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VIFP program


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1 hour ago, IPlayWithString said:

I have to disagree with this...they should give golds more benefits as well as keep the current benefits for platinums or even give them more benefits. Why would you want to keep coming back again and again if you weren't getting benefits for it?

 

The main reason my wife and I cruise is because we both love cruising. I don’t cruise for benefits, not to mention the benefits associated with Carnival’s loyalty program are the worst of the major cruiselines in my opinion.  If you are looking for benefits for being a frequent repeat customer, I think you picked the wrong cruise line. I have friends, neighbors, and co-workers who are Diamonds who no longer sail on Carnival because of the numerous cutbacks Carnival has made over the last few years. Obviously the benefits associated with Carnival’s highest VIFP level were not enough to keep them sailing with Carnival. 

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59 minutes ago, robertlanajean said:

I've only been on one cruise (second one coming up!!), don't gamble or buy Cheers and enjoy a variety of vacations, so perhaps I'm not the demo Carnival is after, but I have to say that compared to other travel/entertainment options the rewards for cruising are pretty lame and difficult to obtain.

 

frequent flyer = free flights

frequent car renter = free rental days/upgrades

frequent hotel stay = free nights

my local pizza buffet gives every 10th visit free

frequent cruise = free bottle of water and eventually .. you get on the ship faster and a blankets (left off the drink and party for dramatic purposes 🙂 ) 

 

They could really up the ante... free blanket for ALL repeat cruisers, free soda package for gold and up, free specialty meal for platinum (every cruise), free gratuities for diamond (once per year).. with all benefits stacking. 

 

As of now the loyalty programs are not enough to make me a loyal Carnival cruiser. I'm still more interested in ports, amenities, and overall value. Perhaps an aggressive loyalty campaign would create more loyalty and make casual cruisers faithful cruisers. 

Yup.

 

There is one hotel chain we frequent when we travel and one in particular that we always stay at when we drive to Galveston (our home port, about 5-6 hrs from where we live in north Texas) that has rewarded us with all kinds of little perks because we stay with them. We've gotten a "balcony" room (it was a triangle of concrete barely big enough for one person to stand on, and that's if you're my son's size--he weighs maybe 110 lbs soaking wet. LOL) for the same price as the dirt cheap dive motel room that's probably infested with bed bugs down the road.  Which for a major hotel chain ain't bad. We've been granted access to the VIP continental breakfast (which my son loved, because we allowed him to have a Dr. Pepper with breakfast, which we were like, Eh we're on vacation. It won't kill him.) just because, since normally you have to be paying for a grand suite (or whatever their most expensive fancy pants rooms are called) to get that perk. Even my local 7-11 will give me every 7th drink free and a free drink with every 800 rewards points.

 

They should do more to entice cruisers to remain sailing with them and up the ante on their rewards, but they don't. Rewards is ONE of the reasons we sail with Carnival..but not the only one. For us, it's as cheap (if not cheaper, actually, when you factor in a week in a hotel, food, tickets to parks or other attractions, etc etc) as the land based vacations we've taken in the past. I personally also like that it's easier for us to make it where one of us is with our autistic son all the time and if when the other needs a break (because let's face it, dealing with a moody NORMAL teenager at the best of times is difficult. Dealing with a moody, grumpy autistic teen takes it to a whole different level), we can do that more easily than at say, Disney World. If my son needs a break because he's getting overwhelmed with the noise, lights, etc (easy to do when you have sensory issues), then we can take him to the library or to play shuffleboard (which he's kind of addicted to. LOL) in the Red Frog Pub or back to the room to watch cable TV (we don't have cable at home so this is a treat) if he wants. We have been treated like we actually matter with Carnival, unlike land based vacations where you're simply another number that nobody gives a crap about. We deserve the loyalty perks we've earned and I don't want to see them yanked out fro under us to where we have to start over with another cruise line. That would be disenheartening at best and frustrating as well.

 

 

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1 hour ago, robertlanajean said:

I've only been on one cruise (second one coming up!!), don't gamble or buy Cheers and enjoy a variety of vacations, so perhaps I'm not the demo Carnival is after, but I have to say that compared to other travel/entertainment options the rewards for cruising are pretty lame and difficult to obtain.

 

frequent flyer = free flights

frequent car renter = free rental days/upgrades

frequent hotel stay = free nights

my local pizza buffet gives every 10th visit free

frequent cruise = free bottle of water and eventually .. you get on the ship faster and a blankets (left off the drink and party for dramatic purposes 🙂 ) 

 

They could really up the ante... free blanket for ALL repeat cruisers, free soda package for gold and up, free specialty meal for platinum (every cruise), free gratuities for diamond (once per year).. with all benefits stacking. 

 

As of now the loyalty programs are not enough to make me a loyal Carnival cruiser. I'm still more interested in ports, amenities, and overall value. Perhaps an aggressive loyalty campaign would create more loyalty and make casual cruisers faithful cruisers. 

 

Why should Canival up the ante?  They currently have 26 ships sailing full time, with the majority of cruises being sold out or close to sold out.  I don’t think they would ever do this, but if they eliminated their loyalty program, I don’t think it would have a significant impact on their bottom line.   Would people get upset, of course, but people would continue to cruise on Carnival because they offer a good product at very competitive prices. That’s why every time JH posts stats on a cruise, most cruises have a significant number of blue cards (journey cruises being an exception).  Carnival does not need to depend on their highest loyalty levels to continue sailing with them to survive. 

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1 hour ago, schazzy said:

 

Well, I was just referring to the priority boarding part not being so special if on your sailing around half the passengers have priority boarding all trying to get on as early as possible. Not to mention, I can't imagine the D&P lounge can feel very special if it's standing room only or overflowing. It use to be where anyone Gold and above could go to those parties.  It never seemed any more crowded than going to one of the shows.  There were plenty servers there and most if not all got more than their share of free drinks.  And in another thread, someone reported they won't have their cabins ready until 1:30 because of how many D&Ps there were on that sailing, it seems to me that if you start not being able to get some of your perks because of the number of passengers who have it, it does kinda reduce the specialness of it.  Was that cruise a Premier or Journey's cruise?  If that's the case, then there would be more P/D.  Normally I don't think it's that bad.  I will know for sure in two weeks.  I just found out that our cruise coming up is a Premier cruise.

 

Before becoming Platinum, we always bought FTTF only for the reason of being able to get to our cabin to drop off our carry-ons.  On that thread that you mentioned, you could still get to your cabin to drop off the carry-ons.  It's just that they weren't made up yet.

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17 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Why should Canival up the ante?  They currently have 26 ships sailing full time, with the majority of cruises being sold out or close to sold out.  I don’t think they would ever do this, but if they eliminated their loyalty program, I don’t think it would have a significant impact on their bottom line.   Would people get upset, of course, but people would continue to cruise on Carnival because they offer a good product at very competitive prices. That’s why every time JH posts stats on a cruise, most cruises have a significant number of blue cards (journey cruises being an exception).  Carnival does not need to depend on their highest loyalty levels to continue sailing with them to survive. 

 

Very valid points. The ships are full, they're profitable and growing. Great  for a business. I was more addressing the original posts " What changes would you like to see". 

JUST to play devil's advocate -- does a significant number of blue cards mean they're not capturing a huge # of repeat customers? I'm not a business owner, nor do I have a business background, so I could be (and probably am) speaking out of my a** -- Would a competitor (RCCL?) bringing a more aggressive loyalty program impact Carnival? I know they don't HAVE TO -- but if one starts something do the others have to follow suit (see airlines)?

Not trying to start heat -- love reading perspectives and always learning .. @PhillyFan33579 I really enjoy your posts on all topics too.. very well done! 🙂

 

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3 hours ago, RWolver672 said:

 

I respectfully disagree about it not being so special by the amount of people that have it.    Maybe boarding and getting off of the ship takes longer with more Platinum.Diamonds but you still get free laundry, dedicated phone and line at Guest Services, priority water shuttle, free gift, free cocktail party and a few other things.  

 

The VIFP program is designed to both reward repeat cruisers and to get repeat cruisers.  Having read on here and done it ourselves. being a few short of being Platinum on a booked cruise, we booked another shorter one just to throw us into the next level on the later cruise.  It's a money maker for them or they wouldn't be doing it.

We are currently gold and after 11 years with Carnival we will be platinum.  That is a long time.  We want to cruise at least once a year but are not always able to do that. I have no problem with our gold perks. We cruise with Carnival because it is the best value for our money and that is enough. But we are excited about becoming  platinum. I hope that won’t be taken away from us. I don’t think we will ever make diamond and that is okay. 

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39 minutes ago, RWolver672 said:
2 hours ago, schazzy said:

Well, I was just referring to the priority boarding part not being so special if on your sailing around half the passengers have priority boarding all trying to get on as early as possible. Not to mention, I can't imagine the D&P lounge can feel very special if it's standing room only or overflowing. It use to be where anyone Gold and above could go to those parties.  It never seemed any more crowded than going to one of the shows.  There were plenty servers there and most if not all got more than their share of free drinks.  And in another thread, someone reported they won't have their cabins ready until 1:30 because of how many D&Ps there were on that sailing, it seems to me that if you start not being able to get some of your perks because of the number of passengers who have it, it does kinda reduce the specialness of it.  Was that cruise a Premier or Journey's cruise?  If that's the case, then there would be more P/D.  Normally I don't think it's that bad.  I will know for sure in two weeks.  I just found out that our cruise coming up is a Premier cruise.

 

Before becoming Platinum, we always bought FTTF only for the reason of being able to get to our cabin to drop off our carry-ons.  On that thread that you mentioned, you could still get to your cabin to drop off the carry-ons.  It's just that they weren't made up yet. 

 

I wasn't referring to the party, I was talking about the pre-emabarkation lounge, it looked pretty crowded and you had people standing around outside of it on my last sailing. But, since you mentioned the party, that sounds kinda like how it was at the last couple past guest parties I attended, they were held in the main show lounge and pretty much filled the bottom level. If that's what they are like now, I wonder how long before the parties become Diamond only.

 

I really wasn't trying to start a debate on this subject, I'm not a P&D, so I really don't know how it is personally. But going by what I have seen and heard, it just seems that with a higher number of people entitled to these perks on a number of sailings is reducing Carnival's ability to provide those perks in their full form, they just don't sound as they will be as special as they once were, and does make me wonder if they will reduce the number of perks allowed to Platinums in the future.  

 

 

 

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On 2/12/2019 at 9:25 AM, heidiatmn1 said:

Right?  I just realized recently I will be Gold after next cruise.  I was all excited and went and looked- unless I'm missing something I get a pin-didn't see anything else......so really whats the point. Don't fake me out like that Carnival! lol  And for the people saying No-why the heck do you care if they give Gold members another perk or two.  That would just be horrible for you wouldn't it if they gave us TWO bottles of water instead of 1? 

It’s like being Silver with Marriott. Sure, it’s a member tier but it’s basically worthless. Although it gives you an extra 2.5 points per dollar and a “priority late checkout” that will never get approved as Platinums are guaranteed 4pm, you still see people running around proclaiming they are a Silver Member at the Front Desk and expect the world. It’s very comparable in execution to Gold/Red on Carnival.

Edited by xDisconnections
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We will hit gold soon. I would love if they gave us some more water, but don't expect anything. 

 

I feel like they will have to make some changes before I ever get close to platinum.  The number one thing they need to address in their loyalty program is the embarking and disembarking of their platinum+ cruisers.  The people without priority will start to think that Carnival doesn't appreciate their business when they can't get onboard before 3:00pm and then the people with priority boarding will see that it is not much of a perk anymore when they can't get on before 1pm or not have their room ready or get off the ship quickly to catch an earlier flight.  

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Hubby and I love staying at Hampton Inns. We enjoy the hotel chain, but the main draw is the free nights we can accumulate through the Hilton Honors points. We will go out of our way to stay at a Hampton and sometimes pay a higher rate due to our loyalty. 

I would like to see Carnival offer something similar, where you earn free nights for previous sailing. Say ...for every ten nights you get a free night. Or for 30 nights you get a free three day cruise etc. I could see us booking a cruise just to earn that next free night 🙂 

 

We have only cruised carnival, but we love the brand, bought the stock (for the shareholder benefit) etc. But we would love to see a loyalty reward associated with the VIFP program. 

Edited by Celtic Cop
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49 minutes ago, oumagic said:

We will hit gold soon. I would love if they gave us some more water, but don't expect anything. 

 

I feel like they will have to make some changes before I ever get close to platinum.  The number one thing they need to address in their loyalty program is the embarking and disembarking of their platinum+ cruisers.  The people without priority will start to think that Carnival doesn't appreciate their business when they can't get onboard before 3:00pm and then the people with priority boarding will see that it is not much of a perk anymore when they can't get on before 1pm or not have their room ready or get off the ship quickly to catch an earlier flight.  

 

I don’t understand why so many people are concerned with getting on the ship as early as possible.  For a short 3 day cruise I can see the appeal, but for a longer cruise, is a few extra hours at the most on the ship going to make that big of a difference?  

 

A few years ago if you showed up at the terminal around 1:30 PM - 2:00 PM,  you rarely had to deal with any lines and it didn’t take long to board the ship. Now with staggered check-in windows, the process is pretty smooth with minimal delays if you show up during your assigned window.  Despite this, on several cruises I have seen extremely long lines in the early/late window line and have heard people complaining about how long the line is and/or why isn’t the line moving at all.  These people have no one to blame but themselves, but in their minds it is Carnival’s fault. 

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 We Not necessarily all is in the control of the traveler. Many scenarios lead to people getting there before they need to. Example, on our latest DCL cruise, we were in Galveston. Check out time was 11:00am and port arrival was 11:30am. We received notice to push back 4 hours and we killed 4 hours in the hotel lobby/restaurant. Many didn’t know of the delay and were at the port 4 hours.

 

On my most recent Carnival cruise out of Long Beach, there were people complaining that they arrived as scheduled PAT and then waited 2 hours to board. I believe that kind of thing is easily influenced by more priority showing up early to board than expected.

 

I think the staggered check-in is helping and that might be even a way to make progress in their loyalty program. Diamond shows whenever they want to board and platinum picks their PAT before others can. Then maybe gold they can guarantee a 1pm or earlier PAT.

 

In my opinion, cruises are doing better at educating people on port arrival. That said, I think many still treat cruise travel like the airlines and assume they need to show an hour or two before their flight time to get through security.

 

But this is getting off topic. I would like to see changes made in the loyalty program and believe they have no choice but to change their high level perks to include fewer people.

Edited by oumagic
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6 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

The main reason my wife and I cruise is because we both love cruising. I don’t cruise for benefits, not to mention the benefits associated with Carnival’s loyalty program are the worst of the major cruiselines in my opinion.  If you are looking for benefits for being a frequent repeat customer, I think you picked the wrong cruise line. I have friends, neighbors, and co-workers who are Diamonds who no longer sail on Carnival because of the numerous cutbacks Carnival has made over the last few years. Obviously the benefits associated with Carnival’s highest VIFP level were not enough to keep them sailing with Carnival. 

On my most recent Royal cruise ,I did a back to back and since I am a solo, I made 28 points!!!

Mike

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6 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

Why should Canival up the ante?  They currently have 26 ships sailing full time, with the majority of cruises being sold out or close to sold out.  I don’t think they would ever do this, but if they eliminated their loyalty program, I don’t think it would have a significant impact on their bottom line.   Would people get upset, of course, but people would continue to cruise on Carnival because they offer a good product at very competitive prices. That’s why every time JH posts stats on a cruise, most cruises have a significant number of blue cards (journey cruises being an exception).  Carnival does not need to depend on their highest loyalty levels to continue sailing with them to survive. 

Agreed!!!

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1 hour ago, oumagic said:

 We Not necessarily all is in the control of the traveler. Many scenarios lead to people getting there before they need to. Example, on our latest DCL cruise, we were in Galveston. Check out time was 11:00am and port arrival was 11:30am. We received notice to push back 4 hours and we killed 4 hours in the hotel lobby/restaurant. Many didn’t know of the delay and were at the port 4 hours.

 

On my most recent Carnival cruise out of Long Beach, there were people complaining that they arrived as scheduled PAT and then waited 2 hours to board. I believe that kind of thing is easily influenced by more priority showing up early to board than expected.

 

I think the staggered check-in is helping and that might be even a way to make progress in their loyalty program. Diamond shows whenever they want to board and platinum picks their PAT before others can. Then maybe gold they can guarantee a 1pm or earlier PAT.

 

In my opinion, cruises are doing better at educating people on port arrival. That said, I think many still treat cruise travel like the airlines and assume they need to show an hour or two before their flight time to get through security.

 

But this is getting off topic. I would like to see changes made in the loyalty program and believe they have no choice but to change their high level perks to include fewer people.

Platinum's can show and board after Diamond, they chose a time, but can arrive earier!!

Mike

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I'm guessing there will be an increase in the number of nights to platinum (probably 100) as well as Diamond (225 or more) with additional levels between gold-platinum and platinum-diamond.  Just a guess based on some things John Heald has said in the past. Now to be honest, I've been thinking this for over two years.  As a matter of fact, two years ago we booked a cruise for this April on one of the new RC ships that was actually in production at the time.  We did so because it was a really good deal, we wanted to try some different to see how we liked it, and back then we still were 30 days to platinum.  But last summer the change didn't appear to be coming soon, so we booked a Carnival cruise for this April because we would be able to turn platinum by then.  We canceled the RC cruise and will turn platinum with our cruise on the Breeze in April.  We hope they don't reduce the benefits too much.  But if they do, it will give us a good excuse to go ahead and try another line.  Will the change come later this summer?  Guess we will have to wait to see.

Edited by Lee Cruiser
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12 hours ago, Florings said:

We have been sailing Carnival since June 2008.  We will finally reach Platinum level this year on our October Magic cruise!   Please please please....don't change anything before then!  Let me be platinum at least once  :classic_unsure:

 

😉

 

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Hilton has their HHonors program. You get points regardless whether you stay at a Hilton, Doubletree, Hampton, etc. I wish Carnival Corp would combine programs. We mostly sail Princess and Carnival. We are Platinum on Princess and will be Gold after our next sailing on Carnival. We book on the line that offers the best itinerary for where we want to go or want to do. I wish that they would create one loyalty program across all of their cruise lines.

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Has anyone heard any recent rumors?  John Heald has been quiet on this since posting about it well over a year ago...

 

I think 75 to 200 is too long to wait between levels - I know this first hand since I am 3 points from 200!

 

I hope they don't make any changes before my next cruise...

 

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Carnival enjoys being a leader in the go to line for novice cruisers.  In addition to being family friendly and fun, they offer a good value for the cost.

 

They don't need to foster loyalty; it's not the market that makes them money.

 

Put yourself in a corporate seat for a moment.  You can sell early boarding and cabin access to relatively new cruisers or you can give it away to thousands of platinums a year.

 

I, possibly as a minority of one, will be astonished if changes in VIFP perks result in more benefits.  My crystal ball predicts a new level between gold and platinum that includes a second bottle of water and many many more nights to achieve platinum status.

 

The prospect that early access to cabins will continue to be offered to platinums is dubious at best.  It has never been listed as a perk at the platinum level, but came in the back door when FTTF was implemented.

 

Just my two cents, which with inflation might be worth one no longer copper cent.

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How cool would it be if they removed the restriction to redeem the free drink coupon so that it can be used anywhere on the ship at any time?

 

Stop that "MDR at brunch on the last sea day" nonsense!

Edited by crooooze
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1 hour ago, crooooze said:

How cool would it be if they removed the restriction to redeem the free drink coupon so that it can be used anywhere on the ship at any time?

 

Stop that "MDR at brunch on the last sea day" nonsense!

You have a point , I have been able to use our coupon on the last day but it was on one of the lido bars. Sometimes the Atrium bar will as well. 

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I was lucky because I had over 200 sea days when the Diamond level started but I must say I have never received a upgrade even though I'm diamond and I have been cruising with CCL since 1992.      

 

 

Gary

Edited by shipbound2
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On ‎2‎/‎17‎/‎2019 at 7:39 AM, crooooze said:

How cool would it be if they removed the restriction to redeem the free drink coupon so that it can be used anywhere on the ship at any time?

 

They did. Last September I used mine in the Alchemy bar and paid the difference between the cost of the drink and value of the coupon.

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