PVP vs carnival.com

[evandbob]

I might try getting an agent from the Diamond Desk assigned to my bookings from now on........

[firemanbobswife]

I might try getting an agent from the Diamond Desk assigned to my bookings from now on........

 

Or you can just ask a cruising friend that has a real good one for a recommendation.

[Micahs Grandad]

Or you can just ask a cruising friend that has a real good one for a recommendation.

 

That is how we got our current one and he is good. Have noticed that the people on the diamond desk can get things approved that a pvp cannot.

[USA41018]

Been cruising with Carnival since 2004. Next cruise October 21 will be our 40th Carnival cruise. Have used the same PVP since our first cruise in 2004. She has been with Carnival since 1999. Love her and she is always available for us to help or answer questions. Even after all these cruises, things do come up and we need information or help.

[Towel Critter]

That's true. The bad ones can be really bad and in that case, it would be less hassle to do it yourself or take your chances with the CSRs that answer the phone :eek:. Luckily we don't have that problem ;)!

Yep, the CSRs would be the very last option I would choose. Some of them are clueless. At least one anyway. I was unlucky enough to get her when I called to do a 24 hour hold once. I'll spare you the boring details, but it was a MESS. So now, my method of booking, in order of preference, is 1. A GOOD PVP ;). 2. DIY. 3. CSR. 4. Stay at home. :D

[winddawn]

I'm another PVP fan. I've had the same PVP for several years, and her help is invaluable to me. In addition to answering all my questions, she gets my shareholder credit applied for me and handles other requests like getting my milestone credit applied, etc. She always seeks out better cabins for me when I call her to make a booking; cabins that don't show online. When I book early saver, she handles my price drop requests for me. She's also helped with other things in the past, like getting my credit applied for referring a new customer to Carnival. She's let me know about casino promotions coming up. A few weeks ago, I was cleaning out a drawer and found an old Carnival gift certificate someone had given me for Christmas in 2011 (from prior to the gift cards they offer today), and I called my PVP and she told me exactly what to do to get it applied. That saved me $50 on my next cruise. I've never booked my cruise on Carnival's website. I really appreciate the great service I get from my PVP.

[Organized Chaos]

I think it depends on the situation. If it's a simple booking and you know that you know you are getting a good location and there won't be any unpleasant surprises, then booking yourself is perfectly fine and safe. If, on the other hand, you need to book multiple rooms, a B2B, or there are questions you have, then a PVP is probably the way to go. One advantage of a PVP is that they can see available cabins that aren't showing up on the Carnival site.

In defense of the CSR's, they can see cabins not visible online, too. Or at least the one we booked with back in March could. But I agree with everyone, many of them are difficult to deal with.

 

At that time, the website/system was working really good. We needed three cabins and when I asked her about one of them, she said it wasn't available. Turns out, I had that one "reserved" in my mock booking. As soon as I backed out of my mock booking, boom, she could see it as available almost instantly. So once upon a time, the site ran smoothly. We really liked that girl. She was knowledgeable, helpful, extremely friendly, and had a good time with us on the phone. I even asked if we could always reach her, but she said no, they don't have extensions for customers. I think she deserves a promotion to PVP.