Rare jimbo5544 Posted July 18 #1 Share Posted July 18 On his morning post on his FB page John again talked about future changes to the loyalty program that are in the works by Carnival brass and that the first will start on next weeks cruises (after 7/25 I believe) having to do with opening up the timing for the Gold/Plat/Diamond drink from after 5pm on last cruise day. 3 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jamman54 Posted July 18 #2 Share Posted July 18 We'll see........ 5 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jimbo5544 Posted July 18 Author #3 Share Posted July 18 I get it. If I were a betting man (I am not), I would think we will see something this year. Time will tell. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare shof515 Posted July 18 #4 Share Posted July 18 will this happen? for many many years he made various hints about changes that never happened 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mz-s Posted July 18 #5 Share Posted July 18 I can't wait to see how much more they'll take away from the product. 5 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Fart Cruisers Posted July 18 #6 Share Posted July 18 (edited) 38 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said: On his morning post on his FB page John again talked about future changes to the loyalty program that are in the works by Carnival brass and that the first will start on next weeks cruises (after 7/25 I believe) having to do with opening up the timing for the Gold/Plat/Diamond drink from after 5pm on last cruise Probably something like you will now be able to drink after 4pm instead of 5pm, but there will no longer be free laundry or priority boarding or debarkation to cover the cost of allowing you to enjoy your drink earlier. 😉 Edited July 18 by Old Fart Cruisers 7 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jimbo5544 Posted July 18 Author #7 Share Posted July 18 12 minutes ago, Old Fart Cruisers said: Probably something like you will now be able to drink after 4pm instead of 5pm, but there will no longer be free laundry or priority boarding or debarkation to cover the cost of allowing you to enjoy your drink earlier. 😉 Be careful what you ask for Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mz-s Posted July 18 #8 Share Posted July 18 16 minutes ago, Old Fart Cruisers said: Probably something like you will now be able to drink after 4pm instead of 5pm, but there will no longer be free laundry or priority boarding or debarkation to cover the cost of allowing you to enjoy your drink earlier. 😉 The Monkey's Paw in practice. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sgttami Posted July 18 #9 Share Posted July 18 Effective 7/20/24 Gold, Platinum and Diamond will be able to redeem their free drink at any bar at any time on cruises 5+ days. That's all I saw on Heald's page this morning. 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gari Posted July 18 #10 Share Posted July 18 I like that change. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare Jamman54 Posted July 18 #11 Share Posted July 18 Now we don't cruise because of the benefits, but there are a couple of things that irk me a little bit. When you reach 200 days and reach the Diamond Level you are given a free specialty dinner for two. When we reached 400 days you would think that they would throw you another specialty dinner since we had spent the money for another 200 days, but they don't. Yet they give specialty dinners to gamblers like they are candy. 🤔 The second thing really won't affect me since I'll never have that many cruises, but I know people that do. Did you know that the Milestone program ends at 100 cruises? isn't 125, 150, 175 cruises and beyond milestones? I think it would be fair to start back at 25% for 125 cruises and so on. I brought these examples up to JH and he agreed with me, and said he would bring these examples up to the beards. We shall see. 😎 23 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jimbo5544 Posted July 18 Author #12 Share Posted July 18 (edited) 11 minutes ago, sgttami said: Effective 7/20/24 Gold, Platinum and Diamond will be able to redeem their free drink at any bar at any time on cruises 5+ days. That's all I saw on Heald's page this morning. That is all there is right now, but there are changes coming Edited July 18 by jimbo5544 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Old Fart Cruisers Posted July 18 #13 Share Posted July 18 You can now use your ONE free drink per cruise at any time on Carnival. WOW! On Royal, you get 4 free drinks per day at just 80 days and 5 free drink per day at 175 days. 15 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nycruise1 Posted July 18 #14 Share Posted July 18 3 minutes ago, Jamman54 said: Did you know that the Milestone program ends at 100 cruises? isn't 125, 150, 175 cruises and beyond milestones? I think it would be fair to start back at 25% for 125 cruises and so on. I brought these examples up to JH and he agreed with me, and said he would bring these examples up to the beards. We shall see. 😎 I was shocked when I learned this. For people who are pushing 1,000 or more days at sea you think they could throw them something every 25 cruises. To be honest, once you hit 100 cruises I think it would be reasonable to give them a free cruise every future milestone. If someone gets to 200 cruises and they got 5 free cruises (100/125/150/175/200) it would not break Carnival and they would be rewarding their most traveled guests of which there are not that many. 8 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crusin Karen Posted July 18 #15 Share Posted July 18 I just read a post on “another forum” complaining about the free drink. She had just turned platinum. It was last day of her cruise and she tried to order her free drink at 5pm. They refused saying it had to be ordered at the last day brunch. She went to guest services but they basically told her “too bad.” She said it ruined her whole cruise. Kind of dramatic BUT how much does CCL lose on one free drink and would have kept a loyal customer happy. I never understood why there was a day/time limit for this “perk.” 6 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mz-s Posted July 18 #16 Share Posted July 18 (edited) 13 minutes ago, Crusin Karen said: I just read a post on “another forum” complaining about the free drink. She had just turned platinum. It was last day of her cruise and she tried to order her free drink at 5pm. They refused saying it had to be ordered at the last day brunch. She went to guest services but they basically told her “too bad.” She said it ruined her whole cruise. Kind of dramatic BUT how much does CCL lose on one free drink and would have kept a loyal customer happy. I never understood why there was a day/time limit for this “perk.” There are historical reasons but they are long irrelevant so making the drink valid any time is a long overdue change. There have been numerous changes to the VIFP program, especially since COVID, so I am not sure I understand how this change is the "start" of the VIFP updates. Perhaps this is the first good change to the program that they actually want to talk about, rather than have us learn about by surprise. Edited July 18 by mz-s 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mz-s Posted July 18 #17 Share Posted July 18 11 minutes ago, nycruise1 said: I was shocked when I learned this. For people who are pushing 1,000 or more days at sea you think they could throw them something every 25 cruises. To be honest, once you hit 100 cruises I think it would be reasonable to give them a free cruise every future milestone. If someone gets to 200 cruises and they got 5 free cruises (100/125/150/175/200) it would not break Carnival and they would be rewarding their most traveled guests of which there are not that many. The point of the VIFP program is to drive repeat business - rewarding loyalty is secondary. If they're sticking around past Diamond without additional perks then what's the point. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jam19872016 Posted July 18 #18 Share Posted July 18 I really appreciate this change. I hate to be cynical but you never lead with bad news. You lead with good to soften the blow for bad news. I hope this good news is not meant to distract from the bad news forthcoming. Royal has recently made great improvements with their enhanced loyalty match so I'm hopeful Carnival will prove me wrong. Although it is not published anywhere, I thought Carnival did still offer milestone benefits at 125, 150 etc? Are we sure they do not as I remember a complaint on some FB group a while back from someone only getting 25% at 125 which I thought was a valid complaint. Of course we know how reliable FB can be but it was definitely brought up. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jimbo5544 Posted July 18 Author #19 Share Posted July 18 26 minutes ago, Old Fart Cruisers said: You can now use your ONE free drink per cruise at any time on Carnival. WOW! On Royal, you get 4 free drinks per day at just 80 days and 5 free drink per day at 175 days. And the price of eggs in Jamaica went down by 13%, same relevance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jimbo5544 Posted July 18 Author #20 Share Posted July 18 (edited) 29 minutes ago, nycruise1 said: I was shocked when I learned this. For people who are pushing 1,000 or more days at sea you think they could throw them something every 25 cruises. To be honest, once you hit 100 cruises I think it would be reasonable to give them a free cruise every future milestone. If someone gets to 200 cruises and they got 5 free cruises (100/125/150/175/200) it would not break Carnival and they would be rewarding their most traveled guests of which there are not that many. When it was put in place I bet that number was just fine. Oh, by the way, those people pushing 1,000 days are called casino rates. IMHO, they should not even be in the program Edited July 18 by jimbo5544 2 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jimbo5544 Posted July 18 Author #21 Share Posted July 18 9 minutes ago, jam19872016 said: I really appreciate this change. I hate to be cynical but you never lead with bad news. You lead with good to soften the blow for bad news. I hope this good news is not meant to distract from the bad news forthcoming. Royal has recently made great improvements with their enhanced loyalty match so I'm hopeful Carnival will prove me wrong. Although it is not published anywhere, I thought Carnival did still offer milestone benefits at 125, 150 etc? Are we sure they do not as I remember a complaint on some FB group a while back from someone only getting 25% at 125 which I thought was a valid complaint. Of course we know how reliable FB can be but it was definitely brought up. Wait a minute, FB is not factual? Thought all those fact checkers took care of those things…. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nycruise1 Posted July 18 #22 Share Posted July 18 1 minute ago, jimbo5544 said: Oh, by the way, those people pushing 1,000 days are called casino rates. IMHO, they should not even be in the program I have never received a casino rate but am fine with them in the program. The cruise is being paid for some way (by the casino company) who must only be doing this because the cruiser is gambling enough. From my limited play in the casino, the gamblers with thousands of gambling points are losing plenty and likely it is costing them more than if they just paid regular rates. 4 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jimbo5544 Posted July 18 Author #23 Share Posted July 18 30 minutes ago, Crusin Karen said: I just read a post on “another forum” complaining about the free drink. She had just turned platinum. It was last day of her cruise and she tried to order her free drink at 5pm. They refused saying it had to be ordered at the last day brunch. She went to guest services but they basically told her “too bad.” She said it ruined her whole cruise. Kind of dramatic BUT how much does CCL lose on one free drink and would have kept a loyal customer happy. I never understood why there was a day/time limit for this “perk.” I think their (Carnival) motivation is pretty clear. We have done this MANY times and never had an issue where we did it. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare jimbo5544 Posted July 18 Author #24 Share Posted July 18 2 minutes ago, nycruise1 said: I have never received a casino rate but am fine with them in the program. The cruise is being paid for some way (by the casino company) who must only be doing this because the cruiser is gambling enough. From my limited play in the casino, the gamblers with thousands of gambling points are losing plenty and likely it is costing them more than if they just paid regular rates. Did not want to get off topic (even though it is my thread). That said, my view is what I stated. People choose to gamble, just like we all choose to cruise. My view, the perk should be for what EVERYONE pays for. JMHO… 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bar1068 Posted July 18 #25 Share Posted July 18 31 minutes ago, Crusin Karen said: I just read a post on “another forum” complaining about the free drink. She had just turned platinum. It was last day of her cruise and she tried to order her free drink at 5pm. They refused saying it had to be ordered at the last day brunch. She went to guest services but they basically told her “too bad.” She said it ruined her whole cruise. Kind of dramatic BUT how much does CCL lose on one free drink and would have kept a loyal customer happy. I never understood why there was a day/time limit for this “perk.” And to add to this, it was something Carnival had done in the past, which was kept pretty quiet, at l least in my opinion. Some cruises back on the Celebration, late in the afternoon on the last day of the cruise, a friend and I went to the bar in Pig and Anchor, ordered a couple of drinks, bartender says, do you wanna use your free voucher? We looked at each other like huh, but sure. For several cruises after that, we used that "voucer" on the last day, in different iterations. Last month we were on Venezia, went to use it, bartender says, nope you as Diamond needed to use that voucher at sea day brunch. Now, if you were gold, then you could use it. We were like, when the hell did that change? In February we used the voucher on the last day so we were pretty frustrated. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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