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VIFP embarkation not so fun......

Colorado Kat

By Colorado Kat,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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Colorado Kat

Colorado Kat

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At the Port of Miami last week, we boarded the Carnival Liberty. I'm Platinum, so get VIFP boarding. We had to wait over 45 min in the VIFP room, and were told that they had to re-print our sign & Sail cards.

 

We got up the escalators, and were stopped at the ding-ding machines, just before boarding the ship. One person in our group of 4 was allowed to board. The other 3 of us had to wait another 45 min to have our sign & sail cards reprinted. There was no place to get even a drink of water, we were not allowed to use the restroom, and were told if we needed to sit down, we should sit on the floor, being careful to keep out of the arriving passenger's way.

 

This was not in any way a good experience. We had a brand new cruiser with us, and I really wanted to impress him with the fancy boarding.

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Beebob1

Beebob1

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This happened to us once boarding HAL (suite guest perk) Every passanger was held back never learned what the problem was. We were placed in a nice lounge area wasn't bad for us but the rest had to wait in long lines.

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Colorado Kat

Colorado Kat

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Cruise employees were not friendly, and kept telling us to keep out of other passengers way. Small area, and no place to stand. We were not allowed in hallway, and the escalators dumped people in a small area, with stanchions and dividers.

 

Hundreds of people passed by. This would be the third time sign & sail cards were printed/created, and my daughters failed again, during the cruise.

 

We got there about 1pm, and there were hardly any people in VIFP lounge, maybe 6 cruise passengers, and 6 cruise employees. Didn't board till after 3:30.

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RuthlessBoss

RuthlessBoss

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I guess you're talking about VIP (instead of VIFP?).

While I'm sure it was inconvenient, 45 minutes without water or a restroom obviously didn't cause permanent damage. :)

Don't worry, I thought the same thing as you. If you have to P before you get into a line before boarding, that's their fault. The terminals provide enough bathrooms. I was leaning towards the no water for 45 WHOLE MINUTES!

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PR0318

PR0318

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At the Port of Miami last week, we boarded the Carnival Liberty. I'm Platinum, so get VIFP boarding. We had to wait over 45 min in the VIFP room, and were told that they had to re-print our sign & Sail cards.

 

We got up the escalators, and were stopped at the ding-ding machines, just before boarding the ship. One person in our group of 4 was allowed to board. The other 3 of us had to wait another 45 min to have our sign & sail cards reprinted. There was no place to get even a drink of water, we were not allowed to use the restroom, and were told if we needed to sit down, we should sit on the floor, being careful to keep out of the arriving passenger's way.

 

This was not in any way a good experience. We had a brand new cruiser with us, and I really wanted to impress him with the fancy boarding.

 

Same exact thing happened to me and my wife on the 3rd and another family at the same time. Get there nice and early, 1st time VIP, no cards, the other family had cards but where bad. Get the cards, we were going to be the 2nd people on the ship. Both of our cards don't work. They did have a new card for me waiting but not for my wife, had to wait for a re-print, took for ever, wife was upset. So the time we were able to board they were calling group 11. It was kind of fustrating watching everyone go through and we had to sit and wait. Oh well. Hoping it won't happen next time.

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emelvee

emelvee

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I guess you're talking about VIP (instead of VIFP?).

While I'm sure it was inconvenient, 45 minutes without water or a restroom obviously didn't cause permanent damage. :)

Yeah, sounds like OP is referring to Priority (formerly called VIP) boarding since VIFP just means someone that has signed up for Carnival's loyalty program.

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seguincruiser

seguincruiser

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I hope it didn't ruin the cruise for you but I would have been annoyed also. They should have at least taken you back to the lounge so you could wait sitting down. You metioned your Platinum so this was suppose to be a perk you earned; to be told to stay out of the way of other passangers (some who were probably first timers) also was an insult.

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HeidiHo

HeidiHo

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I don't know if this was the cause of the OP's issues with the card but be sure and keep your card away from your camera or phone because other electronics will de-magnitize the card. I was on a Princess cruise last week and even though I knew this could happen and I tried to keep my card away from my phone and camera it still kept happening. Once it even happened when I was disembarking in a port. Luckily Princess was prepared for this and were able to fix the issue right then and there. It took about 10 seconds. After this happened about 3 times I started keeping my ship card in an aluminum security wallet that I had purchased for the cruise and I never had a problem again. Probably another good way to keep this from happening would be to keep your card on a lanyard around your neck.

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LHP

LHP

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At the Port of Miami last week, we boarded the Carnival Liberty. I'm Platinum, so get VIFP boarding. We had to wait over 45 min in the VIFP room, and were told that they had to re-print our sign & Sail cards.

 

We got up the escalators, and were stopped at the ding-ding machines, just before boarding the ship. One person in our group of 4 was allowed to board. The other 3 of us had to wait another 45 min to have our sign & sail cards reprinted. There was no place to get even a drink of water, we were not allowed to use the restroom, and were told if we needed to sit down, we should sit on the floor, being careful to keep out of the arriving passenger's way.

 

This was not in any way a good experience. We had a brand new cruiser with us, and I really wanted to impress him with the fancy boarding.

 

 

 

That is UNACCEPTABLE....especially since all they had to do was slap a RED sticker on you and let you get your Sail and Sign card on the ship...

 

we have had to do this several times (when Milestone first started and the ports did not have a clue WHAT Milestone was or where to get that "white card".....

 

They would just slap a red sticker on us and send us on our way....

 

when we got on the ship..they would print out our cards and then we would have to go get our picture put on them (right around the corner from Guest Services).

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LHP

LHP

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This makes me wonder about the Guest Services team on the Liberty because the Liberty also get constant complaints about Carnival not handling the new VP vs FTTF properly.....

 

everyone rushing at once.....

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Colorado Kat

Colorado Kat

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Sorry, I got the terminology wrong. VIP/Priority. Totaled 2 and a half hours of them telling us they had to reprint cards. Printed/Reprinted wrong 3 times. Not bad when sitting in VIP lounge, but very annoying when we had to stand in a small corner with luggage, being repeatedly told to stay out of the way.

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serene56

serene56

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At the Port of Miami last week, we boarded the Carnival Liberty. I'm Platinum, so get VIFP boarding. We had to wait over 45 min in the VIFP room, and were told that they had to re-print our sign & Sail cards.

 

 

This was not in any way a good experience. We had a brand new cruiser with us, and I really wanted to impress him with the fancy boarding.

 

 

I'd be pissed if that happened. No reason for that whatsoever.

 

what time did you arrive at the pier?

 

did they ever tell you WHY they needed to reprint your cards?

what was wrong with them

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spikester

spikester

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That is UNACCEPTABLE....especially since all they had to do was slap a RED sticker on you and let you get your Sail and Sign card on the ship...

 

we have had to do this several times (when Milestone first started and the ports did not have a clue WHAT Milestone was or where to get that "white card".....

 

They would just slap a red sticker on us and send us on our way....

 

when we got on the ship..they would print out our cards and then we would have to go get our picture put on them (right around the corner from Guest Services).

 

My sister had this issue once, and the VIP lounge person just took us both on board, and over to Guest services to get new cards. I can't imagine why they wouldn't take care of you that way. I was on the Liberty in Dec, and going through the check in process was the fastest I have ever seen.

Sorry you had a bad experience, that is just ridiculous they did that.

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geneparmesan

geneparmesan

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Don't worry, I thought the same thing as you. If you have to P before you get into a line before boarding, that's their fault. The terminals provide enough bathrooms. I was leaning towards the no water for 45 WHOLE MINUTES!

 

:rolleyes: Is this serious, or just a poor trolling attempt? How are you supposed to know beforehand that you'll be stuck while boarding the ship and not allowed to go to a bathroom?

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