Angelica1104

Prior to the past few years I cruised Carnival almost exclusivelly, but I have found better rates on RCI than Carnival over the past 2 years. I get no real deals on Carnival as I do not get casino rates. on RCI I get balcony discounts and $250 off rates. I have been booking more RCI although I do have 3 more Carnival cruises this mo I have branched out more and have cruises now booked on HAL and RCI

3 hours ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

You can be Platinum on Carnival after you spend a boatload of money and a bunch of days on board. So, now you get a few extra perks.  Then Carnival decides to sell the FTTF package and dilutes whatever benefits you have earned with their LOYALTY program.  I'm sure if Carnival does anything to revamp the VIFP program, it isn't going benefit their loyal customers at all.

This is true. I’ve begun to call them the silver and white cards. I’ll be getting on a ship with my white card in August. The revamp has been in planning stages for a long time and each cruise more pax have  silver and white cards that become more symbolic and of less value. 

I’ll take my white card to the casino to get my $25 loaded then cash it out. Perhaps DH will send out a load of tight or whities. I doubt I’ll go to the white card snack party as I used to enjoy the white card lunch. I’ve decided to take what is booked upcoming then retire my carnival white card and cruise elsewhere. 

3 hours ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

You can be Platinum on Carnival after you spend a boatload of money and a bunch of days on board. So, now you get a few extra perks.  Then Carnival decides to sell the FTTF package and dilutes whatever benefits you have earned with their LOYALTY program.  I'm sure if Carnival does anything to revamp the VIFP program, it isn't going benefit their loyal customers at all.

This is true. I’ve begun to call them the silver and white cards. I’ll be getting on a ship with my white card in August. The revamp has been in planning stages for a long time and each cruise more pax have  silver and white cards that become more symbolic and of less value. 

I’ll take my white card to the casino to get my $25 loaded then cash it out. Perhaps DH will send out a load of tight or whities. I doubt I’ll go to the white card snack party as I used to enjoy the white card lunch. I’ve decided to take what is booked upcoming then retire my carnival white card and cruise elsewhere. 

3 hours ago, Old Fart Cruisers said:

You can be Platinum on Carnival after you spend a boatload of money and a bunch of days on board. So, now you get a few extra perks.  Then Carnival decides to sell the FTTF package and dilutes whatever benefits you have earned with their LOYALTY program.  I'm sure if Carnival does anything to revamp the VIFP program, it isn't going benefit their loyal customers at all.

This is true. I’ve begun to call them the silver and white cards. I’ll be getting on a ship with my white card in August. The revamp has been in planning stages for a long time and each cruise more pax have  silver and white cards that become more symbolic than anything else

I’ll take my white card to the casino to get my $25 loaded then cash it out. I doubt I’ll go to the white card snack party as I used to enjoy the white card lunch. I’ve decided to take what is booked upcoming then retire my carnival white card and cruise elsewhere. 

15 minutes ago, dallasdan said:

is walking to pixies to get your pin and gift a scavenger hunt these days??  My last several cruises I didn't even pick them up.  To me early boarding if I chose and free laundry are good enough perks.  

It is to me when this items were previously delivered I’d be interested to know how many silver and white cards even bother. 

1 hour ago, ProgRockCruiser said:

Just to riff on my previous post:

 

If Carnival did this, would their revenues increase or decrease?  That's the question at the heart of it all.

 

I suspect their revenues would decrease, because they don't need discounts to attract their clientele.

 

So why bother?

 

I mean, I love perks as much as anyone, and a 25% discount (on top of current "everyday discounts") would be great, but I don't think Carnival needs to offer it to get "enough" returning customers and fill their cabins.

As long as the reds and blues come on back 2-3 times a year I suppose Carnival doesn’t need a loyalty program. In my opinion they should just abolish it but as long as people perceive value they won’t. They will continue to chip away and keep handing out the silver and white cards 

2 minutes ago, NYcruzzer said:

Carnival's Loyalty program comes complete with a fun onboard scavenger hunt to locate and obtain all your benefits/gifts ??

Yes it does. 

1 minute ago, shof515 said:

The last time they changed the program I was downgraded a level. Hopefully with the new program they improve grandfathering people into the new levels better

To me it’s not about the level but rather what is offered for the loyalty. % Discounts on limited cruise cabins, free Wi-Fi,  a few free drinks/day at certain levels, grautuities included at certain levels. 
Seriously I know we can’t expect free cabins like the Player Club pax get but something of value would be thoughtful 

2 minutes ago, 787cruiser said:

JH has already confirmed that VIFP is being looked at for a revamp.

I guess it’s just wait then. It’s easier to build from essentially nothing I suppose 

It’s interesting. I’ve been cruising Carnival since 1979 and I’ve seen changes. Most recently I’ve seen the degradation of Carnival’s Loyalty program to the point of believing Carnival Corporate is watching it die by a thousand papercuts 

We know of all the cutbacks (Loyalty lunch to single drink and snacks, for example), too many pax for Priority Boarding, the scavenger hunt for free bottle of water and koozie, etc. My question is WHY hasn’t Carnival Corporate revamped the Loyalty program? If there are “too many” Platinums and Diamonds, is that the Pax responsibility? Why hasn’t the Loyalty Program been revamped? 
 

My guess is because the Loyalty Program has been so watered down it essentially has lost most of its value. Death by a thousand paper cuts. Essentially it’s just the color of your Sail&Sign 

I totally agree that it is time for a revamp. Last month I sailed on Royal and the food was a welcome change but primarily due to different options and more choices each evening for dessert and main items. I know there is dissent on the Royal boards, but a switch up was a good change for us as we have sailed about 5 times on Carnival since the restart and I know the menu nearly by heart

On my last cruise on Carnival our Steward had 36 cabins with an assistant only in either the AM or evening service. We ended up calling room service for ice because we have our ice filled twice a day. Oh and the animals still appeared every day

So I have come to adapt my cruise experience with Carnival and will now pack protein bars for breakfast, zip lock bags for take out from the deli, small tupperware containers for taking my MDR dessert back to my cabin (as I hear they are no longer permitting PAX to take them from the dining room). I have also begun to enjoy the scavenger hunt for passenger loyalty perks and have decided to take a small purse for my phone so I can keep up with the menu and activities on my phone. Now if I can just get the microwave in my carry on....

My guess is Carnival swag to buy, $15 commemorative drinks to buy, baked alaska that I believe we have already had, a resurrected Funship Freddie, Dr Suess characters with 50th Anniversary sway on, a special 50th Anniversary photo op that you can buy, and a meeting at sea with no midnight buffet and dancing on Lido. Logos burnt into Guys buns and the tortillas at Blue Iguana... otherwise I'm not expecting much that doesn't cost the passengers

Yes Thank God! They just announced power has been restored. This crew has been wonderful this week! 

Currently we are on the Pride cruising from Bimini and power is out ship wide. The Captain and Frankie the Cruise Director have announced Miami has been notified and they are trying to rectify the issue. Elevators are down as well and they are asking pax who may be on an elevator to activate the alarm 

March 2021

Angelica,

 

You mention barbecue available on the Sunshine on embarkation day. Where did they serve that? What deck? Thanks.

It was on Deck 5 aft in Ocean Plaza

The elegant nights were night 2 and night 6 or 3rd sea day

So we determined that the Havana Bar does not sell Cuban cigars. No Cubans for sale anywhere on the ship. Also the Havana Bar is on 9Aft with JiJis and Cucina on either side so no smoking anywhere in Havana Bar. JiJis has Mongolian Wok and Cucina has a pasta bar for lunch.

Dinner was very good at Cucina tonight. The bread and house salad with Lemoncello vinagarette were great. Hubs had short rib and I had Nonnas meatballs w linguine and red sauce. If you don't care for garlic, steer clear of Nonnas meatballs. I love garlic. It was fresh and the meatballs were well-seasoned with them.

As a surprise, hubs ordered a Valentines cake for us to enjoy. It was white almond cake with strawberry mousse filling. We took it down to main DR and gave it to our headwaiter to keep refrigerated for us so we can enjoy it and share it with our table mates.

Second Sea Day

The second sea day was rough going for me. The seas were rough and I've never been seasick in all my cruises but this was different. The ship was bumpy to the point where it woke me up twice during the night. I wasn't ill but the captain explained that it was a strong headwind from the SouthEast that made the apparent wind speed the one time I looked to be 60 Knots.

Also at about 1130pm another all page was called for crew to level 0. I'm not sure what the exact wording was because I was in bed half asleep. About 10 min later the second page came over that said Staging Area. Then I was awake. A bit before midnight Emma came on the all page to tell us everything was okay. She apologized for frightening everyone but mentioned how the guests safety was Carnivals first priority.

I'm guessing folks were afraid and I never did find out what happened, but I was grateful that Emma cleared that up for all.

It seems as though many on this cruise are experienced cruisers because no one has brought it up to me since that night.

I will review Aruba and Curaçao later or tomorrow as we had Mardi Gras yesterday and today is Valentines Day and hubs and I are headed to Cucina for dinner.

Is there still a live band in the Ocean Plaza every night? It was one of the things we enjoyed most - night caps with the entertainment.:tropical-drink::whiskey-glass::bottle-pop:

I will check tonight after dinner. Hubs did enjoy his Cuban in Aruba and Curaçao. Loved the cigar bar at the Fort in Curacao. Outdoor seating in the square. He sat with the guys. I went to eat at the BurgerBar.

Is there still a live band in the Ocean Plaza every night? It was one of the things we enjoyed most - night caps with the entertainment.:tropical-drink::whiskey-glass::bottle-pop:

Yes there is and we found breakfast in the Ocean Plaza to be a quiet less crowded place to breakfast. Also loved the BBQ on embarkation. It was so much more pleasant than the Lido

Day2

So it's our first day at sea and it's been windy and choppy. Our Captain told us it would be this windy until we dock in Aruba on Tuesday. The winds did not deter the sun ☀️ worshippers. I joined them for about and hour but got tired of chasing my hat.

Strange we have had 2 medical emergencies called through the all call. Both to stateroom numbers and not a code call but a "medical response team" all call.

I don't have a clue what happened and I'm not going to put any gossip out on the Boards but I thought the all call was a switch.

Good news is that hubs and I spoke with the room steward today re the ice delay for room service. He brought us a second bucket of ice and has filled both of them for us today. What I will do next cruise is call room service right away and get the bucket delivered to the room and then ask the steward to fill it with each service.

I believe it's the bucket room service now delivers. Scuttlebutt is that it's a cleanliness/disinfectant thing. With that reasoning I'm fine.

The Cruise director Emma is a doll. People seem happy for the most part but there has been some seasickness due to choppy seas.

The crew is great with keeping the hand sanitizers filled and offering it as all food areas.

I will try to bring the Funtimes home to scan

Oh by the way, our neighbor was feeling a bit sick and they were told to call room service for seasickness meds. That was also a new twist.

This is our first time on the Sunshine/22nd Carnival Cruise. The ship itself is brighter than most and although it is showing some signs of wear and tear, I feel the decor and layout are satisfactory.

Every cruise we wonder what else will be sacrificed by Carnival to keep prices down. We were told today by our Room Steward that we have to get an ice bucket from room service instead of from the steward. We are still waiting an hour and a half later.

Carnival has removed all TV stations with ABC, NBC, CBS and FOX affiliates. We are Winter Olympic fans so no luck this week I guess. There are 3 CNN channels TBS, TCM I watch very little TV on a cruise but many are upset by this.

Remember to bring you own pen or pencil as those have disappeared from the staterooms as well. You will also pay for any room service from 10pm-6am each day.