How to Buy Discounted Carnival Gift Cards (And When It’s Worth It)

One of the easiest ways to cut the cost of a Carnival cruise is to pay for it the smart way.

Discounted Carnival gift cards let you stretch your cruise budget further by turning the same spend into real savings before you even step onboard.

The trick is knowing where to find legit discounts and how they actually work. Some deals are brilliant. Others come with catches most cruisers don’t realise until it’s too late. Let’s break it all down.

Finding Discounted Carnival Gift Cards

You can get discounted Carnival gift cards from select retailers and rewards programs. You pay a reduced rate for the gift card and can then apply that card to your Carnival account. You need to be a member of a selected scheme to be able to access the discounted gift cards.

Some of these schemes cost money, but the amount you pay will be less than the value you can save on the gift card, so it still makes sense to sign up.

The best discounts you can expect to get on a Carnival Cruise Line gift card are 10%, with some retailers and schemes offering less – typically 5% or 6%.

Gift cards are usually sold in either $50, $100 or $500 denominations, so you can pay $450 to get a $500 gift card.

The Best Places to Buy Carnival Gift Cards

The best place to pick up a Carnival gift card with a discount varies. There used to be a reliable option, which I’ll touch on later, but for now, you’ll need to check different retailers to grab their best offers.

1. Newegg and Carnival Gift Cards

Newegg.com is one of the better places to watch for discounted Carnival gift cards, but it’s important to know that these deals are occasional flash sales, not a permanent discount.

When they do appear, they’re usually featured as part of Newegg’s Shell Shocker deals and tend to sell out very quickly. In the past, this has often meant $500 Carnival gift cards reduced to around $450, giving a handy 10% saving.

The catch? There’s no set schedule. Discounts can pop up every few months, then disappear again just as fast. If you’re hoping to grab one, you’ll need to check regularly, sign up for alerts, and be ready to act quickly when a deal goes live.

This option works best if you’re not in a rush to book and are happy to wait for the right moment rather than relying on it as a guaranteed saving.

2. Verizon and Carnival Gift Cards

Verizon can offer up to 10% off Carnival gift cards, but only if you’re an existing customer with rewards points to spend.

Gift cards are accessed through Verizon’s rewards portal and, when available, are usually offered in $50 and $100 denominations. These are typically physical gift cards, so you’ll need to wait for them to be mailed after ordering.

In the past, a 10% discount required 1,000 points for a $100 card or 500 points for a $50 card. Verizon customers earn points automatically, including 500 points per month for using paperless billing, which makes this a reasonable option if you’re already collecting rewards anyway.

This isn’t the fastest or most flexible way to save, but if the cards are showing in your rewards account, it can still be a straightforward way to shave a little off the cost of a Carnival cruise without spending extra cash.

3. Target and Carnival Gift Cards

Target sells Carnival gift cards, and if you pay using a Target RedCard, you’ll automatically get 5% off, just like you do on most other Target purchases.

There are a few RedCard options to choose from, including a credit card or debit card, and the 5% discount applies to whichever version you use. The saving is applied at checkout, with no points to track and no waiting around.

While 5% isn’t as generous as some of the bigger discount hacks, it’s one of the simplest and most reliable options, especially if you prefer to buy your gift cards in-store or want a quick, hassle-free saving without chasing flash deals.

4. Kroger and Carnival Gift Cards

Kroger sells Carnival gift cards, and while there’s no upfront discount, you can still save money through Kroger’s fuel points programme.

To make it worthwhile, you need to buy your gift cards during Kroger’s 4x fuel points promotions. That earns you four fuel points for every $1 spent, so a $500 Carnival gift card would earn 2,000 points.

Fuel points can be redeemed for money off gas, with 1,000 points giving $1 off per gallon on a single fill-up. In reality, most cars only take around 10–15 gallons, so your actual saving is likely to be closer to $10–$15 per redemption, or roughly $20–$30 total from a $500 purchase.

It works out at around 5–6% in real-world savings, but it’s more hassle than a straight discount. This option only really makes sense if you already shop at Kroger, drive regularly, and catch the 4x points promo at the right time.

5. Gift Card Resale Sites (CardCash, Raise and Similar)

Another option is buying Carnival gift cards from gift card resale sites, where people sell unwanted cards for less than face value. Sites like CardCash and Raise sometimes have Carnival cards available at around 5–8% off, depending on what sellers list at the time.

The big downside is availability. There’s no guarantee Carnival cards will be in stock when you check, and discounts vary day by day. You’ll also want to stick to well-known platforms and read the terms carefully, as these cards aren’t coming directly from Carnival.

This can be a useful extra saving if you spot a good deal, but it’s best seen as a bonus option, not something you can rely on consistently.

6. Sam’s Club and Warehouse Stores

Some cruisers also report finding Carnival gift cards at warehouse clubs like Sam’s Club, occasionally priced slightly below face value.

When available, the discounts are usually small, but they can still be worthwhile if you already shop there regularly. Stock varies by location and online availability changes, so this isn’t something you can depend on being there all the time.

This option works best if you already have a membership and happen to spot the cards, rather than signing up purely for the discount.

How to Use Carnival Gift Cards

You can use Carnival gift cards either to book your cruise or to credit your onboard Sail & Sign account.

You can also use them on ships, provided the ship is using USD as the currency onboard (so it excludes Australia sailings, for example).

You can use the gift card in the same way as you would any other gift card – just enter the details of the card on the Carnival website when purchasing your cruise, or when crediting your Sail & Sign account on the Carnival website.

You can also hand over a physical gift card when on the ship to make purchases in the stores.

Just be aware that you can only use a maximum of nine Carnival gift cards at once.

Refunds of Carnival Gift Cards

If you apply a Carnival gift card to your Sail & Sign account and then don’t use all of the money by the end of your cruise, you’ll be refunded in the form of a new Carnival gift card.

All Sail & Sign refunds are processed to the original payment method, so you won’t be issued cash or a bank credit – you’ll get a new gift card to use instead.

Discounted Carnival Gift Card Options That Are No Longer Available

1. AARP

AARP Rewards is a program that lets you enjoy thousands of discounts, and for a long time that included 10% off $100 and $500 Carnival gift cards.

However, the discount was dropped to 5% towards the end of 2024, and then at the start of 2025, the program was ended completely, and now you’re no longer able to access discounts on the gift cards through the platform.

AARP was, for a long time, the go-to option for Carnival fans who wanted to save money on their cruises using discounted gift cards.

So it upset a lot of loyal cruisers when the discount ended. Some complained to John Heald, the cruise line’s Brand Ambassador, although he stated that the decision wasn’t taken by Carnival.

Read more: 8 Huge Changes Coming To Carnival Cruise Line In 2025

2. Allstate Rewards

If you’re looking on social media and forums for more advice on buying Carnival gift cards at a discount, you might see Allstate Rewards recommended.

This program was retired well before the AARP one, in October 2023.

Final Word

So, should you use discount Carnival gift cards to save money on your cruise?

Generally, it’s a good idea, provided you’re planning on spending a large sum. It might be a lot of effort for minimum reward if you were only planning on saving $10 on a $100 card. But if you were buying at least one $500 gift card, the savings become significant.

There’s always a very small risk with gift cards that something could go wrong – e-gift cards may not arrive, physical gift cards could get lost in the mail, you could misplace the gift card – but that risk is small, and most people who use discount Carnival gift cards do so without issue.

As long as you’re careful, then you could get a decent saving on your next Carnival cruise.

Related Topics

• The Best Ways To Spend Carnival Onboard Credit
• Is The Carnival Mastercard Worth It?
• Carnival Cruise Card Colors Explained