Carnival Master Card

Is it worth it to have and use this card for points for cruises?

Are there any hidden tricks about applying the points towards the cruise?

I'm thinking about applying and would use it only for cruise points and would pay off monthly balance, but before I apply and get inquiry on credit report etc I want to see what the posters here think...is it worth it?

There are some that will tell you that you can do a lot better. I have a Carnival MC and I use it to purchase everything. I have had no problem applying my points to my balance. Easy Peasy.

Will build up points until after our next cruise and then apply points to my balance.

Of course, I pay it off every month. And that is what you should do to be beneficial.

I would be interested in knowing about this also.

We've had Carnival Mastercard for several years. Yes, you can get more points on other cards. But Carnival has promotions almost every quarter that pays 2% on gas, dining, groceries, etc. It varies every quarter. You also get 2% for purchased cruises.

We convert the points into OBC for each cruise. It usually covers our gratuities and drinks. They email every quarter with an opt-in for the next promotion. It has worked very well for us.

I have a Carnival CC and have stopped using it. Get better deals on other cards. Use a choice priveledge card and pay for my hotel stay when crusing. Funny it is Barclay card also and they give double points on most purchases anywhere Carnival only doubles for Carnival purshases

I have used it for a few years, have had all my gratuities paid for last two cruises.

Can you use it to pay off your cruise expenses if you charge them on your card? Or do you have to get OBC?

Also, if you buy Bar Coupons (a better pay off) can you use it to buy Cheers?

Thank you!!

We have one and for some years used it for all our cc expenses.

Than much better ones came out such as 5% gas, 3% restaurants and all travel and 1% other and stopped using it.

We too use it for everything but never carry a balance on the card. We have always used it for statement credit to actually pay towards the cruise. Mist recently cashed in for $1150 in statement credit so it basically paid for half of the cruise. Im the past have gotten $1900 off so just depwnds on how you want to use it. We would rather have it towards the actual cruise so it seems as if we're almost cruising for free. I cant see wasting it on a $150/hotel bill we might have. There are easier ways to use hotel rewards points for that. But its workef for us for the past 8 years 😀

Can you use it to pay off your cruise expenses if you charge them on your card? Or do you have to get OBC?

 

Also, if you buy Bar Coupons (a better pay off) can you use it to buy Cheers?

 

Thank you!!

I'm pretty sure that the Bar Coupons have been gone for a few years now.

My Plan is to use it for everything I can, pay it off monthly and only want the rewards/credits for carnival cruises.

I have already made deposit for 2016 cruise, if I got card now and used for monthly expenses and paid off monthly, would I be able to have enough points/rewards to possibly pay off cruise and or use for OBC for june 2016 cruise?

If I only want it for carnival cruise rewards, it seems like it might be worth it?

I don't want to get a cc if its not worth it?

We have had one for a few years. Put stuff on the card and pay it off. Let the points add up. When it came time to redeem we chose to receive a statement credit (booked the cruise with the card) which allowed our son to basically cruise for free with us in a balcony room!

My wife just got one on our last cruise because it said you would get $50 OBC on your next cruise once you've used it. So, we used it and did get 5,000 bonus points but that doesn't equate to $50 OBC as 7,200 points is needed for that. Kind of ticks me off. Thinking of using it to just pay that cruise off (double points) and then just stick it in the wallet as a backup (already have a CC with double points on everything).

My wife and I used the Carnival Mastercard for about a year and a half until I learned about the Barclay Arrival Mastercard. Barclay is the same bank which hosts the Carnival card, yet the rewards are more than double what you'll get with the Carnival card! Here are the perks:

*One time $400 statement credit (40,000 'miles') with new account if you put $3,000 on the card in the first four months of use

*2 'miles'/points per dollar spent, regardless of whether or not it's on travel

*10% of all points you redeem are returned to you... that makes the total cash back to you 2.2% on every purchase.

Of course there is an $89 annual fee with the Arrival card, but that's waived the first year AND as long as you spend more than $4,040 a year with the card you'll break even on that with the points you'll receive.

Bottom line... I'm much happier with the Arrival card than the Carnival card.

I use mine for just about everything. Make payments every week to pay off the balance. I just got $900 off my cruise with 60,000 points. I paid off the remaining balance of my cruise that was over $1500 so thats why I get 1.5 value for my points. I think I can still use the charge for up to 6 months to get 1.5 value versus 1. On the cruise I will get double points. So hopefully before the 6 months is up I can get anther 20,000 points for another savings of $300. Good deal for me.

I have had a Carnival Mastercard for about 5 years. As others have posted, there are other options that give better cash back or points. Personally I use a cash back card from my local bank for almost everything except carnival trips.

One good thing about the Carnival card is they increased my limit much faster than other cards, which helps your credit when you don't use it.

We use ours for everything and have gotten several free or almost free cruises. We pay it off every month so don't pay any interest. You get the most value with purchases $1500. We just booked a cruise and although the deposit due was $800 for our family of 4, I paid $1500 to go from 1% to 1.5%.

I have been umming and ahing on whether to get one for the last month. I signed up today, thanks to the opinions on this, and other threads. Thanks for the input!

My wife and I used the Carnival Mastercard for about a year and a half until I learned about the Barclay Arrival Mastercard. Barclay is the same bank which hosts the Carnival card, yet the rewards are more than double what you'll get with the Carnival card! Here are the perks:

 

*One time $400 statement credit (40,000 'miles') with new account if you put $3,000 on the card in the first four months of use

*2 'miles'/points per dollar spent, regardless of whether or not it's on travel

*10% of all points you redeem are returned to you... that makes the total cash back to you 2.2% on every purchase.

 

Of course there is an $89 annual fee with the Arrival card, but that's waived the first year AND as long as you spend more than $4,040 a year with the card you'll break even on that with the points you'll receive.

 

Bottom line... I'm much happier with the Arrival card than the Carnival card.

I couldn't have said it better. We use this card for everything we can, the points add up quickly too.

I use mine for just about everything. Make payments every week to pay off the balance. I just got $900 off my cruise with 60,000 points. I paid off the remaining balance of my cruise that was over $1500 so thats why I get 1.5 value for my points. I think I can still use the charge for up to 6 months to get 1.5 value versus 1. On the cruise I will get double points. So hopefully before the 6 months is up I can get anther 20,000 points for another savings of $300. Good deal for me.

Zanpa.. I know this is an old post .. I have the carnival MasterCard , but after reading so many posts I am confused on how I can get 1.5 credit for my points ? I already have 50,000 points on MC and I have a cruise booked in Jan 15 ... I will be paying for the final payment next week using my MC , how can I get the most for my points ? We only usually charge less than 500 dollars to our room and I will be using my carnival MC as my CC on board . Your post said you had 60,000 points and got 900.00 off , but my online shows 50,000 and only 500 dollars off , I'm sorry but I'm so confused .. Please help , Thank You

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Barclay Card all the way!!

We had a Southwest card for years but switched in January or February to the Barclay Card. Getting double points on everything makes a huge difference in how fast points add up. Southwest was double points on just Southwest purchases similar to what Carnival does. We have enough travel credits since just January that our Breeze cruise for three in a balcony is pretty much free. It would have taken forever to do that with the Carnival or Southwest card.

Barclay Card all the way!!

We had a Southwest card for years but switched in January or February to the Barclay Card. Getting double points on everything makes a huge difference in how fast points add up. Southwest was double points on just Southwest purchases similar to what Carnival does. We have enough travel credits since just January that our Breeze cruise for three in a balcony is pretty much free. It would have taken forever to do that with the Carnival or Southwest card.

Did you switch to the Carnival Barclay Mastercard because you only get 1 point for every dollar you spend on that except when paying for anything pertaining to Carnival.

Carnival Mastercard does not give double points for everything.

Zanpa.. I know this is an old post .. I have the carnival MasterCard , but after reading so many posts I am confused on how I can get 1.5 credit for my points ? I already have 50,000 points on MC and I have a cruise booked in Jan 15 ... I will be paying for the final payment next week using my MC , how can I get the most for my points ? We only usually charge less than 500 dollars to our room and I will be using my carnival MC as my CC on board . Your post said you had 60,000 points and got 900.00 off , but my online shows 50,000 and only 500 dollars off , I'm sorry but I'm so confused .. Please help , Thank You

I believe you have to make a charge of $1500 or more and then your points will be worth 1.5 cents when redeemed against that charge. But, it's been a while for me to think about this card so do a search here, there are quite a few threads that cover it.

I have thought about these cards as well. I read a few years ago a guy on here used it for his business expenses and ended up with free cruises. With my business I spend over $100,000.00 per year using my VISA debit. We love cruising and normally take people with us and pay their way. If I can do it free would be much nicer! Anyone know with the amount I already spend, if I switched to this card how much credit towards a cruise I would receive?

Frankly, there are better credit cards out there for rewards. Particularly when you consider that you can get 10% off on Carnival purchases just by getting the AARP/Verizon discounted Carnival gift cards.