Priority rooms ready at 130 today....

[bury me at sea]

14 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

I understand, which is why I said I don’t have an issue if they remove this perk. But I would have an issue if they offered something to FTTF that wasn’t available to D&Ps.  But I wouldn’t get upset if that happened. I would just start cruising on lines other than Csrnival

 

I think, but do not know for a fact, that blowback from P and D cruisers, when FTTF was introduced, was the major, if not the only, reason that early access was granted to P and D.

 

I do remember quite well the plethora of comments that "earned perks" were much more meaningful than "purchased perks."

 

I honestly don't care one way or the other, but short memories bother me.

 

And as a confession, I recently asked on this board, which elegant night included lobster, because of my own memory issues.

 

Happy sailing.

 

[PhillyFan33579]

13 minutes ago, bury me at sea said:

 

I think, but do not know for a fact, that blowback from P and D cruisers, when FTTF was introduced, was the major, if not the only, reason that early access was granted to P and D.

 

I do remember quite well the plethora of comments that "earned perks" were much more meaningful than "purchased perks."

 

I honestly don't care one way or the other, but short memories bother me.

 

And as a confession, I recently asked on this board, which elegant night included lobster, because of my own memory issues.

 

Happy sailing.

 

 

Personally I think Carnival was brilliant coming up with the FTTF program and getting passengers to pay up to $100 for something that literally costs Carnival next to nothing.  But I do have an issue if Carnival offers a perk to FTTF that they don’t offer to D&Ps. Like you stated, I would bet quite a lot that complaints from D&Ps was why this perk (early access to cabin) was provided to D&Ps too.  To me it’s not a matter of what the perks are, it’s the point that as a company you should at least show some minimal appreciation to your most loyal customers. 

[bury me at sea]

5 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

. . . To me it’s not a matter of what the perks are, it’s the point that as a company you should at least show some minimal appreciation to your most loyal customers. 

 

I wholeheartedly agree.  However if history is a guidepost, VIFP perks will be more minimal as time passes.

 

I imagine the bean counters know pretty well how much new cruisers will spend.  How much will they be willing to subsidize loyal cruisers?

 

And it's funny, I don't think of myself as a particularly loyal customer.  I continue to sail with Carnival for many reasons, but loyalty and perks haven't been high on my list of priorities .

[bobsfamily]

Personally I cruise Carnival because of the "perks" I have. We usually get to the port early and on as early as we can... if the cabin would not be ready for us it would affect our choice. I "might" still cruise Carnival if the cruise was one I wanted out of Charleston but I would not drive to anywhere else to cruise on Carnival. We do NCL and Celebrity and are getting up there on points.  Just another PITA, why piss off people who have spent lots of money with you over 20+ years?

[Lottacruises]

Hi, if you look at healds facebook posts you will see it. He posted it yesterday. 

The freedom was the same today also. It was a journeys cruise with 800 p&d... So I've heard.

[Lottacruises]

12 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

Jim you aren't the only person on cruise critic that has friends in management at CCL.  The plan is to discontinue this perk (quietly) and focus on FTTF which is all profit.  They can then plan better and deliver a better guest experience servicing FTTF.  

In conjunction time windows for arrival to port will soon begin at 12PM, 11-1130 and 1130-12 time slots will be eliminated.  Going to trial out of Port Miami first 

 

Galveston wil be right behind them then, if that's the case.  They already add that extra hour to check in times on breeze (now Vista) before 12:00....

 

 

800 isn't a ,tremendous amount of p&d, usually these and fttf equal around 500 anyway...

[jimbo5544]

13 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

Jim you aren't the only person on cruise critic that has friends in management at CCL.  The plan is to discontinue this perk (quietly) and focus on FTTF which is all profit.  They can then plan better and deliver a better guest experience servicing FTTF.  

In conjunction time windows for arrival to port will soon begin at 12PM, 11-1130 and 1130-12 time slots will be eliminated.  Going to trial out of Port Miami first 

If they do away with it is one thing, removing it as a perk from their most loyal cruisers and keeping FTTF would be a disaster....

[cruisemom67]

How much does this perk cost them?  NOTHING. I would hate to see them do away with it. I have been cruising for 26 years and have seen cutback after cutback in all the lines.  I like Carnival, and have cruised mostly with them.  But if they keep cutting perks, and give it to FTTF, I will move to another line.  They are all about the same, anyway.  I was one of the Platinum VIFP that was upset when they rolled out FTTF.  Then I realized it didn't really affect my experience, so way to go Carnival, having a way to get pure profit.  Keeps my cruise fare cheaper so I can go more often!

[beachbum6264]

On 10/26/2018 at 9:03 PM, Lottacruises said:

So john heald posted that on the conquest tomorrow that the rooms won't be ready until 130 due to the number of platinum and diamonds....

 

Lots of comments regarding this. 

 

But he did also say that D/P could take their carry-ons and put them in their rooms, just don't hang around in there, let the stewards do their job without you getting in their way. So the 'go to room, drop bags, leave' option is still there.

[cruisemom67]

9 minutes ago, beachbum6264 said:

 

But he did also say that D/P could take their carry-ons and put them in their rooms, just don't hang around in there, let the stewards do their job without you getting in their way. So the 'go to room, drop bags, leave' option is still there.

That's all we want to do normally.  I would be fine with them changing to this.  I just don't want to lug my 2 bottles all over the ship!

[firemanbobswife]

43 minutes ago, beachbum6264 said:

 

But he did also say that D/P could take their carry-ons and put them in their rooms, just don't hang around in there, let the stewards do their job without you getting in their way. So the 'go to room, drop bags, leave' option is still there.

How are you supposed to do that when the S&S Cards won’t be in the mailboxes until the cabins are ready at1:30pm? The RS aren’t going to stop what they’re doing every time someone goes to their cabin to let them in. Let’s see if it actually works like he says or if he’s been given bum info to pass along again.

[beachbum6264]

1 minute ago, firemanbobswife said:

How are you supposed to do that when the S&S Cards won’t be in the mailboxes until the cabins are ready at1:30pm? The RS aren’t going to stop what they’re doing every time someone goes to their cabin to let them in. Let’s see if it actually works like he says or if he’s been given bum info to pass along again.

 

One cruise had all the cards in the mailboxes when we boarded around 11:30. I would bet that not all of those were D/P or FTTF. I would think they'd go ahead and put the cards out for everyone first, and hope people are honest enough for only those with legal access would go. Just my guess.

[LMaxwell]

21 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

I understand, which is why I said I don’t have an issue if they remove this perk. But I would have an issue if they offered something to FTTF that wasn’t available to D&Ps.  But I wouldn’t get upset if that happened. I would just start cruising on lines other than Csrnival

 

You're not going to cruise other lines over it.  If you were going to cruise other lines there is at least 100 other reasons I could think of as material difference in the value received that would be worth exploring over early cabin access.  Carnival has long queues EVERYWHERE and many of them are engineered to be that way so that they can either sell you a package of benefits or get you to say I'm sick of lines for everything....maybe there aren't lines on more expensive Princess or Holland America ships....under the same corporate umbrella.  

 

The mediocrity is not an accident.  It's by design. 

[LMaxwell]

1 hour ago, cruisemom67 said:

How much does this perk cost them?  NOTHING. I would hate to see them do away with it. I have been cruising for 26 years and have seen cutback after cutback in all the lines.  I like Carnival, and have cruised mostly with them.  But if they keep cutting perks, and give it to FTTF, I will move to another line.  They are all about the same, anyway.  I was one of the Platinum VIFP that was upset when they rolled out FTTF.  Then I realized it didn't really affect my experience, so way to go Carnival, having a way to get pure profit.  Keeps my cruise fare cheaper so I can go more often!

I don't know how you did your math but my rough math shows it is costing Carnival thousands of dollars per cruise to give this away to D/P.  

 

Follow me here:  Let's say, on average, that the number of D/P on a 7 day cruise is 60 cabins worth (probably a very conservative, low number; estimated using 1,968 cabins on Carnival Vista and saying that only 3% of cabins are being used by D/P)  Of course that number can vary, and until shortly before sailing the total is not really known (last minute bookings).  So I think 3% of available cabins estimated for D/P is reasonable. 

 

On a 7 day cruise Carnival sells FTTF for $100.  If they stopped giving this perk to D/P and only gave it to FTTF they could, in theory, know ahead of time exactly how many FTTF they can sell and service.  Just dropping the 60 D/P allows Carnival to sell benefits for $6000.  for that ONE cruise.  And they know a fixed amount each week so they can plan better.  

[firemanbobswife]

7 minutes ago, beachbum6264 said:

 

One cruise had all the cards in the mailboxes when we boarded around 11:30. I would bet that not all of those were D/P or FTTF. I would think they'd go ahead and put the cards out for everyone first, and hope people are honest enough for only those with legal access would go. Just my guess.

That hasn’t been my and many others’ experiences. That was one of the main reasons I’ve heard of why they went to that system - to keep the people out who aren’t supposed to be there. So you just use your boarding pass to get on and charge things onboard until your cabin is ready and the S&S Cards are in your mailbox. Otherwise might as well just go back to the old way and let it be a free for all. Lots of people don’t follow directions or listen. Should be interesting to see how it actually plays out.

 

Wonder if they are going to be sending these new emails out on practically every cruise like the ones telling you to arrive at the port an hour late. After so many false alarms, people know they are pretty much baloney and ignore them. If they do that with this one, it will be the same. Everyone will just go to their cabins anyway defeating the purpose of revamping the system. Especially if people start reporting all the keys are there first thing so go right ahead in even if you’re not D/P/FTTF. 

[LMaxwell]

16 minutes ago, beachbum6264 said:

 

 

20 minutes ago, firemanbobswife said:

How are you supposed to do that when the S&S Cards won’t be in the mailboxes until the cabins are ready at1:30pm? The RS aren’t going to stop what they’re doing every time someone goes to their cabin to let them in. Let’s see if it actually works like he says or if he’s been given bum info to pass along again.

 

16 minutes ago, beachbum6264 said:

 

One cruise had all the cards in the mailboxes when we boarded around 11:30. I would bet that not all of those were D/P or FTTF. I would think they'd go ahead and put the cards out for everyone first, and hope people are honest enough for only those with legal access would go. Just my guess.

 

 

The purpose of eliminating S&S cards being given in terminal was two-fold

 

1.  Reduce expenses by eliminating 3rd party outsources shore side check in agents

2.  Reduce people going to their rooms early to "drop and run" while the rooms were still being serviced; side effect encourage more FTTF purchases.  Separating out D/P, FTTF cards and having them placed at doors, then going back and doing the rest is wasteful and inefficient.  So now they are mostly just putting them all in at the same time.  Again, for a ship like Vista with 1,968 cabins doing the same job multiple times is wasteful. 

 

Remember folks:  First it was staggered check in.  Then it was removal of S&S cards in the terminal.  Next will be elimination of this "perk" for D/P to allow for increased sales of FTTF.  

[firemanbobswife]

18 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

 

The purpose of eliminating S&S cards being given in terminal was two-fold

 

1.  Reduce expenses by eliminating 3rd party outsources shore side check in agents

2.  Reduce people going to their rooms early to "drop and run" while the rooms were still being serviced; side effect encourage more FTTF purchases.  Separating out D/P, FTTF cards and having them placed at doors, then going back and doing the rest is wasteful and inefficient.  So now they are mostly just putting them all in at the same time.  Again, for a ship like Vista with 1,968 cabins doing the same job multiple times is wasteful. 

 

Remember folks:  First it was staggered check in.  Then it was removal of S&S cards in the terminal.  Next will be elimination of this "perk" for D/P to allow for increased sales of FTTF.  

I’m a big fan of staggered check in. The sorting of D/P/FTTF doesn’t take much time especially when they are printed and placed in sections that go to the RS. Even if the RS have to do it themselves, it doesn’t take but 2 seconds for them to grab the envelope from the cart and place it in the mailbox as they are closing the door to each cabin upon completion. They already know thanks to the handy dandy clipboard which cabins need to be serviced first. So grabbing the corresponding envelope when finishing up the cabin shouldn’t equal any measurable amount of time. 

 

I have no doubt the benefit for at least Platinum is going away. I’ve been saying it since August of last year when I saw the new signs on Conquest. Yes, I know JH says it’s just new signage with no significance. While that may remain true for now, I know it’s coming. 

[PhillyFan33579]

26 minutes ago, LMaxwell said:

 

You're not going to cruise other lines over it.  If you were going to cruise other lines there is at least 100 other reasons I could think of as material difference in the value received that would be worth exploring over early cabin access.  Carnival has long queues EVERYWHERE and many of them are engineered to be that way so that they can either sell you a package of benefits or get you to say I'm sick of lines for everything....maybe there aren't lines on more expensive Princess or Holland America ships....under the same corporate umbrella.  

 

The mediocrity is not an accident.  It's by design. 

 

Maybe it wouldn’t drive you away, but it would drive me away to sail on other cruise lines. I couldn’t care less about early cabin access. My wife and I always drop luggage off with porters and always go to the atrium bar when we board the ship and usually spend a few hours there.  But I would have a big issue if they offered a perk to FTTF that they didn’t offer to Diamonds and Platinums. If they ever do that, I will move on to other cruise lines. I currently have 14 cruises booked on Carnival thru 2020. I don’t think I would have a problem finding cruises on NCL, RCL, etc. to replace the majority of these cruises and cancel cruises with Carnival. 

[wannagonow123]

We are traveling on the Breeze Nov 3rd, and I got an e-mail Friday, from Carnival, stating our rooms would not be available until 1:30 due to the large amount of D/P passengers. (14 day Journey). We are currently Platinum level. Part of the problem I see, is where is everyone supposed to wait? Since they encourage everyone to go enjoy lunch at the Lido, chances are no one is going to vacate a table once they have one. That means the dining tables will not be available for those boarding later. I know it sounds stupid, but before we turned platinum, we boarded the Triumph at 12:30pm, lugging our stuff. There was not a table to be had, nor was there anywhere to sit out by the pools. At that point, we made a decision to travel exclusively  with Carnival to get Platinum status.  (we did not have that far to go, day wise). When we board, we drop off our stuff, have lunch, then leave so others can eat. The Lido area is not designed to have 3,000+ people sitting and waiting. For someone who is traveling Carnival for the 1st time, their first meal will be a nightmare.

 

Carnival is the only cruise line that I know of, that does not have rooms ready when you get on the ship. 

[N7786W Flyer]

11 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

Maybe it wouldn’t drive you away, but it would drive me away to sail on other cruise lines. I couldn’t care less about early cabin access. My wife and I always drop luggage off with porters and always go to the atrium bar when we board the ship and usually spend a few hours there.  But I would have a big issue if they offered a perk to FTTF that they didn’t offer to Diamonds and Platinums. If they ever do that, I will move on to other cruise lines. I currently have 14 cruises booked on Carnival thru 2020. I don’t think I would have a problem finding cruises on NCL, RCL, etc. to replace the majority of these cruises and cancel cruises with Carnival. 

 

It would drive me away as well...and our last 20+ cruises have been taken exclusively with Carnival.

 

For my wife and myself, the early embarkation and access to the room (as well as early debarkation) are the most important perks of being platinum.  If that's gone, why hang around?

 

Like Philly, we have multiple cruises booked through early 2020.  However, ours would have to be taken...if nothing else, because we currently have about $6,000 in Carnival gift cards that I would need to unload before 'departing the premises'. 

 

Of course, assuming the scenario to deprive D/P cruisers of early access is true, I'm more than certain that Carnival has calculated the anticipated fallout relative to upset customers and is PROBABLY willing to withstand the temporary fallout to accomplish a their more long-term goal of boosting FTTF sales.

 

Time will tell, but I'm still hoping this whole scenario is not true.

 

Garnett

[jimbo5544]

3 hours ago, LMaxwell said:

I don't know how you did your math but my rough math shows it is costing Carnival thousands of dollars per cruise to give this away to D/P.  

 

Follow me here:  Let's say, on average, that the number of D/P on a 7 day cruise is 60 cabins worth (probably a very conservative, low number; estimated using 1,968 cabins on Carnival Vista and saying that only 3% of cabins are being used by D/P)  Of course that number can vary, and until shortly before sailing the total is not really known (last minute bookings).  So I think 3% of available cabins estimated for D/P is reasonable. 

 

On a 7 day cruise Carnival sells FTTF for $100.  If they stopped giving this perk to D/P and only gave it to FTTF they could, in theory, know ahead of time exactly how many FTTF they can sell and service.  Just dropping the 60 D/P allows Carnival to sell benefits for $6000.  for that ONE cruise.  And they know a fixed amount each week so they can plan better.  

You have such a negative view on everything..... you need to beleive in the cruise line you sail and love.

[LMaxwell]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

You have such a negative view on everything..... you need to beleive in the cruise line you sail and love.

Jimbob I'm explaining how companies count numbers (going up) and why a benefit will be removed, and I have no doubt my sources are as reliable as yours, if not even some of the same sources.  Of course you need to resort to a personal attack calling me negative when I am explaining simple business.  If you don't like it, that's fine, but I don't need your constant emotional outbursts and attacks for sharing information I've been privy to just because you choose not to believe it.  Frankly, I don't care if you accept or believe truthful statements, but your constant personal attacks are just too much already.  

 

There are many products I use and enjoy, but I don't "believe in" for profit companies any further than their quarterly dividend.  

[Lottacruises]

You pretty much summed up this site. Bash others whose experience has differed. 

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, LMaxwell said:

Jimbob I'm explaining how companies count numbers (going up) and why a benefit will be removed, and I have no doubt my sources are as reliable as yours, if not even some of the same sources.  Of course you need to resort to a personal attack calling me negative when I am explaining simple business.  If you don't like it, that's fine, but I don't need your constant emotional outbursts and attacks for sharing information I've been privy to just because you choose not to believe it.  Frankly, I don't care if you accept or believe truthful statements, but your constant personal attacks are just too much already.  

 

There are many products I use and enjoy, but I don't "believe in" for profit companies any further than their quarterly dividend.  

Name calling, fairly juvenile and not allowed here, I was making a point on your post history and you attack me.  Constant emotional outbursts and attacks??  Did we have a bad day?  If you do not like my posts...ignore them.  I have reached out to some friends and will be on a Journey cruise with John starting next Saturday.  I will make it a point to tell him your thoughts.  I hope it is wrong, but hopefully I can give his feedback in my review....  Wait a second, aside from your little outburst, you are still going to read my reviews....right?

Edited October 29, 2018 by jimbo5544

[jimbo5544]

46 minutes ago, Lottacruises said:

You pretty much summed up this site. Bash others whose experience has differed. 

Some just cannot help themselves......