Complete List of Promised VIFP Benefits you are Entitled to Receive

i don't know why people being disappointed in it is ruining your fun.

I don't think it's the fact that people are disappointed in general that is annoying, I mean I totally get it. I would be kind of bummed too if I were close to Gold. It's the fact that people are up in arms upset, threatening to never sail with Carnival again, that I find ridiculous. You think this is bad? How about Norwegian announcing today that you can no longer take food back to your room? You can't even leave the dining areas with it anymore. At least Carnival isn't that bad!

I think part of the problem is that people are taking this way, way too personally. Carnival is not our friend. They act friendly , they supply a friendly product for a very reasonable price. but their end goal is not to be our friend. Carnival is a big giant for profit business. One way to increase profit is to charge more money for the same services. A second way to accomplish this is to charge the same price , but reduce costs. That's what they are doing here. It's nothing personal , they are simply trying to increase their profit. Smaller party for fewer people = less cost = more profit.

Admittedly , Carnival created their own monster here. When the demand was not as good , they created demand by enticing people to sail with them again and again , and if they did that they would after a certain time become "special " and as your friend , we will give you things for being one of our " special " friends. We'll cail it Frequent Flier Miles.....err....wait...someone already using that one....how about Annual Passholder Perks.....err....wait....Disney's got that one......oh well , lets just say your pure Platinum to us !!!!!! So now , the most democratic , no class cruise line in the world has created a class system. But alas , demand has risen , more and more people are now swelling the ranks of the lower class ... err... I mean Gold class , and the peasants are unruly. What to do ???? I know , we'll start giving things to them also. We'll make them feel special too. Come join the ball Cinderella. Alas , this leads to a new problem. Demand is now so great , the ball includes everyone except the seven new passengers on each cruise that are not invited to the party. Well crap.... now what are we going to do. We really don't even need the ball anymore because the demand is there , people are going to sail with us because we offer a similar product to the other cruise lines at a lower price.. Lets just do away with the ball , and maybe no one will really notice , After all , they did stop bitching about those chocolates on the pillows after a couple of weeks.

See , it's nothing personal. There is no reason to be mad. Everyone moaning and wailing about how unfair this is will now just have to satisfy themselves with being on a moving hotel that transports you from one exotic port to another in a weeks time. While on this moving hotel you will have the ability to eat and drink at no extra cost 24 hours a day. You will be provided with all different variety of entertainment at no additional cost. And after a while , if you let yourself have some fun and soak in the atmosphere you probably wont even notice that one missing hour with free appetizers....or the missing piece of chocolate

I think part of the problem is that people are taking this way, way too personally. Carnival is not our friend. They act friendly , they supply a friendly product for a very reasonable price. but their end goal is not to be our friend. Carnival is a big giant for profit business. One way to increase profit is to charge more money for the same services. A second way to accomplish this is to charge the same price , but reduce costs. That's what they are doing here. It's nothing personal , they are simply trying to increase their profit. Smaller party for fewer people = less cost = more profit.

 

Admittedly , Carnival created their own monster here. When the demand was not as good , they created demand by enticing people to sail with them again and again , and if they did that they would after a certain time become "special " and as your friend , we will give you things for being one of our " special " friends. We'll cail it Frequent Flier Miles.....err....wait...someone already using that one....how about Annual Passholder Perks.....err....wait....Disney's got that one......oh well , lets just say your pure Platinum to us !!!!!! So now , the most democratic , no class cruise line in the world has created a class system. But alas , demand has risen , more and more people are now swelling the ranks of the lower class ... err... I mean Gold class , and the peasants are unruly. What to do ???? I know , we'll start giving things to them also. We'll make them feel special too. Come join the ball Cinderella. Alas , this leads to a new problem. Demand is now so great , the ball includes everyone except the seven new passengers on each cruise that are not invited to the party. Well crap.... now what are we going to do. We really don't even need the ball anymore because the demand is there , people are going to sail with us because we offer a similar product to the other cruise lines at a lower price.. Lets just do away with the ball , and maybe no one will really notice , After all , they did stop bitching about those chocolates on the pillows after a couple of weeks.

 

See , it's nothing personal. There is no reason to be mad. Everyone moaning and wailing about how unfair this is will now just have to satisfy themselves with being on a moving hotel that transports you from one exotic port to another in a weeks time. While on this moving hotel you will have the ability to eat and drink at no extra cost 24 hours a day. You will be provided with all different variety of entertainment at no additional cost. And after a while , if you let yourself have some fun and soak in the atmosphere you probably wont even notice that one missing hour with free appetizers....or the missing piece of chocolate

but it is all relevant. One will see it this way or that way. One will take their business elsewhere and the other wont. There are many different opinions on this, and everyone will have a different take on it. This is a place where people have an outlet to voice their agreeement or disagreement. So in the long run, we just all have to accept that others will feel different about issues. It is great to have a place to vent.

This is just my 2 cents, but perhaps it is time for Carnival (and other lines) to base there loyalty program after grocery stores and casinos.

My local groceries (Kroger brand, Safeway, etc) you have a card you swipe every time you buy the groceries that gives you automatically the sale price in the weekly ad (without the card - you pay full price). But just by having the card you save $0.03 off your purchase of gas at their selected gas stations (but ever notice how this gas station is strategically $0.03 higher in fuel than the area bargain gas station anyway?). Now the more you spend in the rated period, the more $cents off of gas you get until you max out your "fuel points" OR buy certain items and get double "fuel points". Another thing about the grocery card, they track your buying and I also then get additional coupons in the mail such as free eggs or $2 off produce, etc. These "perks" of having the card and using the card, make many choose going to that store to purchase items you are going to purchase anyway. Once in their store, they hope you buy other items too, and ultimately, many of us do.

Now Carnival could model after this. Everyone is given a VIFP# (the grocery card = the S&S card) and just by having it, you get "member only prices". But what if the more you spend in the rated period, the more perks you get? In addition, send coupons based on your spending habits. Something along the lines of: last cruise you bought 10 pictures, send a coupon for one free picture on your next cruise. Cruisers are going to cruise - give the cruisers real benefits based on their spending in your Corporation.

Casinos. They send you vouchers for $$ in the mail/email to entice you into their business. Ever notice, the more you gamble during the rated period, the higher your voucher value increases for the next period? Stop going - the vouchers get lower until eventually, they stop coming all together. In addition, the more $$ you spend in the Casino with your player's card in, the more perk points you earn. Perk points get you free food, rooms, merchandise, etc.

Now Carnival could model after this too. The more cruises you take during a rated period and the more $$ you spend, the more $$ they give you back in benefit.

Many of the VIFP benefits they give are pretty nominal in cost to Carnival which are basically buried IMO in the cost of the cruise in the first place. Did they raise fares by say $5 to cover the bottles of water, loyalty pins, etc. and nobody noticed? But some of the benefits obviously cost more. Yes, IMO cutting the Golds from the Past Guest Party was necessary when some of those parties were pulling over 1000 guests. That's a lot of open bar drinks walking out of profit. How many cruisers don't spend a dime on alcohol during the cruise, but then slam 4 of those drinks down during that hour? Would make more sense to follow the above examples and give free drink coupons to cruisers based on their purchased drinks during the prior rating period.

edit to add: I have often heard "cruising is what you make it". Well, when the cruiser is making a choice to spend more, reward more. When the cruiser is making a choice to spend little, reward little.

I think part of the problem is that people are taking this way, way too personally. Carnival is not our friend. They act friendly , they supply a friendly product for a very reasonable price. but their end goal is not to be our friend. Carnival is a big giant for profit business. One way to increase profit is to charge more money for the same services. A second way to accomplish this is to charge the same price , but reduce costs. That's what they are doing here. It's nothing personal , they are simply trying to increase their profit. Smaller party for fewer people = less cost = more profit.

 

Admittedly , Carnival created their own monster here. When the demand was not as good , they created demand by enticing people to sail with them again and again , and if they did that they would after a certain time become "special " and as your friend , we will give you things for being one of our " special " friends. We'll cail it Frequent Flier Miles.....err....wait...someone already using that one....how about Annual Passholder Perks.....err....wait....Disney's got that one......oh well , lets just say your pure Platinum to us !!!!!! So now , the most democratic , no class cruise line in the world has created a class system. But alas , demand has risen , more and more people are now swelling the ranks of the lower class ... err... I mean Gold class , and the peasants are unruly. What to do ???? I know , we'll start giving things to them also. We'll make them feel special too. Come join the ball Cinderella. Alas , this leads to a new problem. Demand is now so great , the ball includes everyone except the seven new passengers on each cruise that are not invited to the party. Well crap.... now what are we going to do. We really don't even need the ball anymore because the demand is there , people are going to sail with us because we offer a similar product to the other cruise lines at a lower price.. Lets just do away with the ball , and maybe no one will really notice , After all , they did stop bitching about those chocolates on the pillows after a couple of weeks.

 

See , it's nothing personal. There is no reason to be mad. Everyone moaning and wailing about how unfair this is will now just have to satisfy themselves with being on a moving hotel that transports you from one exotic port to another in a weeks time. While on this moving hotel you will have the ability to eat and drink at no extra cost 24 hours a day. You will be provided with all different variety of entertainment at no additional cost. And after a while , if you let yourself have some fun and soak in the atmosphere you probably wont even notice that one missing hour with free appetizers....or the missing piece of chocolate

Good post Rock.... But Thats the way it is... accept or do not.

I am sorry I don't live in or near a port city, it costs me twice as much as other people to take a cheap cruise on a dumpy bus. It was a joy to be invited to parties to celebrate my time spent on festivale, jubilee, inspiration, dream, adventure( oops sorry royals). Point is now I get a drink coupon? If I am on cheers, *** do I need a drink coupon for. I enjoyed the party, it was nice to say I have been on those cruises.

 

In the end, the drink coupon will work just as well because I will probably drink both of ours. However, if i get cheers, this makes the coupon worthless.

 

If you get Cheers e free drinks at the party are also worthless.

Guess they didn't make the days required high enough for gold and too many people are that now. Didn't realize the past guest party was taken away from gold but oh well. Seems like back in 10 or 11 the party was for anyone that was on their 2nd cruise, then it went to gold and above, now I guess it's platinum and above. Why call it a past guest party?

Who said I am desperate for a free drink or drinks? I simply find it offensive to dis-invite someone to a party. To me, Carnival made it loud and clear how much they value my repeat business.

Kind of hard to be dis-invited to something you were not invited to. You may have gotten invites in the past, but the past is just that the past, no guarantee of the future. Only death and taxes has that angle covered.

Loyalty programs change to suit the needs of the business, look no further than what the airlines have done with their programs.

This is not the first nor will it be he last evolution of the VIFP program and I for one shall enjoy my cruises for the great vacation they are regardless of how Carnival's loyalty program is being run.

Kind of hard to be dis-invited to something you were not invited to. You may have gotten invites in the past, but the past is just that the past, no guarantee of the future. Only death and taxes has that angle covered.

Loyalty programs change to suit the needs of the business, look no further than what the airlines have done with their programs.

This is not the first nor will it be he last evolution of the VIFP program and I for one shall enjoy my cruises for the great vacation they are regardless of how Carnival's loyalty program is being run.

Nice post

So John told us the party was getting too crowded with all the returning cruisers and I would agree. Instead of un-inviting the Gold members and making them angry why not keep the same party in the theater for the Gold members only and give the higher level members their own separate party at a different time with BETTER drinks and snacks. That would make ALL loyalty members happy instead of disappointing the majority of Carnival loyalty members which they have managed to do.

Is this a little disappointing? Yeah. I've been able to enjoy (yes I did enjoy) the past guest, then VIFP party for the past 6 years. Now, I suppose it's something to look forward to in three years based on how frequently we're able to cruise.

That said, I'm happy sailing with Carnival, and am pretty sure I will continue to be so.

If I can be so bold, to me the most bothersome part of the whole ordeal is the stipulations put on the drink coupon. I'm happy it made a comeback. That said, it's almost insulting putting conditions on it that say "we're doing SOMETHING....but we really don't want you all to use it".

Just my $.02. Regardless of party, free drink, all of the above or none, I've always had a blast, excellent service, and not broken the bank in the process. Seems ok to me.

Pitch all the perks for past guests. Let everyone pay for laundry etc and share the cost of cruising equally. Let the extra savings to ccL show up in food or pay for the employees. If you can cruise enough to be diamond you can afford to pay for laundry, drinks etc.

So John told us the party was getting too crowded with all the returning cruisers and I would agree. Instead of un-inviting the Gold members and making them angry why not keep the same party in the theater for the Gold members only and give the higher level members their own separate party at a different time with BETTER drinks and snacks. That would make ALL loyalty members happy instead of disappointing the majority of Carnival loyalty members which they have managed to do.

This would be the best scenario if the goal was to make the parties more meaningful to Plats/Diamonds, but unfortunately the only reason they are doing it is to save money:(

If people want to complain then let them complain, if you do not like it then do not read their post. Its that simple.

My husband and I were on the 4/18 Conquest cruise and turned Gold during it. We got to attend the party and enjoyed it. I saw the posts saying the party had now been taken away from Gold cruisers. Not sure when this decision was made but both my husband and I got emails yesterday afternoon thanking us for becoming Gold and I found it amusing that one of the perks listed was the party:p

OK so it's a over packed party most times in the middle of the day.. stop what your doing, get dressed differently.... Gold's we will still have our card, Our ship pin... and yes a free drink..... I think WE ALL should be Very Happy we still have FREE room service and can bring food to our rooms and balconies, and NOT have a $7.95 charge...... :D We can Put together our own party on the last sea day, while were all in a line trying to get our free drink...

I know that this probably wont change anything, but I do hope that every one who is upset over this change will contact carnival and have their say there, directly to them. Us all quibbling about it here is not doing any good but just feeding the one upmanship of the many platinum and diamond cruisers on this site who are gloating that they are happy about the change, and they get to keep all their perks and have a better party because we golds are not there!

Go to Carnival's website and go to contact us section and lodge your complaint there. As I say, they are not likely to change anything, but at least out discontent is being voiced to them directly! It sure cant hurt.

I know that this probably wont change anything, but I do hope that every one who is upset over this change will contact carnival and have their say there, directly to them. Us all quibbling about it here is not doing any good but just feeding the one upmanship of the many platinum and diamond cruisers on this site who are gloating that they are happy about the change, and they get to keep all their perks and have a better party because we golds are not there!

 

Go to Carnival's website and go to contact us section and lodge your complaint there. As I say, they are not likely to change anything, but at least out discontent is being voiced to them directly! It sure cant hurt.

I did that actually. Their lack of response is just as if not more telling.

None of us can change the minds of people who feel loyalty needs to be awarded in something tangible....my personal loyalty evolves if I am satisfied with my cruising experience and feel moved to try it again. Reasonable food, good service, diverse ports of call, cleanliness of my environment, activity choices...these are the things that garner my loyalty.

Many of us choose a cruise because it fits in with our schedules, our desires to experience different locales, the atmosphere that fits best for our traveling companions, and the logistical niceties that allow us to unpack once and settle in to a room for the duration. I would suspect that the majority of cruisers aren't even aware of the "perks" associated with frequent loyalty because, for them, a trinket, a drink, or the "honors" of a different colored card and moving up the "food chain" are of little value.

The only loyalty perk that would enhance my experience would be money off a cruise or a free cruise based off how much money I actually spend between fares and onboard purchases. That is a loyalty program that may bring me back...but with the caveat that my onboard experience would "always" meet my needs and expectations. Otherwise perks are just lot of inconsequential fru-fru.

+1 to all of this

that OP should be John Heald's back up, should Heald ever decide to take a real vacation cruising on Celebrity X.

So John told us the party was getting too crowded with all the returning cruisers and I would agree. Instead of un-inviting the Gold members and making them angry why not keep the same party in the theater for the Gold members only and give the higher level members their own separate party at a different time with BETTER drinks and snacks. That would make ALL loyalty members happy instead of disappointing the majority of Carnival loyalty members which they have managed to do.

There is already an additional, separate, party called the Captain's party highest loyalty cruisers are given.

None of us can change the minds of people who feel loyalty needs to be awarded in something tangible....my personal loyalty evolves if I am satisfied with my cruising experience and feel moved to try it again. Reasonable food, good service, diverse ports of call, cleanliness of my environment, activity choices...these are the things that garner my loyalty.

 

Many of us choose a cruise because it fits in with our schedules, our desires to experience different locales, the atmosphere that fits best for our traveling companions, and the logistical niceties that allow us to unpack once and settle in to a room for the duration. I would suspect that the majority of cruisers aren't even aware of the "perks" associated with frequent loyalty because, for them, a trinket, a drink, or the "honors" of a different colored card and moving up the "food chain" are of little value.

 

The only loyalty perk that would enhance my experience would be money off a cruise or a free cruise based off how much money I actually spend between fares and onboard purchases. That is a loyalty program that may bring me back...but with the caveat that my onboard experience would "always" meet my needs and expectations. Otherwise perks are just lot of inconsequential fru-fru.

There are tens of millions of people that do not agree with your POV, across credit cards and many other reward based perk systems, including travel.

None of us can change the minds of people who feel loyalty needs to be awarded in something tangible....my personal loyalty evolves if I am satisfied with my cruising experience and feel moved to try it again. Reasonable food, good service, diverse ports of call, cleanliness of my environment, activity choices...these are the things that garner my loyalty.

 

Many of us choose a cruise because it fits in with our schedules, our desires to experience different locales, the atmosphere that fits best for our traveling companions, and the logistical niceties that allow us to unpack once and settle in to a room for the duration. I would suspect that the majority of cruisers aren't even aware of the "perks" associated with frequent loyalty because, for them, a trinket, a drink, or the "honors" of a different colored card and moving up the "food chain" are of little value.

 

The only loyalty perk that would enhance my experience would be money off a cruise or a free cruise based off how much money I actually spend between fares and onboard purchases. That is a loyalty program that may bring me back...but with the caveat that my onboard experience would "always" meet my needs and expectations. Otherwise perks are just lot of inconsequential fru-fru.

Well said!!! I have never cruised for the perks. Heck, I had cruised on Carnival for 20 years before there was a Loyalty Program. When I received my first Platinum card in 2005, I had 19 cruises for 119 days under my belt. I chose Carnival because with them I got the most value for my cruising buck, a trend that continues to this day. we have ventured to some other lines over the years, and I enjoyed them all, but none could "steal" me away from Carnival.

Now don't get me wrong, I appreciate the perks that I do get now, but if they all went away tomorrow, I would still cruise Carnival.

There is already an additional, separate, party called the Captain's party highest loyalty cruisers are given.

It is not always a party with drinks. On my recent Pride cruise, where there were only 3 Diamonds on board, we were invited to brunch with the Captain. Others have had tea on the bridge with the Captain. Mostly, only on cruises where there are more than 10 Diamonds aboard, will there be a cocktail party.