VIFP program

[CCLcruiser91]

Sad but true....

 

I recall late last year, Heald made the announcement that Guy's Burger would offer a Vegan burger - I have been on the Carnival Inspiration 5 times since the announcement and I still cannot get one at Guy's - I have to go to the Deli to get the Vegan/Vegetarian patty and then go back to Guy's to get toppings and fries (what a hassle)...

 

[SNJCruisers]

On 2/20/2019 at 7:04 PM, pyropoodle said:

  the tier past diamond (or maybe a milestone like 100th cruise or 75th cruise) should almost get a free cruise.   i know those tiers are really not as productive on their own, like say the casino people who can cruise virtually free on many cruises simply by losing a lot of money to carnival, but gosh golly if someone has 100 cruises under their belt, they ought to be given something for loyalty. just my .02. 

Just to let you know, there are four milestone levels that can be reached at 25, 50, 75 and 100 cruises.  At each level, you get that corresponding percentage of a cruise as a discount.  So once you hit 100 cruises, you get a 100% discount on the fare.  I assume that you still pay the taxes. 

[CCLcruiser91]

Carnival website link to Milestone rewards program:

 

https://help.carnival.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/1173/~/guest-recognition---milestone-rewards-program

[pyropoodle]

thanks for that info.  i didn't know that.  i never looked because i'll never make it to 100 cruises.  if i make it to 25, i'll be happy.  it's nice that they do something for those milestones though. 

[lele100]

12 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Just to let you know, there are four milestone levels that can be reached at 25, 50, 75 and 100 cruises.  At each level, you get that corresponding percentage of a cruise as a discount.  So once you hit 100 cruises, you get a 100% discount on the fare.  I assume that you still pay the taxes. 

Actually you don't get the cruise for free, you get on board credit equal to those percentages,  I just did 25th cruise and I got 25 percent of my fare as on board credit

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, lele100 said:

Actually you don't get the cruise for free, you get on board credit equal to those percentages,  I just did 25th cruise and I got 25 percent of my fare as on board credit

Thanks for the follow-up clarification.  Had read the link from Carnival two posts ago.  So basically if you have a pre  tax fare of 1000, then you get 250 in OBC that you can use towards Cheers or whatever.

[Llamabear]

I agree something needs to be done with the rewards program, I'm just at red, but I don't really see the added value in the next tiers up. I was wondering if the "special" offers and pricing on cruises increase in discount with the tiers, or are we all getting the same deals?

[Jdfireman]

DO away with the whole program 

[Steve551]

On 2/11/2019 at 8:46 PM, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

I definitely don’t agree that gold members need more benefits.  If anything they should look at cutting benefits for platinums. I am a platinum, but Carnival has too many platinums, so I could live with any possible negative changes. It doesn’t make too much sense when so  many cruises have a significant number of platinums, not to mention diamonds. When you have ships with 50% or higher having priority status, you really don’t have much priority wise. 

Carnival would probably disagree with your statement that they have too many Platinum customers. Repeat business is what they strive for.

It is the rare cruise that has anywhere close to 50% P & D cruisers. Maybe on the Journey Cruises there are more, I've never surveyed the ships guests on one, maybe I will next cruise.

My guess is that if someone thinks that they are receiving too many benefits as a Platinum VIFP member Carnival wouldn't force anyone to accept them. 

Personally I like the Platinum perks and as I creep slowly toward Diamond status I'm looking forward to those additional perks as well.

[Steve551]

On 2/11/2019 at 5:03 PM, mpdog42 said:

Hope it's to stop screwing Solo's and give up the Points/Days that we've paid for !!!

 

Mike St Louis

You mean double VIFP points?  That seems fare to me. 

 

Carnival does not build ships to accommodate solo passengers, at least not yet, so IMHO Carnival will not offer special solo rates on their existing ships. It has to do with the amount of revenue versus the space used. If they allow one person to take up the same space as two people (or more) then they lose revenue. Even charging "double" occupancy fare they are losing revenue. One less person drinking, purchasing things in the shops, gambling, purchasing photos, purchasing shore excursions, and etc. It's about the bottom line!

 

[SNJCruisers]

Carnival should adapt and add solo cabins.  Norwegian, Royal and Celebrity all have them on some of their newer builds, so it would behoove Carnival to adjust and keep up with their competition.

[xDisconnections]

On 2/22/2019 at 1:00 AM, thorengstrom said:

Sad but true....

 

I recall late last year, Heald made the announcement that Guy's Burger would offer a Vegan burger - I have been on the Carnival Inspiration 5 times since the announcement and I still cannot get one at Guy's - I have to go to the Deli to get the Vegan/Vegetarian patty and then go back to Guy's to get toppings and fries (what a hassle)...

 

This post was shared by Heald today, word for word.

[xDisconnections]

On 2/11/2019 at 7:03 PM, mpdog42 said:

Hope it's to stop screwing Solo's and give up the Points/Days that we've paid for !!!

 

Mike St Louis

Well, you haven’t actually paid for them so there’s nothing for them to “give up.” Although it’s customary on other cruise lines to provide double nights or cruise credits to those who are paying double as part of a double occupancy fare, Carnival does not. There is nothing in the cruise ticket contract that says you are paying to receive bonus elite qualifying nights.

[PhillyFan33579]

17 minutes ago, Steve551 said:

Carnival would probably disagree with your statement that they have too many Platinum customers. Repeat business is what they strive for.

It is the rare cruise that has anywhere close to 50% P & D cruisers. Maybe on the Journey Cruises there are more, I've never surveyed the ships guests on one, maybe I will next cruise.

 

My point was Carnival has too many Platinums in context of their VIFP program, which is a point JH has made several times.  It is similar to when the Gold numbers got so large that Gold benefits were cut several years back.

 

For example, on my last Cruise on Sunshine, which ended on Saturday, they made an announcement in the priority lounge that due to the high number of Diamonds and Platinums on the cruise, they couldn’t guarantee that rooms would be available when boarding started. 

 

As for surveying guests, just ask one of the Carnival employees in the priority lounge how many Diamonds and Platinums are on the ship. 

[xDisconnections]

31 minutes ago, Steve551 said:

Carnival would probably disagree with your statement that they have too many Platinum customers. Repeat business is what they strive for.

It is the rare cruise that has anywhere close to 50% P & D cruisers. Maybe on the Journey Cruises there are more, I've never surveyed the ships guests on one, maybe I will next cruise.

My guess is that if someone thinks that they are receiving too many benefits as a Platinum VIFP member Carnival wouldn't force anyone to accept them. 

Personally I like the Platinum perks and as I creep slowly toward Diamond status I'm looking forward to those additional perks as well.

Not necessarily true. Carnival has made it evident to us that they would prefer new cruisers instead of loyal cruisers. With poor recognition benefits and brand ambassadors attacking anyone who mentions they have been loyal to the cruise line, it’s difficult to see at first where they would even value your loyalty.

 

It has been proven that a first or second time cruiser is much more profitable and revenue generating than a Platinum guest. They will be the ones purchasing drink packages with higher bar balances. They will be the ones purchasing photos and ship-sponsored shore excursions. They will be the ones playing bingo.

 

In contrast, the Platinum cruiser will know how to take advantage of cruise fares to get the best deal including price protection. The Platinum cruiser has knowledge of the ports and may not do a private excursion or just walk around. The Platinum cruiser knows about things such as the Shareholder Benefit, future cruise certificates when previously sold and discounted gift cards.

 

There are plenty of other examples but that is a quick analysis. I’ve made a much longer post years ago denoting how much of a loss Carnival was receiving from their temporary 49-day transit of the Carnival Splendor around the Horn... even if it was more profitable after changing coasts.

Edited February 25, 2019 by xDisconnections

[hotsauce126]

On 2/22/2019 at 1:00 AM, thorengstrom said:

Ihave to go to the Deli to get the Vegan/Vegetarian patty and then go back to Guy's to get toppings and fries (what a hassle)...

 

 

....😂 the horror! Why would you even want one that's been cooked on the same grill as the regular ones?

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, xDisconnections said:

Not necessarily true. Carnival has made it evident to us that they would prefer new cruisers instead of loyal cruisers. With poor recognition benefits and brand ambassadors attacking anyone who mentions they have been loyal to the cruise line, it’s difficult to see at first where they would even value your loyalty.

 

It has been proven that a first or second time cruiser is much more profitable and revenue generating than a Platinum guest. They will be the ones purchasing drink packages with higher bar balances. They will be the ones purchasing photos and ship-sponsored shore excursions. They will be the ones playing bingo.

 

In contrast, the Platinum cruiser will know how to take advantage of cruise fares to get the best deal including price protection. The Platinum cruiser has knowledge of the ports and may not do a private excursion or just walk around. The Platinum cruiser knows about things such as the Shareholder Benefit, future cruise certificates when previously sold and discounted gift cards.

 

There are plenty of other examples but that is a quick analysis. I’ve made a much longer post years ago denoting how much of a loss Carnival was receiving from their temporary 49-day transit of the Carnival Splendor around the Horn... even if it was more profitable after changing coasts.

 

 

A good travel agent can quickly educate a novice cruiser and likely knows more than even a Platinum cruiser.

 

As the number of people who have never cruised is still greater than the number who have cruised, that is the pot of gold for a mass market cruise line. No need to give away anything to cruisers who overvalue themselves and complain the most.

[SNJCruisers]

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

 

A good travel agent can quickly educate a novice cruiser and likely knows more than even a Platinum cruiser.

 

As the number of people who have never cruised is still greater than the number who have cruised, that is the pot of gold for a mass market cruise line. No need to give away anything to cruisers who overvalue themselves and complain the most.

I will agree with your second paragraph.  But I will take my experience on 30+ plus cruises on 7 different lines and I will hypothesis that I know more and have cruised more than the average TA when you take a cross section of all agents coast to coast.  The cruise oriented TA who takes advantage of fam cruises across multiple lines are the only ones that could give me a run for the money when it comes to cruise knowledge.

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, SNJCruisers said:

I will agree with your second paragraph.  But I will take my experience on 30+ plus cruises on 7 different lines and I will hypothesis that I know more and have cruised more than the average TA when you take a cross section of all agents coast to coast.  The cruise oriented TA who takes advantage of fam cruises across multiple lines are the only ones that could give me a run for the money when it comes to cruise knowledge.

 

You know what you experiences are, but travel agents likely get more inside information and behind the scenes looks. A number of them have 100 or more cruises. Something a TA can do that you can't, is split the commission with you. But yes, there are a lot of bad agents out there.

[Steve551]

On 2/11/2019 at 8:02 PM, Joebucks said:

 

There needs to be more benefits for gold members. Platinum and Diamond members are doing just fine.

More of something for free? From Carnival?  Lot's of luck.  Aparently the FFS cruises are so popular that Carnival just announced that they will be charging $25pp for the 600-650 people signing up to attend JH's events.  CCL now stands for "Carnival Cutback Lines". 

 

[ProgRockCruiser]

9 hours ago, Steve551 said:

More of something for free? From Carnival?  Lot's of luck.  Aparently the FFS cruises are so popular that Carnival just announced that they will be charging $25pp for the 600-650 people signing up to attend JH's events.  CCL now stands for "Carnival Cutback Lines". 

 

 

I would say that is mis-characterized, based on what Mr Heald wrote about the situation.  There were guests who signed up for the "FFS Cruise" only because their TA told them they'd get a free t-shirt and drink etc; they had no idea who John Heald was.

 

So to deter guests from signing up solely for the freebies, they will start with a small charge to act as a dis-incentive to those that just wanted that "free stuff".

 

I get what they are doing.  Not sure it will work, or will be perceived as a "cut back" as you have interpreted it as.  I'd prefer to see some sort of quiz you have to pass to qualify for the FFS sign-up:  What is the name of John Heald's dog?  What kind of phone does he use when live blogging - spell it the way he does?  Pick out JH from a photo line-up.  If nothing else, it would mean those trying to "cheat the system for free stuff" would have to edumacate themselves about Mr Heald...

[Joebucks]

9 hours ago, Steve551 said:

More of something for free? From Carnival?  Lot's of luck.  Aparently the FFS cruises are so popular that Carnival just announced that they will be charging $25pp for the 600-650 people signing up to attend JH's events.  CCL now stands for "Carnival Cutback Lines". 

 

 

So, charging $25 for an event is the worst-case scenario, huh?

[Steve551]

1 minute ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

 

I would say that is mis-characterized, based on what Mr Heald wrote about the situation.  There were guests who signed up for the "FFS Cruise" only because their TA told them they'd get a free t-shirt and drink etc; they had no idea who John Heald was.

 

So to deter guests from signing up solely for the freebies, they will start with a small charge to act as a dis-incentive to those that just wanted that "free stuff".

 

I get what they are doing.  Not sure it will work, or will be perceived as a "cut back" as you have interpreted it as.  I'd prefer to see some sort of quiz you have to pass to qualify for the FFS sign-up:  What is the name of John Heald's dog?  What kind of phone does he use when live blogging - spell it the way he does?  Pick out JH from a photo line-up.  If nothing else, it would mean those trying to "cheat the system for free stuff" would have to edumacate themselves about Mr Heald...

My thoughts on this are, IF there was evidence of widespread misuse of the FFS perks something should be done. BUT, one family in an elevator?  That's BS! 

 

650 x $25 = $16,250..... that's why Carnival has added the fee. I personally would have no problem paying $25 to be part of the FFS excitement (and will when another FFS cruise comes to the West Coast) but the story used to justify the $25 feet is BS in my humble opinion.

 

In light of recent "cost saving" cutbacks & the failed attempt (so far) to charge for room service ala carte  it's not a far stretch to have doubts regarding the reason for the $25 FFS fee.

[Steve551]

2 minutes ago, Joebucks said:

 

So, charging $25 for an event is the worst-case scenario, huh?

No, it is just another "cost saving" scenario

 

[xDisconnections]

Hi Heald! I’m glad you enjoyed reading my posts regarding your loyalty program.