Cruise Gift Cards and Crypto: Paying Deposits and Onboard Credit with Bitcoin

A cruise is paid in two or three large instalments — the deposit, the final balance, and the onboard account you settle on the last night. Each of the big lines sells a gift card that can cover all three, and each card can be bought with crypto on GiftQubes. Because the amounts are large, this is where the Qube Price (lower on bigger cards) saves the most.

What each line allows

• Royal Caribbean — applied to a booking's deposit or balance, directly or through an agent that tickets with the line, and to the onboard account where allowed. US dollars, no expiry.
• Carnival — applied to the fare and to the Sail & Sign onboard account. US dollars, no expiry.
• Princess and Holland America — applied to bookings through the line or an agent and to onboard spending where the line allows.

Through a travel agent

Most cruises are still booked through agents. A gift card works when the booking is ticketed by the cruise line: give the agent the card number and PIN and they apply it as a form of payment. A package that is not ticketed by the line cannot take the card — ask before you buy.

Combining, balances and refunds

Several cards can usually be combined on one booking; the unused balance stays on the card; and a cancelled cruise paid with a gift card is refunded to the gift card under the fare's rules — never to cash. Onboard credit that goes unspent is refunded to the account by the line's own process.

All four lines are in the cruise hub.