What's it cost to make Pinnacle?

[cruisegirl1]

4 hours ago, topnole said:

What’s at 525?   I’m near 340.  I assume you mean the single supplement for 340?     

At 525 you get a slightly better list of gifts and an additional gift for cruises 7 nights or longer.  Nothing worth going after.  Some people have given the 340 and 525 levels  an elevated name,  but it is still D Plus.    

M

 

 

[cruisegirl1]

Not sure why the question/conversation took place at all.  We've all taken a cruise or two, so take the  average price per night and multiply it by 700.  Adjusting the math ( fewer than 700)  if you sail in suites, solo etc.   That will give you the sailing price to reach 700 points ( not nights).  You can factor in travel expenses, on board excursions or expenses, lost salary while traveling etc. 

It will vary per person because of those who sail in an inside cabin, and those who sail in upper end suites.   

M

[island lady]

19 hours ago, ARandomTraveler said:

It's crazy to me that anyone cruises enough  to reach that status. Do people not enjoy seeing other parts of the world that can't be visited by ship? I guess if you live near a cruise port and just hop on cruises for the weekend or for a week when you're bored and have nothing else to do, it could be easy, but I would much rather not repeat the same vacation over and over and over (and over and over) again. 
 

I also don't book my cruises based on when they're cheapest, I book them for when I want to take vacation, and pay whatever it costs. I also have to fly to the port, and stay in hotels, and that usually doubles the cost of the cruise. A balcony cabin during busy times of year (summers, holidays) runs about $200/day per person at its cheapest. 
 

My Singapore to Japan cruise next summer is costing me $4600 for a balcony cabin for 12 days which isn't that bad (under $200/day), but the hotel we're staying in is costing $800/day. I'd much prefer to vacation this way, than to choose to take the same trip multiple times a year during the cheapest times possible just to get a couple free drinks, which I can afford to pay for myself anyway. 
 

I take at least 1 big vacation a year, sometimes 2 or 3. And most of them are not cruises. I take a ton of 3-4 day mini trips, all land vacations. I can't imagine giving up all of those varied travel experiences to take the same cruise every time instead. But to each their own I guess. 

 

Thankfully we are not all the same.  How boring would the world be if that were the case!  😮 

 

We are Pinnacle, but you assume that is all we do is cruise.  Interesting.  

 

We spend four months a year in Maine at VRBO homes during the summer.  This Thanksgiving  we are doing a time share week in Orlando.  This comin spring we are doing two months at an ocean front condo in Maui.  Next summer we are touring both Maine and Canada at various VRBO homes for 5 months. 

 

And yes, we live in Florida...but 80% of our booked cruises involve flights to other countries.  

 

But yeah....go ahead and judge that book by the cover.  😉 

[island lady]

9 hours ago, davekathy said:

I don't ask because I know I can't afford it. 😉

 

When are we cruising with the two of you again?  I hope it's soon!  🥰

[SRF]

21 hours ago, soremekun said:

Booking solo suites during the double points promo would have been the ideal time to reach this goal.

 

Yeap, 6 points per night would add up fast.

 

I was going to go from just making D to making D+ in two cruises.  10 and 12 night, suite, double points bonus.  So 88 point jump.

 

Unfortunately tested positive before the spring cruise (NO symptoms) and missed it.

[SRF]

I doubt we will make Pinnacle.  And that is OK.

 

We also do many other vacation things.   And to add, just bought a Mooney. 😄

[gkbiiii]

21 hours ago, firefly333 said:

I'm always baffled why people quote a per person rate which isnt the rate for the cruise solo or for a couple. Meaningless. 

 

I am diamond on carnival 200 pts and have pts on celebrity ncl and princess. I started with princess. Rcl came late.

 

So I'd be pinnacle if I could add them all together. So not impossible but not soon. Maybe never. 

 

Dec paid for regular but next year solo rates kick in so makes it cheaper than carnival, though I'd like to do jubilee and ncl prima out of Galveston  .. but wouldnt help pinnacle. Ncl wants even more for prima, over 2k. For a inside!

How well treated are you as a Carnival Diamond and what are the benefits given to their top tier?

[alfaeric]

3 hours ago, island lady said:

 

Thankfully we are not all the same.  How boring would the world be if that were the case!  😮 

 

We are Pinnacle, but you assume that is all we do is cruise.  Interesting.  

 

We spend four months a year in Maine at VRBO homes during the summer.  This Thanksgiving  we are doing a time share week in Orlando.  This comin spring we are doing two months at an ocean front condo in Maui.  Next summer we are touring both Maine and Canada at various VRBO homes for 5 months. 

 

And yes, we live in Florida...but 80% of our booked cruises involve flights to other countries.  

 

But yeah....go ahead and judge that book by the cover.  😉 

And then some.  We are pinnacle, too.  And in the same time we've been cruising we've:

 

Spent two weeks in Spain

Spend two weeks in Italy, twice

Spent a week and a half in Belgium/France

Camped for over 100 nights (that happened in the last 3 years).

Traveled home every year for Christmas

 

Let alone the times we planned a cruise during other vacations OR added additional vacation onto a cruise.

 

I can go on, but the assumption that Pinnacles only cruise is absurd.  

 

We take all of the vacation we can possibly take every year- when I was able to buy two weeks of vacation, I did, as I valued it that much.

 

It's pretty funny how people are so convinced that they will never make Pinnacle, too- it's possible you get there before you know it.  Especially when you retire and learn that it's more affordable to take B2B cruises than one during holidays.

 

Stop focusing on getting the status, and just have fun.  The status changes will come on their own.

[island lady]

20 minutes ago, alfaeric said:

And then some.  We are pinnacle, too.  And in the same time we've been cruising we've:

 

Spent two weeks in Spain

Spend two weeks in Italy, twice

Spent a week and a half in Belgium/France

Camped for over 100 nights (that happened in the last 3 years).

Traveled home every year for Christmas

 

Let alone the times we planned a cruise during other vacations OR added additional vacation onto a cruise.

 

I can go on, but the assumption that Pinnacles only cruise is absurd.  

 

We take all of the vacation we can possibly take every year- when I was able to buy two weeks of vacation, I did, as I valued it that much.

 

It's pretty funny how people are so convinced that they will never make Pinnacle, too- it's possible you get there before you know it.  Especially when you retire and learn that it's more affordable to take B2B cruises than one during holidays.

 

Stop focusing on getting the status, and just have fun.  The status changes will come on their own.

 

Perfectly stated!  Totally agree.  🤗

[island lady]

2 hours ago, SRF said:

I doubt we will make Pinnacle.  And that is OK.

 

We also do many other vacation things.   And to add, just bought a Mooney. 😄

 

We sold our luxury motor home.  😉 

[davekathy]

4 hours ago, island lady said:

 

When are we cruising with the two of you again?  I hope it's soon!  🥰

No future RC cruises. We've got two Celebrity cruises booked for 2023 (March and October). I like your new avatar. 

Edited November 5, 2022 by davekathy

[PhillyFan33579]

23 hours ago, Jimbo said:

What ever the cost is, don't let the extra drinks draw you in . Pretty sure it's not worth it.

So if I understand you correctly, you are saying cruising another 500 days or so is not worth one extra free drink per day? 🙂

[PhillyFan33579]

2 hours ago, gkbiiii said:

How well treated are you as a Carnival Diamond and what are the benefits given to their top tier?

In my opinion, the only worthwhile Diamond perk on Carnival is the special event with the ship’s Captain. However, it has been several years since I sailed on Carnival, so I don’t know if they have made any recent changes to their loyalty program. I will likely never find out if anything changed since I have no plans to cruise on Carnival again, since I prefer RCI and Celebrity, and eventually plan to try other cruise lines soon. 

[Jimbo]

18 hours ago, mo&fran said:

I retired in 2008, and was D.  Will be P in 2 weeks. IN 2008, I would never have thought it would be possible to be in this position. I hit 350 8 years ago when we moved back to Florida.

 

18 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

If I settled in FL upon retirement it might be possible but that is unlikely.

That's is the Key, living in Florida. I would bet 75% of the P's live in Florida.

[AlohaLivin]

I have met a great many Pinnacles who reached their status through casino comped cruises - I have actually been surprised at just how many are are Signature/Master’s level. And more than a few who, as noted, live in FL. Frequent comped cruises with close access to ports (making the 3-5 day freebies much more likely) would definitely make the process a whole lot faster!

[firefly333]

3 hours ago, gkbiiii said:

How well treated are you as a Carnival Diamond and what are the benefits given to their top tier?

Unless jubilee drops all I've booked is 14 day dream because of the ports, not for loyalty pts. Rcl doesn do priority debark and idk but I get priority tender on carnival. On sept liberty I got no priority from rcl and was told go forward deck 5. Who said deck 3. Who said aft deck 3, and then a long line 2 tenders we walked thru the crew qtrs. This is the 3rd time on rcl it's been kinda awful. And I was booked on a rcl excursion. Carnival does those booked on their excursions then by loyalty. None of the craziness I've done on rcl for tendering. One time a tender broke and the line went up 3 decks it was so long. Imo if you book thru rcl a excursion you should get priority for tendering. 

 

Priority debark only matters if the ship is late. We had a rescue the  night before last sept and didnt dock until 1030 am. Diamonds and suites went first then platinum .. then everyone else. I was glad of priority debark that day. 

 

At 25 cruises I got 25% obc of a cruise and picked alaska. My friend just got it on his 14 day. Pick your most expensive. I talked to a couple doing b2b2b2b on short runs to hit 50, 50% obc of cruisefare. 75% etc. I almost always do 7 days so fewer, but it's a nice perk. I do get a free pay restaurant next cruise. 

 

Go read carnival thread about dining changes. People are mostly upset. Italian I think is still $18, and JiJis.. I think sushi place went up. Steak house and seafood went up. Steak is now $48. Horrors. I can still order surf and turf there I cant on rcl. It's my favorite. And the worst. A 3rd entree in Mdr is $5. If I want a 3rd lobster it's now a $5 charge. This has people threatening to withhold tips. Someone suggested getting 8 shrimp cocktails lol to fill up. Still no limit. Just the $5 imo to hold down lobster orders. I think they are on about page 8 or 9 discussing if you want some fun. 

 

The new ships do have more free restaurants I think because Mdr too small, but some interesting free dinner choices. I'd like to do mardi gras but hoping jubilee lowers the prices. Starting over $1200 inside.  On dates I cant do. Not paying $1500 bottom deck inside. Waiting. Ncl prima also will be in Galveston but dates I can do over 2k inside.

 

Carnival perks are nothing. Unlimited free laundry.  Stupid. Priority tendering I love and debark. 

 

Carnival also has anytime dining so much better. Starts 530 pm and press a button and the computer assigns a table. And if you want to share, push another button... so much better imo than rcl where I have to go to a real person and wait often. ..love computer assigning a table any time I want.

[firefly333]

2 minutes ago, AlohaLivin said:

I have met a great many Pinnacles who reached their status through casino comped cruises - I have actually been surprised at just how many are are Signature/Master’s level. And more than a few who, as noted, live in FL. Frequent comped cruises with close access to ports (making the 3-5 day freebies much more likely) would definitely make the process a whole lot faster!

I talked to a newly pinnacle who got 4 free during covid but said in 2023 only one free cruise offered and they dont gamble much..go on a free cruise and another pops up they said...all free. Rcl been very generous to fill ships they claim. 

[firefly333]

4 hours ago, gkbiiii said:

How well treated are you as a Carnival Diamond and what are the benefits given to their top tier?

A little off topic but a fun read imo.

 

Says dining changes but more. A case of water pre ordered to your cabin went from 4.95 to 9.95 almost double. The $5 for 3rd entree .. lobster night imo. Moving lobster night to 2nd dress up night. Fewer eat in Mdr. Steak house $48,, oh no. Lol.

 

Some are so mad threats to withhold tips..some ok. But amusing the reactions to raising costs on carnival. Their italian is still $18 for dinner vs giovannis I think. Page 9 .. and still going. 

 

 

 

[joand452]

If my numbers are correct, only 70 more cruises until we reach P after our B2B in April! We’ll end up with 210 points at that time, so hoping we get our 2nd glass block. Our first one was from Anthem. I really wanted to be D+ for the Bridge tour, but it doesn’t look like that’ll be back anytime soon. We haven’t used all our drink vouchers yet, neither 4 nor 5!  Maybe on Wonder…

 

Right now Caribbean cruising is easy for us, since it’s hard for DH to get around ships. We will be renting scooters and have accessibile cabins booked. We’d love to do Europe, but there’s just too much walking involved, and the ports don’t look too scooter friendly.  And tender ports don’t work at all these days. 

We were Diamond for 10 years; don’t think we’ll live long enough to see Pinnacle. It’s okay. I would like to experience a full suite at least once, tho. 

[orville99]

45 minutes ago, joand452 said:

We were Diamond for 10 years; don’t think we’ll live long enough to see Pinnacle. It’s okay. I would like to experience a full suite at least once, tho. 

Off season and/or sailing on smaller ships, junior suites are often not much more expensive than a balcony cabin, so if you salt in a few of those along the way, you can cut that 70 number down a bit. We did an 8 night Eastern cruise in a JS on Mariner this summer that was less expensive than a regular balcony on a 7-night Eastern Harmony leaving the same weekend.

Edited November 5, 2022 by orville99

[Husky1987]

28 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Off season and/or sailing on smaller ships, junior suites are often not much more expensive than a balcony cabin, so if you salt in a few of those along the way, you can cut that 70 number down a bit. We did an 8 night Eastern cruise in a JS on Mariner this summer that was less expensive than a regular balcony on a 7-night Eastern Harmony leaving the same weekend.

Exactly this.

 

What's it cost to make Pinnacle?  Whatever you're willing to pay.  You can spend $50pppn in inside cabins, or spend $500pppn in suites.

 

It's like asking

 

What does it cost to go out to dinner? or

What does it cost to buy a car?

Edited November 5, 2022 by Husky1987

[SRF]

4 hours ago, island lady said:

 

We sold our luxury motor home.  😉 

 

I just don't get motor homes.   They are big and unwieldy, and then you still have to cook and clean your house (RV).  I would rather drive a nice vehicle and stay in a hotel. 😄

 

I do have friends who sold their house when they retired and lived exclusively in an RV for several years seeing the US.  Then sold it and bought a house.

 

I don't get them as a "vacation."

[alfaeric]

10 minutes ago, SRF said:

 

I just don't get motor homes.   They are big and unwieldy, and then you still have to cook and clean your house (RV).  I would rather drive a nice vehicle and stay in a hotel. 😄

 

I do have friends who sold their house when they retired and lived exclusively in an RV for several years seeing the US.  Then sold it and bought a house.

 

I don't get them as a "vacation."

You don't have to.  Just accept people see them as vacation.

 

Just like there's no point is questioning you having a plane- since it also has it's compromises.

 

And just like a majority of people in the US have no idea why people get on a cruise ship.

 

To me, questioning the differences in people is rather pointless.

[orville99]

43 minutes ago, Husky1987 said:

What's it cost to make Pinnacle?  Whatever you're willing to pay.  You can spend $50pppn in inside cabins, or spend $500pppn in suites.

This presumes one starts out with a goal of becoming Pinnacle, and plots the most cost effective way to get there. For us, Pinnacle was never a goal - we just love the sea and sailing away from all the chaos that exists on land. We had 20+ cruises on other lines before we were forced to switch to RCL when our go to ship on another cruise line repo’d to Europe (for the first time in that line’s history) and RCL was the only available option that fit our schedule. We continued to switch back and forth between lines for a few more years before we finally decided that RCL fit our lifestyle better than any of the available alternatives. We have always cruised 4-6 times a year (we try to never let more than 60-90 days go between cruises), and RCL just fit.

 

Pinnacle just sort of crept up and happened….

[island lady]

18 hours ago, davekathy said:

No future RC cruises. We've got two Celebrity cruises booked for 2023 (March and October). I like your new avatar. 

 

Bummer...but I know you will enjoy Celebrity!

 

LOL...accidently had to change avatars.  When CC did "the change"....again....they lost my current picture of Bucky on deck in Alaska.  Could not reload it..or much of anything else.  But this one of the sunrise coming in to Nassau made it.  I like it too.  🙂