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Wow! Free Cruise on Carnival

Working 2 Cruise

By Working 2 Cruise,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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jhaasz

jhaasz

Posted
Posted

We received the letter back in December and jumped on it (the end of our date was May 30th). You had to pay $100 for an inside cabin but received a $100 on board credit. We live in NJ, gamble in the casino (but not insane amounts), have a decent SS bill ($900 for 7 nights) but haven't sailed on Carnival since 2009. My husband was the only one who received it; neither myself nor my kids received a letter (they are in their 20s).

 

It was a really great deal for us - free airfare and hotel rooms the night before and the night after (using miles and points). The car service from Orlando to Port Canaveral and back will probably cost us as much as the cruise ($389 total including tax - we upgraded to a balcony). All in time for us to celebrate our 25th anniversary! A bit earlier than expected but we both agreed it was a deal we couldn't pass up!

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mrBit

mrBit

Posted
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Wow! Congrats to all, we just got off RCI NOS (a no kids 15 year anniversary cruise) and saw the Carnival Magic along side in Cozumel and were thinking of taking the kids because my oldest loves Carnival but my 2 youngest have never cruised before. We are definitely hunting and i checked my VIFP but it only has 2 cat upgrade. We have sailed Carnival 5 times, last one being 2007.

 

Where is that letter???? Come on USPS!

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mitsugirly Great Review Rare

mitsugirly

Posted
Posted

Man, I really wish I could get one of those letters. I sure could use a graduation cruise. Are they only for a certain date or month? Or do you just have to book before June 30th?

 

I keep logging into my VIFP account with my fingers crossed. It's kinda hard typing with your fingers crossed. :D

 

Congrats to all those who received it.

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cruz4evr

cruz4evr

Posted
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I got one but nobody can travel with me. I might have to go by myself because it's way to good to pass up.

 

Sent from my SGH-T989 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

I'm in the same situation as DH can't take time off so I am asking my friends but so far no one is available...need to keep trying! Good luck!

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cruisinpips

cruisinpips

Posted
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I also recieved the letter, thought there must be a catch, but alas, it was a legitimate offer. We searched online, then called our PVP, booked the Breeze 8 day Southern Caribbean, upgraded to a balcony, and added our DD for a total of $650.00.

When I asked what criteria was used to send these offers, our PVP declined to answer, but I suspect I know. I know a little more by observing the pricing to upgrade to a balcony, it was $200 cheaper to go on an 8 day than to go a 6 day...do the math, you are on there longer, therefore you will spend more.

We were just happy we got the letter. Looking forward to the cruise. We never spend any money in the casino, but our on board account is typically pretty high. Looks like they have used some actual accounting to determine who gets these.

Would like to hear from others who got the letter about the typical size of their on board accounts. :D:D

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9d1225

9d1225

Posted
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My onboard account is usually pretty low, don't drink alcohol so that is out, we get the soda package. Last couple with Carnival we did no excursions thru them, $20-30 in the Casino for the whole cruise, specialty dining 1, maybe 2 nights depending.

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wsurrette2424

wsurrette2424

Posted
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We also got the free cruise letter.... almost tossed it without opening it, as we thought it was a typical past guest letter.

 

It's not that we don't look at all the letters Carnival send to past guests, it just that we already have two major vacations planned (we leave Saturday for an 8 night RCI cruise!) so we weren't in the market for another.

 

Well, after seeing it was for a "free" cruise (and skeptically looking for the catch!) we decided it was too good a deal to pass up. I have very limited vacation flexibility, so looked at shorter cruises, though there were *many* 7 and 8 night cruises available.

 

We chose a 4 night cruise on the Victory to Key West and Cozumel on June 5th, 2014 (one of our favorite itineraries having sailed on the Destiny there on two previous occasions). The deal was for an interior room free - just pay the port charges and taxes, about $165 for the two of us. We upgraded to an aft wrap balcony on deck 7 for an addition $80 for a total of about $245.

 

You could also upgrade to a suite or add additional passengers to the same room, but at much higher rates than the upgrade to the balcony.

 

Apparently, the letters were sent to prior Carnival cruisers with past guest accounts who haven't cruised on Carnival for a while. We've been on 6-7 Carnival cruises over the last 14 years (my wife probably had a couple prior cruise before that) with the last one being probably 4 years ago.

 

Great deal! We've always loved the Carnival product but have been sailing RCI lately (3 cruises in the last 4 years) mostly because my 10 year old son is addicted to the Flowriders on the RCI ships. This time he can stay home!

 

Good luck to all in redeeming their free cruises and hopefully lots more letters will be sent out!

 

Best Regards,

 

Gusman

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vbecky

vbecky

Posted
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We are on the west coast and we have ctuised recently, we did cruise about 7 months ago. My 19 year old son received the offer and he has not spent a whole lot of money in the casino. I'm thinking maybe they were just random letters I don't know I'm just glad we got one !

 

Sent from my SGH-T999 using Tapatalk

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CheckersMidwest

CheckersMidwest

Posted
Posted

My husband got the letter. It is assigned to a specific VIFP account number, so that person has to be IN the 'free' room. When you select what cruise you want, the price chart shows you free for inside then what it will cost to upgrade.

 

We upgraded for $70 each to a balcony. With the upgrade, port tax, and prepaid gratuities, our total for the 7 day Magic out of Galveston was $451.

 

We always cruise in 2 cabins with our kids in the next one. First time both cabins were in my husband's name, last summer our son was old enough so it was in his name. All 4 of us are on the same sign & sail account.

 

I booked the kids in the next cabin over and paid full price.

 

I received the letter on Tuesday. I looked at what was available - there were 16 pages ! Sailings from Las Angeles, Galveston, Ft Lauderdale, Charlotte?, Miami, Port Canaveral, New Orleans....

 

Our PVP said that there were only so many free sailings allotted on each cruise, so if there was one we specifically wanted not to wait too long. I looked over the options and booked at 2:00 the same afternoon we got the letter.

 

My PVP said there was no certain criteria, just totally random, which I think is fine. Who cares if you have interior rooms or suites? Spend a ton in the casino or spa? Take excursions? Just a great opportunity for 'everyone'.

 

Our demographics:

 

Missouri

Sailed twice...Paradise 5 day in 2012, Freedom 6 day 2013 - 2 rooms

Husband & son gamble - roulette mostly, but not much $ at all.

Paradise - oceanviews, Freedom - balconies

Paradise sign & sail for 4 people $500 Freedom $1300

We do book a few excursions

I use the spa

Booked both of our previous cruise using the website, just now got a PVP.

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bluemoon12

bluemoon12

Posted
Posted

Wow! What a great deal you all have received. I am happy for each one of you.... I am paying full price in July for our balcony. But happy someone is getting some great or free deals! I will continue to look and see if I become one of the lucky ones. Enjoy your cruises!

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vegasglitz

vegasglitz

Posted
Posted
Has anyone from the west coast received this offer. It seems like the east coast received the majority because looking at the posts many people are Floridians and NY'ers.

 

I'm in Las Vegas and we received a call 3 weeks ago and received a letter too!

 

We booked May 30th on the Sunshine going the Southern route for 8 days.

 

Woo Hoo :)

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ibcnusoon

ibcnusoon

Posted
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Our PVP said that there were only so many free sailings allotted on each cruise, so if there was one we specifically wanted not to wait too long. I looked over the options and booked at 2:00 the same afternoon we got the letter.

 

My PVP told me that the offer is up to 30 cabins per cruise, but it may also be per catagory because when I was looking to book I saw some listed like this:

$779 inside

$40 oceanview

$80 balcony

$1500 suite

 

when I booked it was

$0 inside

$40 oceanview

$80 balcony

$1500 suite

 

So I assume that everyone on that particular sailing took advantage of the FREE inside cabin and there was still availability in the other catagories for a slight fee.

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