Welcome back, Jan! Disney Gift Cards are my favorite way to pay not only for extras purchased onboard one of Disney Cruise Line's ships, but also to help pay off the cost of our cruise before we sail! I love that I can purchase these throughout the year, helping our family budget for the costs!
My local grocery store offers extra fuel discounts for gasoline purchases when we purchase gift cards at the store. Since they sell Disney Gift Cards, I purchase one each time I shop, so I can save them for our next cruise. While I'm not getting a cruise discount exactly, I see it as my own personal discount because I have to buy gas for the car anyway, so I might as well save some money on that while I save for the cruise too!
Once onboard, I take my
Disney Gift Cards to Guest Services. They add those to my stateroom account as a credit, so it's like having money ready to be spent. When we charge to our stateroom by using our Key To The World Card onboard, like a romantic dinner at
Palo or a must-have souvenir in the
onboard shops, or when our
Port Adventures are charged, or even the gratuities at the end of the sailing, they are deducted from the credit I already have on the account. Most of the time, I spend it all, because we've budgeted to do that anyway, but sometimes we have had a bit of credit left at the end of the cruise. Keep your Disney Gift Cards while onboard, just in case, because the Guest Services team will be able to add that unused credit back onto one of your Gift Cards for you. Then save it for more Disney purchases next time!
Have so much fun planning, Jan!
Marcy