Cabin ready upon embark (Platinum/Diamond Suite guests)?

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I just received the following email. I can't recall seeing one like this in the past (or, perhaps I just didn't pay attention). 

 

So, for Platinum and Diamond guests who are also staying in a suite - are they implying that your cabin will be ready as soon as you board the ship - and not just so that you can drop off your luggage?

 

I should have this down by now, but it seems to be a constantly moving target.

 

-------------------

 

VIFP PLATINUM AND DIAMOND SUITE GUESTS UPDATE AND ONLINE CHECK-IN INVITATION     Dear Valued Platinum and Diamond Suite Guests, Welcome back!  We want to make you aware of the priority benefits for sailings departing from the U.S. and Europe.  Platinum and Diamond Suite guests will be given 48 hours advance access to select their preferred Arrival Appointment. Please visit My Cruise Manager on Carnival.com starting at 16 days prior to sailing to complete your Online Check-In and select the Arrival Appointment that works best with your plans. We will not be able to accommodate guests who show up outside their Arrival Appointment. Upon arrival to the terminal, look for the Priority line to check-in. Once on board, you will be able to access your stateroom.  Priority luggage delivery is available for checked-bags. Priority debark and water shuttle debark is available at the home port and ports of call. A US$25 in Casino FunPlay®, in addition to any other FunPlay® you might be entitled to as part of your booking, will be provided.

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And, specifically - what defines "priority luggage delivery"? And it only says that it's "available" (as if one would need to request this service). Interesting wording.

 

Tom

 

 

[JXR]

On the Spirit a few weeks ago, my cabin was not ready and the cabin steward gave me a hard time because I wanted to put my luggage in the room. He said that only Suites are ready. So it all depend on the ship I suppose. 

[shof515]

I am sailing in a few weeks i noticed my boarding pass looks like this now:

 

it now says the stateroom access is 130pm for everyone. looks like you can no longer drop of your luggage or access the room before that time

[EngIceDave]

4 minutes ago, shof515 said:

I am sailing in a few weeks i noticed my boarding pass looks like this now:

 

it now says the stateroom access is 130pm for everyone. looks like you can no longer drop of your luggage or access the room before that time

I noticed that as well on my upcoming cruise in early April. I will turn plat on that cruise, so while looking to see what the tags would look like as plat, I noticed that "Priority" flag as well

[Elaine5715]

45 minutes ago, shof515 said:

I am sailing in a few weeks i noticed my boarding pass looks like this now:

 

it now says the stateroom access is 130pm for everyone. looks like you can no longer drop of your luggage or access the room before that time

I board the Spirit on Saturday.  Mine doesn't say that 

[Guest BasicSailor]

I've stated this in the pass, and I'll say it again. The loyalty program is changing before your eyes. In the past when changes were made JH or Carnival would make an announcement. There was such a stink (in Carnival's opinion) made over a few of the changes that Carnival had to revert back to their older ways 😐. 

 

I've noticed the wording in a few posts here and on the luggage tags as well as the emails.

What you can look for in the future is if you're wanting access to your luggage early, be prepared to pay a fee. Gaining access to your cabin early may become a fee as well. Looking at the suites is the way of the future, if you're wanting those additional features. 🤐

[shof515]

48 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

I board the Spirit on Saturday.  Mine doesn't say that

its in top of the important information gray box. it is new. it was not there in my cruise in January but it is there now whenever i print out the boarding pass

[csm5986142]

This varies greatly by ship.  We are platinum (we were on 6 different ships in 2022) and it was always different.  Once our room was ready as early as 11:00 but that was definitely not typical (it was usually closer to 1:30). 

We just got off Radiance today, and our room was not even ready by 1:30 (even though they made the announcement that all cabins were ready).  On the ships with staffing shortages they simply can't get everything done as quickly. 

As someone already mentioned, they also gave us a hard time for wanting to drop our carry-ons outside our cabin door (but I carry the email with me saying that although Carnival can't guarantee Plat/Diamond cabins will be ready upon embarkation, we are allowed to drop our bags at the room) so then they let me.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Interesting - seems it's clear as mud, like always !

 

My boarding pass for this Saturday on the Mardi Gras (suite and diamond) has nothing "extra" on it regarding cabin availability. 

 

 

 

BTW - It is highly unlikely we'll be there before 11 🙂

 

Tom

[Schoifmom]

Because you are in a suite, your cabin will be (should be) ready when you board.  That is one of the suite perks.  For all "normal" (read: non-suite) Diamond/Platinum cruisers, you would have access to drop off luggage in the staterooms, but there is no early ready any longer.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

24 minutes ago, Schoifmom said:

Because you are in a suite, your cabin will be (should be) ready when you board.  That is one of the suite perks.  For all "normal" (read: non-suite) Diamond/Platinum cruisers, you would have access to drop off luggage in the staterooms, but there is no early ready any longer.

 

I think Carnival states that suites have "early access". That, however, sounds rather vague - likely intentionally so.

 

Tom

[Squirreladd]

This may have something to do with fttf. I heard it is sold based on how many platinum/diamond are on that sailing. My guess is if they strip this from being a loyalty perk and sail it exclusively as a paid perk and suite perk they will make a lot more money. On sailings where not as many people sign up for fttf then the perk for loyalty will be retained. This is just my guess. 

[Drazil65]

This may have something to do with fttf. I heard it is sold based on how many platinum/diamond are on that sailing. My guess is if they strip this from being a loyalty perk and sail it exclusively as a paid perk and suite perk they will make a lot more money. On sailings where not as many people sign up for fttf then the perk for loyalty will be retained. This is just my guess. 

 

THIS...

[jimbo5544]

Cannot comment on the just suites part, but 8 cruises since the return to the sea (6 in suites) all were available when we boarded.

[ninjacat123]

All 8 of my cruises after Restart (1 in a suite) were available to drop off luggage when we boarded.  I hope this doesn't change for Platinum/Diamond.

[dbrucern]

On 2/20/2023 at 8:55 PM, shof515 said:

I am sailing in a few weeks i noticed my boarding pass looks like this now:

 

it now says the stateroom access is 130pm for everyone. looks like you can no longer drop of your luggage or access the room before that time

We are Diamond and leaving next Saturday ours does not say this. Since Covid restart we have always been allowed to drop and go

[dbrucern]

On 2/21/2023 at 8:01 AM, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Interesting - seems it's clear as mud, like always !

 

My boarding pass for this Saturday on the Mardi Gras (suite and diamond) has nothing "extra" on it regarding cabin availability. 

 

 

 

BTW - It is highly unlikely we'll be there before 11 🙂

 

Tom

We are on her the following Saturday and ours does not say anything either, we have done 8 cruises since the restart and have always had access to drop and go. However sometimes our room was done and sometimes not. But we still placed our luggage in the closet and never had a problem.

[Bostwick girl]

If you look in John Heald’s posts either yesterday or day before, he reiterated that Platinum/Diamond guests ARE allowed to drop their luggage off in the stateroom. You can’t stay but you can drop it off. We’ve done this every cruise since startup last year and have had no problem.

[kelkel2]

On Mardi Gras this past January, we had an ocean suite. We boarded with the Diamond/plat/suites group, so

early.. we went directly to our room. Our intention was to leave our bags and get lunch. But, our room was ready with the keys already in the mailbox, so we stayed. No one had an issue with it or said anything. 

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Thanks for all the feedback - I heard back from Carnival, and was assured that when we board (they tell me boarding has been starting about 10:45-11 on the Mardi Gras) our cabin will be fully ready for us to enjoy.  

 

Cheryl decided, knowing that, to go ahead and book a facial and blow out for early that afternoon. So now, we'll just make sure we get on early enough to get settled in and enjoy a MDE sandwich from Big Chicken 😄

 

Tom

[Eli_6]

My guess is that "room ready when you board" is for suite guests only.  On 2 of my last 3 cruises I had a suite and my cabin was ready when I boarded both times. On my last cruise, I had FTTF (but no suite) and my cabin was not ready. 

Edited February 22, 2023 by Eli_6

[jimbo5544]

19 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Thanks for all the feedback - I heard back from Carnival, and was assured that when we board (they tell me boarding has been starting about 10:45-11 on the Mardi Gras) our cabin will be fully ready for us to enjoy.  

 

Cheryl decided, knowing that, to go ahead and book a facial and blow out for early that afternoon. So now, we'll just make sure we get on early enough to get settled in and enjoy a MDE sandwich from Big Chicken 😄

 

Tom

What cabin are you staying in?

[pe4all]

On our recently completed Spirit cruise we went to drop our backpacks off in our cabin closet (as we always do) and were immediately admonished by our steward for even being there.   Our cabin obviously wasn't touched yet - beds were stripped, garbage not emptied, so it wasn't like I was going to camp out there.  There was no way I was lugging my 15 lb. backpack around for 2 1/2 hours.  If we were in the cabin 20 seconds it was a lot.  Wasn't a stellar start in our introduction  to our steward.

[Guest BasicSailor]

24 minutes ago, pe4all said:

On our recently completed Spirit cruise we went to drop our backpacks off in our cabin closet (as we always do) and were immediately admonished by our steward for even being there.   Our cabin obviously wasn't touched yet - beds were stripped, garbage not emptied, so it wasn't like I was going to camp out there.  There was no way I was lugging my 15 lb. backpack around for 2 1/2 hours.  If we were in the cabin 20 seconds it was a lot.  Wasn't a stellar start in our introduction  to our steward.

I've had a couple of Stewards react the same way when dropping off luggage. It's almost like they were trained to do that . I think they enjoy mouthing off to Diamonds, Plats.  I don't appreciate a Steward giving me the lip on something that was once included for Diamond, Plats. 

Just puts a damper on the rest of your cruise. I'm sure it puts a damper on the tipping pool too.🤐

 

Edited February 23, 2023 by BasicSailor

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

45 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

What cabin are you staying in?

 

Aft corner deck 9 (yep, I know!... lol)

 

Tom