Demographic of free cabin recipients

[LRene]

My DH got the offer. He also always gets the email surveys. I never have. Sometimes we fill them out and sometimes we don't. We've never received an upgrade offer nor an upsell call. We have 30+ cruises on CCL, nothing booked in the future as we mostly sail Celebrity now, and our last carnival cruise was only 4 months ago.

 

We don't gamble, prepay our gratuities, are shareholders of Carnival Corp., don't buy photos or spend money in the gift shop, sometimes buy a wine package and usually eat once in the steakhouse. We never book Carnival excursions. Our S&S bill is sometimes a couple hundred, sometimes less than $5 and sometimes they owe us money in the end.

 

We book balcony cabins and are mid-50's. We've booked as part of a group maybe 3 or 4 times.

 

I don't see any real pattern to the offers and no one else in our family nor any of our friends received it.

Edited February 15, 2014 by LRene

[givemeliberty]

I cruised March 2012 and March 2013. Did not gamble. Did not buy any excursions through Carnival. Booked Suites both times. Barely drank. Ate at the steak house on the second cruise. Booked a cruise for January 2015 two weeks ago. Got an offer in the mail for a free cruise 3 days ago. Can not use it because flights are crazy from Iowa and probably couldn't get the time off from work anyway.

[Midwestgal]

Seems to really be just at random:eek:

[falkcor]

Seems to really be just at random:eek:

 

it really does, doesn't it... and that said, it seems that a lot of the cruisers who did receive it (congrats!) are not at ALL of the demographic you'd expect they would want to solicit (low ss bills, no gambling, low purchases). the 'casino cruises' well that makes sense. this, not so much! :confused:

 

good idea for a thread though. perhaps you can crack the code, yet. :)

[skiwee]

My husband and I both got letters for free cruises. Our demographics is:

 

Marylanders

 

Cruised carnival just once this past November.

 

Had an aft suite on the pride

 

Ate at David's every night but once.

 

Gambled a lot getting our free drink card in one day.

 

No excursions booked.

 

Drank a lot.

 

I think our bill at end was like $1500

 

We booked directly through carnival

 

Have no cruises booked with them

 

 

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

Edited February 15, 2014 by skiwee

[frazzledrazzle16]

We're platinum with 13 cruises on Carnival. Most recent sailing was this past October. We've always sailed in balconies, first few cruises were in suites.

Never really spent very much in the Casino, we're talking $10-20 at most LOL. Pretty modest S&S... Around $300 on drinks/on-board restaurants, excursions we always prebook through Carnival. We didnt have any future bookings but we were ready to put a deposit down on the Oasis when this offer came in. :D

[pambud96]

I'm curious to know if anyone who got the offer had any current bookings?

Yes we had booked a December 2014 8 day cruise on the Sunshine to Aruba about a month prior.

 

 

We cruise every December or January for the past several years and sometimes in the summer if we can find a good deal.

Never spend a lot on S&S Casino about 50 bucks bar drinks about the same. This last cruise in December 13 we did eat at the steakhouse for the first time, But did not buy anything in the shops this time and NEVER ever buy shore excursions.

 

We decided to book Aruba again for our free one. We upgraded to balcony total 352.

[AmberTeka]

I sailed a lot with Carnival. and Other Carnival Lines

 

I did not get an offer

 

I called and cancelled my reservation for next fall.

 

the cruise I have for next month, can't cancel with out taking a hit..............will go, will not spend a dime not necessary

I believe a long time Carnival employee.......Robert Borden signed all of the freebie letters. he is the VIP in charge of marketing, I think. As long as he is with Carnival, which is probably a long time, I am not.

 

No one is going to give free money ( for that is what it is) to others, with no criteria listed, expect me to pay thousands to keep sailing with Carnival while they sail free...even though they don't like Carnival.. That is a personal insult. Carnival picked winners and losers. I am a loser with them. Fine. I won't bother them with my business. They won't notice. I will feel better. and if enough out there feel like I do.. Carnival might regret running off some of their best cruisers.

Edited February 15, 2014 by AmberTeka

[D4]

Are these letters sent through the mail or emails? Are they on a postcard or brochure or do they look like a real letter? I just want to make sure if we get one we notice it and don't just toss it in the shred bin.

[cruiser135]

My 21 y/o child got one, never spent 1 cent in casino, bar, steak house, or spa. Has always been on my S&S account, has 6 cruises last one Oct. 2011. If the criteria is spend all week laying in sun and reading then they picked the right girl if looking for big S&S accounts then they missed the mark. Myself and wife have 14 cruises with carnival last in Mar. 2013. We did not recieve one.

[picomullet]

Seems a lot are eating at specialty restaurants. I wonder? It would be a miracle if we ever got one of those letters!!

[JillK]

Being Canadian, I'm curious to know if any non-US resident has been offered the free cabin or if it's being made exclusively to US past guests?

[Midwestgal]

Are these letters sent through the mail or emails? Are they on a postcard or brochure or do they look like a real letter? I just want to make sure if we get one we notice it and don't just toss it in the shred bin.

 

Mine came through the postal mail, it had a rectangular sticker on it near my name & address. I know on one of the free cruise threads someone posted a picture.

[Midwestgal]

I sailed a lot with Carnival. and Other Carnival Lines

 

 

I called and cancelled my reservation for next fall.

 

 

I wouldn't be angry about it and cancelled my cruise with them because I didn't get a letter. We could of been pick through a random computer selection.

some people received free cruise letters in December as to where I just got mine. Who knows they may be sending letters out in waves and you may be next, I hope you do.

[Cruiser from MS]

I last cruised Carnival and had several problems with my cabin being to hot and rude passengers getting into fights outside of my cabin and at the sports bar. I made several complaints to Carnival I had cruised several times with them and never had an extremely high sign and sail or casino charges. I have cruised two other Carnival Corp owned lines. I booked my free cabin this week on the Magic. I'm hoping not to have the repeat problems I had last May on the Magic...

[PaulMedik]

Our 19 year old son Bryson signed up on Carnival.com today and has a free casino cabin offer.

 

He is Platinum on Carnival and on our last cruise was 18 and spent quite a bit of time each day playing BlackJack and Roulette. At 18 he can play on the ships, but not on land here in the USA. :rolleyes:

 

He is not booked on our upcoming April 13 Spring Break cruise with us because his college Spring Break is in March. If I can book with his rate, he and I may go on a Spring Break cruise for his week which is next month....:cool: I'm not sure how the booking process will work since the terms specify must be 21 years old, but then why did he get it at 19? :confused:

 

DW and I are both Platinum and have NOT received free offers on Carnival.com or in the mail. We always get free casino ca$h or gifts from the casino, but those are random.

[The4Cruisers]

I did not get an offer.

 

No one is going to give free money (for that is what it is) to others, with no criteria listed, expect me to pay thousands to keep sailing with Carnival while they sail free...even though they don't like Carnival.. That is a personal insult. Carnival picked winners and losers. I am a loser with them. Fine. I won't bother them with my business. They won't notice. I will feel better. and if enough out there feel like I do.. Carnival might regret running off some of their best cruisers.

 

Interesting point and glad to see others feel the same way.

 

We have 10 cruises with CCL since 2005 and finally made Platinum.

 

I too feel a little offput at seeing lots of folks getting free cruises (some that don't even appreciate the gesture) while we're getting ready to plunk down our money to book our next one.

 

I have to admit that this is gnawing at me everytime my wife asks me if I have booked the cruise yet. Just can't bring myself to call the PVP right now.

[PortSideCruzan]

Since so many are trying to figure out the the random free cabin given out I thought the people who received them can list a few thing about their past cruising habits and we can see if there's a pattern .

I did receive and book Breeze for this May.

 

My last cruise was December 7, 2013 on Liberty in an ocean suite 7 night.

I gambled maybe $30.00 and then won $50.00

My bar bill was about $80.00. I did no spa or excursions, we ate in the steakhouse one time and bought nothing other on the ship.

 

I cruised Freedom 6 night in November of 2011 again in an OS and spent about the same as above.

 

Inspiration 6 night in 2009 with one ship excursion and spent less than $150.00 , we were in grand suite.

 

Sailed on Fantasy in a grand suite for a five day cruise spent very little, again a GS.

I'm from the mid west and am 50 years of age.

 

This is my history with Carnival

 

Hi Midwestgal :)

 

My wife & I received the 'free cabin' offer via mail and we received the offer in our

Carnival account online located in (My Offers) in the VIFP section.

 

We only cruise B2B voyages. Last one was a 16-day voyage aboard the Splendor

just recently in May/June 2013. Prior to receiving the free cabin offer we currently

have another B2B voyage booked with Carnival.

 

We sail Carnival, Princess, Royal and Celebrity on a consistent rotation basis

so we do not get tired of a particular product. Usually two voyages with a cruise line

then we rotate to the next. Doing that for the past 30 yrs now.

 

Our ship board account is typically around $1,200 to $1,500 per single voyage folio,

$2,500 to $3,000 at the end of the entire B2B.

 

We always reserve a balcony cabin.

 

We always eat at specialty restaurants at least one to three times, and we never

miss a 'Chef's Table Dinner'.

 

Our bar bill is typically around $600 per cruise, and a soda card as well. We don't go

into the casino too often because of the smoke, but when we do we don't use our

ship account card anywhere in the casino, only cash.

 

After so many years of cruising we still buy many photo's. We rarely ever purchase

shore excursions, we always do our own thing and plan from home.

 

Most of the time we receive online surveys after a cruise, and always fill them out.

 

89 sea days with Carnival so far. 103 after our next voyage.

 

In my humble opinion concerning this particular 'free cabin' offer from Carnival,

I think it is totally random computer picked.

 

Having said that, I wonder how many people (may) not receive the actual letter

via mail but could have it sitting in their (My Offers) section of their VIFP section online

and not ever know it because they never looked, or checked the correct section of their

online Carnival account.

 

It is possible people are looking in (cruise deals) instead of (my offers).

 

 

:)

 

 

[Midwestgal]

I too had it sitting under my VIFP account but would of never knew if I had no received the paper letter so people might want to check their account

[Aplmac]

I was looking to book moms 65th birthday cruise on yesterday

and found she was eligible for a free cruise that needed to be taken by June 31st.

The birthday cruise is in August, so she'll get to go on one before her birthday,

and come back one day before (will make her Gold for the cruise in August).

Don't be so sure the free cruise will give her VIFP points to elevate her to Gold status, okay?

 

 

I had a freebie cruise on Victory back in late 2008

when she was doing the Southern Caribbean loop for the very first time...

 

I just checked my cruise history of the Carnival website(again, just to make sure)

and although that three-night cruise is listed, I gained 0.00 points!

 

All other cruises I paid for, have gained me commensurate points.

Just sayin. ;)

 

 

___________________________________

Attachment below shows a screen capture of the relevant details

-it's the cruise of 11/2/2008 and you can see the 0.00 points it earned me.

Edited February 15, 2014 by Aplmac

[iamsteph]

Interesting point and glad to see others feel the same way.

 

We have 10 cruises with CCL since 2005 and finally made Platinum.

 

I too feel a little offput at seeing lots of folks getting free cruises (some that don't even appreciate the gesture) while we're getting ready to plunk down our money to book our next one.

 

I have to admit that this is gnawing at me everytime my wife asks me if I have booked the cruise yet. Just can't bring myself to call the PVP right now.

 

I'm a little sad that my husband and I haven't gotten an offer. Actually, I check our offers pretty often, and we've never had anything other than that standard VIFP upgrade offer that everyone has. We've never gotten an upgrade/upsell call. But I guess being in our early 30's with 8 cruises (all 7+ days) under our belts and the 9th booked, 90% of our excursions booked through them, two chef tables, etc., they realize they've got our business.

 

Maybe we need to stray to another line for our next cruise and Carnival will try and entice us back :o

[Aplmac]

... I wonder how many people (may) not receive the actual letter

via mail but could have it sitting in their (My Offers) section of their VIFP section online

and not ever know it because they never looked, or checked the correct section of their

online Carnival account.

 

It is possible people are looking in (cruise deals) instead of (my offers).

Thanks for the heads-up on that!

 

On the rare occasions I ever looked into My Offers, I found zip

but now you guys have brought this up

I'll definitely be checking it every time I go to the Carnival website.

 

Thanks again!

 

.

[The4Cruisers]

I'm a little sad that my husband and I haven't gotten an offer. Actually, I check our offers pretty often, and we've never had anything other than that standard VIFP upgrade offer that everyone has. We've never gotten an upgrade/upsell call. But I guess being in our early 30's with 8 cruises (all 7+ days) under our belts and the 9th booked, 90% of our excursions booked through them, two chef tables, etc., they realize they've got our business.

 

Maybe we need to stray to another line for our next cruise and Carnival will try and entice us back :o

 

I understand.

 

I don't plan to leave permanently CCL over this, but it is preventing me from booking our next cruise right now. I guess it's time for me to finally shop around a little bit just to see what else is out there.

[Shepard]

I was also surprised when I got the letter from Carnival in the mail saying I qualify a free cabin(received it around February 6th). I thought it was fake scam until I went to their website and entered my VIFP club card number and like 20 cruises popped up some were even as late as June 30th. I guess I should talk about which cruises I've been on and how much I spent on each. I booked a 7 Day in May to Belize, Isla Roatan, and Cozumel. I'm taking my cousin with me who paid for the 1st cruise I've ever been on.

 

 

The last cruise I went on was September 2013 and it was a 7 day cruise out of Galveston, Texas to Key West, Free Port, and Nassau. I didn't gamble that much on this cruise I think I won $40 playing slots and that was about it. I spent about $30 on drinks and that's it. I didn't buy anything on board the cruise or go on any excursions.

 

The cruise I went on before the previous was September 2012 and it was a 7 day cruise out of Galveston to Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel. I stayed in an interior cabin on I think the 7th deck. I did gamble on this one and won a lot of money (for me at least). I won close to $240 playing roulette and I won about $30 playing slots. I spent about $150 on drinks and I think I ate at the steak house once. So I spent a some money but not any where near as much as some people did.

 

Now I went on both these cruises with family members "aunt/uncle and 3 of my cousins and several others." So far I'm the only one that's received this and they are all in the process of booking a 7 day to Belize, Isla Roatan, and Cozumel in September. Only one the people who I went on these cruise's with has been on more than 2 cruise and he's currently a gold card holder and he's been on about 5 or 6 cruises I think maybe more.

 

I didn't get the one for people who were in the Players Club so I think this might actually be randomly selected (it said request rate code PH1). I'm still surprised I actually got a free 7 Day Cruise.

Edited February 15, 2014 by Shepard

[greenbean]

My mom got one, I did not. Good thing she wanted to take me with her.

 

We are both platinum, mostly book balconies, never play in the casino, never run up a huge S&S account, have never visited the steakhouse, only book shore excursions through Carnival.

 

Some have already mentioned but I agree - It's the post sailing surveys that have me most curious. My mom always gets them. I never do. She always fills them out and she is always very honest - she doesn't play the "rate everything a ten because they want you" to game. Even if we have a good time (we always do). She rates lots of things at 6 or 7 because they were just fine (as expected) but not amazing. I wonder if Carnival thinks they need to win her back or something...