Is your room still ready right away if you’re platinum?

[Elaine5715]

31 minutes ago, Stick93 said:

“Haters” - or cruisers. 

Its okay you love carnival no matter what.

 

Carnival tries the least. Their ships overall look more tired and are not kept up to standard we all think they should be.  Their product is fun but not in tune to specifics or details. You can love them for that - but they are cheap and cost cutters at passengers expense 100% of the time.  Their issues are more transparent than the other cruise lines. 
What does it cost to have P/D priority check in line??? I can assure this it’s close to zero! You want to give your loyal passengers a gift - you stick it in their room. You don’t have them go on a scavenger hunt to get them.  The other cruise lines get this and these are two easy examples that cost nothing. There are probability many more examples.  

Since there is Priority Boarding for Suites, it isn't a staffing issue.  Given the rampant abuse of Priority Boarding perks by P/D guests, I am not surprised it is shipping away

[Stick93]

38 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

Since there is Priority Boarding for Suites, it isn't a staffing issue.  Given the rampant abuse of Priority Boarding perks by P/D guests, I am not surprised it is shipping away

Well then your stating a point that carnivals clientele is beyond what people want to sail with. We have earned status with sailing  and spending. We should get this perk - no excuses. 

Edited July 18, 2022 by Stick93

[BlerkOne]

51 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

Since there is Priority Boarding for Suites, it isn't a staffing issue.  Given the rampant abuse of Priority Boarding perks by P/D guests, I am not surprised it is shipping away

There aren't well over a million suite cruisers, are there?

[BlerkOne]

14 minutes ago, Stick93 said:

Well then your stating a point that carnivals clientele is beyond what people want to sail with. We have earned status with sailing  and spending. We should get this perk - no excuses. 

All loyalty programs are nothing more than marketing gimmicks and none are sustainable without change. You earned nothing.. You don't even owned your days at sea.

[Stick93]

1 minute ago, BlerkOne said:

All loyalty programs are nothing more than marketing gimmicks and none are sustainable without change. You earned nothing.. You don't even owned your days at sea.

You are correct. But they need us the passengers to make them relevant. There is a cost vs benefit to every decision. They can do as they please but so can we. They don’t spend millions in marketing to not deliver to their loyal customers. 

[BlerkOne]

23 minutes ago, Stick93 said:

You are correct. But they need us the passengers to make them relevant. There is a cost vs benefit to every decision. They can do as they please but so can we. They don’t spend millions in marketing to not deliver to their loyal customers. 

They certainly do need some past guests to sail. But you can never have over 100% retention. Loyal customers don't pay for new ships - new customers grow the business.

 

If Carnival wasn't satisfied with the repeat customer numbers, they would make changes 

[Stick93]

1 minute ago, BlerkOne said:

They certainly do need some past guests to sail. But you can never have over 100% retention. Loyal customers don't pay for new ships - new customers grow the business.

 

If Carnival wasn't satisfied with the repeat customer numbers, they would make changes 

You are simplifying this too much. They need every customer. They need increased demand to increase the cost of each sailing. I agree to disagree. Accepting 90 % retention would be successful, less than 75% is a losing model. That would mean 1/4 customers goes elsewhere after sailing them. 
 

The need all of us and they spend great amounts to to try and keep us. 

[BlerkOne]

10 minutes ago, Stick93 said:

You are simplifying this too much. They need every customer. They need increased demand to increase the cost of each sailing. I agree to disagree. Accepting 90 % retention would be successful, less than 75% is a losing model. That would mean 1/4 customers goes elsewhere after sailing them. 
 

The need all of us and they spend great amounts to to try and keep us. 

We agree to disagree. There are still more people who haven't cruised than have cruised, and novice cruisers are Carnival's target market. In addition, Carnival picks up disgruntled cruisers from other lines. 

 

Carnival wants repeat cruisers who cruise for the brand and not for perks. Not everyone needs to be bribed 

[Stick93]

7 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

We agree to disagree. There are still more people who haven't cruised than have cruised, and novice cruisers are Carnival's target market. In addition, Carnival picks up disgruntled cruisers from other lines. 

 

Carnival wants repeat cruisers who cruise for the brand and not for perks. Not everyone needs to be bribed 

I get calls from new cruisers all the time asking me which cruise line to take their first cruise - I have to say that for the last 3 years I have been pushing other lines. Most new cruisers ask their friends who have gone on a cruise before. Word of mouth is free as well. The logic of not caring about your current passengers is just not a business model the largest cruise company can afford. Everyone learns about perks and loyalty programs because they work and are the gimmick that brings people back - like your 10th over priced coffee or as royal has 4 free drinks a day for diamond members and above. You hear people talking about it - they book suits for double points just so that in their next cruise they have a freebie that they use. Carnival is no different. We can debate the stupidity of a luggage tag or a can insulator as a ridiculous gimmick which should insult people - but it’s a perk and people want it. Priority boarding is free and a good gimmick. It allows people to enjoy their vacation right away hassle free. Taking it away for no reason is yet another example of Carnivals brain trust having a stroke at the table. 

[Elaine5715]

9 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

All loyalty programs are nothing more than marketing gimmicks and none are sustainable without change. You earned nothing.. You don't even owned your days at sea.

My airline loyalty program gets me actual benefits and flying other airlines is quite painful so done right, loyalty programs can generate business.  

[Elaine5715]

9 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

There aren't well over a million suite cruisers, are there?

Per sailing?  Likely not. The new Port Canaveral terminal has a seperate priority area for suites.  They choose not to create one for Plats or Diamonds. That is a clear intention.  Also unlike other terminals where you might not have been able to see those with priority boarding start while you watched, at the new PC terminal, they added enough windows so gen pop can watch and think maybe next time, they will get a suite.  

[LHARTWICK]

11 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Since there is Priority Boarding for Suites, it isn't a staffing issue.  Given the rampant abuse of Priority Boarding perks by P/D guests, I am not surprised it is shipping away

Curious how the P/D perks are being abused?  NOT being sarcastic - I guess I'm clueless to the abuse methods and just want to know.  Thank you!

[Elaine5715]

2 hours ago, LHARTWICK said:

Curious how the P/D perks are being abused?  NOT being sarcastic - I guess I'm clueless to the abuse methods and just want to know.  Thank you!

Most just took everyone who was traveling with them into the Priority line, waiting area, on the ship confronting anyone who dared stop them.  One Platinum plus a dozen family members or more. Diamonds-two dozen (I jest but only abit)

Copy your Priority Tags for everyone traveling with you so their bags came early.  One first scam was to do online check in with one credit card so the system thought everyone was in same booking and then just demand you are altogether.  

If you do a simple search you will find 1000+ posts asking if "they can come with you".

You split up P/D into each cabin so everyone in the cabin gets the "Priority" luggage and embarkation perk then once onboard go to GS and shift people back into actual partners.

Then take everyone plus strangers to the Past Guest party, afterwards complain how you don't get any food because it was too crowded.  

 

[ProgRockCruiser]

12 hours ago, Stick93 said:

You are simplifying this too much. They need every customer. They need increased demand to increase the cost of each sailing. I agree to disagree. Accepting 90 % retention would be successful, less than 75% is a losing model. That would mean 1/4 customers goes elsewhere after sailing them. 
 

The need all of us and they spend great amounts to to try and keep us. 

I firmly believe Carnival is fully cognizant of their turnover rate, and they welcome blue card holders with open arms.  According to a random website full of cruise stats I just read, in 2018 only 4% of US residents went on a cruise.  So there are many people left to lure into a first-time cruise.

 

Recent postings from John Heald about pax stats:

 

Conquest: 1789 Blue Cards out of 3318

Miracle: 519 / 2316

Horizon: 1049 / 4521

 

Some special cruises (longer that 8 days) probably have fewer blue-cards.  I seem to recall one of the Panama Canal transits has something like only 200 Blue Cards, maybe less.

 

And Carnival counts on people "splurging" on their first cruise because they know it might not happen again any time soon.  "Yes, I will buy the photo package, and the trinkets in the gift shop, and a bunch of t-shirts!"  How many "seasoned cruisers" here are proud of the fact that they provide Pixels and the Fun Shops with no additional revenue? 

 

Also, your model assumes cruisers "go elsewhere" after cruising with Carnival.  There are a number of cruisers (on all lines) who will never cruise again, or will cruise so infrequently they do not consider brand loyalty at all.  A CLIA report from 2017 says that survey respondents who were first-time cruisers were ~90% likely to book a cruise as their next vacation.  But that's responding to a survey (a very self-fulfilling prophesy) - how many people not interested in returning would bother responding?  "100% of patients who filled out this form after surgery said they were alive.  So the death rate must be zero!"  So I take their stat with a grain of salt, and would at least double the non-repeats, or 80%.

 

And of course the biggest stat that really matters is: how full are the ships?  Right now, they appear to be pretty full.  Will that sustain after the deluge of post-restart great deals get used up and the rush to "get back to cruising" diminishes to the normal demand?  I don't know.  Maybe the "Carnival beards" have an idea.

[LHARTWICK]

1 hour ago, Elaine5715 said:

Most just took everyone who was traveling with them into the Priority line, waiting area, on the ship confronting anyone who dared stop them.  One Platinum plus a dozen family members or more. Diamonds-two dozen (I jest but only abit)

Copy your Priority Tags for everyone traveling with you so their bags came early.  One first scam was to do online check in with one credit card so the system thought everyone was in same booking and then just demand you are altogether.  

If you do a simple search you will find 1000+ posts asking if "they can come with you".

You split up P/D into each cabin so everyone in the cabin gets the "Priority" luggage and embarkation perk then once onboard go to GS and shift people back into actual partners.

Then take everyone plus strangers to the Past Guest party, afterwards complain how you don't get any food because it was too crowded.  

 

Good gravy!  People put so much effort into cheating the system.  😡

[Stick93]

1 hour ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

I firmly believe Carnival is fully cognizant of their turnover rate, and they welcome blue card holders with open arms.  According to a random website full of cruise stats I just read, in 2018 only 4% of US residents went on a cruise.  So there are many people left to lure into a first-time cruise.

 

Recent postings from John Heald about pax stats:

 

Conquest: 1789 Blue Cards out of 3318

Miracle: 519 / 2316

Horizon: 1049 / 4521

 

Some special cruises (longer that 8 days) probably have fewer blue-cards.  I seem to recall one of the Panama Canal transits has something like only 200 Blue Cards, maybe less.

 

And Carnival counts on people "splurging" on their first cruise because they know it might not happen again any time soon.  "Yes, I will buy the photo package, and the trinkets in the gift shop, and a bunch of t-shirts!"  How many "seasoned cruisers" here are proud of the fact that they provide Pixels and the Fun Shops with no additional revenue? 

 

Also, your model assumes cruisers "go elsewhere" after cruising with Carnival.  There are a number of cruisers (on all lines) who will never cruise again, or will cruise so infrequently they do not consider brand loyalty at all.  A CLIA report from 2017 says that survey respondents who were first-time cruisers were ~90% likely to book a cruise as their next vacation.  But that's responding to a survey (a very self-fulfilling prophesy) - how many people not interested in returning would bother responding?  "100% of patients who filled out this form after surgery said they were alive.  So the death rate must be zero!"  So I take their stat with a grain of salt, and would at least double the non-repeats, or 80%.

 

And of course the biggest stat that really matters is: how full are the ships?  Right now, they appear to be pretty full.  Will that sustain after the deluge of post-restart great deals get used up and the rush to "get back to cruising" diminishes to the normal demand?  I don't know.  Maybe the "Carnival beards" have an idea.

Statistics are a funny thing. A good statistician can make you believe in anything.  Most of this country has no money for food. A good number will never take a cruise. What’s left?? Who knows.  But statistically if 25% of ships are blue cards - majority are return customers.  So Carnival has no excuse for not doing cheap things to retain all those people. So…Majority of ships according to your information from JH are full with return customers - so hard to believe they would not want to service those people.  

[BlerkOne]

7 minutes ago, Stick93 said:

Statistics are a funny thing. A good statistician can make you believe in anything.  Most of this country has no money for food. A good number will never take a cruise. What’s left?? Who knows.  But statistically if 25% of ships are blue cards - majority are return customers.  So Carnival has no excuse for not doing cheap things to retain all those people. So…Majority of ships according to your information from JH are full with return customers - so hard to believe they would not want to service those people.  

now add in Red and Gold. If anything, Carnival needs to beef up the lower levels - you know - the people who actually spend money. Novice cruisers does not refer to just cruise virgins.

[JoeMo]

2 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Most just took everyone who was traveling with them into the Priority line, waiting area, on the ship confronting anyone who dared stop them.  One Platinum plus a dozen family members or more. Diamonds-two dozen (I jest but only abit)

Copy your Priority Tags for everyone traveling with you so their bags came early.  One first scam was to do online check in with one credit card so the system thought everyone was in same booking and then just demand you are altogether.  

If you do a simple search you will find 1000+ posts asking if "they can come with you".

You split up P/D into each cabin so everyone in the cabin gets the "Priority" luggage and embarkation perk then once onboard go to GS and shift people back into actual partners.

Then take everyone plus strangers to the Past Guest party, afterwards complain how you don't get any food because it was too crowded.  

 

P/D abuser here. Not sorry, Not ashamed. Yes, we split two cabins between two couples. DW & I frequently drag another couple along for a cruise. I book cabin A, she books cabin B. Both of us are platinum, so both cabins generally get boarding A1, (Next after Suites). Sometime during embarkation day we do the Room card shuffle. Between our platinum and casino rates the other couple generally gets to sail for 30-40% off regular rates. Carnival has never seemed to mind, the other couple probably would not be there without the discount. We have never shared credit cards or luggage tags and never had a problem with luggage arriving on time. We stopped doing the P/D party about 20 cruises ago, as they schedule it just before our early dining. As for other perks, it is nice to have laundry done every other day on a 14 day cruise, one or two less suitcases to pack. If you want the same perks as those of us who began sailing on the original Mardi Gras, go get yourself a platinum card. 

[Elaine5715]

3 hours ago, JoeMo said:

P/D abuser here. Not sorry, Not ashamed. Yes, we split two cabins between two couples. DW & I frequently drag another couple along for a cruise. I book cabin A, she books cabin B. Both of us are platinum, so both cabins generally get boarding A1, (Next after Suites). Sometime during embarkation day we do the Room card shuffle. Between our platinum and casino rates the other couple generally gets to sail for 30-40% off regular rates. Carnival has never seemed to mind, the other couple probably would not be there without the discount. We have never shared credit cards or luggage tags and never had a problem with luggage arriving on time. We stopped doing the P/D party about 20 cruises ago, as they schedule it just before our early dining. As for other perks, it is nice to have laundry done every other day on a 14 day cruise, one or two less suitcases to pack. If you want the same perks as those of us who began sailing on the original Mardi Gras, go get yourself a platinum card. 

Just don't complain when the perks are watered down and disappear.  

[BlerkOne]

58 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

Just don't complain when the perks are watered down and disappear.  

I wish they would just do away with the program.

[lazydayz]

18 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

I wish they would just do away with the program.

 

Why?  Seems illogical to want perks to go away.  Most people want more of them.  

[JoeMo]

20 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Just don't complain when the perks are watered down and disappear.  

Over the past 35 years, lots of things have been watered down. When we don't like it anymore, 

Some Ship of the Seas is the next terminal over, we're flexible.

[cruisingguy007]

On 7/17/2022 at 4:37 AM, jetsfan58 said:

I try and not be selfish and allow the stewards to complete their jobs. How would we feel if someone abruptly just entered your office while you were on a teleconference? Same scenario here.

 

Let's just learn to be patient and allow these hard working individuals to complete their assignments.     

 

This is the way! Turn around day is the hardest for room stewards, each and every interaction slows them down and makes their job just that much more frustrating. Some sailings, with lots of P/D, imagine how much time/energy it takes. Each person thinks only about their small 20/30/60 second distraction but in totality, it adds up. Nothing worse then when you are working your system in an organized machine like focused fashion and the phone rings (equivalence), over and over with each guest. This when they're already tired/irritated/overworked, missing home and may have their own drama going on and people wonder why some of them smile but are visibly irritated. If you're going to interrupt their stride/efficiency, make it worth it for them, slip them a ten-spot for the trouble and watch that smile get a little bigger and shoulders relax a little. Or just wait a bit and stay out of these folks way that are working in tight spaces/hallways doing an extremely tough job, and during their longest/hardest workday (turn around). Grab a seat, grab a bite to eat and get a beer, you're on a cruise ship. Ahhh, that''s better....😁      

Edited July 19, 2022 by cruisingguy007

[bguppies]

All I care about is priority embark and debarkation and priority tenders.

Could careless about the crappy gifts or the diamond/platinum party, etc.

 

FTTF before covid was the first slap in platinum /diamond cruisers faces.

Keeping priority embark for suites but not their dedicated cruisers after covid was the second.

Their crap excuses for getting even the simplest items back in a timely fashion just shows their lack of care for their dedicated customers.

[Elaine5715]

26 minutes ago, cruisingguy007 said:

 

This is the way! Turn around day is the hardest for room stewards, each and every interaction slows them down and makes their job just that much more frustrating. Some sailings, with lots of P/D, imagine how much time/energy it takes. Each person thinks only about their small 20/30/60 second distraction but in totality, it adds up. Nothing worse then when you are working your system in an organized machine like focused fashion and the phone rings (equivalence), over and over with each guest. This when they're already tired/irritated/overworked, missing home and may have their own drama going on and people wonder why some of them smile but are visibly irritated. If you're going to interrupt their stride/efficiency, make it worth it for them, slip them a ten-spot for the trouble and watch that smile get a little bigger and shoulders relax a little. Or just wait a bit and stay out of these folks way that are working in tight spaces/hallways doing an extremely tough job, and during their longest/hardest workday (turn around). Grab a seat, grab a bite to eat and get a beer, you're on a cruise ship. Ahhh, that''s better....😁      

Does make me wonder how many guests who think their interruption of the stewards work isn't a bother, have a job.  Nothing makes me think bad words behind a smile more than someone who calls late Friday afternoon about something they knew about on Thursday.  "It will just take a few minutes".