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Originally posted by LH:
I just booked a 1 week stay in Orlando at the Fountains Resort thru CVC. The documents I recieved from the resort parent company indicate that I must check in at the Orlando Tourist Bureau to obtain my resort vouchers. It also states that I must attend a 2 hour sales presentation and tour (ie timeshare presentation). Is this true - do I have to go to a different place to get a resort voucher? Do I have to sit thru a sales presentation as well? Lastly, it states that my husband must accompany me to the sales presentation or I will be charged a higher rate than the $299. My husband is not going on the trip. Has anyone else had this nonsense send to them when booking a resort thru CVC?

You should NOT have to sit through anything to get the $299. This was part of your "package". I am not a CVC member, but I would be STEAMED about this. You need to contact the person you booked this through immediately and get this straightened out.

If you have any troubles, tell them you are going to contact the Florida Attorney General's office and file a complaint. If they don't back down on this ridiculous requirement...call the AG!!!

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I have stayed at thhe Fountains Resort. It is a very nice resort, and yes you do have to sit through the sales pitch. Just say NO. Be as loud and mean as you can, have kids with you if possible. This will help them deciced to get rid of you quicker.

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Originally posted by Big Papa:

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I have stayed at thhe Fountains Resort. It is a very nice resort, and yes you do have to sit through the sales pitch. Just say NO. Be as loud and mean as you can, have kids with you if possible. This will help them deciced to get rid of you quicker.

Just curious, did they tell you that you had to sit through a 2 hour talk when they sold you the package? What does she do since her husband will not be with her, pay a higher price? This is just not right.

Yep, I fell for it: Joined CVC on a cruise three years ago. Good luck trying to use any of the "fantastic" features they have - booking my cruise cost me $1,000 more for a family of four, compared to what it would have cost if I had just booked it on-line. For that, I get a stack of worthless vouchers:
- Airfare voucher: Doesn't work over Christmas, or any other time I actually want to travel for leisuer
- Resort voucher: Not available anywhere I want to go, and from this forum, sounds like just another timeshare pitch
- Hotel / golf discounts: Not available when you actually want to go

On top of that, horrible customer service, no way to get money back from these hucksters.

Just stay away from CVC - COMPLETE RIP OFF!!!

Thankfully CVC is a thing of the past from what I hear.

I am really so sad to see all the negative comments about the Carnival Vacation Club (cvc).I used to work for cvc as a program manager onboard the Glory and the Conquest for a period of just over one year. What has happened to all of our happy members. Everyone is always so quick to complain about something when it goes wrong, but when things are going well we never hear about it. I used to personally welcome all of our members when they got onboard and for every 1 unhappy member i had 10 happy ones.

In response to having to sit through long presentations before being able to utilise a resort certificate...... this i find hard to believe, if my memory serves me correctly, it states very clearly in your resort certificate that you do not need to do this. This is the first i have heard of it.

I stopped working for cvc in February this year and there is nothing wrong with the membership. It gives you fantastic vaue for money. There are two main reasons why people are unhappy. The 1st is that they do not understand what they have bought (message sent out is not always the same as the message received) and the second is that they have been lied to by a sales representative and the membership has been misrepresented and unfortunately false promises have been made.

Solutions at Sea and Carnival would never ever market a membership under any misrepresentation at all. The directors and management of Solutions at Sea gave numerous training sessions onboard the vessels and on land. Only the strictist terms and conditions were practised. We had onboard manuals that we had to adhere to daily. The only mirepresentation that took place was unfortunately by renegade sales people who did not care about anything except making a fast buck from unsuspecting victims. Solutions at Sea can in no way be held liable for this. I think this is very unfair.

I personally fired staff members upon finding out that they were lying to people. This was something that had to be monitored.

I always see cvc members comparing their membership cruise points to companies like vacations to go. This you cannot do......you did not buy a cruise package.....you bought a vacation package. The true value lies in how many vacations you get for your money. Dollar for dollar you cannot get better value for your money.

Use your points correctly. Be reasonable and flexiable on your dates for your cruies and vacation certificates and dont expect to get a reservation in peak periods (if you do great) for $299. Where can you get 5 or 6 vacations for $5000. You will only get the true value of your membership if you utilise it correctly. I spoke to a lot of members that had utilised their resort certificates and cruises correctly and they were all very happy.

Instead of spending so much time trying to get your money back, put that energy into getting the most out of your membership. I come from a leisure marketing backround of 15 years and can assure that your membership will give you exceptional value for money if utilised correctly.

I am sorry to hear that cvc is off the ships and will miss working for them, i will also miss all the wonderful happy members i used to look after. Marcia Rowley is a remarkable woman with great vision and insight. This membership program was her absolute passion and i for one am very sorry that a couple of renegade salespeople ruined if for her.

I am proud to have been a part of cvc and can sleep well at night knowing that i always sold the product with honesty and integrity. I will proudly attach my name and email address to this for anybody who might wish to contact me.

Any cvc staff member that has anything bad to say about the program was probably fired for lying or could not reach their required targets. Do not believe everything you read.

I was not asked or coerced into saying any of this and have done so completely on my own.

Feel free to contact me.

Sean Houzet email.sean@deal4two.co.za

Sean:

I can't believe you have read all these pages and just told all these people that the only problem with this program is that THEY did not know how to handle it correctly.

You were clearly just another salesman, because I can assure you that ICE's reputation (or lack there of) is the main reason this program was discontinued.

Where are all the "happy customers"? Of the poll done, 75% were LIVID (not unhappy, not mad) LIVID at being lied to. And of the 25% were not LIVID, only 2% stated they would actually renew. Sorry that is not a great record when only 2% of your customers tell you that they would do business with you again.

On the Spirit in 2005, CVC sales personnel were purposely LYING on applications of residents who lived in Carolina when the sales reps knew it was illegal to sell to these residents. These CVC reps told the cruises that they could not sell to them and told these cruisers to give them FALSE addresses.

It has been proven time and time again that the cruises cost more than if someone booked it off the Internet or directly with Carnival. So don't stop conning these people with your 5 or 6 vacations for $5,000.00 spin.

The resort coupons for the most part were useless because (unless you wanted to go to the whooping 5 places available) you were out of luck. The rest were always "not available".

If this junk was anything close to legitimate, they would have been able to sell it in the US and not "out at sea". Carnival's name went through the mud. Just check the local BBB's and complaints with the various Attorney General's offices.

The bottom line is that people paid a minimum of $1,050.00 for the priviledge of VIP Check In and Debarkation, some strawberries and a party (IF there was an office onboard ~~ now that the offices are gone...guess what...so are the parties).

It was not a matter of people not knowing how to "use it". It was the fact that they were misled time and time again. If it wasn't by your group, then good for you. But it was obviously by a lot of other people who did not have your morals. So don't blame the victims here...all they did was make the mistake of trusting ICE.

Thankfully, Carnival did the right thing and pulled the plug on this and it is history!!!

Thank Goodness someone has told the TRUTH!! The Vacation Club is a WONDERFUL VALUE I have never had a problem at all!! Even booking in a 5 star resort were the costs were listed as 229.00 per night!! And I have used my points for cruises and have always gotten a GREAT UPGRADE on my cabin and the lowest price anywhere..IT is so true the most people only like to complain!! Because those of us that are happy never take the time to say so!! Well I am saying it and I would RENEW!!

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Originally posted by Cpresti246:
Thank Goodness someone has told the TRUTH!! The Vacation Club is a WONDERFUL VALUE I have never had a problem at all!! Even booking in a 5 star resort were the costs were listed as 229.00 per night!! And I have used my points for cruises and have always gotten a GREAT UPGRADE on my cabin and the lowest price anywhere..IT is so true the most people only like to complain!! Because those of us that are happy never take the time to say so!! Well I am saying it and I would RENEW!!

Ok you can put your pompoms down. Again, you are in the 2% that said they would renew. 2% is a JOKE in the business world....NOT a glowing report!!! If you are happy being 2% of the suckers that were happy enough to renew...then I am sure there are plenty of other folks out there willing to take your money now that this scam is GONE!!!

Cpresti246, I would give your post a little more credibility if you had, during the course of the past year, posted on other subjects in this forum. However, in looking at your past posts, it appears that they have all been on the subject of CVC...and only CVC.

I'm not making any accusations, but the casual reader would tend to think, I believe, that someone, who only posts on one thread in a forum is a "drive-by" poster with an agenda to forward.

Correct me if I am wrong.

Garnett

What I don't understand is why people continue to cheerlead a program which no longer accepts new members and will wither on the vine for those already under contract.

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Originally posted by Dave Beers:
What I don't understand is why people continue to cheerlead a program which no longer accepts new members and will wither on the vine for those already under contract.

You are so right, Dave.

I guess I was so adamant about telling the truth about that horrible program because of the story of the elderly man and the affect on his life from these liars. To watch a man who has worked hard all his life to have his dignity stolen .... just broke my heart. And for some cheeleader to tell that poor elderly gentleman that the only "problem" was that he was not "smart enough" to book it properly is outrageous.

To personally witness people being lied to (time and time again) on EVERY cruise we went on that had a CVC office was more than I could tolerate. Then to read story after story on here from every day folks who were just looking for a little more for their vacation dollar.

There is a reason the Attorney General BANNED the sale of this product to their State's residents. And it was not because it was a "wonderful product".

Again, thankfully Carnival stopped this mess and got out before their reputation was as horrible as ICE's.

Just another word of warning....ICE also operates the SeaMiles program and guess what...I have first hand experience of them lying to me. So it is no longer "hearsay"!!
We have had the Carnival credit card since it came out years ago and it was a wonderful program. Sadly, it is now just another ICE joke.

That credit card is cancelled and in the trash!
(thankfully along with the CVC program)

I didn't know ICE operated the SeaMiles program. I was thinking about getting that card, but not anymore!

I don't know about ICE running the SeaMiles program. I do know it was better before they changed it to SeaMiles. I used to have enough points for a free 3 day cruise, now I can get a discount for one. The discounts are not as good as the Past cruiser or Resident rates. IMHO

Dwayne

Just because you are not a Happy Person doesn't give you the right to call those of us that are HAPPY "Suckers", Get a life!

I would have but looking how the people here that have nothing better to do than call those who are happy with CVC "NOT SO VERY NICE NAMES" they were not worth my time. And I was posting in the very beginning when I saw that most of the people here only have bad things to say.. Not only about CVC.. No one ever wants to say good things..

Dear LHP

I have nothing to gain by what i have said and therefore to not wish to enter into a mud slinging contest with you. i am purely voicing my opinion from my experiences whilst working for cvc and dealing with members every single day for a period of just over one year.

I find your statistics very questionable based entirely on my past personal experience in dealing with happy and unhappy members for an entire year.I think that we can both agree on the fact that the main problems here are that sales people have lied to passengers on various cruise ships about the membership benefits. All i am saying is that they did this on their own accord and were never ever told or trained to do so.

As for you statement "conning people with 5 or 6 vacations". All i am saying is get the most out of your membership. Take your cruises, ask about any cruise specials that are available or best times of the year to go and about how to get the most out of the amount of points that you have left.

As for the vacation certificates , enquire about available dates and destinations. Try and make yourself available for these dates and destinations. By doing this you will then get the value out of your membership. I know that the Florida area had an abundance of availability. I also agree that some destinations were just impossible to get into. Be flexable in your choices so that you do not lose out on what you have already paid for.

You still seem to be confusing this membership with a cruise package......(as you state that you could have got a cruise cheaper off the internet).This is not a cruise package and will not give you the cheapest cruise prices out there. It does however have a best price guarrantee when matched dollar for dollar against any Carnival cruise prices. It is an entire vacation package. Compare the total amount of vacations you can get out of it compared to the total amount of money you would have spent as a non member without the $299 accommodation benefit for the equivalent amount of vacations.

PLEASE do not think for one moment that i am trying to sell you anything or even trying to change your opinions. I can promise you that all i am doing is hopefully shedding some light where there might have been a bit of confusion. I am not the enemy here and am only trying to help where i can (if that is possible). I am very sorry for those of you that were lied to and do not condone it in any way.I am not taking sides here and do not wish to.

You mention paying $1050 for priviledges. This is true. But you failed to see what else the $1050 covered.There are a lot of expenses required to support a program like this. What about the call center to book your vacations, what about the call center staff that need to be paid, what about all the staff on the ships that need to be paid for looking after the members, what about the telephone lines,what about the cost of the equipment to run this program,what about the rent for the offices required to run this program, what about the marketing advertising and packaging of the product,what about the members parties (free drinks), what about the cost of liasing between the ships and the shore (courier services etc.) what about the back up and support technology, what about the costs incurred for putting the product together, these are only a few forgotten expenses. There are a lot more. Now if you look at it that way then the $1050 you mention does not seem too much does it.Considering your membership could have been a three to five year membership. This equates to just over $300 (or $200+ for 5 years) per annum for all those services. I think that is very reasonable.....dont you.

Use your membership and get your monies worth that is my advice, or waste a lot of time, money and energy trying to fight to get your money back. The choice is yours.

Sean Houzet sean@deal4two.co.za

Is this horse beat to death yet? Why yes, I think it is. And so to the great relief of the vast majority of our members, I will bring the curtain down on the CVC discussion. It is a fruitless thing to be arguing about. The program is over for new members, and those with existing contracts are either happy, angry, or don't know how to use their contracts to the best effect. This depends on who's posts you believe to be true.

I'd really prefer to not see this topic pop up again. It is like talking about Ford's decision to kill the Edsel model.