WordGirlFan

My first cruise was in 1985, during my sophomore of college. I took the Carnival Tropicale on the Mexican Riviera cruise the week after school got out and the week before Christmas. I even found the official picture, still in its Carnival cardboard frame, of me and two other girls from UCLA who I was roomed with as part of a tour group some operator put together.

As directed by customer service, I sent a scan copy of that picture and frame to their email address so they could add me to the VIFP program. They said they can't add me unless I provide additional documentation, like receipts.

Do ANY of you who went to college in the 80s still have ANY records of anything like that? Seriously! THEY don't even have records that go back that far, so why would they expect me to? If I had NOTHING, I wouldn't expect them to believe me, but I have more proof that I was there than they have proof that I wasn't!

After looking at other threads here about their VIFP program, it looks like all they would have to give me is a bottle of water the next time we cruise with them. So they want to deny my single piece of valid evidence so they don't have to give me a bottle of water? And based on the other threads here, even if I get Gold, there still isn't all that much benefit! So it makes me doubly mad that they would be so stingy about adding me, when it really costs them nothing, but denying me costs them something - my goodwill.

I just went on my second cruise a few weeks ago, with my husband and teen. We live in Seattle so we took the Norwegian Pearl to Alaska. It was so wonderful, the day after we got back I started thinking about another cruise for 2016. I'd prefer to do the Mexican Riviera in June, but Norwegian only goes there in the cool months when it's hard to work into our school vacation schedule. I even ran into a Carnival rep at my workplace who was there a part of a travel agency promotion. I told her Norwegian makes a big deal about their Latitudes reward, and asked if Carnival had anything similar. She said yes, all I needed was a picture.

I was narrowing down dates and staterooms on the Miracle in June 2016, just waiting to get my reward status validated before I contacted my travel agent, when I got Carnival's mail saying no. I was stunned. I wrote and told them they lost me as a customer, though at that point I still could have been persuaded. But just now I got the customer service wrap up email, so I guess that means they closed my case. You'd better believe I will be filling that out!

I'm sure service on their ships is fine, but if this is an example of the service from their main offices, I'm much better off sticking with Norwegian - I had a minor complaint about the confused notification of maintenance on our balcony, and they sent me a big plate of chocolate covered strawberries and a bottle of wine! And the next time we cruise with them, I get a lot more than a bottle of water!

Has anyone else had problems getting Carnival to accept evidence of a cruise long past?

We just got back from 7 days on the Norwegian Pearl to Alaska and it was awesome. We had a mini suite with a balcony. It was a lovely stateroom with a huge bed for us and a couch that converted for our 14 year old daughter. It had a curtain we could pull between our bed and hers. Since she was out at the teen club almost every night until 1 AM, we found plenty of "private time" in the room before she got in, but I think my husband and daughter both liked having the curtain so she could get dressed over there and at least have the illusion of separation.

We loved the experience so much I'm already thinking about 2016. Norwegian doesn't do the Mexican Riviera in the summer and that's my first choice since we live on the west coast and I don't want to spend a lot on airfare. I'm thinking about the Carnival Miracle since I did that cruise back in 1985 while I was in college and enjoyed it - and I'd get their VIFP benefit. I also hear Carnival has a good teen club, and my daughter will be 15.

The balcony cabin pictures I've seen look a lot like what we had on the Pearl in terms of bed arrangement, but I don't see a curtain. The suites look bigger, but again I don't see any kind of separation between the bed and couch.

It seems like getting two rooms would be a lot more expensive since it's just the three of us.

Any recommendations for how to get the most privacy for the least money with 2 adults and a 15 year old girl on the Carnival Miracle?