Platinums - Regret Having Future Bookings With CCL?

[JKrise]

Given the current quality of the platinum loyalty gift,  and/or coupled with the company selling your loyalty perks via FTTF, thus diluting your value to CCL, do you regret having a future cruise booked with CCL?

Will you book a future cruise with CCL or move on to another line?

Honestly, these two factors have left DW and I feeling under appreciated as a long term loyal returning customer.

Guessing that the cost of new customer acquisition has dropped so significantly CCL is willing to wave good bye to a loyal customer base.

Those are our thoughts.

Just curious to hear from others.

 

Edited September 23, 2019 by JKrise

[N7786W Flyer]

No, no regrets.  My wife and I have 6 Carnival cruises booked for 2020 and another 3 booked for 2021...and I haven't looked at late 2021 (which just opened) yet.

 

Honestly, I don't see FTTF as on the same level as Platinum/Diamond...maybe I'm deluding myself, but FTTF doesn't bother me. 

 

As far as the loyalty gift goes, yes, some of them have been meh, but for the most part, I've enjoyed them.  Sure, I'd trade it for free internet or something similar, but until that happens, I'll be content just to receive a small token of recognition from Carnival.

[canes20]

No regrets from us. Don't really care about the gift. We have some that have never been opened and some we use regularly. We get on early and debark when we want. 

 

FTTF is still not equal to Platinum so really don't have a problem with it.

[Illbcruzn4life]

I've been platinum since 2010. I have only cruised on 1 Carnival cruise since I made Platinum.

 

We have been on about 10 cruises on other lines since i made Platinum with Carnival.

 

We do have one booked for next year and don't regret it at all.

 

I don't really consider any of that stuff when booking. If it's a price we like and goes to where we want to go that's all we worry about.

[skrufy]

51 minutes ago, JKrise said:

Given the current quality of the platinum loyalty gift,  and/or coupled with the company selling your loyalty perks via FTTF, thus diluting your value to CCL, do you regret having a future cruise booked with CCL?

Will you book a future cruise with CCL or move on to another line?

Honestly, these two factors have left DW and I feeling under appreciated as a long term loyal returning customer.

Guessing that the cost of new customer acquisition has dropped so significantly CCL is willing to wave good bye to a loyal customer base.

Those are our thoughts.

Just curious to hear from others.

 

We have 3 booked for next year. Will plan on the same platinum priority service we have received the past four years.  If all goes well we will be diamond in the next two years. Very happy with the perks we have. The FTTFs do not bother us. I use three of the gifts, it’s a perk that I like but does not make or break the platinum status. 

We enjoy Carnival very much, it will take a major collapse of the cruise line for us to leave. They have treated us very well.

 

[beachbum6264]

We have one cruise booked with Carnival and one with Princess right now. We don't cruise for the perks or the gift - we cruise to get away and relax. We're retired, so we can take the longer cruises that other lines offer, and we don't miss the Platinum perks at all. We can take a couple of shorter Carnival cruises or 1 with a higher priced line. Sometimes more is just better. As long as the service continues to be good and the prices are reasonable, and I don't have to cook or clean, we'll cruise with Carnival. It does help that we live in SW Florida and we can drive to ports easily.

[Zingy2]

1 hour ago, JKrise said:

Given the current quality of the platinum loyalty gift,  and/or coupled with the company selling your loyalty perks via FTTF, thus diluting your value to CCL, do you regret having a future cruise booked with CCL?

Will you book a future cruise with CCL or move on to another line?

Honestly, these two factors have left DW and I feeling under appreciated as a long term loyal returning customer.

Guessing that the cost of new customer acquisition has dropped so significantly CCL is willing to wave good bye to a loyal customer base.

Those are our thoughts.

Just curious to hear from others.

 

We have no regrets whatsoever.  We cruise for the itineraries and the ships, not necessarily for what "perks" may be offered by any given cruise line.  Truth be told, other cruise lines are making similar modifications to their loyalty programs as well.  As an example, "The Key" program from RCCL (like CCL's FTTF) allows individuals priority access (for a fee - priority boarding, tenders, shows, etc.), which some folks believe "takes away" from the "perks" earned by passengers having more "status."  We are thankful for what we receive....As far as the "gift" is concerned, it is just that....a "gift." Cruise lines are streamlining and making cost saving changes across the board.  We shall continue cruising, regardless of cruise line and regardless of what the "perks" might be.  Where we are cruising to, who we cruise with, and the enjoyment we derive from those interactions are more important than any loyalty gift a cruise line or land based entity could ever provide to us. (We currently have six cruises scheduled, with five of them being with CCL.)

Edited September 23, 2019 by Zingy2

[Lottacruises]

I have several booked with carnival but currently booking with others. I'm finding less and less in common with carnival's newest cruisers.

[Joe817]

11 minutes ago, beachbum6264 said:

We have one cruise booked with Carnival and one with Princess right now. We don't cruise for the perks or the gift - we cruise to get away and relax. We're retired, so we can take the longer cruises that other lines offer, and we don't miss the Platinum perks at all. We can take a couple of shorter Carnival cruises or 1 with a higher priced line. Sometimes more is just better. As long as the service continues to be good and the prices are reasonable, and I don't have to cook or clean, we'll cruise with Carnival. It does help that we live in SW Florida and we can drive to ports easily.

Well put b.b6264. Well put.

[Stick93]

2 hours ago, JKrise said:

Given the current quality of the platinum loyalty gift,  and/or coupled with the company selling your loyalty perks via FTTF, thus diluting your value to CCL, do you regret having a future cruise booked with CCL?

Will you book a future cruise with CCL or move on to another line?

Honestly, these two factors have left DW and I feeling under appreciated as a long term loyal returning customer.

Guessing that the cost of new customer acquisition has dropped so significantly CCL is willing to wave good bye to a loyal customer base.

Those are our thoughts.

Just curious to hear from others.

 

I could think of many other reasons other  than the gift and Carnival selling FTTF to book somewhere else. I think those to factors would be a silly reason to look elsewhere. 

I personally think the product is just not as good as it once was and so my platinum perks are not enough to drawing me back to Carnival at this time. I enjoy the gift and the perks especially the platinum party - but that being said I have found the cliental to be very rough from my home port specifically on Carnival and so I have been cruising with other lines more these day and have found a better mix of passengers that represent on a more consistent basis what my values and code of conduct are like on a ship. 

To each their own....

[BananaAnna]

No regrets here, I'm good.

I just keep in mind that Carnival is a corporation not my BFF.

 

[glrounds]

I don't understand. We Platinums have the FTTFs beat. We get everything they get sooner and more and we don't have to pay extra for it. Choosing a cruise line based on the stupid gift is just plain shallow, IMHO. You drop two or three grand on a cruise and that's even a consideration ?  I usually give 'em away to a newbie cruiser some time during all the FUN. 🙂

[Organized Chaos]

I'm not Platinum, but we do purchase FTTF, so thought I'd add my perspective. Platinum perks far outnumber those of FTTF, so I don't agree when people say it dilutes Platinum perks. If we ever reach that level, I'll be happy not to have to pay for the FTTF perks, and the rest that come with Platinum will be a bonus. I also won't forget where I came from, so will hold no ill will towards those who buy FTTF.

 

Honestly, if someone enjoys Carnival's overall product and experience, I think it'd be ridiculous to leave just because they didn't like the free gift they were given. It's a free trinket, they can't all be winners.

 

A couple years ago, I read an article where two Carnival execs had been interviewed. One was the VP of Marketing, at the time, and the other I forget, but he had something to do with partnerships with other companies. They had both noted that Carnival would like to get more to a point where loyalty wasn't based on free stuff. They wanted their loyalty to be based on enjoyment of the product. One could argue that it's because the free stuff costs them money, which is a fair argument, but if they maintain a good product that builds brand loyalty, I think that's beneficial for everyone.

 

When I look ahead and think about maybe reaching Platinum someday, I'm not thinking of the free backpack, blanket, or lanyard. That's silly. What's more attractive to me, like I said before, would be to not have to pay for the perks I'm getting right now with FTTF. Who knows, maybe by then those perks will have been changed. Maybe even lessened. But even if that happens, enjoying the overall Carnival product is what matters most to us.

[vicky3vicky]

The only reason that I have a problem with the current Platinum token of appreciation, is that I already know what it is [my fault] and won't be surprized. And I like little surprizes. So, rather than switch cruiselines because I chose to read the threads concerning the current Platinum gift, in the future I will not read those threads. If the next Platinum trinket is a bookmark, or a box of Carnival band-aids[ that would be awesome!] or a free drink that we could redeem anytime/anywhere, or whatever, I will still be grateful, and, if I can keep myself from finding out what the gift is in advance, I also be surprized.

[xDisconnections]

My situation is a little different. As a Platinum cruiser, I haven’t been on a Carnival cruise in several years. My last one, in fact, was in 2012. Due to a couple of bad experiences towards the end along with an unusual situation shoreside in addition to some cost cutting and revenue generating measures (including the addition of Faster to the Fun as you mentioned), I temporarily cut ties with the company. The cutbacks lowered the perceived value I would have received from the cruise line and I had, and still have, an unfavorable opinion towards the company. Prior to this, I was sailing on Carnival at least once each month for an extended period of time.

 

During this time, I found another cruise line which better met our needs and haven’t looked back. For the first time in a long while, however, I do have a cruise reserved on Carnival. It originally started as a cruise to Cuba on the Victory (itinerary determined the cruise lines as it was booked for Cuba) and a careful comparison analysis was conducted between the Victory and the Empress of the Seas and the Platinum benefits actually were one of the swaying factors in returning. The Cuba cruise was later cancelled and a land vacation to Cuba was reserved instead and a Royal Caribbean cruise replaced my Victory cruise.

 

From the time I reserved the Victory until it was cancelled, I was surprisingly looking forward to it and hoped to enjoy it. It was a very hard decision to actually book this cruise in the first place and I lowered my expectations to a point where I believed Carnival couldn’t disappoint. A special offer hit my email and I decided to squeeze in a new weekend cruise on the Carnival Liberty just prior to my Antarctica cruise and I’m looking forward to that sailing.

 

To answer the question in the original post... at this time, I surprisingly do not regret having a Carnival cruise booked. I’m sure this will prove an ultimatum whether or not I will have any future cruises with this line or if I will stick to my normal Princess/Royal mix.

Edited September 23, 2019 by xDisconnections

[CoolOne56]

57 minutes ago, vicky3vicky said:

The only reason that I have a problem with the current Platinum token of appreciation, is that I already know what it is [my fault] and won't be surprized. And I like little surprizes. So, rather than switch cruiselines because I chose to read the threads concerning the current Platinum gift, in the future I will not read those threads. If the next Platinum trinket is a bookmark, or a box of Carnival band-aids[ that would be awesome!] or a free drink that we could redeem anytime/anywhere, or whatever, I will still be grateful, and, if I can keep myself from finding out what the gift is in advance, I also be surprized.

 

I may never reach Platinum status, but I've read post asking "what's the Platinum gift".  How often are these gifts given - once a year, every sailing?

 

OP, I don't think anyone cruises with any cruise line just for loyalty "gifts".  

[cmichael1279]

4 hours ago, JKrise said:

Given the current quality of the platinum loyalty gift,  and/or coupled with the company selling your loyalty perks via FTTF, thus diluting your value to CCL, do you regret having a future cruise booked with CCL?

Will you book a future cruise with CCL or move on to another line?

Honestly, these two factors have left DW and I feeling under appreciated as a long term loyal returning customer.

Guessing that the cost of new customer acquisition has dropped so significantly CCL is willing to wave good bye to a loyal customer base.

Those are our thoughts.

Just curious to hear from others.

 

I'd honestly be happy if anyone who complains about a free gift decides not to cruise with Carnival again.  They're not someone I'd be interested in striking up a conversation with at dinner, the bar, etc.  A gift is a gift, bottom line.

[silversneakers]

7 hours ago, N7786W Flyer said:

No, no regrets.  My wife and I have 6 Carnival cruises booked for 2020 and another 3 booked for 2021...and I haven't looked at late 2021 (which just opened) yet.

 

Honestly, I don't see FTTF as on the same level as Platinum/Diamond...maybe I'm deluding myself, but FTTF doesn't bother me. 

 

As far as the loyalty gift goes, yes, some of them have been meh, but for the most part, I've enjoyed them.  Sure, I'd trade it for free internet or something similar, but until that happens, I'll be content just to receive a small token of recognition from Carnival.

Does anyone really "need" any of the token gifts....probably not. Most of them are passed on to someone else.  You have to consider the price point Carnival offers which I believe is very reasonable.  I tend to book more for itineraries than brand loyalty.

[bakersdozen12]

Absolutely ridiculous thought. If you spend thousands of dollars with a cruise company just for a free gift every cruise, well, that’s just silly. And who cares if people was to spend money to board behind Platinums, Diamonds and Suites? How exactly does that affect your cruise? (I already know the answer: it doesn’t. Just a rhetorical question.)

[RWolver672]

4 hours ago, CoolOne56 said:

 

I may never reach Platinum status, but I've read post asking "what's the Platinum gift".  How often are these gifts given - once a year, every sailing?

 

 

Each Platinum/Diamond guest gets the gift for every sailing.  If you and your spouse were Platinum or Diamond and were to sail four times in one year, you would wind up with eight identical gifts. 

 

In response to the OP's question, I have never understood why FTTF offends any P/D cruisers.  You say it buys perks that you have earned.  How many ever complained because people could pay to have their laundry done and it was part of your perks?  Before becoming Platinum, if you were at your Platinum party drinking free drinks, I had to pay for mine on the Lido deck.  That didn't bother you.   

 

If I buy a car that has a radio in it, I'm surely not going to condemn someone that buys a car without a radio and pays extra to have one put in it.

[Nic6318]

Hi

 

I can only say that there are many reason to try different cruise lines. The "rewards" your are given for your loyalty, especially with Carnival, should never enter into your calculations of value.

 

Carnival is a budget cruise line. If you ever though any different, you were mistaken. Their focus has always been to provide a low cost option for new cruisers. If you have sailed with Carnival over the years and don't feel that you have "saved" a considerable amount of money by purchasing their product over their competitors, then you have been doing something wrong. I will continue cruising with whichever cruise line offers the best product for my needs at any given time. If it is Carnival, it is not because I get free laundry.

 

If in your mind this is the impetus needed to force you to find a product more suited to your expectations, then I am happy for you in your future cruising searches. Please remember not to focus on which cruise line offers the best "loyalty perks".    

 

[cruizergal70]

9 hours ago, Lottacruises said:

I have several booked with carnival but currently booking with others. I'm finding less and less in common with carnival's newest cruisers.

Who are Carnival's newest cruisers? What do you mean?

[pe4all]

No regrets - we still cruise at least 1-2 times a year with Carnival for basic Caribbean cruises.  We have been using NCL for some "more exotic" cruises - Hawaii, Med., Venice/Greek Islands, Baltics.  They just seem to have better itineraries than Carnival.

[azrayne]

I honestly thought when I went platinum I would cruise Carnival more often, but since going okay in 2015, I find that I'm cruising RCCL more.   Their prices have been better than on Carnival lately.   

Being platinum is not a big deal any longer.   Lots of us there.

[hallsusan]

I am platinum and I don't feel like they are selling our perks. Faster to the Fun don't get un the ship beofre platinum and besides I don't sail with them because I am platinum

Edited September 23, 2019 by hallsusan