Faster to the Fun program announced today

[Cruise4Music]

i guess i will connect the dots for you.

 

they were hardly free.

 

I do NOT pay extra for the Platinum benefits.

 

I know it's hard for some of you to understad but I would have taken the same number of Carnival cruises with or without the Platinum benefits.

 

If you saying it's built into the cruise price then I'm OK with that.

 

Of course I currently cruise Carnival.

[Georgiagolfer]

Thanks to these boards, and someone posting the information, I got $150 OBC back prior to NCL changing their latitudes system, when I went from Bronze to Silver. My DH and I each went up that level so we each were awarded $150 OBC to be used on two different sailings. I applied one to this cruise and one to my feb cruise.

(Since then, that perk has been eliminated however, their new loyalty system is pretty nice even after all the changes they made)

 

I got $300 OBC for booking the suite which was an NCL promotion back then

I got $100 OBC for the very recent Home Shopping Network promotion that NCL is having.

I got $25 from NCL in thanks for a letter I worte to them (I guess it's kinda like the old 45 day letter CCL used to have, only they give you 2 options. One for a fruit basket and bottle of wine, the other a $25 OBC. I took the OBC)

 

The rest was OBC from the TA....who back when I booked this cruise was having their own promotion in which they were giving more OBC than usual.

 

Timing is everything.

 

Thanks Halos

[Cruise4Music]

Only a fool would spend so much for weak perks. The perks should have been better originally.

 

While I say its foolish to do something like that, I also agree it wasn't fair of Carnival. Carnival should at least offer something extra for the folks who did spend a bunch to get special treatment. It does diminish their earned perk.

 

Lots of us don't choose Carnival for the perks.

 

While I am not going to turn down perks if offered, they are NOT the reason I choose Carnival.

 

I'll bet there are quite a few others like me.

 

But probably not on CC where it's all about the perks.

 

Can you spell G R E E D.

[jetteh22]

Freaking awesome.

[MuffyKismet]

Are those 2 new perks only on those 2 ships?

 

No one has answered yet about the two new perks for current platnium cruisers. I would love to get on the ship and go straight to the room! That is a great perk! So, how do we find out if we get that on all the ships starting now or is it only those two ships???

 

Any info on this would be appreciated!

[H82seaUgo]

I do NOT pay extra for the Platinum benefits.

 

I know it's hard for some of you to understad but I would have taken the same number of Carnival cruises with or without the Platinum benefits.

 

If you saying it's built into the cruise price then I'm OK with that.

 

Of course I currently cruise Carnival.

 

and yet now you can.

 

and while it may not be your experience to stick with carnival to have become platinum, it looks like many do. how many people have boasted posted that they booked their next three cruises before the end of next year so they can get their free laundry.

 

now, if you really want to see proud posters wanting to attain those higher perk levels, head over to the rccl boards.

 

now, those be perks.

 

i had a better feel good as a gold member on rccl on my second cruise, than when ccl rolled out their loyalty when ii was on my 14th ccl cruise.

 

in fact, dw and i laughed as we saw our ccl perks that first time.

[Cruise4Music]

and yet now you can.

 

and while it may not be your experience to stick with carnival to have become platinum, it looks like many do. how many people have boasted posted that they booked their next three cruises before the end of next year so they can get their free laundry.

 

now, if you really want to see proud posters wanting to attain those higher perk levels, head over to the rccl boards.

 

now, those be perks.

 

i had a better feel good as a gold member on rccl on my second cruise, than when ccl rolled out their loyalty when ii was on my 14th ccl cruise.

 

in fact, dw and i laughed as we saw our ccl perks that first time.

 

Then why not just cruise RCI and be done with it?

 

Think of all the time you would save not (complaining) posting to Carnival threads.:D

 

As good as RCI must be (From reading Carnival threads) I shoud book them for my next winter MR cruise from LA/Long Beach.

[H82seaUgo]

Then why not just cruise RCI and be done with it?

 

Think of all the time you would save not (complaining) posting to Carnival threads.:D

 

As good as RCI must be (From reading Carnival threads) I shoud book them for my next winter MR cruise from LA/Long Beach.

 

do what you like. that's a personal choice.

 

having sailed the mr once, i wouldn't sail it again on any line.

[LamenLaur]

I would like to hear on from ANYONE who booked this like at 7 or 8 in the morning on the day it was rolled out. They may have seen how many slots were still available at that time. My guess is there were no more than 25 maybe 50 tops of these "excursions" available. Now we're talking about a ship that has according to the beyond ships website 1487 cabins x2= 2974 passengers. So 50 cabins (100 passengers at double occupancy) is only 3.3%of the ships passengers!

 

We booked ours sometime yesterday early afternoon. There were only 15 available before we purchased.

[maggieworkman]

We booked ours sometime yesterday early afternoon. There were only 15 available before we purchased.

 

I think they will have 15 available in the beginning. Then when it gets closer to sailing and they have a better idea how many platinum/diamond members have booked, they will open up more slots.

 

Maggie

[topguy]

The best thing to do is for Carnival to keep their loyalty program, take away all of the extra "pay for perks" that no one has to purchase anyway if they don't want to and raise the cruise fares for "everyone", new cruisers to Super Platinum. I wonder how manyu loyalty program cruisers would jump ship then.

[bobsfamily]

The best thing to do is for Carnival to keep their loyalty program, take away all of the extra "pay for perks" that no one has to purchase anyway if they don't want to and raise the cruise fares for "everyone", new cruisers to Super Platinum. I wonder how manyu loyalty program cruisers would jump ship then.

Huh?

[Sargent_Schultz]

The best thing for Carnival to do is to ignore the noise and complaints about a program that hasn't even begun. The program will only be tried on a couple of ships and the only opinions that should be used when evaluating the program are those of the people on those ships that are directly affected (or more likely not).

[topguy]

Huh?

I know. I made myself clear as mud as usual.

My point is that I think that most people are more into the cost of the cruise and not the loyalty programs. I'm sure that there are those out there that would cruise Carnival no matter what the cost, if they could be known as Platinum guests. Sometimes a "title" strokes our egos.

[Gypsywych]

I found it interesting that Carnival was willing to alienate so many people for what amounts to $749.25 per sailing (based on 15 FtF's sold per sailing).

 

Yes, I did the math.

[bobsfamily]

I know. I made myself clear as mud as usual.

My point is that I think that most people are more into the cost of the cruise and not the loyalty programs. I'm sure that there are those out there that would cruise Carnival no matter what the cost, if they could be known as Platinum guests. Sometimes a "title" strokes our egos.

Got ya... there are some, yes but the vast majority of cruisers on Carnival are there because of the price, period.

[H82seaUgo]

The best thing for Carnival to do is to ignore the noise and complaints about a program that hasn't even begun. The program will only be tried on a couple of ships and the only opinions that should be used when evaluating the program are those of the people on those ships that are directly affected (or more likely not).

 

kinda like the outrage found here about the pay for $18 steaks in the mdr.

 

oh yeah, that failed too.

[Topo Gigio]

On the other hand the good thing for platinum members is that now they have early access to their cabin, something that they did not have in the past.

[LHP]

I think a lot of people are missing the real issue.....

 

 

All of these changes would not be a big deal IF (please note the IF)

Carnival implemented and managed it properly.

 

 

Now that everyone, who has any long term experience with Carnival, has gotten themselves up off the floor from laughter....

 

 

Show a little sensitivity....

 

It is bad enough that Carnival knocked these folks to the ground 2 months ago .... now they are kicking them in their teeth with this. NOT as much because of the dilution of perks for the almighty dollar....but because we know that Carnival will make a cluster out of this as well.

 

How quickly we forget what happened with the Milestone program.

 

What was Carnival's "intentions".... that you only get the card on the 25. 50 etc.

 

What ACTUALLY happened....Carnival made a mess of it. Their own staff did not even know how it was suppose to be handled properly.

 

The first loyalty program has been in place for 6 years and ports can not even find our cards on a consistant basis because they were "different". We have to get on the ship with a sticker and then stand in line at Guest Services to get our card.

 

Miami probably will not be an issue because of its size....but smaller ports like New Orleans have no room for "extra lines". Charleston does not even have a VIP office.

 

And just like the 3 man system only worked in "theory" (and now there are chronic complaints of poor service and cold food) .... how is this going to affect the quality of cleaning and cabin prep?

 

Once regular passengers (who did not purchase this) see people going to their cabins....guess what is going to happen???

 

And what about folks who are now cheating (by bringing multiple cabins with them to VIP by putting them all on their Credit Card)? Carnival can not even control that loophole.

 

Same thing for VIP debarkation.....it is already chaotic. It is a crap shoot on every cruise to see how it will be handled. You can already get VIP self assist just by booking an early flight....so now they are adding more people to this cluster.

 

Stupidity is going the exact same thing and expecting different results.

 

So do not fault folks for not wanting to experience this train wreck on their vacation.

[mizLORInj]

It is an income $$ stream for Carnival and I'm not so sure our comments are going to stop them from doing it, regardless of the potential chaos that may be caused by early cabin prep, etc.

 

They seem to have a new program or change monthly as of late; maybe they like to see how they create a buzz.

[Cruise4Music]

The best thing for Carnival to do is to ignore the noise and complaints about a program that hasn't even begun. The program will only be tried on a couple of ships and the only opinions that should be used when evaluating the program are those of the people on those ships that are directly affected (or more likely not).

 

I just love common sense.:D

[maggieworkman]

I think a lot of people are missing the real issue.....

 

 

All of these changes would not be a big deal IF (please note the IF)

Carnival implemented and managed it properly.

 

 

Now that everyone, who has any long term experience with Carnival, has gotten themselves up off the floor from laughter....

 

 

Show a little sensitivity....

 

It is bad enough that Carnival knocked these folks to the ground 2 months ago .... now they are kicking them in their teeth with this. NOT as much because of the dilution of perks for the almighty dollar....but because we know that Carnival will make a cluster out of this as well.

 

How quickly we forget what happened with the Milestone program.

 

What was Carnival's "intentions".... that you only get the card on the 25. 50 etc.

 

What ACTUALLY happened....Carnival made a mess of it. Their own staff did not even know how it was suppose to be handled properly.

 

The first loyalty program has been in place for 6 years and ports can not even find our cards on a consistant basis because they were "different". We have to get on the ship with a sticker and then stand in line at Guest Services to get our card.

 

Miami probably will not be an issue because of its size....but smaller ports like New Orleans have no room for "extra lines". Charleston does not even have a VIP office.

 

And just like the 3 man system only worked in "theory" (and now there are chronic complaints of poor service and cold food) .... how is this going to affect the quality of cleaning and cabin prep?

 

Once regular passengers (who did not purchase this) see people going to their cabins....guess what is going to happen???

 

And what about folks who are now cheating (by bringing multiple cabins with them to VIP by putting them all on their Credit Card)? Carnival can not even control that loophole.

 

Same thing for VIP debarkation.....it is already chaotic. It is a crap shoot on every cruise to see how it will be handled. You can already get VIP self assist just by booking an early flight....so now they are adding more people to this cluster.

 

Stupidity is going the exact same thing and expecting different results.

 

So do not fault folks for not wanting to experience this train wreck on their vacation.

 

I'm also going to be interested in how they handle the "express access to the guest services desk." I've read several reviews lately where a Platinum guest is standing in the Platinum line and being ignored. So is there going to be a separate line for the FTTF people? So 3 lines? How many times have you heard that people in the "regular" line start yelling at the Platinum people for cutting the line??? How is it going to be with more people cutting the line?

 

Maggie

[GROUCHPUSS]

I like that they are going to add a VIP line on tender ports for on the way back to the ship.

 

This is some thing that no one is talking about.

 

The late disembarkation is nothing at all however. I just received a response from John on this. All it is a high luggage tag number. I think I read a rumor that you were going to be able to stay on the ship until the visitors to shore call before next sailing. This is a FALSE rumor.

[cruzzza]

I like that they are going to add a VIP line on tender ports for on the way back to the ship.

 

This is some thing that no one is talking about.

 

The late disembarkation is nothing at all however. I just received a response from John on this. All it is a high luggage tag number. I think I read a rumor that you were going to be able to stay on the ship until the visitors to shore call before next sailing. This is a FALSE rumor.

Late disembarkation sounds like a joke then. That's not a perk. Anyone can wait until the last number.

 

VIP line on tender ports for RETURN to the ship??? I am pretty sure I read that it was only ship to shore and not the return (shore to ship). Where did you get your info?

[barbatkins]

I like that they are going to add a VIP line on tender ports for on the way back to the ship.

 

This is some thing that no one is talking about.

 

The late disembarkation is nothing at all however. I just received a response from John on this. All it is a high luggage tag number. I think I read a rumor that you were going to be able to stay on the ship until the visitors to shore call before next sailing. This is a FALSE rumor.

 

Where did you read they were going to add a VIP tender in ports to get back on the ship?