Elite cruises

[Teresa T. C.]

1 hour ago, audcc77 said:

I played about $1500 on the slots last cruise and got about $1000 back. 
 

Is that enough?

I got an Elite offer after my first cruise on Carnival.  I played a LOT!  I also won a LOT so that was good but I think my points number in casino at the end of the trip was around 18,000 on a four day trip.  I bank-rolled about 3,000 to take on the trip.  I came off ship to the good but was prepared to lose the whole 3,000.  I hope that helps.  Also, don't forget to go ask for comps when you do spend a lot in casino.  My favorite is the steakhouse.  All they can do is say no.  I had really big aspirations and asked for them to comp for my adult kids too, all four were comped.  Ask!

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

29 minutes ago, Teresa T. C. said:

If you choose the Beer do you get a six pack or a four pack?  Just curious.  Seems better to get the bottles of liquor versus beer. 

 

From purely an octane level - you'll always get more bang for your buck going the distilled spirits route!

Tom

[CruiseMomTX]

We are cruising out of Galveston and with our Elite cruise we have drinks everywhere on the ship included are there any restrictions on the first day?  Will we be able to get free drinks from the time we board?

[weezal]

1 hour ago, CruiseMomTX said:

We are cruising out of Galveston and with our Elite cruise we have drinks everywhere on the ship included are there any restrictions on the first day?  Will we be able to get free drinks from the time we board?

https://www.carnival.com/help?topicid=1106
except for ships sailing from Texas and New York – activation will occur at 6:00am on the second day of the cruise
Due to Texas state law, our Drinks On Us! benefit is not available on embarkation day for sailings departing from Galveston, TX, but will be available at the start of day two.

Edited January 20, 2023 by weezal

[Colorado Beach Bum]

24 minutes ago, weezal said:

https://www.carnival.com/help?topicid=1106
except for ships sailing from Texas and New York – activation will occur at 6:00am on the second day of the cruise
Due to Texas state law, our Drinks On Us! benefit is not available on embarkation day for sailings departing from Galveston, TX, but will be available at the start of day two.

Not true.  We received free drinks on day one out of Galveston.  I was expecting next day but did receive right away. 

[Colorado Beach Bum]

4 hours ago, audcc77 said:

I played about $1500 on the slots last cruise and got about $1000 back. 
 

Is that enough?

Depends on total points earned.  You could drop that amount in a short period of time and earn very few points or you could spend that amount over hours and hours and earn a ton of points. 

[dgene84]

On 1/19/2023 at 9:48 PM, Colorado Beach Bum said:

Not true.  We received free drinks on day one out of Galveston.  I was expecting next day but did receive right away. 

So to help, the way it works is carnival says on the next day at 6:00 a.m. but they always start serving drinks 50 nautical miles away from port. That is when they enter international waters and are allowed to freely serve alcohol. This is in both Texas and New York. I live in Houston and sell out of Galveston quite often and this has been 100% the case. It has no jurisdictions on elite or not elite. It's for alcohol sales period. 

[cruisinqt]

14 hours ago, dgene84 said:

So to help, the way it works is carnival says on the next day at 6:00 a.m. but they always start serving drinks 50 nautical miles away from port. That is when they enter international waters and are allowed to freely serve alcohol. This is in both Texas and New York. I live in Houston and sell out of Galveston quite often and this has been 100% the case. It has no jurisdictions on elite or not elite. It's for alcohol sales period. 

I’m from Texas and I can verify this. It’s always free the evening before but they say the next day because they don’t know how long it will take to get 50 miles out, especially if the ship is delayed in leaving. I just order what I want if I’m doing an elite cruise with free drinks everywhere though. If some charges pop up from the first day I just go to the casino host and they get it removed asap. It says free drinks anywhere on the ship for the duration of the cruise so they honor that regardless of when the drinks were consumed. 

[CruiseMomTX]

How does boarding work?  Do we get priority being part of the Elite group?  We are Platinum too.

[dgene84]

1 hour ago, CruiseMomTX said:

How does boarding work?  Do we get priority being part of the Elite group?  We are Platinum too.

Yes! 

[Joeman97]

On 1/19/2023 at 7:15 PM, Teresa T. C. said:

What are the room gifts like on an Elite cruise?  I just began cruising last May.  I am not going on this Elite cruise until June.  I do have another offer for another Elite already and want to gauge if Sail My Way is better than Elite offer.  I know you get all Elite comps but Sail My Way gives free play 1,000 and a suite instead of a balcony.  Just curious and thank you!

 

 

 

I'd be interested in knowing this as well.  I'm looking at a cruise in November.  I have an Elite offer with no casino cash.  I also have another offer where I can get the same balcony room with $1k casino cash and Cheers for both of us.

 

Can anyone hazard a guess as to the monetary value of all the Elite perks?  I can come up with the numbers for things like parking, wifi, in-room bar, etc.  but have no clue as to the gifts/other perks.

 

If it's close to the $1k I'd get with the other offer, I would probably book the Elite just to see what the hoopla is all about.  I've never done any of the named (Premier/Ultra/Elite) cruises before.

 

BTW, I am Gold now, but if all goes as planned with other cruises this year, I should get Platinum on this cruise.  Is the Elite VIP status any different than straight up Platinum?

[May1cruiser]

Money value of Elite seems to be parking/airport (est $150), 1 free excursion for 2 ($175ish) wi-fi, free room service, bottle of booze for both ($200), and some gifts. 

 

Our January Ultra was so packed, it was not worth the extra Freeplay. This will be our first Elite and I am hopeful the casino is much less packed. 

[lazydayz]

2 hours ago, Joeman97 said:

 

I'd be interested in knowing this as well.  I'm looking at a cruise in November.  I have an Elite offer with no casino cash.  I also have another offer where I can get the same balcony room with $1k casino cash and Cheers for both of us.

 

Can anyone hazard a guess as to the monetary value of all the Elite perks?  I can come up with the numbers for things like parking, wifi, in-room bar, etc.  but have no clue as to the gifts/other perks.

 

If it's close to the $1k I'd get with the other offer, I would probably book the Elite just to see what the hoopla is all about.  I've never done any of the named (Premier/Ultra/Elite) cruises before.

 

BTW, I am Gold now, but if all goes as planned with other cruises this year, I should get Platinum on this cruise.  Is the Elite VIP status any different than straight up Platinum?

The gifts aren't  of any real value to me - maybe $100 total. Think beach towels, sun care kit, playing cards and oversized dice, fruit basket, etc.  The real value is parking ($150), wi-fi (about $180 since it is for 2), excursion ($150 x 2), the liquor and mixers (I don't know, if you bought on the ship for your room $200+), so you are getting close to $1,000.  But there is also the intangible that you are part of the Elite group and get to participate in the all of the drawings.  If you take the other deal, you will be excluded from a bunch of things.  

 

There is no difference in Platinum benefits that awarded as part of the Elite cruise, so there is a definite benefit to priority embarkation, debarkation, and the priority line at Guest Services.  For me, I pick Elite if it is available (even though I am Platinum and closing in on Diamond).  It is a superior experience to just being a player in the casino who is granted comps once or twice a cruise. 

[icft]

Note that the free wifi is the social plan.

 

The value of the gifts to them v. the value of the gifts to you are two different things. For example on our last Elite cruise one of the gifts was a circular beach towel. It was large and quite nice quality but we really don't have much use for a wonky to fold beach towel. We have used it once since we got it - to put on the floor under the Christmas tree so the stand doesn't scratch the wood floor.

 

The Elite cruises are nice experiences. The little touches of pampering harken back to the old days of cruising. But from a strictly dollar value point of view, ignoring the emotional value of feeling pampered, we have many other better offers.

 

If you have not been on an Elite cruise I would definitely recommend going for the experience at least once. I don't think you will feel like it was a bad deal, but on a strictly cash basis using the value to you of the gifts it may not be the best deal.

[samiam0403]

3 hours ago, May1cruiser said:

Money value of Elite seems to be parking/airport (est $150), 1 free excursion for 2 ($175ish) wi-fi, free room service, bottle of booze for both ($200), and some gifts. 

 

Our January Ultra was so packed, it was not worth the extra Freeplay. This will be our first Elite and I am hopeful the casino is much less packed. 

I've done both Elite and Ultra - and like yours, the Ultra was insanely packed. The hosts told me on the Elite that they capacity control them to about 50 guests per cruise (100 with companions). Of course, that was pre-COVID, so who knows at this point. Hoping the casino on my Elites in July and September aren't too crazy.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

On an Ultra cruise, I spun the wheel and instantly received something like $1,000 free play... so, there's that. The potential of more...

 

Tom

[gkbiiii]

Elite is the best, from what the casino department on land told me, it is by far their best casino experience and top players can get up to $2,500 for their Elite cruise offer.  Ultra's have the bigger prizes, but Elite really is the "top of the Line," for true VIP treatment!

[lazydayz]

Just received the casino host email for our upcoming elite cruise on March 24.  Spa is no longer an option.  Choices were one of two preselected shore excursions or a credit to book a shore excursion onboard for you and a guest, up to $150. Can’t tell if that is per person or not.  Everything else seems the same, but there is a notice if you are cruising solo, only one bottle of alcohol and one set of mixers will be delivered.  

[KarmaCruisers]

We actually inadvertently got on an elite cruise..a 10 day Alaska from SF<>Alaska..

Wife and aren’t weren’t “elite” invites..but we were on a free cruise..and that whole ten days..we actually played larger than anyone else (even folks with elite lanyards we’re asking us HOW THE HELL the casino dept wasn’t drooling all over us, lol)

[rellersi]

10 hours ago, lazydayz said:

Just received the casino host email for our upcoming elite cruise on March 24.  Spa is no longer an option.  Choices were one of two preselected shore excursions or a credit to book a shore excursion onboard for you and a guest, up to $150. Can’t tell if that is per person or not.  Everything else seems the same, but there is a notice if you are cruising solo, only one bottle of alcohol and one set of mixers will be delivered.  

for the limo from airport, did they give you a max # miles from the cruise port 

[kwokpot]

12 hours ago, lazydayz said:

Just received the casino host email for our upcoming elite cruise on March 24.  Spa is no longer an option.  Choices were one of two preselected shore excursions or a credit to book a shore excursion onboard for you and a guest, up to $150. Can’t tell if that is per person or not.  Everything else seems the same, but there is a notice if you are cruising solo, only one bottle of alcohol and one set of mixers will be delivered.  

That's a BIG downgrade IMO. The excursion credit should be $150/pp since that's what it previously was for Spa credit, but that could be another downgrade. 

[cruisinqt]

On 2/9/2023 at 12:56 PM, Joeman97 said:

 

I'd be interested in knowing this as well.  I'm looking at a cruise in November.  I have an Elite offer with no casino cash.  I also have another offer where I can get the same balcony room with $1k casino cash and Cheers for both of us.

 

Can anyone hazard a guess as to the monetary value of all the Elite perks?  I can come up with the numbers for things like parking, wifi, in-room bar, etc.  but have no clue as to the gifts/other perks.

 

If it's close to the $1k I'd get with the other offer, I would probably book the Elite just to see what the hoopla is all about.  I've never done any of the named (Premier/Ultra/Elite) cruises before.

 

BTW, I am Gold now, but if all goes as planned with other cruises this year, I should get Platinum on this cruise.  Is the Elite VIP status any different than straight up Platinum?

 Sometimes the car service is very expensive if it’s a long drive. On our last Elite cruise they drove us from the cruise pier in Miami to the Fort Lauderdale airport. I’ve also used the free car service from Orlando airport to the Cape Canaveral pier. If I’d used Uber it would have cost a lot. 
Some of the other perks not talked about but worth mentioning is the free room service. On one Elite cruise we ordered two 12 packs of Pepsi from room service which cost $40 but was free for us. We’ve also ordered Pizza, steak dinners, high end desserts, etc. 

Our free gifts have been waterproof shower speakers, nice Tervis tumblers, and big beach towels. They also send you the $50 fruit basket, extra bottles of wine, and plates of cookies when you’re Platinum too. And when I’ve got my Platinum lanyard on I usually have a casino host approach me in the casino and offer me free specialty dining. We’ve done Rudi’s Sea Grill, Cucina Del Capitano, and the steak house for free many times. So the Elite cruises offer a lot in my opinion and are definitely worth trying. 

[PittsburghGirlee]

Room Service is also FREE on an Elite, if it has not already been mentioned 🙂

[cruisinqt]

3 hours ago, cruisinqt said:

 Sometimes the car service is very expensive if it’s a long drive. On our last Elite cruise they drove us from the cruise pier in Miami to the Fort Lauderdale airport. I’ve also used the free car service from Orlando airport to the Cape Canaveral pier. If I’d used Uber it would have cost a lot. 
Some of the other perks not talked about but worth mentioning is the free room service. On one Elite cruise we ordered two 12 packs of Pepsi from room service which cost $40 but was free for us. We’ve also ordered Pizza, steak dinners, high end desserts, etc. 

Our free gifts have been waterproof shower speakers, nice Tervis tumblers, and big beach towels. They also send you the $50 fruit basket, extra bottles of wine, and plates of cookies when you’re Platinum too. And when I’ve got my Platinum lanyard on I usually have a casino host approach me in the casino and offer me free specialty dining. We’ve done Rudi’s Sea Grill, Cucina Del Capitano, and the steak house for free many times. So the Elite cruises offer a lot in my opinion and are definitely worth trying. 

It won’t let me correct it since it’s been awhile but I just noticed I put Platinum when I meant Elite. The free $50 fruit basket, extra bottles of wine sent to our cabin mid cruise, plates of cookies, etc were all Elite perks. 

Also when I wore my Elite lanyard (not Platinum, sorry) in the casino that’s when the host offered me free specialty dining. It was specifically on the Panorama and Celebration cruises I recently took. 
 

And with the free room service you can order more than just food. You can order 12 packs of sodas, 12 packs of water, bottles of wine, and other beverages to keep handy in your cabin. 

 

 

[lazydayz]

Looking forward to it!