Warning on using Carnival Gift Cards

[Anjanu]

I once purchased a $100 gift card from Cherry on Top on a carnival ship (can't remember which one it was) for a Christmas gift for my son. He went to use it to pay on his bill at Guest Services and the card was empty. Apparently, the person didn't do the transaction correctly.

 

I had to call Carnival guest solutions after the cruise. They were going to mail me a refund and I asked if they could just add it to on board credit for my next cruise and they were happy to do so.

 

When I purchase cards from Kroger I call Carnival with the card number and make sure the money is loaded onto the card.

Edited August 18, 2016 by Anjanu

[storm1507]

I purchased 5 $100 gift cards several months ago. As a numbers guy I easily figured out their pattern.

 

Lesson: Be ready to spend them as soon as you get them.

[Fourkids4us]

The site wanted my pin #......

 

Maybe you have a special carnival.com site where they require your pin to pay your cruise balance.

 

 

I asked two others to check their accounts and they don't require a pin either.

 

The issue is not with Amazon. The issue is with the gift card issuer not thinking this through. If you can use the card without a pin, you should not use consecutive numbers.

 

I can see this issue escalating now that this has been posted and numerous people have read it. People will just start changing the last few digits.

 

ALSO I KEEP SEEING PEOPLE POST THEIR CARD CAME WITH A PIN. ALL THE CARDS HAVE PINS(MINE DID TOO) BUT YOU DONT HAVE TO USE THE PIN TO REDEEM THEM. That's the problem.

 

I tried to screen shot carnival.com payment screen but I can figure out how to load the picture.

Edited August 18, 2016 by Fourkids4us

[Jdfireman]

Ty for the info Please provide the phone # to call amazon... thank you

[crusinpsychRN]

I got mine at Publix (grocery). No pin. When I went to use them on the computer to pay only one had $ on it. I was frantic. Called and had Carnival staff enter them and all 3 worked.

 

Maybe the Attorney General of the state needs to hear about this. It's close to consumer fraud, way to easy to guess numbers. Very odd any company is doing this.

[elainmir]

I got mine from Verizon and they indeed had a pin. As soon as they arrived I did check them immediately. I also applied them immediately! I had an unfortunate incident with some gift cards I'd bought at an online retailer last year. I buy from them every year to use as Christmas gifts..around August and September. I wanted to order something from Bath and Body Works and I don't like to use my CC online. So I grabbed the BBW gc I'd ordered and it said 0 balance! I was like what?:eek: So I checked and the card had never been activated. Every card I'd ordered was inactive...over 400$ worth. Fortunately the retailer knew they had issues as several orders had this problem. They fixed it but that was a 2 month ordeal getting them fixed. So now when I order GC's online ( I'm super busy so it's easier) I always ALWAYS check the balance when I get them.

[cruzelover55]

Jeez, are you kidding me!? I bought a couple through Kroger to get 4X gas points and put towards my cruise balance. Then, after I had paid the cruise balance off, I then paid, with gift cards for the on ship gratuities, Carnival would not let me use them to purchase Cheers! I, now, have paid off my cruise, gratuities, FTTF, Cheers!, and have $1000. worth of Carnival gift cards left, that I bought through AARP. I had been a little nervous about this, as to maybe cruise being cancelled, etc... but, after seeing this thread, I am WAY more nervous. I had read on other cruise critic threads that you can load them up, and then, cash them out if you use the casino. They are meant to be a surprise for my husband that has no idea I have them. After reading some of the posts here, I looked at the numbers on my cards. Even though they were bought in 3 different transactions, the 1st, 11 or 12 numbers are the same. All do have a scratch off pin number. My cruise is about 3 weeks away, no way to add them now, just will have to wait till on board.:eek::eek: My 1st time to do this and will be my last. Scary!

[spiritkat090909]

I have never seen Carnival gift cards on Amazon. I looked just now, and there are none...so maybe it was an independent retailer using an Amazon store?

 

I HAVE purchase discounted cards at Verizon, AARP, & ebay. The ebay card was the only one that didn't have a physical card...but, it did have a pin. So far, no problems...however, I do check balances when they come in to make sure they are loaded.

 

It does worry me that I have to hold on to them for my shipboard account for a few months...not so much that someone would guess the numbers, but more so that I personally will lose them! Now, I see I should worry a little more and maybe when I get back from my current cruise, use the leftovers (if any) for the next cruise balance asap. Even if on early saver with reduced deposit. Decisions, decisions.

[storm1507]

For everyone that has had an issue there are thousands that have not. No need to worry about anything until there is actually something to worry about.

 

Enjoy your cruises.

 

Edit: BTW those cards can be used for down payments on future cruises while on the ship.

Edited August 18, 2016 by storm1507

[agp_mzk]

I would think that Amazon should have some responsibility, as they sold you "faulty" gift cards. Since you can show that you bought them on X date, and the cards were used prior to that, they should be held accountable. Just my $0.02.

 

Agreed. It's not Carnival's fault that Amazon sold you gift cards that someone else stole (or sold two cards with the same number). I've had good luck with Amazon's customer service in the past; I'm surprised they blew you off so quickly.

Edited August 18, 2016 by agp_mzk

[cruzelover55]

I have never seen Carnival gift cards on Amazon. I looked just now, and there are none...so maybe it was an independent retailer using an Amazon store?

 

I HAVE purchase discounted cards at Verizon, AARP, & ebay. The ebay card was the only one that didn't have a physical card...but, it did have a pin. So far, no problems...however, I do check balances when they come in to make sure they are loaded.

 

It does worry me that I have to hold on to them for my shipboard account for a few months...not so much that someone would guess the numbers, but more so that I personally will lose them! Now, I see I should worry a little more and maybe when I get back from my current cruise, use the leftovers (if any) for the next cruise balance asap. Even if on early saver with reduced deposit. Decisions, decisions.

 

When I 1st read your post, I just had to go and check myself. I buy a lot of things from amazon, but, not gift cards. You are certainly right! They don't have them listed anywhere on their site. I only buy when I get a discount, so guess that's why I had never checked before. You mentioned ebay. Have you noticed that they sell Carnival gifts cards, without a balance, just for the soviener aspect, I guess. Funny, guess we should hang on to our expired ones and sell them later!:D

[luv2trvlnow]

I have never seen Carnival gift cards on Amazon. I looked just now, and there are none...so maybe it was an independent retailer using an Amazon store?

 

I HAVE purchase discounted cards at Verizon, AARP, & ebay. The ebay card was the only one that didn't have a physical card...but, it did have a pin. So far, no problems...however, I do check balances when they come in to make sure they are loaded.

 

It does worry me that I have to hold on to them for my shipboard account for a few months...not so much that someone would guess the numbers, but more so that I personally will lose them! Now, I see I should worry a little more and maybe when I get back from my current cruise, use the leftovers (if any) for the next cruise balance asap. Even if on early saver with reduced deposit. Decisions, decisions.

 

I just looked and I don't see the Carnival gift cards on Amazon now. But I can tell you that they did have them.

 

I just looked at my order summary from last year. I purchased 2 of them in December 2015. They were for $60 because my AMEX credit card was giving a $15 credit for a $60 purchase. My husband and I each had the offer. So we were getting a $60 card for $45. At the same time the Freedom card was giving 10% cash back on Amazon purchases. So some people were buying them using that. I used them right away to pay off my cruise in March 2016.

[cruzelover55]

I just looked and I don't see the Carnival gift cards on Amazon now. But I can tell you that they did have them.

 

I just looked at my order summary from last year. I purchased 2 of them in December 2015. They were for $60 because my AMEX credit card was giving a $15 credit for a $60 purchase. My husband and I each had the offer. So we were getting a $60 card for $45. At the same time the Freedom card was giving 10% cash back on Amazon purchases. So some people were buying them using that. I used them right away to pay off my cruise in March 2016.

 

Just curious. I have a Chase Amazon card. 5% back. And a Discover It card, Amazon purchases 5%, double after 12 months. What is a Freedom card? I shop a lot at Amazon. Thanks in advance.:)

[luv2trvlnow]

Just curious. I have a Chase Amazon card. 5% back. And a Discover It card, Amazon purchases 5%, double after 12 months. What is a Freedom card? I shop a lot at Amazon. Thanks in advance.:)

It is offered by Chase. It has the revolving categories like the Discover card. Last year the fourth quarter had 5% cash back at Amazon. But right before Thanksgiving they announced that it would be increased to 10% until the end of the quarter (end of December). So that extra cash back isn't available at all times. But it sure came in handy in December for some Christmas shopping.

[SimplyCool]

I bought a $500 gift card and is getting nervous reading this. I will have to check if it has money on it. I bought it some time back and never check to see the balance.

Thanks OP for sharing and I hope you resolve your problem. I think Carnival can check to see exactly when this was applied and by whom.

 

Good luck.

[RDC1]

Longtime lurker, first time poster. I just wanted to warn fellow cruisers to be very careful buying Carnival Gift cards. I had done this in the past to take advantage of a 10% savings, i.e. pay $90 for a $100 gift card and it worked just fine. For example, in early December 2015, I bought 5 cards from Amazon and was able to apply them for full value..

 

The problem came when I bought 3 $100 cards directly from Amazon in late December 2015. In August 2016, when I tried to apply the cards towards a cruise, I found out that only one had the $100 balance still available. The other two cards had a zero balance.

 

I called Amazon (two calls and two hours later), they basically said to call Carnival. I then found the Carnival Gift Card site and called them on 866-270-1064. They said that the card had been used in April 2016. I told them that I did not use them at that time and someone else must have guessed the numbers (See below) and used the balance on the cards.

 

I was comforted by seeing one of the FAQ’s on the site stating this:

GIFT CARD TRANSACTION DISPUTES

 

Q: I didn't make that transaction - can the amount be credited back to my card?

A: Yes, we will process an adjustment to your card's total balance within 48 hours; customer service has access to review transactions with you? Please contact 1-866-270-1064.

 

 

We filed a complaint only to be told by Carnival that the above does not apply, (they never explained why) and that after talking to Accounting, they could do nothing. They suggested that we file a police report (which we will do) and that we were simply out the $200 (filing the police report would not change that). We are still fighting this with Carnival but are not holding our breath. Unfortunately, it is too late to file a dispute with our credit company as the initial purchase was back in December 2015. Carnival refuses to tell us who actually used our gift cards.

 

The flaw in the Gift Card system can be shown by looking at the Gift cards I received: The 5 cards I bought and applied in Early December 2015 had these numbers:

 

3036 8900 0979 XXXX

3036 8900 0980 XXXX

3036 8900 0980 XXXX

3036 8900 0981 XXXX

3036 8900 0981 XXXX

 

The 3 gift cards I purchased in Late 2015 had these numbers:

 

3036 8900 0980 XXXX

3036 8900 0982 XXXX

3036 8900 0983 XXXX

 

All the cards numbers were very close for the first 12 numbers. Basically only the last four numbers were random.

 

There was no Pin number associated with any of these cards. The lack of a Pin also prevented us from checking the balances on the Carnival Gift Card Site. It is obvious that “Bad Guys” would not have much trouble guessing what the card numbers could be and simply entering their guesses on a payment page until they hit the jackpot and found a card with a balance. They would then sell off the cards to an innocent person.

 

I know many people have used the cards and saved themselves a little money, but beware. It is very easy to steal the balances off these cards and when it happens to you, Carnival will not help you in the least. I have posted my challenge to John’s Facebook page as my last resort.

 

File a small claims case for the money.

[Moosevilleco]

I paid off my cruise on Carnival.com with several gift cards from Verizon and AARP. I was not asked for any pin. I didn't even know the cards had a pin and never scratched anything off.

 

 

Same here. I have purchased $800 in Verizon gift cards- all fine and no pin required.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[drolltroll]

Maybe you have a special carnival.com site where they require your pin to pay your cruise balance.

 

 

I asked two others to check their accounts and they don't require a pin either.

 

The issue is not with Amazon. The issue is with the gift card issuer not thinking this through. If you can use the card without a pin, you should not use consecutive numbers.

 

I can see this issue escalating now that this has been posted and numerous people have read it. People will just start changing the last few digits.

 

ALSO I KEEP SEEING PEOPLE POST THEIR CARD CAME WITH A PIN. ALL THE CARDS HAVE PINS(MINE DID TOO) BUT YOU DONT HAVE TO USE THE PIN TO REDEEM THEM. That's the problem.

 

I tried to screen shot carnival.com payment screen but I can figure out how to load the picture.

 

I don't know nothing about a payment screen, I am talking about going to the Carnival gift card balance checker where you can plug your card in to see the balance. It requires the PIN # off the back of the card!

[ImaginationCruiseBride]

Longtime lurker, first time poster. I just wanted to warn fellow cruisers to be very careful buying Carnival Gift cards. I had done this in the past to take advantage of a 10% savings, i.e. pay $90 for a $100 gift card and it worked just fine. For example, in early December 2015, I bought 5 cards from Amazon and was able to apply them for full value..

 

The problem came when I bought 3 $100 cards directly from Amazon in late December 2015. In August 2016, when I tried to apply the cards towards a cruise, I found out that only one had the $100 balance still available. The other two cards had a zero balance.

 

I called Amazon (two calls and two hours later), they basically said to call Carnival. I then found the Carnival Gift Card site and called them on 866-270-1064. They said that the card had been used in April 2016. I told them that I did not use them at that time and someone else must have guessed the numbers (See below) and used the balance on the cards.

 

I was comforted by seeing one of the FAQ’s on the site stating this:

GIFT CARD TRANSACTION DISPUTES

 

Q: I didn't make that transaction - can the amount be credited back to my card?

A: Yes, we will process an adjustment to your card's total balance within 48 hours; customer service has access to review transactions with you? Please contact 1-866-270-1064.

 

 

We filed a complaint only to be told by Carnival that the above does not apply, (they never explained why) and that after talking to Accounting, they could do nothing. They suggested that we file a police report (which we will do) and that we were simply out the $200 (filing the police report would not change that). We are still fighting this with Carnival but are not holding our breath. Unfortunately, it is too late to file a dispute with our credit company as the initial purchase was back in December 2015. Carnival refuses to tell us who actually used our gift cards.

 

The flaw in the Gift Card system can be shown by looking at the Gift cards I received: The 5 cards I bought and applied in Early December 2015 had these numbers:

 

3036 8900 0979 XXXX

3036 8900 0980 XXXX

3036 8900 0980 XXXX

3036 8900 0981 XXXX

3036 8900 0981 XXXX

 

The 3 gift cards I purchased in Late 2015 had these numbers:

 

3036 8900 0980 XXXX

3036 8900 0982 XXXX

3036 8900 0983 XXXX

 

All the cards numbers were very close for the first 12 numbers. Basically only the last four numbers were random.

 

There was no Pin number associated with any of these cards. The lack of a Pin also prevented us from checking the balances on the Carnival Gift Card Site. It is obvious that “Bad Guys” would not have much trouble guessing what the card numbers could be and simply entering their guesses on a payment page until they hit the jackpot and found a card with a balance. They would then sell off the cards to an innocent person.

 

I know many people have used the cards and saved themselves a little money, but beware. It is very easy to steal the balances off these cards and when it happens to you, Carnival will not help you in the least. I have posted my challenge to John’s Facebook page as my last resort.

 

 

I always check the balance as soon as I get the card, and if I don't use them right away I check often. However, last Christmas I bought $1500 worth from Amazon for the same deal, only 12 had money on them (they were email cards and I called within minutes of receiving them), they cancelled all 15 and resent 15, except I only got 14 that time....anyway, after 3 days of calling, cancelling, resending to get it straight, I ended up with 12 cards, and Amazon never billed our account. Needless to say, I never complained about the 3 missing cards by that point....anyway, I'd bet the problem was with Amazon, and they should have made it right. Call them again, and ask to speak to a supervisor, they will make it right, or confuse it so bad they forget to bill you.

[cruizinisthebest]

Late to thread and haven't read all of the replies, but I will NEVER buy a gift card of any kind from Amazon.

 

My brother got me a Carnival gift card for Christmas. Tried to use it. No balance. After hours of back and forth, he was refunded the money. FF to May of this year, friend of mine got a department store gift card from Amazon. No balance. Eventually they got their money back, but it was days.

 

Never had a problem with Carnival gift cards purchased from anywhere else. The good ones have a pin #. Even ecards.

 

As for checking the balance, I always go to the payment screen for an excursion, type in the card #, check the balance, then back out. You don't need the pin. However on the carnivalgiftcard website you do, and I can tell you from experience, the balance doesn't always show correctly on that site. I check my balances every time I buy a card.

[PNGfan]

The truth is this is Carnival's issue. The gift cards are produced with a pin for a reason. Anyone can get the numbers off the back of the cards. Watch for someone to buy them and then use them. The PIN number with the scratch off is suppose to be a security feature to protect the buyer. A simple change in software would require the PIN number in addition to the serial number. If it starts happening more and more someone who sue Carnival. Their gift cards are not secure.

[Rosefloater]

Too bad Carnival wouldn't go through their transaction logs and find out when/who used those gift card numbers. Shame that it would take an act of congress for them to reveal that. I guess if they see a pattern in that the same bad guy is using stolen #s then it might get some resolution.

 

Just used a gift card on Tuesday for a cruise online. Didn't need to use a pin.

 

We once had a problem from AT&T and Carnival gift card sent by email. Never received one of them. Called up their rewards department and they sent us the email within 5 minutes.

[dorisdvu]

Jeez, are you kidding me!? I bought a couple through Kroger to get 4X gas points and put towards my cruise balance. Then, after I had paid the cruise balance off, I then paid, with gift cards for the on ship gratuities, Carnival would not let me use them to purchase Cheers! I, now, have paid off my cruise, gratuities, FTTF, Cheers!, and have $1000. worth of Carnival gift cards left, that I bought through AARP. I had been a little nervous about this, as to maybe cruise being cancelled, etc... but, after seeing this thread, I am WAY more nervous. I had read on other cruise critic threads that you can load them up, and then, cash them out if you use the casino. They are meant to be a surprise for my husband that has no idea I have them. After reading some of the posts here, I looked at the numbers on my cards. Even though they were bought in 3 different transactions, the 1st, 11 or 12 numbers are the same. All do have a scratch off pin number. My cruise is about 3 weeks away, no way to add them now, just will have to wait till on board.:eek::eek: My 1st time to do this and will be my last. Scary!

 

I purchased a $500 and 2 $100 gift cards from AARP and planned to use them on the ship toward the purchase of the Cheers program and whatever else is charged (spa visit etc.) on my Sign and Sail account. Are you saying that I will not be able to apply the gift cards to my account?

Edited August 19, 2016 by dorisdvu

[!!SAM!!]

I purchased a $500 and 2 $100 gift cards from AARP and planned to use them on the ship toward the purchase of the Cheers program and whatever else is charged (spa visit etc.) on my Sign and Sail account. Are you saying that I will not be able to apply the gift cards to my account?

 

 

Yes you can apply them to your onboard account. I just used $700 worth of gift cards on my cruise last week.

[simplelife]

Sounds like the problem here was that Amazon sold fraudulent cards.Any genuine carnival cards do have a PIN number (although they might not require it when redeeming). If the cards had no PIN number, they were probably fake. I usually buy my gift cards at Kroger or Bi-Lo supermarket and save the validation receipt. I have bought electronic cards before, but always directly from the Carnival site. Lesson: Don't buy from gift cards Amazon.

 

 

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Edited August 19, 2016 by simplelife