Atlanta07

skeeter95 - Honestly, if you are playing that much and earn that many points on any given cruise, you should be completely comped for the cruise up front in a suite. Go to a junket club, they will take care of you. FOR SURE.

Thank you, ptruder! Appreciate the feedback. Now just to figure out what to do.

Does anyone know or have an opinion about the cabins on deck 16 compared to 17. I know the actual difference - but I'm looking for benefits of each based on location.

Any opinion? Any real difference? Thanks!

The ships still pay 35:1 - but they do have both 0 and 00.

Thanks again! :) You can see I was on a mission with this question. Last time we were in 14500 - this time we are choosing 14506.

ksimpso3 - Thank you for that info about the room keys going to any room - had no idea. I guess when we sailed in the GV they were just nice enough not to point out that it didn't matter. :) I guess we just assumed it mattered and never tried to go into each others rooms. Thanks again for the info! We are pretty excited to be in the GV again. We thought for sure that the last time would be our last. So glad we get to do it again but instead of Alaska - in the Caribbean!

Thanks bear3412 - I appreciate it!

For everyone else the reason why this is important is not for checking into hotel the restaurants etc it is so we know which cabin we are in for the key card to work in our specific rooms and to have the different credit cards attached to our specific cabin numbers etc. We've stayed in the Star GV once before and had it all worked out but I couldn't remember the cabin numbers as it didn't matter after the first day at embarkation.

Thanks again!

Maybe someone might know the answers to the questions that elude me in my research.

Does anyone know the different cabin numbers that are in suite 14500? For instance I believe that suite 14506 is the cabin with the sliding glass door to the patio - can anyone confirm that? Also any idea what the other two bedroom cabin numbers are? I'm just trying to be prepared for when we check in so we can tell them what cabin numbers all guests will be in etc.

Thanks for your help! :)

Quick ? for you - do you remember the room numbers for each of the rooms within 14500? For instance - I believe the cabin number for the 3rd room that has the patio door is 14506...can you confirm this? Also - any idea what the other two cabin numbers are? We just want to be prepared so we know what rooms we will be assigned when we get to the port without any confusion. :) Thanks!

How do you get a card for CAS on NCL? We're doing a Baltic cruise on 06/03/13, and I know we'll be visiting the casino a few nights during the 9 we're on the Star... but how do you get the card?

 

On the boat?

 

Prior to boarding?

 

And Slot Play coupons... $25 for $50... is it worth it and do they work? Are the accepted or am I taking a chance?

If you are part of the CAS program when you book the cards will be in your room. If not, just simply go to the casino when they open and they will issue you one - very easy.

Slot play coupons are accepted with no issues.

That's great! If you love RC then of course you will stay with them but if you want to choose to go on other lines a casino junket can use your status on RC to get you the same comps on other lines like NCL or Carnival or Celebrity. In the future you might want to look into that as well.

Just make sure that you check in each time and hopefully that will take care of it.

This is the worst club ever. Called to check on status from last 2 cruises and the never sent any tracking over from the previous cruises. They will not be getting play from me this trip, I will gamble in Puerto Rico and St. Maarten instead.

That's crazy - They should have tracking for you if you used your card at the slots or checked in at the tables. Maybe call back and speak to someone else. Based on your play you should be able to receive comps of some sort. If not through the cruise line then definitely through a casino junket company. If you need help with that let me know. I'd be happy to help.

Just curious - which cruise line are you talking about that didn't have any tracking for you?

For those of you that have yet to but will be getting your Carnival "Premier Cruises" list I received mine today - they are as follows:

Dream 7/13/13

Pride 8/11/13

Breeze 8/31/13

Sunshine 9/20/13

Splendor 9/22/13

Conquest 10/13/13

Hans

I found this petition on whitehouse.gov - maybe if they get enough interest they will actually respond about travel to Cuba... https://petitions.whitehouse.gov/petition/open-travel-cuba-all-us-citizens-any-reason/zGzSf8yQ

rochelleb,

Thanks for your message. On Carnival you don't get money back like you do on RCI or a credit to your room bill like you do with NCL - ultimately with Carnival you are working toward a free or discounted future cruise and or cash to be given to you the first night of your future cruise. If you and the person you are traveling with both receive offers you can combine them. For instance one of you may receive a free balcony cabin and the other receive cash - that is what my last cruise was and worked out well in addition to the free dinners etc.

RCI does give complementary specialty dinning but it seems to be hit and miss and comes directly from the casino host or manager so it is always good to establish a relationship with them as early as possible.

My preference is still NCL even though I had a good experience with Carnival this last time and my check for my last cruise with RCI just arrived today. Of course this all comes from my experience booking with a junket rather than through the cruise lines themselves with the exception of Carnival.

I hope that answers your questions!

Hans

Just got off the Carnival Breeze - it is truly a beautiful ship. The casino wasn't nice to us but was to a few others. The poker machines were the hot machines on our cruise. We did however have gifts/treats in our cabin every other night and had 3 dinners on the casino for free in the Italian restaurant and the steakhouse.

That's great! Yes - it is always good to use your card all the time, every time. You never know what comps you will qualify for. That's great to have surprise cash waiting for you.

Thanks... $5 or $10 would be great! When it gets to $25 I have a shorter leash.

I understand that! It's nice to build up to that level or have the choice to drop down your bet if the cards aren't going in your favor.

From what I've seen different cruise lines have different minimum bets. I've also seen where a line will announce that a smaller minimum will be established for a specific time period in the casino.

Many times if the casino isn't busy they lower the bet. The most common lowest bet I've seen is $5 and the lowest was during a Carnival cruise where the casino was pretty empty and they lowered the minimums to $3 to get people in the door hoping I'm sure that they would be tempted to increase their bets once they were there.

We just booked a 2 bedroom suite on the Jewel with the Harrah's discount. Does anyone know if the second couple traveling with us in the suite will receive the drink cards? The discount and the drink cards for my DW and I are great, but if they extend the drink cards to our friends...that would just be outstanding!

If they are booked with your reservation and in the same room they should receive the drink cards as well.

I recently became a member of Club Royale. I wish that they were a bit more welcoming in terms of treating me nicely outside the casino. The only thing I've received in my cabin is a welcome aboard letter inviting me to stop by the casino and meet the casino host along with a couple foil-wrapped chocolate casino chips.

 

Now, I will say, on the other hand, I was doing very well during my last cruise and was able to spend a lot more time in there on the slot machines. The casino host was able to comp my entire group of 11 to dinner at Portofino along with a $200 credit for wine. I'd never received anything extra during any of my previous cruises, so that was a really nice treat.

 

Still, I'd love to come into the cabin to find a bottle of wine or some chocolate covered strawberries. Maybe next time...

Yeah - With Club Royale it all seems to depend on your relationship with the casino host or manager in the beginning and then during the cruise making sure that they see you. Although they run daily reports to see who is playing it seems that if they don't see you - you don't get anything extra. NCL definitely has them beat in this regard to having treats in your cabin etc.

My wife is a teacher so our cruises are usually limited to peak cruise periods. We have not yet been fortunate enough to receive a free cruise but often get 20% discount. I stay away from the slots because they seem to be set very tight. I don't see many good pays. I stick with craps and have the pit boss rate my play. The free drinks are a nice benefit and the welcome gift in the cabin is appreciated very much.

 

The cruise line that you get 20% off - is that Carnival? If so - keep an eye out for mailed offers. That's the only way we've ever been able to get a free cruise with them. We play both table games and slots and have been lucky on both - although not often. Welcome gifts and free drinks are always nice. The only time I get a bit annoyed is when on the last night of the cruise I go to dinner and we are offered two bottles of wine - drink one and think that we will just take the other off the ship. We go to our cabin to find 3 more bottles in the room. With it being the last night we then start giving away bottles due to the bad planning of the casino. If we drank all 5 bottles we'd be a bit in trouble :). A few other cruise passengers and even staff have benefited from this problem and seem to appreciate it.

Hello all - I wanted to start a thread for those gamblers like myself that are looking to trade tips and experiences that they have had with RCI, NCL and Carnival. Hope we can all share ideas to get the most perks out of the programs and share enough info so others don't have the frustrations that I've had in the past.

For reference and just in case I mess up the names NCL's program is called Casinos at Sea (CAS), Carnival's is Ocean Players Club and RCI or RCCL is Club Royale.

I know that there are other cruise programs out there for gamblers but I'm only familiar with those listed above as they are the only cruise lines that I've actually cruised with. I'm sure others will be happy to list additional programs and how they work in the thread.

In the beginning we were always people that would refuse to use a player's card on a ship even though we spent a lot of time in the casino. We had two thoughts - either the cards had some sort of influence on the machine or that we didn't play enough for it to matter. We were finally convinced to use a player's card - on some lines your room key.

Now we use the cards at all times and can't imagine not doing so for reasons that I will get to soon.

NCL's Casinos at Sea program is my preference over all of the lines as they seem to give the best comps based on previous play or expected play. I will get to expected play in a moment.

Based on your play they will comp a type of cabin or give you a discount. In my experience I've been offered a suite and if I didn't like the suite offered I can pay to upgrade to whatever level I'd like. Note that if they do comp a room that you are happy with you will still have to pay port taxes and will still be responsible for gratuities etc.

Another great thing about NCL's program are the comps at the end of the cruise. Based on your play (points that you accumulate) throughout the cruise they then comp your cruise bill the last night of the cruise. Now the standard is that you have to get at least 2,500 points throughout the cruise to qualify for any part of your bill to be comped but based on your play they will give you a credit. Gratuities and cash pulls cannot be comped. Based on weather you book through their program or through a junket can determine how much you get back but either program is great. It is nice to get a credit on your bill either way. Several times we've had our whole bill comped. Another great perk is that you will get a drink card to use while in the casino. If you book through a marketing company or through a casino promotion you should get the drink card in your cabin when you get on the ship, otherwise when you earn enough points (I can't remember how many but it will be advertised) just go up to the casino cage and they will give you a card that attaches to your players card and will notify the waiter's not to charge you for drinks.

When I mentioned expected play it is only in the event that you have never cruised with them or never used a players card when you did. You won't get comps from NCL directly - you would have to go through a casino junket or a casino marketing company and ultimately they would "vouch" for you. They do this based on your play either at other land based casino's or from other cruise lines. For instance if you are a Diamond or Seven Stars player at Harrah's or a Platinum or Noir member at MGM they would be able to get you a room or at least a discount on NCL or any other cruise line. After your first booked cruise they will then determine all future discounts or comps based on the last cruise you went on. This is true not only for NCL but all other cruise lines I'm talking about in this thread. I know from personal experience that there are several good casino marketing / junket companies out there.

Carnival - Ocean Player's Club - Based on previous play, Carnival will offer you cash and a discounted cabin. If they are having a special promotion you can choose which cruise out of a list that you want to go on for free. If you want to go on a cruise and they don't have a promotion (received in the mail) then you will usually get 10-20% off whatever cabin you choose. Also if you and your spouse both get offer's you can combine them. For instance my spouse has been offered a free balcony cabin before and I've been offered cash - you can combine them and one get the cabin and the other get the cash. If you both get offer's for a free cabin - all is not lost - you can combine the cabin offers and get a better cabin. This is the best way to book with Carnival if you can as the discounted fair doesn't make you feel "special."

Carnival's cash offer can be let's say frustrating at times. First if it is through the promotion mentioned above you will get a voucher for any cash offer's. This is what you want - the voucher provides proof. Several times I've been so frustrated and angry because what I was told my cash offer would be before the cruise and once I got on the cruise and went to the cash cage, they didn't have the same amount. Always get your cash offer sent to you via email from the players club as you will need proof and a contact person to prove that you aren't lying to the casino on the ship if there is a discrepancy. I can say that I've had to wait up to two days to get the cash promised but held out. You will be pressured to just take what they have but don't do it unless you have no proof at all of what you've been told your offer is.

Carnival also has a free drinks program while playing in the casino and is great. They do not comp your bill at the end like NCL.

Royal Caribbean - Casino Royale - They also have a program where you get an amount off of whatever cabin you prefer to book. This works nicely in the sense that you don't have to wait to see what cabin they are going to give you. The booking process was extremely easy because of this. They don't comp your bill at the end. As of November 2012 they also did not have a drink program for free drinks but the casino manager may offer you a drink on occasion. After the cruise if you book through them they will send you a rebate voucher for an amount off of a future cruise. If you book through a junket or casino marketing company you will get a check - yes one that you can cash - in the mail about 60 days after your cruise. After the amount we got off of our cabin and our (unfortunate) losses we are getting back about 50% of what we spent in the casino.

All of the cruise lines will send things to your cabin based on your play. You will get chocolate covered strawberries, bottles of wine at dinner or bottles of wine in your cabin, vouchers for free photos etc.

Okay - I think that is enough to get a conversation going. Just wanted to give my fellow gamblers a little bit more information so that you can utilize the comps that are out there. Nothing is better than going on a cruise for free to gamble. At least you have a possibility of winning big and if you don't - well then you had a good time and a free or at least less expensive cruise.

And again, my last bit of advice always sign up for and or use your players card. You never know what offers you will get even if you don't think you play enough.

Have fun and happy cruising!!

We've seen a few horror stories play out in front of us - but our horror story happened not that long ago after going to Bermuda on a 7 day cruise. The cruise, the cabin, the service were all great. What wasn't great was the text message we received once we got back to Boston after the cruise. The text said that we had gone over our data limit and that our data for both International and US would be turned off until we called AT&T. Now we used several apps and didn't really monitor how long we were on over the 3 days we were in Bermuda. So after being notified that our WORK phone data bill was close to $3,800 we now just turn on airplane mode before going out of the country. Lesson definitely learned. :) At least we were able to enjoy the rest of our cruise before we got the bad news.