Onboard Credits obtained via Carnival Mastercard (Barclays)- not showing in account.

[supaflyrobby]

Just thought I would share what I know as this was maddening getting someone to cough up a definitive answer from customer service at either Barclays or Carnival. I booked our cruise 13 months out using this card and used the card often for large purchases in the interim to stockpile fun points. Including the new cardmember bonus, I managed to bank $450 in on board credit for our cruise coming up in June. Thought this would be a nice little cushion for our trip and allow us to splurge a little. However the credits were not showing up on my account on carnival.com, which was maddening. The 100$ in credit that I got for booking the cruise itself was showing up however.

 

After lots of emails and phone calls I finally got someone at Barclays (after having my request 'escalated') to tell me that OBCs obtained from use of the Carnival Credit Card will not show up on your account until after you arrive at the ship. I guess have no huge problems with this, but it would be awesome if this was explained with transparency as many people might like to use these credits to make pre-cruise purchases too. 

Edited February 13, 2023 by supaflyrobby
typo

[stobe1]

I can verify from personal experience that this is the case. While nothing in your boarding documents will show the OBC from Barclay's, it will be on your Sail & Sign account when you board. I hate not having documentation of it, but it does work and you just have to have faith that it will be on there, which it always has been for us.

[hapytobehr]

I have the Carnival MC as well and I can assure you that every time I have booked my credits to my sailing, they have been on my account the 2nd day of the cruise.

[supaflyrobby]

32 minutes ago, stobe1 said:

I can verify from personal experience that this is the case. While nothing in your boarding documents will show the OBC from Barclay's, it will be on your Sail & Sign account when you board. I hate not having documentation of it, but it does work and you just have to have faith that it will be on there, which it always has been for us.

Thank you for providing your experience. I also hate not having documentation. The 10% credit back for shore excursions came instantly, so I figured the same would be the case for OBC, but this is not the case. I guess I do not have a huge issue with this, but I do think Barclays needs to offer more clarity. 

Edited February 13, 2023 by supaflyrobby

[Riles34]

"On Board" Credit. It is not like a gift card allowing you to purchase in advance. You will have it show up on the second day. I have never had an issue.

[shof515]

43 minutes ago, Riles34 said:

"On Board" Credit. It is not like a gift card allowing you to purchase in advance. You will have it show up on the second day. I have never had an issue.

 

they are onboard credits that you can use to make pre-cruise purchases in the cruise planner like excursions, drink packages and so on 

 

unfortunately , this type of onboard credit and ta obc can not be used for these purchases in advance 

[dd likes to cruise]

I believe the OBC we get from travel agents are the same. You do not see them ahead of time. And it is written on the contracts. 

[mistycruiser]

I always like to have confirmations for everything I order so I would suggest you do a screen print of the redemption history that Barclay's mentions and take it with you.  Just as an fyi, you get a better redemption value using your points for statement credit versus OBC.  

[CeleBrat]

I have used my Barclay's rewards for statement credit, which is "like" OBC since I use the card for my onboard expenses.  And, there's the added bonus of getting double points for $ spent while onboard a Carnival cruise.

Edited February 14, 2023 by CeleBrat

[rolloman]

22 minutes ago, CeleBrat said:

  And, there's the added bonus of getting double points for $ spent while onboard a Carnival cruise.

In theory they are supposed to. It has been my experience they do not give you double points for onboard purchases. I have called them on this several times and have never received a logical response nor have they changed the point total for me. A couple cruises ago I did not get any points at all for onboard purchases and Barclays says it is up to the ship to report it. 

[ARcruisin2]

47 minutes ago, rolloman said:

In theory they are supposed to. It has been my experience they do not give you double points for onboard purchases. I have called them on this several times and have never received a logical response nor have they changed the point total for me. A couple cruises ago I did not get any points at all for onboard purchases and Barclays says it is up to the ship to report it. 

I would ask to have this escalated. The statement you receive should show how much carnival charged you that week... and you should get double points for any Carnival purchases. 

 

Also, I can confirm with others... as i learned from these boards, you get more for your points using them towards your carnival purchases on your statement. 

[rolloman]

2 hours ago, ARcruisin2 said:

I would ask to have this escalated. The statement you receive should show how much carnival charged you that week... and you should get double points for any Carnival purchases. 

 

Also, I can confirm with others... as i learned from these boards, you get more for your points using them towards your carnival purchases on your statement. 

When I purchase a carnival cruise using the card...yes...I get double points for that purchase. When I go on the aforementioned cruise and use my same Carnival Mastercard for onboard purchases I do not get double points for those purchases. For example if my sign and sail card final bill is $500.00 and charged to my carnival Mastercard I should get 1000 points. I do not and have not for quite some time.

[BellaAurora]

Thank you for this information!  I have been looking for our Barclay's OBC on my Carnival booking; now I know! 

[Frank12]

9 hours ago, BellaAurora said:

Thank you for this information!  I have been looking for our Barclay's OBC on my Carnival booking; now I know! 

I've done it numerous times.  It will show up once you board.  Never had an issue.

 

[AlabamaFootball]

For future reference... just spend onboard and charge to your mastercard for 2x points.  You get more bang for your buck paying off your cruise charges using points than you do using points to pre-buy on board credit.....   

another side hustle...  charge say $2,000 to your card at a slot...  play once(maybe you win)  cash out for the $1999ish.    let your MC settle your bill, and that $2000 is worth 4000 points.   4000 points pays off $40 of your MC Statement.

Now say you have a $25,000 limit....   Just saying!!!!

[Youyoyotoo]

On 2/13/2023 at 9:01 AM, supaflyrobby said:

Just thought I would share what I know as this was maddening getting someone to cough up a definitive answer from customer service at either Barclays or Carnival. I booked our cruise 13 months out using this card and used the card often for large purchases in the interim to stockpile fun points. Including the new cardmember bonus, I managed to bank $450 in on board credit for our cruise coming up in June. Thought this would be a nice little cushion for our trip and allow us to splurge a little. However the credits were not showing up on my account on carnival.com, which was maddening. The 100$ in credit that I got for booking the cruise itself was showing up however.

 

After lots of emails and phone calls I finally got someone at Barclays (after having my request 'escalated') to tell me that OBCs obtained from use of the Carnival Credit Card will not show up on your account until after you arrive at the ship. I guess have no huge problems with this, but it would be awesome if this was explained with transparency as many people might like to use these credits to make pre-cruise purchases too. 

Yeah, the ship itself is supposed to indicate your obc credit from Barclay's tied to your booking number/cabin SOS. No other indication until boarded. Pretty bad. Lots of guesswork and confusion, and may not always work correctly. 

[rolloman]

On 4/7/2023 at 11:38 AM, AlabamaFootball said:

For future reference... just spend onboard and charge to your mastercard for 2x points.  You get more bang for your buck paying off your cruise charges using points than you do using points to pre-buy on board credit.....   

another side hustle...  charge say $2,000 to your card at a slot...  play once(maybe you win)  cash out for the $1999ish.    let your MC settle your bill, and that $2000 is worth 4000 points.   4000 points pays off $40 of your MC Statement.

Now say you have a $25,000 limit....   Just saying!!!!

As I mentioned before...onboard purchases billed to your mastercard have not been providing double points...probably because people trying to game the system just as

 you described....