Carnival Promotions/Offers: How do they work?

[crooooze]

This is an interesting article on how Carnival targets emails. It doesn’t go into booking promotions,  but it it probably isn’t much different.

 

https://explore.reallygoodemails.com/how-carnival-cruise-line-uses-their-data-to-optimize-email-85ed23f1751a?gi=583a5de5812a

[zzdoug]

11 hours ago, ksmcdonald said:

My husband and I have been cruising together for the last 35 years.  We've literally been on the same ships, same dates, we both have the same zip code as we live in the same house, we both play moderately in the casino etc. yet we both have different offers.  I just booked a 14 day Hawaii cruise and I am offered "Drinks on Us While in the Casino" and he is not eligible for it.  I emailed the Casino Players club and asked why I am offered "Drinks on Us" while he isn't.  Same number of cruises, etc.   They really had not answer either except, that I was eligible for the offer and he was not.

 

 

These scenarios suggest to me that Carnival's revenue management department is running experiments to test demand at various price points.

[GeoHack]

11 hours ago, 1stin71 said:

Same here although we do NOT gamble.....plenty of Carnival cruises me and the wife.....same exact

amount of cruises and points......she gets $169 Panorama 7-day deals, my offer is $329!!! Called

Carnival, emailed the Duffy, emailed Guest Relations....NOTHING!

The funny part is I am dying to cruise again, my wife is done with cruising. Cannot even book under

her offers if she ain't on the booking.

Go figure.

LOL, just noticed this yesterday as my family had the same situation. There is the wife and I and 3 kids and we've all done 40+ days on Carnival and not gamblers. 

Checking cruise price:

Me: $239

Son: $319

Daughter1: $239

Daughter2: $319

Wife: $409 - ***** that was more than a guest costs for never being on a carnival cruise

 

We need to book 3 rooms so I was just trying to find 3 of us with the $239 price. We already have a Christmas cruise but was trying to find something else also at the current prices.

Edited September 14, 2021 by GeoHack

[dreamers2]

On 9/13/2021 at 9:29 AM, mrak said:

First off, I am not coming here to complain; I am just genuinely curious. I know some say it is random, but I have to think Carnival has some algorithms for determining what offers people get (for instance, I usually rack up a lot of drinks on Cheers so I only received the RU9 promo 😂). But what isn't making sense to me is what I am seeing right now. Carnival is trying to fill ships. I have been on 14 Carnival cruises, with my 15th booked for the Mardi Gras in November. We had 3 cruises cancelled and then rebooked last year, so an obvious willingness to cruise. I also live in Florida, so I have easy access to cruise ports. I am not a heavy gambler but play enough to receive occasional bounce back offers. However, I keep seeing all of these posts about $100 rooms (and have heard friends who haven't been on a cruise in 4 years getting emails with that type of promo), yet I'm not getting any decent offers. Again, I'm not complaining as I'm not even sure I could squeeze a cruise in right now...just more curious if anyone knows the science behind it.

I received the $100 offer and $200 onboard credit also...i hadn't sailed carnival in 7 years i did play a little in the casino back then  i've done like 9 carnival cruises ..i had been checking the prices on Mardi gras oct.30 sailing probably 4 or 5 times..my guess is they sent me this offer knowing i had been peeking but never booked....other ships showed up as available for the promo..i scrolled about 3 times thru them but none i really liked all of a sudden Mardi Gras was added to my available choices...coincidence? maybe or maybe not..

[Elaine5715]

On 9/13/2021 at 7:29 PM, crooooze said:

This is an interesting article on how Carnival targets emails. It doesn’t go into booking promotions,  but it it probably isn’t much different.

 

https://explore.reallygoodemails.com/how-carnival-cruise-line-uses-their-data-to-optimize-email-85ed23f1751a?gi=583a5de5812a

Edited September 17, 2021 by Elaine5715

[Elaine5715]

On 9/13/2021 at 7:29 PM, crooooze said:

This is an interesting article on how Carnival targets emails. It doesn’t go into booking promotions,  but it it probably isn’t much different.

 

https://explore.reallygoodemails.com/how-carnival-cruise-line-uses-their-data-to-optimize-email-85ed23f1751a?gi=583a5de5812a

[iamsteph]

My husband and I cruise together, but I also take one or two cruises a  year solo.  We've both had several of our together cruises cancelled due to covid, and I've had several of my solo cancelled. I currently have two solos booked and we have another together cruise booked. 

He's got amazing VIP offers right now (like, $700 for 2 people on a 7 day for extended balcony), me, not so much lol. 

 

He drinks, I do not. 

I've got the good RU2 drinks on us offer, he's got the RU9 (or whatever the bad one is). 

 

We both gamble, me (slots) more than him (tables), but neither of us more than $200 a cruise. 

Neither of us get the casino offers. 

 

I would really like to know their reasoning as well lol

[ninjacat123]

On 9/13/2021 at 5:49 PM, TNcruising02 said:

I play some slots in the casino every cruise, but have never spent more than $200.  I will reach platinum on my next cruise.  I usually get casino offers with special rates, but this year I have received offers with OBC and also offers with Free Cheers (we have never purchased Cheers).  
Lately, I have received offers for 7 day September and October cruises for $25 per person.  I've never received offers that low.

Did you book a cruise with the$25 per person?  I booked an inside on MG for 7 days for $65/person.  So excited!!

[KatieKatie17]

Hi, I received an email titled “Your Free Room Has Arrived” yesterday and the day before that received an email titled “Cruises from $25”. I ultimately booked a 7 day Eastern Caribbean on the Mardi Gras in a cove balcony for $135 pp.  I am gold with Carnival. Here’s all the data points that I believe could be relevant. 

I have only cruised 5 times with Carnival. This may be key however... When I booked these cruises I booked 3 cabins and paid for a minimum of 6 adults and 4 kids. At least that was the case for 4 out of 5 of these cruises. 
 

Contrary to popular opinion about these offers, I never gamble. I believe I vaguely remember trying a slot machine or two once on our first cruise in 2011, but definitely not since then. I don’t understand the appeal. I even resent having to walk through the casino on most ships to get where I’m going because I hate the smoke. 
 

Prior to the start of the pandemic I was booked on the Breeze 3/28/2020 (3 cabins) and it was canceled and I did not rebook. I was also booked on the Mardi Gras (1 balcony cabin) originally I think the 10/17/21 sailing and ultimately canceled without rebooking before final payment deadline. 
 

I have never bought Cheers. I have utilized spa services, specialty dining, and purchase excursions for our full party. 
 

My best guess is I am receiving these offers because they want to make sure I haven’t written off cruising forever. They are clearly losing money on this broad initiative so IMO this is less about cruising full in this unusual time and more of a marketing effort to bring customers back that they want to retain and aren’t giving them buying signals while they are not cruising full. I am Gold with Delta and lifetime Platinum with Marriott. Since the pandemic I have taken 6 land based domestic and international vacations and was seriously questioning whether we would go back to cruising. At the risk of sounding paranoid it would not shock me one bit if there is also an info sharing component with airlines or hotels through data aggregators to figure out who has travel “spend” versus who’s spending it with Carnival amongst past cruisers.

[TNcruising02]

3 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

Did you book a cruise with the$25 per person?  I booked an inside on MG for 7 days for $65/person.  So excited!!

That's a great deal!  No, we haven't booked anything yet.  We might think about booking something later this year if we still get specials, but for right now the mask requirements on the ships and at the ports are a hoop we would rather not have to jump through.  We are vaccinated and have had covid, so have no worries about getting or spreading covid.  We have a Mardi Gras cruise booked for April 2022, but are hoping to cruise sooner.

But $65 per person for the Mardi Gras is a gift for you!  I hope you have an awesome cruise!  The Mardi Gras looks like an awesome ship and I am very excited to sail on it someday.

[sharon&family]

Can I ask where do you get the codes?  Are they emailed to you?  Do you have to look for them?

[sharon&family]

 

•  

Can I ask where do you get the codes?  Are they emailed to you?  Do you have to look for them?

[Elaine5715]

4 hours ago, iamsteph said:

My husband and I cruise together, but I also take one or two cruises a  year solo.  We've both had several of our together cruises cancelled due to covid, and I've had several of my solo cancelled. I currently have two solos booked and we have another together cruise booked. 

He's got amazing VIP offers right now (like, $700 for 2 people on a 7 day for extended balcony), me, not so much lol. 

 

He drinks, I do not. 

I've got the good RU2 drinks on us offer, he's got the RU9 (or whatever the bad one is). 

 

We both gamble, me (slots) more than him (tables), but neither of us more than $200 a cruise. 

Neither of us get the casino offers. 

 

I would really like to know their reasoning as well lol

Are you signed up at https://www.cclpromos.com/carnivalplayersclub/ ? Or did you opt out of being contacted by email?

8 minutes ago, sharon&family said:

Can I ask where do you get the codes?  Are they emailed to you?  Do you have to look for them?

Check your Carnival.com account for offers

[Elaine5715]

39 minutes ago, KatieKatie17 said:

Hi, I received an email titled “Your Free Room Has Arrived” yesterday and the day before that received an email titled “Cruises from $25”. I ultimately booked a 7 day Eastern Caribbean on the Mardi Gras in a cove balcony for $135 pp.  I am gold with Carnival. Here’s all the data points that I believe could be relevant. 

I have only cruised 5 times with Carnival. This may be key however... When I booked these cruises I booked 3 cabins and paid for a minimum of 6 adults and 4 kids. At least that was the case for 4 out of 5 of these cruises. 
 

Contrary to popular opinion about these offers, I never gamble. I believe I vaguely remember trying a slot machine or two once on our first cruise in 2011, but definitely not since then. I don’t understand the appeal. I even resent having to walk through the casino on most ships to get where I’m going because I hate the smoke. 
 

Prior to the start of the pandemic I was booked on the Breeze 3/28/2020 (3 cabins) and it was canceled and I did not rebook. I was also booked on the Mardi Gras (1 balcony cabin) originally I think the 10/17/21 sailing and ultimately canceled without rebooking before final payment deadline. 
 

I have never bought Cheers. I have utilized spa services, specialty dining, and purchase excursions for our full party. 
 

My best guess is I am receiving these offers because they want to make sure I haven’t written off cruising forever. They are clearly losing money on this broad initiative so IMO this is less about cruising full in this unusual time and more of a marketing effort to bring customers back that they want to retain and aren’t giving them buying signals while they are not cruising full. I am Gold with Delta and lifetime Platinum with Marriott. Since the pandemic I have taken 6 land based domestic and international vacations and was seriously questioning whether we would go back to cruising. At the risk of sounding paranoid it would not shock me one bit if there is also an info sharing component with airlines or hotels through data aggregators to figure out who has travel “spend” versus who’s spending it with Carnival amongst past cruisers.

Did you read the article posted above about Carnival's promo strategy?

[KatieKatie17]

@Elaine5715I did just now but I suspect they have access to and leverage far more data than they would ever casually disclose.  I don’t doubt that what they described is a component but I highly doubt it’s the extent of the analytics and data they use. Most companies want insight into the full potential of their customers not just what they’ve experienced so they can target them in a way that will maximize their spend. Particularly right now I would suspect there is a ton of big data for sale to marketers on specific consumer behavior across the spectrum of their relevant experiences. 

[Elaine5715]

23 minutes ago, KatieKatie17 said:

@Elaine5715I did just now but I suspect they have access to and leverage far more data than they would ever casually disclose.  I don’t doubt that what they described is a component but I highly doubt it’s the extent of the analytics and data they use. Most companies want insight into the full potential of their customers not just what they’ve experienced so they can target them in a way that will maximize their spend. Particularly right now I would suspect there is a ton of big data for sale to marketers on specific consumer behavior across the spectrum of their relevant experiences. 

Of course, there is.  For example, sites like Zillow track what values of houses people are looking for in what areas.  That information is very valuable to housing developers.  Carnival tracks every keystroke on their website and they know where we are.  They can buy data of what we search for hotels and flights.  People do give out way to much information.  Carnival can buy our income information we volunteer to credit card companies to establish an account or raise our limits.  They can buy from the same companies what your average balance is so they can assume who spends and who does.  

[aprilsp88]

On 9/13/2021 at 11:25 AM, Virga said:

I'm a huge pointshound on Flyertalk - we dissect every targeted offer as best we can. 

@VirgaIs there a forum/place in flyertalk for cruise targeted offer? Thanks.

[firefly333]

On 9/13/2021 at 8:29 AM, mrak said:

First off, I am not coming here to complain; I am just genuinely curious. I know some say it is random, but I have to think Carnival has some algorithms for determining what offers people get (for instance, I usually rack up a lot of drinks on Cheers so I only received the RU9 promo 😂). But what isn't making sense to me is what I am seeing right now. Carnival is trying to fill ships. I have been on 14 Carnival cruises, with my 15th booked for the Mardi Gras in November. We had 3 cruises cancelled and then rebooked last year, so an obvious willingness to cruise. I also live in Florida, so I have easy access to cruise ports. I am not a heavy gambler but play enough to receive occasional bounce back offers. However, I keep seeing all of these posts about $100 rooms (and have heard friends who haven't been on a cruise in 4 years getting emails with that type of promo), yet I'm not getting any decent offers. Again, I'm not complaining as I'm not even sure I could squeeze a cruise in right now...just more curious if anyone knows the science behind it.

I got off vista today and my welcome back offer is up to 35% off. Lol I see 4 other sales up to 40% off.

 

I even deposited a little money in a slot machine to see if it will help.

 

If anything the rates i now see are higher than before i left on vista. They clearly pick and choose but who know how.

 

Once i complete the b2b in oct I will see if I get a new offer.  So far rcl likes me better lol. Carnival says go away. 

 

I did see some interesting things on vista but too tired to post. 

[EngIceDave]

On 9/13/2021 at 2:25 PM, Virga said:

I'd bet money there's a column in the passenger database that shows your average cost per day in alcohol, and it's used to help target offers.  

You bet

If they can figure out another way to drill down to your profit/loss to them, they'll do it.

[Colorado Beach Bum]

2 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I got off vista today and my welcome back offer is up to 35% off. Lol I see 4 other sales up to 40% off.

 

I even deposited a little money in a slot machine to see if it will help.

 

If anything the rates i now see are higher than before i left on vista. They clearly pick and choose but who know how.

 

Once i complete the b2b in oct I will see if I get a new offer.  So far rcl likes me better lol. Carnival says go away. 

 

I did see some interesting things on vista but too tired to post. 

Make sure you are signed up for emails from the players club…

https://www.cclpromos.com/carnivalplayersclub/

[firefly333]

20 minutes ago, Colorado Beach Bum said:

Make sure you are signed up for emails from the players club…

https://www.cclpromos.com/carnivalplayersclub/

Thanks so much. First person that actually had a good idea how to get offers. Awesome.

[ninjacat123]

On 9/17/2021 at 9:04 PM, sharon&family said:

Can I ask where do you get the codes?  Are they emailed to you?  Do you have to look for them?

I received an email from Carnival. As far as I know, nothing to do with Casino.  I'm Platinum and just finished a cruise on Magic Sept 4-9 and have 3 other Carnival cruises scheduled till 2023.  I looked at My Deals in my VIFP deals and didn't see them there so I think I needed to get the email to access this one. Like I said in another thread, I never received the awesome Cheers code so maybe Carnival is trying to make it up to me😉

[rs45thompson]

I'm going to be honest, I was a little salty about it.  My friend at work cruise on Royal Caribbean most of the time.  They have been on one Carnival cruise and he received "the offer."  I believe they are paying $50 per person plus taxes and port fees and get &100 in obc.  They now have 6 cruises booked with this offer including a long Hawaiian cruise. I understand why but it is still a hard pill to swallow.  Loyal (mostly) to Carnival and you are stuck paying thousands while they throw great deals at newbies.  By the time they finish they will be at a higher loyalty point than I am and total for their six cruises wouldn't have paid as much as I did for one cruise.  I understand it but it sucks.

Edited September 19, 2021 by rs45thompson

[sanger727]

On 9/13/2021 at 9:51 AM, mrak said:

 

Lol that is my girlfriend's theory too. I would think under current conditions, they would want to attract people most willing to book right now (frequent cruiser), vs those who previously only took a cruise every few years (Infrequent cruiser). Either or neither could be right lol

they want to maximize revenue right now. If a cruise has already proved that they are willing to book a cruise in the pandemic environment and/or have FCC on file - they want to get the highest room rate they can. Because they already believe you will pay that.

 

I think a lot of these super low offers are for prior carnival cruises (so they know had been willing to be a customer in the past) who are not current customers. Those are the people they want to convert back into customers by getting them on a ship again so they can see that pandemic cruising isn’t that bad.

[Isasprings]

On 9/13/2021 at 10:02 AM, Elaine5715 said:

Your zip code has more to do with your offers than how many drinks you consume.  I have 5 cruises booked and have a dozen plus great offers I had to pass on.

Yes I agree with you. I live in Miami I got lots of good offers. I just came back yesterday from a great cruise in the Horizon. Carnival call me on a Thursday and ask me if I want to go on Sunday they offered me  a balcony for $100 (6 days). I have another cruise booked for October on the Sunrise cheers included in the price. I Got good offers not only in Carnival. I booked MSC for December with free internet and alcohol very cheap.