Anyone on a Premier cruise recently?

[JennyD1]

Just got off a Premier cruise on the Miracle.  I don't know if Carnival is cutting back on what they give away in the casino promotions, but this cruise was horrible.  There was not much going on in the casino at all.  They did Dodge the Bull, Luck of the Card and Stack it Up.  The had Hot Seat and Fireball.  One night they had a wheel where the prizes were really bad. One person won a towel and another won $25.  The last sea day they had the Premier slot tournament at 11am and nothing else the whole day or night.  There was no free cruise giveaway on the last night.  There was no Snowball Raffle the entire cruise.  Has anyone been on a Premier lately?  I was on the Paradise last month and they had a lot more going on and they still had the Snowball promotion.  I have a few Premiers booked and hope they are better than this one.

[May1cruiser]

In May we went on a premier. We also noticed the reduction of prizes and contests. They overbooked the number of premier guests to the point where there were no slot machines open most of the day. It was packed. 

 

No more matilda the cash cow. 

 

Also, they gave us gift near the end of one beach towel. I had to track down the host and ask for a second towel and she mentioned it was one towel per cabin. In the end, we did get a second towel. 

 

We actually had a great cruise, great staff, but have somewhat decided against booking another premier unless we hear of some reductions of number of guests.

 

 

[LPut714]

25 minutes ago, May1cruiser said:

In May we went on a premier. We also noticed the reduction of prizes and contests. They overbooked the number of premier guests to the point where there were no slot machines open most of the day. It was packed. 

 

No more matilda the cash cow. 

 

Also, they gave us gift near the end of one beach towel. I had to track down the host and ask for a second towel and she mentioned it was one towel per cabin. In the end, we did get a second towel. 

 

We actually had a great cruise, great staff, but have somewhat decided against booking another premier unless we hear of some reductions of number of guests.

 

 

Agree we have found the Premier is like a cattle call. Less folks when you get to Ultra and Elite. We were just on an Ultra on the Sunrise-prob 140 on the Ultra. Lots of casino things going on and had one bar waiter.  If you are going to have casino sponsored things going on and folks get drinks have staff to support that. Going on a two week Elite in Oct. 

[JennyD1]

17 minutes ago, May1cruiser said:

In May we went on a premier. We also noticed the reduction of prizes and contests. They overbooked the number of premier guests to the point where there were no slot machines open most of the day. It was packed. 

 

No more matilda the cash cow. 

 

Also, they gave us gift near the end of one beach towel. I had to track down the host and ask for a second towel and she mentioned it was one towel per cabin. In the end, we did get a second towel. 

 

We actually had a great cruise, great staff, but have somewhat decided against booking another premier unless we hear of some reductions of number of guests.

 

 

I know the premiers  are always very crowded.  On the Paradise premier, it was so crowded we  tried to play the Buffalo slots all week and never got to and we were in the casino a lot.  I don't understand why they invite so many people, when the casino is so small.  There are so many standing around waiting for a machine to play, being aggravated.

 

I am Diamond and my friend is Platinum and we both received the premier offer.  The host told us the same thing, one towel per cabin.

 

 

[Are.we.there.yet?]

Very sad to hear this.  We are on the upcoming Premier on the Spendor.  We had a lot of fun on our last Premier on the Miracle (2017) so that’s why I was excited to be able to sail on this one.  We took a Premier on Princess last year and it wasn’t much fun so I was really hoping this was going to be better.  The crowds are crazy though and It’s hard to get on a good machine.  

[JennyD1]

9 minutes ago, LPut714 said:

Agree we have found the Premier is like a cattle call. Less folks when you get to Ultra and Elite. We were just on an Ultra on the Sunrise-prob 140 on the Ultra. Lots of casino things going on and had one bar waiter.  If you are going to have casino sponsored things going on and folks get drinks have staff to support that. Going on a two week Elite in Oct. 

I have been on the Elite and Ultras too.  They are a less crowded.  I have an Ultra booked for October.  On your Ultra, did they let you exchange your gift for cash/freeplay?  I heard they were doing this.

 

You have a two week Elite?  That is very nice.  What ship is it?  Have fun and good luck.

[LPut714]

1 minute ago, JennyD1 said:

I have been on the Elite and Ultras too.  They are a less crowded.  I have an Ultra booked for October.  On your Ultra, did they let you exchange your gift for cash/freeplay?  I heard they were doing this.

 

You have a two week Elite?  That is very nice.  What ship is it?  Have fun and good luck.

The Legend which we have done to Alaska. Smaller ship but has The Alchemy, Guy's Burgers, etc. Looking forward to full Panama canal transit

[LPut714]

2 minutes ago, JennyD1 said:

I have been on the Elite and Ultras too.  They are a less crowded.  I have an Ultra booked for October.  On your Ultra, did they let you exchange your gift for cash/freeplay?  I heard they were doing this.

 

You have a two week Elite?  That is very nice.  What ship is it?  Have fun and good luck.

You could exchange gift-I got an I Pad Mini and opted to keep it and give my husband my old one. Would have gotten $300 free play. Top cash exchange was $1000 for the computer I believe.

[JennyD1]

14 minutes ago, LPut714 said:

The Legend which we have done to Alaska. Smaller ship but has The Alchemy, Guy's Burgers, etc. Looking forward to full Panama canal transit

That should be really nice.  I like the Legend.  I like hanging out on deck 11.  It is nice and private up there.  The only thing I didn't like was they lock up the loungers at 5pm.  They did the same to me this past week on Miracle (sister ship).  Have a great cruise.

[LPut714]

3 minutes ago, JennyD1 said:

That should be really nice.  I like the Legend.  I like hanging out on deck 11.  It is nice and private up there.  The only thing I didn't like was they lock up the loungers at 5pm.  They did the same to me this past week on Miracle (sister ship).  Have a great cruise.

Thanks

[JennyD1]

19 minutes ago, LPut714 said:

You could exchange gift-I got an I Pad Mini and opted to keep it and give my husband my old one. Would have gotten $300 free play. Top cash exchange was $1000 for the computer I believe.

Good to know, in case I get something I cant use.  I have two ipads from my prior two Ultras. One is still in the box. lol

[evandbob]

The "discount" premier fare is barely less than an early saver, used to be a healthy discount, now it's not.  We did a premier last April and they did have the free cruise giveaway, snowball and fireball raffles then.  We're doing another premier in 3 weeks, I really hope these aren't discontinued!

 

I've done 2 Ultras so far and they were just as crowded as the premier.  I didn't know that Carnival would exchange the Ultra gift for casino cash.  If I do another Ultra, and win something I don't need, I'll inquire about an exchange, thanks.

[Elaine5715]

3 hours ago, JennyD1 said:

Just got off a Premier cruise on the Miracle.  I don't know if Carnival is cutting back on what they give away in the casino promotions, but this cruise was horrible.  There was not much going on in the casino at all.  They did Dodge the Bull, Luck of the Card and Stack it Up.  The had Hot Seat and Fireball.  One night they had a wheel where the prizes were really bad. One person won a towel and another won $25.  The last sea day they had the Premier slot tournament at 11am and nothing else the whole day or night.  There was no free cruise giveaway on the last night.  There was no Snowball Raffle the entire cruise.  Has anyone been on a Premier lately?  I was on the Paradise last month and they had a lot more going on and they still had the Snowball promotion.  I have a few Premiers booked and hope they are better than this one.

Who was the Executive Host?

[bingomamma19]

5 hours ago, JennyD1 said:

Just got off a Premier cruise on the Miracle.  I don't know if Carnival is cutting back on what they give away in the casino promotions, but this cruise was horrible.  There was not much going on in the casino at all.  They did Dodge the Bull, Luck of the Card and Stack it Up.  The had Hot Seat and Fireball.  One night they had a wheel where the prizes were really bad. One person won a towel and another won $25.  The last sea day they had the Premier slot tournament at 11am and nothing else the whole day or night.  There was no free cruise giveaway on the last night.  There was no Snowball Raffle the entire cruise.  Has anyone been on a Premier lately?  I was on the Paradise last month and they had a lot more going on and they still had the Snowball promotion.  I have a few Premiers booked and hope they are better than this one.

We were on a premier in April on the Horizon.    We had lots of drawings and activities---it was a premier for my mom, and I got all the gifts that she did, including the beach towl.    The only thing I didn't get was the casino cash of $1000 that she got.

 

The casino was busy, but not so busy that you couldn't get a machine.

[bingomamma19]

5 hours ago, May1cruiser said:

In May we went on a premier. We also noticed the reduction of prizes and contests. They overbooked the number of premier guests to the point where there were no slot machines open most of the day. It was packed. 

 

No more matilda the cash cow. 

 

Also, they gave us gift near the end of one beach towel. I had to track down the host and ask for a second towel and she mentioned it was one towel per cabin. In the end, we did get a second towel. 

 

We actually had a great cruise, great staff, but have somewhat decided against booking another premier unless we hear of some reductions of number of guests.

 

 

We had matilda the cash cow on the Horizon premiere cruise in april

[JennyD1]

4 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Who was the Executive Host?

The  casino host was Victor and he was horrible.  He was only interested in bumping and grinding with the young ladies. I am no prude, but I found him repulsive.

[RWolver672]

9 hours ago, JennyD1 said:

I know the premiers  are always very crowded.  On the Paradise premier, it was so crowded we  tried to play the Buffalo slots all week and never got to and we were in the casino a lot.  I don't understand why they invite so many people, when the casino is so small.  There are so many standing around waiting for a machine to play, being aggravated.

 

 

 

 

 

Our last cruise was on the Horizon.  We didn't know it until we were on the ship that it was a Premier Cruise.  That's half of the problem.  They make it a Premier cruise then still book others.  Many nights we gave up trying to find an empty machine.

[balcony bound]

I am no longer interested in booking Permiers.  Just too crowded and not very fun.  Our next cruise is a Premier, but it wasn't one when we booked it.  My PVP converted ours when the Premier became available to us to discount our fare further, so we'll see how it goes, but I wouldn't have booked it on purpose.  The last couple we went on we found the host to be pretty rude, the casino severely over-crowded and not enjoyable at all.  Seems like these days I use the Premier schedule as a guide for cruises to avoid.

 

I appreciate the offers, I really do, but the experience has morphed into something that just isn't enjoyable and actually makes me avoid the casino.  Perhaps that isn't a bad thing, LOL.

[Elaine5715]

14 hours ago, JennyD1 said:

The  casino host was Victor and he was horrible.  He was only interested in bumping and grinding with the young ladies. I am no prude, but I found him repulsive.

 

11 hours ago, RWolver672 said:

 

Our last cruise was on the Horizon.  We didn't know it until we were on the ship that it was a Premier Cruise.  That's half of the problem.  They make it a Premier cruise then still book others.  Many nights we gave up trying to find an empty machine.

I was on that Premier  with you and  Victor as the EH.  He was lovely and quite generous with the gifts except for these weird, all black playing cards.  The casino was busy but i cleaned up so didn't care.  

[DallasGuy75219]

16 hours ago, RWolver672 said:

They make it a Premier cruise then still book others.

So they should book a whole ship of Premier cruisers to reduce crowds in the casino? Or sail at 10% occupancy?

[evandbob]

How many pax book a premier, maybe 200 or 250 on a cruise ship holding 3,000 pax?

[DallasGuy75219]

I doubt Carnival makes that info public (although a host would probably tell you for any particular Premier you're on), but that's about what I'd guess based on the number of people who usually win the Lucky Card (or whatever its called) promotion. Maybe 200ish for a Conquest Class ship to 250ish for a Dream Class ship.

Edited July 30, 2019 by DallasGuy75219

[May1cruiser]

So I overheard that our May premier on the Elation was 400 guests for the premier. Based on the crowd at the reception and the above capacity casino, that seems logical. 

 

Great cruise, but casino was not enjoyable.

 

Not sure if they read the online post cruise review, but I included the overbooked comments and concerns.

[sbc234]

I was on the Pride last week for the Premier event.  There were only 60 cabins participating and the host was Adrian.  He was very energetic and fun.  They didn't have a hot seat promotion but all the other promotions mentioned above were done.  I didn't get a towel as a giveaway.  They had a bag in the cabin for each of use (2) with sunglasses and bottle opener magnet.  Another day was a set of 2 tumblers. They also had a plastic sports tie bag with a luggage tag.  We also got a plate of overdone cookies that could have been used as a door stop :) 

 

This was my first premier cruise and overall I was happy.  I definitely finished the week with their money and I didn't feel like the casino was overcrowded.  People did like the buffalo machine so that was difficult to get on at times. I did think it was strange that there was no event on the final night.  Having a slot tournament during the day was fine but they could have had other promotions going on as well.

[AmBear]

On 7/29/2019 at 11:55 PM, DallasGuy75219 said:

I doubt Carnival makes that info public (although a host would probably tell you for any particular Premier you're on), but that's about what I'd guess based on the number of people who usually win the Lucky Card (or whatever its called) promotion. Maybe 200ish for a Conquest Class ship to 250ish for a Dream Class ship.

Our past experiences with Premiers include the Miracle over 350, same on the Conquest, and about 250 on the Paradise!