Can I use GCs to pay...

[dr&momto2boys]

Can I use Disney gift cards to pay for gratuities on board? I know we can pay at the desk and they'll give us slips to hand out. We'll pay $500+ in tips and I'd like to use GCs to do it if possible.

Also can we use GCs to pay a deposit on another cruise whie onboard? (And piggyback question--do we pay 2 $500 deposits to reserve 2 cabins?)

Sam's Club has $100 GC for $98.xx and a free $10 Disney store GC. Using GCs while at WDW and DCL could earn us a lot of free credit at the Disney Store.

Thanks for the help!

 

[tinkerbellmom1]

On our previous cruises I had gift cards that I had taken to guest services to have them applied to our shipboard account. They will use those along with any onboard credits you may have received to settle your account before your credit card is charged at the end of the cruise.

Enjoy your cruise!

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Normally when you rebook onboard though, the deposit is applied to the credit card on file, not your onboard account. I guess they could use any card. I went along with what she asked b/c it was most convenient for me.

I have used GCs to pay toward cruise costs and my TA warned me to save all the cards b/c if we ever had to cancel the cruise, DCL automatically returns the funds to the original form of payment. In the past people have been stuck when they didn't save the card.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

Normally when you rebook onboard though, the deposit is applied to the credit card on file, not your onboard account. I guess they could use any card. I went along with what she asked b/c it was most convenient for me.

I have used GCs to pay toward cruise costs and my TA warned me to save all the cards b/c if we ever had to cancel the cruise, DCL automatically returns the funds to the original form of payment. In the past people have been stuck when they didn't save the card.

Interesting...
It won't be very convenient to keep five $100 cards in a place we remember next year if we cancel the cruise.

 

[ruadisneyfan2]

Interesting...
It won't be very convenient to keep five $100 cards in a place we remember next year if we cancel the cruise.

True, but we have gotten rebates for upgrading cell phones w/ AT & T and I apply them to our cruise. They are in my little personal phone book in my desk drawer. Don't know how I chose that spot but I finally threw them out after we cruised.

I guess the inconvenience would have to be worth the free GCs from Disney. If you want them bad enough, you'll find a way.

We don't really shop at the Disney Store enough to make it worth my time. If it were a general Disney GC that could be applied to onboard acct, I'd be all over it.

 

[dr&momto2boys]

With three (soon to be four) little kids, we have lots of uses for the Disney Store GCs! They're good online for Parks merchandise too.

DH just bought 25 of them at Sam's. S0 that's $30 cash savings (b/c the $100 cards are $98.8x) and $250 free at the Disney Store. This is $2500 we'll be spending next week anyway so, I'm pretty happy!

Thanks for the heads up on saving the cards if we use them for a deposit on our next cruise.

 

[ShellyLynn3630]

Absolutely people, if you use a Disney gift card for a deposit on anything, any Disney trip, keep up with those cards!!!!! I have 5 right now in my bottom drawer.

 

[Mmketeer]

I just got off the Wonder today and had $150 total in Gift cards that I had been saving up for this cruise.
I was planning on re-booking the Dream onboard so after sail away I went to guest services and turned in all my gift cards. After turning in all the cards and the credit was applied to my onboard account the CM told me the gc's were non-refundable. I didn't think anything about this as I headed upstairs to re-book onboard. Course' once I picked my cruise date and was ready to hand them my key to the world card I was advised that they can not use any onboard credit for the deposit they have to use the card that is on file. Usually, this probably not a problem for anyone except that we had paid for our cruise with Dad's AMX cc as he had offered to pay for this sailing as a Christmas gift for us (my hubby has a AMX in his name too that his dad pays for -company card). So, we had to put the deposit on the AMX card that the cruiseline had onfile. Luckily, for a 3 nite it was only $116 deposit for the two of us in a balcony (which was all that was left avail. for our April sail date). We got the 10% discount for booking onboard and even $150 in onboard credit since we were gold members.
Now back to the GC's, I was a little floored that at the end of the cruise the remaining balance couldn't be put back on another GC and given back to us, so I went o Guest Services twice to ask them why the parks can do this when you purchase food/merchandise but they can't and expalined why I had given them the GC's to begin with. Well after speaking with three different Guest Service agents at different times I finally got someone that said, "hey why don't you go to Mickey's Mates and ask them if you can use your on board credit to buy a new Gift Card?" They told me they were 95% sure this would work. So, they last day after sailing away from Castaway Cay I went to the gift shop and asked if I could use my onboard account to buy $100 in GC's? They said yes and now I have a very cool 'DCL' exclusive Gift Card that I can use for my next cruise. What a great gift idea these things would have made though as you can't buy this perticular gift card anywhere but on the ship and it is excepted the same places the other ones are.
Wrap up-
So there you go...that was my experince with booking onboard and using Gift Cards on the cruise. Keep in mind you can't use your onboard account to re-book a cruise and GC's are non-refundable once given to guest services. So use them up while onboard or don't panic and go to the gift shop and purchase more with whatever credit you have left so you won't lose that money.