No more First Cabin Access for Diamonds/Platinums?

[jimbo5544]

Question.

 

 

 

As Carnival has grown is the number of D and P's as a percentage of total passengers growing? Given the number of blue and red cards on every cruise I wonder.

 

 

 

As a percentage of total passengers? I would not know....possibly. Growing substantially in numbers? Plats yes' date=' diamonds less so. Having seen the list on almost every cruise we have been on, I can tell you they grow... Our last cruise on the Pride in July (smaller ship) there were 22 diamonds and 135 plats.

 

 

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[JMAE]

The problem is that on numerous occasions John has told us rumors are not true and days later the rumor is found to be true.

 

As a result many of us (and we have been on about 30 Carnival cruises) have learned to take what he says with a rather large grain of salt and watch and see what actually happens.

Understood' date=' but we have no control over the issue. Until they update the VIFP program later this year enjoy the benefits. Also, I would suggest sending a letter to CCL and when completing our CCL port cruise survey noted that you like the VIFP benefits.

 

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[BlerkOne]

Perhaps but it would be less of an issue if Carnival anticipated this situation and had not drastically reduced its housekeeping staffing. They must have wrongfully assumed that their loyal base would rollover on this. Businesses should run " lean and mean " but Carnival cut through bone in their bone headed decision to sacrifice cleanliness and timeliness of rooms being available to save labor.

 

What Carnival does is irrelevant. As the number of P cruisers grow, demand will outstrip supply.

[jimbo5544]

Why are these Diamonds and Platinum receiving special treatment over other paying customers. Is this some kind of economic discrimination?

 

 

 

I can answer but first go look at any other loyalty program then come back.

 

 

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[sanmarcosman]

What Carnival does is irrelevant. As the number of P cruisers grow, demand will outstrip supply.

So building an all P and D only ship would be irrelevant :)

[BlerkOne]

So building an all P and D only ship would be irrelevant :)

 

Pretty much. Only a small percentage of P&D could fit.

[Retired_to_Cruise]

This logic makes no sense whatsoever. The point of limiting availability of FTTF for sale (call it FTTF4S) based on P&D bookings is so that they don't dilute the value of FTTF by selling (or giving to P&Ds) more than they can handle (in terms of priority boarding areas, early cabin availability, early tender access, etc.). They release more FTTF4S over time as fewer, not more, P&D bookings materialize and they see they can handle a bigger volume of FTTF4S.

 

Selling MORE FTTF4S as more P&Ds book would only exacerbate the problem of not being able to handle the total volume of FTTF passengers. This is why Carnival doesn't (or at least says they don't) sell FTTF4S on Journeys cruises. There are already so many P&Ds on these sailings that they can't accommodate any additional FTTF passengers from FTTF4S.

 

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Read the logic again. Obviously you missed some important pieces. The ratio along with the monitoring of the number of early access cabin requirements is self policing. The ratio represents how many booked D&Ps equal 1 offered FTTF. The maximum number of early access cabins would limit the number of FTTFs if the number of D&Ps grows at a greater rate by overriding the ratio release volume. If the number of D&Ps grows slower or peaks, it will flag management that there may be a possibility of increasing the number of FTTFs to offer for sale. Simple code and simple math.

[Computer Nerd]

Why are these Diamonds and Platinum receiving special treatment over other paying customers. Is this some kind of economic discrimination?

 

You think Diamond and Platinum members aren't also paying customers? And for a very long time??

 

"Economic Discrimination"? Why don't you just call them racist and sexist while you're at it. :rolleyes:

[sanmarcosman]

Pretty much. Only a small percentage of P&D could fit.

So they would all book the same week of the year

[Micahs Grandad]

Why are these Diamonds and Platinum receiving special treatment over other paying customers. Is this some kind of economic discrimination?

 

Google loyalty programs and you will see the answer.

[Micahs Grandad]

As a percentage of total passengers? I would not know....possibly. Growing substantially in numbers? Plats yes, diamonds less so. Having seen the list on almost every cruise we have been on, I can tell you they grow... Our last cruise on the Pride in July (smaller ship) there were 22 diamonds and 135 plats.

 

 

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On our last few 7-8 day cruises there were only a few diamonds. Last two for example, one cruise we were the only ones and the other only 5. Them seem to congregate on the journey and two week cruises.

 

And 22 diamonds is not so many easy to do cocktail party for that number.

[jimbo5544]

On our last few 7-8 day cruises there were only a few diamonds. Last two for example' date=' one cruise we were the only ones and the other only 5. Them seem to congregate on the journey and two week cruises.

 

 

 

And 22 diamonds is not so many easy to do cocktail party for that number.[/quote']

 

 

 

I agree that diamonds are manageable, plats are a whole different ballgame.

 

 

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[Lottacruises]

So the new boarding zone cards they pass out have no information that they previously had

They previously had information regarding lunch, keys in mailbox, and stateroom access. On the other side it had the zone number for boarding.

The new ones have the zone number on one side and the other something such as "this card will be collected before boarding".

I don't know what this means in the scheme of things, if it means anything.

[CruiseHealing]

Rumor not true. We are Platinum. We just boarded the Elation 2 weeks ago. Our cabin was the last on Starboard side. We boarded at 11:30 and entered in the center of the ship and walked to our cabin. Said hi to numerous room stewards. Entered our cabin. Our room steward came in, introduce himself and left. We closed the door walked up a few flights of stairs and were the second in line for Guys burgers. Love the Diamond and Platinum early access to our cabins.

[Micahs Grandad]

Rumor not true. We are Platinum. We just boarded the Elation 2 weeks ago. Our cabin was the last on Starboard side. We boarded at 11:30 and entered in the center of the ship and walked to our cabin. Said hi to numerous room stewards. Entered our cabin. Our room steward came in, introduce himself and left. We closed the door walked up a few flights of stairs and were the second in line for Guys burgers. Love the Diamond and Platinum early access to our cabins.

 

Good that you had that experience but based on other reports this could be something they are considering and doing a trial on a few ships

[gtonda]

Good that you had that experience but based on other reports this could be something they are considering and doing a trial on a few ships

 

 

Yep. You would think people (on this forum at least) would realize this by now. Just because one person experienced or did not experience something, does not mean that something is true/not true. Just look at the stateroom 1x/2x a day issue. Some people were ADAMANT that it was not true because their room was serviced twice a day, while others (present company included) described their steward as basically telling them they could only choose one option, to someone even posting a pic of the card telling them to essentially "select one option".

 

Messages from the top will flow differently on different ships. This includes rollouts and rollbacks. The fact that Carnival has a history of being blurry, at best, with clarification on rumors, and has flat out lied on others that have become true (via public facing employees), allows for skepticism when things like this arise.

 

I do believe that they want/wanted to make this a FTTF benefit only, due to the reducing of steward staff over the past few years, and now being unable to keep up with the demand on at least some sailings. And that they are most likely back-peddling due to the backlash. Which if true, I will commend them for.

[jimbo5544]

Good that you had that experience but based on other reports this could be something they are considering and doing a trial on a few ships

 

 

 

Where was that? Never saw anything about trials...is there another thread?

 

 

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[RWolver672]

For our cruise on the Conquest last year, we had FTTF. We entered the passageway and passed a few cabins with the door already closed. When we got to ours, the door was open and it hadn't been cleaned yet. The cabin steward was across the passageway and shouted to us that ours wasn't ready yet. We just put our carry-on in one of the closets and left to grab a burger. We came back well before 1:30 and our cabin was ready. I think a lot of what we are seeing is that the stewards are so overworked on embarkation day that they can't get all of the P/D/FTTF cabins ready by the time the ship starts boarding.

 

Had we been Platinum and our cabin wasn't ready, it would be no different than what happened to us as FTTF. Until they make an official announcement stating otherwise, I still think you can at least go to your cabin and drop off your carry-on. We'll find out in Feb, 2019. We'll be Platinum for that cruise.

[Micahs Grandad]

Where was that? Never saw anything about trials...is there another thread?

 

 

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That is just speculation on my part. I might be correct in my speculation., might be wrong but honestly just think that Carnival is being disingenuous.

 

Next cruise on Carnival is October and based on our experience this Diamond cruiser might be done with them.

[Keys2Heaven]

For our cruise on the Conquest last year, we had FTTF. We entered the passageway and passed a few cabins with the door already closed. When we got to ours, the door was open and it hadn't been cleaned yet. The cabin steward was across the passageway and shouted to us that ours wasn't ready yet. We just put our carry-on in one of the closets and left to grab a burger. We came back well before 1:30 and our cabin was ready. I think a lot of what we are seeing is that the stewards are so overworked on embarkation day that they can't get all of the P/D/FTTF cabins ready by the time the ship starts boarding.

 

Had we been Platinum and our cabin wasn't ready, it would be no different than what happened to us as FTTF. Until they make an official announcement stating otherwise, I still think you can at least go to your cabin and drop off your carry-on. We'll find out in Feb, 2019. We'll be Platinum for that cruise.

 

I agree. It could be something simple like this...overworked and not enough staff. Room wasn't ready when someone showed up and someone was told that this was the change. Maybe this was an attempt to invoke a change from the bottom up, so to speak. Then word gets back to JH (since March 18th) over on FB and he gets word from corporate that this perk is still active and indicates this several times in his replies. Corporate then "reminds" staff on all ships of the policy.

 

 

Like I said before, I'd rather error on this side of logic than believe this was a test, only a test, and that the outcry caused back-peddling on Carnival's part.

[sanmarcosman]

I agree. It could be something simple like this...overworked and not enough staff. Room wasn't ready when someone showed up and someone was told that this was the change. Maybe this was an attempt to invoke a change from the bottom up, so to speak. Then word gets back to JH (since March 18th) over on FB and he gets word from corporate that this perk is still active and indicates this several times in his replies. Corporate then "reminds" staff on all ships of the policy.

Nope, not buying this far fetched excuse.

[LMaxwell]

Nope, not buying this far fetched excuse.

 

It's those rogue room stewards who for years Carnival has not been able to convey current policies to ;)

[Keys2Heaven]

Nope, not buying this far fetched excuse.

 

Far fetched excuse? It's a theory which is no less plausible than this was a "test" by Carnival.

 

But, we'll never know will we.

[sanmarcosman]

But, we'll never know will we.

Don't be so sure. It won't be for a lack of asking pointed questions to the Board of Directors at the annual stockholders meeting.

[Keys2Heaven]

Don't be so sure. It won't be for a lack of asking pointed questions to the Board of Directors at the annual stockholders meeting.

 

Then do let us know how that turns out, will you?