Gift Card

[Tradestock]

Are HAL gift cards available for purchase onboard?  If so, where are they sold on the ship (guest services, excursion desk, etc)?

[AFNavigator]

14 hours ago, Tradestock said:

Are HAL gift cards available for purchase onboard?  If so, where are they sold on the ship (guest services, excursion desk, etc)?

Just curious...why would you want to buy a HAL gift card once onboard?  There's no discount in buying the cards there.  If you are planning to use the funds onboard, you could just apply money to your onboard credit.  If planning to use the cards for a future cruise purchase or to gift someone else, just buy them from AARP at a 10% discounted cost (discussed in other topics).

 

Are you perhaps considering this to increase your onboard spending towards bonus Mariner Society cruise day credits?  If so, you might want to check with HAL first to see if gift card purchases (if they are available onboard) counts as an "eligible onboard purchase".  The Mariner Society FAQ page doesn't specify whether gift cards do or do not count towards the $300 daily spending limit for bonus cruise day credits.

[IPB4IGO]

16 hours ago, Tradestock said:

Are HAL gift cards available for purchase onboard?  If so, where are they sold on the ship (guest services, excursion desk, etc)?

Interesting question. If you want to purchase specialty dining, excursions, etc. while aboard why not get on to the AARP site from your cabin and purchase gift cards to buy OBC to pay for them? Save 10% with not much effort.

[Tradestock]

3 hours ago, AFNavigator said:

Just curious...why would you want to buy a HAL gift card once onboard?

Because, it appears we will have excess OBC.  From the board, we have formed the opinion that we can't use the OBC in the casino and can't apply it to gratuities.  If we could purchase a gift card onboard, we could use the excess OBC for a future sailing, instead of forfeiting the amount.  Thank you for the suggestions of AARP gift cards. We are not eligible for membership, yet.

[jeff74]

8 minutes ago, Tradestock said:

Because, it appears we will have excess OBC.  From the board, we have formed the opinion that we can't use the OBC in the casino and can't apply it to gratuities.  If we could purchase a gift card onboard, we could use the excess OBC for a future sailing, instead of forfeiting the amount.  Thank you for the suggestions of AARP gift cards. We are not eligible for membership, yet.

You don’t need to be a full blown aarp member to buy the gift cards.

 

 Just sign up as an aarp rewards member:

 

https://www.aarp.org/rewardme/?cmp=KNC-BRD-MC-REALPOSS-GOOGLE-SEARCH-REWARDS&gclid=EAIaIQobChMI_5Pm0Yrt-QIVgic4Ch2eaQbmEAAYASABEgKtePD_BwE&gclsrc=aw.ds

 

I’m 48 and bought 5 gift cards earlier this month.

[AFNavigator]

7 hours ago, Tradestock said:

Because, it appears we will have excess OBC.  From the board, we have formed the opinion that we can't use the OBC in the casino and can't apply it to gratuities.  If we could purchase a gift card onboard, we could use the excess OBC for a future sailing, instead of forfeiting the amount.  Thank you for the suggestions of AARP gift cards. We are not eligible for membership, yet.

Unless specifically addressed in your onboard credit, you should be able to use the OBC to pay the gratuities.  They are billed against your room at the end of the cruise.  Of course, if your remaining OBC at the end of the cruise exceeds your billed expenses, including the gratuities, you will lose the unspent balance. 

If you are looking to burn some more of your OBC, get the unlimited laundry package if you haven't already planned to do so.  It is $7/day in North America and well worth the price.

 

A slight correction to what I said above, I just read in separate postings that others have had leftover OBC transfer to future bookings.  Can anyone confirm that?  

Edited August 30, 2022 by AFNavigator
Update

[sandiego1]

Or buy an over priced trinket in one of the shops

[JesseLivermore]

15 minutes ago, AFNavigator said:

Unless specifically addressed in your onboard credit, you should be able to use the OBC to pay the gratuities. 

 

I believe the military OBC was like that.

 

[Tradestock]

1 hour ago, AFNavigator said:

If you are looking to burn some more of your OBC, get the unlimited laundry package if you haven't already planned to do so.  It is $7/day in North America and well worth the price.

We enjoyed the laundry package very much on our last cruise with Holland.  We thought it had to be purchased, in advance.  How do we purchase it on the ship; room steward, guest services or other department?  

 

I saw the thread about roll forward OBC, but thought it only applied to B2B.  Our sailings are separated, so did not want to risk a negative surprise on the last day.

 

Thank you to everyone for the replies.   

[AFNavigator]

4 hours ago, Tradestock said:

We enjoyed the laundry package very much on our last cruise with Holland.  We thought it had to be purchased, in advance.  How do we purchase it on the ship; room steward, guest services or other department?  

 

I saw the thread about roll forward OBC, but thought it only applied to B2B.  Our sailings are separated, so did not want to risk a negative surprise on the last day.

 

Thank you to everyone for the replies.   

Onboard, you can purchase the unlimited laundry package from your cabin when you fill out your laundry slip.  The first time you fill out the slip, you just checkmark the "Unlimited Laundry" box in the package options section of the slip.  Submit that sheet with your load of laundry and you are done.  The laundry fee will bill against your room at the end of the cruise, the same as the "Crew Appreciation" fee will.

 

[Tradestock]

Thank you for the information and the copy of the laundry slip.  I remember declaring number of items sent out, but I did not recall the ability to purchase the package.

[mds0424]

On 8/28/2022 at 11:32 PM, Tradestock said:

Are HAL gift cards available for purchase onboard?  If so, where are they sold on the ship (guest services, excursion desk, etc)?

Just wondering if you were ever able to get an actual answer to your question instead of suggestions for other ways to buy gift cards or other ways to blow your OBC? I am expecting to have >$1400 OBC on my next HAL cruise and was looking for an answer to the same question as to whether I could use my OBC to buy HAL gift cards onboard? I was able to successfully do this on Carnival earlier this year, but HAL seems to be much stricter with their OBC overall.

[Tradestock]

My impression is the gift cards are not available on the HAL ships.  I typically purchase most, if not all, of the packages and excursions, in advance of the trip.  I have delayed purchasing wine packages, gratuities, laundry packages, and a few other items until I arrive on the ship to utilize the OBC.  I cancelled most of our excursions and planned on re-booking on the ship, but chose to re-buy the most desirable excursions, in case they sell out.  Also, I am not very keen on standing in a line on vacation.  I try to have administrative tasks completed before vacation. Fortunately, this is a very desirable situation to solve.🙂  I hope you enjoy your upcoming cruise.