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Cruise line gift cards: Where to buy them, how to spend them

I f you're racking your brain to come up with the perfect gift for your cruise-loving family member or friend, consider buying them a gift card or certificate from their favorite cruise line.

Cruisers will appreciate a gift they can use toward purchasing their cruise fare or splurging on a beverage package, specialty restaurant or spa treatment. Don't rule out the first-timers on your list; you can help them fund their first foray into cruising or surprise them with something extra to make their upcoming trip special.

If you're a cruiser, you may also want to purchase a gift card for yourself, especially when you can find a deal. AARP sometimes offers digital gift cards for cruise lines like Princess, Holland America, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean at a savings of up to 10%.

Gift cards purchased with Target's RedCard receive a 5% discount. You can also look for Black Friday sales on Disney gift cards at Sam's Club and other promotions offered through the cruise lines or retailers.

For cruise news, reviews and tips, sign up for TPG's cruise newsletter .

Not every cruise line offers gift cards, and some have alternative ways to help pay for a portion of someone else's vacation. However, if you're in the market for cruise line gift cards, read on to find out which seven lines offer them, where to buy them and how to use them.

Holland America Line

Holland America offers gift cards in denominations between $5 and $2,000 that are available to buy on its website. You can either purchase a physical card to send enclosed with a personal message or choose a digital version that the recipient can open online with personalized audio and photos.

The line offers one or two sales a year that feature an added perk, such as a $100 bonus card with a $1,000 purchase.

You can use the cards to pay for cruise bookings, pre-cruise expenses or onboard charges covering specialty dining, beverages, shore excursions, spa treatments, gratuities and other purchases. They can also be used to buy Holland America's "Have It All" bundle, which includes a beverage package, shore excursion credit, Wi-Fi and specialty restaurant meals.

Holland America's gift cards are also available at online retailers, including Amazon, Target and Walmart, in preset amounts. Certain banks feature credit card programs where you can redeem points for the cruise line's gift cards. If you prefer to shop in person, you'll find gift cards in stores such as Target, Publix, Kroger and Giant Eagle.

Related: The 4 classes of Holland America ships, explained

Gift cards are only available in U.S. dollars. Gift cards are activated upon receipt, and they cannot be resold. In addition, buyers cannot purchase an aggregate amount exceeding $10,000 in one day.

Princess Cruises

Princess Cruises also offers gift cards on its website in denominations between $5 and $2,000. Buyers can personalize the line's eGift Card with photos and audio for the recipient. Princess Classic Gift Cards arrive by mail, with free shipping on cards over $100. Expedited shipping is also available.

You can use Princess gift cards to pay for your cruise, including fares with the Princess Plus and Princess Premier all-inclusive packages .

Recipients can also settle part or all of their onboard bill with gift cards at the end of the cruise at the passenger services desk. That means gift cards can essentially pay for meals in specialty restaurants, shore excursions, spa treatments and other onboard splurges.

You cannot use the gift card to pay for land excursions as part of a cruisetour, flights booked through Princess or gratuities.

Related: The ultimate guide to Princess Cruises ships and itineraries

You can find Princess gift cards in grocery stores like Kroger, Harris Teeter and Giant Eagle and online at retail sites such as Amazon, Target and Best Buy.

Gift cards are only available to residents in the U.S. and Canada. Classic Gift Cards cannot be mailed to Canada, so Canadian residents should choose the eGift Card option.

Buyers are limited to a $10,000 online aggregate purchase in one day and a maximum of five transactions a day. Anyone can use the gift card since there's no name on the card.

Carnival Cruises

Carnival Cruise Line 's online gift cards are customizable from $100 up to $1,000. You can purchase a physical card that's mailed and even have it wrapped and delivered in a tin for an additional $1.99 (for up to five cards). If you prefer, you can choose an e-gift card that's sent to the recipient online.

The gift card can be used toward a cruise booking, pre-purchased shore excursions or spa treatments. You can also apply it to beverage packages and gratuities. If you'd like to use the card as an onboard credit, you must go to the guest services desk or Sail & Sign kiosk to apply the gift card as payment for your onboard bill once you're on the ship.

Related: Cruise onboard credit: What it is, where to get it and how best to use it

Carnival's gift cards are available in over 9,000 retail outlets, including Best Buy, Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons, Lowe's, Safeway, Winn-Dixie and Publix. You can also purchase gift cards on board Carnival's ships. You can buy as many cards as you'd like, but there is a maximum online transaction of five gift cards at one time.

All gift cards are in U.S. dollars and not accepted on ships using a different onboard currency. You can transfer the gift card to another user since there are no names on the cards.

Disney Cruise Line

Gift cards for Disney Cruise Line are sold online at shopdisney.com in preset amounts, from $25 to $500. You can choose from over 60 Disney designs of physical gift cards and have them shipped, or you can send a themed eGift Card.

Gift cards are also sold at Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort and Disney retail locations throughout the U.S., Puerto Rico and Canada. If you're purchasing them in person, you can load them for any amount from $15 to $1,000. The cards are reloadable with as little as $5 and up to $1,000. They can be reloaded at any location that sells the gift cards. That option is not available online.

Related: 11 ways to save money on a Disney cruise

Use Disney gift cards to purchase a cruise, shore excursions, merchandise on the ship and other onboard expenses. You can also spend the cards at Disney-owned properties, like Disney's Vero Beach Resort; on trips or cruises with Adventures by Disney; for Disney on Broadway; and at retail stores and other Disney businesses.

You'll also find them in preset amounts at retailers like Target, Walmart and Best Buy.

Norwegian Cruise Line

Norwegian Cruise Line ended its gift card program in 2021, but you still can send gifts to cruisers in the form of an onboard credit or spa credit. Onboard credit is available in $25 increments up to $100. Mandara Spa certificates are offered in amounts of $25, $50 and $100.

To send the gift, you'll need to know some personal information, including the birth date of the recipient or the reservation number for the booking. You can order the gift of onboard credits on Norwegian's website.

CruiseFirst certificates are another gift option. These advance purchase vouchers can be used to pay for cruises of six days or longer and are valued at double the price. For example, you'll pay $150 for a certificate worth $300. You can transfer these vouchers to another person as a gift without a charge.

You can purchase up to 10 certificates per person at a time, and they can only be applied to new reservations on voyages scheduled at least 120 days out from the purchase date of the certificate. Only one certificate can be used per sailing — and there are a few other restrictions. These vouchers expire within three years of the purchase date.

Royal Caribbean

Royal Caribbean is another line that uses a gift certificate program rather than gift cards. Certificates are available in the following U.S. dollar increments: $50, $100, $250, $500, $1,000, $1,500, $1,700 and $2,000. These certificates must be redeemed at least 10 days before the cruise.

Use them to pay the cruise fare, with some restrictions, or apply them toward onboard credit to cover specialty dining, beverage packages, spa treatments, gift shop purchases and other items. If you want to apply the gift certificates as payment for expenses on the ship, you'll need to redeem them online 10 days before the sailing date. They cannot be used for government taxes, fees, gratuities or casino play.

Related: 35 Royal Caribbean cruise tips and tricks that will make your voyage better

Celebrity Cruises

Celebrity Cruises has an online store where you can purchase onboard credit to celebrate someone's birthday, honeymoon, anniversary or other memorable occasion while on their cruise.

Gift certificates are available in $25 increments. These certificates can be purchased online if you know the recipient's reservation information, or you can call Celebrity's Store Customer Support team to place an order.

Note that gift cards cannot be used to pay shipboard charges, including gift shop purchases, casino debts, shore excursions or gratuities.

You can also give specialty dining certificates for $45 each. If the amount charged is less than that, the remaining sum will be applied to the passenger's onboard account.

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Everything About Buying Discount Cruise Gift Cards via AARP (Carnival, Royal Caribbean, & More)

There’s a way that you can purchase gift cards for Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Princess, and other cruise lines… all for a sharp 10% discount off their face value. This deal means you can save potentially hundreds of dollars off your next cruise.

That may sound too good to be true, but the offer is available through AARP, the popular senior interest group. There’s no catch or hoops to jump through, apart from being a member.

Even better, before you think you have to be an older American to join up and get these savings on cruise gift cards, membership is open to anyone . That means you can save no matter your age.

Still, there are some details you should know. That’s why we recently signed up for the AARP program ourselves to see exactly how things work. Here is how to sign up, purchase cards, and take advantage of the savings…

Overview of the AARP Cruise Gift Card Program

First things first, what exactly is the deal offered by AARP?

As an interest group with tens of millions of members across the country, AARP is known for its influence. For members, it also offers a number of benefits and perks.

The group’s website includes everything from insurance plans to car buying programs to credit cards to literature about topics in aging. But the site also has what it calls “AARP Rewards.”

Here, the group offers all sorts of deals from discounted magazine subscriptions to book deals to sweepstakes entries. One of the biggest groups of deals, however, is dedicated to discounted gift cards.

You’ll find specials for gift cards entailing everything from restaurants to grocery stores. All of them offer a discount off the face value. For instance, there are $25 gift cards to movie theater chain AMC for $23 — about 8% off the face value.

Of all those discounts, it’s the cruise gift cards that seem to offer some of the best deals. Here, the cards are 10% off the face value . Given the cost of a cruise, that can save you potentially hundreds of dollars.

What Cruise Line Gift Cards Are Available?

At the time of this article, there are a total of five different cruise lines with gift cards available via AARP. The available lines include:

• Royal Caribbean
• Celebrity Cruises
• Holland America

Combined, these lines represent close to 100 cruise ships offering trips just about anywhere in the world. In other words, no matter if you want to sail the Caribbean or Australia, the Mediterranean or Alaska, you can do it while saving some serious money.

What Sort of Discount is Offered?

At the time of this writing, each cruise line on the AARP list of offers had two denominations of cards offered: $100 and $500.

Each card is offered at a 10% discount. So the $100 gift cards sell for $90 via AARP and the $500 cards sell for $450 .

So if you were to purchase a cruise costing $2,500, you could buy five of these cards for $2,250, saving yourself $250 off the purchase.

Do I Have to Be an AARP Member to Buy?

Of the five different cruise lines that have gift cards on the AARP website, three of them — Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and Celebrity — specifically state they are for “Members Only.” Princess and Holland America don’t make that distinction.

However, when we tried to register for a free AARP account, we repeatedly reached an error page. When we went ahead and joined as paying members (the charge is just $12 a year), we were able to sign-up with no issue. Once signed up, we were able to access all the gift cards available.

I’m Not Over 50 Years Old. Does That Mean I Can’t Get the Discount?

No! While AARP is known for being an interest group for older Americans, anyone can join, no matter their age. We were personally able to sign up for a membership and then access all the gift cards with no issue despite being under 50 years old.

Where Do I Go to Buy the Gift Cards?

So where exactly do you go to get your card? If you don’t yet have an AARP account, first you’ll need to register. If you sign up, expect a $12 per year charge. That’s a small price to pay for the ability to save up to 10% off your cruise.

If you’re already registered with AARP, follow these steps to find the gift cards:

• Visit AARP.org
• Click “AARP Rewards” in the menu at the top
• Click “Login” at the top right of the next page and then enter your email/password
• Once signed in, look for the drop down menu on the Rewards page. Select “Redeem” and then “All Rewards”
• Scroll down until you see the heading “All Rewards”. Enter “cruise” in the search box to bring up all the discounted cruise gift cards

We’ll admit that it was a little confusing on how to find the discounted cruise gift cards at first. When creating a new account like we did, we suggest that once you register, go ahead and sign out, then close your browser. Then re-open the browser and sign back into AARP. When we signed up, it seemed to not recognize our new account at first.

Is There a Limit on How Many I Can Buy?

Yes. Each gift card will come with restrictions on how many are able to be purchased at once. The “Premium” items like Carnival gift cards had a limit of 25 per month. The non-premium cards had a lower limit of just five gift cards per month.

If you are headed on an expensive cruise, it may be that you have to purchase over multiple months to get all the gift cards you need.

Are There Special Restrictions on Using the Cards?

Before you buy the cruise cards, you’ll definitely want to read through all the fine print that’s provided on the AARP website about their use. Each cruise line seems to have different rules regarding usage.

For instance, Royal Caribbean only allows you to use the card for a new reservation. And you have to book the cruise, pay a deposit, and then email in a copy of the gift certificate to apply to your remaining balance.

Lines like Princess and Carnival are more lenient on when and where you can use the card, but it’s still smart to understand the rules about the cards before buying. You can find the terms on the AARP site before purchasing.

Can I Use These Cards For Myself?

Absolutely. Like other gift cards, the cruise cards don’t have anyone’s name attached. You can use them like cash. So if you want to buy them as a gift for someone, you can do that. Or if you have a cruise coming up and want to use the discount to save money, you can do that too.

Are the Gift Cards Physical or Digital?

If you’re wanting to purchase these as a gift, then you should know that the discounted cards are actually digital. According to the fine print on AARP, each of these is “fulfilled as a digital gift code.”

So you should receive the card via email.

Are the AARP Discount Cruise Cards a Good Deal?

If you’re looking for a deal, it doesn’t get much better than this. With no strings attached, hoops to jump through, or other headaches, you can essentially get 10% off the cost of your cruise by buying these gift certificates and then using them to pay for the trip. So a $2,000 cruise becomes $1,800 just with buying the cards through AARP.

And since you can still shop around and buy your cruise how and when you want, you can buy the cards, and then wait for a deal that looks good to you. The only difference is instead of paying full price, you get a discount.

If you plan to cruise one of the lines offering the cards, we see no reason not to take advantage.

More on Saving on a Cruise:

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10 Rules to Getting the Best Deal on a Cruise

• The Best Time to Book a Cruise (Save Money, Better Cabins)

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I have done this for 4 Carnival cruises. It works great. I had no problem purchasing them and redeeming them when booking my cruise. I used USAA travel service to book all of my cruises and they accepted my carnival gift cards over the phone for payment. I saved 10% and it was easy.

On your payment page click on gift card, enter the card number, the pin and the amount you want applied to the card. I have done this multiple times. Good luck and happy cruising.

Unfortunately, the discount for the Princess Cruises gift card has gone from 10% to 8%. I asked AARP about this, and they said that the discount amount is up to Princess, not AARP.

Travel insurance will not reimburse payment towards a cryise paid with a gift card should you need to cancel for any reason.

No place to add gift card online for payment. Called gift card #, they can’t add it no place on cruise personalizer. So exactly hiw are yiu redeeming Princess gift for cruise payment.

AARP Rewards (and thus access to gift cards) is only available to US residents. Wish I’d known this before joining AARP (which you can do as a Canadian).

Go online and chat. I just did it and cancelled my membership and got reimbursed. Same problem you had.

Warning: The AARP site does not support Safari, only Chrome. Mac users, I just saved you half an hour, you’re welcome. I left them lots of feedback.

how do i get a gift card

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Where to get Discounted Carnival Gift Cards..??

By Funseekers , November 12, 2021 in Carnival Cruise Lines

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Does anyone know where you can get the Carnival discount gift cards? I have read that AARP and Allstate offered them but I have yet to find anything.  I feel like I have been all over the AARP site as well as my Allstate site with no luck. Cruising early December and was hoping to get a couple to help with the drink package and excursions. 😊   Any suggestions would be MUCH  appreciated.  

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We just bought 4 $500 cards for $1800 on AARP, that's the usual 10% discount they offer.  Only change from the past was that we didn't need to use any points to get them.

It took me a while, but AARP does offer discounted Carnival gift cards. You have to be a member and it's under the AARP REWARDS  at the top of the page. I think you have to log into your account to see it though.

Allstate Rewards (my preferred go to place for gift cards) is available, but you have to join up, and it's a pain to do so. Their is an extensive thread on  Allstate Rewards on this forum. Keep searching. And I wish you good luck! 

nessachelle

AARP is probably the easiest place. Allstate Rewards is very hit or miss for me, when it works it's great but most of the time I can't get the website to work.  AARP you do have to be a member to purchase them but membership is pretty cheap (somewhere around $15-20 a year) and you can become a member at any age, you do not have to wait till your 50 to join.

I never have a problem using Allstate Rewards.  You don't have to be an Allstate customer to join, just go to their website and create a log in.  It's really pretty simple.  They have both ecards and physical cards available right now.

If you have a Meijer nearby, they do both 10% off gift cards and 10% back in store MPerks at different times.  Just need to check the website 

If you have a Target Red Card, you can buy them at 5% off.  I get most of mine through AARP, with their 10% off, but have purchased a few through Target, in a pinch.

LatinaInTexas

4 hours ago, pcvtmom said: If you have a Target Red Card, you can buy them at 5% off.  I get most of mine through AARP, with their 10% off, but have purchased a few through Target, in a pinch.

Hmmmmm I work at Target and didn't know that. It would be sweet if I could stack that with my team member discount lol.

AMEX Blue Cash Preferred gives 6% back on grocery, so I used to buy Carnival gift cards at stores. You can also check gift card resale sites, since I remember selling some partially-used ones there. Personally, just booking using VIFP offers saved me tons of money, as well as using the RU1 drinks package offer. Then having 100 shares of CUK or CCL also gets me $50/100 in credit per cruise. 

Thank you all!! I ended up finding them on AARP and bought a couple $500 ecards. It was just confusing me as I thought when I was clicking on rewards that I had to have reward points to get them.. but that is not the case thank goodness!! 🙂

luv2travel06

On 11/12/2021 at 3:14 PM, Elaine5715 said: If you have a Meijer nearby, they do both 10% off gift cards and 10% back in store MPerks at different times.  Just need to check the website 

Meijer also had Princess gift cards for a period of time, but they were recently removed from all the racks and replaced with eBay gift cards, which was a bummer because we have 3 Princess cruises booked. But we were able purchase enough to pay for almost 2 of the cruises before they disappeared. And when you pay for them with a credit card that offers 2%-5% back, it costs even less to cruise!  🙂

SNJCruisers

8 minutes ago, luv2travel06 said: Meijer also had Princess gift cards for a period of time, but they were recently removed from all the racks and replaced with eBay gift cards, which was a bummer because we have 3 Princess cruises booked. But we were able purchase enough to pay for almost 2 of the cruises before they disappeared. And when you pay for them with a credit card that offers 2%-5% back, it costs even less to cruise!  🙂

Allstate has the Princess cards on occasion, usually @ 10% off, was @ 15% off for a short time.

Citi Easy Deals has a current Carnival gift card promotion, 10% off, $500 card for $450 for those with a Citi credit card. This is in addition to the Merchant Offers with $250 off $1000 on Carnival. I got a $250 statement credit with this, $200/free cards with rewards points, and a $250 statement credit on my new Carnival Barclays card. $700 savings and $1400 OBC for 3 cruises, not to mention the casino fares.

1 hour ago, mondello said: Citi Easy Deals has a current Carnival gift card promotion, 10% off, $500 card for $450 for those with a Citi credit card. This is in addition to the Merchant Offers with $250 off $1000 on Carnival. I got a $250 statement credit with this, $200/free cards with rewards points, and a $250 statement credit on my new Carnival Barclays card. $700 savings and $1400 OBC for 3 cruises, not to mention the casino fares.

Not all Citi Bank cc customers get these offers.  I have 2 different Citi Bank cards and did not get it through either of them.

At least at the moment, I'm no longer able to find Carnival GC on AARP.  Can anyone else find them?

AfricaTravellers

I can't find them on the AARP website either.

Same here. AARP must have removed them from their website, as I see Celebrity g.c.'s available.

14 hours ago, SNJCruisers said: Not all Citi Bank cc customers get these offers.  I have 2 different Citi Bank cards and did not get it through either of them.

True. I got offers on my Citi Diamond Preferred that were not available on my Citi Thank You card. I've finally paid off all my bills this year after a lifetime of debt. Just using one card for points and paying it off every month. Plan on racking up more free gift cards to add to the $700 savings on the 3 cruises we have booked. Next month will be our first cruise since Alaska in 2016.

luv2trvlnow

According to their site, AARP will be offering the $100 Carnival gift card on Friday at noon.  It will be offered for a 30% discount.  Unfortunately you are only able to buy 1.  This is their Daily Deal for the day.  Not sure how many they will have, but you will need to be ready to purchase the moment it turns 12.  Some of these deals are gone in a few seconds.

edit:  Just to clarify that is noon EST.

2 hours ago, luv2trvlnow said: According to their site, AARP will be offering the $100 Carnival gift card on Friday at noon.  It will be offered for a 30% discount.  Unfortunately you are only able to buy 1.  This is their Daily Deal for the day.  Not sure how many they will have, but you will need to be ready to purchase the moment it turns 12.  Some of these deals are gone in a few seconds.   edit:  Just to clarify that is noon EST.

I looked, and looked and looked for the $100 Carnival gift card, and could not find one word about it. And....I didn't see anywhere about any Daily Deals. Can you clarify by posting a link? TIA.

28 minutes ago, Joe817 said: I looked, and looked and looked for the $100 Carnival gift card, and could not find one word about it. And....I didn't see anywhere about any Daily Deals. Can you clarify by posting a link? TIA.

I hope this link works.  It is on the Community Forums, under the AARP Rewards  Redemption.

https://community.aarp.org/t5/Redemption/Daily-Deals-for-the-Week-of-11-22-11-26-2021/m-p/2433669#M4064

Edit:  On Friday morning you should find the item listed on the Redeem page.  But it won't go live until 12 noon EST.

1 minute ago, luv2trvlnow said: I hope this link works.  It is on the Community Forums, under the AARP Rewards  Redemption.   https://community.aarp.org/t5/Redemption/Daily-Deals-for-the-Week-of-11-22-11-26-2021/m-p/2433669#M4064    

It worked! Thanks so much. I never thought to look in the community forums thread.  👍

15 minutes ago, luv2trvlnow said: I hope this link works.  It is on the Community Forums, under the AARP Rewards  Redemption.   https://community.aarp.org/t5/Redemption/Daily-Deals-for-the-Week-of-11-22-11-26-2021/m-p/2433669#M4064   Edit:  On Friday morning you should find the item listed on the Redeem page.  But it won't go live until 12 noon EST.

3 minutes ago, lele100 said: Actually is says carnival is available on the 19th, that has passed 

Since the AARP message from Teri was posted on the 19th and looks like the schedule for the following week, the reference to "Friday, November 19" could be a typo.  So I still plan to watch for this on Friday, November 26.

It hasn't been available in a while, but Newegg used to do discounts on carnival giftcards occasionally. 

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E Gift Cards for Carnival

By mouche , September 21, 2022 in Carnival Cruise Lines

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I have never used E gift cards with carnival and would like to my next trip, how does it work? Do I put them on my sail and sign card at guest services? Also can I make a payment on my cruise with the online printed gift card? Thanks in advance!!!

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• 1 yr mouche changed the title to E Gift Cards for Carnival

CruiserBruce

Better to ask on the Carnival board, here:

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/133-carnival-cruise-lines/

Thanks, I figured it out.

I buy cruise cash with egift cards, which can be used for drinks, casino, grats, specialty dining and any other on board purchases.

I paid for our whole cruise with gift cards (both e-cards and printed cards) through Allstate which are 10% discounts.  I also took some with me and added them to our sign & sail account at one of the kiosks on-board.  You can pay for just about anything with the gift cards (different than cruise cash)

MeganGC1983

You can enter them at a kiosk on board or at guest services. 

4 hours ago, ober134 said: I buy cruise cash with egift cards, which can be used for drinks, casino, grats, specialty dining and any other on board purchases.

47 minutes ago, Gypsywych said: Why?    

I buy them at 10% discount using Allstate rewards. Saves 10% on those cruise purchases and OBC. And I hate wasting time at guest services and those kiosks are a PIA

4 minutes ago, ober134 said: I buy them at 10% discount using Allstate rewards. Saves 10% on those cruise purchases and OBC.

I'm sorry. I wasn't clear in what I was asking.  Why would you use egift cards to purchase cruise cash? Cruise cash can only be used onboard and is non-refundable.  Physical and E cards can be used for everything Carnival, and if you put too many on your onboard account and don't settle up, they'll send you a new gift card for your balance. 

CruizinSusan70

5 hours ago, ober134 said: I buy cruise cash with egift cards, which can be used for drinks, casino, grats, specialty dining and any other on board purchases.

Why take the middle step and buy cruise cash?  If you purchase it you need to spend it all, but if you just apply the E cards at customer service if there is anything left over above 10.00 on your account, you will receive an E gift card via email when you get home. If it's under 10.00, it gets donated to St Jude.

1 minute ago, Gypsywych said: I'm sorry. I wasn't clear in what I was asking.  Why would you use egift cards to purchase cruise cash? Cruise cash can only be used onboard and is non-refundable.  Physical and E cards can be used for everything Carnival, and if you put too many on your onboard account and don't settle up, they'll send you a new gift card for your balance.   

See my amended comment. I never add more cruise cash than I expect to spend

6 minutes ago, ober134 said: See my amended comment. I never add more cruise cash than I expect to spend

But there is zero benefit to buying cruise cash unless Carnival has a sale on it.  The same gift card that can be used to buy the cruise cash can just as easily be applied to your on board account at a kiosk on board or at guest services.

PrincessArlena'sDad

1 hour ago, CruizinSusan70 said: But there is zero benefit to buying cruise cash unless Carnival has a sale on it.  The same gift card that can be used to buy the cruise cash can just as easily be applied to your on board account at a kiosk on board or at guest services.

Buying cruise cash=one less thing to do while on the ship on vacation. As long as you know you'll spend it, and anything over the gift card amount goes on credit card, no visit to gs or kiosk needed.  And, kiosks are sometimes finicky with gift cards

37 minutes ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said: Buying cruise cash=one less thing to do while on the ship on vacation. As long as you know you'll spend it, and anything over the gift card amount goes on credit card, no visit to gs or kiosk needed.  And, kiosks are sometimes finicky with gift cards

Only bought cruise cash once at a 20% discount, buying the maximum allowed of 500 on each leg of our B2B on the MG, resulting in a 200.00 savings on top of the 10% savings from the gift card purchase through Allstate. So the 1000 in cruise cash cost me 720.  

Normally I just go to guest services when there is nobody in the Platinum line to apply any cards I wish to utilize so it takes about 2 minutes at the maximum.  

Inveterate Cruiser

On 9/22/2022 at 10:56 PM, CruizinSusan70 said: Only bought cruise cash once at a 20% discount, buying the maximum allowed of 500 on each leg of our B2B on the MG, resulting in a 200.00 savings on top of the 10% savings from the gift card purchase through Allstate. So the 1000 in cruise cash cost me 720.   Normally I just go to guest services when there is nobody in the Platinum line to apply any cards I wish to utilize so it takes about 2 minutes at the maximum.  

How often do these cruise cash discounts offers happen? I would definitely have bought some if I had seen a discount offer before my Vista cruise in August……

Petersonfcu

12 minutes ago, Inveterate Cruiser said:   How often do these cruise cash discounts offers happen? I would definitely have bought some if I had seen a discount offer before my Vista cruise in August……

I am pretty sure the 20% discount on cruise cash was a one time IT error and not some sort of intentional cruise cash sale.  In any event, I am only aware of this discount  happening once.  It occurred a few months ago.  The discount was only available for a few hours and Carnival pulled it fast when folks started going wild with it.

cmichael1221

On 9/21/2022 at 9:42 AM, mouche said: I have never used E gift cards with carnival and would like to my next trip, how does it work? Do I put them on my sail and sign card at guest services? Also can I make a payment on my cruise with the online printed gift card? Thanks in advance!!!

I'd suggest screen grabbing them on your phone and then at some point on the last day or two of the cruise when guest services isn't busy, add them then

11 hours ago, Inveterate Cruiser said:   How often do these cruise cash discounts offers happen? I would definitely have bought some if I had seen a discount offer before my Vista cruise in August……

Early in the pandemic they offered 20% off cruise cash and 20% (10% additional to the pre-purchase price) on cheers in order to drive cash-on-hand. I got gift card refunds for both after (multiple) cancelled cruises. 

I got the e-gift cards through my swagbucks, I saved 18 dollars on every $100 e-gift card, I paid off my cruise in Feb 23 and saved a few bucks.

On 9/26/2022 at 2:29 PM, mouche said: I got the e-gift cards through my swagbucks, I saved 18 dollars on every $100 e-gift card, I paid off my cruise in Feb 23 and saved a few bucks.

$18 per 100 on Swagbucks? Is this offer still on?

Colorado Cruzer

I also prefer to buy cruise cash with discounted gift cards for an amount I know we will always spend.  I don't want to ever stand in line at guest services and like others have said, the kiosk didn't work for me.  It's been years since I tried to deal with the kiosk though, maybe they have changed. We're not platinum and they don't sell FTTF anymore so no line for me. I doubt we will get to platinum with the lackluster service, food quality and nonsense going on with Carnival.

2 minutes ago, Colorado Cruzer said: I also prefer to buy cruise cash with discounted gift cards for an amount I know we will always spend.  I don't want to ever stand in line at guest services and like others have said, the kiosk didn't work for me.  It's been years since I tried to deal with the kiosk though, maybe they have changed. We're not platinum and they don't sell FTTF anymore so no line for me. I doubt we will get to platinum with the lackluster service, food quality and nonsense going on with Carnival.

Depending on the ship at least the kiosks are better than they used to be. I am not sure if all the ships have the new white kiosks with the tall screens or not. But those that do, they work much better than the old blue and red ones.

19 hours ago, Inveterate Cruiser said:   $18 per 100 on Swagbucks? Is this offer still on?

Yes, if you are a member with a certain ranking, the lowest ranking is $8.00 savings.

On 9/28/2022 at 11:03 AM, mouche said: Yes, if you are a member with a certain ranking, the lowest ranking is $8.00 savings.

Ok I am currently Level 3 Onyx. What level do you need to get $18 per 100$ on SB? 

3 minutes ago, Inveterate Cruiser said:   Ok I am currently Level 3 Onyx. What level do you need to get $18 per 100$ on SB? 

And can you share how you get 18% off? I can only see 7% off thru Mygiftcardsplus.com

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Monster growth! The cruise boom at Carnival continues with debut of another new ship

Make that five new ships for Carnival Cruise Line in just 18 months.

The world's second-biggest cruise brand on Thursday welcomed the first cruisers aboard yet another new vessel, the 4,126-passenger Carnival Firenze, in Long Beach, California.

The 135,156-ton ship is debuting just four months after Carnival unveiled the even bigger 5,374-passenger Carnival Jubilee and 11 months after the line began operating the 4,090-passenger Carnival Venezia .

For more cruise news, guides and tips, sign up for TPG's cruise newsletter .

The latter two ships operate out of Galveston, Texas, and New York City, respectively. Carnival Venezia also spends part of the year sailing out of Port Canaveral, Florida.

Over the past 18 months, Carnival has also added the Miami-based, 5,374-passenger Carnival Celebration and the Australia-based, 2,260-passenger Carnival Luminosa . Carnival Luminosa also spends part of the year sailing out of Seattle.

The addition of the five ships to the Carnival fleet over such a short time span marks one of the fastest expansions of any cruise brand in the history of cruising.

With the addition of the five ships, Carnival now has 27 vessels in its fleet — tying a record it set before the COVID-19 pandemic forced it to cut back its capacity .

A new ship with an asterisk

Scheduled to sail year-round out of Long Beach, California, Carnival Firenze is a new ship for Carnival, but it's new with an asterisk. The 15-deck-high vessel has sailed before for another cruise line, Italy-based Costa Cruises.

Originally called Costa Firenze, the vessel sailed its maiden voyage for Costa, a sister brand to Carnival, in July 2021, making it nearly three years old.

Carnival Firenze is just one of several Costa vessels that Carnival Corporation, the parent company of Costa and Carnival, has transferred from Costa to Carnival in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pandemic and its aftermath hurt the Costa brand much more than the Carnival brand. This was in part because the Costa brand had big operations in China, where cruising shut down during the pandemic for far longer than it did in North America.

Carnival operates most of its ships out of U.S. ports and draws a lot of the customers for these ships from the states near these ports — a segment of close-to-home cruising that has been booming since cruising resumed in 2021.

The result has been a stronger demand for Carnival ships than Costa ships.

Carnival Firenze's first sailing for Carnival, starting Thursday, will be a seven-night voyage to the Mexican Riviera that includes stops at Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan and Cabo San Lucas.

Carnival cruising with an Italian twist

Like Carnival Venezia, which also is a former Costa ship, Carnival Firenze is something of an outlier in the Carnival fleet as the vessel retains much of its Italian theming from when it sailed for Costa.

The ship also still has its original, distinctive gold-and-blue funnel that is a trademark of Costa's vessels.

That said, Carnival Firenze won't be devoid of Carnival's signature shipboard venues. In recent months, the ship has undergone a significant overhaul in a dry dock in Spain that included the re-theming of many interior eateries and bars, as well as top-deck attractions to make them more consistent with the Carnival brand.

For instance, the ship will have a Carnival Waterworks water play area and a Steakhouse — a signature Carnival venue.

Related: The 8 classes of Carnival Cruise Line ships, explained

Other venues now on the ship that will be familiar to Carnival fans include a Guy Fieri-inspired Guy's Burger Joint, a Bonsai Sushi eatery, a Chef's Table, Lido Marketplace, Seafood Shack, a Pizzeria del Capitano pizza outlet and a Heroes Tribute Bar.

The ship also will have a new crew made up of Carnival staffers.

In short, Carnival Firenze will combine elements of both Costa and Carnival ships.

Carnival originally planned to call the ship a "Costa by Carnival" product to differentiate it from the rest of the Carnival fleet, but it eventually switched to marketing Carnival Firenze as a vessel that offers "Carnival Fun Italian Style."

Carnival Firenze, notably, was originally purpose-built to sail out of China with Chinese travelers but with Italian theming that played up Costa's Italian roots. Its theming is specifically tied to Florence, Italy — Firenze is what Italians call Florence.

The Carnival and Costa brands have long had similarities that make a transfer of ships between the two lines less complex than one might think. Ships for both Costa and Carnival often are built on the same platforms — that is, they share the same basic structural design and rough interior spaces. In such cases, the main difference between the ships of the two brands is the theming of specific spaces.

As of this week, fares for Carnival Firenze sailings start at $214 per person, not including taxes and fees, for a four-night sailing from Long Beach to Mexico.

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