Are future cruise certificates really being discontinued after this month?

[LOVECRUISING100%]

Here is the latest news on the upcoming discontinuation of the Future Carnival Vacations certificate program. The decision to discontinue this program was made based on the economic performance of the program. For all sailings departing on or after September 27, 2012 we will no longer offer the Future Carnival Vacations certificate for purchase. All outstanding certificates will be honored up to the expiration date printed on the face of the certificate. While the certificate offer will be discontinued fleet wide, you willl still be offered the convenience of making a confirmed booking onboard during their cruise. Loyalty & Cruise Experts will assist guests in booking their next cruise at the Future Carnival Vacations desk on all ships, except for the Carnival Imagination, Inspiration, Sensation, Spirit and Victory. Guests will be able to select the ship and sail date of their next cruise, and will receive an Onboard Credit of up to $200 per stateroom for their next sailing. The Onboard Credit can be used in conjunction with any other promotion, excluding interline, friends & family and employee reduced rate travel.

UGGGGGG I sail September 30, 2012 and was going to buy 4 !!!!

I'm sailing in Dec .. I was going to buy 2 or 3 ... ugh..

[dclark]

It was free money. What other cruise line offers? I'm thinking none.

 

Some incentive for booking a cruise while on a cruise is more typical and Carnival is simply aligning themselves with the industry and being more competitive. Hardly a cutback.

 

As usual, the minister of CCL propaganda is wrong. Does he know he is wrong and lie just to continue his role as a CCL cheerleader or, does he know what he is saying a lie?

Bottom line is he is wrong, wrong as usual and lacks credibility.

Here's fact- Princess offers the same deal, we buy them every cruise and they continue to offer them.

Again, that is a fact.Princess offers it, NCL offers it, CCL STOPPED. Yes, they stopped offering something that other cruiselines offer.

Cutback!

[ZoeyVictoria]

I used a certificate when I booked the Sensation 3-nighter over Thanksgiving just yesterday. The PVP pointed out that I could not purchase certificates on the Sensation and said that if I am planning to book a 7-night cruise in the future, I might want to hold onto the certificate so the OBC would be higher. I told him that the price for the Thanksgiving cruise is twice the normal price, so I wanted that $100 towards it. He didn't say anything else after I gave him that reason, but now I wonder if he was trying to help me out without divulging the "secret".

[lsw9658]

When we were on the Fascination last week, they were really pushing the Carnival MasterCard and the FCCs were almost an afterthought. Same cruise last year, we could hardly take a step without being told about the value of buying them. Unfortunately, my suspicion was right. Darn.

[092306]

We're cruising in October and planned to buy 2 as we normally do on each cruise since it was available. Really disappointing!

[ShakyBeef]

It was free money. What other cruise line offers? I'm thinking none. You're thinking wrong.

 

Some incentive for booking a cruise while on a cruise is more typical and Carnival is simply aligning themselves with the industry and being more competitive. Hardly a cutback. No, definitely a cutback. How can it be considered anything but?

 

You're really defending this stupid move by Carnival? Really? You're cool with it?:confused:

[UpstateCruizer]

What next????? They are not looking out for their loyal cruisers. We have a cruise next month and planned on buying 2 more, bought 2 two weeks ago. Wish I had known I would have bought more. Not much notice, but another cutback for Carnival.

 

I'm thinking that Carnival actually makes more money off the first time cruiser than they do any of us that are repeat cruisers. Thinking back to our first cruise we purchased more of the pictures and were in total awe of the cruise experience. After getting our feet wet we were more likely to find independent excursions and our purchases on the ship went down. We no longer go to Bingo and the steakhouse is a hit and miss for us as well. People that get hit with a high S&S bill tend to look for ways to get their booze on board when they sail their next cruise. It all goes back to the first time cruiser.

[maryann2]

It was free money. What other cruise line offers? I'm thinking none.

 

 

 

You need to branch out a little.

 

I have FCCs for Celebrity and Royal. Actually Celebrity is the better deal with $300 OBC for 14+ days and no expiry date.

[firefly333]

I'm thinking that Carnival actually makes more money off the first time cruiser than they do any of us that are repeat cruisers. Thinking back to our first cruise we purchased more of the pictures and were in total awe of the cruise experience. After getting our feet wet we were more likely to find independent excursions and our purchases on the ship went down. We no longer go to Bingo and the steakhouse is a hit and miss for us as well. People that get hit with a high S&S bill tend to look for ways to get their booze on board when they sail their next cruise. It all goes back to the first time cruiser.

 

I too think they have decided that is their marketing target, the first time cruisers. Its so obvious they are not trying to keep the repeat cruiser, they want newbies .. and there are always more and more newbies out there, and then these folks can move to other cruiselines .. many of which Carnival owns.

[sra12574]

I'm lucky I have a cruise in a few days , but I'm sad to see this program go . It was a nice incentive to book another cruise down the road . I know when I am on vacation I want to enjoy the trip that I'm on . The few minutes it took to purchase a future cruise certificate didnt take away from that .

I generally prefer all inclusives to cruises but having a 100 towards a cruise already and then getting the obc helped give me incentive to shop some cruises .

How many certificates can you purchase per stateroom ?

[lettienets]

Holland America also has FCCs.

[ShakyBeef]

And NCL. I'm thinking it might be easier to list the major cruise lines that don't offer them.:cool:

[firefly333]

How many certificates can you purchase per stateroom ?

 

As many as you want. Buy half a dozen, since they have to last thru all your bookings the next 2 years. If you dont use all of them they are refundable.

 

I too will buy some on my cruise before the 27th of this month.

[ferfoodle]

And NCL. I'm thinking it might be easier to list the major cruise lines that don't offer them.:cool:

 

Ummm - that would be Carnival. Even Disney has them - I have a co-worker that got one on her last Disney cruise and has already had it applied to her next one coming up.

[larkz]

It was free money. What other cruise line offers? I'm thinking none.

 

Some incentive for booking a cruise while on a cruise is more typical and Carnival is simply aligning themselves with the industry and being more competitive. Hardly a cutback.

 

Yup.

 

Once again, math gets in the way of logic. If anyone adds up the costs of cruising, dollar for dollar Carnival is nearly always the best deal. Whatever razz-a-muh-tazz (perks, special offers, OBC, free drinks, tote bags, etc.) is thrown into the mix, all it takes is basic addition -- at about the level of a third grader. I'll do my research before the cruise and book online if it gets me the best deal. No problem here. I'll skip the stupid OBC submission process.

[ShakyBeef]

Ummm - that would be Carnival. Even Disney has them - I have a co-worker that got one on her last Disney cruise and has already had it applied to her next one coming up.

 

Thank you.

 

Well, there you go, Sarge.:cool:

 

 

BTW, I got a call earlier tonight from a PVP at NCL. When I mentioned that Carnival had just discontinued their FCCs, he gasped and said "Oh, that's a bad idea".

 

Yep, bad idea, Carnival. You know, my 2 favourite cruises were my non-Carnival cruises. You are really making choosing my next cruise easier.

[LetzCruze]

In the beginning they were good for 5 years and the duration has been reduced and reduced. 0 was the natural progression.

 

They were always meant for new bookings only, but people kept using and abusing them for existing bookings and then complaining when Carnival started enforcing the rules that were always stated. Once again, I think people abusing the system brought about its demise.

 

You can still get the equivalent by booking a cruise while on a cruise on select ships. No big deal. Just plan ahead a little.

 

Sarge has made 10 posts in other threads since this and the previous post in this thread. Funny how when he is proven wrong by several posts he vanishes. Please come back sarge and defend this bone headed decision.

[sail2sea]

Carnival doesn't care about repeat cruisers, it's non-news.

 

I don't buy Carnival FCC anymore Carnival is the backup cruise line for us nowadays. Last couple of years we almost always ended up choosing something else. Certs would go wasted.

 

The only Carnival cruise that is not a back plan is the Breeze 8 day next Aug. That one is a front runner.

[foxesden1]

Darn it!

[caribill]

Bummer !! I was going to buy 2 on our upcoming Jan B2B for Jan 2014. Was waiting to book til i got the FCC. Oh well, think i will book anyhow ....prices are good.

 

See, Carnival knows they do not need to have FCCs in order to get your business.

[k2excursion]

Oops! I wish I knew of this last week, when I sent in my FCC online for my 5-day cruise. The email came earlier today showing that it was applied. If I knew about this, I would've held onto it and used it for a longer cruise, and gotten $100 instead of $50 OBC. Oh well! I guess I can book on the ship, if I know of another one I want to do, and get the OBC. When booking on the ship, can I book it for someone who is not on the sailing with me (but would be on the one I'm booking)?

[rebellion69]

Carnival started a little earlier than the Sept 23rd deadline. No fcc on the Inspiration last week.

[Fun, Fun 44]

Carnival started a little earlier than the Sept 23rd deadline. No fcc on the Inspiration last week.

 

 

We did the Paradise 14 day Panama cruise last November. Two days before cruise was over we went to purchase a few. Was told not available to call CCL when we got home. I called our PVP and she gave me a number to call. Only had a few days after cruise to get them. Was given the cert #s over the phone. They have long since been used with no problem. I would certainly try calling TODAY! All they can do is tell ya no.

Good luck to you!

Kat

[lnew1gd1]

Carnival started a little earlier than the Sept 23rd deadline. No fcc on the Inspiration last week.

 

They were never available on the Inspiration. Nor on the Imagination, Sensation or the Victory.

[golfadj]

See, Carnival knows they do not need to have FCCs in order to get your business.

 

Well less and less reason to be loyal to Carnival. Have one on NCL in Feb and could be bye bye Carnival at that point.