VIP check in....how do you know?

[JPH814]

Our last cruise on the Dream was our fourth on Carnival. We had a regular balcony cabin. When we went to check in at the port in Port Canaveral we were told we were VIP and should go to the VIP area to check in. This was after we waited in the regular line for about 20 minutes. I have no idea why were were VIP.

 

So now we are going on another cruise in July. How can I find out if this VIP thing was a one time thing, or a mistake, or whether we wil be VIP on our next cruise?

[LHP]

Our last cruise on the Dream was our fourth on Carnival. We had a regular balcony cabin. When we went to check in at the port in Port Canaveral we were told we were VIP and should go to the VIP area to check in. This was after we waited in the regular line for about 20 minutes. I have no idea why were were VIP.

 

So now we are going on another cruise in July. How can I find out if this VIP thing was a one time thing, or a mistake, or whether we wil be VIP on our next cruise?

 

Was their anyone else in the VIP room? Sometimes when all (or most ) of the VIPs have checked in....they check in other folks to assist people to get on the ship as soon as possible.

[Rosefloater]

If you booked a suite or are platinum then you check in at the VIP area. If you are VIP, your boarding pass and/or luggage tags will have printed in big, bold letters VIP.

[golfadj]

Strange From the way you described it you should not have been vip.

[klfrodo]

Your FunPass will have VIP on it when you print it out.

[JPH814]

Thanks for the info. It was weird...I do not think it was a "nobody else in the VIP area" thing. We were at the port about 11:30. When we got up to the counter, the woman said that our documents were over inthe VIP area. Our luggage tags did not say anything on them. We were not in a suite nor were we platinum.

 

The only thing that made us "special" was the fact that I had arranged a meet and greet for about 70 Cruise Critic People and Carnival had me listed as "group leader". Maybe this sent up some kind of a flag at check in.

 

Or I also wondered if the fact that I owned Carnival stock and put in for the stockholders on board credit may have triggered it. Vut a lot of people do that. And hey - it is only 100 shares; not like I am Warren Buffet or anything.

[Frank12]

DW and I had the same thing happen on our 9th cruise. We were not "group leaders" and we had an interior cabin on the Veranda deck. This was in Jacksonville.

We have no idea how it happened as we were not yet Platinum, did not have a suite booked, and our luggage tags did not say VIP.

We are not ones to look a gift horse in the mouth.

We waited with the VIP folks and boarded the ship first that morning. :D

 

This was our 4th cruise in 12 and a half months. Maybe our PVP has us put in with the VIP's as a "thanks for the business" ?

[bklsmom]

Were your sail and sign cards Platinum or Gold? Just curious if you had VIP status for the entire cruise or just check in. Were you able to check in at the pursers desk for priority debarkation at Ports and did you recieve the free laundry and other perks of VIP? Just curious?

[*Mach*]

I had VIP boarding on some cruises prior to becoming Platinum but my luggage tags and Fun Pass always had VIP on them.

Perhaps, as others suggested, since the VIP line was pretty much unused in this case they sent you over there to occupy the shore side agents who were waiting with nothing to do...

:)

[JPH814]

Hmmm...just checked - our passes were gold. Had no reason to use any of the VIP services.

 

...one of those unsolved mysteries of life I guess. Will be interested what happens in NY on July. Just wish i could know ahead of time to save me the wait in the line for "normal" people.

[Haganwood]

We had this same thing happen when we cruised out of Port Canaveral back in October of 2010. The only thing I can think of that was different for us, was that we were called by Carnival prior to the cruise and we upgraded from Ocean View to Balcony rooms. They were not suites just balcony rooms, but as soon as we got there, we were ushered to the VIP Check in and we were the first folks on board the ship.

 

Not sure how it happened but I am hoping it happens again!

[jerseyralph]

Oh how the world turns......

 

Last October 30, we were booked in an OS on the Dream, western. Our luggage tags clearly said VIP. When we dropped off the luggage and took our carry-ons toward the terminal...we were told to get on the very long line with the non-VIPs. Now, we had sailed VIP out of PC a few times and this time it was different. After about ten minutes, someone came by and asked if we were VIP and we said yes. We followed her up the escalators and toward the VIP area. It was packed! She took us to the head of a regular line, handed our paperwork to the person at the computer and we went on to board. All while others on the line, as my teen later said, "glared" at us.