Verizon Gift Cards and On Board Spending Account

[mhaverla]

I have several Verizon Gift cards that I plan to use on my upcoming cruise. When I setup my On Board spending account via the Carnival web site pre-cruise online check in I setup a credit card. I plan to put the Verizon Gift cards on my account once I am on the cruise ship or check in for the cruise.

 

My question is should I change my pre-cruise online check in to "Cash" and then if during the cruise my Verizon Gift cards goes to zero then add the credit card to the onboard spending OR is it OK the way I have it setup. With this setup will I first draw from the gift cards and then when their balance reaches zero it will automatically charge to my credit card?

 

We plan to use the Verizon Gift cards towards some drinks, gift shop, and play in the casino. Standing in line at Guest Services is not an issue since we are Platinum.

[tw67]

I am sure you can do it that way. I personally would just set it up with my credit card, and not have to worry about it later. For my next cruise I actually already cashed in my gift cards and bought cruise cash. I know we will go through it, but this way I already have them applied, and I don't have to worry about it later. I always set up the credit card for my "overruns".

[angela12345]

I would leave it the way you have it setup. We always have a credit card as a backup and load the giftcards on the first day on the ship. The gift cards and any OBC you have will be used first, then it will automatically start charging to the credit card, only if all of the other is exhausted. If you change it to cash instead of credit card backup, you could use up all the funds and then have to go to guest services right in the middle of something you want to charge (for example, you're in the middle of dinner and want to order a glass of wine, would be very inconvenient to have to go to guest services in the middle of dinner).

[peajay84]

I had $150 of Carnival eGift Cards I'd gotten through Verizon. I went ahead and purchased Cruise Cash via the "Fun Shops" to have as On Board Credit to use while on our upcoming cruise. I'll also have a CC on the account as well to cover anything the Cruise Cash and other OBC doesn't.

[angela12345]

I had $150 of Carnival eGift Cards I'd gotten through Verizon. I went ahead and purchased Cruise Cash via the "Fun Shops" to have as On Board Credit to use while on our upcoming cruise. I'll also have a CC on the account as well to cover anything the Cruise Cash and other OBC doesn't.

It would be more convenient to have all of the cash already in your S&S account. The only bad thing about cruise cash ... IF something happened and you didn't make it on the cruise or had to leave the cruise early for some reason (like medical), I think you lose the cruise cash. If it's gift cards, they re-issue a gift card back to you replacing the unused amount.

[maryred]

Leave the credit card on file if you fear overrunning the amount of the gift certificates. AT the very least it gets the test charge done at check-in and any possible holds fro the card's issuer will be reflected for that day. Then at a a time of your choosing go to the GS desk to apply the gift cards. Regardless of when deposited or put on file the order that ship board spending will be charged against the "deposits" does not change. You could even wait to the last day to apply your GCs and only any overage (if any) will be sent on the final charge request to the credit card company.

This is the order:

The full order of use is as follows:

1. Non-refundable promo on board credits
   
2. Cruise Cash (department specific CC will be applied 1st if on account & qualified purchase made)
   
3. Refundable OBC
   
4. Carnival Gift cards
   
5. Cash or cash equivalents like Traveler's Cheques
   
6. Credit or Debit cards (This will have no order to it if you use multiple cards on one account. If you wish to dictate a specific amount off a certain card the transaction will be handled as a cash advance and conveniences fee charge.)
   

[pntnnc]

In October I loaded gift cards and had originally signed up as cash. Near the end of the cruise we had a little that we owed so I added my cc about 2 days before end of cruise. It was very easy to do. I guess you could add it ahead of time was really only a couple minutes at desk to add so no trouble.

[peajay84]

It would be more convenient to have all of the cash already in your S&S account. The only bad thing about cruise cash ... IF something happened and you didn't make it on the cruise or had to leave the cruise early for some reason (like medical), I think you lose the cruise cash. If it's gift cards, they re-issue a gift card back to you replacing the unused amount.

 

Good to know! Too late for this cruise but will keep in mind for next time! Thanks!

[stargate fan]

I have several Verizon Gift cards that I plan to use on my upcoming cruise. When I setup my On Board spending account via the Carnival web site pre-cruise online check in I setup a credit card. I plan to put the Verizon Gift cards on my account once I am on the cruise ship or check in for the cruise.

 

My question is should I change my pre-cruise online check in to "Cash" and then if during the cruise my Verizon Gift cards goes to zero then add the credit card to the onboard spending OR is it OK the way I have it setup. With this setup will I first draw from the gift cards and then when their balance reaches zero it will automatically charge to my credit card?

 

We plan to use the Verizon Gift cards towards some drinks, gift shop, and play in the casino. Standing in line at Guest Services is not an issue since we are Platinum.

This is exactly what we did with our gift cards for our cruise last week on Glory.

We received a new gift card in the mail yesterday (three days after returning home) with the total unused balance of the three gift cards used towards our S&S account.