Carnivals Past Guest Party

[GreggV]

Can anyone tell me what this party is all about. Are there drinks? Are they free? Food? Entertainment? Any info would be appreciated!

[SLINKY-YJ]

free drinks and horsedevous from what i remember... this was on the victory by the way

[Salty Dawg]

It is ususally held before each dinner sitting toward the end of the cruise. It is only held on cruises of 5 days or more.

 

Free watered down drinks, hors d'orves, music, a little dancing, a short talk by the Captain and Cruise Director. It lasts about 45 minutes. Depending on where it is held on the ship, you can order drinks of your choice at the bar.

The location varies with the ship, and the number of past guests on board.

 

If the room has a bar, slip the bartender a few bucks, order what you want, and tell him to keep them coming and you will always have a spare drink in front of you, and a couple to take to dinner with you.

[Travelgirl23]

On the Elation, they also (in addition to all of the above) showed a quick film of the history of Carnival ships starting with the first ships all the way up to the present. It was very interesting. The past guest party is usually held on the last formal night. All of the past guest parties we have attended were held in the Lounge.

[LSUtraveler]

We ordered drinks from the bar and were suprised that they were free. Good think we didn't know that when the party started!:p

[Knights on the Beach]

Just a few weeks ago on the Glory, the past guest party was a little different than others we have attended on previous cruises. The party was held in the main showroom, and plates of food were already set out on the little tables. The party was at 3:45 for early diners and 5:00 for late diners and lasted for 45 minutes. Dress was specified as "come as you are". We sat near the back of the room, which was a very good place to be, as all the drink waiters came in with their full trays of drinks. No watered down drinks for us; I drank champagne -- lots of it. ;) They were very good to us!

[serene56]

When on the Victory it was by invitiation only. My whole family was going but the person who was cruising with me did not have an invitation and they wouldnt let him in. He went to the casino and i went to the party.

[Cotton]

Gregg, the past guest parties I've attended have been very nice, with plenty of good drinks and tasty assortment of hors d'oeuvres. Sometimes they show a short film, but not always. Last cruise, the Captain and cruise director met me at the door and handed me a ship's pin. There was a combo playing, and some folks were dancing.

The Captain gave a little "welcome back" speech and drew a name, and gave away a bottle of champagne. Imagine the lady's surprise when the Captain asked her how many Carnival cruises she had taken, and she had to answer "None, my friends got me an invitation to this party." Oh well.....:D

[Snowball]

One of these days I'm going to have to make sure I go to one of the past guest parties. I always say I'm going to go, but haven't made it there yet. It seems like the time is never convenient for me. :rolleyes:

[mathgal]

Just back from our second cruise on the Paradise two weeks ago. I was looking forward to going to the past guest party but when we got the invitation the party was scheduled for 7:15 p.m. on Wednesday night. Since our dining time was 6:15, we were still in the middle of dinner at that time. Hubby refused to leave the dining room so we missed the party.

 

The cabin steward had left a "comment card" in our cabin so I said that I thought it was poor planning to schedule the party to interfere with the dinner times. Besides us, it would also affect those people that had the 8 p.m. dinner time too.

 

The next day I got a letter under the door from the purser's office saying they were sorry I "had not gotten my invitation to the party" and they wanted me to have a bottle of champagne to make up for it. Well obviously they didn't read the comment card very carefully because that wasn't the case.

 

Besides missing the party, I was disappointed that I hadn't gotten the ship pins that they give out so I took the letter and went to the purser's desk. They told me that the party was designed so people could "come and go" around their dinner times and I should have just come late. Since I had read that they show a movie I figured it was something that we needed to be on time for.

 

Anyway I ask about the pins and she said to just talk to my cabin steward and he would get the pins for me (which he did). She also gave me the bottle of champagne which was a nice gesture, but I still feel bad I didn't get to the party!! :(

[halos]

My invitation and pins were left in the stateroom by my steward. I didn't attend the party though because we were cruising with friends and they were not allowed in without the invitation...so we skipped it.

I don't blame Carnival for not allowing our friends to go in as well...if all past cruisers brought 1st time cruisers, the entire ship would be attending the party!!

[Cotton]

Halos - You are so right. That's one little thing that has bugged me (just a bit, mind you, not enough to raise a stink about).....Lots of folks come here and ask if it's ok to bring a friend, which I think is not really ok.

 

Then - somebody pipes in with "Just tell them to check the little box and they'll get an invitation." Well, to me that's just not fair - it fills up the room with folks who neither 'deserve' the pin, nor the party. It's for past guests, folks! (As in my earlier post in this thread - that bottle of champagne should have gone to a past cruiser, not a party-crasher.):rolleyes:

 

You acted in the right way. Not saying Y'ALL shouldn't have gone, but I understand not wanting to leave your friends elsewhere while you enjoyed a little party.

 

That kinda brings up something else. Past guests sometimes say their friends won't have anything to do while they're attending the party. HUH? I cruise solo, and I think if I can do an entire cruise on my own, the first-timers could find something else to do for 45 minutes. See what I'm getting at? Just my thoughts on this subject........

[Arlene F]

The past guest parties used to be a just a little more formal. The past guest party I recently attended on the Conquest was not well attended at all. If I remember correctly in was at 3:45 in the afternoon and come as you are (which was great acutally)

 

Of course we watched the film which I always enjoy. A short talk from the CD and a few words from the captain. I have to say though that with so few people we received a lot of attention from the drink and food servers.

 

Arlene

[GOTTA CRUISE NOW]

On our last cruise on the Spirit, my friend went along who had never cruised before. She WAS included on the invitation! Mistake on their part?

[baby05]

Mathgal: were you on the 6/13/04 sailing of the Paradise.... I was on that sailing and did not receive an invitation to the past guest party. This was our third sailing on the paradise. We went to the purser's desk and asked when the party was since we didn't receive an invitation. The girl told us that the invitation would be slipped under our door that night. Well, needless to say it wasn't so we went back to the purser's desk and they had delivered it to the wrong cabin. She gave us a new one. We were highly disappointed that it was scheduled during dinner as we had 6:15 dinner also. Neither this year of last year we were given a pin. We did go to the party for only 5 minutes... I wonder if the bottle of champagne was suppose to come to us as we were the ones who didn't receive an invitation.

 

 

Paradise 8/1999

Nordic Empress 6/2002

Paradise 6/2003

Paradise 6/2004

[mathgal]

baby05...Yes, we were on the 6/13 sailing of the Paradise. I'm sure the bottle of champagne was meant for us, I just don't think they took time to read my comment card carefully. Our invitation was left on the bed by the steward on Monday I think. I probably should have contacted the pursor "before" the party and found out that we could have come at any time. Here is what the letter said (and it was addressed to us personally):

 

 

 

Thank you for choosing the Paradise for your cruise vacation. Our guests are important to us and we appreciate your patronage.

 

Our sincere thanks to you for providing us with your comments and observations. Be assured that those in a position to effect change will be notified and work toward enhancing our product.

 

Because we value your patronage, please accept our apologies for not having received the invitation to the Repeaters' Party and this bottle of champagne with compliments of the Purser's Office.

 

Thank you for contacting us. We look forward to the pleasure of having y ou back aboard soon.

 

 

 

 

When I went to the purser's desk, the girl I talked to was surprised that the letter had been put under the door. She said it should have been delivered "with" the champagne. She apologized and went and got me a bottle.

 

I appreciate their efforts to try and make things right, but I still think the timing of the party was poor. The girl at the purser's desk said they try to fit the party between the dinner times to accomodate everyone. In my opinion the timing made it very "inconvenient" for anyone at the 6:15 or 8:00 dinner times.

[luvsunandfun]

My family went to the past cruisers party on the Paradise. It was so full that there wasn't any seats left to sit down. I guess we should have gotten there a lot earlier. It looked like waiters were bringing around drinks and food. And they had dancing.

[CruiseCATnMACK]

We enjoy going to the past guest party. They have free drinks, what more could you want. Be sure to see the bartender if you are not interested in one of the pre-made drinks.

Also the ship pin they give out is a nice bonus.

[soopermom]

We were on the 6/13 Paradise. We had late dinner seating so did go to the past guest party. We had great drinks and snacks and guess what.....

 

WE WON THE BOTTLE OF CHAMPAGNE!!! and, several pictures (8X10) of us with the captain, the crew and of the ship. The unopened bottle is sitting here next to me, waiting for an occasion to open it! My husband checked the internet to see its worth - $90!! It was a fun evening - just wished that we had won a free cruise!:D Some people are just never satisfied!!

[dustyroad]

i cant wait to go to the past guest party and get the free food and drink and the pin. my friend that is going with me who is not a past guest has assured me she wants me to go even though she cant. i will feel bad but i just dont want to miss it. is this the party also that is on video and you can buy it? on the spirit they showed the video as it progressed on the cabin tv. it had the partys/entertainment on board, shore tours and showed the ports. i wish i had bought it. i will make sure i do this time.

[Cotton]

is this the party also that is on video and you can buy it? QUOTE]

 

The video the above posters are referring to is a standard video of Carnival's ships.

The video of your cruise can be purchased the last day on board. (This is the one that's shown on your cabin tv all week.)