Carnival Vacation Club

[yankeesrule]

After we bought this (silver pkg) got home and tryed to book something online its not that good of a deal read carefully before you buy points are per person (they dont tell you that when your on the ship)they make it seen to you that you can get two cruises and that you can stay at any resort for free (NOT) BE CAREFULL LEARN FROM MY 5000.00 MISTAKE.I think the thing that makes me even more mad is the fact that carnival seems as if they dont care about repeat pax this was my 9th cruise........

[yankeesrule]

anyone paying attn

[Stircrzy]

Do a "search"...top right of the front page on this site.

 

Lots of information on the CVC so that people can make informed decisions on this.

 

Look deep before you leap.

[big_duck]

After we bought this (silver pkg) got home and tryed to book something online its not that good of a deal read carefully before you buy points are per person (they dont tell you that when your on the ship)

 

Why state the painfully obvious. :confused:

[Wennfred]

they make it seen to you that you can get two cruises

 

2 cruises? I got 4 out of mine :D are you trying to book Cat. 12 suites?

 

Before Carnival Vacation Club, my adverage cost for a cruise was 1600.00 for 2 and for 4 cruises thats 6400.00 and that doesnt include the airfare. So if you want to add the flyawiegh which for us is 1000.00 from San Diego. thats 2600.00 per cruise and for 4 cruises thats $10,400.00 Now lets go back to CVC, 5000.00 for 4 cruises and only 500.00 for airfare for both because of the 2 for 1 airfare certificates.

 

Old Payements for 4 cruises 2600.00 x 4 = $10,400.00

New CVC Method for 4 cruises 5000.00, and 500.00 per round trip flight if I booked out of Miami at 2000.00 total is only $7000.00

 

Now if I sailed out of San Diego or Long Beach (NO AIRFARE) 4 Cruises would only cost 5000.00 pre-paid with all of CVC Perks and extras. Without CVC its 6400.00 without any Perks, No Airfare Certificates, No Land Shore resort Certificates, No 50% off hotel book, No 50% off Golf Resorts book, No Shoppers Savings Card etc.

 

It all depends how you do the Math, for me I see major savings while getting some awesome Perks.

 

Note: If you just got it, you have a few days to cancel, go for it :) There will be a few less people at the VIP Partys and more drinks for me :D

 

Oh by the way, I just noticed because the 1600.00 above seemed so low, I forgot to include the Port Charges and taxes, so as you can see its actually more then 1600.00 The CVC method, the Port Charges and Taxes are already included.

 

Fred

[LHP]

After we bought this (silver pkg) got home and tryed to book something online its not that good of a deal read carefully before you buy points are per person (they dont tell you that when your on the ship)they make it seen to you that you can get two cruises and that you can stay at any resort for free (NOT) BE CAREFULL LEARN FROM MY 5000.00 MISTAKE.I think the thing that makes me even more mad is the fact that carnival seems as if they dont care about repeat pax this was my 9th cruise........

 

Sorry your CVC experience has not been a good one. It isn't that Carnival doesn't care. It is the fact that Carnival does not own or operate this business venture. Carnival sold ICE the right the use the Carnival name and rented them space. Carnival is working under the assumption that people can read the material and decide if it is (or is not) a good deal for them.

 

If a salesman for ICE misrepresented the product, then your complaint is not against Carnival, but against ICE. It costs you nothing to file a complaint with the State Attorney General's office in the ICE corporate state, if you feel a saleman lied to you. However, the bottom line is that ICE only needs to "produce" the terms of the contract you signed. Sadly, salesmen are salesman...and that is why it is so important to read any contract fully.

 

Some people feel that while the cruise will cost them more, the other perks

(VIP Check In, VIP Parties, VIP Debarkation, discount land resort packages) are worth the extra money. Some people are sold on the fact that their cruise is "prepaid" (again, even if it is more than some other 'deal" you may or may not find).

 

No product is for everyone. We are not members. In our situation, we are Platinum members and already have the most important "perks". We always fly using frequent flyer points - so the companion fare is not a perk. And we don't do "resorts", since we own a motorhome and prefer the RV route.

 

The main thing is for folks to make an informed decision and if it is what they want based on solid information, then more power to them.

 

Personally, (if I were truly interested) I would use the rate you pay of .25 a point and look at the example cruises they use in their presentation..then get online on the ship and find what that exact same cruise and cabin would cost you. If the price is higher, but you still feel the other perks are worth it...then go for it. If they aren't, then don't. If the price is lower, then you get that and the perks.

 

Now that you do have the package, I would read the other posts about how to get the most for your points. You live and learn...and then you buy Luvs!

(to quote a commercial)

[MilliesMom]

After we bought this (silver pkg) got home and tryed to book something online its not that good of a deal read carefully before you buy points are per person (they dont tell you that when your on the ship)they make it seen to you that you can get two cruises and that you can stay at any resort for free (NOT) BE CAREFULL LEARN FROM MY 5000.00 MISTAKE.I think the thing that makes me even more mad is the fact that carnival seems as if they dont care about repeat pax this was my 9th cruise........

 

Definitely go in and do a search on Carnival Vacation Club on this site. You will find LOTS of good information on the pros and cons of joining.

 

If you are a brand new member, you have 3 days after returning home in which to cancel you membership and receive a refund for the money already paid.

 

Our salesman was good and printed out internet sheets for specific cruises and told us that the points were per person AND included all port charges and taxes. The only thing we truly misunderstood was the resort certificates. We thought they were for 7 days at $299. The fine print says "up to 7 days".

 

We are new members too. I doubt that we will renew later, but in the meantime plan to take advantage of the perks and we have booked 2 cruises for 2 people in category 8D balcony rooms. So for us we came out OK. I find the CVC agents on the phone extremely knowlegeable and helpful when we have called in with questions.

 

As with any membership club or time share, it will be a perfect fit for some, Ok for others, and a huge mistake for the remaining.

[LHP]

Definitely go in and do a search on Carnival Vacation Club on this site. You will find LOTS of good information on the pros and cons of joining.

 

If you are a brand new member, you have 3 days after returning home in which to cancel you membership and receive a refund for the money already paid.

 

Our salesman was good and printed out internet sheets for specific cruises and told us that the points were per person AND included all port charges and taxes. The only thing we truly misunderstood was the resort certificates. We thought they were for 7 days at $299. The fine print says "up to 7 days".

 

We are new members too. I doubt that we will renew later, but in the meantime plan to take advantage of the perks and we have booked 2 cruises for 2 people in category 8D balcony rooms. So for us we came out OK. I find the CVC agents on the phone extremely knowlegeable and helpful when we have called in with questions.

 

As with any membership club or time share, it will be a perfect fit for some, Ok for others, and a huge mistake for the remaining.

 

I would like to echo Millies Mom and add one thing:

If you already are a CVC member and don't believe you got the deal you feel you were promised, call a CVC agent and let them do the work for you to get you the most for your money. But please do not call with the attitude of "telling them all your complaints". I am advising this for any CVC member's sake. The CVC agent you speak with is not the one who "mispresented" anything and if you treat them like that, you are not going to get the benefit of all their expertize. I am not posting this to upset anyone, just to make sure that current CVC members who are not "pleased" still get the most for their money. I have read post after post complimenting the CVC agents that folks deal with. The deal is done. Time to move on and make the most of it and your CVC agent is the key to doing that!

[salty dingo]

Keep in mind you are at a big disadvantage on the cruise ship when you get the CVC presentation. You are in a relaxed, happy-go-lucky mood, and the salesman only gives you one side of the story. You probably are not going to go online and research it while you cruise (due to the internet cost) and you have only three days after you get back to do so.

 

Best to research it BEFORE the cruise, and make up your mind, based on the pros and cons of everyone posting here. It works for some, others have had a bad experience.

 

One thing that strikes me the most: cruises are a commodity product. There's lots of competition and the prices are pretty well known. You can get some good deals at certain times of the year and by getting a group rate or other discounts.

 

Now, we are supposed to believe that by advance purchasing, somehow the laws of supply and demand are changed, and suddenly the deals open up that are available no where else, and are good enough to justify taking cash out of an interest-bearing account and into the care of another company for years in advance?

 

Well, maybe. But I'm skeptical. I really don't think the cost of a cruise is going to change much. Plus, a hefty chunk of the timeshare fee is paid to the salespeople, that is typically how things work in the timeshare business. When you try to resell the timeshare, you find out what it is really worth, which is usually a lot less than what was paid.

 

I like the ability to have the entire world of cruising at my fingertips, rather than work within the constraints of a program. It's not for everyone and I am pretty sure it's not for me.