If you’re racking your brain to come up with the perfect gift for your cruise-loving family member or friend, consider buying them a gift card or certificate from their favorite cruise line.
Cruisers will appreciate a gift that they can use toward their cruise fare purchase or splurge on a beverage package, specialty restaurant, or spa treatment. Don’t rule out first-timers on your list; You can help fund their first cruise or surprise them with something extra to make their next trip extra special.
If you’re a cruiser, you may also want to buy yourself a gift card, especially when you can find a deal. AARP sometimes offers digital gift cards at savings of up to 10% for cruise lines like Princess, Holland America, Celebrity and Royal Caribbean.
5% discount on gift cards purchased with Target’s RedCard. You can also look for Black Friday sales on Disney gift cards at Sam’s Club and other promotions offered by cruise lines or retailers.
Not every cruise line offers gift cards, and some have alternative ways to help pay for part 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.
Holland America Line
Holland America offers gift cards on it in denominations between $25 and $2,000 website. You can purchase a physical card with a personalized message to send or choose a digital version that the recipient can open online with personalized audio and photos.
The line offers one or two sales a year with added benefits, such as a $100 bonus card with a $1,000 purchase.
You can use the cards to pay for cruise bookings, precruise expenses or onboard charges covering specialty meals, beverages, shore excursions, spa treatments, gratuities and other purchases. They can also be used to purchase Holland America’s “Have It All” bundles, which include beverage packages, shore excursion credits, Wi-Fi and specialty restaurant meals.
Holland America gift cards are also available in preset amounts at online retailers including Amazon, Target, and Walmart. Some banks have credit card programs where you can redeem points for cruise line gift cards. If you prefer to shop in person, you’ll find gift cards at stores like Target, Publix, Kroger, and Giant Eagle.
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Related: 4 Classes of Holland America Ships, Explained
Gift cards are available in dollars only. Gift cards are activated upon receipt, and cannot be resold. Additionally, buyers cannot purchase a total amount of more than $10,000 in one day.
Princess ship
Also offers Princess Cruises gift cards on its website in denominations between $5 and $2,000. Buyers can personalize Line’s e-gift cards with photos and audio for the recipient. Princess Classic Gift Cards arrive by mail, with free shipping on cards over $100. Expedited shipping is also available.
You can use Princess Gift Cards to pay for your cruise, including fares with Princess Plus and Princess Premier all-inclusive packages.
Recipients can also settle part or all of their onboard bill with a gift card at the end of the cruise at the passenger service desk. That means gift cards can essentially pay for meals at specialty restaurants, shore excursions, spa treatments and other onboard splurges.
You cannot use the Gift Card to pay for cruisetours, flights booked through Princess or land excursions as part of a gratuity.
Related: The Ultimate Guide to Princess Cruises Ships and Itineraries
You can find Princess Gift Cards at grocery stores like Kroger, Harris Teeter, and Giant Eagle, and online at retail sites like Amazon, Target, and Best Buy.
Gift cards are only available to residents of the US and Canada. Classic gift cards cannot be mailed to Canada, so Canadian residents should choose the e-gift card option.
Buyers are limited to $10,000 in total purchases online in one day and a maximum of five transactions per day. Anyone can use the gift card because there is no name on the card.
Carnival Cruise
Carnival Cruise Line Online gift cards Can be customized from $100 to $1,000. You can purchase a physical card that is mailed and also have it wrapped and delivered in a tin for an additional $1.99 (up to five cards). If you prefer, you can choose an e-gift card that is sent to the recipient online.
Gift cards can be used for cruise bookings, pre-purchased shore excursions or spa treatments. You can also apply it to beverage package and gratuity. If you wish to use the card as onboard credit, once you are on the ship you must go to the Guest Services Desk or Sail & Sign kiosk to apply the gift card as payment for your onboard bill.
Related: Cruise Onboard Credit: What It Is, Where to Get It, and How to Best Use It
Carnival’s gift cards are available at more than 9,000 retail outlets, including Best Buy, Walmart, Kroger, Albertsons, Lowe’s, Safeway, Winn-Dixie and Publix. You can also buy gift cards on board Carnival ships. You can buy as many cards as you want, but there is a maximum of five gift cards online at one time.
All gift cards are in dollars and are not accepted on ships using a different onboard currency. Since the cards don’t have a name, you can transfer them to another user.
Disney Cruise Line
Gift card for Disney Cruise Line sells online shopdisney.com in preset amounts, from $25 to $500. You can choose from over 60 Disney designs of physical gift cards and send them, or you can send themed e-gift cards.
Gift cards are also sold at Walt Disney World Resort, Disneyland Resort, and Disney retail locations. If you’re buying it in person, you can load it in any amount from $15 to $1,000. Cards can be reloaded for as little as $5 and up to $1,000. You can reload them at any location that sells gift cards. That option is not available online.
RELATED: 11 Ways to Save Money on a Disney Cruise
Use Disney Gift Cards to purchase cruises, shore excursions, onboard merchandise and other onboard expenses. You can also spend the card at Disney-owned properties such as Disney’s Vero Beach Resort; on trips or cruises with Adventures by Disney; to Disney on Broadway; and at retail stores and other Disney businesses.
You can also find them in preset amounts at retailers like Target, Walmart, and Best Buy.
Norwegian Cruise Line
Norwegian Cruise Line ended its gift card program in 2021, but you can still send gifts to cruisers in the form of onboard credit or spa credit. Onboard credit Available up to $100 in $25 increments. Mandara Spa Certificates Offered in amounts of $25, $50 and $100.
To send a gift, you will need some personal information, including the recipient’s date of birth or booking reservation number. You can order a gift of onboard credit on the Norwegian website.
CruiseFirst Certificates There is another gift option. This Advance Purchase Voucher can be used to pay for cruises of six days or more and is worth double the price. For example, you would pay $150 for a certificate worth $300. You can transfer these vouchers to another person as a gift at no charge.
You can purchase up to 10 certificates per person at a time, and they can only be applied to new reservations on voyages scheduled at least 120 days after the certificate purchase date. Only one certificate can be used per sailing – and there are some other restrictions. These vouchers expire within three years from the date of purchase.
Royal Caribbean
Similar to a gift certificate, Royal Caribbean offers prepaid digital gift cards Available in customizable amounts from $50 to $2,000.
You can use it to pay cruise fares, with certain restrictions, or apply it to onboard credit to cover special meals, beverage packages, spa treatments, gift shop purchases and other items. Gift cards cannot be used for government taxes, fees, gratuities or casino play.
RELATED: 35 Royal Caribbean Cruise Tips and Tricks That Will Make Your Trip Better
Celebrity Cruises
Since then Celebrity Cruises is part of the Royal Caribbean Group, so it makes sense that its Gift card program The setup is similar to Royal Caribbean. You can purchase prepaid digital gift cards for yourself or a lucky friend or family member in customizable amounts from $50 to $2,000.
You’ll need to know the recipient’s date of birth or reservation information, or you can call Celebrity’s customer support team to place the order.
Note that gift cards cannot be used to pay select shipboard charges, including gift shop purchases, casino credits, shore excursions and gratuities.
You can also give Specialty Meal Certificates For $45 each. If the amount charged is less than $45, the remaining amount will be applied to the passenger’s onboard account.
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