]

Okay, Carnival threw me a curve ball on this. All along, my plan has been to buy gift cards here and there for my onboard account. I've done a good job of collecting them and have covered what I think I will spend. The plan was to get on board and buy Cheers!

 

Good plan, right?

 

Then they changed the Cheers! program and, more importantly, the on-board pricing of the Cheers! program. Now, I would like to buy in pre-board, as I can save $5 per day x 6 days x 2 people. BUT, I go to buy it and they don't take gift cards. I have also noticed they don't take gift cards on bon voyage.

 

I have seen talk that this is a "glitch", but I have no faith that the "glitch" gets fixed any time soon.

 

My question is...Has anyone successfully purchased Cheers! and/or made a purchase from Bon Voyage with gift cards by CALLING Carnival? I know, it probably took me longer to type this post than it would have taken for me to call myself and ask. Oh well.

 

Thanks

 

Not a glitch...can't do it....

[Schoifmom]

I have never seen anyone report being successful in calling to use gift cards for Bon Voyage or Cheers, but if you can do it, please report back and let us know!! I, too, would like to use my gift cards to pre-purchase Cheers. If I can't use them, then the additional cost on board kind of cancels out the savings I got from purchasing the discounted gift cards :(

Edited April 12, 2016 by Schoifmom

[Pops, Esq.]

Called to ask and here's what I learned from Juanita (the very nice agent on the other end of my phone line):

 

I asked the simple question, "Can I use a gift card to purchase Cheers! or anything from Bon Voyage."

 

Answer: "You can't use gift cards for those packages."

 

So, there you have it.

 

(And I was right....it took longer to post the original post than to call and get the answer from Carnival)

[kcbbq]

I used gift cards to purchase Cheers online today. You will see the option when you get to the payment screen.

 

You don't have to have the full amount available on gift cards. I used five $100 gift cards and placed the balance on my credit card.

 

Nice change, thanks Carnival!!!

[Joyride37]

My thought is to use the gift cards to credit your on board account then on Day 2 purchase the drink package using the credit on your account. I don't know if anyone has tried that but I'm shooting from the hip.

 

 

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[firemanbobswife]

My thought is to use the gift cards to credit your on board account then on Day 2 purchase the drink package using the credit on your account. I don't know if anyone has tried that but I'm shooting from the hip.

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

 

 

But if you buy Cheers ahead of time it's $5 per person per day cheaper. You can now use gift cards to purchase Cheers and other Fun Shop items online.

[agraning]

I was able to use 7-$100 gift cards + remaining on my credit card to pre-order online but the website had a major error when it didn't accept my order the first time I submitted it.

 

It turns out my credit card flagged the transaction as fraudulent but when I reattempted the purchase, all of my gift cards said $0 balance!

 

When I called the Fun Shops support number, they had no record of me purchasing the Cheers package but also didn't have a way to see where the $700 in gift cards had gone. It took 5+ phone calls over multiple days for the gift card balance to be found and Cheers actually purchased with them and a different credit card.

 

This might have been a one time fluke but just wanted to share my experience with the online purchase via gift cards! Also, I never received the order confirmation email until I requested a customer service rep send me one.

[firemanbobswife]

I was able to use 7-$100 gift cards + remaining on my credit card to pre-order online but the website had a major error when it didn't accept my order the first time I submitted it.

 

 

 

It turns out my credit card flagged the transaction as fraudulent but when I reattempted the purchase, all of my gift cards said $0 balance!

 

 

 

When I called the Fun Shops support number, they had no record of me purchasing the Cheers package but also didn't have a way to see where the $700 in gift cards had gone. It took 5+ phone calls over multiple days for the gift card balance to be found and Cheers actually purchased with them and a different credit card.

 

 

 

This might have been a one time fluke but just wanted to share my experience with the online purchase via gift cards! Also, I never received the order confirmation email until I requested a customer service rep send me one.

 

 

How long ago was this? I know of lots of people that were able to purchase with no problem.

[riclop]

Okay, Carnival threw me a curve ball on this. All along, my plan has been to buy gift cards here and there for my onboard account. I've done a good job of collecting them and have covered what I think I will spend. The plan was to get on board and buy Cheers!

 

Good plan, right?

 

Then they changed the Cheers! program and, more importantly, the on-board pricing of the Cheers! program. Now, I would like to buy in pre-board, as I can save $5 per day x 6 days x 2 people. BUT, I go to buy it and they don't take gift cards. I have also noticed they don't take gift cards on bon voyage.

 

I have seen talk that this is a "glitch", but I have no faith that the "glitch" gets fixed any time soon.

 

My question is...Has anyone successfully purchased Cheers! and/or made a purchase from Bon Voyage with gift cards by CALLING Carnival? I know, it probably took me longer to type this post than it would have taken for me to call myself and ask. Oh well.

 

Thanks

 

And away go the gift cards down the drain.

[firemanbobswife]

And away go the gift cards down the drain.

 

 

That post was almost a year old. You can use gift cards for Cheers now online.

[SNJCruisers]

That post was almost a year old. You can use gift cards for Cheers now online.

Shaking head...Still passing along spot on pertinent information. [emoji6]

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Forums mobile app

[firemanbobswife]

Shaking head...Still passing along spot on pertinent information. [emoji6]

 

Sent from my XT1254 using Forums mobile app

 

You're killing me, Smalls! :p

[agraning]

How long ago was this? I know of lots of people that were able to purchase with no problem.

 

 

This was two weeks ago.

[firemanbobswife]

This was two weeks ago.

 

 

I wonder if that was right before it became fully active. I saw where someone had posted the same thing happened to them and then they took the option down. I can personally attest that as of January 28 it worked perfectly [emoji4].

[agraning]

I wonder if that was right before it became fully active. I saw where someone had posted the same thing happened to them and then they took the option down. I can personally attest that as of January 28 it worked perfectly [emoji4].

 

 

I remember being excited they had added gift cards as a payment option so I bet you're right that they were maybe working out some kinks with using gift cards. But yes, my husband and I are super excited to have the pre-purchase discount and the discount from using the AARP gift cards!!