picantel

My thoughts- This is still mainly a cruise for the balcony and drink package. The in room gifts were 'meh' at best. The games were nice but everyone would have preferred cash instead. Everyone I talked to got completely murdered on the slots which were even tighter than usual so any value was removed. The biggest complaint I got from talking to people were the drawings. I kid you not one lady got called on every single drawing while many people were not called at all. They should have excluded the guests from the drawing and only allowed the invited elite member to participate. The bounce back offers were the worst though. $100 for another cruise with $100 credit yet there was only ONE cruise at that price. The rest were hundreds of dollars. I thought when the elite cruises came out that Carnival had finally learned their lesson and were going to treat their casino customers like treasured guests but this did not happen. Elite cruises are nice but they still have a long way to go.

Day 7

In room gifts- none

Elite slot tournament- the usual they play on the ship only this was for elites. I have no clue what the prizes were as I flamed out in the first round as usual

Elite draw- around $700 but in pure cash this time

Day 6

In room gifts- they combined today's gifts and tomorrows into one giveaway. Each person got an engraved hot/cold tumbler, a chcolate bar, an engraved stainless steel coffee cup, and split a french coffee press. They were very nice.

Elite draw- around $600. 1 winner as usual

Fill My Bag- they called 6 people who each picked a number. You held out a bag and they put a prize and freeplay(starting at $250). They then picked one number and that person was eliminated. You then got another prizes(we are talking towels, cups, ect) and another freeplay that gained value). The last person ended up with something like $1700 in freeplay.

Day 5

In room gift- box of salted chocolate caramels(1 box for 2 people)

Sail away party(from San Juan)- free drinks which you get anyway and snacks. They did a drawing for 3 bottles of liquor(higher quality). People just sat around and drank. There was a DJ

Dinner- steakhouse. I did not go as I knew it would be a long dinner(3 hours to be precise) and was given 2 free dinners at cucina and a bottle of wine instead.

Elite draw- around $500

Lucky Card Draw- they had about a dozen cards and you picked and were given prizes which ranged from maybe $200-$500. I do not remember the exact amounts. More people got to play this one.

Day 4

In room gift- box of 12 cookies(the ones they sell at the coffee bar so 4 flavors)

Elite draw- around $400

Tower of Cash- another interesting game with around 5 people called.You can to stack cups in rows and you had 60 seconds to do so. Each row was worth a set amount when completed starting with I believe $200 and going on up. If you complete the entire thing you get 1k freeplay(which somebody did)

Day 3

I will have to go from some memory here which is not saying a ton but I still have a list of activities so will do the best I can.

This was the day of our lifestyle serenity VIP resort getaway in Amber Cove. We took 2 buses over there and it was a nice day. Note to those who go on this- DO NOT get on a golf cart and let them take you anywhere. NO NO NO. I forgot my suntan lotion and needed to get over to their gift shop which is too far to walk. I never made it there. They took me on a 1.5 hour tour and refused to take me back. Unreal.

In room gifts- 2 large bottle of water(lol)

Elite draw- it was I believe for $500 but there was a rollover. This is freeplay of course

Cash Pong- bounce the ping pong ball and hope to get it in a bag containing cash. They drew about 5 names. They had a small glass worth 1k which someone actually got and the rest were for a few hundred. You get I believe 5+ balls each.

Day 2 continued.

I was wanted to add that at 11 PM they played another elite game in the casino called dodge the bull. They ended up with 6 players because all the elites kept chanting one more person. You roll a die and that is how many wheel spins you get. You spin a wheel that is made up of cash amounts or bulls(roughly a third bulls). If u hit a bull your spins are over. If you hit cash then you spin up until the number of your dice roll. This is for freeplay in slots or table game only. It was a ton of fun.

Is top shelf liquor comped for elite cruises ? Or does it vary player to player or levels.

I honestly am not sure since I do not drink. They did say 15 of anything and it seems to be coded differently than the cheers program as some cashiers were confused and some said oh you are elite.

Day 2

Elite cruise draw- $300. If the person is not present they roll it over to the next day and do not redraw. They did draw $100 until they had a winner.

Room delivery- a bottle of red wine and a fruit supreme basket from cherry on top. It had various fruits and cheeses. I do not believe there are anymore elite events for this day.

I should mention they also delivered two bottles of water and a plate with chocolate strawberries and truffles. These are for platinum guests which I was already. Elites are given platinum status on the cruise so I can assume they will get the same platinum perks.

Day 1

Got on the ship at 11 and went straight to the room. The alcohol was waiting but nothing else as the room was not ready. By 11:30 the room was ready and one 6 pack of soda was available. Luggage did not come until 1 and the second soda package came around 3.

The welcome party started at 1:30. You pick up your excursion tickets, steakhouse invitation, and cheers package. They serve finger foods like tiny hotdogs, chicken wings, chicken salad, cheese, ect. Drinks were very hard to get as most of the time there was one bartender for roughly 80 people. After 45 minutes someone asked when the presentation started and we were told there was none so we left with half the people.

Elite drawing- there is one for one person and guests 18 and over are included so this was a total bust. With 70 to 80 people there is pretty much no way to win. The prize was $200.

From a personal view this cruise is not really for me. The value is in the cheers program and free balcony. I am in my late 40s and was either the youngest or close to it elite member. More to come. I am typing on my phone so please excuse any grammar errors.

I talked to a cashier on the carnival sunshine(which in my opinion is the smokiest casino in a cruise ship) and it was a sad conversation. She said she knew she would die young of lung cancer but had nowhere else to go. They need a better filter there because I always get sick on that ship from the smoking.

October 1(5 days out): cruise boarding passes are finally available to print. Unlike normal cruises they are not available until a few days before the trip. Next update on the day of the cruise.

Cruise is October 6th. I guesstimate I got the offer 3 to 4 months ago but not sure.

September 11, 2018.

Received welcome email with further information.

1)automatically become platinum with priority access

2) free social wi-fi plan

3) 1 hour meeting 1:30-2:30. meet hosts. get activity plan. pick up drink card/lanyard

4) get information on free excursion in Amber Cove- Lifestyle Serenity VIP Resort Getaway

5) get information on casino events and drawings

6) get information on San Juan sail away party

I hope they do not mind me posting this. This looks like my last email before the cruise so I will put in more information when the cruise starts.

Sorry my chart got blended together

September 10, 2018

Received email from carnival Carnival's global casino services. They are asking for information such as arriving/departing by air, parking at the port, and staying at a hotel. They are also asking for full details such as times, airline, hotel, ect.

The second part of the email is asking for the drink of choice for the invited guest and their companion. Each person gets 1 choice from the alcohol side and 1 from the soft drink side. They are asking for all information to be emailed back to them within 1 week in which time they will send out more information.

Drink list:

Conundrum By Caymus (White Wine)

No matter how much I google I can only find a little bit of information about Carnivals Elite cruises. Because of this I will post my experiences as they come in. This is a work in progress of course.

Date of cruise: October 6, 2018

Cruise ship: Carnival Breeze

What kind of play makes urcomped and the cruise ship happy to get other offers i.e. coin in per day, losses, ect? Thanks.

Recently sailed both RC and MSC(3 times) thru URCOMPED, and drinks are free in both casinos, when casino is opened. No earning points first. RC 24000 points are for future cruises, but with URCOMPED they are free. Cant beat the deals you get thru URCOMPED. Just booked our 5th cruise thru them

Safe sailing

 

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I have a cruise in December through urcomped and RC. What kind of play are they looking for. I usually do about 10k points on carnival for whatever that is worth but I always get creamed on cruise ship casinos and I wonder what they would do if I get smashed the first night. Are they looking for actual loss or coin in and if so how much on a 7 day cruise makes them happy? Thanks.

Just letting people know that if you cannot do the elite offer or want another free cruise sign up at urcomped and scan and send a copy of your free elite cruise. I did that a couple of weeks ago and will be going on the Oasis in December for just port charges. They matched the balcony offer.

Btw it says there is a welcome and goodbye gift given. Can someone who has been on an elite cruise let me know what they got. Also it stated there are many daily drawings so does anyone know what they give i.e. types and amounts. This is a curiosity and my kid and I are dying to know. Thanks.

I did not get an email again but did get the flyer today about the elite cruise and also booked the October 6th cruise out of port canaveral.

I e mailed them a few times starting Saturday. They replied late Wednesday, gave me a # to call, called Thursday first thing and got it booked.

Nice job getting it. I still have not heard back from them even on a followup email. It has been 9 days now.

I was able to call them and was told the cruise was booked. They lied to me again. I have had it with carnival and will take my business elsewhere.

Rascaldog- Can you tell me when you emailed them and when they contacted you? I emailed for the same trip on saturday afternoon around 1pm e.s.t. and have not heard back from them at all. Did they call or email you? Thanks