Cruise gift cards: What you need to know before buying

Table Of Content

• What’s the Best Length of Time for a Cruise?
• What stores carry Carnival Gift Cards?
• I Spent 7 Days on My First Adults-Only Virgin Voyages Cruise
• Are the Gift Cards Physical or Digital?
• How to buy a cruise line gift card
• Are the AARP Discount Cruise Cards a Good Deal?
• Everything About Buying Discount Cruise Gift Cards via AARP (Carnival, Royal Caribbean, & More)

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. Cruise Hive was established back in 2008 and among the earliest blogs in the industry. Since the start, it's been our aim to provide the latest cruise news covering all the major cruise lines. We make sure cruisers are fully prepared for their cruise vacation with tips on ships and ports.Millions of travelers rely on Cruise Hive in the United States, Europe, Australia, and around the world.

What’s the Best Length of Time for a Cruise?

It is best to purchase cards from the cruise lines, travel agents, or authorized retailers. If you're a Rakuten fan, they often offer cash back on cruise line gift cards. As of February 2023, they are currently offering 1.5% cash back on Princess Cruises gift cards. If you are planning a trip on Princess Cruises, you might want to gift yourself one via Rakuten for some cash back or American Express Membership Reward Points. If you’re looking for a deal, it doesn’t get much better than this.

What stores carry Carnival Gift Cards?

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

I Spent 7 Days on My First Adults-Only Virgin Voyages Cruise

Guests who elect to rebook will receive future cruise- and onboard-credits depending on the cruise they select. Guests will also have the option to cancel and receive a full refund of the cruise fare. These three new cruises will open for sale on April 30, 2024. The person I am getting it for would just enjoy the physical card.

Celebrity and Royal Caribbean have the most limitations on what gift cards can be used for. Government fees, taxes, onboard gratuities, games of chance (casino) cannot be paid using gift cards. Gift cards for Princess Cruises are only redeemable for purchases onboard Princess' ships or applied as payment to a Princess booking. 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. Each gift card will come with restrictions on how many are able to be purchased at once.

How to buy a cruise line gift card

Cruises departing from Australia, then, cannot use gift cards. If you aren’t sure about the currency used on your cruise, you can contact your travel agent or Carnival Cruise Line to ask. Like most gift cards from major retailers, the cards are not redeemable for cash, and are not refundable or replaceable if they are lost, stolen or damaged.

Are the AARP Discount Cruise Cards a Good Deal?

Up to 9 gift cards can be applied to your cruise in a single transaction session; if you have more than 9 cards to redeem, you will need to do so in multiple transactions to use them all. I have checked at Lowes, CVS, Stop & Shop, Big Y, Rite Aid, & Walgreens. I looked through each stores wall of gift cards carefully and they aren't there. I asked at lowes because that store was on the small list I have but they said they don't have them.

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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. The pre-purchase window for certain products and activities closes between one and three days prior to the sail date. If you missed the purchase window, check with us once you're on board — we'll help you find what you’re looking for. Not all of the stores listed such as Lowe's, Kroger, always carry them. When we went on our February cruise, I tried all of those stores listed and none of them carried the Carnival cards. Every time I see a display of cards, I always check to see if they have Carnival cards and I've yet to find them in a store.

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

After your cruise, if you have extra funds available from the gift card or cards you applied to your onboard account, you will be mailed a new gift card with the remaining balance. No cash or check will be sent, but the new gift card can be redeemed on a future cruise. If you aren’t sure how much is remaining on different gift cards, you can check the balance on Carnival.com or call the cruise line for details. Most cruise gift certificates are available in US dollars only, although Disney does offer gift cards in Canadian dollars. In addition, the majority are not available for residents outside of Canada and the United States, so not suitable for out of country friends and family. Beyond the cruise fare, there are many ways that cruisers can spend money onboard.

Carnival Cruise Line sells gift cards that can be pre-loaded with a value between $100 and $1,000. You can buy a physical card to be mailed to you, and have the option for a decorative tin that costs $1.99. There's also an option for an eGift card that will be emailed to the recipient. Popular cruise lines such as Holland America, Carnival, Princess, Celebrity, and Royal Caribbean all offer gift cards (with the exception of MSC), most starting with denominations of $25. 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.

E-cards in particular, are the quickest way to go, emailing the gift once purchased from the cruise line website. Note that gift cards cannot be used to pay shipboard charges, including gift shop purchases, casino debts, shore excursions or gratuities. 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. Additionally, gift cards can be used for other Disney related products and services like park tickets, dining, merchandise, and more. That being said, the credit cannot be applied towards the cruise fare.

Unfortunately, Norwegian Cruise Line suspended their gift card program effective end of day on December 31, 2021. If you plan to cruise one of the lines offering the cards, we see no reason not to take advantage. 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. 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.

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. 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. You can use Princess gift cards to pay for your cruise, including fares with the Princess Plus and Princess Premier all-inclusive packages. It must be noted that Carnival Cruise Line gift cards are not valid on sailings that use non-United States currency onboard.