Cruise Fare Payable With Gift Cards?

[CruzerDeb]

Can I pay my entire cruise fare with gift cards? Is there a limit as to how much?

[dickinson]

Do a search to find the other threads about gift cards.  In short, yes you can.  the limit is purchasing 5 per month so if cruise payment is expensive you have to buy over a few months.

[CruzerDeb]

4 minutes ago, dickinson said:

Do a search to find the other threads about gift cards.  In short, yes you can.  the limit is purchasing 5 per month so if cruise payment is expensive you have to buy over a few months.

Yeah, the AARP gift card thread is extremely long. Thanks for the quick response! I was just on the AARP site, and they’ve increased the limit to 20 per month. But … another question, if I may. Are the Carnival and Princess gift cards always available?

[dickinson]

Just went to AARP and logged in under dh who has purchased 5 this month.  It says you can purchase 5/month.  Maybe some other company you can buy 20 but not Princess.

[CruzerDeb]

13 minutes ago, dickinson said:

Just went to AARP and logged in under dh who has purchased 5 this month.  It says you can purchase 5/month.  Maybe some other company you can buy 20 but not Princess.

Sorry! Just double-checked. You can buy 25 per month for Carnival, but only 5/mo for Princess. Didn’t mean to lead you on! 

[CruzerDeb]

Yep - another AARP GC question. I see that Princess policy states that the GCs can’t be used for EZAir and excursions. Has anyone found this not to be the case? $5,000 of my existing amount due is for EZAir flights; sure would like that discount, but obviously don’t want to buy cards I can’t use. Thanks for answering yet ANOTHER ?? - I did try to search for the answer. 

[FLAlaska]

Yes you can, just take this into account, If you need to cancel for any reason, refunds will be in gift cards as well. 

[CruzerDeb]

4 minutes ago, FLAlaska said:

Yes you can, just take this into account, If you need to cancel for any reason, refunds will be in gift cards as well. 

Cool! Much better savings if I can pay for EZAir as well! I’m fine with the refund being to the gift cards as they have no expiration date and I’ll be cruising again. Thanks!

[MacMadame]

5 hours ago, FLAlaska said:

Yes you can, just take this into account, If you need to cancel for any reason, refunds will be in gift cards as well. 

How did you do this? When I booked excursions, I was not given the choice to add a gift card, only to pay by credit card. 😞 

[FLAlaska]

2 hours ago, MacMadame said:

How did you do this? When I booked excursions, I was not given the choice to add a gift card, only to pay by credit card. 😞 

I apololgize, should have been more clear.. I was referring to paying the cruise fare, not excursions or extras.

[JAT0303]

8 hours ago, CruzerDeb said:

Yep - another AARP GC question. I see that Princess policy states that the GCs can’t be used for EZAir and excursions. Has anyone found this not to be the case? $5,000 of my existing amount due is for EZAir flights; sure would like that discount, but obviously don’t want to buy cards I can’t use. Thanks for answering yet ANOTHER ?? - I did try to search for the answer. 

 

Yes, I used gift cards for EZAir for a cruise in Australia in Jan/Feb.  I booked through a travel agent and she applied the cards and didn't have any problems.

[beg3yrs]

2 hours ago, MacMadame said:

How did you do this? When I booked excursions, I was not given the choice to add a gift card, only to pay by credit card. 😞 

It is possible to pay for excursions with gift cards. However you must call Princess and pray for a competent CS person. If they don't seem to know what they're doing, HUACA (hang up and call again).

[AZaTaz]

Do you book excursions on line then call or just have excursion number and have them add excursions and then pay with AARP gift cards

[paradiselivin1]

I had read that you don't have to be a member to buy the gift cards ~ is that still true?

[JimmyVWine]

6 minutes ago, paradiselivin1 said:

I had read that you don't have to be a member to buy the gift cards ~ is that still true?

Correct. You do have to register for the AARP Rewards Program, but that is separate from being a full-fledged member of AARP. 

[JimmyVWine]

1 hour ago, beg3yrs said:

It is possible to pay for excursions with gift cards. However you must call Princess and pray for a competent CS person. If they don't seem to know what they're doing, HUACA (hang up and call again).

I have HUACA’ed multiple times, asked for supervisor elevation, and explained over and over that it can be done, but have never succeeded. 

[CruzerDeb]

13 hours ago, JAT0303 said:

 

Yes, I used gift cards for EZAir for a cruise in Australia in Jan/Feb.  I booked through a travel agent and she applied the cards and didn't have any problems.

Great news! Thank you!

[smwg]

I just want to make sure you  know that if you use a gift card and later cancel your cruise, the money will be refunded to the gift card you used.  So don't throw away those "used" gift cards until well after the cruise is over and you know you will not be getting any refunds.  Learned that the hard way. 😉

[CruzerDeb]

53 minutes ago, smwg said:

I just want to make sure you  know that if you use a gift card and later cancel your cruise, the money will be refunded to the gift card you used.  So don't throw away those "used" gift cards until well after the cruise is over and you know you will not be getting any refunds.  Learned that the hard way. 😉

Thanks for this great info!

[moviegal]

Can you use gift cards to upgrade to Plus / Premier after booking? I know it's not possible through the website, but if I call?

[AZjohn]

4 hours ago, moviegal said:

Can you use gift cards to upgrade to Plus / Premier after booking? I know it's not possible through the website, but if I call?

Yes but purchase when boarding (same price). Then deposit you gift card(s) at customer service onboard and they will deduct price of the Plus/Premier that was purchased onboard (along with any additional purchases onboard).

[ExploringTheGlobe]

On 4/14/2024 at 5:37 PM, smwg said:

I just want to make sure you  know that if you use a gift card and later cancel your cruise, the money will be refunded to the gift card you used.  So don't throw away those "used" gift cards until well after the cruise is over and you know you will not be getting any refunds.  Learned that the hard way. 😉

This happened to my friend as well.  Now we are all diligent about keeping a copy until we are certain we no longer need it. 

[nasa1974]

@smwg is correct. If you use a gift card keep that card or cards until after your cruise. I had 4 cruises booked for 2020 and was using gift cards to pay for those cruises in 2019. When those cruises got cancelled everything went back to the gift cards. If I had thrown those cards away in early 2019 I would have been out a lot of money. Also, the gift cards don't expire. I used some of those gift cards from 2019 to pay for a couple of cruises this year.

 

@AZjohn I'm planning on using a gift card towards OBC once I get on the ship. I've heard that sometimes guest services have a problem getting the card attached to your account. Just an FYI for some that would like to do that. 

[moviegal]

18 hours ago, moviegal said:

Can you use gift cards to upgrade to Plus / Premier after booking? I know it's not possible through the website, but if I call?

I know the answer, I called Princess and was able to pay to add Premier to my booking with gift cards (just in case anyone was wondering).

[tha sista]

Are there kiosks so one can load their gift cards on their account?