Wow! Free Cruise on Carnival

[pepperfeet]

AmberTeka - You keep demanding that someone give you the criteria for receiving one of these free cruises. Has is not dawned on you that maybe there is NO criteria and this has been completely random? I have seen people with all sorts of cruising history and spending habits receive these...there seems to be no rhyme or reason. Carnival owes you an explanation about as much as they owe you a free cruise -- they don't.

 

You make it sound like that picked your name out of a list and said, "SHE is NOT getting a free cruise, but everyone else on her ship is!" I highly doubt that is the case. You are taking this so personally, when it was nothing personal at all.

 

Look at my Carnival cruising history. Did I get a free cruise? No (or not yet). Am I happy for others? Yes.

 

Let. It. Go.

Right on. Also, it is not exactly free, you are still paying port taxes, tips,insurance, air fare, spending, ext. Still a pretty good chunk of change. No I didn't get one. Booked on the Libety March 22, 7th Carnival.

[LuckyZ]

My question is this: For those who are jumping up and down screaming, "it isn't fair, it isn't fair", If you got the offer of a free cruise would you turn it down on grounds of it not being fair?

 

Well said. We are frequent cruisers and my wife received this offer. We just booked for an 8 day in June. It came to about $350 with port charges and advance pay gratuities.

 

Oh happy days. The problem is finding a cheap flight from the Midwest. Looks like our flight cost will be much more than our cruise.

[sassy~one]

Right on. Also, it is not exactly free, you are still paying port taxes, tips,insurance, air fare, spending, ext. Still a pretty good chunk of change. No I didn't get one. Booked on the Libety March 22, 7th Carnival.

 

 

tips? How much?

 

WE did not pay ... advance pay gratuities.

Edited February 15, 2014 by sassy~one

[LuckyZ]

tips? How much?

 

Tips or Gratuities are $11.50 per day per person

[LittleMissMagic]

Walt Disney World had a similar promotion back in 2007 which they extended through 2008 called "Year of a Million Dreams." Everyday, they gave away various "dreams" ranging in scale from a free ice cream bar to a night in the Cinderella Suite in Magic Kingdom. The giveaways were completely random and cast members would choose people in particular places at different times or wearing different colors. I visited WDW four times during the promotional period and never received any of the "dream" giveaways, but that didn't stop me from continuing to travel to Walt Disney World or feeling happy for the people who were fortunate enough to get something.

[Mrs.SchamWOW]

My husband I both received promotional letters last week with our separate VIFP numbers and booked the same night they arrived as he had received a letter in November for the same offer but when we called then, everything was already booked.

From the bits and pieces of info we have been able to glean from Carnival employees, the letters are sent at random to past cruisers regardless of when your last cruise was taken. You do not have to be a gambler to receive the letter or have stayed in certain cabin levels. The most interesting fact was that the last person we spoke with said that you would only be able to ACCEPT the offer once based on your VIFP number. I am not sure how accurate that is, because once they get you on the boat they are making money hand over fist, but this was how it was explained to us.

[PhillyRomantic]

We received an offer from Atlantis in Paradise Island for a free ocean view cabin for 2 on any Carnival Cruise ship...going anywhere. We selected the 6 day on the Breeze going to the Western Caribbean. We upgraded to a Balcony which cost us $648.00 with fees and taxes. Looking forward to comparing Carnival to the top notch Disney Cruise line.

[sassy~one]

I called my TA, and she called Carnival about the free cruises. She was told it was random. I sure hope i did not trash mine. : )

[Sailor_Sally]

I am slightly disappointed that I did not get this offer not enough to never sail Carnival again but enough to avoid them until this promotion is over.

[montekat]

I called my TA, and she called Carnival about the free cruises. She was told it was random. I sure hope i did not trash mine. : )

 

Just log into your acct. on Carnival and put in your VIFP #. If you are eligible for a free cruise it will show up there. I found mine online before I got the letter. Good luck!

[abisha]

Hi all, my DH was just about to toss the snail mail letter in recycling and I saw it and said "hold on a minute, I see the words FREE CABIN." Good thing, since we were not planning to cruise in at least the next 6 months and I never would've checked on the website using my VIFP #.

 

So we're so excited to fit in a cruise when we weren't planning on it -- for such a low price!!!

 

As for who and why are some folks getting this offer and other not....as a business person who makes alot of decisions on marketing plans, I can tell you that this is NOT random. It's an expensive targeted marketing campaign that likely has demographic and purchase habit metrics to drive the distribution list.

 

I'm not sure what criteria they are using? My Ideas:

- not super frequent CCL cruisers (who are so loyal they know they don't have spend money to get you back on board!)

- but people who have cruised with CCL in the past few years demonstrating that they are open to the brand.

- age range? I'm guessing that they'd target folks who are between 35-70 or so or maybe even more like 45-70. Folks who have more time and money to cruise.

- geography: maybe more East Coast and Southeast folks who can drive to many of the offered ports since the offer ends in June and it's sometimes expensive to book flights to fly soon?

- On-board spending habits: whether it's the casino, bar tab, excursions, shopping, art show, spa, Steakhouse dining, photos ---- they want people who spend money on the things that CCL makes a profit on to be on-board. I bet that people who just book a cabin and who spend less than $50 are NOT getting this offer because those are unprofitable sailors for CCL.

 

I cruised on the Glory two summers in a row, because they were sailing out of Boston and NY up to the Canadian Maritimes. Once just with my DH and once with my son and Father (in another cabin). We don't spend more than $50 in the casino, but run up a decent bar tab, spent probably $100 on Bingo and last cruise treated my son to a G-Shock watch ($90) and way too much $$ in the arcade.

 

Very interesting marketing...it's working to get me back on board!

 

Good luck folks!

 

Lynne

__________________

 

Hi Lynne (my name also Lynne). DH and I are also from Boston area. We're already booked on the Carnival Breeze for May 4 sailing and it will be our fourth Carnival cruise since 2011. I am extremely disappointed that we didnt receive the offer. Did you just get yours this past week?

[dmarie1623]

I of course would like a free cruise too. :D. However, I don't begrudge anyones fortune. Quite frankly, with all the bad weather it's nice reading about something fun like this.

[sprint180]

Wow, I think some of you think way too much. I haven't gotten one but wish I had. Good for those who have. Have a blast for me!!!

[Working 2 Cruise]

Hi Lynne (my name also Lynne). DH and I are also from Boston area. We're already booked on the Carnival Breeze for May 4 sailing and it will be our fourth Carnival cruise since 2011. I am extremely disappointed that we didnt receive the offer. Did you just get yours this past week?

 

You didn't get one because you are already booked!

[ccarpenter1963]

You didn't get one because you are already booked!

 

Several people who already had one booked still got the free one.

 

Edit to add. See this thread for examples. : http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1990132

Edited February 16, 2014 by ccarpenter1963

[Zarabear]

My mom had a free cruise offer back in December, and I received basically a free one. ($100 for the inside, but credited back in OBC).

 

Then I received the book two free cruises offer in my VPIF offers on the site*. (Casino offer is indicated). Previously, our last sailing was in 2010 on the Splendor, one or two sailings before the disastrous fire that left the ship incapacitated.

 

Not to say there is any correlation, but those are the circumstances for us. My mom did not receive the second offer, and I was her guest on that first cruise.

 

*The offer states it is good for up to two sailings. I have booked one, and the offer is still available to book a second cruise. :)

[pit239]

I called my TA, and she called Carnival about the free cruises. She was told it was random. I sure hope i did not trash mine. : )

 

Doesn't matter if you trashed it. Just log in to carnival.com with your number -- it will be there. Looks like it's available on any sailing during the promo period.

Good luck !

 

I'm going to Alaska!

[swalton85]

It doesn't matter if you already have a cruise booked or if you haven't sailed in awhile. My in laws already had a cruise booked for next year and just sailed last year. It seems like there's no rhyme or reason to it.

 

I must admit I'm pretty bummed to not have received one. We cannot afford to cruise this year, but we definitely could've scraped up a couple hundred to go with this offer :rolleyes: oh well maybe next time!

[IMSAILING]

We haven't received the offer. Really happy for everyone who has. I am going to be checking my offers daily as we are looking to go in May.

[thomarvin]

My son who is only 19 got the letter as did my nephew who just turned 25 last week. neither have even PAID for their own cruise. My sister and i have always paid for their cruises so I have no idea why they got it and not us. But the 4 of us are going to have a nice mother/son vacation.

[Rosethorn40]

My best friend got her offer last week. Me? Nothing! Funny thing is that I introduced her to cruising several years ago; my first Carnival Cruise, her very first. Since then DH & I have taken 3 Carnival cruises, her & her husband have taken 2. Neither of us spend money in the casino, my bar bill is much higher than hers, and we spend more on excursions, photos, etc. The only difference I can figure out is that her last two cruises were during New Years week and I know she paid a premium to sail. We are lucky to be able to sail when the kids are in school, and therefore pay much less for our cabins.

 

I don't know what the details of the offer, but we probably wouldn't be able to take them up on it anyway. We leave in 11 days for a 10-day Caribbean, and in another 60 for our first river cruise, both are paid for and I would lose more than I would gain.

[keishashadow]

Right on. Also, it is not exactly free, you are still paying port taxes, tips,insurance, air fare, spending, ext. Still a pretty good chunk of change. No I didn't get one. Booked on the Libety March 22, 7th Carnival.

 

 

true but many have reported that they have swapped out existing travel, having already paid for airfare, and budgeting for standard expenses; if not "free" it certainly is a huge % of savings of the entire trip cost.

 

we swapped out an RCCL cruise for the Sunshine:) and had enough left over in annual vacation budget to to add another cruise onto this year's October trip.

 

I do think that it's a possibility that CCL had many unsold berths during the promotion period. In lieu of lowering rates (where many would price match), likely figured it was more cost effective to issue the 'award' letters and hope that onboard spending would equal a profitable cruise. Very tempting for the typical cruiser to justify spending more on 'extras' during a free cruise.

[RVfromAZ]

We are one of lucky ones (actually my Husband) received the letter from Carnival, didn't believe it at first. We are going to do a short 3 day out of LA, as we can drive there. We have only cruised Carnival 2 other times, never spend a lot in Casino, etc, so don't know why they picked us, but we are thrilled!:)

[barrelracer89]

Has anyone that has gotten the free cruise only been on 1 carnival cruise or has everyone that has gotten one been on 2 or more?

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[Zarabear]

I only had one carnival cruise, 4 years ago when I received the first 'free cruise'. $100 inside cabin, credited back in OBC.

 

Then, surprisingly, I had the second casino offer in the VPIF section of carnival, good for up to two sailings! :) (This was after I had booked the upcoming Miracle trip, leaving next Saturday). I used it to book the Hawaii trip in Oct.

 

 

~Zara