After all this time I never asked pros and cons of having PVP

[kcdancerkc]

We always do our own thorough research. That is part of the fun in planning for us. 11th cruise coming in January, and never thought to get the scoop!

 

Are the demographics that use PVP not tech savy? I am really not being negative, but totally curious, just no experience in using this service.

 

Are there any downsides? Pros and cons?

 

Is it that mostly those PAX with higher status automatically use PVP for perks?

 

Thanks for educating me. :cool:

[jmcathome]

Major Pro of having a PVP is having a contact that you can call for any problems which might occur. Does not save you any money or cost you anything extra. They take care of any minor things that you might need before your cruise. Mine does check for price reductions and of the paperwork when early saver. will book for you and is able to see some rooms available which do not appear on website.

I have gone with and without easier with

[Micahs Grandad]

Nice having someone at the cruise line that has access to everyone and can solve problems quickly for us.

 

We just tell pvp we will call when ready please do not call unless they have some info they need for us to get.

 

Lots of threads on this topic so for more info suggest you look thru the first 4-5 pages of the boards.

[RWolver672]

We always do our own thorough research. That is part of the fun in planning for us. 11th cruise coming in January, and never thought to get the scoop! So do we. Then I call him and tell him which cabins we want.

 

Are the demographics that use PVP not tech savy? I am really not being negative, but totally curious, just no experience in using this service. Tech savy has nothing to do with it. He sees and knows more about the different ships than we do. He knows which is the best rate, what we like, etc. We always sail with B and SIL. I ask for what cabins in the area that we want have balconies that connect. He finds them, then I book one and he puts a hold on the other. I call SIL and she then calls him and books the other.

 

 

Are there any downsides? Pros and cons? I've never encountered any downsides. As others have mentioned, if you have any questions, he's there to answer them.

 

 

Is it that mostly those PAX with higher status automatically use PVP for perks? Status has nothing to do with it. And PVPs don't offer perks. We are becoming Platinum on our next cruise and we've used a PVP for the last four or five cruises. We use to use a TA but every time we had a question, she had to call Carnival to find the answer. Now we just call the PVP. One less step.

 

Thanks for educating me. :cool:

 

You're welcome.

[elcuchio24]

I have never seen any pro beyond calling and talking to someone vs doing it online. I think the tech-unsavy folks are more likely to use a traditional travel agent.

 

I have nothing against PVPs, it just ends up being the same as if I book myself online so it just comes down to is what is more convenient for you the day you want to book your cruise.

 

The one downside, I guess, is the 'XXXX from CCL calling you to tell you about an exciting offer!' call ever two weeks hahaha

[BoDidly]

Most of this I can do on my own. With the exception of a PVP can see cabins that are not available to the general public on cruise websites.

[firemanbobswife]

I call him and tel him what I want, he books it. It also links our reservations together and if there are price drops on any of my family’s cabins I can call him and he will handle it. Also Carnival moved my cabin and he was able to get it straightened out with one phone call. I didn’t have to talk to a supervisor and repeat my story. If there are issues he is a huge asset. Again, one call to someone who knows what they’re doing and knows the higher ups personally saves me time and aggravation.

 

I know more than many of the CSRs that answer the 800 number and after I have been given wrong info time and again, I choose not to deal with them anymore. I am tech savvy, however, he can do things that I can’t myself on the computer. When I need something it’s nice to be able to have one person that knows me and how to take care of it. Never thought I wouldn’t have things go as planned, but stuff happens and when it does, it’s super easy and reassuring to know I have someone that will get it handled the right way and in a timely manner. You don’t think you need one until you do.

 

And no, he doesn’t call me for sales or if he sees me looking online. He knows when I’m ready, I’m not booking any other way.

[mgasaway]

I would consider myself pretty tech savy (I've worked with IT most of my life) and I always use my PVP after I've done my own research. My PVP can see cabins I can't, knows of upcoming promotions and is a big help especially with the numerous casino offers I get from Carnival. If there is a price drop I just call rather than filling out a form. Any problems, I just call. Questions? Just call.

[firemanbobswife]

I've had 2 PVPs. The first one set my husband a postcard-type letter with his name, contact information and invitation to call him when we were ready to book another cruise. We were ready, I called, and left a message. He called back and we booked the cruise.

 

The next time I used him I called while I was at work. Again I had to leave a message (busy guy!), but he called back and we booked the cruise. One thing I noticed it it took twice the time to book than if I did it online.

 

The third time I wanted to book he was on vacation and had a fellow PVP take over for him. I liked that guy so much I used him instead. My only complaint was I felt he might have been drinking on the job. Super nice guy, mind you, but he just sounded tipsy more often than not. Again, it took forever to complete a booking when I could have done the same thing online in half the time.

 

Finally, I looked into points credit cards and got one of those with Citi. I found I could book through their dedicated cruise TA and earn significantly more points. I did that for a year and when Citi did away with its cruise TA for extra points I replaced that card with a United mileage card. I can earn up to 7 miles per dollar booking my cruise through them. They also give mileage bonuses for particular sailings.

 

My TA is fast, knowledgable, can make changes, fix problems, put in for OBC via my stock, and look for price drops just like a PVP. She takes the Carnival gift cards for payments or credit card and sends me a new invoice within a few minutes. Booking with her is almost as fast as booking myself and definitely faster than booking with a PVP. In fact, I've gotten to where I book online with Carnival, save the booking confirmation email to a folder on my computer, then transfer the booking to her. That way I know (remember) which category I booked and any other details I might want from Carnival.

 

The rewards miles I earn are fantastic. No PVP can give me rewards miles.

 

 

If you book cheap rooms on Carnival, the miles are about the same as what you pay in fees to the agency. The PVP doesn’t ever charge fees.

 

As far as the TA booking it faster than the PVP I say bologna. I can do the same thing. You must have had a super slow PVP. In fact since Carnival is all he does he knows the system better and can make recommendations should anyone need it since he actually sails the ships and has been there since 1992.

 

But go with what works for you. It is of zero benefit for me to book through my airline TAs.

[Flatbush Flyer]

We always do our own thorough research. That is part of the fun in planning for us. 11th cruise coming in January, and never thought to get the scoop!

 

Are the demographics that use PVP not tech savy? I am really not being negative, but totally curious, just no experience in using this service.

 

Are there any downsides? Pros and cons?

 

Is it that mostly those PAX with higher status automatically use PVP for perks?

 

Thanks for educating me. [emoji41]

 

 

 

If one does their own "thorough research," s/he would know that a PVP is an employee of the cruise line you are considering. There's two main problems with that.

First, if you have an issue where your interpretation of the T&C or some other problem that would disadvantage the cruise line, you are SOL. The PVP works for them. Second, there's no commission sharing (which, of course, means a potential loss of hundreds to thousands of dollars in refundable SBC or rebate beyond what perks are provided by the cruise line).

One of the smartest things a cruiser can do is to find a top selling TA for your preferred cruise line(s). Those TAs may book millions/year and have the regional sales manager(s) on speed dial. You, on the other hand, are a "rounding error" in the company's bottom line. And, again, the PVP works for THEM.

A good, top seller TA (particularly one who is also a member of a TA consortium that has partnership agreements with the cruise line) can do everything a PVP can do (see open cabins, address special needs, etc) and so much more, including the refundable SBC/rebate to you of anywhere from 5-10% of the commissionable fare. S/he will never charge a fee and should always be registered as a "seller of travel" in California and Florida (which makes them responsible to answer to each state's AG if problems with their services arise).

Don't know where to start in finding a TA?

Check major metro newspaper travel sections for often quoted TAs. Peruse the occasional "best of..." lists by Condé Nast Traveler. Ask fellow cruisers onboard about who they use and take note of often mentioned TAs.

All this said, however, do realize that many of the best TAs will only handle discount cruise lines if it involves a group (re: not enough commission on the low fare base).

Edited June 26, 2018 by Flatbush Flyer

[firemanbobswife]

If one does their own "thorough research," s/he would know that a PVP is an employee of the cruise line you are considering. There's two main problems with that.

First, if you have an issue where your interpretation of the T&C or some other problem would disadvantage the cruise line, you are SOL. The PVP works for them. Second, there's no commission sharing (which, of course, means a potential loss of hundreds to thousands of dollars in refundable SBC or rebate beyond what perks are provided by the cruise line).

One of the smartest things a cruiser can do is to find a top selling TA for your preferred cruise line(s). Those TAs may book millions/year and have the regional sales manager(s) on speed dial. You, on the other hand, are a "rounding error" in the company's bottom line. And, again, the PVP works for THEM.

A good, top seller TA (particularly one who is also a member of a TA consortium that has partnership agreements with the cruise line) can do everything a PVP can do (cabins, special needs, etc) and so much more, including the refundable SBC/rebate to you of anywhere from 5-10% of the commissionable fare.

Don't know where to start in finding a TA?

Check major metro newspaper travel sections for often quoted TAs. Peruse the occasional "best of..." lists by Condé Nast Traveler. Ask fellow cruisers onboard about who they use and take note of often mentioned TAs.

All this said, however, do realize that many of the best TAs will only handle discount cruise lines if it involves a group (re: not enough commission on the low fare base).

 

 

The PVP works for me and Carnival. The TA works for me and the agency. They both get paid when I book so it’s in their best interest to make sure I’m happy. My PVP knows the higher ups personally and can get things done that no TA can. I know this first hand and I can’t say on here what he did but it went WAY above and beyond.

 

I don’t need silly little perks for my inside cabin on Carnival. They don’t amount to a hill of beans compared to the service I get from him. Even if a TA offered me a Cheers package, I still wouldn’t accept. Once you find the perfect person to deal with, you won’t trade them for anything. Now for Celebrity, yes I agree. The TA gave me a deal that Celebrity couldn’t touch with a 10 foot pole.

[firemanbobswife]

"If you book cheap rooms on Carnival, the miles are about the same as what you pay in fees to the agency. The PVP doesn’t ever charge fees.

 

"As far as the TA booking it faster than the PVP I say bologna. I can do the same thing. You must have had a super slow PVP. In fact since Carnival is all he does he knows the system better and can make recommendations should anyone need it since he actually sails the ships and has been there since 1992.

 

"But go with what works for you. It is of zero benefit for me to book through my airline TAs."

 

I don't book cheap rooms, I don't pay a fee for my TA and I get free flights. Do you? I never understand the blind defense of PVPs. Right now I have 250K mileage points and most of those were earned through cruising. I'm not a frequent flier and this is my vehicle for earning rewards flights to cruise ports (or to see my dad, whichever comes first). My upcoming Hawaii cruise will get us around 30K mileage points.

 

TAs sail the product as well. I have another TA I used for my Crystal booking and she sails Crystal as well as other luxury lines. She absolutely knows the ships of many lines, not just one.

 

I’m talking about Carnival. My inside cabin would get me about the same amount of miles that I can buy on my own once you factor in the $25 fee the TA charges. So no it doesn’t work for me. Since those things don’t apply to you, you’re barking up the wrong tree. For CARNIVAL my PVP is how I will book as there is NO incentive to use the airline TA.

 

I fly free and earns tons of airline miles other ways like online shopping and credit card bonuses/credit card spending. I’ve probably had around 300,000 miles from bonuses and such and none of them from cruises. Again, I wouldn’t earn any to speak of on my Carnival cruises.

[buddylover]

I would consider myself pretty tech savy (I've worked with IT most of my life) and I always use my PVP after I've done my own research. My PVP can see cabins I can't, knows of upcoming promotions and is a big help especially with the numerous casino offers I get from Carnival. If there is a price drop I just call rather than filling out a form. Any problems, I just call. Questions? Just call.

We have never had even a reasonably 'good' PVP (and we have tried 5!) We do our own research too, and pick the exact cabin we want.....if it is not showing on the website, ANYONE at the 800 tel number can tell you what is available just like a PVP (you don't need a PVP for this at all). We merely ask for a specific cabin # to see if it is available and then have them book it for us. Regarding Price drops, we found that a PVP is a deficit/negative for this.....while you are waiting to 'reach' your PVP (none of ours were ever readily available after we had booked - so we had to leave VM messages and WAIT for a call back), the prices could change and go UP - which happened to us multiple times....and we lost out on the quick reduction we saw. However, the form online is easy peasy and IMMEDIATE.....so I always submit it right then and there, and have always received our price drop by doing it myself. Most of the PVP's are not worth ANYTHING to us....and some have been detrimental. This is our experience, so we never use PVP's any more!!

[Organized Chaos]

We have never had even a reasonably 'good' PVP (and we have tried 5!) We do our own research too, and pick the exact cabin we want.....if it is not showing on the website, ANYONE at the 800 tel number can tell you what is available just like a PVP (you don't need a PVP for this at all). We merely ask for a specific cabin # to see if it is available and then have them book it for us. Regarding Price drops, we found that a PVP is a deficit/negative for this.....while you are waiting to 'reach' your PVP (none of ours were ever readily available after we had booked - so we had to leave VM messages and WAIT for a call back), the prices could change and go UP - which happened to us multiple times....and we lost out on the quick reduction we saw. However, the form online is easy peasy and IMMEDIATE.....so I always submit it right then and there, and have always received our price drop by doing it myself. Most of the PVP's are not worth ANYTHING to us....and some have been detrimental. This is our experience, so we never use PVP's any more!!

I think this is a very fair assessment regarding the cons of PVP's. Everyone's different and, just like so many other things pertaining to a cruise, what works for some may not work for others.

 

Although, I will say that PVP's tend to be much more knowledgeable than regular CSR's. Even though we're newer cruisers with only two cruises, I've witnessed this lack of knowledge first hand on more than one occasion. In addition, the CSR we used to book our last cruise made a mess of the financials. Two families booked originally, but the other cancelled on us, and if it weren't for our new PVP, we would've really gotten screwed when it came to the cancellation and the money due back to us.

 

The trick is finding a good PVP that you mesh with well. We were originally assigned one by Carnival, but it became too much of a hassle just to contact him. Too much phone tag and he refused to correspond via email. I eventually got a referral from FBW and he's been good to us so far. He's the one who straightened out the booking mess. It wasn't his booking, he had never spoken to us before, yet still spent 15-20 minutes straightening out what the CSR had done. We haven't had a chance to book with him yet, but the time will come eventually. Yeah, I'm very tech savvy and can easily book one for ourselves, but I want to see what more he can do for us. Bottom line, it doesn't hurt to try one out. You can always go back to doing it yourself or through a TA if things don't work out with a PVP.

[cfr70]

We have never had even a reasonably 'good' PVP (and we have tried 5!) We do our own research too, and pick the exact cabin we want.....if it is not showing on the website, ANYONE at the 800 tel number can tell you what is available just like a PVP (you don't need a PVP for this at all). We merely ask for a specific cabin # to see if it is available and then have them book it for us. Regarding Price drops, we found that a PVP is a deficit/negative for this.....while you are waiting to 'reach' your PVP (none of ours were ever readily available after we had booked - so we had to leave VM messages and WAIT for a call back), the prices could change and go UP - which happened to us multiple times....and we lost out on the quick reduction we saw. However, the form online is easy peasy and IMMEDIATE.....so I always submit it right then and there, and have always received our price drop by doing it myself. Most of the PVP's are not worth ANYTHING to us....and some have been detrimental. This is our experience, so we never use PVP's any more!!

 

This has been my experience as well with PVP's. I've had too many negative experiences with them to ever use them again. The people on the 800 number are always prompt, efficient and friendly and you never have to hunt them down or wait for them to get back to you at their convenience.

 

Previous PVP's would literally take DAYS to get back to me on the simplest things and when i'd call the 800 number after waiting and waiting, they'd see in the system that I had a PVP and say "You have to contact your PVP for that". Ugh. I too won't use them anymore.

[firemanbobswife]

This has been my experience as well with PVP's. I've had too many negative experiences with them to ever use them again. The people on the 800 number are always prompt, efficient and friendly and you never have to hunt them down or wait for them to get back to you at their convenience.

 

Previous PVP's would literally take DAYS to get back to me on the simplest things and when i'd call the 800 number after waiting and waiting, they'd see in the system that I had a PVP and say "You have to contact your PVP for that". Ugh. I too won't use them anymore.

 

I have called the 800 number even when I had a PVP and never once did they tell me I had to talk to them. They all work for Carnival and can handle anything any time of day or night. They absolutely will say that if you have a TA but not a PVP.

 

Also if your person never got back to you, you had the wrong PVP. I have his regular extension which rings to his cell if he’s not at the office, his FB to send a message, and his cell to call or text anytime. He has even answered the phone at a concert, getting ready to go out for New Years Eve (and booked me a cruise as his wife was waiting in the car), and even while cutting the grass on a Sunday. If only they were all like him there would be no complaints.

[cfr70]

I have called the 800 number even when I had a PVP and never once did they tell me I had to talk to them. They all work for Carnival and can handle anything any time of day or night. They absolutely will say that if you have a TA but not a PVP.

 

 

Also if your person never got back to you, you had the wrong PVP. I have his regular extension which rings to his cell if he’s not at the office, his FB to send a message, and his cell to call or text anytime. He has even answered the phone at a concert, getting ready to go out for New Years Eve (and booked me a cruise as his wife was waiting in the car), and even while cutting the grass on a Sunday. If only they were all like him there would be no complaints.

 

This was last year when Carnival apparently had no record of my purchasing FTTF in their system when I had proof and my PVP was being extremely slow and taking days to answer back to me and I called the Carnival rep and she said I have to deal with the matter with the PVP. Perhaps it was for that specific situation.

Back in 2014 I had a GREAT one but she got promoted and I went through 3 consecutive bad ones after her and they just soured me on PVPs forever. Maybe I just kept getting the bad apples.

 

Now I do everything online and if I need help the 800 number is always there for me and things are handled quick and efficient so from my personal experience, there's no desire to try for another PVP. With my luck, i'll get another rotten apple. You're really lucky with yours!

[firemanbobswife]

This was last year when Carnival apparently had no record of my purchasing FTTF in their system when I had proof and my PVP was being extremely slow and taking days to answer back to me and I called the Carnival rep and she said I have to deal with the matter with the PVP. Perhaps it was for that specific situation.

Back in 2014 I had a GREAT one but she got promoted and I went through 3 consecutive bad ones after her and they just soured me on PVPs forever. Maybe I just kept getting the bad apples.

 

Now I do everything online and if I need help the 800 number is always there for me and things are handled quick and efficient so from my personal experience, there's no desire to try for another PVP. With my luck, i'll get another rotten apple. You're really lucky with yours!

 

Oh yeah I remember that mess and I’m willing to bet that’s why they wouldn’t help you. I am extremely lucky I admit. I also feel that if I would have been in that situation that he would have gotten it handled.

 

The 800 number has been less than stellar to me. Flat out wrong info almost causing my cruise to be canceled if I didn’t know better, and just a bunch of other stuff. Ever hear the phrase “Call 3 times, get 3 different answers”? Yeah that’s the 800 number. I’ll never go back. I get the right answer and results with one call.

 

I don’t expect people to understand or agree until they have had the type of service my guy gives me. I was a skeptic myself until I tried it. Now there’s no convincing me otherwise.

[BiscayneBay460]

Have had the same PVP for our 5 cruises. She is great and answers quickly or returns call promptly. I recently found price drop, filled out form on website, as I hate to bother her, never got price drop, called her and she spoke with supervisor, price drop immediately fixed. I truly believe there are good and bad PVP's. We just got lucky!