Gift Card Limit

[alyssamma]

I just applied $1K in gift cards to a booking I have and the agent told me there is no longer a limit (i.e., the entire cruise can be paid for with gift cards). Has anyone else heard this?

 

TIA

[alyssamma]

Called again and got confirmation from a second rep...WooHoo!

 

Other restrictions still apply though...so basically just the cruise far and nothing else (including the deposit). But that's great news IMHO

[Ellaleah]

6 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

Called again and got confirmation from a second rep...WooHoo!

 

Other restrictions still apply though...so basically just the cruise far and nothing else (including the deposit). But that's great news IMHO

I have just had a poor Celebrity experience regarding our Apex cruise which was to be 113/24 and was canceled.  We are now rebooked on the Apex, 11/9/24.  They insisted for days that our cruise was not canceled after Celebrity sent out letters stating that it was.  The lack of knowledge of what was happening by Celebrity employees was astounding and although I am happy about this gift card news, I am skeptical.  Be careful!

[Ken the cruiser]

Are these AARP gift cards or from other source?

 

Rewards Terms

Card is valid only for Celebrity Cruise sailings and can ONLY be used for new bookings, not to be used to settle any ship board charges. Can redeem up to $500 in gift cards per person/per sailing, $1,000 total per stateroom. Can only be redeemed by US/Canadian residents calling (888) 837-5676. Cards are not redeemable for cash and cannot be returned for a cash refund, except to the extent required by law. No expiration date, no fees. This Card cannot be used and is not applicable for charters. Lost, stolen or damaged cards replaced only with valid proof of purchase. Please see

 
https://www.aarp.org/rewards/redeem/#sort-by=default&type=filter_travel

 

Edited June 24, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[alyssamma]

6 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Are these AARP gift cards or from other source?

 
https://www.aarp.org/rewards/redeem/#sort-by=default&type=filter_travel

 

I believe AARP has simply not updated their website. This was correct a month ago, but I don't believe is anymore.

 

The GC you get from AARP are normal X GCs

Edited June 24, 2023 by alyssamma

[alyssamma]

20 minutes ago, Ellaleah said:

I have just had a poor Celebrity experience regarding our Apex cruise which was to be 113/24 and was canceled.  We are now rebooked on the Apex, 11/9/24.  They insisted for days that our cruise was not canceled after Celebrity sent out letters stating that it was.  The lack of knowledge of what was happening by Celebrity employees was astounding and although I am happy about this gift card news, I am skeptical.  Be careful!

This is why I called 2x. The second time the rep told me no, and I said I heard it changed last month. He put me on hold for about 10min, came back and apologized and said yes, the policy has changed.

[Ellaleah]

14 minutes ago, alyssamma said:

This is why I called 2x. The second time the rep told me no, and I said I heard it changed last month. He put me on hold for about 10min, came back and apologized and said yes, the policy has changed.

Very scary that nobody there knows nothing.  Fortunately, my cruise is not for over a year, so I can see what happens.  Thank you fo4 the news!

[alyssamma]

3 minutes ago, Ellaleah said:

Very scary that nobody there knows nothing.  Fortunately, my cruise is not for over a year, so I can see what happens.  Thank you fo4 the news!

np...and, unfortunately, "nobody there knows nothing" is true for all cruise lines 😞

 

I'll be personally testing this in a few months...we'll see for sure then 🙂

 

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, alyssamma said:

I believe AARP has simply not updated their website. This was correct a month ago, but I don't believe is anymore.

 

The GC you get from AARP are normal X GCs

Hope so as it appears we can now purchase up to five $500 gift cards in one transaction for $450 each. But before we do this, like we currently do to help pay off our Princess cruises, it would be nice to read somewhere Celebrity will now accept an unlimited amount. But, we will definitely ask our TA to confirm what you’re hearing from your TA as this is great news! Since your initial posting of two $500 gift cards, have you tried to post more to the same booking?

[alyssamma]

1 hour ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Hope so as it appears we can now purchase up to five $500 gift cards in one transaction for $450 each. But before we do this, like we currently do to help pay off our Princess cruises, it would be nice to read somewhere Celebrity will now accept an unlimited amount. But, we will definitely ask our TA to confirm what you’re hearing from your TA as this is great news! Since your initial posting of two $500 gift cards, have you tried to post more to the same booking?

No...I actually only did this to satisfy a credit card spend requirement. I don't have a final payment due for a few months yet.

 

Hoping someone else here on CC is a guinea pig first 🙂

 

But seriously, I will buy one soon and if it doesn't work I'll just apply it to one of my other X cruises.

[NutsAboutGolf]

3 hours ago, Ellaleah said:

I have just had a poor Celebrity experience regarding our Apex cruise which was to be 113/24 and was canceled.  We are now rebooked on the Apex, 11/9/24.  They insisted for days that our cruise was not canceled after Celebrity sent out letters stating that it was.  The lack of knowledge of what was happening by Celebrity employees was astounding and although I am happy about this gift card news, I am skeptical.  Be careful!

 

The reservation software they use isn't good to begin with but it's clear in your cancelation experience,  no one updated the call center reps software which is a big mistake

[NutsAboutGolf]

To my surprise, nowhere on X's website can you buy or find info about, a gift card.  If anyone can find any current written gift card policy, please share

[alyssamma]

11 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

To my surprise, nowhere on X's website can you buy or find info about, a gift card.  If anyone can find any current written gift card policy, please share

https://www.celebritycorporatekit.com/individual-incentives/gift-cards/

 

That is the only thing I could find when I searched earlier. Not exactly clear...

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

1 hour ago, alyssamma said:

No...I actually only did this to satisfy a credit card spend requirement. I don't have a final payment due for a few months yet.

 

Hoping someone else here on CC is a guinea pig first 🙂

 

But seriously, I will buy one soon and if it doesn't work I'll just apply it to one of my other X cruises.

Why not just make final payment in advance rather than buying gift cards to meet a credit card spend requirement?

[alyssamma]

25 minutes ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

Why not just make final payment in advance rather than buying gift cards to meet a credit card spend requirement?

I've found that making final payment in advance complicates things if there is a price drop (or you need to change the cruise for any reason).

[Ken the cruiser]

1 hour ago, alyssamma said:

https://www.celebritycorporatekit.com/individual-incentives/gift-cards/

 

That is the only thing I could find when I searched earlier. Not exactly clear...

Thanks for this link. Hopefully, one of the below contacts will be able to confirm we can submit an unlimited number of gift cards to pay for our upcoming cruises, such as those discounted ones available for purchase through AARP. 😁

 

Make any occasion even more special.

Give the gift of luxury cruise travel with Celebrity Cruises gift cards. They’re perfect for customers, vendors, clients, and employees—anyone you want to thank or reward. They’re easy to purchase and use, have no expiration or fees, and can be applied toward new bookings of a Celebrity Cruise in increments of $25, $50, $100, $250, and $500.

Please note: Gift cards cannot be used to pay any ship board charges, including but not limited to gift shop purchases, casino debts, shore excursions or gratuities.

To Order or Redeem Gift Cards

CALL: 888.837.5676

EMAIL: celebritygiftcertificateprogram@celebrity.com
 

Edited June 25, 2023 by Ken the cruiser

[NorthStarStateCruiser]

1 hour ago, alyssamma said:

I've found that making final payment in advance complicates things if there is a price drop (or you need to change the cruise for any reason).

I guess if you don't use a TA you could run into dealing with those issues yourself. Downside of using a gift card for a cruise is the value of the cruise paid with it is not insurable under a travel insurance policy.

[alyssamma]

34 minutes ago, NorthStarStateCruiser said:

I guess if you don't use a TA you could run into dealing with those issues yourself. Downside of using a gift card for a cruise is the value of the cruise paid with it is not insurable under a travel insurance policy.

Not sure it has anything to do with using or not using a TA. I personally always use a TA for cruises. But if I haven't made a final payment it is easier to refare and/or take advantage of price drops.

 

As for gift cards...I think that depends on your policy. Of course, I'll never know for sure until I have to use it, but my insurance states they cover GCs so long as you can show they were used to pay for the cruise. Again, until I have to make a claim, who knows.

 

That being said, I buy trip insurance mainly for medical - especially today. Most airfare can be canceled for a credit. I've had to make 2 claims so far with NW and the process, though detailed, was relatively painless.

 

Worst case, it isn't covered...I am still ahead with how much I've saved by using gift cards. So it makes sense in my case to keep using them.YMMV.

 

[Ken the cruiser]

FWIW I just sent an email to the address on the above Celebrity link asking if the T&C rules have indeed changed from only being able to apply up to $1,000 per stateroom in Gift Cards to help pay for the cruise. I'll let you know if I ever hear back from them.

[Ken the cruiser]

What I find fascinating about this thread is the lack of views. This issue kind of reminds me of when Celebrity had their strict Shareholder Benefit rules prior to June 2019, when you could only use shareholder OBC when you had no other promotions applied to your booking or when it was a TA. Then they made the change to coincide what with other major cruise lines offered. But who wanted to spend $90+ per share for 100 shares to get the SOBC perks. Not us. Then the pandemic hit and the RCG shares dropped to below $25 per share and it became a no brained for us.

 

The same now appears to be happening for Gift Cards, especially if it’s true if you can now pay for use cruise in part using an unrestricted number of discounted Gift Cards. Heck, I didn’t know AARP even sold discounted cruise line Gift Cards until I heard about them over on the Princess forum back in February. I know it’s only 10% off, but if you can post say $5000-$10000+ towards your booking fares, that’s not a bad return on your $$$. Just saying … 😁

[Sunset329]

Last October I paid the entire cruise fare (excluding the deposit) and air fare with AARP gift cards for a Princess Hawaii cruise. Now I have final payment coming due for a Celebrity cruise in October. I have written a note to my TA requesting information on the use of the AARP gift cards on a Celebrity cruise. Keeping my fingers crossed - the use of the gift cards would put $700 in my pocket.

[NutsAboutGolf]

20 hours ago, alyssamma said:

https://www.celebritycorporatekit.com/individual-incentives/gift-cards/

 

That is the only thing I could find when I searched earlier. Not exactly clear...

Date stamp is 2017

[Ken the cruiser]

Good news! We heard back from Celebrity this afternoon!

 

[Ken the cruiser]

Now we just need to figure out how to get the Gift Cards applied to the balance of our December cruise we booked directly with Celebrity. I tried logging on to my Celebrity account to pay down the balance, but there was no option to apply Gift Cards. So my plan now is to contact the POC above and ask her for suggestions.

[alyssamma]

37 minutes ago, Ken the cruiser said:

Now we just need to figure out how to get the Gift Cards applied to the balance of our December cruise we booked directly with Celebrity. I tried logging on to my Celebrity account to pay down the balance, but there was no option to apply Gift Cards. So my plan now is to contact the POC above and ask her for suggestions.

You most likely need to call in for that. Carnival is the only line I've seen that lets you (easily) apply GC online.