I don't think I was lied to when they sold me CVC. There are a few things that could have been better explained. Like you always get the best price. I was told that if the price went down after I booked using the points then I'd get that price. Not so! If the price goes down and you call them then you get that price. Okay so I figured that I'd check the prices from time to time. But wait if it is less then 75 days till your cruise then your price is set.

quote:

Originally posted by cash110:
OK _ Here's another person SCAMMED by Carnival Vacation Club. We also were told things that were blatent LIES to get us to join. First of all - the "Club Supervisor told us that they owned all the dot.com sites (Ex. Vacationstogo.com, Cruise.com) and therefore they could and always would have cheaper prices. He told us that if we found a cheaper price that the "Club" would match it or do better. Wrong! My first call to book a cruise using our points and we were told that Carnival Vacation Club could NOT meet Vacationstogo.com prices, or anyone elses! He also told us that all the "Perks" could be used on all the ships - We specifically told him that we prefered Princess and that we were buying this just for Princess cruises. Well, after calling CVC we were told that you only get "perks" on Carnival ships - not the others...
I just don't know why he misrepresented (LIED!) the Club to us to get us to buy...?
We are also from South Carolina and we were asked to put another state down on the form. He told us, "Don't you know someone from another state that you could use their address?!" That should have sent up 'Flags' right then and there! But we were so caught up in the (Stupid!) moment and rushed to sign I might add because our salesperson had to do meet with someone else that we believed what they were telling us.
DON'T BELIEVE WHAT THEY TELL YOU - THEY ARE LIEING!

The state of South Carolina outlawed the selling of these programs to their residents. You "MAY" have a out since they knowingly sold you a program. I would file a complaint with your State Attorney General's office. Explain that they asked you to use a different address.
As long as you simply ask for your money back and nothing more...you might get it!

The first time I was exposed to these guys was on the Spirit in July 2005 and there were a lot of South Carolina folks on board with a Christian tour. So many of them were talking about the saleman asking them to use a false address, that I knew right then and there this company was not someone I wanted to do business with.

There are currently 18 states that will not allow their residents to "rent" points (when someone needs more points to complete a cruise). So if you are one of those residents and you run short on points...you are just out of luck I guess???

Anyway, file a complaint with the AG in SC. It does not cost you one penny to file a complaint and you "may" get some good results.

Good luck!

Thank-you. I am calling the Attorney General's office and my credit card company.
The big question is why do they have to misrepresent and LIE about their program. Just sell us what was promised and they would have a good program. I am just so disappointed. I thought that Carnival had such a good reputation. I understand NOW that it was not really Carnival (ICE) that sold the program but Carnival is just as guilty since they let ICE use their name and sell on the Carnival ships.
I think I will book another Carnival cruise just to sit outside the Carnival Vacation Club and tell people what is really being sold!!!
Oh well, we still love to cruise and will continue to do so...
Thanks for the advice.

cash110,

Welcome to Cruise-Chat!

Here is a link for complaints in SC.

http://www.scconsumer.gov/complaint_services.htm

IslandCruz

Thank-you and thank-you!

Tahnks, again -
Next cruise - Oct 28, 2006 - New England/ Canada
Dec.12, 2006 Vienna - Danube River Cruise!

Just wondering if there are any Carnival Vacation Club Members from SC who have received a refund...?

I also want to point out something else that may or may not have been covered here.

If you have a premium credit card, they most have fraud protection for purchases. This means charges from theft of the card, and also fraudulent represented purchases.

Here comes the problem in the SC scenario. The person that puts a different address on the contract, and then signs it, is the person commiting the fraud.

They know what they are doing, they then have a signed document stating you did not live in SC. So is them that was frauded and the charge sticks.

If they offer this on my upcoming cruise, I am going to record the entire presentation!

I hate liars and cheats

We have purchased the Silver package back in September 2005 and have been very happy with the program. So far we have gone on the Alaska cruise and spent a week at a beautiful resort in Florida. I am in the process of booking another resort vacation at this time. I would purchase the program again.

If you review the program, it is clearly a program that supports any one whom travels more than just crusing they will see the true value. Try it you will like it. We just returned from Carlsbed, CA, stayed for 7 days two bedroom resort and only paid $299. We took our children and their friends so we had six people for 7 days for only $299, I don't know where you could have done that. That is a saving to me. I We cruise next week on the Conquest and the different i would have paid without my points is $300 dollars on just this one cruise.
My air vouchers were just a gift if I bought that day, a little something extra if I bought.
I love being about to just walk straight on to the ship and I get a Welcome aboard gift every time I travel on Carnival.
But I know can sail on any of the family ships and save money, that is if I chose to cruise one something other than Carnival.
Next three years saving money for all my travel needs, that is exactly what my family wants.

I hope your good fortune continues with this club. My question is this: You stated there was a $300 difference on your up-coming cruise on the Conquest when you used your points.So did you save $300, or did you "spend" $300 more to get to move up to the front of the line? Did you get a cabin upgrade?

I was on the Conquest one month ago. The entry lines went so fast, I didn't realize I wasn't a V.I.P.! The only hold-up was standing in line for the embarkation photo opportunity!!! They don't let you cut through this line!

I got suckered into "the club", but luckily was able to get my money back by careful documentation and meeting the 3 day cut off.

To me, $300 is not worth getting on the ship 30 minutes quicker then the "peons" (4 more cruises and I'm VIP anyway.)

I hope you can get all of your resort packages booked and traveled before you have to "re-enlist" and pay another membership fee to use the coupons.

Most of of all, thanks for being honest, WE were looking for SOMEONE, ANYONE, who really did have success with "the club". The rest of us are just are having our sour grapes.

matsued and kortcruisin,

Welcome to Cruise-Chat!

Looking forward to your future posts on other topics as well.

kortcruisin,

I am curious what cruise rate were your $300 in savings based on for the Conquest?

Thanks so much,
IslandCruz

I just booked a cruise using CVC. The jury is still out for me. The last cruise we booked thru Carnival we received a drastic drop in price then what was on the web site and a upgrade. When we just booked with CVC the advertised price was it. We're still trying to figure out how to fit a resort into the vacation mix. Mostly we want to cruise but we have a few family events coming up so hopefully some sort of vindication of our decision to be club members will be realized.

I'm not a dishonest person

I cancelled my CVC and I did get my credit on my VISA card already, but in today's mail I got my OFFICAL CVC member card.

Can I flash it quickly on my next cruise and get to the head of the line? LOL

I'm surprised I got it since I cancelled a month ago. Of course I have no intention of using it. But other people flash a single drink card, so why not an inactive CVC card. How close do they check for getting on and off tenders?

I'm so bad. I can't believed I'm ever considering it. That's not my style and I'm so close to VIP anyway.

I'm just writing to say thanks to this board for helping us to make the decision to cancel our membership in the CVC within the three day cooling off period after our most recent cruise in August. Of course, making the deadline required me to drive to the airport where the post office is open until midnight, but $5000 bucks was well worth the drive!

We are from Michigan and for some reason, are one of the states that doesn't allow you to purchase additional points. So, if we were to use 2/3 of our points on a cruise, the remaining 1/3 would be be useless unless we purchased another complete membership!
I also checked into the various resorts and such, but I guess we had the mistaken idea that we could actually CHOOSE when we wanted to go on vacation, and this was definitely not the case when I did some more research. Any week we wanted to go was always booked up. Perhaps this kind of "flexibility" works if you are retired, but most people who are still working can't just take off when the mood strikes.

As for V.I.P. debarkation, it seemed to us that just about everybody on the ship got off before we did. Admittedly, we did get to wait in a lounge, but given that we had a 6 hour wait at the airport for our flight, we would have been happier hanging out on the deck. And V.I.P. embarkation isn't a big thrill either. We walked right through the line in about 15 minutes while the V.I.Ps were still waiting in line at the CVC counter.

I only wish this information was available to people BEFORE they meet up with the CVC salespeople, but maybe when more of the ships have ship wide wireless internet, people can research the situation while they're still on board. Good luck and happy cruising!
Sharon

OK - First - you did not pay $299 for that week at the resort - you paid at least $799 - considering that you had to pay an extra $500 per resort. That is figuring out how much you overpaid for the points. We paid $5000 for 20,000 points - if you figure that out that ius $3500 worth of cruise points - where did the other $1500 go...? Well 3 resorts at an additional $299 - split up the $2500 between the 3 resorts and you actually paid $799 for that resort - not the $299 that you think that you paid!
Also - I have NEVER gotten a better (or equal) price from the Club. I always save when I book from vacationstogo.com. MUCH CHEAPER than Carnival vacation club. ALWAYS...
SO, figure it out and you have NOT saved at all! Sorry....

i joined this program last year and this is the best way to cruise... they never said that teh price of the membership was the price for cruises, cruise points is just one part of the membership and the people who are unhappy are those who compare the price for the cruise to the entire membership... if you do the math then you break even with cruises as compared to teh open market...but the resorts and VIP status works out FREE! eventually if the price is same or even a couple of 100 bucks more, its so worth the other vacations and VIP status.. the staff they have is great and take care of you and I have used one of the resorts for just $299...however the companion airline ticket is a tough one but that was just a free gift..all in all..i think its a great deal

i joined this last year and I its worth it.. we were never told that if you compared the open market prices to the cost of the club then it would be cheaper..in fact we were explained by the sales person that the price was a package price including the resorts and the VIP perks and when i do the math, you break even when you book your cruises or maybe you pay a couple of 100 bucks more but for $200 more for 3 years i get so many more vacations and all the VIP perks! i have used the 1 resort vacation with my family and it was $299 for a week at a place in Colorado where the going rate was $ 175 a night! thats where the savings are and the staff onboard really take care of you and change your dining room seatings when you want.. the only thing that dissapointed me was the companion ticket,but that was just i free gift, i also used a free week in cozumel as i signed up on the first day..all in all it is a great vacation package and the people who dont like it are people who are just looking at cruise prices and comparing it to the membership price..so i dont think it is a scam but its just misunderstood ..i think its a great deal and I will continue with the program and buy another package coz its a great deal for my family

wonder why practicly everyone who agrees with this program is a "New Cruiser" I havent seen too many of them answer any questions or responces.... hmmmm anyone else catch this?

I know Im just a wise guy Nuck ..nuck...nuck

Just a thought

also to my above post ..... most have only posted one post witch would be to this one thread...lol