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danda0624

By danda0624,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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danda0624

danda0624

Posted
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Hello everyone,

 

I am new here on the board and I wanted to ask you guys a question. I don't have nearly as many cruises under my belt as most of you do so I thought I would ask ya'll a question.

 

Back in March I got a Carnival letter in the mail. I usually either take a quick peek or toss them in the trash. Well, this time I opened it and it stated that I had been invited to reserve a cabin on an upcoming cruise at NO cost, yeah, a free cruise. I thought it was loaded but when I called, they said no strings attached and we made our reservations.

 

Anyone else get one of these letters? Anyone know why they are sending these letters out?

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CheckersMidwest

CheckersMidwest

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These letters started going out in February. They're a special promo from Carnival , winners were drawn by a computer using your VIFP number.

 

There have been quite a few threads on this. There seem to be quite a few people who got them - myself included. :D

 

One thread did a 'survey' type of thing, asking those selected to give demographics and tried to figure out why/how people were chosen. So far, there's been no significant thing they all have in common. Some hadn't cruised in awhile vs. others cruising a lot, some already had a cruise booked while others did not, some used the casino a lot vs not , some had big sign & sail bills & some didn't, etc etc

 

This particular letter that went out did not have anything to do with the casino. The casino sends out it's own promotional offers. My husband plays a lot of roulette on the ship, but doesn't give them his card to keep track and it's a cash game, so there's no record.

 

We booked our cabin the night the letter came. If you log onto Carnival & sign in, then check the cruise deals, VIFP and past guest offers, it will show up there. At the time, there were 17+ pages on Carnival of qualifying cruises. Lots of departure ports, lengths, ships, etc.

 

We paid $70 pp to upgrade to a balcony cabin. We paid taxes & fees and prepaid gratuities. Our total was $451 for a 7 day on the Magic next month. We also booked a full price cabin for our kids.

 

The 'loyal' Carnival customers will hit this thread soon and be quite ticked. They're not at all happy that others were chosen when they were not. However, some of the people who reported getting the letters have also cruised a lot, it's definitely not just newcomers.

 

Book before it's too late ! Get on that ship !:)

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danda0624

danda0624

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The Carnival representative mentioned the casino as a possible reason and I thought, like you, that we gambled with cash. We already booked and also upgraded to a balcony cabin.

 

Whatever the reason for the free cruise, we are excited! Let the countdown begin...16 days til cruise time! :)

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Dreacrusingaway

Dreacrusingaway

Posted
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Congrats!!!! I got off the Sunshine from the cruise I paid for, but met a great couple in the Alchemy bar that was cruising for free. I was happy for them, nice couple. Not jealous. I would love to get a free cruise. Who wouldn't? Glad you did. Congrats again! Enjoy it!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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Sailor_Sally

Sailor_Sally

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Of all the great promotions the other cruise line have been having I feel this one is the least fair and least thought out promotion. Celebrity has free drink package , free tips & a dinner . RCL has buy one get one half price . NCL has buy one get a free land trip . No other line is giving free cruises except to Casino high rollers . I am happy for the people who are getting them but I also agree that Carnival is alienating a lot of regular customers .

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danda0624

danda0624

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I wasn't trying to offend anyone with my thread. I was really just curious why we had scored a free cruise.

 

To those of you who think poorly of my post, this is the first real item I have ever "won" and I am not trying to shove this anyone's face.

 

To those of you who responded kindly with information, my thanks for helping clarify our situation.

 

I'm looking forward to cruise time!

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

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dragon94

dragon94

Posted
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I was always jealous of the people I met on board who were on their "free" cruise but this time we will be on our 'free' cruise! Yeah!! fortunately Alaska was on the cruise list and I jumped right on it! We would never have taken this cruise due to the expense (excursions are outrageous $$).

Enjoy your cruise!

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rch3

rch3

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There really isn't any rhyme or reason to it I believe. We sailed over NYE on the Breeze last year and in the ship mailbox outside our cabin on the final morning was a Players Club free inside cabin offer. Had to book by 1/31/14 and sail by 5/31/14. Picked the 4/27 Legend sailing (cheap airfare to Tampa and love the ship) and "bought up" to an aft wrap.

 

As I always do, contacted the Players Club before sailing and was told that the free cabin was the "comp" this time to which I replied that I understood and was grateful. Surprise number 1.--Apparently after I booked, the sailing was designated a Premier cruise which I first realized when we got to our cabin and all the literature, including free drink lanyard, was waiting for us. Thanks Players Club--we had a ball.

 

Here's the weird part. I had one of those streaks of good luck on the slots that comes around rarely. (Not so good at the tables.) Anyway hit a couple of $1500+ progressives and played all but the first couple of hours on the casino's money. I accumulated over 14,000 slot points on this sailing, more than double any other trip. (Yes, for those who would be judgmental, I came home with in positive territory, although I gave a bunch of my "good fortune" back.) Anyway, on the last night envelopes were distributed to folks in the casino containing a variety of offers from free cruises to deep discounts. My letter informed me that since I already had a cruise booked (NYE this year) I should contact the Players Club before sailing.

 

As I have seen others speculate, the Players Club does, in fact, take that into account in offering comps. My letter says precisely that. Don't blame them, really, because if I got a better deal through them, I'd eat the $100 cancellation on my ES rate NYE sailing. I suspect CCL wouldn't be too happy with their casino contractor if that were allowed to happen frequently. Anyway, we had a great time and hope to receive another offer in the future.

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Davey Wavey

Davey Wavey

Posted
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These letters started going out in February. They're a special promo from Carnival , winners were drawn by a computer using your VIFP number...

This particular letter that went out did not have anything to do with the casino.

 

A lot of the confusion was because there were actually 2 promos going on at the same time. One was for random VIPF, the other was from the casino. Both letters were on identical letterhead with identical wording. The only difference was in the first sentence where they added something like "on behalf of the Ocean Players Club" to those like me who received the offer from the casino.

 

I only play roulette and I always use my card as soon as I sit down at the table. Tell your husband to get with it!

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Artemus

Artemus

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My wife just got the letter from the casino this past Saturday night. Here is the first paragraph...

"We are sure you had a great time with us on the Carnival Magic. It certainly has been great having you with us, and we hope you enjoyed this cruise with us. As a Carnival Players Club member we would like to extend to you this limited time offer, available only for a short period of time."

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Davey Wavey

Davey Wavey

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Don't blame them, really, because if I got a better deal through them, I'd eat the $100 cancellation on my ES rate NYE sailing. I suspect CCL wouldn't be too happy with their casino contractor if that were allowed to happen frequently. Anyway, we had a great time and hope to receive another offer in the future.

 

On my last premier cruise, I had already booked ES when I found via letter at the end of a previous cruise that the cruise was premier. I simply had them change the rate code. There was no cancellation fee or any other fee.

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rch3

rch3

Posted
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On my last premier cruise, I had already booked ES when I found via letter at the end of a previous cruise that the cruise was premier. I simply had them change the rate code. There was no cancellation fee or any other fee.

 

Well my supposition is apparently wrong. Thanks. If I get another casino offer (big if ) I'll know what to do.

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ibcnusoon

ibcnusoon

Posted
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Davy Wavy: How do you use your card at roulette? Do you still play with cash, or is it all charged through your S&S card? Do they keep track of buy in amounts as well as when you cash out?

 

Thanks !

 

You just show the dealer your card, I forget what they do with it but i believe your play is tracked.

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1MKS1128

1MKS1128

Posted
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I just got off the Breeze on Sunday. A number of premier players I was with got the free cruise offers in their mailboxes. I was told you had to score 5000 - 6000 points. I had exceeded that number. I questioned the casino host about this. he said I was not on the list to call the number connected with premier cruises when I got home. I was told because I was booked on a second premier cruise the offer did not apply. The benefits I received were greater than the value of a free cruise. I would receive a drinks on us card. That would only be good while playing in the casino. That is also a part of the premier benefit. I was told that because I was booked on a second premier cruise I would not get it because people who were already booked sometimes cancel their booked cruise to take advantage of the free offer. I called the players club and was told to suck up to the casino host that the number of points had to be earned by a certain point in the cruise. Anybody else run into this ?

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mickym

mickym

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Ok, now I am just imagining looking at a letter from Carnival and tossing it thinking it was junk mail.

 

My brother and his wife EACH got a free cruise. How is that for lucky. They are loyal NCL people with only a couple Carnival cruises.

 

Congratulations to all you lucky winners out there and from now on I will be sure to check out any letters from Carnival!!

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