Are gift certificates refundable?

[mcatmcat]

Hi [emoji3]

 

For my next cruise I have Pre paid gratuities purchased drink packages to my and another reservation that is also sailing with us. I know I won’t buy anything else onboard but there is a possibility that people on the other reservation might do a little charge. Is it better to buy onboard credit or gift certificate and also in the event there is 0$ charge onboard so I get back the money from the certificate or onboard credit? -how?

 

Thank you ✔️[emoji1360]

 

 

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[Clarea]

Hi [emoji3]

 

For my next cruise I have Pre paid gratuities purchased drink packages to my and another reservation that is also sailing with us. I know I won’t buy anything else onboard but there is a possibility that people on the other reservation might do a little charge. Is it better to buy onboard credit or gift certificate and also in the event there is 0$ charge onboard so I get back the money from the certificate or onboard credit? -how?

 

Thank you ✔️[emoji1360]

Don't mess with gift certificates, they are a pain to redeem and may have restrictions.

 

Call 800-722-5443 to directly buy OBC. This is refundable OBC and can be redeemed for cash on the last day of the cruise if there is any left.

[jcolley]

Don't mess with gift certificates, they are a pain to redeem and may have restrictions.

 

 

 

Call 800-722-5443 to directly buy OBC. This is refundable OBC and can be redeemed for cash on the last day of the cruise if there is any left.

 

 

 

 

Amen to this, I purchased a $500 RCI gift certificate through work points. When I went to redeem through my travel agent, I was told it is required that you book directly with RCI. So I lost $200 in OBC with that deal. And to top it off, they only apply it after booking (yes I had to pay all up front) and I sent RCI an email (per there requirements) on Feb. 9th. STILL have not received the $500 back to my credit card!!

 

From what I understand, you can’t use it to settle an onboard account either. I was unfamiliar with all of this as I’ve only used a Carnival GC in the past. They can be used on/for anything!

 

 

 

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[mcatmcat]

Thank you [emoji1360][emoji1360]

 

 

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[matj2000]

Instead of trying to pay for something up front that you might not even buy.

Just do it like everyone else and put down a credit card as your deposit.

You are creating yourself a very avoidable hassle...

[Sun Lover]

Stay away from onboard credit. We had it given to us as a gift when we were recently on a B2B and never got it straightened out in the 2 weeks we were on board the ship. Customer service was just terrible. They had no idea what they were doing. When we got home, I spoke to the assistant to the CEO and she said there was no reason why they shouldn't have given it to us. Not only did they not give it to us, but they didn't even attempt to figure it out or accommodate us. We wasted hours at Guest Services trying to straighten it out to no avail.

[carmenOH]

Stay away from onboard credit. We had it given to us as a gift when we were recently on a B2B and never got it straightened out in the 2 weeks we were on board the ship. Customer service was just terrible. They had no idea what they were doing. When we got home, I spoke to the assistant to the CEO and she said there was no reason why they shouldn't have given it to us. Not only did they not give it to us, but they didn't even attempt to figure it out or accommodate us. We wasted hours at Guest Services trying to straighten it out to no avail.

So what did the assistant to the CEO do about it?

[jamesr3939]

Gift certificates must be redeemed prior to sailing. You can go on the www site and apply them to final payment or OBC. But it must be done several days prior to sailing for OBC. I bought some for our kids and didn't have an issue applying them on the www site about a month prior.

[Sun Lover]

So what did the assistant to the CEO do about it?

 

They credited my credit card when I got home, several days after the cruise was over.