Past Carnival Guest Benefits

[Rowan555]

I definitely see your point. And I certainly wasn't suggesting priority embarkation for ALL past guests. I was speaking of people with a significant past guest history - say 6 cruises or 10 cruises. I will continue cruising Carnival because of the 3 lines in NOLA, it's the one I feel most comfortable with and know my kids enjoy. There are better prices to be found on RCI and NCL, but we truly enjoy our experience on Carnival, and that's why we continue to book cruises with Carnival. I also agree with you about looking for the best deal rather than worrying about perks. I STILL feel that Carnival could institute some low cost or no cost perks for people who have been on multiple cruises, just to thank them for their continued patronage. The Princess past guest program was pretty darned impressive, and that's what got me thinking about how Carnival could at least implement a FEW of those ideas.

[GoinCruisin]

I definitely see your point. And I certainly wasn't suggesting priority embarkation for ALL past guests. I was speaking of people with a significant past guest history - say 6 cruises or 10 cruises. I will continue cruising Carnival because of the 3 lines in NOLA, it's the one I feel most comfortable with and know my kids enjoy. There are better prices to be found on RCI and NCL, but we truly enjoy our experience on Carnival, and that's why we continue to book cruises with Carnival. I also agree with you about looking for the best deal rather than worrying about perks. I STILL feel that Carnival could institute some low cost or no cost perks for people who have been on multiple cruises, just to thank them for their continued patronage. The Princess past guest program was pretty darned impressive, and that's what got me thinking about how Carnival could at least implement a FEW of those ideas.

 

I agree with you... for 10 cruises, they should do something like priority embarkation. They do priority debarkation for 10 cruises or more though... so that is a start!!!

 

I agree, they should definitely do something a little more for 10 or more cruises, but I think they are starting... heck, that Platinum card is pretty flashy :D I do think they are starting to add more and more... it will be interesting to see...

[cruizinwoman]

Actually, I believe that the largest percentage of cruisers on Carnival, are first time cruisers or first time Carnival cruisers...

As for perks... I'd rather get a rock bottom price, and good value for my money... .

 

Hmmm.. didn't realize first timers were the bane of their existance, but at any rate, I agree with the above post... Sablerose has gotten VIP treatment... and I had to wonder if it was because she blasted them so badly early on, so much so that the original threads have been pulled from cruise critic. They became inflammatory quickly.

 

I wrote Carnival and said in so many words that by rewarding that kind of behavior, they are merely perpetuating negativity and "you teach people how to treat you"...

 

Anyway... as someone else said, a few "Welcome Backs!" from staff would go a long way to making me feel welcome. Priority em & de barkation as mention would be great and low or no cost... They are making a sticking fortune off cruises... they could easily budget a few thousand dollars into their "Marketing" program to boost relations with past guest cruisers and STILL keep low cost fares a priority. C'mon guys, don't you think?

[GoinCruisin]

Hmmm.. didn't realize first timers were the bane of their existance, but at any rate, I agree with the above post... Sablerose has gotten VIP treatment... and I had to wonder if it was because she blasted them so badly early on, so much so that the original threads have been pulled from cruise critic. They became inflammatory quickly.

 

I wrote Carnival and said in so many words that by rewarding that kind of behavior, they are merely perpetuating negativity and "you teach people how to treat you"...

 

Anyway... as someone else said, a few "Welcome Backs!" from staff would go a long way to making me feel welcome. Priority em & de barkation as mention would be great and low or no cost... They are making a sticking fortune off cruises... they could easily budget a few thousand dollars into their "Marketing" program to boost relations with past guest cruisers and STILL keep low cost fares a priority. C'mon guys, don't you think?

 

I thought this might have something to do with that...

 

I don't think she blasted them at all... she was level headed. I think it might also have something to do with her being vocal about things, having problems, and making sure they were addressed with Carnival. It being their belated honeymoon due to hubby fighting in a war, etc. You and I, nor Chel, has any real idea why. But I also think some people are a little jealous of the VIP treatment... when many are just happy for them after all they have been through. I don't think many of us thought she was perpetuating negativity and most that know her from here and outside of the board, know that she doesn't have much negativity in her. I realize that there is something going on between you two... but it's not fair to try to guess what happened or make what she did out to be bad. i don't think she did anything wrong and I for one am thrilled, as I would be for anyone that had such a great cruise!

 

A few thousand dollars wouldn't cover one week... much less all the other weeks. With the millions per year... I just personally don't care either way, and don't want my cruise fare going up just so people can get something free. Just my opinion.

[cruizinwoman]

and I wouldn't CHOOSE a line simply based on the fact that there's a bottle of wine in my cabin... I think Rowan and I are on the same page here... Carnival needs to step up to the plate. Again, with the profit margin they have, they can budget a few marketing dollars for perks.

[GoinCruisin]

Anyway... as someone else said, a few "Welcome Backs!" from staff would go a long way to making me feel welcome.

 

I got "Welcome Back" from almost every staff member I showed my card to last week... and in the other "past guest" threads, it seems others have too... I know at least on the Valor, they were very aware of the past guest status... so that was nice.

[cruizinwoman]

I still believe that Carnival holds responsibility in perpetuating negativity in that regard.

 

And don't take everything so literally... geez... I'm not choosing a line because of the "$5 bottle of wine" in my cabin... I'm throwing out ideas and trying to make suggestions... sorry that I have offended you.

[carnivalbuny]

My husband and I always thought it would be very easy for them to give away a free picture with the ship in the background for repeat cruisers. Considering how many photos they throw away daily, the cost would be super low, and they would get so much advertising from the displays of the photos in everyone's living rooms. Everyone who would come over would see the photo with the ship, ask about the cruise, get a great story about Carnival. . . it would be a total win-win for the guest and Carnival.

[GoinCruisin]

I still believe that Carnival holds responsibility in perpetuating negativity in that regard.

 

And don't take everything so literally... geez... I'm not choosing a line because of the "$5 bottle of wine" in my cabin... I'm throwing out ideas and trying to make suggestions... sorry that I have offended you.

 

You haven't offended me, but you are making Sablerose out to have done something wrong, simply because she got the royal treatment on her cruise. Carnival is not perpetuating negativity... they were making someone's cruise wonderful, a couple that had been through alot. They do that on every cruise... but no, they don't do it for everyone. She and hubby went through alot leading up to this cruise and Carnival wanted to make sure their cruise was extra special. Rather than wondering why it didn't happen to someone else, I would prefer just to be happy for the people it DID happen to. I don't see how they are perpetuating negativity... One thing she has never been is negative. During it all, she kept a level head and positive attitude... something many of us wouldn't have been able to do.

 

Again, you have your opinion and I have mine. I personally don't need any perks to entice me to continue doing something I love. I am like that in my personal life and my business. If I like something, I like it... I don't expect to be rewarded for my patronage with anything other than good customer service, a good value and respect. Like I said, just my opinion.

[GoinCruisin]

My husband and I always thought it would be very easy for them to give away a free picture with the ship in the background for repeat cruisers. Considering how many photos they throw away daily, the cost would be super low, and they would get so much advertising from the displays of the photos in everyone's living rooms. Everyone who would come over would see the photo with the ship, ask about the cruise, get a great story about Carnival. . . it would be a total win-win for the guest and Carnival.

 

Now THAT would be a good idea! It would be extremely low cost, and something everyone would enjoy!

[FJTinSC]

You get all of the above AND much more on the other mass market cruise lines. They all have some form of a past guest party with free drinks, etc.

 

Carnival is very fortunate they still successfully attract many of us back for follow-up cruises for our repeat dose of the "fun ship" experience. That said, repeat cruiser benefits and other things like on-board booking credits for future cruises are very appealing and these are increasingly attracting me to the other lines.

 

AMEN, that is the biggest reson I've primarily switched to RCI, they treat their past guests MUCH better! Carnival needs to wake up, they are loosing people!

[GoinCruisin]

How are they LOSING people? Their profits are up, and the number of cruisers is higher than ever :confused: Where are you getting this info from? For everyone they lose, they are adding 2 or 3 in their place... :confused: Seriously, after 2 cruises with them, what would you want? Just asking a serious question... what would satisfy you after 2 cruises as a "perk"??

[cruizinwoman]

You haven't offended me, but you are making Sablerose out to have done something wrong, simply because she got the royal treatment on her cruise. Carnival is not perpetuating negativity... they were making someone's cruise wonderful, a couple that had been through alot. They do that on every cruise... but no, they don't do it for everyone. She and hubby went through alot leading up to this cruise and Carnival wanted to make sure their cruise was extra special. Rather than wondering why it didn't happen to someone else, I would prefer just to be happy for the people it DID happen to. I don't see how they are perpetuating negativity... One thing she has never been is negative. During it all, she kept a level head and positive attitude... something many of us wouldn't have been able to do.

 

Again, you have your opinion and I have mine. I personally don't need any perks to entice me to continue doing something I love. I am like that in my personal life and my business. If I like something, I like it... I don't expect to be rewarded for my patronage with anything other than good customer service, a good value and respect. Like I said, just my opinion.

 

You're making way more of this than me. All I'm saying is that Carnival has proven they DO give VIP treatment... ie. Sablerose. Good for her! I am not so evil as to wish a bad cruise on anybody. It's not about her. It's about Carnival and what they are capable of. Yes, I put into writing what I thought may have happened.. is it truth? who knows. My perception of the situation is different from yours.

 

 

 

Carnivalbuny...The photo idea is a great one! I like that.

[zonemasconi]

December will be my 14th Carnival cruise so I am a Platinum member.

so far I have been asked "how many cruises" "welcome back" and even many "thank you for cruising with Carnival".

These are all nice to hear and indeed make you feel special.

This last cruise on the Valor I was given the oppurtunity for early Platinum debarktation which was nice. I have also been given a free frame (they were closing that model out) and on the Pride I was given a free 8 x 10 photo (here I thought it was due to my devastating good looks.LOL)

I am hoping someday they will have better perks for their repeat cruisers specially since I will be at 20 by april 2007 but until then I am just happy to cruise.

I do keep looking at RCI and princess having sailed both in the past and with a Celebrity cruise in Feb I will be adding more and I do like the perks offered by those lines to show loyality to repeat cruisers.

who knows maybe I will be lucky enough to be able to cruise enough on all the lines to get all the perks. LOL

"Till then I cruise to replace the lost salt in my veins and keep the sanity in my brains." zone masconi

[Cruising89143]

I'll throw my two cents in on this subject. I have cruised with Carnival 16 times since the early 90's. I really liked Carnival and still do for that matter but I felt that Carnival could and should do more for their past guests. I had cruised with RCI in 01 and 02 but it was on four night cruises so I tried RCI's Navigator of the Seas last year for my first seven day cruise and they won me over.

 

I compared prices between Carnival and RCI and they were about the same but the perks do add up quick. I think that everyone has things that is important to them in curising and you have to pick the line that meets your needs. That is why we have so many options out there for cruising.

[Sablerose]

[quote name='cruizinwoman']You're making way more of this than me. All I'm saying is that Carnival has proven they [B][I]DO[/I][/B] give VIP treatment... ie. Sablerose. Good for her! I am not so evil as to wish a bad cruise on anybody. It's not about her. It's about Carnival and what they are capable of. Yes, I put into writing what I thought may have happened.. is it truth? who knows. My perception of the situation is different from yours.[/quote]

With all due respect, Cruzinwoman, and at this point I'm not even sure how much respect it's "due," I'm going to address this directly and make sure that the score is settled right here.

The only thread that got yanked about my situation with Carnival was the one you participated in. The only reason it was yanked is because you, having never addressed me before, directly attacked me and my husband's military status, calling me a temper tantrum-throwing crybaby and suggesting that I was out of line for "demanding" that military personnel get discounts. I can't help it if your sister-in-law is retired military and has a nicer house than you or a better retirement than you are going to have. But it's obvious to me, and has been since that time, that you have some serious jealousy issues over people "getting" more than you, since you seem to feel you are "entitled" to quite a few things based on a wide variety of posts I've read from you over the past three months.

When I responded to your blatant attack and defended myself, the thread was pulled. Until that point it had been a fairly calm discussion of why people were upset over Carnival canceling cruises, and each of us discussing our own way of communicating with Carnival. All of my communication with Carnival over it was levelheaded, direct, and polite. Many other people did not choose to handle their experience in that way.

For what it is worth, I received an e-mail the week before we departed the cruise from Bob Dickinson's office thanking me for the positive and complimentary e-mails I had sent regarding the various Carnival staff members that had helped us in the booking process, and letting me know that he had checked our record, saw that there was a special occasion, and would like to do something to "help us celebrate." Perhaps the thought process for our over-the-top treatment came from the combination of the happy letters, thank-you cards, and other correspondence I sent in June, plus the one letter I sent in August when we rebooked on the Conquest. Who knows? But for you to suggest that I am a rabblerouser and now come here to say you have written Carnival to complain that I got extra special treatment because I'm a Negative Nancy, when that's so far from the truth, just proves to me what kind of a person you really are.

I am the one who invited you over to the CC rollcall for the cruise, Cruzinwoman, when I noticed we were on the same sailing. I can't help it if you want to make every little thing about you, or if you have a chip on your shoulder about me and my husband, or if you have all kinds of preexisting ideas about military families or even if you want to run to Carnival now and tell them that I'm a bad girl because I was treated more kindly than you were.

All I know is, I packed a box of thank-you cards to use as tip-delivery-envelopes by the end of the cruise, and 2/3 of them were written as thank-you cards and dropped off at the purser's desk by Thursday of the week. I shook the hand of the guy who made my minute steak sandwich. I had a list of names of the amazing staff who had helped us on the cruise when we ate dinner with the Captain, and we made sure we individually mentioned every one of them to their corresponding senior officer. We gave credit where credit was due.

What happened to us was a blessing, not the result of causing a ruckus. And for you to throw that out here as if it's common knowledge - to suggest that I made a stink and that's why they were being nice to me -- that's just ignorant. And if you truly wrote Bob Dickinson to complain that we got treated so wonderfully, then it's not "good for you," or "good for her." It's just another case of "someone has something more than me and I don't think that's fair." I'm not worried, I'm sure Mr. Dickinson and his staff have copies of the letter I sent to Carnival with my concern, as well as the multiple letters, e-mails, and thank-you cards I sent both before and after that, and they will put two and two together.

I just hope you can find a way to get happy with what goes on in your life, and stop feeling like others with good fortune as a direct result of their actions (specifically military families) have an "unfair advantage." We reap what we sow. Have a nice day.

[iluvdoxies]

Well I think we could get some perks that wouldn't cost Carnival very much-

How about Skippers Club use for every cruise even if you are'nt in a suite? We've been able to use the Skippers Club a few times due to suite status and it sure is sweet.

How about one free 8x10.

30 min or so of free internet.

Bottle of wine or champagne in staterooms.

These are not expensive but would be a nice touch.

[Sablerose]

[quote name='iluvdoxies']Well I think we could get some perks that wouldn't cost Carnival very much-

How about Skippers Club use for every cruise even if you are'nt in a suite? We've been able to use the Skippers Club a few times due to suite status and it sure is sweet.

How about one free 8x10.

30 min or so of free internet.

Bottle of wine or champagne in staterooms.

These are not expensive but would be a nice touch.[/quote]

I agree, compared to some of the other past guest programs I've seen these would be right in line. Even if they gave you coupons for same and you could choose which ones you wanted (I think Royal Caribbean has a coupon book) that would be on par. Especially for the people that have more than 5-10 cruises under their belt, things like this would probably be great.

[That_Stang_Guy]

Hmm...

So much negativity after a vacation. I'll not lend my two cents to that side if the thread.

However, I did notice that the embarkation photo did come with an 8x10 of the ship. It was a nice touch, I thought.

From what I saw, aside from priority em/debarkation, about the only thing that could have been improved on was the buffet line. Maybe they should let past guests go to the front of the line Just a thought. :)

[big_duck]

Does no one else see the irony of people who have cruised on Carnival many times complaining about not getting something from cruising Carnival many times? :confused:

Obviously Carnival is doing something to get you to come back with resorting to cheap gimmicks and as long as you, they won't.

BTW, according to UB about a third of the 3.3 million people who cruised Carnival last year were repeats.

And Rose ... :D

[Cruising89143]

[quote name='big_duck']Does no one else see the irony of people who have cruised on Carnival many times complaining about not getting something from cruising Carnival many times? :confused:

Obviously Carnival is doing something to get you to come back with resorting to cheap gimmicks and as long as you, they won't.

BTW, according to UB about a third of the 3.3 million people who cruised Carnival last year were repeats.

And Rose ... :D[/quote]

Maybe it's due to the fact that some like myself had never stopped to look at what the other cruise lines offered for their past guests. I did and that was one of the deciding factors that convinced me to try another line.

[Sablerose]

[quote name='big_duck']Does no one else see the irony of people who have cruised on Carnival many times complaining about not getting something from cruising Carnival many times? :confused:

Obviously Carnival is doing something to get you to come back with resorting to cheap gimmicks and as long as you, they won't.

BTW, according to UB about a third of the 3.3 million people who cruised Carnival last year were repeats.

And Rose ... :D[/quote]

XOXO, Duck, my friend. :eek: :D

[big_duck]

[quote name='cruisingator2']Maybe it's due to the fact that some like myself had never stopped to look at what the other cruise lines offered for their past guests. I did and that was one of the deciding factors that convinced me to try another line.[/quote]

Whatever "floats your boat" Gord, no problems here. I was mearly commenting on the irony, can't help it I'm from the same home town as Alanis (however I did use the word properly). :D

[iluvdoxies]

Duck I think you missed the point.
People were just comparing what other cruise lines do for veteran cruisers.
Nobody should want or get something for nothing.

[cruizinwoman]

When you've got your M.D. in Psychiatry, we'll talk human behavior, until then, you know not of what you speak. You read WAY to much into the posts. That's all I need to say.