Platinum Debarkation - What's your experience?

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Since the Platinum perks were rolled out we have definitely enjoyed them (wish there were more!).

 

One thing that has been really nice was priority DEBARKATION. There is something about being off the ship by 8 am (let's face it, the cruise is OVER...) ahead of the masses!

 

What we have noticed (on the Fantasy, Sensation, and Glory) is that we get off BEFORE the self-assist people. We travel rather heavy (especially for 7+ night sailings) and self-assist would be ROUGH.

 

HOWEVER on the Legend last month the Platinum cruisers (not doing self-assist) were instructed when and where to meet. They scheduled the MASSES of self-assist off BEFORE the Platinum people. We had to wait in the sports bar about 1 hour while several hundred (thousand?) self-assists made their way off the ship. This is not what I picture the situation should be. I called the Purser the night prior and they confirmed that this is the way they do it. I, of course, told them this is not the way on other ships - and questioned the logic of treating people differently of different ships, it should be a fleet-wide policy.

 

We also noticed that the Concierge line at the Purser's desk was cluttered with stuff (appearing closed and uninviting) throughout the cruise. Is this the beginning of "watered down" priority treatment??:eek: Othen than this, and on other ships, things have gone very smooth.

 

What have other Platinum cruisers encountered?

 

Thanks!

 

Tom

[Sandgnat]

I self assisted off of the Celebration and was first off, on the Inspiration and Victory we waited until after the self assisted. On the Inspiration we waited where we were told (the library) and then were supposed to be taken to the front of the line, too many others there and we were left to fend for ourselves, not what was promised. I also requested priority tendering in Cozumel and they acted like they had no clue what I was talking about and told me to go to the lounge where you get tender tickets, I showed them the letter listing the perks and they walked us to the first tender prior to others getting on except for the golfers. There were also many in the platinum line being served who had gold or blue/red cards in hand. On the Victory there never was a seperate line for platinum, just one long line for all. I just resorted to using the phone for all needs. I do think they need to work on providing the perks they list if they are promising them. Maybe doing a survey of those that are platinum to see how it is working. I have a few suggestions, ie.. offer a choice of treats to be sent to the cabin, I don't like the seafood tray and it has gone to waste twice,... choice of carnival logo items like a bathrobe, towel or such, I already have 3 bags....Making priority debarking just that, letting us off prior to self assist and having our luggage available without waiting and trying to get through the large crowds or having a seperate exit for platinum so we don't have to try getting through the crowd of people that gather even after being told not to gather. I do like having the perks but it still has some ironing out to do.

[LHP]

The self assist have always gotten off before us on all both our cruises this year. It did not look like many folks took advantage of the self assist, because there were no crowds when we left. (and we were not left waiting a long time to leave) Perhaps this was because they were 7 day cruises and less people want to haul that much luggage off themselves.

 

As self assist becomes more popular (or maybe on the short cruises where self assist may occur) Carnival will rethink the order.

 

On the Miracle in October, we were whisk off around 8:30am and all 5 pieces of my luggage were all together!!

[DqALEX]

I self assisted off of the Celebration and was first off, on the Inspiration and Victory we waited until after the self assisted. On the Inspiration we waited where we were told (the library) and then were supposed to be taken to the front of the line, too many others there and we were left to fend for ourselves, not what was promised. I also requested priority tendering in Cozumel and they acted like they had no clue what I was talking about and told me to go to the lounge where you get tender tickets, I showed them the letter listing the perks and they walked us to the first tender prior to others getting on except for the golfers. There were also many in the platinum line being served who had gold or blue/red cards in hand. On the Victory there never was a seperate line for platinum, just one long line for all. I just resorted to using the phone for all needs. I do think they need to work on providing the perks they list if they are promising them. Maybe doing a survey of those that are platinum to see how it is working. I have a few suggestions, ie.. offer a choice of treats to be sent to the cabin, I don't like the seafood tray and it has gone to waste twice,... choice of carnival logo items like a bathrobe, towel or such, I already have 3 bags....Making priority debarking just that, letting us off prior to self assist and having our luggage available without waiting and trying to get through the large crowds or having a seperate exit for platinum so we don't have to try getting through the crowd of people that gather even after being told not to gather. I do like having the perks but it still has some ironing out to do.

You would think carnival could get it act together and send a letter to its ships letting them know what Platinum cruisers get. If I was a platinum cruiser Carnival would be getting a letter from me.

[rellersi]

We were on the Fantasy in Aug and got off before Self Assist, We were on the Victory in Nov and had to wait, but we were still in front of the line of those that did not carry their own and were still off the ship by 8:30. It may have something to due with the port. On the Victory, they told us that after self assist, customs had to relocate, which probably means that they let the self assist people out of the building without going thru the luggage area.

I also agree that they should give us a choice of gifts in the room, neither my wife or myself like seafood

[Ship Addict]

OK, on a cruise ship where there is always free food whenever you should need it, why would they give you food as a gift?? That has never made any sense to me. :confused:

[Cruzman]

I have only one experience disembarking as a Platinum guest and I am not at all happy with the experience. This was on the Liberty Thanksgiving sailing. Self assist had priority and disembarkation for Platinum guests did not begin until after 9 AM and there were very few passengers remaining onboard by that time.

[jbhcw]

We were on the Fantasy in April and had to wait in the Library to be called to debark. We were among the first to be called but all stairwells and surrounding areas were clogged with people waiting to get off. We got some "bad looks" from people waiting and even think a few just joined in our line to get off:) :) :) :)

 

Our luggage was all together in a separate area if I remember correctly, so it really was not that bad, except they should stop people from waiting in, on and around the stairs, it's dangerous, and it was almost impossible to navigate with our rolling carry-on luggage.

[msolberg]

Since the Platinum perks were rolled out we have definitely enjoyed them (wish there were more!).

 

We also noticed that the Concierge line at the Purser's desk was cluttered with stuff (appearing closed and uninviting) throughout the cruise. Is this the beginning of "watered down" priority treatment??:eek: Othen than this, and on other ships, things have gone very smooth.

 

What have other Platinum cruisers encountered?

 

Thanks!

 

Tom

 

Didn't use the Platinum debarkation on the last cruise as we had a late flight. When we boarded, I was mistakenly given a Red/White/Blue card - horrors! :D Anyway - even though I had my cruise history printed from the carnival web site, they still had to wait and verify with the corporate office.

 

A few days later I received a call in my cabin to come to the pursers desk and get my new card. I went down to get it and a woman in the platinum line turned around and said, "She is helping me and this is going to take a while." I waited patiently for a while, when she turned around and instructed me to try the other line because this was going to take a while. Finally, I said, are you platinum? She said, no and I said, well this line is for platinum guests. Normally, I wouldn't have said anything and would have just waited but since she was trying to shoo me into the other line - I spoke up.

 

I just think if Carnival is going to have a line for Platinum guests only, thats exactly what it should be.

 

Diane

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

... I went down to get it and a woman in the platinum line turned around and said, "She is helping me and this is going to take a while." I waited patiently for a while, when she turned around and instructed me to try the other line because this was going to take a while. Finally, I said, are you platinum? She said, no and I said, well this line is for platinum guests. Normally, I wouldn't have said anything and would have just waited but since she was trying to shoo me into the other line - I spoke up.

 

I just think if Carnival is going to have a line for Platinum guests only, thats exactly what it should be.

 

Diane

On EACH sailing we have been on since getting the Platinum status there has been, on more than one occasion, some "non-Platinum" person being helped in that line. They tend to use it as an overflow spot for people with more time consuming "issues"....:rolleyes:

 

Tom

[pam7553]

I was recently on the Celebration and the self-assist disembarked first. There were only 11 or 12 people that were in the assigned lounge for the platinum guests. It seemed to me that "priority disembarkment" would have been those people getting off before the self-assists. The only experience I had with the platinum perks were on 7 night cruises and we always got off first. It seemed like the majority of the ship used the self-assist option. We were finally escorted off the ship, because I think they saw how many people were using the self-assist and we would have been almost the last ones off! Carnival needs to look at this, especially on the shorter cruises.

[Paladin]

We just came off of the Fantasy yesterday and we are NOT happy with the way they handled priority debarkation. We received a letter with our Concierge Club luggage tags telling us to meet in the Cats Lounge at 8:30. When the debarkation instructions came out the night before we left, it said that self-debark people should start leaving the ship at 8:00. I called the pursor's office and asked why the self-debark people were getting off before the Platinum people. I figured they did a typo on the letter and that they meant for us to meet at 7:30. The pursor staff person told me that 8:30 was correct.

 

They started calling self-debark decks around 8:00. We got to Cat's Lounge along with two other couples a little before 8:30. 8:30 came and went with no escort showing up. One of the group called the pursor's office at 8:35, then 8:45, then 8:55 and still no one. Finally, at just after 9:00, Noonan, the assistant CD showed up. Three times I asked him why they were so late and three times he evaded the question by trying to give me a real line of crap that had nothing to do with why an escort didn't show up until after 9:00.

 

From there, things got worse. He escorted us to the start of the line just as they stopped letting people off. Apparently, there were so many folks who self-debarked that it choked the customs/immigration and traffic lines on the pier so they had to stop. We waited until 9:30 before they let us off although we few Platinums were the first in the line to get off. At least our luggage was in a separate area so we were able to grab it and head out. They still had not started calling luggage tag colors so those passengers probably got off later than they were expecting as well.

 

I have no idea why they made us wait until the self-debarks got off but what really has us upset was that they made us wait 30 minutes before the escort showed up and then make us wait another 30 minutes because they stopped the lines. I am partially handicapped and standing that long was very painful. They could have just as easily let the six of us off since we were the first in line and Noonan told Security that we were to be allowed off before all the others who were waiting. Granted, this was only our first experience under the Platinum program, but in the case of the Fantasy, it did NOT work as we were led to believe it would. We think they did a lousy job and they certainly didn't "exceed our expectations".

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

We just came off of the Fantasy yesterday and we are NOT happy with the way they handled priority debarkation. We received a letter with our Concierge Club luggage tags telling us to meet in the Cats Lounge at 8:30. When the debarkation instructions came out the night before we left, it said that self-debark people should start leaving the ship at 8:00. I called the pursor's office and asked why the self-debark people were getting off before the Platinum people. I figured they did a typo on the letter and that they meant for us to meet at 7:30. The pursor staff person told me that 8:30 was correct.

 

They started calling self-debark decks around 8:00. We got to Cat's Lounge along with two other couples a little before 8:30. 8:30 came and went with no escort showing up. One of the group called the pursor's office at 8:35, then 8:45, then 8:55 and still no one. Finally, at just after 9:00, Noonan, the assistant CD showed up. Three times I asked him why they were so late and three times he evaded the question by trying to give me a real line of crap that had nothing to do with why an escort didn't show up until after 9:00.

 

From there, things got worse. He escorted us to the start of the line just as they stopped letting people off. Apparently, there were so many folks who self-debarked that it choked the customs/immigration and traffic lines on the pier so they had to stop. We waited until 9:30 before they let us off although we few Platinums were the first in the line to get off. At least our luggage was in a separate area so we were able to grab it and head out. They still had not started calling luggage tag colors so those passengers probably got off later than they were expecting as well.

 

I have no idea why they made us wait until the self-debarks got off but what really has us upset was that they made us wait 30 minutes before the escort showed up and then make us wait another 30 minutes because they stopped the lines. I am partially handicapped and standing that long was very painful. They could have just as easily let the six of us off since we were the first in line and Noonan told Security that we were to be allowed off before all the others who were waiting. Granted, this was only our first experience under the Platinum program, but in the case of the Fantasy, it did NOT work as we were led to believe it would. We think they did a lousy job and they certainly didn't "exceed our expectations".

 

I am, unfortunately, seeing a pattern here.

 

During the entire (almost 1 hour) that we waited in the sports bar, NO CARNIVAL STAFF members came in at any point to update us as to the status of our debarkation. That was, basically, RUDE.

 

I have already written a strong letter to Carnival regarding this issue, and with several more cruises booked, you can bet that more will follow. Will my letters fall upon deaf ears? WHO KNOWS. Will we continue to be SUPER LOYAL Carnival guests, while we watch their "promises" fade? STAY TUNED...

 

Tom

[blyle]

I think it depends on where you are. We cruise out of Galveston now and it is sooo easy to go through customs. In Florida we had to wait a long time. Thats not Carnivals fault. Galveston had a problem until they increased the customs personnel.

As with anything else, so many people read this board and now they know how to pretend to be Platinum so they just enter the line. Mind you they have no luggage tags but just walk along with us. I find this to happen in many areas. Someone feels powerful in beating the system. I feel that Carnival will just say it did not work and stop it. I hope not but think that if everyone complains they will just get rid of the problem and give some reason to change it. Let's try to give constructive criticism when we write out letters. I want them to improve what can be improved and not cancel it.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I think it depends on where you are. We cruise out of Galveston now and it is sooo easy to go through customs. In Florida we had to wait a long time. Thats not Carnivals fault. Galveston had a problem until they increased the customs personnel.

As with anything else, so many people read this board and now they know how to pretend to be Platinum so they just enter the line. Mind you they have no luggage tags but just walk along with us. I find this to happen in many areas. Someone feels powerful in beating the system. I feel that Carnival will just say it did not work and stop it. I hope not but think that if everyone complains they will just get rid of the problem and give some reason to change it. Let's try to give constructive criticism when we write out letters. I want them to improve what can be improved and not cancel it.

 

My letters to Carnival are well balanced, with a bulk of any given letter devoted to praise of departments and individuals. This, I feel, gives more credibility to the letter.

 

A REAL start would be to ensure that Platinum card holders are allowed to be the FIRST OFF OF THE SHIP (along with those needing assistance, of course) - that, for me, defines PRIORITY DEBARKATION!!! They can either get that right or DROP THAT PERK altogether. If they are not going to be consistent and deliver this PERK, then drop it...

 

Perhaps we are better off sleeping in until 9 am, and drag out of our cabin at 10 or later... LOL

 

Tom

[Sandgnat]

A REAL start would be to ensure that Platinum card holders are allowed to be the FIRST OFF OF THE SHIP (along with those needing assistance, of course) - that, for me, defines PRIORITY DEBARKATION!!! They can either get that right or DROP THAT PERK altogether. If they are not going to be consistent and deliver this PERK, then drop it...

I agree Tom, if you are going to give PRIORITY anything then it should be priority. They have told me that customs won't clear any of the luggage prior to the self assists off. I can't see why a small amt. of luggage can't be cleared first and all Platinum are allowed off the ship first. They seperate our luggage to a special area, no more work needs to be done. I love cruising and Carnival but hate being promised something and then having employees that have no idea what is promised or their own company policies. I have no problem with the pursers desk helping people when no platinum members are present but they should be directed to the right line if they are not platinum. People can't use the special lounges in airports if they are not members because those perks are for members only. I like that carnival is doing something special for past guests but there is still work that needs to be done. Sandy

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I know how easy it must be for Carnival to SAY that the issue is customs related. Perhaps it is. However when we sailed on the Sensation, Fantasy, and Glory out of Port Canaveral we WERE the first off the ship (before self-assist). The only place I have encountered this issue with self-assist was in Ft. Lauderdale.

 

I would ASSUME that U.S. Customs "works" the same way throughout the United States. Perhaps not. If Carnival does indeed have their "hands tied" with particular port related issues then they could AT LEAST notify us formally of such.

 

And for GOSH GOLLY ( :rolleyes: ) sakes, assign a crew member to the lounge area to AT LEAST drop in periodically to update Platinum card holders as to the status of debarkation... people need a LITTLE "TLC", that's not too much to ask...

 

Tom

[SassyC]

We did the self assist in Galveston after our New Year's cruise. We pack heavy, but it was better than waiting it out. I had three kids and hubby with all the luggage. We just rolled right on out. No waits. We were all off by 7am. Very Easy.

 

It's just that with self assist the doors are open, you scan the card, and you're off.

[KRUISE KING]

I Agree My Platinum Expereience Has Not Been Too Good Either The Platnium Line At The Pursers Desk Is There But I Really Dont Think The Ships Staff Have Been Trained To Deal With With Vip Travelers Yet Also I Dont Like The Fish Either It's A Waste And If I Get One More Bag Im Gonna Loose It And Whats The Use Of Sitting In The Library For An Hour While Self Assist Goes First Most Cruises There Ae Only 10 At The Most Platinum Guest On A Ship Let Them Go First! But Then I Cant Complain Im A 29 Year Old Black Man Who Looks Like A First Time Cruiser Every Time I Show My Card Staff Say Oh S##t Your'e A Platinum Guest.

[iluvdoxies]

I know how easy it must be for Carnival to SAY that the issue is customs related. Perhaps it is. However when we sailed on the Sensation, Fantasy, and Glory out of Port Canaveral we WERE the first off the ship (before self-assist). The only place I have encountered this issue with self-assist was in Ft. Lauderdale.

 

I would ASSUME that U.S. Customs "works" the same way throughout the United States. Perhaps not. If Carnival does indeed have their "hands tied" with particular port related issues then they could AT LEAST notify us formally of such.

 

And for GOSH GOLLY ( :rolleyes: ) sakes, assign a crew member to the lounge area to AT LEAST drop in periodically to update Platinum card holders as to the status of debarkation... people need a LITTLE "TLC", that's not too much to ask...

 

Tom

 

I agree !

 

Dont know if you read my review of the Elation or not.

We sailed on the first trip out of P Canaveral Oct 23 and did a mini back to back (10 days).

Debarkation on the 1st half couldnt have been worse--wont go into all the gory details again--bottom line it took 2 1/2 hrs to get off and get back on.

I know people who've sailed on the Glory and were back on in 15 min, so obviously it cant be blamed on customs at that port.

 

I did write a letter about this--I waited because I also wanted to say nice things too. Just sent it out last week.

I'll let you know what the reply is.

[rangerdog]

Anyone have experience with VIP priority debarkation on the Conquest out of Galveston? What time do they get off? We leave TOMORROW!! YEAH!!