Aarp gift cards!!!!!!!!!!

[firegal2539]

I hope that all of you know that the AARP and Verizon Royal Caribbean Cruise gift certificates can only be used on a brand new RCCL booking done through the RCCL telephone number. Your travel agent, if you use one, cannot take over a booking made with an AARP or Verizon RCCL gift certificate.

 

They can't be used for OBC, gratuities, restaurants, anything on the ship, only for booking a new cruise.

 

I found this out the hard way. When I saw the certificates on AARP I read everything on AARPs website, there was nothing about what it had to be used for, (now on AARP sites it states for new booking only), couldn't use a travel agent, etc. So I called AARP, got a rep and I was smart enough to record our conversation, because she told me it could be used for anything. I order a $100 one.

 

It arrived 8 weeks later and I sat down and read the back of this thin piece of paper and sure enough can only be used for new bookings through RCCL. I immediately called RCCL and 3 different reps didn't have the slightest idea what an AARP gift certificate was. I finally was transferred to a supervisor and she knew what I had but again told me new bookings only. I let her listen to my recorded conversation. She asked me to send a copy of certificate, a copy of the conversation and she would get back to me. Six weeks later RCCL finally gave me $100 OBC on a cruise I had booked 6 weeks ago.

 

Unless you are booking a non-travel agent new booking through RCCL they are a waste of money. The headache you get from dealing with the certificate is not worth the whopping $10 you would save.

 

Candie

[wemjam]

This has been policy on the RCCL certificates all along. HOWEVER, the Carnival gift cards are different and can be used for anything just like cash. Existing bookings, new bookings, gratuities, toward your sail and sign account balance on board ship, shore excursions, preordered gifts..etc.

 

Totally different animals.

 

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Edited March 25, 2016 by wemjam

[DebbieMo]

This has been policy on the RCCL certificates all along. HOWEVER, the Carnival gift cards are different and can be used for anything just like cash. Existing bookings, new bookings, gratuities, toward your sail and sign account balance on board ship, shore excursions, preordered gifts..etc.

 

Totally different animals.

 

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Thank you for confirming, bought 11 that is being delivered today and was panicking since I already booked.

[picomullet]

Just used an AARP gift card on our sail & sign account as pmt on board and no problem. Plan to get a couple more for the next cruise..

[tatt2ed]

Just used an AARP gift card on our sail & sign account as pmt on board and no problem. Plan to get a couple more for the next cruise..

Paid for the cruise, air fare, gratuities all with gift cards. And i got the cards with my cc that paid 5x the points. Worked out to be about 12% off the entire enchilada

[Little Elm]

Just used an AARP gift card on our sail & sign account as pmt on board and no problem. Plan to get a couple more for the next cruise..

 

Did you do this online, or at the kiosk onboard?

 

Does anyone know if you can prepay the Cheers program with gift cards?

[wemjam]

For your sail and sign account you do this on board the ship at the kiosk or customer service. I tried kiosk once and had issues so I just go to customer service, may have been operator error though. Yes you can use to prepay cheers. Anything you can order on line in advance can be paid for with gift cards.

 

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Edited March 25, 2016 by wemjam

[Rod in Az]

Does anyone know if you can prepay the Cheers program with gift cards?

 

Anything you can order on line in advance can be paid for with gift cards.

 

Not be that guy that disputes things, but I tried both on line and on the telephone to pre-purchase Cheers with gift cards and found that there is no place to use a gift card for "Fun Shop" purchases. A telephone call to Carnival confirmed that they would not allow me to pre-purchase Cheers with gift cards.

 

I just tried to do the on line purchase again, and couldn't use a gift card, only credit or debit card. The phone call I made was a few weeks ago, but if you plan to by the gift cards solely for purchasing Cheers, you may want to call and see if the option has changed since I called them.

 

Good Luck

[FirstAlto]

Not be that guy that disputes things, but I tried both on line and on the telephone to pre-purchase Cheers with gift cards and found that there is no place to use a gift card for "Fun Shop" purchases. A telephone call to Carnival confirmed that they would not allow me to pre-purchase Cheers with gift cards.

 

I just tried to do the on line purchase again, and couldn't use a gift card, only credit or debit card. The phone call I made was a few weeks ago, but if you plan to by the gift cards solely for purchasing Cheers, you may want to call and see if the option has changed since I called them.

 

Good Luck

 

Yes, from what I saw, you could prepay for excursions with gift cards, but not Cheers :(

[wemjam]

I may stand corrected. I have bought everything else with these cards and thought cheers could be too. Thank you for the correction.

 

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[vacin8r]

I posted on JH's Facebook a couple times in the last few days about not being able to use gift cards for any of the funshop purchases including prepurchase of cheers. It would be nice to buy cruise cash as well so I dont need to spend actual vacation time loading cards onto my account via kiosk while on the ship. Sage had commented that Carnival was aware of the issue and that it was a technical issue regarding the coding of the website not a conscious choice on Carnivals part. It didn't sound like it was a huge priority to fix either though. I will keep at it as it is probably my biggest complaint about Carnival at the moment. Hopefully it can be fixed soon.

[Little Elm]

But, I could purchase Cheers on the ship using the cards that have been added to my S&S? I'm leaving from Galveston so we have that 1 day PITA anyway.!

[Little Elm]

I posted on JH's Facebook a couple times in the last few days about not being able to use gift cards for any of the funshop purchases including prepurchase of cheers. It would be nice to buy cruise cash as well so I dont need to spend actual vacation time loading cards onto my account via kiosk while on the ship. Sage had commented that Carnival was aware of the issue and that it was a technical issue regarding the coding of the website not a conscious choice on Carnivals part. It didn't sound like it was a huge priority to fix either though. I will keep at it as it is probably my biggest complaint about Carnival at the moment. Hopefully it can be fixed soon.

 

Sounds like it is more than the website if actual agents can't do it either.

[LilMissScareAll]

But, I could purchase Cheers on the ship using the cards that have been added to my S&S? I'm leaving from Galveston so we have that 1 day PITA anyway.!

You could, but I believe with the new program rules it's more expensive to purchase on board vs paying in advance, so that might wipe any savings that you get from purchasing the gift cards.

 

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[Rod in Az]

You could, but I believe with the new program rules it's more expensive to purchase on board vs paying in advance, so that might wipe any savings that you get from purchasing the gift cards.

 

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That is the actual reason I tried to pre-purchase with the gift card. Pre-purchase saves you $7.50 per day per person ($49.95 vs $54.95 + 15% gratuity).

 

 

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[judygil]

Just found the gift cards on AARP website, but they only list gift cards for Royal Caribbean, not Carnival. It says they cannot be used on an existing reservation or onboard credit, only when booking a new reservation. Planning a 2017 cruise on Carnival so I'm very disappointed they only offer RC.

[Rod in Az]

Just found the gift cards on AARP website, but they only list gift cards for Royal Caribbean, not Carnival. It says they cannot be used on an existing reservation or onboard credit, only when booking a new reservation. Planning a 2017 cruise on Carnival so I'm very disappointed they only offer RC.

 

They are not always available, but they come up periodically. If you subscribe to this thread, enable "notifications" and use the "Tapatalk" app on your phone or tablet device, you will increase your odds of knowing when they are available on the AARP site.

 

You are absolutely right the Royal Caribbean offer is a "gift certificate" not a "gift card" and can only be used to book a cruise through them. The Carnival offer is an actual "gift card" just like the ones you would buy at the counter of a store or on the Carnival Gift Card site.

[DebbieMo]

Just found the gift cards on AARP website, but they only list gift cards for Royal Caribbean, not Carnival. It says they cannot be used on an existing reservation or onboard credit, only when booking a new reservation. Planning a 2017 cruise on Carnival so I'm very disappointed they only offer RC.

 

 

They are not always available, comes out once or twice a month. You have to keep checking. I read that it's usually available after the RC ones sell out but unlike RC GC Carnival ones sell out in a couple of hours instead of a few days.

 

 

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[picomullet]

Did you do this online, or at the kiosk onboard?

 

Does anyone know if you can prepay the Cheers program with gift cards?

 

I went to Guest Services and had them apply the card. It didn't show up until the end of the cruise. Then they applied the gift card, which they had scanned earlier, and then the balance to our credit card on file.

 

I was concerned because I thought it would show up like obc when I was checking our account throughout our cruise.

[myateam]

This is not so funny for me I check the board periodically for the "they are available shoutout" I open carnival cruise and get excited to see the cards are available on aarp I scramble to get to their site and none!! I check the board and it was the very first post from 2015!!! Talk about a let down! Will be paying more attention to the date and time lol

[DebbieMo]

This is not so funny for me I check the board periodically for the "they are available shoutout" I open carnival cruise and get excited to see the cards are available on aarp I scramble to get to their site and none!! I check the board and it was the very first post from 2015!!! Talk about a let down! Will be paying more attention to the date and time lol

 

 

Haha, it gets me sometimes also. Maybe we need a "aarp card available" only thread

 

 

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[myateam]

Lol Yeah should be a separate one I guess but for now I'm waiting for either site with the GC special to grab some:p

[angela12345]

Except everyone is already subscribed to this thread. And it's the one people look for. Old dog, new tricks, and all that. ;)

[Little Elm]

Haha, it gets me sometimes also. Maybe we need a "aarp card available" only thread

 

 

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Not a bad idea!

[jc4me]

I see them on the site this morning showing Sold Out, but they were not on there yesterday. Perhaps they will be available today??