bar1068 Posted June 21 #1 Share Posted June 21 We've used discounted Carnival gift cards for years on many cruises to fund our cruise bookings, and onboard S&S account. When we had a remaining balance, even balances less than $100 (but more than amount they donate) those balances were refunded back to gift cards, e-gift cards specifically. This year we've cruised on Jubilee and earlier this month on Venezia, with our S&S funded completely with gift cards, even bought a couple while onboard when our balances were running down. Both cruises we had balances of less than $100 at the cruises end, and both times we received those balances via checks in the mail within a couple weeks of returning from those sailings. Has something changed that I've missed? Not an issue, worry or concern, just curious if other cruisers have seen this. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hard_eight Posted June 21 #2 Share Posted June 21 I wish I knew what getting off the boat without a debt was like!🤣 1 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
VentureMan_2000 Posted June 21 #3 Share Posted June 21 I believe balances less than $10 will be donated to St. Jude. Balances $10 and over are refunded via check. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmukid87 Posted June 21 #4 Share Posted June 21 I've always been told original form of payment but that doesn't seem to be the case for you. I have always funded my S&S with gift cards, too. I have never wanted to risk getting a gift card back with any balance so I've cashed out my balance at the casino the final night. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pcvtmom Posted June 21 #5 Share Posted June 21 We were recently refunded our remaining balance from gift cards. We received it in the form of an e-gift card a day or so after returning home. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pellanor Posted June 21 #6 Share Posted June 21 8 hours ago, bar1068 said: We've used discounted Carnival gift cards for years on many cruises to fund our cruise bookings, and onboard S&S account. When we had a remaining balance, even balances less than $100 (but more than amount they donate) those balances were refunded back to gift cards, e-gift cards specifically. This year we've cruised on Jubilee and earlier this month on Venezia, with our S&S funded completely with gift cards, even bought a couple while onboard when our balances were running down. Both cruises we had balances of less than $100 at the cruises end, and both times we received those balances via checks in the mail within a couple weeks of returning from those sailings. Has something changed that I've missed? Not an issue, worry or concern, just curious if other cruisers have seen this. Did you have refundable OBC of more than $100? I wondered if the billing system applied charged to gift cards first, followed by OBC, and refunded remaining refundable OBC. I had that happen on the Celebration where I had $200 OBC and rest of charges funded by gift cards. $120 was returned to me in cash. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmptrwiz Posted June 21 #7 Share Posted June 21 We got a check back about a week when we returned home. It was less than $50. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
babygrljaz Posted June 22 #8 Share Posted June 22 In April I got my refund $11 as an e card the she day we got back. Same for my daughter, hers was over $100 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Honolulu Blue Posted June 22 #9 Share Posted June 22 19 hours ago, bar1068 said: We've used discounted Carnival gift cards for years on many cruises to fund our cruise bookings, and onboard S&S account. When we had a remaining balance, even balances less than $100 (but more than amount they donate) those balances were refunded back to gift cards, e-gift cards specifically. This year we've cruised on Jubilee and earlier this month on Venezia, with our S&S funded completely with gift cards, even bought a couple while onboard when our balances were running down. Both cruises we had balances of less than $100 at the cruises end, and both times we received those balances via checks in the mail within a couple weeks of returning from those sailings. Has something changed that I've missed? Not an issue, worry or concern, just curious if other cruisers have seen this. Interesting. Thanks for sharing. I've never had a balance to refund, so I don't have any insight there. I wonder which I would prefer - the check or the GC refund. I suppose if I had only one or two cards to keep track of, or if Carnival sends a new card for the balance, then a refund there would be fine. But I think it's a PITA to have to keep records of multiple GCs in case Carnival chooses to refund one of their choice, as I've found out when this happened to me on another cruise line (long story). Then again, a loose check is also a PITA these days - especially when you don't know when it will arrive. I just wish Carnival would stick with one policy and communicate it to its guests. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar1068 Posted June 22 Author #10 Share Posted June 22 Hmmmm....I certainly can't speak to what happened with the "other" cruise, but our experience using Carnivals gc's, particularly the discounted cards has been very good, even when physical cards were first what was used. Using e-gift cards at least limits keeping track of physical cards, although last year we had a larger refund of over $600 to anyone e-gift card that somehow my wife and I completely forgot about! But we did use it on another cruise. As I mentioned our experience with gc's has been good. If we have any refunds, it's usually small, if any at all, and Carnival has always put whatever balance owed backed to us to an e-gift card, which we usually received within days of the cruises end. Outside of the one we fuggat about, never had an issue, though that one was self inflicted! For us Carnival has been pretty consistent, except for this recent oddity of receiving a check when expecting an o e-gift card, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
n6uqqq Posted June 22 #11 Share Posted June 22 8 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said: Interesting. Thanks for sharing. I've never had a balance to refund, so I don't have any insight there. I wonder which I would prefer - the check or the GC refund. I suppose if I had only one or two cards to keep track of, or if Carnival sends a new card for the balance, then a refund there would be fine. But I think it's a PITA to have to keep records of multiple GCs in case Carnival chooses to refund one of their choice, as I've found out when this happened to me on another cruise line (long story). Then again, a loose check is also a PITA these days - especially when you don't know when it will arrive. I just wish Carnival would stick with one policy and communicate it to its guests. Carnival does not reload gift cards per their website. I have only received new gift cards as replacement for refunds. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cmichael1221 Posted July 3 #12 Share Posted July 3 On 6/21/2024 at 8:43 AM, bar1068 said: We've used discounted Carnival gift cards for years on many cruises to fund our cruise bookings, and onboard S&S account. When we had a remaining balance, even balances less than $100 (but more than amount they donate) those balances were refunded back to gift cards, e-gift cards specifically. This year we've cruised on Jubilee and earlier this month on Venezia, with our S&S funded completely with gift cards, even bought a couple while onboard when our balances were running down. Both cruises we had balances of less than $100 at the cruises end, and both times we received those balances via checks in the mail within a couple weeks of returning from those sailings. Has something changed that I've missed? Not an issue, worry or concern, just curious if other cruisers have seen this. I always check-in with a credit card and then apply the gift cards as I go or on the last night of the cruise, that way Carnival never owes me any money. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Please sign in to comment
You will be able to leave a comment after signing in
Sign In Now