Should carnival add a new tier?

[BlerkOne]

2 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

Check out what the Pinnacle level cruisers on Royal gets versus Diamond on Carnival.  It's a joke.

What's a joke? Trying to compare 700 nights of cruising to 200? I know on both Carnival and Princess frequent cruisers get assorted benefits not guaranteed to all at the same level. There are only so many resources on a ship and you can't dedicate them for marketing. Totally unnecessary.

 

At 100 cruises on Carnival, roughly 700 nights if your cruises are 7 days, you do get a free cruise and the casino gives away all kinds of meals.

[skridge]

3 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

That's fine.  You mentioned about Carnival possibly giving many things away for free when in fact it's the exact opposite compared to their competition.  I don't cruise for the perks, if I did, I would have chosen a different line than Carnival.  Carnival is very stingy with what they give in the VIFP program.  Their competitors give free drinks like Royal and free specialty meals like NCL when you reach Platinum, which is not even the top tier attainable.

If they gave away all the things mentioned in the OP's original post in my opinion they would only be getting the revenue for the cabin which in my opinion is a bad business model.  

[sailingships]

1 hour ago, crzndeb said:

 in 2019 when I took the Splendor to Singapore.

 

I waved to you halfway between CA and Honolulu. I was on the Legend going East

[crzndeb]

32 minutes ago, sailingships said:

I waved to you halfway between CA and Honolulu. I was on the Legend going East

I saw you and I waved back.....😂

[SNJCruisers]

3 hours ago, WhaleTailFlCruiser said:

Never understood this, Do you cruise for the brand or the perks? I cruise for carnival not the perks. 

Nobody can cruise Carnival for the perks since they stink versus their competition. But then again, ignorance is bliss if you don't  know what the competition is offering. 

[SNJCruisers]

2 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

 

 

At 100 cruises on Carnival, roughly 700 nights if your cruises are 7 days, you do get a free cruise and the casino gives away all kinds of meals.

The free cruise at 100 on Carnival is just as free as the drinks package that you deride NCL about.  With your "free" cruise on Carnival, you still need to pay port charges and taxes.  

And we can also compare the 175 nights on RCI Diamond Plus versus the 200 nights for Carnival's Diamond.   Carnival gives 1 free dinner and zero drinks.  RCI gives a free dinner on every cruise and a half dozen drink vouchers as well.  Bottom line is that Carnival mistreats all of their constituents to different degrees all the way up the ladder.

You keep waving the Carnival does no wrong flag similar to the unvaccinated flying their Don't Tread On Me flag.

[SNJCruisers]

3 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Is that what those people are lined up for - never thought about why they were there. Sad...

 

Tom

The only other cruise line that I have seen like that was my one cruise on MSC on the Seaside.  Never saw it on my 4 NCL or 3 RCI cruises. 

[firefly333]

17 minutes ago, SNJCruisers said:

And we can also compare the 175 nights on RCI Diamond Plus versus the 200 nights for Carnival's Diamond.   Carnival gives 1 free dinner and zero drinks.  RCI gives a free dinner on every cruise and a half dozen drink vouchers as well.  

Well kinda. At diamond plus its bogo on pay restaurant so I lay for one, 2nd is free. To me means they get more bookings at pay restaurants,  win win.

 

Half a dozen drink vouchers .. actually at diamond plus, right now its 5 drinks vouchers per day. 6 per days for pinns. 5 a day is lots to me. 4 at diamond, 80 pts. 

 

Diamond is 200 balcony discount which is iffy as not always that much, groups full discount but not regular, diamond plus I think is 225 off balcony.  Another win win for rcl as I often book a balcony to get the discount if its within say $250 of inside price..so they give me perks and I spend more, win win.

 

I'm loyal to neither, but leaning royal more and more. Though I still like carnival lunches, guys etc and cant wait to try JiJis..nice change of pace. Carnival to me is turning more and more into a gambling cruise. Seeing those much cheaper rates pushes me even more to rcl. I'm sure I get bored and back and forth.

[sanmarcosman]

8 hours ago, MamallamaAndDaddy said:

That's the way it happened when they came out with this blue gold system. We were gold then red then gold again. We are now platinum whenever we get on a ship again and I hope we get to keep it longer than we kept gold before we lost it and then got it back.

The exact same thing happened to us and after we had been to two gold member parties and had a good time at both. When we were demoted to red we felt likes kids getting a time out or punished.

[WhaleTailFlCruiser]

1 hour ago, SNJCruisers said:

Nobody can cruise Carnival for the perks since they stink versus their competition. But then again, ignorance is bliss if you don't  know what the competition is offering. 

 

I have sailed on Royal twice and much prefer Carnival. Not really about ignorance it is about personal preference. 

 

Royal feels like you get nickeled and dimed everywhere, And Royals nightlife and night activities are just trash compared to Carnivals. 

[WhaleTailFlCruiser]

3 hours ago, crzndeb said:

Depends on where you are in your cruising career. I’m retired, so itinerary is important to me. If I was still working and could only do 7 day cruises, and was happy with the Caribbean, then perks are not a big deal. But if I’m going to be on a ship for 20-30+ days, then perks start coming into play. I got to Platinum in 2012, when I took the Spirit over to Australia, and it took me 7 years to get to Diamond, in 2019 when I took the Splendor to Singapore.

I don’t use the laundry perk, so Carnival doesn’t really have any other perks that really draws me in. Now unique itineraries bring me back.

You only need  80 points on Royal to Diamond, and I Iike the evening drinks (changing to XX number on your card over the whole day), and Internet minutes. Plus as a solo traveler, I get double points, and only have to pay deposit for one.  

When I’m cruising for extended periods of time, I do like some perks.
 

 

I am in my late 20's and about 20 days outside of Plat, But I try and cruise once or twice a year. August I am doing a B2B on MG. (I Hope). 

 

Carnival has always just fit me, Night life and party's on deck ext. I have sailed Royal twice and just didn't enjoy it.

 

Will be sailing NCL next year to give that a go, Since I usually cruise solo. 

[firefly333]

10 minutes ago, WhaleTailFlCruiser said:

 

I have sailed on Royal twice and much prefer Carnival. Not really about ignorance it is about personal preference. 

 

Royal feels like you get nickeled and dimed everywhere, And Royals nightlife and night activities are just trash compared to Carnivals. 

 Maybe it's a age thing. I dislike carnivals shows now and the singers can be off key and they pipe in music. They didnt used to make dancers also sing... I love rcl shows. 

 

So it could also be a age thing. 

[Jasonsterling]

9 hours ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

If you like your clothes, don't trust Carnival free laundry.  I don't know what they're doing wrong, but whites come out very greyed and cotton anything is shrunk to baby size.  I had them wash some brand new t-shirts I bought on the ship and when they came back they wouldn't even fit my daughter.  Terrible.  I'm fine with the other platinum perks but unlike many of you, I've never sailed on a competitor to compare/contrast.

Yeah I used Carnival laundry once... that was a enough. If I did a 14 day again or BTB I might try it again but on a normal 7 day, no and certainly not less than 7 days. I've never given much thought to the perk program- early (earlier) boarding is nice but that assumes I'm getting to the port that quick and I've never cared about getting off the ship fast- a reception though is nice too and almost as good imho as boarding perks and whatever else they have. I've never booked Carnival because of perks or the promise of future perks. It's a good price, a good time and they port close to where I live, lol and that's about it. I'd rather have a good price then perks I might or might not use. I do like the pin though, ha!

[WhaleTailFlCruiser]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

 Maybe it's a age thing. I dislike carnivals shows now and the singers can be off key and they pipe in music. They didnt used to make dancers also sing... I love rcl shows. 

 

So it could also be a age thing. 

I am still in my late 20's so probably. 

[TNcruising02]

I think some of it is just preference.  My husband and I like comedy shows and Carnival has more of them and more comedians.  RCL's large ships are amazing and their theater shows are much better than Carnival's.  But we don't like making reservations for shows.  With Carnival, we can decide what we want to do the same day.  I really dislike the reservation system.

 

RCL has all of the bells and whistles and I get the appeal.  But when I am just cruising with my husband, we don't need all of that.  Carnival provides everything we need for a good cruise.  

[cruisingguy007]

14 hours ago, firefly333 said:

 

 

Rcl has perks that keep people loyal to royal, carnival has always said we dont care about keeping you imo with those perks.

 

 

 

Carnival keeps people with price. RCL has admitted that they can't compete with Carnival on price. It's a major reason they pulled out of the California market for the last decade. Carnival delivers unrivaled value. No need to for the extra gimmicks to keep cruisers. Even the "perks" of other other lines don't offset the higher costs in the vast majority of case. Carnival brings the fun and more importantly, the value for vacation dollars. 

[firefly333]

5 hours ago, TNcruising02 said:

I think some of it is just preference.  My husband and I like comedy shows and Carnival has more of them and more comedians.  RCL's large ships are amazing and their theater shows are much better than Carnival's.  But we don't like making reservations for shows.  With Carnival, we can decide what we want to do the same day.  I really dislike the reservation system.

 

RCL has all of the bells and whistles and I get the appeal.  But when I am just cruising with my husband, we don't need all of that.  Carnival provides everything we need for a good cruise.  

I wanted to see the theater shows twice and diving shows and showed up without a reservation and always got in. I did oasis twice. I cant wait until allure comes to Galveston. They finally broke ground on terminal 3 last week. Late. I'm hoping my allure for dec 2022 is a go. Already had 2 allure turn into liberty. Cant come I to Galveston until a bigger terminal is built.

[firefly333]

3 hours ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

Carnival keeps people with price. RCL has admitted that they can't compete with Carnival on price. It's a major reason they pulled out of the California market for the last decade. Carnival delivers unrivaled value. No need to for the extra gimmicks to keep cruisers. Even the "perks" of other other lines don't offset the higher costs in the vast majority of case. Carnival brings the fun and more importantly, the value for vacation dollars. 

I thought about this. I see these great rates on carnival posted here but you have to gamble to get these rates.

 

If you dont gamble, rcl rates are competitive. I've got lots of great deals booked solo. Maybe rcl treats solo better idk.  I think carnival has a lot more casino rates. For those who dont gamble I just dont see carnival as having the best prices, at least out of Galveston.  Carnival has really raised prices. 

 

We will see going forward. 

Edited June 23, 2021 by firefly333

[KmomChicago]

17 hours ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

If you like your clothes, don't trust Carnival free laundry.  I don't know what they're doing wrong, but whites come out very greyed and cotton anything is shrunk to baby size.  I had them wash some brand new t-shirts I bought on the ship and when they came back they wouldn't even fit my daughter.  Terrible.  I'm fine with the other platinum perks but unlike many of you, I've never sailed on a competitor to compare/contrast.

We have done Oasis of the Seas and sent out one bag for their special-crammed as many small items as possible in a little bag they give you. It was a harsh wash as you mentioned. Things came back a bit discolored, smaller and fuzzy. Nothing was important to me but I wasn’t impressed. Colors slightly faded and whites gray. Obviously they throw it all in a boiling hot load without any sorting. I assume they have big netting bags they transfer your stuff into and throw dozens of bags in the washer, then dryer. Disappointed Mardi Gras doesn’t have guest laundry.

Edited June 23, 2021 by KmomChicago

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

9 hours ago, WhaleTailFlCruiser said:

..

 

Royal feels like you get nickeled and dimed everywhere, And Royals nightlife and night activities are just trash compared to Carnivals. 

 

What I miss on Carnival are all the "Music" bands (Filipino musicians) who could nail plenty of 60's, 70's, 80's+ songs. (Music): Boardwalk, Manila, Motion, Network etc... can't even remember them all!

 

Are any of these guys left? (prior to 3/20??) 

 

 

 

Tom

[crewsweeper]

OK So.  Diamonds are in an uproar because more people were cruising more often pre-COVID and thus their "precious ELITE" status is endangered by what were the hoi polloi. Cue Violins.🎻😢

From a 1 cruise away platinum.🤩

Edited June 23, 2021 by crewsweeper

[TNcruising02]

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I wanted to see the theater shows twice and diving shows and showed up without a reservation and always got in. I did oasis twice. I cant wait until allure comes to Galveston. They finally broke ground on terminal 3 last week. Late. I'm hoping my allure for dec 2022 is a go. Already had 2 allure turn into liberty. Cant come I to Galveston until a bigger terminal is built.

The Oasis ships are amazing!  The shows are top notch and there is so much to do and so many deck areas to lounge.  I took my grandson and we had a balcony facing inward, but where we had a view of the back of the ship.  When I tried to make a reservation for a comedy show, they said there were no family shows, only adult.  I couldn't believe it.  How strange.  But other than that, the cruise was fantastic.  I can see why many people prefer that kind of experience.

 

When I cruise with my husband, we cruise to relax and chill out.  No reservations.  No theater shows.  Just sailing to ports, watching some comedy shows, and taking it easy.

Edited June 23, 2021 by TNcruising02

[MRVEGAS711]

Carnival SHOULD do more for all of its loyalty club members to start. I have been Platinum for years and the only thing that has happened in those years are benefit reductions.

[NCTribeFan]

I turned Diamond shortly before the shut down.  Really not a big deal to me.

 

I rarely use the laundry.  I just don't wear a bunch of cotton things that can be thrown in those super-high-heat washers and dryers.  And that free steakhouse dinner?  I asked if I could use that twice, since I sail solo but, oh no.  Can't do that.  I'm sure that would break the bank.

 

As a solo, I'm having a difficult time even finding a sailing to use my 1-time Diamond upgrade on.  I typically sail in insides (I prefer them to OV), mostly because I get the privilege of paying 200% to Carnival.  To use that on a "good" sailing would end up costing me more than I want to pay.

 

I'm getting old.  I'm trying to migrate away from Carnival.  

 

Not really interested in RCI.  But if they do actually have solo discounts, I guess I should start paying attention.

 

I did 3 MSC sailings between December 2018 and September 2019.  Really enjoyed them (even on small, old Armonia for 2 of them).  I matched to Gold.

 

I've sailed HAL 3 times.  Really, really like them.  Am booked on Eurodam for 10 nights in November for $200 for an inside guarantee.  They give me much, much better casino offers than Carnival (on which I've sailed 30 times).  I like that HAL's loyalty program gives you credit for onboard spending as well as # of nights sailed.  I believe suite pax get double points.  I'd like to get to a high enough level to get the discounts on the wine packages! 😁  I don't sail for the entertainment but HAL's bands in their BB Kings Blues Club have been far and away the best live music I've heard on any cruise.  Just outstanding.

 

Anyway, I don't sail for the perks.  Certainly not on Carnival.

[firefly333]

2 minutes ago, TNcruising02 said:

The Oasis ships are amazing!  The shows are top notch and there is so much to do and so many deck areas to lounge.  I took my grandson and we had a balcony facing inward, but where we had a view of the back of the ship.  When I tried to make a reservation for a comedy show, they said there were no family shows, only adult.  I couldn't believe it.  How strange.  But other than that, the cruise was fantastic.  I can see why many people prefer that kind of experience.

 

When I cruise with my husband, we cruise to relax and chill out.  No reservations.  No theater shows.  Just sailing to ports, watching some comedy shows, and taking it easy.

I did a outside balcony and wished I'd done a boardwalk balcony. I booked the very last boardwalk balcony in the back on allure. Oasis spring break I'm iffy. Booked city park, but $$$. Like the group, idk.

 

I did see the comedy on oasis and had brought a mom. She was horrified by the nyc comedian and the language tbh. 

 

Lol I see someone above thinks people who make suggestions is the same as being in a uproar. If they were upset they wouldnt book carnival would they? I didnt see anyone post upset. Just discussing. Some people love drama. 

 

I think carnival has both adult and  children's. Sorry but yes the rcl comedy was too adult for my adult friend. I liked the comedy on carnival too.