Diamond Specialty Meal Question

[pirate4me2]

Hi all!

 

As a recent Diamond member, I received a letter that says I get a 1 time free meal for 2 at a specialty restaurant. I was thinking about using it on my Vista sailing next month to take DH to the steakhouse on his birthday. My question is....when I go to book online, I see I have to pre-pay. There is no spot to show that it is a Diamond meal or anything. If I was to pre-pay, then  show up with the letter once onboard, would they refund the price to my onboard account? Or should I just try and wait and book once onboard? Thanks for any help/insight!

[cruise4hobby]

You can prepay and when you are on board, show them the letter and they will credit the steakhouse amount back to your credit card.

 

 

[pirate4me2]

17 minutes ago, cruise4hobby said:

You can prepay and when you are on board, show them the letter and they will credit the steakhouse amount back to your credit card.

 

 

Thank you so much for the quick reply! That works for me. Now I can make sure I secure a spot on his bday. 🙂

[BlerkOne]

or maybe call the Diamond Desk...

[pirate4me2]

3 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

or maybe call the Diamond Desk...

Unfortunately their hours are not working with my work hours at the moment, but thanks for that suggestion. 

[hurricane0226]

7 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

or maybe call the Diamond Desk...

That is what I Did.

[audcc77]

I was just on the Vista.  The diamond desk told me to wait until I was on board.
 

When I went immediately to the steakhouse upon boarding, the lady said the only option she had was 8 o’clock. I wanted the first night with the free wine.
 

She told me that when I’m back in November to go ahead and purchase the steakhouse and they will refund me.  

[MagnoliaBlossom]

We’ve had three or four cruises since turning Diamond and I did not receive this letter.  Think I’ll call the Diamond desk and see what’s up.

[bar1068]

On 5/14/2024 at 11:34 AM, pirate4me2 said:

Hi all!

 

As a recent Diamond member, I received a letter that says I get a 1 time free meal for 2 at a specialty restaurant. I was thinking about using it on my Vista sailing next month to take DH to the steakhouse on his birthday. My question is....when I go to book online, I see I have to pre-pay. There is no spot to show that it is a Diamond meal or anything. If I was to pre-pay, then  show up with the letter once onboard, would they refund the price to my onboard account? Or should I just try and wait and book once onboard? Thanks for any help/insight!

Please define, "recent Diamond member"? Do you reach "Diamond Status" on the Vista cruise you mentioned, or already have Diamond status looking to use that awesomely wonderful, one time...umm..."perk" of complimentary specialty dining?

 

Just being curious as we leave on the Venezia on the 27th, which is our "Diamond cruise" for both my wife and I, and have not seen that letter, unless it's something they provide onboard.

[geovet]

I received my letter on my last cruise where I turned dimond.

[GB Chicago]

I will turn Diamond on my upcoming cruise so I thought I'd turn to the experts here to tell me what happens when you hit that level 4 days into your cruise?

[pirate4me2]

2 hours ago, bar1068 said:

Please define, "recent Diamond member"? Do you reach "Diamond Status" on the Vista cruise you mentioned, or already have Diamond status looking to use that awesomely wonderful, one time...umm..."perk" of complimentary specialty dining?

 

Just being curious as we leave on the Venezia on the 27th, which is our "Diamond cruise" for both my wife and I, and have not seen that letter, unless it's something they provide onboard.

 

51 minutes ago, GB Chicago said:

I will turn Diamond on my upcoming cruise so I thought I'd turn to the experts here to tell me what happens when you hit that level 4 days into your cruise?

 

I reached Diamond on my last cruise, on the last sea day. Upon boarding, waiting in my cabin, was the passport holder and the Diamond letter, and I had a Diamond card the whole cruise. 

[Old Fart Cruisers]

1 hour ago, pirate4me2 said:

 

 

I reached Diamond on my last cruise, on the last sea day. Upon boarding, waiting in my cabin, was the passport holder and the Diamond letter, and I had a Diamond card the whole cruise. 

We also turned Diamond on our last cruise and had the Diamond cards and the letter, but NO "VIFP Club leather passport holder and luggage tag set" as mentioned in the letter.  Our friends turned Diamond a few cruises before us and they received theirs' in the mail about a month after their Diamond cruise, so it probably depends on inventory at the time.

[jsglow]

On 5/16/2024 at 6:22 AM, MagnoliaBlossom said:

We’ve had three or four cruises since turning Diamond and I did not receive this letter.  Think I’ll call the Diamond desk and see what’s up.

You absolutely should. Standard procedure is to receive a raised seal letter in your cabin during the cruise on which you actually turn Diamond. It's that ORIGINAL letter (hence the raised seal) that is what you'll present to the steakhouse (or, presumably GS to get a previous charge erased). Now the shipboard system probably isn't perfect and perhaps they sometimes 'miss' but I'll bet the Diamond Desk at headquarters keeps close track and can help you out.

[Old Fart Cruisers]

31 minutes ago, jsglow said:

You absolutely should. Standard procedure is to receive a raised seal letter in your cabin during the cruise on which you actually turn Diamond. It's that ORIGINAL letter (hence the raised seal) that is what you'll present to the steakhouse (or, presumably GS to get a previous charge erased). Now the shipboard system probably isn't perfect and perhaps they sometimes 'miss' but I'll bet the Diamond Desk at headquarters keeps close track and can help you out.

 

The letters that we received in our stateroom last month did NOT have a raised seal of any type.  I hope this is just a recent change, and maybe Carnival found it unnecessary to have raised seal.  Since your VIFP number is on the letter, it would show up in their system with the date and ship it was used if anyone tried making a copy, and using it again. 

 

But since we also didn't get the "VIFP Club leather passport holder and luggage tag set" with our letters, I will call the Diamond desk on Monday to find out if I'm missing something.

[jsglow]

3 hours ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

 

The letters that we received in our stateroom last month did NOT have a raised seal of any type.  I hope this is just a recent change, and maybe Carnival found it unnecessary to have raised seal.

Good info there. When we received ours, it was clear that 'anti copying' was the obvious goal. You're right that maybe upgraded software has solved a problem they previously dealt with manually. 👍

[Old Fart Cruisers]

On 5/19/2024 at 8:20 AM, jsglow said:

You absolutely should. Standard procedure is to receive a raised seal letter in your cabin during the cruise on which you actually turn Diamond. It's that ORIGINAL letter (hence the raised seal) that is what you'll present to the steakhouse (or, presumably GS to get a previous charge erased). Now the shipboard system probably isn't perfect and perhaps they sometimes 'miss' but I'll bet the Diamond Desk at headquarters keeps close track and can help you out.

 

I called the diamond desk today about receiving the letters without the passport holders/luggage tags.  I also questioned him about the letter not having a raised seal that you mentioned.  He told me that the passport holders/luggage tags should have been in the 'packet' along with the letters.  We only had two letters, but no 'packet'.  First he told me that I should have asked about it at guest services, but that didn't occur to me while we were on the ship since we didn't plan on going to the steakhouse on that cruise. He said he was unaware of any raised seal, just that it should be printed on a Carnival letterhead (which it is).  He suggested that the letter might just be to let me know what I will be getting on my next cruise.  That explanation doesn't make sense, because that's not what it says in the letter.  He then recommended that I call the Diamond Desk back about five days before our next cruise so they can have our packets ready for us when we board. 

 

 

Edited May 20 by Old Fart Cruisers

[BlerkOne]

I don't recall any raise seal. They were printed on "special" paper but really, Carnival knows who has used the perk and who hasn't. I kept misplacing my letter and got it reprinted a few times before finally using it.

[jsglow]

Yep. I just pulled mine out to reconfirm my memory. Raised deal of the Guest Services Manager aboard the ship during which we earned our Diamond awards. Not saying it's done all the time or on every ship. We know how consistent Carnival is.... not.

[pirate4me2]

My letter has a raised seal on it. However, there was no “packet” when it was left…just the letter on my bed and the passport/luggage tags on top of it. 

[hurricane0226]

We went thru the same ordeal, no letter or pleather passport holders, had to go thru the diamond desk, and finally received everything on our march cruise.

[MagnoliaBlossom]

I finally remembered to call the Diamond Desko during regular business hours and reached a delightfully helpful young lady who advised me what to do.  I did forget to ask her if this could be used on any specialty restaurant onboard or only at the steak house.

 

thanks again for all you ur good advice
MB

[Elaine5715]

I had no problem scheduling my "free" Diamond steakhouse through the hub onboard at embarkation.

[Old Fart Cruisers]

17 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

I had no problem scheduling my "free" Diamond steakhouse through the hub onboard at embarkation.

 

Did they actually charge the 18% gratuities when you used your "free" Diamond dinner, and is the 18% based on the current retail price at the steakhouse?.  I was surprised to see that line in the letter, since it doesn't mention anything about that on the 'My Benefits' page on Carnival's website. 

 

 

Also, when the casino host gave us a free steakhouse dinner in the past, she made sure to point out that the gratuities were prepaid by the casino.  I would have assumed it would have been the same in this case.  Of course, we still tip the servers extra anyway, but as I mentioned, I was just surprised to see it listed like that on the letter.

[Elaine5715]

2 hours ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

 

Did they actually charge the 18% gratuities when you used your "free" Diamond dinner, and is the 18% based on the current retail price at the steakhouse?.  I was surprised to see that line in the letter, since it doesn't mention anything about that on the 'My Benefits' page on Carnival's website. 

 

 

Also, when the casino host gave us a free steakhouse dinner in the past, she made sure to point out that the gratuities were prepaid by the casino.  I would have assumed it would have been the same in this case.  Of course, we still tip the servers extra anyway, but as I mentioned, I was just surprised to see it listed like that on the letter.

The letter stated that "Gratuities Were Not Included" and they were not automatically added.  The receipt read $0.00 so I wrote in $25

Edited Saturday at 01:08 AM by Elaine5715