skeeter195

That's awesome with the grandkids. I am 57 and did not start until about 15 years ago. I missed a lot out on a lot I know. I used to track and use fake money all the time to see how "I might actually do". When I started getting upset about losing fake money that is when started with my own(not much, less than 5k). I am a gambler thus the options trading, very high risk for very high reward. Over the years I have had some stocks make me big money and vice versa. Overall though since I started 15 years ago I have only lost money 4 years, one very big. When a stock comes in though I always spend half of it on my family. If the grandkids have any interest maybe let them play the game with fake money and see how it goes. Heck maybe when they are old enough they could teach you a few tricks. I am still waiting for a niece or nephew to show me.

For the stock guys on here. I have been playing the options game with NCLH for the past 2 months with an uptick of about 9%. Averaging 4-5 trades per week. I did nothing last week but decided to get back in yesterday. I bought 450 16.5 call contracts. Just sold all, I do not even care if it goes to 20 now. Going to upgrade at least one upcoming cruise to Haven now. Perfect timing or just dumb luck, I don't care. I hope some of you guys got in on this also.

Don't overthink cruise ship poker to much. Remember 7 out of the 10 players are usually bad. Will they win piles at times?, yes. For the most part though the 1 or 2 good players usually end up with most of the bad players money. I rarely drink when I am playing for "real". When I am playing 2/5 on a cruise though I keep the drinks coming. graphicguy don't discount the NCL tournaments to much. Sure they can be a shove fest at times but I personally have won at least one tournament on 12 of my last 13 NCL cruises. The poker finals cruise is no joke either(I won the finals for over 100k even after a deal was made). I have been on the last 6 and the tournaments are very good with a very player friendly rake. The cash games are still 10% but capped at $15 until you get to 5-10 or higher then it is $25.

The 2 bedrooms are the easiest to get usually. We have won three 2 bedroom bids. 1 pre covid and 2 after. I always bid low. Here is a good story. Last May I bid on a 2 bedroom(we were in a club balcony) for $10 above the minimum. Within 3 weeks or of the cruise I was informed that my bid was to low and was asked if I wanted to participate in the live auction/bidding for it, I declined. Low and behold 2 days prior to sailing I was awarded the upgrade with my original $10 above bid. My guess is that maybe some of the 2 bedrooms were upgraded which opened one up for us. Or the whole system is BS just looking for more money on my already winning bid.

I can find no sound reason to buy-in for more than $200 until I get a read of the table. But that's certainly a personal choice. Most buy-in for 2-500. To give yourself a true chance at a no limit game you really need to be willing to risk 2-2.5 full buy-ins. Variance can be a b!&@h. As far as buying in short I think it is a bad play. Think of it like this. You are only going to get limited chances(sometimes not at all) per session to go all in while being in the lead in the hand. Now if you buy-in for $200 and go up against someone(who bought in for 1k) in the first 10 minutes who has a flush while you hold the nut flush, you are only getting $200 where you could have gotten 1k. While big hands will get you paid so will bluffs. With a 200 stack vs a worthy player with 1k your bluffs are not going to work as much. Buy-in big, play smart, pick your spots and you will make money. I would never give this advice to players where I play but what are the chances of us meeting up on a ship. I will be on the Prima 4/27/24, Joy 8/11/24 and Jade 11/27/24 for the poker finals cruise again. Good luck to all

The rake is indeed 10% up to $25 max. 2/5 with a 1k max buy-in. I suggest buying in for 1k and keep topping off if need be. There will be plenty of bad players throwing money in. That's why you want to have a full stack when the time is right. On a 7 night cruise I typically play 3-5 nights late and close down the table. On my last 7 cruises I have averaged winning $3567 per cruise, that is not counting my huge tournament win in November 23. If you are good you will make money. If you are average or worse you can still make money by waiting out and recognizing the juicy situations. I play a lot of poker and make money at it. I truly look forward to my cruises where I can relax, have multiple drinks, enjoy the table banter and still come out ahead because of the generally bad play.

There was a full sized craps table on the Meraviglia last month. I played 3 times, twice by myself and once with 2 other people.

The comped cruises always came from NCL CAS directly. The problem is that you have to call CAS and ask about what your comp may be, which has no rhyme or reason. MSC is very polarizing, earn these points and get this. While there is "wiggle room" woth NCL, MSC is can be a much fairer comping system. You may not get as much as much as NCL will give you at times but you will get what you have earned from MSC.

Here is a comparison post that I put up on the NCL board today if anyone is interested. I appreciate the info I got from the MSC board prior to my cruise last month. The ship: NCL -Once outside of the suite area NCL has many more food options and things going on -both designs are nice and easy to get around Getting on and off the ship: MSC -group escort on the ship into the YC -butler escort off the ship right to the exit door, wow Snacks: NCL -just having the local or osheehans makes this a no brainer Pizza: MSC -not even close. Just seeing the Mozzarella machine at work made the pizza better, not to mention the 8 or ten varieties and thin crust. Suite area dining: MSC -while the food itself is technically prepared and presented better on NCL the changing menus on MSC get the nod here. -The addition of fresh pastas daily also gives MSC an edge. -Some food on MSC is bland. I believe that is due to them following the European salt and sugar standards for restaurants. Just add salt and or pepper at times and all is good -The small outside MSC buffet on deck 18 was always open for breakfast and lunch no matter the weather In room dining: NCL -Both offer 24 hour room service but on NCL ordering off of the Haven menus are never a problem MSC must be ordered off of the regular room service menu mostly Drinks: NCL -We may have had bad luck but the we had a hard time getting drinks made properly on MSC. The simplest of drinks like a cosmo or gimlet had bartenders and servers asking what was in it. NCL is always 95% spot on with drinks Perks: MSC -top shelf drink package, fully stocked and replenished mini bar, a full bottle of spirit of your choice for the room, bottle wine or champagne every other day in your room all included on MSC. Daily snacks the same on both. Escorted to shows and off of the ship the same. Butler: MSC -We have had great butlers on NCL but our butler on MSC was twice as good as our best NCL butler. We are never needy and always appreciate what our butler does for us. He did so many little things for us but was never bothering us if that makes sense. Always there at the right time some how. Again our NCL butlers have all been great except for one who was horrible. Maybe we just got lucky on MSC but wow. Entertainment: MSC -We always liked the NCL entertainment but within the last few years we rarely go to the theatre anymore. We are on a 15 day prima cruise soon and I do not know what we are going to do honestly, maybe the price is right will be fun. NCL lounge and club acts are also getting to be the same old thing. It was probably just different on MSC but we attended 4 theatre shows and multiple small act shows and enjoyed them all. Casino: MSC -All of my NCL cruises have been casino comps. Lately though their comps are declining rapidly with what seems like a "mystery spin" as to what you may comped next. My Haven comps have now mostly become balcony or club balcony comps for more play. MSC casino comps are very simple to understand, bet or play this and you get this, simple. A YC comp is a little bit easier to get than a Haven comp it appears. Casino management is much more approachable and friendlier than NCL. People are different and I may have gotten lucky on MSC for my cruise. Price: MSC I had to pay full fare minus a small discount for this cruise and it was still cheaper than an NCL comped cruise upgrading to the Haven. For a comped cruise NCL charges a $20 per day fee plus all of the other taxes, gratuities on drinks and dining, etc so a 9 day comped cruise these charges come out to be between 1-1.2k(2). The MSC 9 day cruise cost was $360(2) total for all taxes, fees, etc. Final thoughts: MSC by a hair -We like NCL and we will stick with them but not exclusively. There are things that NCL needs to do or MSC will overtake them once people find out. The casino is the big thing. Casino revenue is huge on ships and NCL has a big piece of the floating casino game. MSC though is better in ways. Gamblers like to be given things even if small, they like to be recognized, MSC does this better. -I do not have sour grapes with NCL, heck I won over 100k on NCL in November and I actually lost money on this MSC cruise. Winning and losing is part of the game. -Maybe we just got lucky with this one MSC cruise. up today on the NCL board comparing the Meraviglia(I sailed January 4-11th) and NCL newer ships Encore and Joy.

Encore, Bliss and Joy all basically the same. The Escape used to be our favorite but now it is the Encore or Joy. the reason for this is that there is a separate small enclosed smoking section of the casino. No more permeating smoke leaking out to decks 6,7 and 8. All of the smoke is enclosed into a 30'x40' space.

We loved the "European" style and rarely needed to add salt. No big deal though if we wanted to, just grab a shaker and all is good.

Sorry for not replying sooner to this. Here is my comparison of the Haven vs YC and NCL vs MSC. Our biggest fear was that we would be comparing the YC to the Haven all of the time(our last 25 cruises have been with NCL with the last 8 of 10 in the haven). While we did compare it did not consume us and we had fun with it. For the review lets call the Haven and YC "suite area" The ship: NCL -Once outside of the suite area NCL has many more food options and things going on -both designs are nice and easy to get around Getting on and off the ship: MSC -group escort on the ship into the YC -butler escort off the ship right to the exit door, wow Snacks: NCL -just having the local or osheehans makes this a no brainer Pizza: MSC -not even close. Just seeing the Mozzarella machine at work made the pizza better, not to mention the 8 or ten varieties and thin crust. Suite area dining: MSC -while the food itself is technically prepared and presented better on NCL the changing menus on MSC get the nod here. -The addition of fresh pastas daily also gives MSC an edge. -Some food on MSC is bland. I believe that is due to them following the European salt and sugar standards for restaurants. Just add salt and or pepper at times and all is good -The small outside MSC buffet on deck 18 was always open for breakfast and lunch no matter the weather In room dining: NCL -Both offer 24 hour room service but on NCL ordering off of the Haven menus are never a problem MSC must be ordered off of the regular room service menu mostly Drinks: NCL -We may have had bad luck but the we had a hard time getting drinks made properly on MSC. The simplest of drinks like a cosmo or gimlet had bartenders and servers asking what was in it. NCL is always 95% spot on with drinks Perks: MSC -top shelf drink package, fully stocked and replenished mini bar, a full bottle of spirit of your choice for the room, bottle wine or champagne every other day in your room all included on MSC. Daily snacks the same on both. Escorted to shows and off of the ship the same. Butler: MSC -We have had great butlers on NCL but our butler on MSC was twice as good as our best NCL butler. We are never needy and always appreciate what our butler does for us. He did so many little things for us but was never bothering us if that makes sense. Always there at the right time some how. Again our NCL butlers have all been great except for one who was horrible. Maybe we just got lucky on MSC but wow. Entertainment: MSC -We always liked the NCL entertainment but within the last few years we rarely go to the theatre anymore. We are on a 15 day prima cruise soon and I do not know what we are going to do honestly, maybe the price is right will be fun. NCL lounge and club acts are also getting to be the same old thing. It was probably just different on MSC but we attended 4 theatre shows and multiple small act shows and enjoyed them all. Casino: MSC -All of my NCL cruises have been casino comps. Lately though their comps are declining rapidly with what seems like a "mystery spin" as to what you may comped next. My Haven comps have now mostly become balcony or club balcony comps for more play. MSC casino comps are very simple to understand, bet or play this and you get this, simple. A YC comp is a little bit easier to get than a Haven comp it appears. Casino management is much more approachable and friendlier than NCL. People are different and I may have gotten lucky on MSC for my cruise. Price: MSC I had to pay full fare minus a small discount for this cruise and it was still cheaper than an NCL comped cruise upgrading to the Haven. For a comped cruise NCL charges a $20 per day fee plus all of the other taxes, gratuities on drinks and dining, etc so a 9 day comped cruise these charges come out to be between 1-1.2k(2). The MSC 9 day cruise cost was $360(2) total for all taxes, fees, etc. Final thoughts: MSC by a hair -We like NCL and we will stick with them but not exclusively. There are things that NCL needs to do or MSC will overtake them once people find out. The casino is the big thing. Casino revenue is huge on ships and NCL has a big piece of the floating casino game. MSC though is better in ways. Gamblers like to be given things even if small, they like to be recognized, MSC does this better. -I do not have sour grapes with NCL, heck I won over 100k on NCL in November and I actually lost money on this MSC cruise. Winning and losing is part of the game. -Maybe we just got lucky with this one MSC cruise.

750 ml. A little worse. We got the 700ml bottles last year. We did however get a bottle of Moet for bubbles. Honestly though we like the Romio prosecco better even though it is only $9 a bottle by me. Thanks for the info everyone. The videos I saw of the Prima only ever showed 1 bottle. Not the biggest seal but it is nice to have especially the mixers and waters. Sailing12away thanks for the picture of the 3.

Thank you. I forgot about the real champagne

Do the owners suites on the Prima come with the bottles of alcohol and mini bar mixers, sodas, waters etc like on other ships? Thanks

Just an update on my situation. I emailed all info on Thursday. I got the immediate confirmation email with a case number. As of today still nothing. I keep checking my summary page. I have other OBC from NCL but still no shareholder OBC. I will re-email them on Monday if I still have not heard. My next cruise is not until the end of April so there is plenty of time.

We just took a 9 day MSC cruise in the YC from NY and the mini fridge was included. It was kept packed to the rim all of the time. Also the butler will bring you whatever you want(drinkwise) to your room. My last 24 cruises have been with NCL with 7 of the last 8 in the Haven. It is these little things like the minifridge on MSC where NCL had better keep their eyes open. Not to mention the price.

Just looked and I did not see a phone number so I just emailed them.

I know the mail is slow and I am going to give it until Monday and make a call. Thank you

We have a 15 day prima cruise in April and using the shareholder credit for the first time. Where can I see the $250 credit on my reservation? I see other OBC in my summary but the shareholder is not there. I submitted my paperwork by mail before Christmas. Thanks

The nickel and diming has turned into quarters and halving now with the alcohol choices. I am on vacation and want to drink better wines and bubbles at times. I stay in the Haven and do not mind spending money on an upgraded package or buying a wine outright. Low and behold I am now finding it hard to find a decent selection of wines... Solution, bring my own. So now I have to lug 6-10 bottles in my luggage hoping they do not break. I then have to find a place to properly chill my bottles at different temps like I have at home and they have on the ship. Carry my bottle(s) to the dining room like a hobo. Carry or tag the unfinished bottle. Who is winning here???? NCL for sure. I am still paying for "their" package(basic or not) and I am drinking less of "their" alcohol. This makes my vacation more work to drink a better quality of spirit. NCL's changes are to drastic to quickly. The premium plus package was nice at first but it has changed to much to fast.

We just got back from our first MSC cruise, a nine day cruise on the MSC Meraviglia from NY. We have 26 CAS cruises under our belt. MY usual CAS comps are balcony through Haven with very little rhyme or reason as to how comps are working. Example 4 of our last 6 cruises(2 1/2 years) have been Haven comps with the other 2 balcony. My play is basically the same but my comps are odd. I got a Bermuda August Haven comp, then got a 1st week in December Western carr balcony comp. The Bermuda cruise was about 1.75 times the cost of the Western carr cruise, makes zero sense. Anyway here is my comparison. Points: Slots-CAS 5 coin in gets 1 point -MSC 3 coin in gets 1 point Tables- MSC was more generous with giving points at the tables, CAS can be like pulling teeth at times. My average bet is $350 at BJ mostly. Hosts- The MSC host(s), I only saw one was very nice and checked up on us 3 or 4 times during the cruise. Sometimes the CAS hosts seem annoyed that you are asking them questions Charging money to the room- MSC charges 0% at tables or slots. CAS is 3% unless at the higher tiers Money off of final bill- MSC, I had less than $500 that the casino picked up. CAS is about the same On MSC future cruise comps are very black and white. Earn this many points, get this. if you want to upgrade, it is very reasonable. The room that I qualify for next trip will only cost me $280 total for all taxes and fees for a 7 night cruise for 2. CAS will start at $280($20 per person per day for 2) then add port fees and taxes, drink and dining surcharge and the price now over 1k. I am loyal to CAS and booked this MSC trip 3 days prior to sail date on a whim just to try something different. IMO CAS had better take a look at MSC. Some of what they are doing will make switching to MSC very easy. As far as our ship experience, it was great. We stayed in the YC. Comparing it to the Haven, some things were much better and some things not as good. Overall I rate it as a tie. Price wise though, the YC is much cheaper than the Haven.

We prefer the Ocean villas. We have had 2 ocean and 2 lagoon. Pros of Ocean villa: -water much nicer, no grass, no bad smell at times from low tide, clearer -closer to food options -service was much better for us -closer to spa -closer to other parts of the island(not that we ever left the area) Cons of Ocean villa: -a very long way from the pool -villas smaller with no backdoor(not a big deal for us) -a steeper walk to the water -no anchored raft like in the lagoon

We are going on the MSC Meraviglia and was wondering how the comps are. My last 22 cruises have been on NCL, balconies up to and including Haven comps. How do the comps on MSC work? Do they offer comps like dinners and shopping mid cruise? Do they money off the bill at the end? Do you get a future cruise offer before you leave? Is there anything that I should be looking for? Any info would be greatly appreciated.

Wow. Thank you for all of these responses. We can't wait for Saturday, you guys have eased the second guessing we had of booking on a whim. I know we will be comparing the Haven to the YC a lot I just hope not to much. I am sure that we will favor the Haven at times and vice versa with the YC. Thanks again