Never thought I would say this.....

[BlerkOne]

22 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

Other lines will match my CCL status to win my business, why won't Carnival Corp brands give me some recognition if they want my dollars to remain in their coffers when I'm done with CCL.

It's called poaching. Other cruise lines are willing to bribe their own to keep them loyal - they think nothing of stealing from other cruise lines. MSC stole so many they no longer match Carnival Diamond to their Black and MSC throws you out of the program if you don't cruise once every three years.

 

Carnival obviously doesn't want cruisers who cruise for perks. It isn't part of their business model.

[mz-s]

31 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

It's called poaching. Other cruise lines are willing to bribe their own to keep them loyal - they think nothing of stealing from other cruise lines. MSC stole so many they no longer match Carnival Diamond to their Black and MSC throws you out of the program if you don't cruise once every three years.

 

Carnival obviously doesn't want cruisers who cruise for perks. It isn't part of their business model.

 

Right Carnival wants all the blue and red card cruisers they can get. More power to them.

[skywalkr2]

I cruise in 3 weeks, but my last cruise was before they cut the free room service. I had a great time.  Let's see how I feel this next time with the room service changes.

[mz-s]

10 minutes ago, skywalkr2 said:

I cruise in 3 weeks, but my last cruise was before they cut the free room service. I had a great time.  Let's see how I feel this next time with the room service changes.

 

I just wouldn't order room service. $6 for a PB&J is theme park pricing.

[CajunOyster]

On 11/9/2022 at 6:25 PM, mz-s said:

They will cut a chicken thigh into three pieces and that is one portion.

 

This is at least the fourth time (in four different threads) you've complained about a chicken thigh being cut into three pieces.  Does that really bother you so much?  If it's a buffet and you can eat as much as you want, what does it matter how many pieces they cut the chicken thigh into anyway?  Do you complain about the number of slices a pizza is cut into when you can get the entire pizza?

[hard_eight]

I would guess it's cut that way prior to cooking to ensure it gets completely cooked.

[jsglow]

10 minutes ago, CajunOyster said:

 

This is at least the fourth time (in four different threads) you've complained about a chicken thigh being cut into three pieces.  Does that really bother you so much?  If it's a buffet and you can eat as much as you want, what does it matter how many pieces they cut the chicken thigh into anyway?  Do you complain about the number of slices a pizza is cut into when you can get the entire pizza?

I was on a recent cruise; got the chicken and waffles for Seaday brunch; saw how it was cut and chuckled to myself thinking that @mz-s owed me a Bloody! 😎

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

 

Right Carnival wants all the blue and red card cruisers they can get. More power to them.

It has been a winning strategy for over 50 years, before there were different colored cards, loyalty programs, etc. Carnival was founded as a non-elitist cruise line, one size fits most.

[Squirreladd]

2 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

It's called poaching. Other cruise lines are willing to bribe their own to keep them loyal - they think nothing of stealing from other cruise lines. MSC stole so many they no longer match Carnival Diamond to their Black and MSC throws you out of the program if you don't cruise once every three years.

 

Carnival obviously doesn't want cruisers who cruise for perks. It isn't part of their business model.

Carnival has to do something. For them it's about retention. When you're 30b in the hole you need to get hips on ships no matter the name on the ship as long as you own it. Loyalty sharing can help this. Royal does it already between celebrity and RCL 

Edited April 5, 2023 by Squirreladd

[BlerkOne]

1 minute ago, Squirreladd said:

Carnival has to do something. For them it's about retention. When you're 30b in the hole you need to get hips on ships no matter the name on the ship as long as you own it. Loyalty sharing can help this. Royal does it already between celebrity and RCL 

Royal also used to share with Azamara until they sold off Azamara. Did any Royal customers move with Azamara? Hmmm.

 

Royal's business model includes bribery and Royal has made cutbacks to their loyalty program. No marketing/loyalty program is sustainable without change. The programs grow until available resources are exhausted. Royal cutback, MSC cutback. They all do.

 

It isn't about retention. Existing customers don't pay for new ships - new customers do. Retention doesn't grow a business and nobody retains 100% of customers. To grow a business and pay for new ships you need new customers.

[carrieluvsgreg]

16 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

You risk running off loyal Princess cruisers that earned their status on Princess and don't want it diluted further. Besides, the Princess loyalty program is based on sea days OR number of cruises. It's a no brainer to pick Princess over Celebrity.

It could be done without diluting the program.  As the Carnival loyal get older, it makes sense to develop a program to allow us to transfer at least some perks to a sister brand.  I am not suggesting platinum for platinum (or whatever it is on Princess).  But as others have said, if I am just a "first time cruiser" on princess or any other CCC brand, then I'm just as likely to try Virgin...

[carrieluvsgreg]

33 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Royal also used to share with Azamara until they sold off Azamara. Did any Royal customers move with Azamara? Hmmm.

 

Royal's business model includes bribery and Royal has made cutbacks to their loyalty program. No marketing/loyalty program is sustainable without change. The programs grow until available resources are exhausted. Royal cutback, MSC cutback. They all do.

 

It isn't about retention. Existing customers don't pay for new ships - new customers do. Retention doesn't grow a business and nobody retains 100% of customers. To grow a business and pay for new ships you need new customers.

Not sure that is completely accurate... You can't grow a business if you're losing as many out the back door as you gain new customers... It is a careful balance- you do need to gain new blood, but if you're not offering anything to retain customers, you gain nothing.

[Squirreladd]

25 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

Royal also used to share with Azamara until they sold off Azamara. Did any Royal customers move with Azamara? Hmmm.

 

Royal's business model includes bribery and Royal has made cutbacks to their loyalty program. No marketing/loyalty program is sustainable without change. The programs grow until available resources are exhausted. Royal cutback, MSC cutback. They all do.

 

It isn't about retention. Existing customers don't pay for new ships - new customers do. Retention doesn't grow a business and nobody retains 100% of customers. To grow a business and pay for new ships you need new customers.

There are different levels of cruise lines. 

 

Budget/entry/economy (royal Caribbean, carnival)

 

Premium (princess, celebrity, Hal)

 

High-end (azamara, seaborne)

 

As Americans get older their taste generally change as well as their available income increases. This means someone may start with Carnival and as their children move out and their income increases, they may go princess. Keeping them under the same company insures continued revenue. New passengers can and will bring the bacon, but why let existing passengers go somewhrre else. These companies can walk and chew gum at the same time.

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, carrieluvsgreg said:

Not sure that is completely accurate... You can't grow a business if you're losing as many out the back door as you gain new customers... It is a careful balance- you do need to gain new blood, but if you're not offering anything to retain customers, you gain nothing.

Carnival does offer something and obviously they do retain sufficient repeat business or they would change. Many Carnival customers do try other lines but return to Carnival. Many graduate to other Carnival brands. There is peace and harmony in the Carnival Universe.

 

It's a balancing act in more than one way - there are only so many resources on a ship that have to be shared by all. Carnival also knows many cruisers overvalue themselves. Some of them need to be pruned.

 

 

[BlerkOne]

2 hours ago, carrieluvsgreg said:

It could be done without diluting the program.  As the Carnival loyal get older, it makes sense to develop a program to allow us to transfer at least some perks to a sister brand.  I am not suggesting platinum for platinum (or whatever it is on Princess).  But as others have said, if I am just a "first time cruiser" on princess or any other CCC brand, then I'm just as likely to try Virgin...

If you think you want to try another brand, you really should. Nobody is irreplaceable. If you like the Carnival brand you don't need additional incentive to stay. You also don't have any reason to look outside of the family when you mature out of Carnival.

 

My doctor doesn't bribe me to keep using him, others might be younger or have more modern offices, yet I stay.

[carrieluvsgreg]

47 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

If you think you want to try another brand, you really should. Nobody is irreplaceable. If you like the Carnival brand you don't need additional incentive to stay. You also don't have any reason to look outside of the family when you mature out of Carnival.

 

My doctor doesn't bribe me to keep using him, others might be younger or have more modern offices, yet I stay.

To compare your doctor to a vacation experience isn't a fair comparison... you build a relationship with a doctor and trust him with your health.  His knowledge and expertise is key, his training and ability to provide quality healthcare are paramount.  Carnival is a vacation option... it is a choice made by many things.  (destination, onboard experience, ship, duration, price and amenities.)  When considering those options the perks (mainly priority boarding, priority tenders and free laundry) that we have earned play a role in our decision.  Since Carnival does not offer us anything for the loyalty to them across the brands, we would be just as inclined to sail with someone else, outside of the brand as a whole. 

[Illbcruzn4life]

29 minutes ago, icft said:

Words to live by.

Yes im still learning myself. Think it would be silly of CCL not to try to retain as many customers as possible. 

[1kaper]

17 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

MSC throws you out of the program if you don't cruise once every three years.

I have read that is due to laws where they are set up. 

[staceyglow]

1 hour ago, 1kaper said:

I have read that is due to laws where they are set up. 

Not sure that is true. Why would there be laws requiring a company to throw someone out of its loyalty program? Most laws like that favor the consumer. For example, in most states in the US it is illegal for gift card balances to expire. 

 

And to be honest, I wish Carnival had a rule like that, especially in regards to the folks who made Platinum under the old, easier-to-achieve rules. If you sail Carnival less than once every 3 years, are you really that "loyal"? 

[mz-s]

21 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

Not sure that is true. Why would there be laws requiring a company to throw someone out of its loyalty program? Most laws like that favor the consumer. For example, in most states in the US it is illegal for gift card balances to expire. 

 

And to be honest, I wish Carnival had a rule like that, especially in regards to the folks who made Platinum under the old, easier-to-achieve rules. If you sail Carnival less than once every 3 years, are you really that "loyal"? 

 

Just because someone maybe can't afford to cruise as often as others, that doesn't mean they're not deserving of their status.

[BlerkOne]

2 hours ago, 1kaper said:

I have read that is due to laws where they are set up. 

Link? I seriously doubt it is a law. Some programs, like airlines, will expire if you don't generate points periodically. Loyalty programs are marketing programs and it is a two way street.

[Illbcruzn4life]

1 hour ago, staceyglow said:

Not sure that is true. Why would there be laws requiring a company to throw someone out of its loyalty program? Most laws like that favor the consumer. For example, in most states in the US it is illegal for gift card balances to expire. 

 

And to be honest, I wish Carnival had a rule like that, especially in regards to the folks who made Platinum under the old, easier-to-achieve rules. If you sail Carnival less than once every 3 years, are you really that "loyal"? 

I was Platinum under the old qualifications with only 72 days. We started cruising CCL back in 1998 and cruised almost exclusively with them. Then we branched out and din't cruise with them from 2011 until about 2020.

 

So you think I should have been kicked out of the loyalty program. They kick me out I'm just stubborn enough to never cruise with them again. But then again they only want blue and red cards on the ship so I guess that would work out in Carnivals favor.

[staceyglow]

32 minutes ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

I was Platinum under the old qualifications with only 72 days. We started cruising CCL back in 1998 and cruised almost exclusively with them. Then we branched out and din't cruise with them from 2011 until about 2020.

 

So you think I should have been kicked out of the loyalty program.

 

Honestly, as a business decision, yes.  It's the way many, if not most loyalty programs work.  

 

 There is a decent chance that people like you might not "branch out" so much if they knew they were going to lose status with Carnival.  Having people continue give business to your company is the entire point of a loyalty program.

Edited April 6, 2023 by staceyglow

[Illbcruzn4life]

20 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

Honestly, as a business decision, yes.  It's the way many, if not most loyalty programs work.  

 

 There is a decent chance that people like you might not "branch out" so much if they knew they were going to lose status with Carnival.  Having people continue give business to your company is the entire point of a loyalty program.

fair enough but I gotta add that even though my stubborness would keep me from booking CCL again there isn't that much in the loyalty program that would keep me coming back anyway.

 

As I mentioned above I made Platinum in took one cruise with CCL after that and then cruised other lines from 2011 until 2020. What brought me back was the Vista class and Excel class ships.

 

Gotta love those Havana areas.

[BlerkOne]

4 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

Just because someone maybe can't afford to cruise as often as others, that doesn't mean they're not deserving of their status.

How much status can they achieve if they cruise less than one cruise every three years?