It’s not easy to know when you save money when booking a cruise because cruise lines don’t have set prices. The cruise line can tell you it’s offering 10, 20, or even 50% off, but that doesn’t really mean anything when there’s no list price for any cruise.
Generally, cruise lines want passengers to feel like they’re getting a deal. They do that by using promotions like “Kids sail free,” which create a feeling of big savings, although it’s fairly fair to say that how much money is actually being saved is a question.
Related: Carnival Cruise Line shares ban that surprised parents
Travel Agents, of course, can sometimes get better deals than widely advertised prices by booking blocks of rooms,
In most cases, aside from that, however, it’s hard to know when you’re actually getting a deal when booking a cruise.
For years, however, AARP offered an actual way to truly save money booking a cruise. The organization sold Carnival Cruise Line gift cards at a 10% discount. That allowed people to buy as many gift cards as they wanted and apply them to their cruise fare.
That was a true discount, which was recently cut and has now been dropped.
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AARP no longer has Carnival gift cards
In recent months, AARP cut the discount on its Carnival gift cards from 10% to 8% and then 5%. People were angry about the lower discount and blamed it on the cruise line (which may not be fair), and now, the discount price on Carnival gift cards has been fully dropped by AARP.
“Carnival Cruise Lines has decided to discontinue offering their gift cards through the AARP Rewards Program. We understand that this may be disappointing news, and we apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We remain committed to providing you with valuable rewards and appreciate your understanding,” AARP shared on its website.
Passengers posted angry responses to the end of the program on Carnival Brand Ambassador John Heald’s Facebook page.
“The company is disrespecting its customers with some of their recent decisions and lack of communication about them. Raising internet and Cheers pricing without warning, cutting loyalty benefits and rumor is the company is making it harder to get to Platinum. No more AARP discounts at all. It just ended yesterday, I guess, again, all these changes without any warning. That’s not showing any appreciation or even respect for your loyal customers,” wrote Joel Shanker.
Heald offered a response to those comments.
“Thank you. Please don’t listen to rumors. We certainly have not made any announcement yet about the new loyalty program. Thank you, I can confirm that we are, as of January 1, not offering an AARP discount card. I can also confirm that we remain the most affordable cruise line with the most fun and that’s why I hope you’ve reached the level with us that you have,” he wrote.
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Heald also shared that he could not share any more information than that the cards had been discontinued.
“All I can do is confirm is that Effective Jan. 1, Carnival gift cards are no longer available for purchase through AARP,” he wrote.
He did say he would “see if they are prepared to let me know any further information, but at this time, there is none for me to share,” Heald added.
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