Organized Chaos

19 hours ago, n6uqqq said:

Guess I have to wait a bit longer also. I cannot even find the Carnival sweepstake in their closed section.

My hopes & dreams are crushed. I found a post on their forums that says they don't post the winner to the public until they've gone through the confirmation process. So they were probably chosen yesterday but we don't actually see it for a while. 😢

On the bright side, I looked at past sweepstakes winners and there's a couple people who live within 15-30 min. of me. Given how rural this area is, it's fun to see. And makes me hopeful that even I can win something someday. I've been doing some quizzes and watching videos (well, letting videos play is more like it) just to build up points for sweeps.

Well, I didn't get an email notifying me I won the $1,000 Carnival card from AARP. Although, the official rules do say the winner will be drawn "on or around" Aug. 16th, and they haven't posted a winner yet, soooo...

On 8/15/2023 at 7:01 AM, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

... and ... you don't have to actually be retired ! 🙂

 

Tom

They're gonna have to drop the "R." The all new AAP, American Association of Persons. 😁

12 hours ago, disneyfan551 said:

Thank you for the quick reply!

You do have to be an AARP member to buy the Carnival cards, but at only $12 for the first year, it's a pretty good deal. Especially if you find some of their other benefits useful. And you no longer have to be 50 or older.

Yeah, it's a shame they don't put a little more effort into making it more useful leading up to a cruise. Seeing the menus would be nice. They could always add a disclaimer that menus are subject to change to cover their rears. The itinerary. More than just a countdown. All it can do beyond that is redirect us to the website instead of doing it internally. They're being lazy & cheap by not wanting to build it up.

12 hours ago, Weeniemom1971 said:

Mine is for $6.50. Who can I call to find out what it is for?

If wemjam doesn't come back to give you the email to the gift card department, I found this on Carnival's gift card website:

If I have questions regarding my gift card transactions, who would I contact?

You will need to contact customer service who has access to review gift card transactions. The contact phone number for the Gift Card Fulfillment line is 1-866-270-1064 and a representative will assist them.

6 hours ago, tw67 said:

I think Allstate Rewards is now just mocking me....two days in a row I won 2000 points on the spin game....

I lost as usual Thurs. & Fri., but just won 2000, too. They must've flipped the switch to win today.

On 8/6/2023 at 6:13 PM, Itried4498 said:

Prices will continue to rise as long as people are willing to pay them.

This! 👆

The bottom line is, if cruisers continue to pay for it, the cruise lines have little reason to change. Prior to covid, we saw changes that negatively affected quality of service. A couple example being the drastic decrease in the number of cabin stewards, then MDR wait staff. As individuals, we can draw a line in the sand, so to speak, and decide to take our dollars elsewhere if we feel the quality of the cruising experience isn't worth it anymore. But overall, cruise customers kept coming regardless of price hikes and a decrease in quality in some areas. If they make changes that raise costs but lessen quality, and we as consumers allow it, of course they're going to keep pushing the limits.

On 8/6/2023 at 6:26 PM, silvercrikhix said:

ok. So would you agree that 1/2 of these folks in line are removing the grats?  Would that make one believe that the other half of those lines are people who have billing errors or complaints…that’s would be interesting, that is an awful lot of mistakes. Or real issues. I’m doing a line poll in 2 weeks on next cruise and find out!!!  I’m JUST KIDDING. Hmmm….we’ve never had an errors ever. Someone want a make a poll asking how many passengers have had mistakes on their bills?

If I'm understanding you correctly, you're on the side of the debate that says the sole reason a vast majority of people in line at the end of a cruse are removing their tips, correct? There are plenty of reasons for being there. "Billing errors" encompasses a wide variety of problems and/or simple questions. Maybe someone doesn't understand a particular charge. It's a legit charge, but they're confused or whatever. Many people just have questions, then walk away with their bill unchanged because everything was as it should be. Point is, there's countless reasons for going to Guest Services at the end of a cruise other than removing tips.

According to a lot of people on this forum, dozens, if not hundreds, of people remove their tips on every cruise. Don't you think Carnival would take notice and do something about that? If so many people were truly removing their tips, wouldn't Carnival make an effort to find out why and work to improve the services that fall under the tip umbrella (if bad service was truly the problem)? Or do you think they care so little about the crew members who fall under that tip umbrella that they'd continue to allow thousands of cruisers each year take away their tips?

On 8/3/2023 at 11:08 PM, Stick93 said:

The only issue I have with their pay and gratuity is that they pay little, work the staff very hard and tie the bundle to the tips they let people remove. The staff is usually from poorer countries without much  opportunity and don’t have the options of a different occupation. The staff is working harder as they have less (especially housekeeping) than before Covid and not making much more. I have suspicions when they raise gratuities the staff is not getting that big raise.

This has been a common concern for years, but people make the mistake of comparing their wages to U.S. wages. You have to compare them to that of their home country. Cruise ship crew from those poorer countries make more on a cruise ship than they ever could at home. Yes, they do bust their butts working on a cruise ship, but there's a reason they're willing to do it...because it pays (them) so well. There's countless stories of crew members talking about how they were able to buy their parents a new home, pay for their sibling's college education, and more, all thanks to their job as a crew member. Something they wouldn't have been able to do with a job at home.

On 8/4/2023 at 8:36 AM, Stick93 said:

Carnival says a lot of things and letting people remove gratuities seems to suggest that they are not serious about constant wages. Raising the tip means more people remove - it’s reverse supply and demand. 

I'm still of the firm belief that there aren't as many people removing their gratuities as it's made out to be. I've stood in those long lines at the end of a cruise and have never heard person after person removing tips. Not to say it doesn't happen, but I just don't think it's as prevalent as claimed. I'm old enough to understand that tipping was meant to be a reward for good service. Nowadays, we as customers are often made to think it's our responsibility to compensate an employer's wages. No, it's not. If service is bad, they shouldn't be rewarded for it. That only encourages more bad service. I will say this, though, if I were ever to adjust my tips at the end of a cruise due to poor service, I'd lower my amount (if that's even an option) but I wouldn't remove them altogether.

5 hours ago, ninjacat123 said:

On my May 2023 cruise I asked to pay my Sign and Sail card with a GC from AARP.  The Guest Services person said they couldn't see a balance on it but that they would run it through and HomeOffice would check it.  I said I would check with them later but by the end of day it was applied to my account.  Now I know why this happened.  👍

Carnival's official gift card website has a balance checker on it. I wonder what that would've showed? If it operates on their own system, I'd think it'd be similar to processing it through HQ.

6 hours ago, CruizinSusan70 said:

Besides Allstate, the only place I have ever bought Carnival GC's was once on Newegg.  They had $200.00 cards for sale and you could only buy one.  Had no trouble redeeming it since I would infer that Newegg obtained it directly from Carnival so there were no problems with the redemption.

I've never used the unmentioned resale site, but at least they guarantee the purchase. That's worth something. I think they should designate which ones come from retailers as opposed to individual sellers. When Carnival had trouble with cards a few years ago (I think it was 2019), I think eBay was the primary source of the bad cards.

I bought some from the U.S. Travel Association one year (15% off). Carnival was an official partner, so we knew they were legit. And PayPal used to operate a gift card "store" on eBay. They sold Carnival cards for 15% off a couple times. I did a lot of research beforehand to make sure that was legit. I wish more places would come out with deals like that now & again.

What's the saying about Carnival? It's the "Walmart of the seas."  😐 Oh well, I shop at Walmart all the time and have only cruised on Carnival.

There were several comments about fights spawning from low income people. That's only partially true. There are lower income places where crime & violence are common, but on the other hand, some of the safest places in the country are often lower income areas that are peaceful & relatively crime free. It all comes down to the individual. Then when individuals who have a short fuse party with other individuals of a similar mindset, they feed off one another and situations escalate.

23 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Since the second hand smoke from marijuana is also intoxicating and crew are under a zero tolerance standard, I hope it never is permitted.

This is what makes smoking weed and drinking so different and why I'd like to see it strictly regulated if it were ever allowed on a cruise. I'm not going to get buzzed or drunk just by being around drinkers, but the same can't be said for being around second-hand weed smoke. I know some people will say, "Then don't go where they're smoking weed." But I'm talking about places that have always been open to everyone. Cruse ship common areas & venues, for example. It shouldn't be allowed where the average person would be exposed to it.

2 hours ago, tensixmom said:

I am not an expert, but I frequently purchase Carnival cards from that other site... I love that Carnival makes it easy for me to use them.

I have my booking up on one screen, and the card website on the other, and I purchase and immediately apply them to pay for my cruise fare etc.  I just make sure to use them immediately so that if necessary, I could file a claim immediately.  So far I have been lucky and never had an issue with them being drained.

I see that they source gift cards from merchants as well as individual sellers, but I didn't see a way to tell where each one comes from. But it does say they offer a 1-year money back guarantee, so that's good. I didn't know they did that.

A few years ago, they had such a problem with invalid cards that they instituted a verification policy onboard. If you wanted to add a gift card to your S&S, they had to verify its authenticity first, and for some reason they processed it through HQ, so it'd take up to 24 hours to verify. Thankfully, they didn't do it for long. I ran into it once and it was a pain.

Since you've already purchased wifi, then pretty much any texting service that operates over the internet will work. iMessage if you & the other person have iPhones. WhatsApps, facebook messenger, etc. You can even make voice calls on some of them. Just remember the wifi service isn't always the greatest at all times and you might be limited depending on which wifi package you purchased.

6 hours ago, MagnoliaBlossom said:

We just switched our insurance to Allstate this month.  But if I read this right, their discount cards have gone away, is that right..  I’ve checked Allstates website and don’t see anything there.  Thanks

They're shutting down Allstate Rewards on Oct. 31. We can still buy Carnival cards if they're in stock, and right now they do have $100 & $500 cards. I think you still have to set up an Allstate Rewards account on top of your regular Allstate account, and that's IF they're allowing new rewards accounts. I'm not sure how you, as a policy-holder, do that, but we access the rewards site through this URL: https://myaccountrwd.allstate.com/anon/account/login?campaign=145

You'd have to quickly accrue some points to buy the cards, if it didn't give you some automatically. There are promo codes (for points) spread throughout this thread. Most of them used to last a long time, but within the past year or two, they expire after 2 weeks.

1 hour ago, CoquitlamBC said:

Thank you very much for your swift response. I have diligently tested your recommendations, exploring options on Newegg as well as the "other 8% off GC" website. However, I have encountered a roadblock - none of these platforms permit me to purchase their gift cards from Canada. They require a valid US phone number (although I attempted some free online US VoIP numbers, they proved unsuccessful), along with a US credit card (unfortunately, PayPal Canada and Canadian bank US dollar credit cards are not accepted). It's becoming quite the puzzle.

 

While I do have friends in the US, I am hesitant to inconvenience them for a mere 10% discount (which might even be less considering the need to cover the AARP membership fee, given my friends lack AARP memberships or the potential 8% discount from alternative sources). Additionally, arranging payment to them presents its own set of challenges.

 

Interestingly, it appears that individuals from Mexico can still access the AARP rewards program through the use of a VPN. I'm open to the idea of accessing the Rewards program after paying for an AARP membership (as Canadians are allowed to join). My query pertains to whether I would then be eligible to purchase discounted Carnival gift cards through the rewards program (typically reserved for US residents). It's possible that the answer could be negative, as suggested by this thread 

  https://community.aarp.org/t5/AARP-Rewards-Connect/Canadian-purchase-of-Carnival-Gift-Cards/td-p/2453426 

 

Your insights on this matter would always be greatly appreciated.

Sorry about that, I didn't know those other 2 sites weren't eligible in Canada. Judging by the response from the AARP mod in the post you linked, it looks like you can become a member, but can't join AARP Rewards, as it doesn't allow verification through Canadian phone numbers. I think it's odd they'd let Canadian residents join AARP, but not the rewards program. AARP's Carnival gift cards are all digital, they're sent via email, so it's not like shipping would be a problem. Unfortunately, I don't see a way around that.

Since your U.S. friends aren't already AARP members, I understand what you mean about being an inconvenience. It'd certainly be easier if they were members. There are popular smartphone apps that make transferring money to someone pretty easy, like CashApp, Zelle, & Venmo, but I don't know if they work between the U.S. & Canada. If using a friend was a viable option, you'd need to make sure you trust them. You'd have to trust them enough to purchase the gift card and not use it themselves, and they'd have to trust you enough to send them the payment.

Sorry, I wish we had a solution for you.

Growing up, I was really good at the claw machines, but they were built differently back then. There was skill involved and the claws weren't adjusted to decrease their grip strength. I play the claw machines onboard now & again, but just for kicks. I know the likelihood of winning is low.

There are certain "skill" games in the arcade, the ones that give away big prizes like iPhones/iPads, etc., that give off indications they're ready to allow a win. There's YouTube videos that offer tips.

3 hours ago, rolloman said:

It is called a redemption machine. No skill involved. To win is all about timing...as in being at the right time at the right place.

Yep, just like every slot machine in every casino. The computer decides when it's time.

15 minutes ago, CoquitlamBC said:

I know this might have been asked before but I could not find a concrete answer by searching the 236 pages... 

 

Other than begging US friends, is there a way people from Canada can buy discounted Carnival gift cards directly, through AARP or other sources? Your answer will be greatly appreciated since we have an upcoming Carnival cruise trip next week and any savings would be great. Cheney  

As far as AARP, unfortunately your only option would be to know a member in the U.S.

The electronics website, newegg, occasionally sells Carnival cards for 8% off, but I looked and there's none currently for sale. There's another website that I won't mention because users have gotten in trouble for it in the past. If you google "buy and sell gift cards," it should be the second search result. They have Carnival cards for 8% off, but that site lets individuals sell gift cards and I do know in the past there was trouble with people buying gift cards that were empty. Which is why users have gotten posts deleted for posting the link. So unless there's a way to guarantee the seller is legit, I wouldn't recommend it. Maybe someone who's more familiar with that site can chime in.

We still have another week before AARP picks the winner for the $1,000 Carnival card sweepstakes. I wish they didn't wait 2+ weeks to pick a winner. Not that I expect to win, I have terrible luck, but the suspense is killing me. 😜

17 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

There is no problem, just initial confusion. I have no interest in reading 1000s of posts to figure it out. 

 

I imagine in the future new Allstate threads will pop up from those who didn't get the memo. But I will know to ignore those, as I have no interest.

No one has to read thousands of posts. When newcomers came to this thread asking about Allstate Rewards, sometimes we'd direct them back to a particular post or conversation, but they certainly weren't expected to read the entire thread. And no one has ever felt like they should. We've always been happy to answer questions. I see the size of this thread having been active for as long as it has as an accomplishment, for lack of a better word, and feel like it's worth it to keep it going.

I doubt too many, if any at all, new Allstate threads pop up before they shut down. Most Carnival cruisers didn't even know it existed until they saw the thread. The same could probably be said of AARP Rewards because the topic of these discount cards didn't come up too much over the years. Most people still think you have to be 50 or older to join AARP, so they don't even think about the benefits.

For what it's worth, we'll continue to share Allstate promo codes, but only for one more month. That's when they'll stop distributing codes. After that, it shuts down completely at the end of Oct. Just as there was some AARP discussion when this was the Allstate thread, there will be a little Allstate discussion...but not for much longer.

If someone has questions about AARP, they'll see this thread and ask. The good thing is, we've always managed to keep this thread near the top of the Carnival boards, so it's never hard to find. It's a good group of people who've been participating in these 2 rewards programs for years and we've always welcomed new people interested in the discount cards, so I don't understand the problem.

8 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

I'm curious, when the merge occurred, was there a post from the mods to help explain the "situation" to people.. or was it like "let's just pull the lever and watch them squirm a bit"?   LOL

 

Tom

I requested the name of the big Allstate thread be changed to AARP because we learned that Allstate Rewards is ending in October. We were using the Allstate thread as an AARP thread anyway because the group of people who discuss these discount gift cards has been relatively small for years. That other AARP thread was just created a couple weeks ago and was only a couple pages long. Prior to that, those of us in the Allstate thread were pretty much the only ones talking about AARP cards. Threads get merged all the time because people often create new threads for existing topics without searching. There is a notation within the comments notifying users that the title of this one was changed.

2 hours ago, Eli_6 said:

I wonder if this is just a ploy to get people to spend their points (or void the points of people who have accumulated too many) and then they are going to be like, "Surprise! We are bringing it back!" like 3 months after they close it down.  

In the past, they would give out codes that could be altered slightly to create new codes. By simply moving the date to the front or back of the code, or changing the date between 4-digit & 2-digit format, we could get 3-4 times more points by sharing them here. I don't think they intended that because not everyone got the same code format. It went on for years, then all of a sudden it stopped. We can still do it every once in a while, but back then it worked for every code. I could be wrong, but I think they stopped doing it because they realized we figured out their trick and were sharing them. We have a ton more points than they probably ever expected individuals to have. So to suggest they might try to wipe the slate clean, so to speak, is probably unlikely, but I'd call it plausible.

2 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

I had to double check - this is the AARP gift card thread.

One thread to rule them all.