Diamond & Platinum Not great

[Bgcruising]

18 hours ago, matymil said:

Honestly ive thought for a long time that they needed to add another tier. Somewhere between 75-250 days...maybe 150? 

Or make platinum 150 and diamond 300 with no grandfathering. 

 

I think they just want to do away with us that cruise all the time and know their money grabbing tricks in favor of the new ones that dont. It's been fun, but getting less fun, time to move along for me.

[drafterdw]

On 11/6/2021 at 6:13 PM, VaTech8912 said:

On Pride a few weeks ago, the D&P gathering had free flowing drinks made to order. Maybe they are doing things differently on smaller ships. Loved the $25 casino dollars (free money).  While different, still received my water, strawberries and cookies easily enough.  We had a QR code in room stating the benefits and also Guest services confirmed everything when asking about something else.  While it does take a little more work, I appreciated being able to request the cookies and strawberries when I wanted vs them delivering on the formal night.  Absolutely agree they can save $ by making it more an effort  for the customer but at least they do not waste items if someone doesn't want them anyway.   Hope you enjoy your weekend.

We were on the 1st sailing of the Pride out of Baltimore. We had no qr code and did not know if they had just done away with them. We did not find out until the last day we had to go pick things up. They did deliver the cookies and strawberries without us requesting them.

[BlerkOne]

9 hours ago, ChattTenn said:

We are Platinum with Carnival and believe they are using a way to cut cost by stating the shortage of bacon with one day this and one day that 

 

Carnival isn't cutting costs they are trying to control them. Bacon prices are higher than they have been in decades.

[Guest BasicSailor]

10 hours ago, Colorado Beach Bum said:

It’s a bar receipt, they all have options to tip.  I agree the perks are weak but this is reading way to far into the change.  

Lets hope so, but all we can do is wait and see.

[lidoplease]

I miss the priority boarding too. We cruised the MG in October. It took over 2 hours to board. Long, long lines and crowded every step. I put this in my survey. 

[firefly333]

5 hours ago, lidoplease said:

I miss the priority boarding too. We cruised the MG in October. It took over 2 hours to board. Long, long lines and crowded every step. I put this in my survey. 

Were there special circumstances?  We were about 3 hours late because of the rescue at sea. We didnt even dock until 10 am. The docking before might have been a tad late. We heard vista was 3 hours late because of the high winds the day before. It was some wind. Bbq we were lucky it was even open as that corner seemed to be the worst. My plate was like a frisbee. My tablet doesnt take good pictures but you can maybe see just how high the winds were. 

 

Maybe carnival should push boarding back like rcl is doing. Noon is now the earliest time we can select out of Galveston.  That 1030 time is really pushing them. 

 

[wanman]

If you would have paid attention or read John Healds posts you would know that the D/P priority boarding has been stopped for the time being to allow for a more controlled embarkation process. It is much like other places that control how many people can do something at any given time (plane boarding,  comes to mind), not that it makes much sense because everyone will be co-mingling eventually.

 

Just chill out and wait for everything to get back to normal, then if they don't bring it back, raise cain then.

[sailingships]

On 11/6/2021 at 5:02 PM, 1025cruise said:

Everything you stated has been known since Carnival restarted cruising. The reason for only suites getting priority boarding is due to there being less of them to minimize crowds due to Covid.

Not for the Mardi Gras. There were about 20 suite people in one big room and a pressed crowd of D/P/etc outside in the lobby.

[rim140]

Is there Loyalty Ambassador desk (?) On board the Horizon? Where is it located?

[firefly333]

37 minutes ago, rim140 said:

Is there Loyalty Ambassador desk (?) On board the Horizon? Where is it located?

Carnival doesnt have someone onboard to book cruises. Used to but long gone. Rcl has this so maybe that's what you remember?

 

Guest services can book you for the next leg or contact someone who can.

[SwordBlazer Cruising]

I find this entire thread amusing. Re read some of the complaining about boarding and bacon. Really? Why not try MSC where they are whoaring themselves out by status matching from other cruiselines or RCL charging $7 for a hamburger at J Rockets. Come on, I just got off a Carnival ship and it was fabulous. You should probably focus your anger at the people who show up 2 hours early to board or those people who try and smuggle on rum runners…

[FloridaGram]

I am kind of glad they have made all these changes. We board the Mardi Gras this Saturday with nothing else scheduled and I look forward to trying other cruise lines. A big draw for us to keep returning to Carnival was the priority boarding so if we don't have it then it will be the same boarding experience on any cruise line. 

[Colorado Beach Bum]

12 minutes ago, FloridaGram said:

I am kind of glad they have made all these changes. We board the Mardi Gras this Saturday with nothing else scheduled and I look forward to trying other cruise lines. A big draw for us to keep returning to Carnival was the priority boarding so if we don't have it then it will be the same boarding experience on any cruise line. 

We didn’t have priority boarding on Mardi Gras but because we checked in a couple of days early we had an early boarding.  With the early boarding time we had one of the smoothest boarding ever on Carnival On our Mardi Gras cruise, even easier than platinum pre-covid when they had priority boarding. 

[firefly333]

11 hours ago, SwordBlazer Cruising said:

I find this entire thread amusing. Re read some of the complaining about boarding and bacon. Really? Why not try MSC where they are whoaring themselves out by status matching from other cruiselines or RCL charging $7 for a hamburger at J Rockets. Come on, I just got off a Carnival ship and it was fabulous. You should probably focus your anger at the people who show up 2 hours early to board or those people who try and smuggle on rum runners…

I havent seen anyone angry. It does seem like if someone had a few complaints they arent allowed to voice them. I was happy with everything except some dining experiences. For sure I'm not angry. Just posting what I felt could be better. I'm in the middle of some family issues that have me occupied, just passing the time posting. Why say if people voice complaints they are angry if none said they were angry? 

 

Believe me family matters are my priority, and my mind sure doesnt have room for anger over such things. If it's my preference on a cruise to have bacon and eggs  .. I go to have someone cook for me and see the ocean. Others go for other reasons. All are valid. Dont take things so personally you project how people feel. I just happened to have carnival booked so I went with it. Booked over a year ahead. I was glad i got to go. Last leg perfect weather and cabin stewards were wonderful. My only complaints were dining. No biggie. Not enough I wouldnt come back if I too was offered lower prices.

 

I'm just not loyal to only one line. Variety is the spice of life they say. 

[SwordBlazer Cruising]

6 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I havent seen anyone angry. It does seem like if someone had a few complaints they arent allowed to voice them. I was happy with everything except some dining experiences. For sure I'm not angry. Just posting what I felt could be better. I'm in the middle of some family issues that have me occupied, just passing the time posting. Why say if people voice complaints they are angry if none said they were angry? 

 

Believe me family matters are my priority, and my mind sure doesnt have room for anger over such things. If it's my preference on a cruise to have bacon and eggs  .. I go to have someone cook for me and see the ocean. Others go for other reasons. All are valid. Dont take things so personally you project how people feel. I just happened to have carnival booked so I went with it. Booked over a year ahead. I was glad i got to go. Last leg perfect weather and cabin stewards were wonderful. My only complaints were dining. No biggie. Not enough I wouldnt come back if I too was offered lower prices.

 

I'm just not loyal to only one line. Variety is the spice of life they say. 

You are correct. I should have used better wording and not painted w such a broad brush. I am not loyal to one as well and my dismay was more directed at the OP. He is thowing around assumptions like the cruiseline is saving money bu having you pick up a free gift and other stupid concoctions. Sorry for the harsh language w you! 

[firefly333]

4 minutes ago, SwordBlazer Cruising said:

You are correct. I should have used better wording and not painted w such a broad brush. I am not loyal to one as well and my dismay was more directed at the OP. He is thowing around assumptions like the cruiseline is saving money bu having you pick up a free gift and other stupid concoctions. Sorry for the harsh language w you! 

He is entitled to think what he thinks as are others. I agree that it's to save money. Having the steward who cleans your cabin put them there before did not mean more people going in. Delivering strawberries ok, but leaving the gift and pin didnt contaminate the cabin. Same guy is cleaning.

 

I also think cutting bacon is to save costs. 

 

I'm not mad about it but I like bacon with eggs. If you dont like your pin and gift left by your cabin steward ok .. I didnt mind picking them up. Didnt bother me now that I get it. I couldnt find the person working on vista at pixels for 3 days, 2 were port days and did have trouble picking them up but on breeze got them before we hit our ports. It's a learning process not something to get upset about. Actually I tried to give away the luggage tags. Just wanted the pin. Not the water or strawberries. Just wanted the pin and got it.

[SwordBlazer Cruising]

29 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

He is entitled to think what he thinks as are others. I agree that it's to save money. Having the steward who cleans your cabin put them there before did not mean more people going in. Delivering strawberries ok, but leaving the gift and pin didnt contaminate the cabin. Same guy is cleaning.

 

I also think cutting bacon is to save costs. 

 

I'm not mad about it but I like bacon with eggs. If you dont like your pin and gift left by your cabin steward ok .. I didnt mind picking them up. Didnt bother me now that I get it. I couldnt find the person working on vista at pixels for 3 days, 2 were port days and did have trouble picking them up but on breeze got them before we hit our ports. It's a learning process not something to get upset about. Actually I tried to give away the luggage tags. Just wanted the pin. Not the water or strawberries. Just wanted the pin and got it.

See I don’t see how it is saving money. He made that comment so why not back it up with facts. The cabin stewards don’t get paid per hour so where is the money savings if someone from housekeeping drops it off in the cabin vs it being picked up. I ordered a 12 pack of water ahead and it was there so if they perhaps wanted to save money theywould hope that I would forget and not pick it up. The original OP does have a right to his opinion as we all do but it appears that his expectations are not in line with the vast majority here post Covid. 

 

Your other comments about photo are true I agree as I had same experience and also the coffee shop was packed w one singular crew member. 

[Guest BasicSailor]

1 hour ago, firefly333 said:

 

 

I also think cutting bacon is to save costs. 

 

I'm not mad about it but I like bacon with eggs

 It's the beginning of more cut backs I tell you !😡

[firefly333]

30 minutes ago, SwordBlazer Cruising said:

See I don’t see how it is saving money. He made that comment so why not back it up with facts. The cabin stewards don’t get paid per hour so where is the money savings if someone from housekeeping drops it off in the cabin vs it being picked up. I ordered a 12 pack of water ahead and it was there so if they perhaps wanted to save money theywould hope that I would forget and not pick it up. The original OP does have a right to his opinion as we all do but it appears that his expectations are not in line with the vast majority here post Covid. 

 

Your other comments about photo are true I agree as I had same experience and also the coffee shop was packed w one singular crew member. 

It saves money because half dont pick up the stuff and it's not wasted. I didnt get my bottle of water or the cookies or strawberries. I cant eat them and still eat dinner. I'm not that big of a eater. So if many dont get the things that were dropped off before and wasted, to me that's a cost savings. 

 

If I was home I'd love the chocolate covering strawberries lol but I never eat them on a cruise. And I dont drink bottled water. I want ice water from the tap, lots and lots of ice. I never drink bottled water. I had cheers twice and bottled water isnt a draw. I only drank about 1 alcoholic drink a day, wasted on me. He probably thought the answer obvious why if many dont get it and waste it it's a savings.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

On 11/6/2021 at 5:59 PM, audcc77 said:

 

..

 

The $25 casino cash is nice though. 

 

I "left that on the table", as I didn't remember to ask for it... darn it!

Tom

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

On 11/7/2021 at 8:43 AM, tree.critter said:

...

 

Just got off a cruise with 1200 guests, over 500 of them platinum and diamond. Can’t give priority boarding to nearly half the passengers. 

 

Time for them to rethink the levels and perks... before it's too late (just wanted to throw in that movie reference) !   🙂

 

Tom

[firefly333]

15 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

Time for them to rethink the levels and perks... before it's too late (just wanted to throw in that movie reference) !   🙂

 

Tom

Lol that's for another thread but a level above diamond I think would give people something to strive for. People want a higher goal to work toward. Would encourage bookings. 2shoes who posts here he is above 1k pts. Joe i meet is over 1500 pts. His wife over 1400 pts. He knows a guy on mardi gras 200 plus pts above him. 

 

Give something like bogo pay restaurants once per cruise. Idk a free bottle of wine you can pick from a list. Something above diamond to shoot for. Wouldnt hurt to me or cost much. Diamond is a one time free pay restaurant..then nothing. No incentive to me. Give bogo or something ongoing for really high days. Something to reach for.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

20 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Lol that's for another thread but a level above diamond I think would give people something to strive for. People want a higher goal to work toward. Would encourage bookings. 2shoes who posts here he is above 1k pts. Joe i meet is over 1500 pts. His wife over 1400 pts. He knows a guy on mardi gras 200 plus pts above him. 

 

Give something like bogo pay restaurants once per cruise. Idk a free bottle of wine you can pick from a list. Something above diamond to shoot for. Wouldnt hurt to me or cost much. Diamond is a one time free pay restaurant..then nothing. No incentive to me. Give bogo or something ongoing for really high days. Something to reach for.

 

... and what was one of the other perks... something like 3rd/4th guest in a cabin (one time) travel free. Excuse me, but there will only be two of us in one cabin !!!

 

Cheryl is coming up on her 75th Carnival sailing (a couple sailings ahead of me), so we're looking at getting that 75% OBC on our Celebration sailing in '23. We'll have to figure out what to do with it. 🙂

 

Tom

[BlerkOne]

29 minutes ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

 

... and what was one of the other perks... something like 3rd/4th guest in a cabin (one time) travel free. Excuse me, but there will only be two of us in one cabin !!!

 

It is really your responsibility to keep up with the perks, terms, and conditions of the program applicable to you.

 

https://www.carnival.com/vifp/terms-and-conditions

 

as I believe you typically will book upper categories of cabins, you opt out of the alternative.

[gnocchi_mommy]

Magic 11/6 departure, Diamond and Platinum got priority- at least the first group of us did. Had a 10:00-10:30 check in, group A02 we arrived at the port at about 9:30 and walked to the line at 9:40. In the door and through security around 10:15 I’d guess. Directed upstairs, suites to sit in red chairs, D&P in blue. Worker told us to ignore what was being announced downstairs. Doors opened and everyone upstairs queued up at the photo scan machines, it took all of 5 minutes to get to the gangway from when they opened the door.

 

I can’t speak to experience of people who had later check in times, perhaps they didn’t get sent to the priority lounge.