New Sign & Sail card delivery system??

[pe4all]

You don't have to be a FB member to see his page - his FB account is public:

 

https://www.facebook.com/JohnHeald

 

You'll see some annoying partial screen blocks bugging you to join FB but if you scroll down a bit on his first page, you'll see a post with a video from about 2 hours ago.

Ah - now I see how to do it! Thanks so much for the help.

[jimbo5544]

Maybe the savings for Carnival is having less employees working the counters at the terminals at check in.

 

Ummmm, how would this be less employees? Are they not seeing the same number of people getting no the ship? Are their Sign and sail people I don't know about?

[Je Souhaite]

Can someone post the facebook video? Not on fb, and need a good laugh today!!:D

 

[Brighton Line]

Maybe the savings for Carnival is having less employees working the counters at the terminals at check in.

 

I am not familiar where the Splendor home ports now but in NYC the terminal personnel are not employees of Carnival but Ports of America. There are a few people from the ship (hotel) in the terminal as well as the medical team for interviews. All check in is handled by the port contractor, they even took our picture and maned the card readers that were in the terminal.

Entering the ship, the ships own security just looked at the card to ensure the right sail date was on it.

 

In NY Carnival does use the same pier but other ships use it when Carnival is not there. So that means they have to setup a shore side connection to the ship, bring all the check in stations, setup the shore side network stations to each other. Trouble shoot on the fly issues etc.

 

I can see this as a big savings from that point of view.

[Mikew0805]

If that's the case, how do they take your photo when you board the ship and hear the "DING" for the first time?

 

Boarding Pass. Photo was taken from Passport.

[Mikew0805]

So does this mean that you have immediate access to the cabins then as you would have to go through the normally closed fire doors to get to your mail box? It seems to me they are losing alcohol buying opportunities this way too since you wouldn't have your card immediately upon entering the ship. Carnival never gives up money making opportunities so I think this might have been a test or a problem with the usual system.

 

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They let people buy individual drinks with name and room number/boarding pass. However, I could not buy the unlimited soda package until I got the card. Was a little miffed at this... but not too big of a deal.

[Retired_to_Cruise]

Apologize for the ignorance but we've been in suites on CCL for a long time and I guess we weren't aware of the boarding sequence cards. How does that play with the staggered boarding times that are rolling out? :confused: It also makes me wonder if this new check-in and key process is successful and implemented fleet-wide, will staggered boarding be eliminated?

 

There are no such things as "staggered boarding times". There are staggered check in times. You will still pick the time that you want to be allowed into the port terminal to check in. Once you check in, you will not get your S&S card but you will still get the card with your boarding group number on it if you are not in a Priority category. You will board the ship when that boarding group number is called.

Edited October 20, 2016 by Retired_to_Cruise

[Mikew0805]

There are no such things as "staggered boarding times". There are staggered check in times. You will still pick the time that you want to be allowed into the port terminal to check in. Once you check in, you will not get your S&S card but you will still get the card with your boarding group number on it if you are not in a Priority category. You will board the ship when that boarding group number is called.

 

Exactly.

[joepeka]

There are no such things as "staggered boarding times". There are staggered check in times. You will still pick the time that you want to be allowed into the port terminal to check in. Once you check in, you will not get your S&S card but you will still get the card with your boarding group number on it if you are not in a Priority category. You will board the ship when that boarding group number is called.

Got it John. Thanks. :)

[RWolver672]

The problem I see with this is it would break up boarding parties. A lot of parents and kids have different last names. What are you going to do then have little kid and parents stand in different lines? That wont' work so you still have people having to run from line to line to get cards. You could possibly say well divide them #'s like boarding # 123 stand here and loading # 456 stand here but that won't work because you don't know who will be checking in, line 456 could be out the door while line 123 is almost empty.

 

In theory these options work but in reality they don't. Having lots of lines to funnel everyone into is the most efficient way to keep things moving so the cards need to be kept together.

 

If you have kids with different last names, they are checking in with you because your name is on the booking, not theirs.

 

Or instead of lines by alphabet, have lines by cabin numbers. Most families cruising together have cabins close by each other. By the time you get inside, you will know what your cabin number is even if you have a guarantee cabin booking.

Edited October 20, 2016 by RWolver672

[marci4tony]

Please check with someone that has experienced this...

 

Most of the reviews about passengers that just got off the ship are NOT pleasant - there are a few (with priority boarding, fttf, platinum, suites, etc) that had no problem. I have yet to find a "regular joe" that had anything positive to say about the process - I know its new, but wow...

 

Heading out in two weeks - not super comfortable with this.

[volmoma]

I called my PVP today and she had NO info on it. Oh well, I'm scheduled for 10/10:30 check in, if I'm not on the ship within the hour momma's NOT going to be a happy camper.

 

 

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[peachy92]

I was on the 10/8 sailing. It seemed like it took forever to get on the Fascination in 2014 when departing Jacksonville. With this and staggered check-in, it seemed so simple and fast to get on the boat.

 

Check-in: They used my passport photo. My sisters had to get a photo taken. I can't remember correctly if they scanned our passes at this point of the process when we entered the terminal. I think they did to pull up the reservation. They checked & scanned our passports at the check-in. That's when they realized they couldn't scan their photos. As we were about to board, they took a photo of my sisters when they scanned the boarding pass. They had to show their passports when they took the photos. When they took the photo, it was instantly linked to their account. So, they had at least 2 people verifying my sisters' ID. I probably could have gotten a new photo if I asked, but I didn't.

 

As soon as Chloe, the CD, announced it was OK to go to your rooms, I did. The S&S cards were in my mailbox, SEALED in an envelope. The envelope said if tampered with, go to Guest Services. Until you got your cards, you used your boarding pass.

 

My check-in time was 12:30. I didn't have FTTF. I think the rooms were opened within the hour we checked-in. People were using their boarding passes to purchase items before getting their S&S cards.

 

I had my concerns with this process, but for me, it was much better than the free-for-all I had in Jacksonville.

[chf1953]

Take a look at John Heald's Facebook video as he explains how this works.

[ScottsSweetie]

I called my PVP today and she had NO info on it. Oh well, I'm scheduled for 10/10:30 check in, if I'm not on the ship within the hour momma's NOT going to be a happy camper.

 

 

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You do realize that check-in time does not equal boarding time, correct?

[joand452]

We last sailed on Anthem (considering our first Carnival cruise, so that's why I'm here), and had also sailed on Quantum. I had uploaded photos for our set sail passes. Something was wrong with DH's photo, so it was quickly taken by an agent with an iPad. When our cabin's were ready, one card was in a tamper resistant envelope and the other was on the bed. There were also crew members standing in the hallways in case of any problems. And like previously mentioned, you just used your paper set sail pass for purchases prior to getting your card.

 

Folks on the Royal board don't like change, either! [emoji23][emoji23][emoji23]

 

 

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[JROBTX]

No way no how will I be ok with a card linked to my credit card being unsecured in a public hallway. I've dealt with too much cc/debit theft to not be extremely cautious about these things. One thing I've learned, thieves are smart. With them if there's a will there's a way. I don't even link my cc to my account until check in. Less time seating on a server that can be hacked (Target/Home Depot). I had to replace my debit card 4 times in 6 month span. I no longer use my debit card. Use Cc for daily purchases and pay it off each month. That has seemed to work since I haven't gotten the dreaded phone call in over a year. I watch servers and cashiers with my cc like a hawk. I check my accounts every single day to make sure all purchases are mine. Let me tell you folks, if you haven't experienced anything like I have then you are lucky. So no I don't care how much damage they can or can't do. I'm not taking all these precautions just to let Carnival place my sign and sail card linked to my credit card in unsecure public hallway with nothing but a sealed envelope.

[fuddrules]

CC theft is unbelievably easy to deal with so I use them everywhere possible

Edited October 22, 2016 by fuddrules

[Sitzmark]

No way no how will I be ok with a card linked to my credit card being unsecured in a public hallway. I've dealt with too much cc/debit theft to not be extremely cautious about these things. One thing I've learned, thieves are smart. With them if there's a will there's a way. I don't even link my cc to my account until check in. Less time seating on a server that can be hacked (Target/Home Depot). I had to replace my debit card 4 times in 6 month span. I no longer use my debit card. Use Cc for daily purchases and pay it off each month. That has seemed to work since I haven't gotten the dreaded phone call in over a year. I watch servers and cashiers with my cc like a hawk. I check my accounts every single day to make sure all purchases are mine. Let me tell you folks, if you haven't experienced anything like I have then you are lucky. So no I don't care how much damage they can or can't do. I'm not taking all these precautions just to let Carnival place my sign and sail card linked to my credit card in unsecure public hallway with nothing but a sealed envelope.

 

Credit cards are very different than debit cards. Someone stole my credit card, I found out while stopping home from work for lunch. The charge for gift cards being purchased at a Meijer store popped up on my phone. I called Capital One and they reversed the charge and closed the card during a call that only took a few minutes. The next day a replacement card arrived by FedEx. I never had to pay a dime and Capital One took care of the whole thing.

[LMaxwell]

In theory the whole system works just fine, so from a concept standpoint I don't really have any problem with it. But I do see the potential for kids to swipe cards or someone to think it is funny to swap some around, etc., then you've got to go wait on line at guest services for new cards.

 

Concept = More efficient

Reality = More efficient until someone is a knucklehead.

[jimbo5544]

Credit cards are very different than debit cards. Someone stole my credit card, I found out while stopping home from work for lunch. The charge for gift cards being purchased at a Meijer store popped up on my phone. I called Capital One and they reversed the charge and closed the card during a call that only took a few minutes. The next day a replacement card arrived by FedEx. I never had to pay a dime and Capital One took care of the whole thing.

 

 

There certainly is more liability with a debit card as compared to a credit card. Banks also have many more controls on a CC vs a DC

 

 

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[LMaxwell]

There certainly is more liability with a debit card as compared to a credit card. Banks also have many more controls on a CC vs a DC

 

 

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Banks work a lot harder to get their money back than to get your money back. CC for everything; fraud is their problem, not mine (well, it is, but I am not out any money)

[jimbo5544]

Banks work a lot harder to get their money back than to get your money back. CC for everything; fraud is their problem, not mine (well, it is, but I am not out any money)

 

 

On this point we totally agree, it is so one sided I cringe when when I see debit cards used in places and times where they are more at risk.

[LMaxwell]

On this point we totally agree, it is so one sided I cringe when when I see debit cards used in places and times where they are more at risk.

 

Yes, complete agreement. I only use a debit card to access cash, at my bank, if I can't physically deal with a teller. Since I use a CC for basically everything though even that is becoming increasingly rare. Fraud / Theft is pretty rampant and just don't want to risk my own money and hassle. I've had one CC replaced for fraud 4X in a year, and it was the CC company that caught it before even I did. I cringe when people say things like "I used debit and didn't have a problem". That's like a minority position these days:eek: Unfortunate

[firemanbobswife]

I never use a debit card for those reasons but also because why would I give away free money? I earn points with every purchase and have travelled a lot for free or cheap because of it.