priority cabin access

[pinkiek]

Hi  Just printed my boarding pass for Mardi Gras.  It says cabin won't be available until 1:30 for platinum.  I thought we had early access.

 

Hope someone can explain.

 

Thanks

[mz-s]

You'll be able to drop off your carry-on in your cabin but no longer will your room be ready at embarkation. You are allowed to drop off your carry-on in your opened and unlocked cabin and immediately leave the stateroom corridor and go back up to the public areas of the ship.

 

Carnival got rid of the perk of having your room ready at embarkation.

[pinkiek]

Thanks.  That's all we wanted to do!!

[mz-s]

Just keep in mind whatever you leave in your cabin will be there wide open - the stewards leave the cabins open when they're cleaning as you probably know. So put it in the wardrobe or something so it's out of sight. Maybe let the steward know as well so they don't think it was something left behind by the previous cruiser.

[Elaine5715]

Put extra luggage tags on your carryon so the room attendants know it is incoming and like suggested, put your bags out of their way, in closet or under the bed.  Don't stop to use the bathroom and even if the door is closed, don't stay.  The supervisor may still need to check the room and they don't want guests in the room while they finish.   

[jsglow]

1 hour ago, mz-s said:

You'll be able to drop off your carry-on in your cabin but no longer will your room be ready at embarkation. You are allowed to drop off your carry-on in your opened and unlocked cabin and immediately leave the stateroom corridor and go back up to the public areas of the ship.

 

Carnival got rid of the perk of having your room ready at embarkation.

Something that could be 'fixed' with the new loyalty system, eh?

[mz-s]

3 minutes ago, jsglow said:

Something that could be 'fixed' with the new loyalty system, eh?

 

Yeah I am sure the ability to drop off stuff was just there to soften the blow of losing early stateroom cleaning. It'll be next on the chopping block.

[groundloop]

1 minute ago, jsglow said:

Something that could be 'fixed' with the new loyalty system, eh?

That's doubtful, it would slow things down for the cabin stewards to make a round preparing all priority cabins and then make a second round doing all the others.

 

I kind of like the way Holland America handled this when I sailed with them.  THEY assigned an arrival appointment and once you got through check-in you had full access to your cabin.

[jsglow]

1 minute ago, mz-s said:

 

Yeah I am sure the ability to drop off stuff was just there to soften the blow of losing early stateroom cleaning. It'll be next on the chopping block.

I'm not so sure. I do think the company is sensitive to the 'when everyone has priority, nobody does' syndrome. I fully expect a Disney like expiry provision, increased thresholds, and actual enhancements for the truly loyal in the next iteration.  Oh, and Carnival can weather the wailing and teeth gnashing. They are already 2/3 booked for '24. Now is the perfect time to PO people.

[jsglow]

6 minutes ago, groundloop said:

That's doubtful, it would slow things down for the cabin stewards to make a round preparing all priority cabins and then make a second round doing all the others.

 

I kind of like the way Holland America handled this when I sailed with them.  THEY assigned an arrival appointment and once you got through check-in you had full access to your cabin.

Perhaps. That said, HAL is a different product with typically a much longer cruise length. If I'm on a ship for 10-21 days, I frankly don't care when I board. Three nights to Nassau, different story.

[Elaine5715]

I fully expect that they will simply stop everyone from going to their rooms since a significant number of people ignore the "drop and go".

[thesmiths]

If your carry on is small, Stop have lunch, go have a cocktail, head to your cabin, it'll be around 1:30!

 

[mz-s]

1 hour ago, Elaine5715 said:

I fully expect that they will simply stop everyone from going to their rooms since a significant number of people ignore the "drop and go".

 

I agree, early cabin access even for drop and go is endangered.

[Old Fart Cruisers]

In September on Venezia, when I went to drop off my carry on bags in the room, the room steward walked by and said "your room is ready, if you want to stay".  I was really surprised because it was still pretty early, and the ship was full.  We wanted to explore the ship, so we didn't take him up on the offer to stay.  Not anything I would EXPECT in the future, and I would never bother the steward to ask if we could stay, but it was really nice of him to offer.

[DallasGuy75219]

14 hours ago, jsglow said:

Something that could be 'fixed' with the new loyalty system, eh?

No, it's a function of the stewards being responsible for so many cabins, since cabin service went to strictly once a day, that Carnival can't guarantee any rooms being ready when embarkation starts.  On Glory this month, my steward had 35 cabins in his sections, with some of those being suites that take longer to clean than a balcony or lower cabin.

[shof515]

3 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

No, it's a function of the stewards being responsible for so many cabins, since cabin service went to strictly once a day, that Carnival can't guarantee any rooms being ready when embarkation starts. 

 

because the stewards have soo many cabins, i noticed on all my recent cruises staterooms is no longer available around 130/2 like before because the door is always closed in the hallway. around 230/3 they make the announcement the cabin is ready. other cruise lines also do the same thing too

[ledges1]

21 hours ago, pinkiek said:

Hi  Just printed my boarding pass for Mardi Gras.  It says cabin won't be available until 1:30 for platinum.  I thought we had early access.

 

Hope someone can explain.

 

Thanks

 

21 hours ago, mz-s said:

You'll be able to drop off your carry-on in your cabin but no longer will your room be ready at embarkation. You are allowed to drop off your carry-on in your opened and unlocked cabin and immediately leave the stateroom corridor and go back up to the public areas of the ship.

 

Carnival got rid of the perk of having your room ready at embarkation.

I am platinum and my wife becomes Diamond in January. I have dropped my bags off and left the room as you have stated before 1:30.  But my boarding pass for the next cruise states rooms will not be ready until 1:30 even for platinum and Diamond. This seems to contradict dropping off bags and leaving. Is the drop off and leave policy in writing for platinum and Diamond

[mz-s]

1 hour ago, ledges1 said:

 

I am platinum and my wife becomes Diamond in January. I have dropped my bags off and left the room as you have stated before 1:30.  But my boarding pass for the next cruise states rooms will not be ready until 1:30 even for platinum and Diamond. This seems to contradict dropping off bags and leaving. Is the drop off and leave policy in writing for platinum and Diamond

 

It used to be in writing in the email that you received shortly before embarkation, maybe a week or less before the cruise starts. But I am not sure if it still is.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We have had no problem dropping off and leaving since this started about a year ago.  No biggie, just drop and go find a beverage and explore the ship.

[illinoisfive]

As for the Celebration in early December, we received an email stating the drop and go policy for staterooms.  Also another email explaining the Your Time Dining venues.

[DallasGuy75219]

7 hours ago, ledges1 said:

Is the drop off and leave policy in writing for platinum and Diamond

It's at least in the FTTF benefit list, which also states P and D members don't need to buy FTTF because all they already get all the FTTF benefits as P and D members.

[Drazil65]

Week before Christmas on MG we boarded at 10:35 am, did muster and went straight to cabin to drop off carry ons.  Our S&S cards were in mailbox and cabin door locked.  Room was ready and we had our S&S cards in hand.  Went to grab/find lunch about 11:00 after checking out the cabin.  Pretty much same in August on Sunshine, maybe 30 mins later we boarded that day.   I would say since restart our cabin and S&S cards have been ready in the majority of our cruises (I can remember only one cruise where S&S cards were not available but carry on drop off was fine).  

[Elaine5715]

This was on my May 2023 boarding pass.  I boarded first, actually first guest onboard.  My room was not ready, my card not available. 

 

[Elaine5715]

4 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Nothing hard to understand at all.  Please show me where it says the policy is not to have ready for plats and diamonds. I replied in what my RS told me.  That is a fact.  My rooms were ready was ready.  Fact again. You quotes me and I replied with facts. I have asked you to state facts a on another post and  you could not.  That is a fact.  Did I say that others experienced the same thing as me?  Look, you posts speak for themselves and tour distain for the product.  That is fine. You replied to a post I made. Fine again.  I do not lie.  As I mentioned to another that hates the product.   I can ignore your posts, feel free to ignore mine. Again, I looked and found nothing that says it is no longer a bene, show it to me.  The facts I have are what I was told by a RS and the manager.  When is your next cruise on Carnival?

Like this?

[Rudyard]

On 12/29/2023 at 1:10 PM, Old Fart Cruisers said:

In September on Venezia, when I went to drop off my carry on bags in the room, the room steward walked by and said "your room is ready, if you want to stay".  I was really surprised because it was still pretty early, and the ship was full.  We wanted to explore the ship, so we didn't take him up on the offer to stay.  Not anything I would EXPECT in the future, and I would never bother the steward to ask if we could stay, but it was really nice of him to offer.

Ours did the same on Breeze last month. We had FTTF but arrived a bit late and didn't get to our cabin until around 11:30. The door was closed and we were about to walk away when our steward came around the corner, said he was finished and that we could stay. He did warn us the S&S cards wouldn't be in the mailbox for about another hour. We dropped our bags, ate lunch, and came back around 12:30 to find the cards waiting for us. Gave him a little extra on top of the cash tip we normally would leave for great service.