Carnival Vacation Club

I couldnt find a Thread on here that mentioned the new Carnival Vacation club, I went to the Seminar on the ship and got it... I got the Silver Membership. let me know what you think about it, I check it out and love it.

Wennfred,

What is the "Carnival Vacation Club" -- can you provide some details?

Maraprince

do a google search on "carnival vacation club" and it will link to a few forums one of which it is stated that this is club not affiliated with Carnival and raises some issues about when people attempted to actually book trips.

Caveat emptor

Maraprince, your email is turned off, You can email me so I can tell ya all about it...

ok Im back, I couldnt find any post on it on googles as the guy above posted, so this is what I got, Carnival Vacation Club, is only less then 1 year old, now most ships have it now. its a 5 year Membership with no Maintence fees, thats why I like it, the company that handles the travel or works with Carnival on this is called ICE , International Cruise & Excursion Gallery, Inc.. they do it for or with Carnival but the reps you talk to are Carnival on the phone. It comes with an awesome website exclusive to members that have all the deals, A silver member is 20,000 points, and so you use the points to book ur cruise, Also the Friends and Family rocks, yes your friend and family can use your membership to book a cruise, they pay cash but get the killer deals, my friend just did it, booked the Legend for Jun and saved over 1000 dollars compare to AAA, Costco etc, this Legend curise is an expensive cruise out of NY for that date. anyways along with that, Members benefit include your own check in line, VIP Style, special gift when you board, earily departure from ship with food drinks in the waiting area that morning, you also get a book that gives you access to 50% off on hotels and Golf resorts etc.. also you can book with other Carnival ships like Costa and Cunard etc at their special VIP rates, Priority Checkin, welcome aboard gift, Private reception party, Private Concierge Service to Book Activities and Entertainment, means no more waiting in lines just make a call, priority shore excursions, priority Dinning seating, Priority Supper club reservation, and Priority debarkation, along with spa discounts when booked with the Concierge, everyone that went to the seminar got it, its that great, and I also met a few couples that already booked the ship we was on with their points and had no problems, when I called about my friend using my membership so that he could book his cruise, I was treated like a VIP and wow they took care of everything, lots of help and all, so dont be discourage by what people have go say about it, go and check it out for yourself, Last thing, the Land Resorts are also there for you, Acapulco killer resort for 7 days, up to 6 people only 199.00 for the whole week, Lots of cool places to stay, all included on that member website, Im excited and cant wait to book next year cruise with my points, I dont have to worry about money, its all paid for already, just call and book.

Again, email me and I will tell ya more.

Folks, it always good to remember the best and simplest consumer advice: "If it seems to good to be true, it probably is."

Run a search on these boards (type in "Carnival Vacation Club" -- don't forget the quotation marks) about this 'club' -- it's certainly been discussed.

I wish you luck.

Well I can honestly say that this club is "good and it's true". I am a member of the Vacation Club and have had NO problems with them. With all the perks you get it is well worth paying in advance for your cruises.

Steven

Thank god Im not alone here !! Good Job man, My Buddy Mike just booked with the Friends and Family deal, its not posted yet on our membership site but all he did is just called them and he was in. My wife is already bugging me to book a Nov cruise, I will let ya know how it goes.

My wife and I became part of the club last year on the Spirit. We took our first cruise with our investment in February and I was very impressed with the "percs". I don't feel that you necessarily save money in booking prices yet but it is nice to know that the next several cruises are paid for. I know that someone will say that the money should be invested rather than spent for something in the future but we are the ones that need to feel good about it. The only thing that bugged me on this last cruise were those people in the "club" that complained because those with early flights got off the ship before we did. Again, this is probably not for everyone and I don't believe the tremendous percentages of savings that they tell you are happening yet but we are happy that we joined.

dpfred

We have a bronze membership and absolutely love it!

I have been on many carnival cruises in the past few years and I have never heard of this.

CVC was introduce last year around March, on a few ships, last year in March on the spirit they didnt have it, but had it onboard this year, What got me was there is no Maintence fees and after 5 years you get to renew, also even if you use up your points, you can buy more or just simply book at the VIP rates which are great, I dont have to go searching around any more, just log on to my VIP membership website and Im done, There is no Pressure sales in the seminar and only takes around 90 minutes of your time. We are now looking to book a Acapulco resort for 199.00 for 7 nights and gona take my whole family with us.

I dont understand why the cruise critic has not done a report on this club. They spent a bunch of time last year on the pride selling it but you couldn't book an ordinary cruise because all the agents were selling this. I am not interested, being older and already owning 'time shares' which are supposed to be exchangeable for cruises, but when you do cost just as much or more as buying the cruise from a good discount broker. I was certainly not impressed.

We should get all those perks as return cruisers anyhow, we do get them on the other ships (HAL and RCCL)....so that benefit isn't that great.

I hope those of you who have them continue to enjoy the time with Carnival and do not have any problems, but I think it is safer to bank the money and use it yearly.

What do the different levels of the Vacation Club cost and what exactly do you get for them please??? Obviously, you get 5 years to use your points from what I read on here... Thanks!

First let me add to what the person said about owning a Time Share already, The group that went with me to the Seminar, one couple did that, Traded in their time for that cruise, they said doing so they ended up spending more money and by still having to pay a Maintence fee, it cost them even more.

As for CVC there are no Maintence fees, you pay for Points, Silver Membership gets you 20,000 points, so you are pretty much buying from 3 to 5 cruises up front, just trade in your points, An example would be, for myself 2300 point for a 7 day cruise etc. On top of this you get VIP Perks once onboard, 2 for 1 Airfare certificates, Certificates for Resorts, and of course access to the Members website where you can see all the deals for all Carnival own ships all 77 ships, Princess, Cunard etc. and the over 400 Land Resorts... you also get a membership that gets you 50% off hotels and Golf Resorts world wide,your Friends and Family can also use your membership to get the best rates too, the list goes on, someone had a VIP from Corporate on their ship and he stated that more bonuses are coming, and that the point system will soon be used on the other Carnival own ships Cunard etc.. anyways lots of info, If youre on the ship and they have the Seminar, just attend the Group one so you can hear questions from other passengers and that way youre not intimdated, then when its over leave, no pressure etc.. Im booking soon for March - April 2006 with my points soon. See ya soon.

Here is the Link to the Other CVC Thread I found, there is more info, lots of negative from people that dont own the Membership.

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=58342

We just got off Conquest today and signed up yesterday.. we started at the bronze level.. we went to the initial meeting so that we were there with other people.. we asked our questions and left.. after looking at it its not a bad deal.. but we wanted to think it over before doing it.. so we wrote our questions down that we asked him that day.. went back to the desk and talked to someone else and asked our questions to them to ensure that we were getting the same answers.. indeed we did.. we had an appt with the first guy and we signed up.. the points system fluctuates and depending on what time of year and your itenerary you can do better with your points.. on average the 14000 will get us 2 cruises.. its costing over $3000 for the bronze level.. if you look at just the 2 cruises alone its not that great of a deal.. but when you look at the 2 - 7 day resort stays for $299.. we are looking at going to the Bahamas for one and perhaps Hawaii for the other.. going to one of these places for one week for $299 is a good deal.. then you also get a 7 day resort stay in Cozumel for free.. there is no $299 pricetag on this one.. the extra perks are nice also.. you get priorty embarkation.. you get in line of everyone else sitting there.. no more waiting to get on the boat.. no more waiting to get off the boat... you can be one of the first off.. or if you choose to stay on you get off when you're ready.. then there is 50% off on over 400 hotels nationwide.. and the 2 companion airline tickets.. when you look at the total picture you can make this work in your favor.. even if you have to buy a few points its still a good deal.. if you are just looking at the cruising part of it its not all that GREAT of a deal.. I know because we've gotten some great cruising deals so yes the deals are out there.. but if you're looking at the overall package it was worth it to us to try the smaller package and see how it works for us..

As for CVC there are no Maintence fees, you pay for Points, Silver Membership gets you 20,000 points, so you are pretty much buying from 3 to 5 cruises up front, just trade in your points, An example would be, for myself 2300 point for a 7 day cruise etc.

 

My husband and I were thinking of getting the silver plan but figured that it would only get us 2 1/2 cruises for ourselves and our 5 year old daughter going with us. Are you cruising alone or with someone who has their own membership? We were told that you had to multiply the points per person so obviously we would not be able to take 3 -5 cruises with 20,000 points. Can anyone shed some extra light on this???????

We booked an inside cabin for 2300 each totalling 4600 points, its just my wife and I, so at this rate we will get 4 Cruises out of it. If you go with a 3rd person then yes you will use them up faster, also the type of room you select will cost you more points, but even when you do run out of points you can buy the rest of the cruises within 5 years at the VIP Membership Rate. This is the Rate my Friend got hit Jun Cruise out of NYC and saved alot of money.Email me for more info.

Okay...I see exactly what you mean! Are you able to get good upgrades when you book inside cabins like that? Send me your email address if you would.. I would like to email you for more info...my email address is pjfnme@aol.com. Thanks!!!!!

Email sent.

Hey...check your spam filter for my email...it just gave me a returned mail user unknown message!

Can you tell me jow the rates on the Vaction Club site compare to the rates for those booking thru a regular TA? I know you use points, as opposed to Dollars but there has to be a comparison. The reason I ask is that I am finding that there are no deals anymore with the new "pricing policies" for Carnival. I went on the Spirit in April and considered it. I would need to buy the largest package (there are 3 of us) with is a big investment. I loved all the perks, but ?? the savings on the cruises themselves. You can email me at Litewait@aol.com.

Thanks!

Donna

We looked at the CVC last month on the Conquest and spent some time with the reps. We really didn't take the time to sit down and look closely at it afterward though (guess we were having too much fun). It bothered me that a decision had to be made on the ship - and I have always resisted anything like this that required immediate action. If we could have had the time to sit at home and really think it through, we may have done it - there are features we like. I understand the marketing ploy - and have never liked to play that game. Hey, I may miss out on some deals, but have missed out on some not-so-good deals too. Maybe next time?? Hope it works out for everyone.

Ok, my question is ... Why can't I find a website for "Carnival Vacation Club"?