carnival loyalty program vs. others?

[cleveland cruiser 23]

I been on 2 carnival ships and i liked both cruises i have been on. I was wondering if carnival loyalty program is the best out there or is there better ones? Also, are the loyalty programs good enough that i should stay with one ship or not?

[Disconnections]

Carnival used to have a great loyalty program. Unfortunately, it has been devalued tremendously. Some perks removed. Some were given to Diamond members. Some silently disappeared (like the stationary). Faster to the Fun came where you can buy some perks for $50. Then the Platinum for one cruise promotion came.

 

Carnival doesn't care about your loyalty. If you care a lot about loyalty programs, take a look at Princess and Royal Caribbean. They offer many great perks for those who choose to continue to sail on their line.

 

Edit: In my opinion, if it is important to you, you should switch lines before you have too many cruises sailed with only one line. It doesn't hurt to experiment with other cruise lines and they all offer pros/cons. Some things Carnival does better. Many more, not really.

Edited April 10, 2014 by Disconnections

[Jana60]

I been on 2 carnival ships and i liked both cruises i have been on. I was wondering if carnival loyalty program is the best out there or is there better ones? Also, are the loyalty programs good enough that i should stay with one ship or not?

 

None of the cruise lines have a loyalty program that would motivate me to cruise with them for that reason. I have gone on several cruises on each of the following cruise lines Royal Caribbean, Norwegian, and Princess and I cruise most often with Carnival because I simply have had more fun on carnival. So I am platinum on carnival only because I enjoyed my Carnival Cruises not because I wanted to become platinum.

 

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[Tapi]

Carnival is not the cruise line to cruise frequently on because of its loyalty program.

 

 

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[med9114u]

Personally....I cruise because I love cruising, loyalty program is just an added benefit. I cruise Carnival because of the price, not loyalty program.

[JasonV1]

The Royal loyalty program has a couple of really nice perks, these are my highlights (visit the link for all of them):

 

30 points: $100 balcony discount

80 points: $200 balcony discount, lounge in evenings (not all evening mind you) with free drinks

175 points: $225 balcony discount, Concierge lounge access (bigger lounge with free drinks in the evening, breakfast/lunch served, other items). At this level, you get many of the same perks that full suite guests get regardless of your room type.

 

Points are per night sailed, and you get double points for suites, and triple points for suites booked as a single.

 

If you like Carnival the perks elsewhere probably aren't worth it, but if you find that you like Royal (and balconies) there is a good reason to sail to get to the 30 and 80 point levels. Sometimes junior suites aren't that much more than regular balconies, so you can build points quickly and get to those balcony discounts.

 

I got grandfathered into Platinum on Carnival and am glad just to have priority boarding/disembarkation and tender tickets. For the price I pay on most of my Carnival cruises I don't expect them to shower me with additional gifts (although I would accept them).

 

Just remember that if you try another line you really need to sail a similar itinerary to what you sail on Carnival to get a feel for what they are like. Don't sail the oldest boat on the competitor and compare it to the Dream class, and vice versa.

[reerun25]

Personally....I cruise because I love cruising, loyalty program is just an added benefit. I cruise Carnival because of the price, not loyalty program.

 

Agreed.

[carsastic]

carnivals Loyalty programs has been devalued .. but them again I cant recall any program I belong to that has not been devalued .. I believe today American Air and Us Air just devalued their perk plan.

They all change and I do believe with the advent of big data/analytics they will all go to a rewarding customer spend ratio. use it to sell products and services ...

yea carnival had a good program and when u couple it up with the products cheap price to begin with .. it really was astonishing it went on this long...

all things change

[Hendricks Clan]

Personally....I cruise because I love cruising, loyalty program is just an added benefit. I cruise Carnival because of the price, not loyalty program.

 

Then you haven't really been checking prices of the other lines. I keep hearing people say, "We cruise CCL because of price," yet most don't even bother to check the rates of other lines...they just assume CCL is the cheapest and book. Our cruise Sunday on Epic was $200 cheaper for a balcony than on any 7-Day CCL Western Caribbean itinerary and that's even factoring in the interline employee discount CCL offers to airline employees. Picking between Epic or the Glory, Legend, or Conquest...I'm choosing Epic every single time, but for it to be $200'pp cheaper is the icing on the cake.

 

To the OP, yes the CCL loyalty program isn't what it used to be. If loyalty is important to you look at NCL or RCI. Both offer decent benefits and ways to earn double and triple points. Also NCL offers discounts on pictures and on board purchases...the discount depends on your level.

[DGP1111]

The loyalty program of this cruise lines does, however, work both ways.

 

Some may say that Carnival has somewhat dramatically 'watered down' its loyalty program to the current/former long-term passengers.

 

Others may say that some of those long-term passengers have 'watered down' their loyalty program to Carnival.

 

.

[Topo Gigio]

All in all it's the WORST in the cruise industry! and yes, I'm Platinum with Carnival.

[CJinFLA00]

Personally....I cruise because I love cruising, loyalty program is just an added benefit. I cruise Carnival because of the price, not loyalty program.

 

I couldn't agree more!

[iuki]

Then you haven't really been checking prices of the other lines. I keep hearing people say, "We cruise CCL because of price," yet most don't even bother to check the rates of other lines...they just assume CCL is the cheapest and book. Our cruise Sunday on Epic was $200 cheaper for a balcony than on any 7-Day CCL Western Caribbean itinerary and that's even factoring in the interline employee discount CCL offers to airline employees. Picking between Epic or the Glory, Legend, or Conquest...I'm choosing Epic every single time, but for it to be $200'pp cheaper is the icing on the cake.

 

To the OP, yes the CCL loyalty program isn't what it used to be. If loyalty is important to you look at NCL or RCI. Both offer decent benefits and ways to earn double and triple points. Also NCL offers discounts on pictures and on board purchases...the discount depends on your level.

 

I agree with you about the pricing. The Carnival Liberty costs the same as the Freedom of the Seas for a comparable itinerary.

[DarthGrady]

I prefer Royal Caribbean's Crown and Anchor program. I was already Platinum on Carnival when I started cruising with Royal. Their perks are more attractive (especially the nightly cocktail parties) so I cruise RCI more these days.

 

I don't cruise for the perks, but I DO choose my cruise line by the perks. Since I'd be cruising either way, why not go with the line that makes me feel more appreciated?

 

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[WindsorFred]

Agreed.

 

 

Same here. Plus, as we cruise with our best friends, Carnival is the only line we have found that will open the balcony dividers unlike other lines.

[jimbo5544]

Carnival used to have a great loyalty program. Unfortunately, it has been devalued tremendously. Some perks removed. Some were given to Diamond members. Some silently disappeared (like the stationary). Faster to the Fun came where you can buy some perks for $50. Then the Platinum for one cruise promotion came.

 

Carnival doesn't care about your loyalty. If you care a lot about loyalty programs, take a look at Princess and Royal Caribbean. They offer many great perks for those who choose to continue to sail on their line.

 

Edit: In my opinion, if it is important to you, you should switch lines before you have too many cruises sailed with only one line. It doesn't hurt to experiment with other cruise lines and they all offer pros/cons. Some things Carnival does better. Many more, not really.

Devalued tremendously? exagerate much?

[soccersharon]

I'm not sure how much has changed since this was published, but Tom did a great job with laying out the comparisons in this thread:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1449082

 

Sent from my mobile device. Typos are inevitable.

Edited April 10, 2014 by soccersharon

[Disconnections]

Devalued tremendously? exagerate much?

 

Not one bit. I would consider a slight devaluation to be a shift in award levels or requalification requirements. A major devaluation would be removing perks and modifying (re)qualification requirements. Then we add it FTTF and the one time Platinum promotion. Let's also not forget the Milestone to Diamond debacle.

 

Compilation of everything involving VIFP program, see post #19:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1655257

[2Shoes2Go]

We cruise Royal and Carnival about equally. Our nights count aboard is almost identical. Royal gives very nice benefits, true, but Carnival is fun enough. Booking last minute, we find pricing can be about the same on Royal and Carnival on some of the older and smaller ships. For the future, we likely will head for Pinnacle on Royal and cruise a bit less on Carnival. Some of our experiences lately on Carnival have made it increasingly less attractive.

[golfadj]

Devalued tremendously? exagerate much?

 

Perhaps not tremendously but was very disappointed when they told us it would be BRILLIANT but instead took away some nice perks.

 

As a result now we sail Carnival for price (and we are platinum close to Diamond) but will shortly be doing our first Princess probably followed by giving RCCL another shot.

[Jana60]

Then you haven't really been checking prices of the other lines. I keep hearing people say, "We cruise CCL because of price," yet most don't even bother to check the rates of other lines...they just assume CCL is the cheapest and book. Our cruise Sunday on Epic was $200 cheaper for a balcony than on any 7-Day CCL Western Caribbean itinerary and that's even factoring in the interline employee discount CCL offers to airline employees. Picking between Epic or the Glory, Legend, or Conquest...I'm choosing Epic every single time, but for it to be $200'pp cheaper is the icing on the cake.

 

To the OP, yes the CCL loyalty program isn't what it used to be. If loyalty is important to you look at NCL or RCI. Both offer decent benefits and ways to earn double and triple points. Also NCL offers discounts on pictures and on board purchases...the discount depends on your level.

 

Actually for a very long time I did compare every single cruise line when I desired to cruise to a particular location. Not always but most of the time carnival was cheapest. Now I usually don't even look at the other cruise lines mainly because I just have more fun on carnival. It's a personal preference. Anyone can always quote to you a price that's a lot lower for a given cruise on any of the cruise lines because they all have their specials but if you look at their regular prices, they are similar or more expensive than at carnival. I set sail on the Carnival Conquest on May 4th. After all the sales discounts and price drops have been deducted from the price I am paying a net of $563 incl tax and port charges for a balcony cabin on the 6th deck and this is the total price not the per person as I am traveling solo. But bottom line even if I had to pay the usual 1500 or more that you have to pay for a balcony cabin on a typical Cruise Line I would still prefer to cruise with carnival because I enjoy the cruise. Everyone has their own preferences that's why it's nice to have the variety. I'm so glad we have the option of multiple Cruise Lines to choose from for our cruising.

 

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[jimbo5544]

Not one bit. I would consider a slight devaluation to be a shift in award levels or requalification requirements. A major devaluation would be removing perks and modifying (re)qualification requirements. Then we add it FTTF and the one time Platinum promotion. Let's also not forget the Milestone to Diamond debacle.

 

Compilation of everything involving VIFP program, see post #19:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=1655257

I am well aware of the program. FTTF is not a take away, never understoond that arguement. The stationary was, and I stopped sobbing on that after a while. Milestone was never part of the program....it is a "milestone". Shifting is just that ...shifting (all cruiseliens have done it) no take way there either. Laundry from every day to 3 times (on a 7 day cruise), most Platinum members sail together (2 per cabin) so it is really no take way there either. Question still stands.

[tootsiescurly]

Carnival used to have a great loyalty program. Unfortunately, it has been devalued tremendously. Some perks removed. Some were given to Diamond members. Some silently disappeared (like the stationary). Faster to the Fun came where you can buy some perks for $50. Then the Platinum for one cruise promotion came.

 

Carnival doesn't care about your loyalty. If you care a lot about loyalty programs, take a look at Princess and Royal Caribbean. They offer many great perks for those who choose to continue to sail on their line.

 

Edit: In my opinion, if it is important to you, you should switch lines before you have too many cruises sailed with only one line. It doesn't hurt to experiment with other cruise lines and they all offer pros/cons. Some things Carnival does better. Many more, not really.

I agree completely. Also, as a suite passenger, we get double cruise credit on other lines. We just completed a Princess cruise in a Vista Suite. Everything about the cruise including the Chef's Table was better than Carnival. We have one more cruise booked on Carnival. It will be our last although we are Platinum.

[golfadj]

I am well aware of the program. FTTF is not a take away, never understoond that arguement. The stationary was, and I stopped sobbing on that after a while. Milestone was never part of the program....it is a "milestone". Shifting is just that ...shifting (all cruiseliens have done it) no take way there either. Laundry from every day to 3 times (on a 7 day cruise), most Platinum members sail together (2 per cabin) so it is really no take way there either. Question still stands.

 

Taking away free blackjack tourney was a biggee to me. No more guaranteed dining reservations has bit us on several occasions.

 

Have several FTTF ahead of you on the platinum line and that is rather annoying.

 

Stationary who cares. Laundry 6 bags for a week is more than we will ever need.

[mrsdoc3]

All in all it's the WORST in the cruise industry! and yes, I'm Platinum with Carnival.

 

I've been on three different cruise lines, and from everything I've read about the loyalty programs at those three lines, Carnival does seem to be the worst.

 

I'm still the lowest level in all three clubs, so I don't know from experience -- only what I've read on the lines' web sites.