Bad news about booking on board and OBC

[JinxyB]

You may want to check out Princess. I realize they are owned by the same company, but they give a $250 OBC for military/veterans, and they have a much better loyalty program. We haven't cruised them because they don't cruise from ports near us, but now that we are taking longer cruises farther away, that becomes moot.

 

 

Yes, I actually enjoy cruising Princess-have gone a handful of times and enjoyed our cruises, especially to Alaska. The military OBC is an awesome bonus and I wish Carnival would provide the same since they are under the same parent company. Now that I have a school-aged child, I cruise for the ship, not really the ports. We prefer the mega ships with all the bells and whistles and often stay on the ship while in port to take advantage of the amenities (never get off anymore in Nassau or Belize). Plus, with my work schedule, I really am not in a position to take longer exotic cruises (but they are on my bucket list for sure).

[riclop]

Book with a TA that gives you OBC.

[VASOXFANN]

Book with a TA that gives you OBC.

 

Nah. I prefer to have control over my own booking, and it's a fun hobby for me.

 

Just looking around tonight, I found a Princess Cruise over Veterans Day/T-giving that is comparable to our January Panama Canal cruise. It's a day longer with similar ports, I could get a better cabin for $100 less, and take a day less off from work. Best of all, free gratuities and a $250 OBC EACH for us for being veterans.

 

If my boss OKs the time off, I'm switching the January cruise to the Alaska cruise I was going to book in July and booking the Princess PC cruise. We're only golds, so it's not like we're missing out on a bunch of "brilliant" benefits. :rolleyes:

 

I'll always love Carnival as the line we were married on, but if they aren't going to be loyal to us, we won't be loyal to them.

[theriac]

The future cruise person on Carnival is annoying. They have 1 person at a tiny kiosk who is more interested in you signing up for a credit card. The miniscule amount of OBC they offered wasn't worth waiting in the line to someone who didn't even seem interested in what you're inquiring about.

 

Celebrity does this much better. They have a team all at their own desk who will discuss destinations with you in-depth, and help you figure out what itinerary is what you're looking for. They also encourage and help you book phantom bookings if you can't decide. They are also fully refundable up until final payment.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Forums mobile app

[bury me at sea]

 

Celebrity does this much better. They have a team all at their own desk who will discuss destinations with you in-depth, and help you figure out what itinerary is what you're looking for. They also encourage and help you book phantom bookings if you can't decide. They are also fully refundable up until final payment.

 

Sent from my SM-G920V using Forums mobile app

 

This is not the first post about Celebrity that has piqued my interest. I might give them a serious look.

 

Thanks for the information,

[pe4all]

i wish carnival brought back the certificate program like what they had back in 2010ish and what NCL does

Was definitely better than what they have now!

I agree. Sailed NCL for the first time last year and bought the $250 future cruise certificate for $100. Thought it was genius and wondered why Carnival doesn't do the same. They are good for 4 years also. So they have me hooked to go again within that time period. Great marketing.

We have been buying the NCL offer they have on board of 4 $250 certificates for $1,000. They then give you back $500 in obc. They also sometimes allow you to apply 2 certificates per cabin! We applied 2 each to the 2 cabins we have for our August Med cruise. Can't beat that!

[Computer Nerd]

I had a feeling the future cruise person was on their way out when I saw the minuscule future cruise desk on the Vista (it's on the right in this pic). I am also not impressed with the future cruise offerings and won't bother booking onboard.

 

It was a very small desk. I booked one on the Vista and received the $50 OBC but it was for a 6 night on the Conquest so I didn't expect anything more.

[Computer Nerd]

Boo! :mad:

 

So when, exactly, does this start?

 

Was going to wait until my July 2 cruise to book a 14-day Alaska cruise, but if the OBC is gone, I won't bother...or maybe I'll just book on Princess where we get $250 OBC for being veterans :confused:

 

I thought it was $100 on Princess for veterans? :confused:

[firemanbobswife]

It was a very small desk. I booked one on the Vista and received the $50 OBC but it was for a 6 night on the Conquest so I didn't expect anything more.

 

 

You know it's ES, right?

[picomullet]

I thought it was $100 on Princess for veterans? :confused:

 

It's $250 for 14 day cruises. $100 for 7 day..

[picomullet]

Was definitely better than what they have now!

 

We have been buying the NCL offer they have on board of 4 $250 certificates for $1,000. They then give you back $500 in obc. They also sometimes allow you to apply 2 certificates per cabin! We applied 2 each to the 2 cabins we have for our August Med cruise. Can't beat that!

 

If you apply two do you get double obc??

[Computer Nerd]

You know it's ES, right?

 

I almost always book ES anyway but yes, I did know. I was actually already booked on the cruise through my PVP and I talked my travel buddies into coming along (not much arm twisting involved, especially since it is my treat to them).

[Computer Nerd]

It's $250 for 14 day cruises. $100 for 7 day..

 

Good to know for future reference. Thanks.

[Computer Nerd]

If you apply two do you get double obc??

 

Unless they have changed, when I bought my FCCs on NCL, you paid $250 and got $100 OBC on the cruise you bought them on, not the cruise you use them on. The nice thing is the FCC will count as your entire deposit, no matter what the deposit is supposed to be (I used mine on a 14 day Alaska cruise and the deposit would have normally been I think $600 but all I had to use to secure the booking was the $250 FCC).

[westview1]

If this is true, then we may have to skip Carnival all together. We're diamond, but the perks are not enough to keep us coming back, we sail more for itinerary/price and not ship. We would buy the FCV's since they were such a good deal; when they stopped them we switched to booking phantom cruise on board and transferring the obc to a different cruise once we found one we liked. We take longer cruises and in the past enjoyed the Journey cruises but now the cost has gone up and they are less attractive.

 

It's ok though, we leave for an Alaskan land/sea in 3 days with Princess (we're now platinum with Princess) and I we like the military obc Princess gives. We buy the certificates when we take NCL -- they do have a nice program, we have a Panama Canal scheduled with them in January 2018 (we were on the Splendor but NCL had a better itinerary, more ports, more days and less expensive). Royal also has some good sales and some very nice itineraries.

[dolphin1313]

Unless they have changed, when I bought my FCCs on NCL, you paid $250 and got $100 OBC on the cruise you bought them on, not the cruise you use them on. The nice thing is the FCC will count as your entire deposit, no matter what the deposit is supposed to be (I used mine on a 14 day Alaska cruise and the deposit would have normally been I think $600 but all I had to use to secure the booking was the $250 FCC).

 

You're correct that if you buy one $250 FCC, you get $100 OBC on that cruise so it's only costing you $150 for the FCC. However, if you buy 2, 3 or 4 than your net cost for each $250 FCC is only $125.

[VASOXFANN]

I thought it was $100 on Princess for veterans? :confused:

 

$250 for the longer cruises like the ones we're looking at for the Panama Canal and Alaska, and it's PER VETERAN (up to 2 per booking) rather than per cabin. Can't beat that!

[JohnSpo]

My last few cruises I actually received better deals and better OBC on carnival.com so the booking on board option has become less important anyway.

[Budget Queen]

If you apply two do you get double obc??

 

 

There is no OBC for the booking. You already have gotten the "credit" with your purchase. IF you purchase 4 $250 certificates, you are paying $500 for them,

[JonathanFlorida]

No, but that would be a good reason on why the future cruise offers are only ES now. Think about it. You can't cancel and rebook without penalty.

 

Sorry for what is probably a dumb question, but, what is a "sleeper" cruise?

[firemanbobswife]

Sorry for what is probably a dumb question, but, what is a "sleeper" cruise?

 

 

Where you book a random cruise with no intention of taking it and switching to a different one at a later time.

[Sizzlechest]

Nah. I prefer to have control over my own booking, and it's a fun hobby for me.

 

How does booking with a TA cause you to relinquish control? The only difference between booking with a TA or through carnival is the number to call. You're always in control.

[shof515]

How does booking with a TA cause you to relinquish control? The only difference between booking with a TA or through carnival is the number to call. You're always in control.

not always

 

If the price goes down, you will have to notify your TA first who then contacts Carnival for the price reductions

since you have to contact your TA, you are at the mercy of the TA being always available. You might lose a price drop if the TA does not respond quickly enough

[firemanbobswife]

How does booking with a TA cause you to relinquish control? The only difference between booking with a TA or through carnival is the number to call. You're always in control.

 

 

If your TA is closed or away, you can't talk to Carnival such as for price drops, room changes, etc. You also can't make payments online or changes to your reservation without going through them.

 

TAs are a middleman and I prefer to deal directly with the service provider whether it be airlines, hotels, or cruises. I did use a TA for Carnival before and it was total chaos which almost cost me around $400 so I always use my PVP now. If for some reason he's not available I can call the 800 number 24/7.

 

The only exception is my upcoming Celebrity Edge cruise. I booked direct through Celebrity first and found a TA that does a huge amount of business with them and enjoyed the video walk throughs he did of the ship I found online. He was able to get me a deal that Celebrity couldn't touch. It was my intention to stay with the cruise line, but I couldn't pass up the deal he offered.

 

I'm not so worried about price drops with that cruise as he had a couple contracts with them from opening day and I was able to lock into those rates with additional OBC from him and even more from Celebrity than they were originally offering. Prices have done nothing but go up. I don't like the fact that I can't see my rates online (he did send me the invoices) or make a payment if I wanted to, but when you consider the hundreds of dollars he saved me as well as the free upgrade from OV to balcony, that was a no brainer. So for my Celebrity cruises, I may stick with this TA. We'll see how it works out. So far, so good.

 

It's all about service to me. My PVP at Carnival is the best and I call him all the time. He has fixed things that Carnival messed up with one call on multiple occasions. So as far as Carnival goes, it's PVP only. I'm not interested in upgrades on Carnival, I actually prefer 4A cabins so all that is irrelevant. And I do like maintaining control of my booking as in all aspects. The $50 the former TA gave me was not worth the headache at all.

[katiel53]

On my last Carnival cruise, which was on Dream, I booked a cruise and told the future cruise person that I wanted to book for my son and his wife as well, but that we weren't sure of the date. I also told him I was Platinum (not that it matters, but it was to let him know we have sailed on Carnival several times.)

 

I made it quite clear that we may have to change the date as I wasn't sure my son would be able to get the time off as he works for a major college and is involved with the graduations etc. I was told that it was no problem. Now, I do have to say that I know what early saver is as I have booked that several times. I told the agent that I DID NOT want early saver because there was a possibility there would be a change and asked him if I found this date was good to go, could I change to ESA. I was assured, I could do that and that my reservations would NOT be ESA.

 

I put down the full deposit for both cabins and he said I would get a confirmation the next day. Long story short, I had an accident on the ship and ended up in their medical and then got sent by ambulance off the ship in NOLA. (The accident happened the 2nd to the last night)

 

I can't say I never got the confirmation the last night as I was so drugged that I don't know if I did or not. After staying with my sister a week and then having a horror of a flight home, because of the accident, I got home.

 

I talked to my son about the cruise and found out he couldn't go when I had booked the cruise. I called Carnival and was told I booked ESA. After much going round and round with them, I ended up not paying the $200 and rebooked the cruise to when we could go.

 

I know this is rambling a lot and I guess my point it, I won't miss the onboard person booking my cruise. Funny thing, albeit not ha ha funny, a woman came in from outside where it had been raining, and fell right next to the future cruise desk. There was a loud crack noise, and the agent never, even moved to help her, while other passengers picked her up an tried to find out she was ok.

 

So,--- you can see I won't miss the future cruise person.