Got " the letter" today about Journey cruise.

[crusing48/51]

Opened the important information email from Carnival. Here it is:

To view this email as a web page, go here.

 

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CARNIVAL MIRACLE  DECEMBER 2, 2018 STATEROOM ACCESS UPDATE       November 26, 2018     Dear Diamond & Platinum Guests,   Since your cruise is just around the corner, we have an important message to share with you.   Due to the high number of Diamond and Platinum guests joining us on Journey voyages, we will be unable to provide early access to staterooms. Staterooms will be ready after 1:30 PM. Once on board, please feel free to drop off any carry-on luggage in your stateroom before heading to lunch.   We apologize for any disappointment this may cause and thank you for your understanding. Our entire Carnival Miracle team is looking forward to providing you with another fun and memorable cruise.   See you soon!     Sincerely,     Denese Waiters Sr. Director, Guest Services - Contact Centers     Please do not reply to this email as the mailbox is not monitored.

This email was sent by: Carnival Corporation Privacy Policy

[crusing48/51]

I guess we won't be getting that perk for turning platinum on this cruise. Maybe next time?😕

[coevan]

Journey cruises generally have a large percentage of D & P's. If there are 1000 people with early boarding, there probably is no way to get all the cabins ready. I might have lunch on shore and relax until 1:30, no reason to hang around a crowded terminal and the VIP lounge will probably be full anyway. Maybe drop your bags off with the porters first and then go back to town, hopefully it will expedite your luggage arrival. 

[firefly333]

I talked to 2 employees aboard Vista including the head of guest services who told me the number of diamond and platinum is unmanageable and that there really has to be a new loyalty tier. 

 

If the employees on the ship are saying it ..

 

We had over 600 diamond/platinum plus the FTTF plus the ultra cruisers who all got early access. priorty is getting to be a zoo.

 

We had one diamond who they called up to the stage who had over 770 or maybe it was 780 days on Carnival. Though only 125 diamonds this time we had over 200 diamonds my last cruise.

 

I hope someone puts a tickle in John Healds ear about a new loyalty tier. With all these casino cruises there more and more diamonds. a level that maybe should get guaranteed speciality restaurants .... or even one a cruise like NCL.

 

Id asked about a post i read 2 weeks before i left on my cruise where a diamond couldnt get a steak house reservation. I was told they were always only priority, which is getting to mean not much.

 

First time I didnt get the dining time I requested, so many people have passed me in days now. Im a mere platinum 174 days i think, so I rate about zero any more.

 

Ive been eyeing NCL only because I can go out of New Orleans twice iin Nov they had dates with no solo supplemnt. Id really like to get to diamond, but its getting meaningless. ... over 750 days on Carnival .... wow. and she wasnt even that old.

 

When even the employees on the ship are saying there sure needs to be another loyalty level ... its time already. So they have a workable amount of cabins to prepare as a for instance. 

[crusing48/51]

12 minutes ago, coevan said:

Journey cruises generally have a large percentage of D & P's. If there are 1000 people with early boarding, there probably is no way to get all the cabins ready. I might have lunch on shore and relax until 1:30, no reason to hang around a crowded terminal and the VIP lounge will probably be full anyway. Maybe drop your bags off with the porters first and then go back to town, hopefully it will expedite your luggage arrival. 

We chose an appointment time of 2pm. Would just keep that, but are traveling with another couple who have an 11am time. We will most likely just stay with them in the regular line. 

[crusing48/51]

5 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

I talked to 2 employees aboard Vista including the head of guest services who told me the number of diamond and platinum is unmanageable and that there really has to be a new loyalty tier. 

 

If the employees on the ship are saying it ..

 

We had over 600 diamond/platinum plus the FTTF plus the ultra cruisers who all got early access. priorty is getting to be a zoo.

 

We had one diamond who they called up to the stage who had over 770 or maybe it was 780 days on Carnival. Though only 125 diamonds this time we had over 200 diamonds my last cruise.

 

I hope someone puts a tickle in John Healds ear about a new loyalty tier. With all these casino cruises there more and more diamonds. a level that maybe should get guaranteed speciality restaurants .... or even one a cruise like NCL.

 

Id asked about a post i read 2 weeks before i left on my cruise where a diamond couldnt get a steak house reservation. I was told they were always only priority, which is getting to mean not much.

 

First time I didnt get the dining time I requested, so many people have passed me in days now. Im a mere platinum 174 days i think, so I rate about zero any more.

 

Ive been eyeing NCL only because I can go out of New Orleans twice iin Nov they had dates with no solo supplemnt. Id really like to get to diamond, but its getting meaningless. ... over 750 days on Carnival .... wow. and she wasnt even that old.

 

When even the employees on the ship are saying there sure needs to be another loyalty level ... its time already. So they have a workable amount of cabins to prepare as a for instance. 

Wow! Will never get that many days. Right now Diamond is far out of reach. This is our first cruise as platinum, and I agree, the perks are not seeming to matter. Maybe you are correct, they need to redo the VIFP program.

[firefly333]

22 minutes ago, crusing48/51 said:

Wow! Will never get that many days. Right now Diamond is far out of reach. This is our first cruise as platinum, and I agree, the perks are not seeming to matter. Maybe you are correct, they need to redo the VIFP program.

 

Someone mentioned gold used to get invited to this welcome back party. (btw it was awesome). Now they had to drop gold from the party, and its only for diamonds and platinums. 

 

i talked to a disabled vet who was upset about the "captains party". He said he remembered it as being in the theater and a free drink or two. On this cruise it was in the atrium, and the captian finally showed 30 minutes late and barely said hello. And he had to stand the whole time on disabled legs. he was sorely dissapointed. I didnt go. But i do remember when it was a actual party where drinks were served for free.

[coevan]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

Id asked about a post i read 2 weeks before i left on my cruise where a diamond couldnt get a steak house reservation. I was told they were always only priority, which is getting to mean not much.

 

 

We go to the Steakhouse at least twice a 7 cruise, 4 times on a B2B. we always book the first day as the MDR is always a little chaotic. The second night we wing it. We have never seen a full Steakhouse, ever. We have just showed up several times after looking at the MDR menu. Without reservations, we have never been denied entry to the Steakhouse. Usually we are seated immediately or asked to go to the bar until they got a table ready. BTW, the Steakhouse bar has a really nice bar menu.

[PhillyFan33579]

1 hour ago, coevan said:

 

 

We go to the Steakhouse at least twice a 7 cruise, 4 times on a B2B. we always book the first day as the MDR is always a little chaotic. The second night we wing it. We have never seen a full Steakhouse, ever. We have just showed up several times after looking at the MDR menu. Without reservations, we have never been denied entry to the Steakhouse. Usually we are seated immediately or asked to go to the bar until they got a table ready. BTW, the Steakhouse bar has a really nice bar menu.

 

We have eaten at the steakhouse numerous times, although not as often as you. We have always had a reservation at 6 PM and we have never seen the steakhouse more than half full. 

[PhillyFan33579]

3 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I talked to 2 employees aboard Vista including the head of guest services who told me the number of diamond and platinum is unmanageable and that there really has to be a new loyalty tier. 

 

If the employees on the ship are saying it .

 

I don’t think Carnival is going to make changes to their VIFP Program based on two employees on Vista. There has been a lot of “chatter” about changing the program over the last several years, with no changes yet. John Heald is well aware of this issue. 

[Moviela]

Carnival knows when the ship will be heavy with the entitled. Why not do what convention hotels do when a large group checks out en masse? They bring in casual housekeepers to turn the rooms in the alloted time. Pretty simple. Sure the bean counters will scream about the cost, but if you are going to have a perk, there is a price. 

 

Another thing they could do is give a couple a $25 credit to have lunch pierside in exchange for boarding at 1:30pm.  

[Treyatl2006]

People will bitch and complain if they change the loyalty program. Cruise critic will be the main ones complaining about this. This only affect specific cruises with tons of diamonds and platinum guest like journey cruises, transatlantic cruises, or new ships. Dont sail those cruises if this is going to be a big deal. You are still getting the other perks of diamond or platinum. They shouldnt change their loyalty program just to appease a hand full of sailings with an unusual high number of diamond and platinum guest.

[emm126]

4 hours ago, crusing48/51 said:

We chose an appointment time of 2pm. Would just keep that, but are traveling with another couple who have an 11am time. We will most likely just stay with them in the regular line. 

No- you can board early thru platinum/diamond lounge, you just can't go to your cabin until after 130pm. 

[S.S.Oceanlover]

6 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I talked to 2 employees aboard Vista including the head of guest services who told me the number of diamond and platinum is unmanageable and that there really has to be a new loyalty tier. 

 

If the employees on the ship are saying it ..

 

We had over 600 diamond/platinum plus the FTTF plus the ultra cruisers who all got early access. priorty is getting to be a zoo.

 

We had one diamond who they called up to the stage who had over 770 or maybe it was 780 days on Carnival. Though only 125 diamonds this time we had over 200 diamonds my last cruise.

 

I hope someone puts a tickle in John Healds ear about a new loyalty tier. With all these casino cruises there more and more diamonds. a level that maybe should get guaranteed speciality restaurants .... or even one a cruise like NCL.

 

Id asked about a post i read 2 weeks before i left on my cruise where a diamond couldnt get a steak house reservation. I was told they were always only priority, which is getting to mean not much.

 

First time I didnt get the dining time I requested, so many people have passed me in days now. Im a mere platinum 174 days i think, so I rate about zero any more.

 

Ive been eyeing NCL only because I can go out of New Orleans twice iin Nov they had dates with no solo supplemnt. Id really like to get to diamond, but its getting meaningless. ... over 750 days on Carnival .... wow. and she wasnt even that old.

 

When even the employees on the ship are saying there sure needs to be another loyalty level ... its time already. So they have a workable amount of cabins to prepare as a for instance. 

 

On cruises with unmanageable number of plats/diamond are they still selling FTTF making it even worse?

 

It used to be when FTTF first started it was based on the amount of plats/diamonds on each sailing.

 

Bill

[DallasGuy75219]

1 hour ago, S.S.Oceanlover said:

 

On cruises with unmanageable number of plats/diamond are they still selling FTTF making it even worse?

 

It used to be when FTTF first started it was based on the amount of plats/diamonds on each sailing.

 

Bill

The official line from Carnival is that FTTF is not sold for Journeys cruises.

[crusing48/51]

5 hours ago, emm126 said:

No- you can board early thru platinum/diamond lounge, you just can't go to your cabin until after 130pm. 

But that is the whole point of being platinum. Early access to cabin is supposed to be a perk, but we won't get it due to high volume of diamond and platinum. I know we can board early, but we still can't go to our cabin until everyone else.

[Treyatl2006]

48 minutes ago, crusing48/51 said:

But that is the whole point of being platinum. Early access to cabin is supposed to be a perk, but we won't get it due to high volume of diamond and platinum. I know we can board early, but we still can't go to our cabin until everyone else.

You can go to your cabin to drop off your luggage. You just cant go to your cabin to lounge around. 

 

It may not be that big of a deal if you think about it? Were you planning on taking a nap in your cabin soon after you board? Or were you planning on dropping your luggage off and hitting the lido for some lunch? 

[ProgRockCruiser]

55 minutes ago, Treyatl2006 said:

You can go to your cabin to drop off your luggage. You just cant go to your cabin to lounge around. 

 

It may not be that big of a deal if you think about it? Were you planning on taking a nap in your cabin soon after you board? Or were you planning on dropping your luggage off and hitting the lido for some lunch? 

I'll bet that in reality 99% of the folks who want early cabin access want it just for the latter, but many will claim they need an hour or two of cabin time prior to lunch "to freshen up" because, well, it is the perk they earned.

 

Almost every person who posts here about getting FTTF says the great thing about it is they can go to their cabins, dump their stuff, and head to Lido unburdened.  I do not recall seeing anyone say "nah, gonna skip going to the cabin when we board, I got FTTF so I could skip the line at Guest Services".

[schazzy]

11 hours ago, firefly333 said:

 

Someone mentioned gold used to get invited to this welcome back party. (btw it was awesome). Now they had to drop gold from the party, and its only for diamonds and platinums. 

 

i talked to a disabled vet who was upset about the "captains party". He said he remembered it as being in the theater and a free drink or two. On this cruise it was in the atrium, and the captian finally showed 30 minutes late and barely said hello. And he had to stand the whole time on disabled legs. he was sorely dissapointed. I didnt go. But i do remember when it was a actual party where drinks were served for free.

 

I remember from my second sailing in 2006 (back when you were gold after your first sailing) up to my sailing in 2010 being invited to the past guest party. Sometime during our cruise hiatus between 2010 and 2017, the VIFP program changed, I was still gold, but like you said it became P&D only. I was kinda disappointed about that, and that "Captain's party" in the atrium was a mess on the Ecstasy last year, it was packed on almost every level of the atrium and incredibly noisy, mostly because it was Elegant night and the midships MDR was for Anytime Dining and you had a lot of people (including us) waiting for a table.

 

But hey, at least I got that $9 drink voucher to use on the last night to make up for it...

[Davey Wavey]

Our Nov 4 14-day Journeys cruise from Baltimore had 650 plat/diam guests, plus it was an Elite casino cruise. We got that same letter.  Even then the rooms weren't ready at 1:30 since the ship gets in port much later than other ports. We just arranged to get to the ship at 2pm.

[PhillyFan33579]

Another option, which my wife and I do for every cruise, is drop off your luggage with a porter. To me that is a lot easier than carrying on luggage ourselves. I always carry on a small bag that has needed items in it in case luggage is delayed getting to the room. Even though we are Platinum, we have still had luggage delivered to the room as late as 4:45 PM. 

[Hogladyrider]

We just returned from a 14-day Journeys cruise on Breeze.  We had over 1000 D/P cruisers PLUS it was an Ultra Cruise.....and only 98 people under age 21.  The following week Breeze cruise (Thanksgiving week) had over 1500 under 21 cruisers.......pick you poison.

 

Our cabin was ready when we boarded at noon despite receiving the "letter" from Carnival.

 

It was our first time cruising with so many D/P cruisers.  I did notice a shift in attitude with some D/P and some Ultra Cruisers seeming to "feel" a sense of entitlement due to their "status".  I also think it is becoming more the norm in today's society in general, a sense of entitlement.  I don't agree with it, but it is what it is.  Options, deal with it or don't cruise; we choose to deal with it and cruise, but it does change the experience.

 

I witnessed verbal altercations over seating for the Dive In movies.....seats saved HOURS before the movie is to begin.....ridiculous to see adults verbally fighting over this.

 

I'd rather see Carnival have elevators exclusively dedicated to smokers because being on an elevator with smokers is enough to make one choke.......but I know that isn't happening in my lifetime!

 

The employees on the ships have tough jobs and it seems that many of the passengers are making it more difficult for them to to their jobs but they still smile and say hello to all.......my hat is off to the employees!

[firefly333]

12 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

I don’t think Carnival is going to make changes to their VIFP Program based on two employees on Vista. There has been a lot of “chatter” about changing the program over the last several years, with no changes yet. John Heald is well aware of this issue. 

 

LOL I didnt think Carnival was going to make changed based on what 2 employees said.

 

Personally, i think its all the casino cruises is why so many are cruising so much now and diamonds are growing in ranks more and more. 

 

Someone said if they have so many diamonds and platinums do they not sell FTTF? They still sell some, but im not aware of where its cuts off. We have had over 600 diamonds and platinums my last 2 cruises plus apparantly the casino folks get priority boarding, and we had some people who were about to turn platinum who booked a suite we sat with while waiting to board we enjoyed talking to the whole cruise.

 

Didnt help the ship docked a hour later, but I heard we were later than that, as much as 4 hours late. We had rocky seas the whole time, not big waves, choppy. We were still docking the ship by the 7:15 time to arrive to debark. We got a letter Im not sure I kept that said if you were not in your assigned place for priority debarkation by 7:15 am you would not be allowed to enter or have priority debarkation. They didnt enforce the letter, probably because we hadnt docked yet... I wonder if they will start enforcing stuff like that. Most of us were there by 6 to 6:15 am. 

 

First time I saw that letter stating if you were not in the assigned place for priority debarkation you would not be allowed to enter and would have to wait for your deck to be called. firm letter ... not enforced. but interesting if they do enforce it in the future.

 

Actually debarkation went pretty smoothly, and the employees were there en force making sure people didnt cut the line as they usually have on other cruises, which I was glad of. no complaints ... but intereresting they are threatening to cut off priority debarkation if you arent there by 7:15 am. (Vista). 

 

So ive had over 600 diamonds and platinums 2 cruises in a row, plus suites, plus FTTF plus casino ... one was Valor and one Vista. I dont know how many is too many where they cut off FTTF. 

 

I do think at some pt they will add another level of loyalty, its my opinion. Not because 2 employees mentioned it on Vista.

[Taters]

It used to be that Carnival had plenty of housekeeping staff and everyone could go to their cabin as soon as they were on board.  It is my belief that they've simply cut staffing to such low levels that they are not able to get the cabins ready on time.  I know that my shipboard cabins have not been cleaned properly in several years (dusty bathroom shelves, lack of vacuuming, etc.) and I've had to request that these things be done.  This level of service is not an anomaly, it is the current state of Carnival culture, I'm afraid.  I still love Carnival, but hate that they have chosen to bring the service levels down across what seems like all departments.

[CRocks]

10 hours ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

The official line from Carnival is that FTTF is not sold for Journeys cruises.

Well that's either false or things have changed. I bought FTTF for our 2016 Journey cruise on Miracle to Hawaii before I turned platinum.