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[size=medium]Ok, you got me going.

On our first carnival cruise my husband was sold....He bought 20,000 points for $5,000. Cruises and staterooms are allotted a certan number of points and you use them us like money....except that the conversion of points to money is not equal.....the computation is something like 25 points to every dollar...what a value....anyway...we booked a caribbean cruise last year in July, I think. We "spent" 15,000 poiints or so for a balcony.

My sister had a baby in March and the baby died in June. I called Carnival and cancelled my cruise and put in an insurance claim. They only returned around 10,000 points stating that I did not cancel the cruise within 48 hours....Well, I'm sorry, I was trying to keep my family together and bury a baby...no sympathy here.

So we booked our honeymoon and decided to use all of the remaining points because they were paid for and we were not travelling Carnival again. We booked a suite in Alaska for 14,++ points. My husband boss, invited invited himself and his girlfriend on our honeymoon (that's another story) and he booked a suite for around $3,500....so we called Carnival to see what an upgrade would cost.....hone....a whopping $900.00. So I asked what the cost of a balcony was in dollars and how much an upgrade would be. Well, the upgrade using dollars was only $400.00. so in essence they charge you more for being a CVC member. Needless to say, the wrath of the cuban in me unleashed and I was told that I did not "budget" appopriately for my cruise and was basically "liviing beyond my means"...:X....if you know any Cubans you know this did not go over very well with me....so I told the supervisor - the 3rd I had spoken to that we did budget but Carnival did not return my points when my niece died. but that was OK, because I was going to have t-shirts made that said "ASK ME ABOUT THE CARNIVAL VACATION CLUB SCAM" and was going to wear it for 7 days while on the cruise......well, my points were miraculously returned to us and we now have a suite....We have 2,000 left over which cannot be used for anything and so lost.

While the supervisor initially found a way to give us our points back, it is not a good program. If you read the fine print you will see that the CVC is not owned by Carnival and is essence a travel agent of sorts. If you book using CVC and then call carnival to make a change or ask a question about your booking, they cannot help you because it was booked by a "travel agent". Also, the coupons they give you for land packages are for hotels and locations where I would never stay.

I have called customer service a number of times in preparing for this cruise and really cannot complain about their agents. I guess I can't use my t-shirts on the cruise if they are no longer selling the CVC on the ship....oh, bummer!![/size] X(

Scrappy

<blockquote data-quote="scrappyconch" data-source="post: 1211713">[size=medium]Ok, you got me going.On our first carnival cruise my husband was sold....He bought 20,000 points for $5,000.&nbsp; Cruises and staterooms are allotted a certan number of points and you use them&nbsp; us like money....except that the conversion of points to money is not equal.....the computation is something like 25 points to every dollar...what a value....anyway...we booked a caribbean cruise last year in July, I think.&nbsp; We &quot;spent&quot; 15,000 poiints or so for a balcony.My sister had a baby in March and the baby died in June.&nbsp; I called Carnival and cancelled my cruise and put in an insurance claim.&nbsp; They only returned around 10,000 points stating that I did not cancel the cruise within 48 hours....Well, I'm sorry, I was trying to keep my family together and bury a baby...no sympathy here.So we booked our honeymoon and decided to use all of the remaining points because they were paid for and we were not travelling Carnival again.&nbsp; We booked a suite in Alaska for 14,++ points.&nbsp; My husband boss, invited invited himself and his girlfriend on our honeymoon (that's another story) and he booked a suite for around $3,500....so we called Carnival to see what an upgrade would cost.....<img src="data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7" class="smilie smilie--sprite smilie--sprite7" alt=":p" title="Stick Out Tongue&nbsp; &nbsp; :p" loading="lazy" data-shortname=":p" />hone....a whopping $900.00.&nbsp; So I asked what the cost of a balcony was in dollars and how much an upgrade would be.&nbsp; Well, the upgrade using dollars was only $400.00.&nbsp; so in essence they charge you more for being a CVC member.&nbsp; Needless to say, the wrath of the cuban in me unleashed and I was told that I did not &quot;budget&quot; appopriately for my cruise and was basically &quot;liviing beyond my means&quot;...:X....if you know any Cubans you know this did not go over very well with me....so I told the supervisor - the 3rd I had spoken to that we did budget but Carnival did not return my points when my niece died.&nbsp; but that was OK, because I was going to have t-shirts made that said &quot;ASK ME ABOUT THE CARNIVAL VACATION CLUB SCAM&quot; and was going to wear it for 7 days while on the cruise......well, my points were miraculously returned to us and we now have a suite....We have 2,000 left over which cannot be used for anything and so lost.While the supervisor initially found a way to give us our points back, it is not a good program.&nbsp; If you read the fine print you will see that the CVC is not owned by Carnival and is essence a travel agent of sorts.&nbsp; If you book using CVC and then call carnival to make a change or ask a question about your booking, they cannot help you because it was booked by a &quot;travel agent&quot;.&nbsp; Also, the coupons they give you for land packages are for hotels and locations where I would never stay.I have called customer service a number of times in preparing for this cruise and really cannot complain about their agents.&nbsp; I guess I can't use my t-shirts on the cruise if they are no longer selling the CVC on the ship....oh, bummer!![/size]&nbsp; X(Scrappy</blockquote>

[QUOTE="scrappyconch, post: 1211713"] [size=medium]Ok, you got me going. On our first carnival cruise my husband was sold....He bought 20,000 points for $5,000. Cruises and staterooms are allotted a certan number of points and you use them us like money....except that the conversion of points to money is not equal.....the computation is something like 25 points to every dollar...what a value....anyway...we booked a caribbean cruise last year in July, I think. We "spent" 15,000 poiints or so for a balcony. My sister had a baby in March and the baby died in June. I called Carnival and cancelled my cruise and put in an insurance claim. They only returned around 10,000 points stating that I did not cancel the cruise within 48 hours....Well, I'm sorry, I was trying to keep my family together and bury a baby...no sympathy here. So we booked our honeymoon and decided to use all of the remaining points because they were paid for and we were not travelling Carnival again. We booked a suite in Alaska for 14,++ points. My husband boss, invited invited himself and his girlfriend on our honeymoon (that's another story) and he booked a suite for around $3,500....so we called Carnival to see what an upgrade would cost.....:phone....a whopping $900.00. So I asked what the cost of a balcony was in dollars and how much an upgrade would be. Well, the upgrade using dollars was only $400.00. so in essence they charge you more for being a CVC member. Needless to say, the wrath of the cuban in me unleashed and I was told that I did not "budget" appopriately for my cruise and was basically "liviing beyond my means"...:X....if you know any Cubans you know this did not go over very well with me....so I told the supervisor - the 3rd I had spoken to that we did budget but Carnival did not return my points when my niece died. but that was OK, because I was going to have t-shirts made that said "ASK ME ABOUT THE CARNIVAL VACATION CLUB SCAM" and was going to wear it for 7 days while on the cruise......well, my points were miraculously returned to us and we now have a suite....We have 2,000 left over which cannot be used for anything and so lost. While the supervisor initially found a way to give us our points back, it is not a good program. If you read the fine print you will see that the CVC is not owned by Carnival and is essence a travel agent of sorts. If you book using CVC and then call carnival to make a change or ask a question about your booking, they cannot help you because it was booked by a "travel agent". Also, the coupons they give you for land packages are for hotels and locations where I would never stay. I have called customer service a number of times in preparing for this cruise and really cannot complain about their agents. I guess I can't use my t-shirts on the cruise if they are no longer selling the CVC on the ship....oh, bummer!![/size] X( Scrappy [/QUOTE]