Has your PVP ever surprised you ?

[phoneman69]

We have been using our PVP at Carnival for years. Over 16 bookings threw him. He has been Outstanding all threw covid and the cruise ship dance and cancellations for those times. Re bookings and making sure we always had our cruise credits. Never once though have we ever received anything in our cabin from him, not cookies, wine or fruit  basket. Are PVP's allowed to give gifts to their clients ? The only reason i bring this up is DW won a Carnival cruise threw a casino we go to and the booking had to go threw the casino dept and not my regular PVP. The person in the casino dept who did our booking also said they where going to have something extra sent to our room. Now maybe the casino dept has this flexibility. So i ask has any ones PVP done some thing extra for them ?  

[JJK2008]

3 minutes ago, phoneman69 said:

We have been using our PVP at Carnival for years. Over 16 bookings threw him. He has been Outstanding all threw covid and the cruise ship dance and cancellations for those times. Re bookings and making sure we always had our cruise credits. Never once though have we ever received anything in our cabin from him, not cookies, wine or fruit  basket. Are PVP's allowed to give gifts to their clients ? The only reason i bring this up is DW won a Carnival cruise threw a casino we go to and the booking had to go threw the casino dept and not my regular PVP. The person in the casino dept who did our booking also said they where going to have something extra sent to our room. Now maybe the casino dept has this flexibility. So i ask has any ones PVP done some thing extra for them ?  

Anything they would give comes out of their bottom-line. 

[Haljo1935]

PVP has never given us anything other than a bottle of (entry level) champagne on birthday or anniversary if we had it noted in the booking. Casinos are completely different financial structures and budgets.

[staceyglow]

Of course the casino department has flexibility to give you gifts.  Just like onland casino hosts.  They are schmoozing you. 

 

If you have a really great PVP (like we do), his or her excellent service should be enough.

[Haljo1935]

It's kinda like PVP is tasked with getting you ON the ship 

Casino dept job is to encourage your spending once you're on.

[Roscoe13]

I don't use a PVP. I use a traditional agent. 

She came onboard the ship and took my sign and sail card and did a bar run and brought me back an old fashioned. She even signed for me! 

Now that's an extra!

[JMAE]

We have been using a PVP for most of our cruises (nearly 20 hrs) and never received any kind of gift or bonus. I thought about switching to a travel agent but didn't think it would be worth the time. Not sure if we are missing anything. 

[Illbcruzn4life]

2 hours ago, phoneman69 said:

We have been using our PVP at Carnival for years. Over 16 bookings threw him. He has been Outstanding all threw covid and the cruise ship dance and cancellations for those times. Re bookings and making sure we always had our cruise credits. Never once though have we ever received anything in our cabin from him, not cookies, wine or fruit  basket. Are PVP's allowed to give gifts to their clients ? The only reason i bring this up is DW won a Carnival cruise threw a casino we go to and the booking had to go threw the casino dept and not my regular PVP. The person in the casino dept who did our booking also said they where going to have something extra sent to our room. Now maybe the casino dept has this flexibility. So i ask has any ones PVP done some thing extra for them ?  

NO if they are even allowed to give you extra that would come out of their own pockets.

[jedi bobs]

My PVP did send me to the Steak House on the conquest once, but, he was the Cruise Director at the time, and we won it durring the Cruise Director's Port Talk....does that count?

[mz-s]

PVPs are not in that business. If you want extra gifts etc then your best bet would be to work with a travel agent. Many travel agents will spend part of their commission on gifts for their clients, especially if you book nicer rooms, airfare, hotel, rental car, etc., all with them.

[Elaine5715]

5 hours ago, phoneman69 said:

We have been using our PVP at Carnival for years. Over 16 bookings threw him. He has been Outstanding all threw covid and the cruise ship dance and cancellations for those times. Re bookings and making sure we always had our cruise credits. Never once though have we ever received anything in our cabin from him, not cookies, wine or fruit  basket. Are PVP's allowed to give gifts to their clients ? The only reason i bring this up is DW won a Carnival cruise threw a casino we go to and the booking had to go threw the casino dept and not my regular PVP. The person in the casino dept who did our booking also said they where going to have something extra sent to our room. Now maybe the casino dept has this flexibility. So i ask has any ones PVP done some thing extra for them ?  

It would come out of their pocket. 

[phoneman69]

11 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

It would come out of their pocket. 

I guess that's nice to know. He has been Outstanding and there for any other need we have ever had. Won't ever book unless threw him even though online available. Casino Dept has more leeway it looks and sounds like.

[ober134]

We've booked with a couple PVP's and a TA. I seem to do the leg work - ship, date and cabin we want. I'm starting to wonder why I just don't book directly. I haven't seen any particular benefit.

[SeaScout]

We've never booked through a PVP or TA. We never considered that they may throw some gifts our way. It's something to consider if we decide to go through the process of booking another cruise. 😉

[ober134]

Oh - forgot to mention we've never received a gift or perk

 

[JandPB]

I liked my PVP but there were no perks to using her. When she retired I just did my own. I just used a well know travel professional and she has been amazing. I’ll never go back to a PVP. 

[lasekeye]

We booked a specific sailing with our regular PVP….it was a Casino offer.

We didn’t know it at the time, but the special Casino Offer came with lots of gifts.  Almost every day we had a surprise in our room….choc strawberries/plate of cookies/packing cubes/bucket hats/laundry-shoe bags….all with a note from the head casino host.

Edited February 18 by lasekeye

[audcc77]

4 hours ago, mz-s said:

Many travel agents will spend part of their commission on gifts for their clients, especially if you book nicer rooms, airfare, hotel, rental car, etc., all with them.

Pfft.  My 2nd carnival cruise was through a “cruise manager” in a well-to-do suburb.  We booked a hotel room the night before, a penthouse grand suite for our anniversary with our kids across the hall in an interior cabin.  
 

She gave us a big nothing.  
 

I’m turning diamond in 2 more cruises. 😂

 

Now I just book my own through my PVP who is great.  

[mz-s]

20 minutes ago, audcc77 said:

Pfft.  My 2nd carnival cruise was through a “cruise manager” in a well-to-do suburb.  We booked a hotel room the night before, a penthouse grand suite for our anniversary with our kids across the hall in an interior cabin.  
 

She gave us a big nothing.  
 

I’m turning diamond in 2 more cruises. 😂

 

Now I just book my own through my PVP who is great.  

 

I book my Carnival cruises through a big box TA and I get a small gift card. I book insides on casino rates and I doubt Carnival pays big commissions so the gift cards are small, less than $100 typically. But still, if I'm going on the cruise anyway why not? I don't pay a dime more than if I booked direct.

 

Other lines I shop around a bit, especially Disney. There are a blue million Disney travel specialists around and they fight like crazy to get your business so you can get some decent gifts.

Edited February 19 by mz-s

[May1cruiser]

Our PVP scrubs our upcoming cruises for rate drops. Just saved us $1200 for upcoming cruise. Best gift ever!

 

[rolloman]

If my PVP threw me a bone...I would be extremely happy. If my PVP decided not to throw me a bone...I would be through with her. 

[MEUB1112]

Our PVP is great, one example,  I mentioned that we were wanting a Panama Canal cruise,  got a call one morning and got a aft wrap from Miami to Long Beach. This was a few years ago, and we've been very pleased. 

[Haljo1935]

8 hours ago, Roscoe13 said:

I don't use a PVP. I use a traditional agent. 

She came onboard the ship and took my sign and sail card and did a bar run and brought me back an old fashioned. She even signed for me! 

Now that's an extra!

Well we know who that is and I'd say she's no "traditional agent" 😉

[rolloman]

8 hours ago, Roscoe13 said:

I don't use a PVP. I use a traditional agent. 

She came onboard the ship and took my sign and sail card and did a bar run and brought me back an old fashioned. She even signed for me! 

Now that's an extra!

If she was all that, she would have used her own sail and sign card to get you a "free" drink. 

[Knights on the Beach]

3 hours ago, ober134 said:

We've booked with a couple PVP's and a TA. I seem to do the leg work - ship, date and cabin we want. I'm starting to wonder why I just don't book directly. I haven't seen any particular benefit.

 

The real benefit is having someone to reach out to when something goes wrong or you need to make changes to a booking. We used to use a big online TA for all our cruises (1997 - 2010) - same guy for most of those cruises until he retired. Then when we started cruising again in 2021, I booked the first couple myself then found a great PVP. When Freedom caught on fire a couple days prior to our cruise in 2022, she was able to quickly get us on Mardi Gras for the same cruise date before it sold out.