Carnival Vacation Club warning.

[Uncle Doug]

We do frequent Myrtle Beach, at least once a year. I never considered using a voucher there, so I owe you a big thanks. Thank you for sharing the information. Because as you have read so far I always thought the scam was the resort vouchers, but instead they are the deal not the cruises.

 

I also think the $299 certificates make up for some of (not all) the short comings of the CVC program. In the two we have used they were both in top notch time share resorts. People may need to be flexable when they can use them in prime locations. If they were transferable I would buy up a few of them myself.

 

Most timeshare listed on Interval International start at $500-600 a week.

[ShineOn]

Thank you for the advice on the resort certificates. Our CVC membership runs out in Nov '09 and we have not used any of the certificates yet. In fact, I was just on the phone with the CVC this afternoon trying to figure out how to get the most out of what's left in our membership. We have only booked one cruise with our points (a balcony for us and interior room for children). We call carnival directly and get a military discount, then we call CVC and register our cruise with them. Just returned from the Mexican Riveria on the Spirit. We did get early on and off and strawberries in the room, but the letter you get telling you to call with any requests is the purser's desk. No CVC staff on board now, so no VIP desk. We did get in the Platinum line to get extra tags for our suitcases - we were told "the Vacation Club Members are welcome to wait in the regular line". Oh well, I hate lines, and that was a big motivator for buying into the CVC. We're going to try and hit the 10 cruise mark before our membership is up - Platinum club here we come! Has anyone else experienced good resorts to use our certificates at? I've heard a few horror stories on other forums, so I'm a little leary. Thanks again for the resorts that have already been recommended!

[Tery]

Dear fellow cruisers, this is critical information of how the Carnival Vacation Club plan works. They only want your money, so forget about their promises. In January of 2005 my family and I cruised on Carnival for our then fourth cruise. We were introduced to a Carnival Vacation Club planner on day 1 of the trip. He was pleasant and very good at what he does. We purchased the silver plan membership good for 5 years at the cost of $4995. Along with that came numerous promises, a token gift and the visions of 4 future happy cruises.

 

Well the companion airfare tickets expired after only two years, the 4 oceanview 7 day cruises we were told that we prepaid now are worth 4, 7 day cruises with interior staterooms or, 2 1/2, 7 day oceanview cruises. The cruise points decrease in value the longer you hold them. Airline tickets expire in 2 years not in 5 years like your membership and the value of each point is worth only 17 1/2 cents, which we bought 20 thousand. Just do simple math and you will see how much you actually paid for the cruise. You will get much better deals with your T/A trust me. They are rude, do not budge an inch and politely tell you that you should have read the really fine print. In other words, stay awayH fromopefully you all will Iposted once that C.C. god is money.Tery.

[Tery]

Dear fellow cruisers, this is critical information of how the Carnival Vacation Club plan works. They only want your money, so forget about their promises. In January of 2005 my family and I cruised on Carnival for our then fourth cruise. We were introduced to a Carnival Vacation Club planner on day 1 of the trip. He was pleasant and very good at what he does. We purchased the silver plan membership good for 5 years at the cost of $4995. Along with that came numerous promises, a token gift and the visions of 4 future happy cruises.

 

Well the companion airfare tickets expired after only two years, the 4 oceanview 7 day cruises we were told that we prepaid now are worth 4, 7 day cruises with interior staterooms or, 2 1/2, 7 day oceanview cruises. The cruise points decrease in value the longer you hold them. Airline tickets expire in 2 years not in 5 years like your membership and the value of each point is worth only 17 1/2 cents, which we bought 20 thousand. Just do simple math and you will see how much you actually paid for the cruise. You will get much better deals with your T/A trust me. They are rude, do not budge an inch and politely tell you that you should have read the really fine print. In other words, stay away from this ripoff scam. Hopefully you all will benefit from our loss.

I posted already once that C.C.god is money.Tery.

[ShineOn]

We finally managed to use the rest of our pts last night - yeah! I'm free!! :) A few tips to get the most out of the membership (would I do it again? Absolutely not!). I did all my research in advance and came up with 4 options. I printed the prices from carnival.com directly (and called just to see what our military rate would be on the actual cruise that came out as #1 - much cheaper than what CVC could offer, about $300), then I pulled the 4 options off of their web site with a break down of pts required. Now here's the common sense portion - it doesn't pay to get mad at the person on the phone, so I just held my cool and kept running different scenerios.

 

Here were my lessons learned. The cruise we went with put me over my pts by 471. You can now purchase additional pts no matter where you live, however, it costs you .25 per pt, not the .175 value that they claim (even though .175 was over inflated compared to what I could find on my own). You can only purchase additional what you own (ie, if you own 100 pts, you can only purchase 100 more), so try to use all your pts. The pts I pulled from their web site yesterday were not accurate. They had an increase that wasn't updated yet - yeah right! So my two 4 day B2B trips with ocean views were 7,435 total (for 2 people) - an overage of 854, not the 471 I calculated. My pleasant suprise was the total pts included the taxes, fees and the new fuel surcharge. I had thought I would be paying that seperate.

 

One more caution, if you are redeeming your certificates for discounts on the fares, it does cost you $149 to redeem. This can not be combined with the pts. I thought I could be clever and pay $149 for my $213.50 overage :rolleyes: It only applies to cash purchase cruises. And only 1 certificate can be used - you cannot combine them and try to get a "free" one.

 

Our goal is to get to cruise #10 by the time our "vip" privilidges run out in Nov '09. On a brighter note, I had enough pts on my rewards credit card to pay for airline tickets and hotel. So I'm thrilled to say we will be sailing out of Miami in Feb on the Imagination & then the Fascination for a virtually "free" trip instead of waiting a whole year and cruising next winter.

[Uncle Doug]

These are the two Westgate Resorts we stayed at with our $299 CVC certificates.

 

http://www.westgateresorts.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=resort_detail.show_resort_details&resortID=WESTGATE_SMOKY_MOUNTAIN

 

http://www.westgateresorts.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=resort_detail.show_resort_details&resortID=WESTGATE_EMERALD_POINTE

 

Westgate is one of the largest timeshare retailers in the US.

[ShineOn]

Thank you so much Uncle Doug!! That is very helpful. I couldn't find the one on Emerald Point. What state is that in?

[Uncle Doug]

Thank you so much Uncle Doug!! That is very helpful. I couldn't find the one on Emerald Point. What state is that in?

 

It is about 10 miles south of Branson, MO, Right on the water front of Table Rock Lake. Far enough out of town to miss the traffic but close to run in for meals if needed. We had a 3rd floor one bedroom with a 12x12 screened in balcony overlooking the lake. There was also a full kitchen. They also had access to a marina for those who brought their own boat.

[ShineOn]

That's pefect! We were hoping to find something within driving distance of home (Omaha). Thank you, thank you, thank you! Those slips of paper might be worth something now :D

[Uncle Doug]

That's pefect! We were hoping to find something within driving distance of home (Omaha). Thank you, thank you, thank you! Those slips of paper might be worth something now :D

 

It is not a bad drive, we drove it from Houston in about 11 hours. There was another Westgate in Branson and we drove by to look at it.

 

We actually took another time share tour in Branson (not Wesgate, to get free show tickets) they thought for sure the had another sale and actually got pissed when we told them we already have a timeshare and were just there for the free stuff.

[wanderingjew]

I am confused by this comment. Where do they still sell new packages? They are not allowed to sell in the US and all the offices on board all the Carnival ships have been closed. CVC will cease to exist in May 2012 when the last contract runs out.

they are trying to extend my membership for another 5 years at 995 with cruise discounts im waiting to hear how others if they purchased it

[terri910]

If anything this thread will save many people lots of their hard earned dollars. Except for a few satisfied customer's the responses and feelings of others have been equal to mine. And I have spoke to nearly a hundred people that have experienced the same bad . I wish someone would have written about this sooner.

Sooner that what -- now?

 

*LOL*

 

Sorry, for laughing, but threads about CVC were around a long time ago.

 

I am one of the "few" satisfied customers. We did exactly what you say CVC has politely told you you should have done: read the fine print. Consequently, it worked exactly as we understood it would. We never bothered with the companion air. The free week's stay at a resort worked perfectly (one of our favorite land-based vacations, ever, at the Reef Club Cozumel; we even won a second free week at a drawing while on our free stay!), and we used our points (we bought the cheapest, 2-year membership) for our 12-night Mediterranean cruise, and saved a bit (not a lot) by doing so. We mainly bought it for the VIP perks because we were not yet Platinum with Carnival, and those perks have worked perfectly on every cruise, and were worth it to us.

 

Having said all that, they have tried to get us to renew our membership, but we've declined. It worked fine for us, but our next cruise we are Platinum, and figure we don't really need it.

[triplee]

Folks,

 

It is better to be once,

 

than to be repeatedly:

 

 

Lee

[LHP]

they are trying to extend my membership for another 5 years at 995 with cruise discounts im waiting to hear how others if they purchased it

 

Ok, I understand now.

 

IMHO, as someone who never purchased one of their "packages", it truly depends on the individual.

 

The two questions you should ask yourself is this...is VIP Check In and Debarkation worth $995.00?

 

Will you sail enough to make it worth the money?

 

For example, if you are not close to getting these priviledges for free (IE Platinum) and you will be cruising once a year for the next 5 years....THEN

you are basically paying $200.00 a year for VIP Check In and Debarkation...IF you cruise on Carnival. (I may be wrong, but from memory I am thinking that Carnival is the only cruise line that you get this perk with.)

 

However, if you only cruise ONCE in those 5 years...then you are paying $995.00 for ONE VIP Check In and Debarkation.

 

Now, if you are already a Platinum member, then you get these perks for free...so extending the package would not be of any financial benefit.

 

Only you can decide if it is worth the money.

 

Happy Cruising!!

[terri910]

Ok, I understand now.

 

IMHO, as someone who never purchased one of their "packages", it truly depends on the individual.

 

The two questions you should ask yourself is this...is VIP Check In and Debarkation worth $995.00?

 

Will you sail enough to make it worth the money?

 

For example, if you are not close to getting these priviledges for free (IE Platinum) and you will be cruising once a year for the next 5 years....THEN

you are basically paying $200.00 a year for VIP Check In and Debarkation...IF you cruise on Carnival. (I may be wrong, but from memory I am thinking that Carnival is the only cruise line that you get this perk with.)

 

However, if you only cruise ONCE in those 5 years...then you are paying $995.00 for ONE VIP Check In and Debarkation.

 

Now, if you are already a Platinum member, then you get these perks for free...so extending the package would not be of any financial benefit.

 

Only you can decide if it is worth the money.

 

Happy Cruising!!

So....the $995 doesn't buy you "points" with which you can purchase cruise(s)?

 

If That $995 buys you points that can be redeemed for a cruise, then your statement that if you cruise once you are paying $995 for those perks is misleading.

 

But I would agree that the value of CVC membership depends upon the individual.

[LHP]

So....the $995 doesn't buy you "points" with which you can purchase cruise(s)?

 

If That $995 buys you points that can be redeemed for a cruise, then your statement that if you cruise once you are paying $995 for those perks is misleading.

 

But I would agree that the value of CVC membership depends upon the individual.

 

After years of discussion on this, it has been made apparently clear that "points" were never the benefit of CVC. It was the perks of VIP Check In and Debarkation and other things (some of which are no longer offered).

 

Time and time again it has been shown that the whole 25 cents vs 17.5 cents per point controversy was indeed the "slight of hand" that sunk the CVC program. So points are never a good reason to "extend" the membership.

 

Again, one should only extend IF the VIP Check In and Debarkation (which is the only perk that has consistantly been honored) is worth it to them.

[gman0119]

I've been on the phone with the "New and Improved" CVC a few times in the last few days. It is another under company of ICE, called Vacation Rewards. When you agree to sign with them for the $995, you get 10,000 points. When you book your first cruise, you can redeem those points for up to $1000 discount of your room. You can use any cruise line, not just Carnival. For the next 3 years, until all CVC contracts run out, you will get the CVC perks, like priority boarding and leaving, VIP status, etc. After CVC ceases to exist, you get no perks like you had. Any cruises that you book through them are guaranteed lowest rate (if you meet the requirements), and you get 2 points for every dollar you spend THROUGH THEM on bookings of Cruises, condos, etc. You get 1 point per dollar for some other things like hotels, car rentals, flights. You also get some "free points" for joining that can be used for condo rental. I can't remember how many.

 

So is it a good deal??? Since your initial investment is paid back on your first cruise, it might be. If you cruise or travel a lot, then yes, I think it would be worth the money. If you plan on going on 1 or 2 cruises, and not much vacation in between, then maybe not. Just something you have to decide for yourself...

 

The new place has a web site that doesn't tell you anything. Vacationrewards.com If you read the fine print, such as the complete terms, it never tells you the sign up price of $995, but it will tell you the point values. The best value is the 10K = $1000. The others are less. Guess if I was running a company, and I had someone that was confident they were going to spend 5k, I'd be glad to let them earn a discount of 1/5th! (Hope you follow that math!)

 

Anyway, that is the scoop. If it helps or hurts, whatever. Look at my signature line...

[LHP]

I've been on the phone with the "New and Improved" CVC a few times in the last few days. It is another under company of ICE, called Vacation Rewards. When you agree to sign with them for the $995, you get 10,000 points. When you book your first cruise, you can redeem those points for up to $1000 discount of your room. You can use any cruise line, not just Carnival. For the next 3 years, until all CVC contracts run out, you will get the CVC perks, like priority boarding and leaving, VIP status, etc. After CVC ceases to exist, you get no perks like you had. Any cruises that you book through them are guaranteed lowest rate (if you meet the requirements), and you get 2 points for every dollar you spend THROUGH THEM on bookings of Cruises, condos, etc. You get 1 point per dollar for some other things like hotels, car rentals, flights. You also get some "free points" for joining that can be used for condo rental. I can't remember how many.

 

So is it a good deal??? Since your initial investment is paid back on your first cruise, it might be. If you cruise or travel a lot, then yes, I think it would be worth the money. If you plan on going on 1 or 2 cruises, and not much vacation in between, then maybe not. Just something you have to decide for yourself...

 

The new place has a web site that doesn't tell you anything. Vacationrewards.com If you read the fine print, such as the complete terms, it never tells you the sign up price of $995, but it will tell you the point values. The best value is the 10K = $1000. The others are less. Guess if I was running a company, and I had someone that was confident they were going to spend 5k, I'd be glad to let them earn a discount of 1/5th! (Hope you follow that math!)

 

Anyway, that is the scoop. If it helps or hurts, whatever. Look at my signature line...

 

As I posted on the other thread....the "catch" is that CVC (or whatever they are calling themselves) CONTROLS the price you pay for the cruise!

 

If their cruises are $1,000 more than you can get the same cruise for through any Internet cruise service...then you have spent $995.00 for nothing...except whatever other perks comes with the package.

 

That is why I have always said not to purchase these plans UNLESS the VIP Check In and Debarkation is worth the money spent to you. Each individual can decide if it is worth $995.00.

[terri910]

After years of discussion on this, it has been made apparently clear that "points" were never the benefit of CVC. It was the perks of VIP Check In and Debarkation and other things (some of which are no longer offered).

 

Time and time again it has been shown that the whole 25 cents vs 17.5 cents per point controversy was indeed the "slight of hand" that sunk the CVC program. So points are never a good reason to "extend" the membership.

 

Again, one should only extend IF the VIP Check In and Debarkation (which is the only perk that has consistantly been honored) is worth it to them.

But the point isn't that the points were the "benefit," but they were used to purchase something: cruises. That the $995 is buying ONLY the perks would be the misleading part of your statement. Let's say that instead of the 17.5 vs. 25 cent ratio going in the direction some thought it would, it went in the other direction (i.e., for every 25 cents you spent purchasing the point, it only bought you 17.5 cents toward a cruise) The difference, figuring 17.5 cents vs. 25 cents, is that your $995 would buy you $696.50 worth of cruise (assuming that the point system is like it was before), a difference of $298.50. So, assuming your figures are correct, the perks are costing $298.50, not $995.00.

 

See what I mean?

 

Hey, if CVC is a bad deal for someone, it's a bad deal, but point out why it is a bad deal accurately. No need to make it sound worse than it is.