Credit for days at sea

[Jenny in TX]

5 minutes ago, CruisinCrow said:

 

Only on 5-day or longer cruises.  You only get a bottle of water on 3 and 4-day cruises.

 

From Carnival's website for Gold cruisers:

 

We don't usually take short cruises, so I didn't know that....thanks!

[CruisinCrow]

4 minutes ago, Jenny in TX said:

We don't usually take short cruises, so I didn't know that....thanks!

 

You're welcome.  Fortunately, we cruise for many other reasons than a free drink. 

[memoak]

4 hours ago, Djptcp said:

On Holland America cruises we usually book Neptune Suites and we receive double the number of cruise days plus a day for every $300 we spend on board. For example, on our last 10 day Panama Canal cruise, we received 20 days for having a Neptune Suite plus 3 days for our on board spending, so 23 days instead of just  10. They have the right idea. Since Carnival Corporation owns Holland America, I don't know why they don't do the same thing for Carnival cruises, at least award double the number of days for suite guests.

Cruise ship brands all have their own loyalty benefits - Princess is also under the Carnival umbrella and their perks are totally different from Carnival or HAL

[Jenny in TX]

7 minutes ago, CruisinCrow said:

 

You're welcome.  Fortunately, we cruise for many other reasons than a free drink. 

Us too!  I'm there for the vacation, not the perks!

[schazzy]

13 minutes ago, CruisinCrow said:

 

Yes, that's right.  On the longer cruises, you get a free drink on the last night.  Unfortunately, that is only for 5-night cruises or more and we take 3 and 4-day cruises so we just get the bottle of water.

 

This is why I don't cruise for the loyalty points.  The perks just aren't great and they keep changing the rules.  Who knows - by the time we ever get to Platinum, they'll probably have changed it all again.

 

Ah, okay, I haven't been on a cruise less than 5 days in over 10 years, so I didn't even realize that you don't get that on less than 5.

 

We don't cruise for the perks either, we cruise for the cruise itself and so far Carnival has offered everything we want at a price we can afford. It really makes no difference to me if I get perks and rewards or not for what basically boils down to I decided to take the same kind of vacation with the same company multiple times. 

[jamestown478]

It would be nice if they based the loyalty program off of days at sea and amount spent but that will never happen. Either way carnivals loyalty program is a joke compared to other lines so its not worth getting worked up about what status you are on carnival.

[jamestown478]

30 minutes ago, shof515 said:

 

because that is what other cruise lines do and that it makes most the logical sense

some other lines at least give you extra points for staying in suites.

[Mutumbojimbo]

I'll probably never get bonus days for spending, but I am not opposed to the idea.  I think that it's ok to give bonus days for spending, as long as everyone receives a credit for their days spent at sea. On HAL, does anyone know if you get credit for items purchased before the cruise (excursions, beverage packages) or only onboard purchases? 

[Bookster99]

I am going to cruise, for the most part, the most economical way possible. For some cruises to less exotic ports, that's a balcony. For more expensive cruises, it's an oceanview, or inside cabin. I do track my points: If they are offering perks, I want to take advantage of them. But I don't pick my cruises that way. We usually wind up with Carnival because they have the most economical cruises...usually.... Haven't had a bad cruise yet. Wait: Not entirely true: I did cruise on the most expensive cruise once that RC offered. This didn't apply to everyone, but some of the people on that cruise were not friendly at all. Vowed never again to cruise on the high-season, expensive booking! Less fun, more money.

[grandmarnnurse]

5 hours ago, JennyB1977 said:

You are making the argument that status should be awarded on dollars spent not days at sea. That seems a bit elitest. Not everyone can, or is willing, to spend $2,000 on a balcony. If done your way, those that are able to sail in a Havana Cabana would get status faster. The current program is, in my opinion, fair. A day at sea is a day at sea regardless of $$$.

 

 

Amen! I hope to get to Platinum, and I can only afford to cruise once a year in an inside cabin on my retirement budget. Basing it only on $$ rather than sea days IS elitist! 

[coevan]

2 hours ago, CruisinCrow said:

 

We are Gold and USED to get a free drink at the Sea Day Brunch.  Now they've changed it to a bottle of water. 

 

The reason I mentioned straws is that the cruise lines are doing away with straws because they are single-use plastic, a lot of which ends up in the ocean.  But so are water bottles.  I'm fine with eliminating straws.  I don't drink bottled water because of the plastic waste.  So to me, not only is bottled water not an equivalent perk, it's not even consistent with Carnival's plan to reduce plastic in the oceans.

 

I don't drink beer at all, with or without straw. 🙂

 

 

 

Carnival has a very aggressive recycling program, so your logic is flawed. They don't throw bottles or straws overboard.

[CruisinCrow]

34 minutes ago, jamestown478 said:

some other lines at least give you extra points for staying in suites.

 

On NCL you get a point per night and one additional point per night if you're in a suite.

 

But I can't think of any lines that give extra points for balcony cabins, like the OP mentioned. 

Edited October 30, 2018 by CruisinCrow

[CruisinCrow]

1 minute ago, coevan said:

Carnival has a very aggressive recycling program, so your logic is flawed. They don't throw bottles or straws overboard.

 

If they don't throw straws overboard, then why do they need to eliminate them?  Straws are just the trendy thing right now, even though water bottles are just as big a problem (if not bigger). You're right though, that it is easier to recycle bottles than straws.  And straws are more likely to blow overboard by accident than water bottles.  So straws and water bottles are exactly equivalent.  But even recycling plastic does not get rid of it.  Reduce, reuse, recycle.  Recycle is the last option.  The first option should be to reduce our use.

 

But like I said, that's a different subject.  My original point was that I don't cruise for the loyalty perks because the perks aren't worth much.  Think of all the money I spent on Carnival to earn a bottle of water. 🙂

 

[Out of Iowa]

I agree:  a day at sea is a day at sea.  I prefer Carnival's egalitarian approach in this matter.

 

OP can be thankful for living 2-3 hours from ports.  Some of us are 14+ hours away by car (plane fare certainly adds to the cost of any cruise and can exceed it!) and choose interior cabins to balance the cost of getting to the port. 

[Saint Greg]

30 minutes ago, grandmarnnurse said:

Amen! I hope to get to Platinum, and I can only afford to cruise once a year in an inside cabin on my retirement budget. Basing it only on $$ rather than sea days IS elitist! 

 

Almost every other loyalty/rewards program I can think of it based on $. My credit card gives points for $ spent not times used. My Moe's app gives me points for $ spent not number of visits. Someone gambling $100/hand at a casino is going to get more points than the guy wagering $5/hand.

[coevan]

We love the platinum perks. The early boarding, free laundry, and tender priority are all great.

[Saint Greg]

41 minutes ago, coevan said:

We love the platinum perks. The early boarding, free laundry, and tender priority are all great.

 

That's what I'm looking forward to...priority boarding..not having to lug my backpack around until 1:30...basically the value of FTTF..what's that... $100? Then laundry...what's that $15/bag? Those are significant benefits to me. Gold does nothing for me. I buy cheers so water and a  drink coupon don't help.

Edited October 30, 2018 by Saint Greg

[Cruiser_1977]

Saint Greg - I was thinking about that. Why do I feel there is a difference? I think....because credit card or rewards programs are simply based on dollars. For example $1000 dollars spent = 100 points

 

In the case of a cruise, it seems basing it on cabin class seems elitest. Suites = 2 points per day, Interior = 1 point per day, Captains Suite = 3 point per day. I think my initial reaction was based on that it seemed tied to "class". That bothers me...

 

I wouldn't mind if Carnival used the first approach. $1000 spent = gold, $2000 spent = platinum, etc.

 

But then where does it end. Is it $1000 spent on fare, does it include your entire folio, do flights booked through F2F count?

 

I think 1 day at sea = 1 point is fair. 

Edited October 30, 2018 by JennyB1977

[Poppy42]

1 minute ago, Saint Greg said:

 

That's what I'm looking forward to...priority boarding..not having to lug my backpack around until 1:30...basically the value of FTTF..what's that... $100? Then laundry...what's that $15/bag? Those are significant benefits to me. Gold does nothing for me. I buy cheers so water and a  drink coupon don't help.

I agree with you - Gold does nothing for me either.  Free drink - as my granddaughter says "BFD". 

[Poppy42]

Why do we take a balcony - I like sitting on the balcony, drinking my morning coffee while my DW gets ready.  We also like to spend some private time together - we're married 54 years and every cruise is like another honeymoon.  We like to work on our all-over tan - hard to do that in an inside cabin or, for that matter, anywhere else on the ship.

[Poppy42]

6 minutes ago, JennyB1977 said:

Saint Greg - I was thinking about that. Why do I feel there is a difference? I think....because credit card or rewards programs are simply based on dollars. For example $1000 dollars spent = 100 points

 

In the case of a cruise, it seems basing it on cabin class seems elitest. Suites = 2, Interior = 1, Captains Suite = 3. I think my initial reaction was based on that it seemed tied to "class". That bothers me...

 

I wouldn't mind if Carnival used the first approach. $1000 spent = gold, $2000 spent = platinum, etc.

Your last line is really the same point as I'm making.  I'm spending more and, aside from the cabin, everything else is the same - food, shows, ports.

[BlerkOne]

50 minutes ago, Saint Greg said:

 

Almost every other loyalty/rewards program I can think of it based on $. My credit card gives points for $ spent not times used. My Moe's app gives me points for $ spent not number of visits. Someone gambling $100/hand at a casino is going to get more points than the guy wagering $5/hand.

 

How many of those are cruise lines?

[BlerkOne]

Just now, Poppy42 said:

Your last line is really the same point as I'm making.  I'm spending more and, aside from the cabin, everything else is the same - food, shows, ports.

 

If you need recognition for money spent, you're on the wrong cruise line. You need to move to a more elitist line, where you will likely be small fry among the whales.

[Cruiser_1977]

4 minutes ago, Poppy42 said:

Your last line is really the same point as I'm making.  I'm spending more and, aside from the cabin, everything else is the same - food, shows, ports.

Except not....see my edit. Where does it end? Fare only? Fare plus specialty restaurants? Fare plus alcohol? Excursions, the shops.....

[Poppy42]

2 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

 

If you need recognition for money spent, you're on the wrong cruise line. You need to move to a more elitist line, where you will likely be small fry among the whales.

Have you been looking at my stock portfolio?  I didn't retire in my 50's because I spent money foolishly.