Future Cruise Cert worth the hassle?

[NavyCruiser]

We bought 2 FCC a few yrs back.

It was $100 each, we thought it'll be worth $200 for a future cruise.

They gave us a physical paper cert, with a unique cert #.

We forgot what's the time period or expiration date, but when we were ready to book another cruise months or maybe a yr later, we had to search for the orig cert & give our TA the cert #.

One of the cruise was for a 5 night, so it was only worth $150.

 

Our fault for not filing those paper certs & such a pain to try to find them a yr later. Figured in today's tech world, Carnival would link those cert #'s to our VIFP accounts, to be readily avail online anytime. Think they make it difficult for a reason.

 

We swore not to deal with those FCCs anymore, putting up with all those hassles for the piddly amt of savings.

 

Before everyone starts flaming me for being such an idiot as not to file them correctly; Yes, I agree.

 

We'll be on the Magic next wk & now just wondering if there's any new changes to how the FCC work now days to make it easier/more worthwhile to buy them...

 

Thanks,

[snc_cam]

The FCC no longer exist. What you do now is book onboard (assuming the ship as a future-cruise desk) and receive an OBC for that cruise. You will also get two Friend/Family OBC "passes" that allow a friend/family to purchase the same cruise and they will get the same OBC as you.

[AdGuyMG]

Figured in today's tech world, Carnival would link those cert #'s to our VIFP accounts, to be readily avail online anytime. Think they make it difficult for a reason.

 

Even in today's tech world, not every data base is connected to or "talks to" every other data base within an organization.

[Disconnections]

The Future Cruise Certificate promotion was eliminated, due to "lack of participation."

[EmmasNana]

Call Carnival. They can look up the certificate number because it was tied to the

VIPF number of the person who purchased it.

 

I purchased a bunch of them in Sept. 2012 which was the last week they sold them. I had until Sept. 2014 to use them or turn them back in for credit on my credit card. When I called to turn them back in, they told me I could extend them for either 6 months or a year, I don't recall which.

 

Some of those certificates used to be good for 4 years, so it depends on when you purchased them. I would call.

[golfadj]

The Future Cruise Certificate promotion was eliminated, due to "lack of participation."

 

Think you are talking about farewell party poorly advertised so few people came so they had an excuse to dump it.

 

I think this was discontinued because Carnival thought these people would book anyway so why give it away.

[NavyCruiser]

The Future Cruise Certificate promotion was eliminated, due to "lack of participation."

 

Thanks for the info/update.

 

We did used up those 2 certs. But it was such a pain. I think that's why the "lack of participation".

 

I equate it to my last experience of buying a Dell computer directly from Dell, & they still made me go thru the hassle of redeeming the $100 discount cert by printing out paper, filling it out, mailing it in & wait 8 weeks for rebate. I'm buying directly from the manufacturer, so why not give the instant discount right then?

 

So I guess, we must already have a future cruise in mind before getting onboard, & book onboard then? Not buying the cert & decide later? So how is that going to improve "participation"?

[Disconnections]

Think you are talking about farewell party poorly advertised so few people came so they had an excuse to dump it.

 

I think this was discontinued because Carnival thought these people would book anyway so why give it away.

 

Yes, you are correct. Wrong cutback.

 

OP, here is the "official statement" from Carnival.

 

[golfadj]

It is a bit of a pain to cash it in but if they ever came back would use it.

 

Did our first cruise on Princess a few months ago and bought one there. Used it in booking another one there and it actually became the deposit being credited at time of booking. How great is that:)

[John1928]

Since they've eliminated the FCCs we've sailed on two other lines which we previously had not tried. That may have happened regardless, but there was certainly a much higher likelihood of continued lock-in when there was a couple hundred bucks already available on one line.

[tbbtravels]

Were too much trouble for the small amount they increased to - for me. I think we had $100 that turned into 141.xx or something similar. Not a bad return but keeping up with them till were about to expire and then explaining to my pvp what they were - was just too much for me. Then they didn't even redeem like the instructions said.

Pvp said he took care of it and not to mail it in. Was a little apprehensive about that as well.

Not worth the hassle in my opinion.

Edited August 12, 2014 by tbbtravels

[NavyCruiser]

Were too much trouble for the small amount they increased to - for me. I think we had $100 that turned into 141.xx or something similar. Not a bad return but keeping up with them till were about to expire and then explaining to my pvp what they were - was just too much for me. Then they didn't even redeem like the instructions said.

Pvp said he took care of it and not to mail it in. Was a little apprehensive about that as well.

Not worth the hassle in my opinion.

 

My feelings exactly...

[forwardcabin]

The FCCs were really not that much of a hassle. PVP took the number and the credit showed up in the online docs. Having one kept us thinking about booking another cruise and always looking for one online. We just used our last FCC to book a cruise March 9, 2015. After that, unless Carnival comes thru with some really great promotions from time to time, we may not even think about cruising for a while. Guess of those who purchased them, more turned them in for refund or actually used them than Carnival expected.

[Cushing985]

Just to put it out there...if you live in California or New Hampshire the certificates have no expiration date. I have one more old one that I'm holding for a Hawaii cruise so I can maximize the OBC ($200).

[crusinpsychRN]

Think you are talking about farewell party poorly advertised so few people came so they had an excuse to dump it.

 

I think this was discontinued because Carnival thought these people would book anyway so why give it away.

 

They should have offered the FCC at the Farewell Party!:D:eek:

[ss70chev]

I recently called about a lost one and it had expired. They extended the time for 6 months and let me use it. I would purchase these again if it was offered. Between this, Carnival credit card points and Gift cards I have racked up the OBC's. I can't wait to use them in January.

[buddylover]

Were too much trouble for the small amount they increased to - for me. I think we had $100 that turned into 141.xx or something similar. Not a bad return but keeping up with them till were about to expire and then explaining to my pvp what they were - was just too much for me. Then they didn't even redeem like the instructions said.

Pvp said he took care of it and not to mail it in. Was a little apprehensive about that as well.

Not worth the hassle in my opinion.

 

Disagree completely....they were very little trouble to yield $100 OBC for free. You didn't need a PVP, or to call in at all, you could enter them yourself online, it took about 3 minutes.....I don't think that qualifies as "too much trouble".

 

Also, your $100 purchase price applied to the bottom line of your next cruise, reducing the cost by your already prepaid $100....and the LEAST amount of OBC was $50 (for a 3-5 day cruise) and could have been as much as $200 OBC for a 11+ day cruise....NOT $41 in ANY case. So, the least amount you could net back was an extra $50, yielding $150 payback on a $100 investment....not too shabby! Not so sure you are talking about the same FCC's that have been dicontinued???

 

We miss FCC's and wish CCL would bring them back......used them as often as we could!!

Edited August 12, 2014 by buddylover

[jsfromsc]

I bought one in 2010 and used it to book my 2013 cruise. I used the $200 toward the cruise price and got $200 OBC ($100 for each my husband and me). Also, I booked early saver and the prices went down considerably, so we ended up getting an upgrade from a regular to an extended balcony and saved something like $1800-$2000 on the cruise fare. That had nothing to do with the certificate, but overall this whole experience was great for us. I would definitely purchase one again if they became available again.

[SadieN]

Just to put it out there...if you live in California or New Hampshire the certificates have no expiration date. I have one more old one that I'm holding for a Hawaii cruise so I can maximize the OBC ($200).

 

 

I heard from a friend (she's a Diamond) that Carnival was honoring the deposit bit not the OBC for California cruisers holding old FCCs.

Edited August 13, 2014 by SadieN

[Rosefloater]

I heard from a friend (she's a Diamond) that Carnival was honoring the deposit bit not the OBC for California cruisers holding old FCCs.

 

I just used my old FCC for a cruise in April 2015. Both the deposit and OBC were applied.

[golfadj]

They should have offered the FCC at the Farewell Party!:D:eek:

 

That would have been great but they were looking for an excuse to eliminate the farewell party and by not publicizing it during the cruise they were successful.

[belkin]

Disagree completely....they were very little trouble to yield $100 OBC for free. You didn't need a PVP, or to call in at all, you could enter them yourself online, it took about 3 minutes.....I don't think that qualifies as "too much trouble".

 

Also, your $100 purchase price applied to the bottom line of your next cruise, reducing the cost by your already prepaid $100....and the LEAST amount of OBC was $50 (for a 3-5 day cruise) and could have been as much as $200 OBC for a 11+ day cruise....NOT $41 in ANY case. So, the least amount you could net back was an extra $50, yielding $150 payback on a $100 investment....not too shabby! Not so sure you are talking about the same FCC's that have been dicontinued???

 

We miss FCC's and wish CCL would bring them back......used them as often as we could!!

 

Same here. I just turned one in online this week. Took just a coupe of minutes and the next day we had $100 off our cruise and $100 OBC. Still have one more to use so have to decide on another cruise pretty soon.

 

Another vote for bringing them back. Booking onboard is so annoying and cuts into my relaxation time!

[Cushing985]

I heard from a friend (she's a Diamond) that Carnival was honoring the deposit bit not the OBC for California cruisers holding old FCCs.

 

Nope...I'm afraid Carnival is stuck with the terms of the FCC..Trust me, I already used an old one for a 7 day cruise and received everything as stipulated on the FCC.

 

Just as an aside...not impressed with your friend's knowledge of Carnival policy (even though she's a Diamond!).:cool:

[tbbtravels]

OP's post,,,,,,,,,,,

We bought 2 FCC a few yrs back.

It was $100 each, we thought it'll be worth $200 for a future cruise.

They gave us a physical paper cert, with a unique cert #.

We forgot what's the time period or expiration date, but when we were ready to book another cruise months or maybe a yr later, we had to search for the orig cert & give our TA the cert #.

One of the cruise was for a 5 night, so it was only worth $150.

 

Our fault for not filing those paper certs & such a pain to try to find them a yr later. Figured in today's tech world, Carnival would link those cert #'s to our VIFP accounts, to be readily avail online anytime. Think they make it difficult for a reason.

 

We swore not to deal with those FCCs anymore, putting up with all those hassles for the piddly amt of savings.

 

Before everyone starts flaming me for being such an idiot as not to file them correctly; Yes, I agree.

 

We'll be on the Magic next wk & now just wondering if there's any new changes to how the FCC work now days to make it easier/more worthwhile to buy them...

 

Thanks,

 

Disagree completely....they were very little trouble to yield $100 OBC for free. You didn't need a PVP, or to call in at all, you could enter them yourself online, it took about 3 minutes.....I don't think that qualifies as "too much trouble".

 

Also, your $100 purchase price applied to the bottom line of your next cruise, reducing the cost by your already prepaid $100....and the LEAST amount of OBC was $50 (for a 3-5 day cruise) and could have been as much as $200 OBC for a 11+ day cruise....NOT $41 in ANY case. So, the least amount you could net back was an extra $50, yielding $150 payback on a $100 investment....not too shabby! Not so sure you are talking about the same FCC's that have been dicontinued???

 

We miss FCC's and wish CCL would bring them back......used them as often as we could!!

 

 

 

Wasn't aware they had different FCC's floating around. Responded because I thought my situation sounded like the op's.

I didn't have to use my pvp - but I had one. I agreed it was a decent return. Just not an experience I wish to have again for $41 and change.

My offer was not for OBC. I have never gotten obc except for a cruise with 3 girls we booked through a TA as part of a group of 25 gals. It had nothing to do with a certificate.

 

I had trouble using that certificate and didn't like it. I might clip a coupon for $1 but I won't buy a $100 certificate from carnival to use on a future cruise again. I felt the certificate was misrepresented.

My certificate was sold as being $200 - not up to $200. Just like the op.

Several in my group felt mislead about the situation. I know 3 people from that cruise that got a refund on that certificate. They called and were told it wasn't worth $200 ,,,,,,,,and requested a refund.

 

I also agree with the op - they could have tied the certificate to the vifp account.

 

I don't recall it having info to redeem online but It said that it MUST be mailed in after my booking. Maybe the pvp didn't handle it correctly .

[NavyCruiser]

I think if Carnival were smart, they would promote the New & Improved FCC 2.0 at the Captain's party (for prev cruisers), let us have up to 1 year to book, to cruise within 2 yrs. Just zip our S&S card at the event for $100, then we'll have $200 for ANY length future cruise, instantly linked to our VIFP account.

 

Figured if the airlines & hotels can track frequent flyer miles & hotel stays, cruise lines can track them too! just like they can track # of nights already cruised...

 

What an easier way for Carnival to promote more business from past guests, Easy right?