Cruise lines run sales often. You might find discounted shore excursions or drink packages, flash sales on cruise fares, and more. But occasionally you can get additional savings by finding discounted cruise gift cards through a third-party company.
The exact deals may vary, but the most common are a 10% discount – if you can find an offer that hasn’t sold out yet.
Related: Royal Caribbean, Celebrity passengers get deal Carnival’s don’t
For years, AARP offered Carnival Cruise Line gift cards at a discounted price, but that offer was pulled earlier this year.Â
On the day of this writing (March 18), Newegg started selling $500 Carnival gift cards for $450. It was initially listed as a 24-hour promotion. But within a couple hours of the deal going live, they were gone.
This isn’t the first time the online electronics retailer has offered discounted Carnival gift cards. But every time it does, they tend to sell out very fast, and for good reasons.
Sign up for the Come Cruise With Me newsletter to save money on your next (or your first) cruise.
Image source: Carnival Cruise Line
Why are Carnival gift card deals so popular?
To be sure, Carnival gift cards aren’t the only cruise line gift cards you can buy on sale. As an example, Royal Caribbean and Celebrity gift cards were recently offered through AARP for a 10% discount to face value. That means you could buy the same $500 for $450 that the Carnival Newegg deal offered.
However, there are a couple of big differences. For one thing, the Royal Caribbean gift cards had a somewhat tricky redemption process. Second, and more importantly, they could only be used towards the cruise fare. They couldn’t be used towards onboard purchases, and they couldn’t even be applied towards a deposit.
Now, they could certainly save you money. If you took your family on a cruise that cost a total of $5,000, using Royal Caribbean AARP gift cards to pay for it could have saved you $500 if you were willing to jump through some hoops.
On the other hand, the Carnival gift cards that are sometimes offered at a discount through Newegg can be used for just about anything. They can easily be used towards the purchase of a cruise (or as the deposit) online or by phone.Â
They can also be easily redeemed for shore excursions, pre-cruise purchases like drink packages and spa treatments, and can be redeemed for virtually any onboard purchase by adding the gift card to your Sail & Sign account at the guest services desk.
More Carnival cruise news:Â
- Cruise line shares rare warning, storm delays Carnival cruise
- Carnival cruisers make their thoughts on this dining tradition clear
- Carnival Cruise Line makes surprise muster drill change
“Carnival Gift Cards can be used on almost anything: towards the purchase of a Carnival cruise, activities/shore excursions, and redeemed onboard toward the Sail & Sign account for gifts, drinks, and fun,” according to Newegg’s website.
In short, not only are the Carnival discounted gift cards easy to redeem, but they can be used for any part of your cruise experience. That’s why they sell out so quickly.
When will Newegg offer the deal again?
Unfortunately, Newegg doesn’t pre-announce far in advance when it will offer discounted Carnival gift cards on its website (although sometimes it announces the day before).Â
But while we don’t know for sure, it’s fair to assume that this won’t be the last time. A quick search on Carnival social media groups shows that the $500 for $450 deal was offered on Jan 1 and Jan 13 of this year, in addition to today’s sale. Both of those sold out within a few hours as well.
To make sure you don’t miss the next one, it could be a good idea to follow some of the major Carnival groups on Facebook and regularly check the Carnival gift card section of Newegg’s website, as the retailer offers a selection of full-price Carnival gift cards all the time.Â
(The Arena Group will earn a commission if you book a cruise.)
Make a free appointment with Come Cruise With Me’s Travel Agent Partner, Postcard Travel, or email Amy Post at amypost@postcardtravelplanning.com or call or text her at 386-383-2472.
