11madmic

as a casino VIP, I have had nothing but GREAT experience dealing with casino royal over the phone and on the ship. especially with the free drinks part, they didnt even want my card, my wife could go and get drinks on my behalf as well as a family friend. But, i know this can be hit or miss because of the host, on one cruise in 2016, i was on because of the free room casino royal gave me, but the host REFUSED to give me the free drinks even though i was assured by casino royal when i booked that cruise i was 3x over the needed amount of points for it. few days into the cruise i asked her again and she said, im sorry i missed you on the list... but all was well i guess.

just an FYI tho, at the end of march of this year the new system starts and it will have a few tiers where you must renew every year. they informed me to get the free drinks you will have to earn 2500 or more points in an entire year of cruising. (starting from july 2016 till march 31 2018, and then from march to march from then on). the new system will better reward more frequent cruisers.

We've used Cortans many times, $20 per person.

Just used Cortrans based on recommendations from cruise critic and they were great, would use them again

On the 14th deck there is a "card" room with a couple of computers as well. It always seemed quite quiet when we walked by it...

we used the card room almost every night on our oasis cruise and it was so busy we always had to wait for a table and it was so loud you had to yell. maybe we were on a cruise with a lot of board gamers

Yesterday, I booked a holiday cruise for December 21, 2018 on a 9 day cruise. Just about 5 minutes ago I learned that Navigator will go to dry dock after the 5 day NYE cruise after us. Will we notice anything going on during our cruise out of the ordinary due to the upcoming dry dock? I am a little concerned that we will be subject to pre dry dock preparations or a ship that isnt in great shape.

I had success bringing on a case of water recently. what I did was bring a empty duffle bag and just put it in there with a luggage tag to leave with the porters. It did arrive hours later than my other bags, maybe they checked it? but it was a success. this was out of port Canaveral though..

On my recent oasis sailing, both myself and my wife had the refreshment package. on the first day when getting a bottle of water from the bar I asked if we could get 2 bottles each, and he assured us no problem. Well, examining my account on the tv showed we were both charged for 2 bottles of water each. Went to guest services and they informed me i was charged because I had gotten two drinks and the package only allows one. It was obviously refunded and was little shocked at this. BUT i must add i did notice most bartenders didn't even scan our cards when asking for a bottle of water.

This is not happening to everyone. I know some people who know some other people (wink, wink) who's children turned 18 several years ago. Their status continues to rise along with the parents. They have moved up two levels based on their parents cruises. The kids have been on cruises since turning 18 and have not been "caught".

its funny you mention this, last night I was reading the crown and anchor fine print and it mentions this exact scenario, where the 18 and over still receive points on cruises their parents take. It says once they are aware that happens, they will remove all points that was falsely granted to the kids. its just odd that they had to mention this as they are confirming its an issue happening ;p

I believe they keep the level that they are upon 18 at which point they would have to reach the next level based on their actual points not what you had.

my last cruise was a TA a may of 2016. On that cruise I earned a certificate for a free cruise and the club royal VIP sticker during that cruise. I did not use that certificate. I have however used their casino rates for 2 booked cruises right now. I asked the Club royal agent and he said that based on my play I would receive a sticker on my card BUT according to their rules it has to be within one year of the last cruise that you earned it with your play. Since that cruise is 18 months that it was not automatic that i would receive the sticker. He said it will depend on the Casino Host as she makes the ultimate decision. He said I could find a letter in my stateroom to go see the host to receive a sticker and if I dont, to go see her anyways and see if she would make an exception to the 12 month rule. It was at least nice for club royal to explain how it works.

Does anyone have a similar situation where you are past the 12 months and still received the sticker based on the last cruise anyways?

About bar service, on my last allure cruise, i too noticed the shorthanded bartender situation but we always leave at least a dollar extra and after a day or two no matter if the bar was PACKED the bar tender would serve us first. unfair to others? maybe.. but just sharing my experience

I have a question... Now since you have to pay for room service, will it arrive faster? on Allure it was always about an hour when it was free.

 

So my question is - If it is will they do anything special on board to "apologize" for their tardiness?

doubtful. on my navigator cruise a while back we were supposed to leave at 4:30 and didnt leave till 11pm. and not even a whisper of an apology.

funny enough, a year ago my credit card number was stolen in fort lauderdale and the only place i used it was the card for the check in at the pre cruise hotel...

I know my college, Michigan state, has spring break the first week of March pretty much every year.

is $41 a day for the deluxe minus the service fee the lowest it goes?

When did you book your Oasis sailing?

 

I see you've done Allure in the past; I did in 2013, out of Fort Lauderdale. We live in Orlando so ever since they moved Oasis to the port I've been anxiously waiting to board!

We booked this cruise in July or August of this year. We first did the allure in the med, then later that year the allure again for an eastern Caribbean

Oasis class has been our favorite so far but we are going to start trying the rest of the fleet soon :P

Lucky! Are you on 12/17 sailing? Counting down the days...

Yep! only a few weeks left!! To be honest we have such a crazy busy schedule from now till that friday (dec 15) that it really hasnt sunk in yet

I have to ask...is that $1200 inclusive of taxes and gratuities? If so, I'm about to cry. :')

it includes taxes and port fees but not gratuities.

I'm jealous of what you paid, we're probably on the same Oasis sailing, 12/17. I got an ocean balcony for 2 but it came to $1700 including taxes and fees, $1889 with gratuities included. Booked it somewhat last minute a few weeks ago. Looks like you got a much better deal. Right now that same room is $2500 for 2. It's insane how these prices fluctuate on a daily basis.

We were actually booked on Freedom of the Seas for a month or so and one day the prices of the Oasis just went crazy low, jumped on the deal, next day they were back up again. Sometimes it pays to watch the prices religiously ;p

Just off the Jewel OTS 13 night transatlantic. Paid $531pp for an ocean view cabin, taxes of $75pp, with $200 OBC. Booked with an online agency during their 4th of July sale. My flight from Tucson to Zurich, Switzerland for few days pre-cruise was only $297.80 booked through AIR2SEA. I'm a very happy camper!

 

 

 

 

If you continually loose thousands of dollars gambling, you can get a discount on your cruise... what a GREAT deal...

Firstly, I can say with complete confidence I have received way more in cruises than I have put into the casino on board. Secondly, going to a casino is a form of entertainment that is budgeted for. and of course for every person their acceptance of casinos may differ, we are simply just stating the deals we get from their program.

-My deals last year was a 700$ solo TA trip on navigator inside room with taxes and fees and double occupancy rate

-1200$ for 2 in a ocean balcony on oasis in a few weeks

-Free southern Caribbean adventure cruise during the first week of march 2018 (casino royal thing) in a balcony for 2 minus taxes and fees of course.

Its insane to see almost half of those chairs by the pool are not occupied but have towels on them...

Ok A few months ago i booked my second cruise (for december 2017) using a casino rate, near free. I just called casino royale to look at cruises in may 2018 and she told me that she would not look up casino discounts for me because i had a valid "coupon" that was sent to my email/mail which is 550$. i get these ALL THE TIME but they are never near as good as the casino rate i booked with them twice now using casino rate. I said that was odd because only a few months ago i booked with the casino rate and not with the coupon because they said the i would save more money with the casino rate. Now she is telling me they cannot or will not do casino rates based on play if there is a coupon available to use... anyone else having the same experience?

Tom Collins, great gin based drink

"while Harmony of the Seas will reposition to Port Canaveral, the first time an Oasis-class ship will homeport out of the central Florida port."

Oasis is at Port Canaveral now...