(This was written by my husband and posted on a cruise forum)
I apologize for the length of this article but this is a complicated subject. We lost $1000 in on board credit and I want to help you avoid this problem.
We are almost Diamond with RCCL but have been cruising Carnival out of Galveston for the past couple of years. Then we sailed RCCL last fall and determined that we liked Carnival better. Carnival has come way up and RCCL has gone down in our experience. This is a case in point.
I’m comparing RCCL's gift certificate process with Carnival’s gift card process, all from third party vendors such as Verizon or AARP. If you buy gift cards or gift certificates, you can save 10% on the purchase and lower your cruise costs. Our conclusion after doing this on both cruise lines is, “beware of RCCL’s gift certificates”. Know what you’re in for before you buy. Here’s the comparison.
The RCCL gift certificate and the Carnival gift card are both sold on-line at Verizon Smart Rewards or AARP.org and maybe other places.They are found under the same heading on the on-line menu of Gift Cards, Travel.But if you’re used to using Carnival gift cards, you’re in for a rude awaking if you switch to RCCL gift certificates. Here’s why.
The Carnival gift card can be applied to a Carnival cruise reserved through a travel agent or through a Carnival agent. But an RCCL gift certificate can ONLY be used with a reservation made through RCCL. We didn’t know that until AFTER we bought the RCCL gift certificates. So we had to switch our reservation from our travel agent to RCCL and LOSE $1000 in on-board credits (we were booking 3 back to back to back cruises.)
The Carnival gift card can be applied to your reservation instantly by your travel agent or you can apply it on-line to your Carnival reservation (or with an agent). But, the RCCL gift certificate has to be scanned and emailed or snail mailed to a back-room operation in Miami that takes 2 to 3 weeks to process.
The RCCL agent promised us 7 to 10 days but when that didn’t happen we called in to complain. The solution offered was, “Wait longer. It now takes 2-3 weeks. We’re so sorry.” I agree.
You can use your Carnival gift card as down payment for your cruise. Not so with RCCL. Because of the lengthy delay in processing gift certificates, you have to make a charge to your credit card for a down payment on your cruise. Down payment is due at the time of booking. With Carnival, you can instantly apply your gift card as a down payment.
So if you want to use RCCL gift certificates for a down payment, you can end up making a short term double payment on your credit card. One payment is when you buy the gift certificates, which won’t be applied for 2-3 weeks. The duplicate payment is your actual required down payment with your credit card. That becomes just an extra cash payment to RCCL unless you specifically request a credit card refund when your gift certificates are finally processed. For us the double payment was $900 times two. That can cost you some expensive credit card interest if you don’t have enough cash when the bill comes due.
When your Carnival gift card is applied to your reservation you can see it on your invoice almost instantly on-line. You can’t see your RCCL invoice on line. You have to call RCCL, wait on hold for a long time and then ask them to email it to you. That’s a pain.
If there is a price drop on a Carnival cruise for which you have paid with gift cards, you still get the price drop up to two days before sailing (applies to Early Saver cruise rate). If you have overpaid, you get a refund or at minimum an on-board credit if you overpaid with gift cards. With RCCL, if you paid with gift certificates and the price drops, you get nothing.Your over payment with any gift certificates is not refunded in any way nor do you get an on-board credit. The RCCL rep just says, “That’s our policy. Gift certificates have no “cash value”. We’re so sorry.” I concur. (We did take our complaint to the corporate office and they were very helpful in getting our certificates processed. Thank you.)
I’m really disappointed that RCCL has fallen so far behind the technology and customer service curve. RCCL used to be our cruise line of choice out of Galveston. But now Carnival is. So if you cruise RCCL and want to save 10%, use gift certificates. But beware of the pitfalls.
QUOTE
like2cruise99
Cool Cruiser
I apologize for the length of this article but this is a complicated subject. We lost $1000 in on board credit and I want to help you avoid this problem.
We are almost Diamond with RCCL but have been cruising Carnival out of Galveston for the past couple of years. Then we sailed RCCL last fall and determined that we liked Carnival better. Carnival has come way up and RCCL has gone down in our experience. This is a case in point.
I’m comparing RCCL's gift certificate process with Carnival’s gift card process, all from third party vendors such as Verizon or AARP. If you buy gift cards or gift certificates, you can save 10% on the purchase and lower your cruise costs. Our conclusion after doing this on both cruise lines is, “beware of RCCL’s gift certificates”. Know what you’re in for before you buy. Here’s the comparison.
The RCCL gift certificate and the Carnival gift card are both sold on-line at Verizon Smart Rewards or AARP.org and maybe other places.They are found under the same heading on the on-line menu of Gift Cards, Travel.But if you’re used to using Carnival gift cards, you’re in for a rude awaking if you switch to RCCL gift certificates. Here’s why.
The Carnival gift card can be applied to a Carnival cruise reserved through a travel agent or through a Carnival agent. But an RCCL gift certificate can ONLY be used with a reservation made through RCCL. We didn’t know that until AFTER we bought the RCCL gift certificates. So we had to switch our reservation from our travel agent to RCCL and LOSE $1000 in on-board credits (we were booking 3 back to back to back cruises.)
The Carnival gift card can be applied to your reservation instantly by your travel agent or you can apply it on-line to your Carnival reservation (or with an agent). But, the RCCL gift certificate has to be scanned and emailed or snail mailed to a back-room operation in Miami that takes 2 to 3 weeks to process.
The RCCL agent promised us 7 to 10 days but when that didn’t happen we called in to complain. The solution offered was, “Wait longer. It now takes 2-3 weeks. We’re so sorry.” I agree.
You can use your Carnival gift card as down payment for your cruise. Not so with RCCL. Because of the lengthy delay in processing gift certificates, you have to make a charge to your credit card for a down payment on your cruise. Down payment is due at the time of booking. With Carnival, you can instantly apply your gift card as a down payment.
So if you want to use RCCL gift certificates for a down payment, you can end up making a short term double payment on your credit card. One payment is when you buy the gift certificates, which won’t be applied for 2-3 weeks. The duplicate payment is your actual required down payment with your credit card. That becomes just an extra cash payment to RCCL unless you specifically request a credit card refund when your gift certificates are finally processed. For us the double payment was $900 times two. That can cost you some expensive credit card interest if you don’t have enough cash when the bill comes due.
When your Carnival gift card is applied to your reservation you can see it on your invoice almost instantly on-line. You can’t see your RCCL invoice on line. You have to call RCCL, wait on hold for a long time and then ask them to email it to you. That’s a pain.
If there is a price drop on a Carnival cruise for which you have paid with gift cards, you still get the price drop up to two days before sailing (applies to Early Saver cruise rate). If you have overpaid, you get a refund or at minimum an on-board credit if you overpaid with gift cards. With RCCL, if you paid with gift certificates and the price drops, you get nothing.Your over payment with any gift certificates is not refunded in any way nor do you get an on-board credit. The RCCL rep just says, “That’s our policy. Gift certificates have no “cash value”. We’re so sorry.” I concur. (We did take our complaint to the corporate office and they were very helpful in getting our certificates processed. Thank you.)
I’m really disappointed that RCCL has fallen so far behind the technology and customer service curve. RCCL used to be our cruise line of choice out of Galveston. But now Carnival is. So if you cruise RCCL and want to save 10%, use gift certificates. But beware of the pitfalls.
QUOTE
like2cruise99
Cool Cruiser