No More $25 Casino Credit

[aborgman]

6 minutes ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Not exactly.

 

First, let's clarify that there are two Carnivals.

 

1. There's the parent company, Carnival Corporation, which trades as CCL on the NYSE.

2. There's the cruise line operator, Carnival Cruise Line, which is a subsidiary of CCL, just like GCO, Costa and Princess are (among others).

 

To some this may appear to be semantics or technical, but to some of us who have worked for S&P 500 companies, the distinction is not blurry.  I've worked at two large US companies my entire life - Marriott and Berkshire Hathaway (both headquartered here) and both drafted and assisted with corporate tax filings, 5500s, QSLOBs, etc. where the distinction between the parent company and the subsidiaries is material every day in many ways.

 

Qualitatively, I asked a few dealers and casino supervisors who they work for and the one time a dealer said Carnival, the supervisor corrected him.  So I asked who their paycheck comes from and they both acknowledged it was Global Casino, and they don't go through the same training, etc. that Carnival employees go through, nor are they hired by the same hiring teams, they have different benefits, etc.

 

From Carnival Cruise Line's website:

 

Carnival Cruise Line is proud to be part of a family of companies owned by Carnival Corporation, which includes sister lines Princess Cruises, Holland America Line and Cunard Line, among others.

 

There is a parent company... And everyone employed by a wholly owned subsidiary is employed by the parent organization.

 

Carnival Corporation could decide tomorrow to shut down Carnival Cruise Lines, or to fire every Princess employee, or to move all Costa ships to Aida, or...

 

Pretending they're separate companies (with combined finances under a single stock ticker) is 100% accounting semantics.

[IntrepidFromDC]

2 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

There is a parent company... And everyone employed by a wholly owned subsidiary is employed by the parent organization.

 

Only for limited purposes (e.g., ASC718). Explain the purpose of filing QSLOBs with the IRS/DOL if the employees are to be treated the same.  A QSLOB filing ensures the employees are treated as being employed by separate entities for specific purposes.

[aborgman]

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

There are many who work for Carnival units who are not employees of Carnival.

 

The way GCS is structured, it shouldn't be difficult for Carnival to outsource should they choose.

 

If you work for Carnival, you are an employee.

 

If you are a sub contractor - you work for the contractor on Carnival tasks, you don't work for Carnival.

[aborgman]

5 minutes ago, IntrepidFromDC said:

Only for limited purposes (e.g., ASC718). Explain the purpose of filing QSLOBs with the IRS/DOL if the employees are to be treated the same.  A QSLOB filing ensures the employees are treated as being employed by separate entities for specific purposes.

 

 

Well yes... the purpose of allowing the business entity to separate is to satisfy minimum coverage rules and maintain tax benefits at the lowest cost possible to the parent corporation. It also allows minimizing the number of people in each group, thus potentially avoiding audit requirements.

 

In the end - it's a purely beneficial to the corporation, lobbied for (by the corporations), financial fiction.

 

If someone can do away with your job - in the end, they're the boss.

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, aborgman said:

 

If you work for Carnival, you are an employee.

 

If you are a sub contractor - you work for the contractor on Carnival tasks, you don't work for Carnival.

When I did contract work, I took direction from company I worked for - not the company that signed my checks. I don't care what google says. Google will even tell you they aren't right all of the time.

[aborgman]

11 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

When I did contract work, I took direction from company I worked for - not the company that signed my checks. I don't care what google says. Google will even tell you they aren't right all of the time.

 

Then "the company you worked for" was violating labor laws, and you weren't actually a contractor.

 

It falls under "Nature and degree of control" - if the contractor does not have significant independent control of their work - they are an employee being misclassified as a contractor.

 

 

[BlerkOne]

2 minutes ago, aborgman said:

 

Then "the company you worked for" was violating labor laws, and you weren't actually a contractor.

 

It falls under "Nature and degree of control" - if the contractor does not have significant independent control of their work - they are an employee being misclassified as a contractor.

 

 

If true (we agree to disagree), it happens all the time. Huge corporations reduce headcount of regular employees and replace them with contract workers until profits look better.

[aborgman]

37 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

If true (we agree to disagree), it happens all the time. Huge corporations reduce headcount of regular employees and replace them with contract workers until profits look better.

 

Yes, large corporation REGULARLY violate labor laws - particularly with respect to contractors. Current estimates are about 20% of all employees in the USA are illegally misclassified.

 

See: FedEx having to pay out $500 million, Microsoft having to pay $100 million, Flowers Foods having to pay out $50 million, and Uber... and Apple... and AT&T...

[BlerkOne]

1 hour ago, aborgman said:

 

Yes, large corporation REGULARLY violate labor laws - particularly with respect to contractors. Current estimates are about 20% of all employees in the USA are illegally misclassified.

 

See: FedEx having to pay out $500 million, Microsoft having to pay $100 million, Flowers Foods having to pay out $50 million, and Uber... and Apple... and AT&T...

And foreign flagged ships are exempt from most US labor laws.

[aborgman]

1 hour ago, BlerkOne said:

And foreign flagged ships are exempt from most US labor laws.

 

Correct, and they're all Carnival employees.

Edited June 10 by aborgman

[jimbo5544]

What is that Disney song…..?   Oh I remember “let it go”.  

[crusin okie]

On 6/7/2024 at 11:52 AM, jimbo5544 said:

I have never seen anything about a one time donation to a Diamond event for St Jude.  The only thing I have ever seen done is the walk for St Jude, offered to all.  Here is a link to the partnership between Carnival and St Jude.  I have never seen anything close across the industry compared to what they do,

 

https://www.stjude.org/get-involved/other-ways/partner-with-st-jude/corporate-partners/carnival-cruise-lines.html

And where do you think the $$ comes from?  Passengers.  In my opinion, Carnival's only loyalty is to the bottom line.  That's OK -  that is why they are in business.  I believe the "new" cruisers (<10 cruises) probably spend more $$ on board than older passengers Thus, Carnival's incentive to lure the older cruisers into another cruise is diminished.  Loyalty, for the most part, is a one way street and Carnival makes the rules so what should we expect?  I cannot believe that the P & D will be very happy with the new loyalty program.  We have a B2B booked on the Mardi Gras in Oct and then it is back to RCCL and X.  I must say I am a little sad about it as I really like the XL class ship but........

[49North]

Sooo…the 3 bags of laundry on 7 day perk is still there….right!?

[simplelife]

On 6/9/2024 at 2:55 PM, jimbo5544 said:

Can you give me an example on that?

 

Faster to the fun

 

[jimbo5544]

9 hours ago, crusin okie said:

And where do you think the $$ comes from?  Passengers.  In my opinion, Carnival's only loyalty is to the bottom line.  That's OK -  that is why they are in business.  I believe the "new" cruisers (<10 cruises) probably spend more $$ on board than older passengers Thus, Carnival's incentive to lure the older cruisers into another cruise is diminished.  Loyalty, for the most part, is a one way street and Carnival makes the rules so what should we expect?  I cannot believe that the P & D will be very happy with the new loyalty program.  We have a B2B booked on the Mardi Gras in Oct and then it is back to RCCL and X.  I must say I am a little sad about it as I really like the XL class ship but........

Everybody speaks with their wallets. My point on St Jude is thye are walking the walk and so are their customers.  The issue made on the one time donation is peanuts to the main thing all do.  Every stock company’s loyalty is to their stockholders, the way is has always bee, the way it is, the way it should be.  I cannot argue with much of what you say, their focus is on new customers, but focus is not on a singular thing.  In regards to whether plat or diamonds will be happy…meh.  The program absolutely needs change.  When half the ship is going to a recognition event for their most loyal guests, then the setting of the bar needs to change.  How they do it will be key.  Lastly, for me, they get a lot of slack due to their financial situation (none of it due to their own doing).  Enjoy your future cruising.

Edited June 11 by jimbo5544

[jimbo5544]

8 hours ago, simplelife said:

Faster to the fun

 

FTTF was done as a billable option, THEN offered as a loyalty item.

[jimbo5544]

8 hours ago, 49North said:

Sooo…the 3 bags of laundry on 7 day perk is still there….right!?

Nothing has changed other the this item…..so far

Edited June 11 by jimbo5544

[jimbo5544]

Nobody asked, but my wish list on this topic would be to keep it rich in options and make it much more selective in how one attains it.  

[mz-s]

9 hours ago, 49North said:

Sooo…the 3 bags of laundry on 7 day perk is still there….right!?

 

https://www.carnival.com/vifp/benefits

[nancy1031]

 i'm allergic to strawberries so on the celebration in oct 23 i got chocolate chip cookies for the choc delight, in 22 i got the choc cake filled with choc mousse instead of the berries-  i'm not a gambler but i'd love a free shuttle from the airport to the pier and then from the pier to the airport- also not many dia/plat people at the repeaters party last oct-  i've gotten some great gifts- my favorite is the tote bag- it's been all over the world and is looking forward to going on the cruise in oct!!

[csm5986142]

On 6/7/2024 at 4:35 AM, pe4all said:

Even the separate line at Guest Services has almost become a farce.  On my last few cruises the line was quite long, due to Faster to the Fun and Suite people on it.  In fact, the "regular" line often moved faster as there were more available stations to help them, while the separate line had one person.

 

Yes!  We tested this out recently - my mom and I both got in line (me in the plat/diamond line and my mom in the regular line).  She got through quicker. 😆  We were just trying to find something in lost and found so not a big deal, but thought it was funny.

Edited June 11 by csm5986142

[VentureMan_2000]

Interesting thread...

But a bit like the Energizer Bunny... 🤣

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Just saw this thread - not reading 8 pages on the topic (or sub-topics, lol). 

 

My $0.02 though --- I was thrilled to have that benefit while it lasted, and was surprised that it held on as long as it did... replacing the BOGO tournament entries, which replaced the FREE tournament entry.

 

Change is the constant

 

Tom

[jimbo5544]

15 hours ago, Tom-n-Cheryl said:

Just saw this thread - not reading 8 pages on the topic (or sub-topics, lol). 

 

My $0.02 though --- I was thrilled to have that benefit while it lasted, and was surprised that it held on as long as it did... replacing the BOGO tournament entries, which replaced the FREE tournament entry.

 

Change is the constant

 

Tom

The last few years have not been for the feint of heart in the cruising world.

[Drazil65]

Change is the constant

 

THIS...like it or not...