banzaii Posted March 23, 2018 #1 Share Posted March 23, 2018 I couldn't care less that we can't get Cheers packages but I don't think it fair that others can't have one on Australian cruises.[emoji35] I recently asked Carnival Australia if I could order flowers for my sister's cabin for our upcoming cruise to celebrate her birthday. Not available in Australia![emoji35] [emoji35] I like the idea of the cooler bags with water available in the US fun shop. Not in Oz![emoji35] [emoji35] [emoji35] Now I find out that finally, photo packages are available on Carnival. I love to get some professional photos taken because we rarely get dolled up and need to provide proof to those back home that we scrub up OK. BUT, I hate having to choose a limited number of prints and having no optiin for digital copies. Not to mention the pressure of choosing pics on their timelines at their convenience. My celebration was short lived when reading the fine print - "Pixel packages are not available for Australia sailings."[emoji35] [emoji35] [emoji35] [emoji35] With all these restrictions on Australian Sailings, I really wonder - Does Carnival Australia seriously hate Australians or just our money? [emoji72] Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banzaii Posted March 23, 2018 Author #2 Share Posted March 23, 2018 Oh and before I get the inevitable "If you don't like it sail with someone else", Carnival are not my first choice of cruiseline, but they do have winter itineraries. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Tigerlily75 Posted March 23, 2018 #3 Share Posted March 23, 2018 It is annoying, I agree. The US ships also have free room service. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banzaii Posted March 24, 2018 Author #4 Share Posted March 24, 2018 I also forgot that for Aussie sailings you have manually add your sailings to get VIFP points. I know the list isn't exhaustive - it just doesn't make sense that everything is different in Oz. Cheers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kiwi_cruiser Posted March 24, 2018 #5 Share Posted March 24, 2018 It is annoying, I agree. The US ships also have free room service. Not any more, Carnival are just about to change that, so you have to pay for room service on all there ships. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Big_M Posted March 24, 2018 #6 Share Posted March 24, 2018 I also forgot that for Aussie sailings you have manually add your sailings to get VIFP points. I know the list isn't exhaustive - it just doesn't make sense that everything is different in Oz. Cheers It makes sense in that the ships are operated separately when they are here. That is necessary to enable them to operate in AUD for example. They become under Carnival Australia's control so are taken out of the Carnival US system even though still part of the same line. As such, they don't have the systems to operate everything as is done in the US. Certainly inconvenient, or annoying, but there is a reason. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Tigerlily75 Posted March 24, 2018 #7 Share Posted March 24, 2018 I'm pretty sure my second cruise went on automatically, I checked before my next upcoming cruise and all the points are there.. maybe I did it myself ages ago and just don't remember, but I did automatically get my free gifts on my second cruise. VIFP is still done through the US site, actually every time I call Carnival I get Miami, I don't think they have a call centre here at all. The US room service currently has some paid items but quite a bit is still free, including continental breakfast delivery (where you put the card out the night before), but maybe they're changing it again. I do like that we have all in one pricing, what you see is what you pay, gratuities are just incorporated into the fare. Having just booked two NCL cruises out of the US, you have to go through a whole mock booking to see added gratuities, plus taxes, plus port fees.. At least we get the Faster to the Fun option now, that used to be US only, maybe all these things will eventually make their way here! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare MMDown Under Posted March 25, 2018 #8 Share Posted March 25, 2018 What annoys me the most is "it is as if we don't know that Aussies are treated less favourably" by the cruise lines. We know! I was just researching a new adventure cruise ship when I was automatically diverted to the Aussie website. I wasn't making a booking. Needless to say, that was the end of my research. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter69 Posted March 26, 2018 #9 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Banzai I got off Saturday & I got e-mail with VIFP offers today. It showed the 5 nights/points on my e-mail. Just 103 to go now to make Diamond.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banzaii Posted March 26, 2018 Author #10 Share Posted March 26, 2018 Banzai I got off Saturday & I got e-mail with VIFP offers today. It showed the 5 nights/points on my e-mail. Just 103 to go now to make Diamond.... Sounds like progress. There are still quotes on the US site saying you have to call them to add Australian sailings. Doesn't surprise me that the website isn't current. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Missusdubbya Posted March 27, 2018 #11 Share Posted March 27, 2018 It makes sense in that the ships are operated separately when they are here. That is necessary to enable them to operate in AUD for example. They become under Carnival Australia's control so are taken out of the Carnival US system even though still part of the same line. As such, they don't have the systems to operate everything as is done in the US. Certainly inconvenient, or annoying, but there is a reason. It is very frustrating that we don’t have the same options as US customers. There is no need to have a separate entity of “carnival Australia”. No need to charge in AUD, Royal Caribbean don’t and it is fine with me. Sent from my iPhone using Forums Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The_Big_M Posted March 27, 2018 #12 Share Posted March 27, 2018 It is very frustrating that we don’t have the same options as US customers. There is no need to have a separate entity of “carnival Australia”. No need to charge in AUD, Royal Caribbean don’t and it is fine with me. Fine with you, but many others prefer Australian dollars. However, choice is what gives people options, so it's better to have those options to cater for different preferences. That said, it's rare for anything to suit everyone's preferences completely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter69 Posted March 27, 2018 #13 Share Posted March 27, 2018 I think that's proberly one of RCL biggest bugbears with Australian cruisers. Charging in USD.. I Hear it here & on Carnival, P&O & Princess forums... I'm lucky & I can easily work-out conversion rates. But charging the same in USD for a drink as those cruise lines that charge in AUS is not what i like.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hunter69 Posted March 27, 2018 #14 Share Posted March 27, 2018 I also forgot that for Aussie sailings you have manually add your sailings to get VIFP points. I know the list isn't exhaustive - it just doesn't make sense that everything is different in Oz. Cheers Oh Banzaii; there was talk last week about cutting back Gold VIFP from the cocktail party; as there has been 300 plus lately.. Sorry if your gold.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Velvetwater Posted March 27, 2018 #15 Share Posted March 27, 2018 As a Carnival international cruiser it annoys me that I can't add my Carnival days I have collected from US and European sailings to an Oz VIFP account and vica versa. It was one of the things that I considered when I didn't book a Spirit sailing a while back. I don't think its anything against you guys btw as Carnival always has no ship here in Europe for years (and a short season if it does) and even though we have cheers and partially free room service theres lots of things US sailings have we do not get. Its all about their US market. Gold haven't been at the past guest parties for over 3 years in the States. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
banzaii Posted March 28, 2018 Author #16 Share Posted March 28, 2018 Oh Banzaii; there was talk last week about cutting back Gold VIFP from the cocktail party; as there has been 300 plus lately.. Sorry if your gold.. I don't really care about loyalty perks as much as wanting equality with what's on offer. I'm quite happy to pay for what I'd like to improve my cruise, rather than have them rolled into some quasi reward scheme that increases my up front costs. It surely doesn't cost Carnival (Oz or US) much to use the same suppliers of Fun Shop items and ship to the HQ in both countries. I'm not a big drinker but it irks me that we are treated like we are alcoholics and therefore CA doesn't offer drink packages. It's like Carnival Oz doesn't understand Australian socio-economics enough to realise there is less of a class distinction than in the US. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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