MarinerBoy

4 hours ago, greenenvy said:

Have you checked current pricing with the current deal going on? Virgin charges per cabin not per sailor. So the prices may say 1500-2000 but that is for two people. And if you talk to a TA that’s been recently, they can likely offer a $300 discount too. Plus the 10% pay in full offer. With my sea blazers and on board promotion - my next cruise was about $750 pp. 

 

The other thing to note is the No Nickle and diming on the ship. My final bill with Virgin was 10% or 20% of what I’ve paid on other lines once all the gratuities, meals etc were added. You pay for a premium product and don’t have to spend anything extra on board (only if you want to!). 

VV product is severally underpriced at the moment because they don't know how to price such a new line, they have a massive amount of value which they quickly will.correct in 2022 with at least double the current costs.

41 minutes ago, The_Force said:

A little background... our TA booked a Suite twice for us for the Dec 29th cruise. Both times, it showed available online, and for our TA to book. Within hours, VV cancelled our reservation by sending us and our TA a cancellation email. So we booked a Sea Terrace. Our TA wad told we could bid on a suite. We always cruise in suites and would prefer to be able to book the cabin we want without having to go through all of this bidding war. Just looking for anyone elses experience regarding the bidding process. Thanks

Suite are the least recommended way to cruise. You lose a lot of money on a suite because the markup for a cruise are huge on suites vs standard rooms. You are paying 3x the price of a standard room while having same benefits on the ship, you essentially are a victim of your stupidity if you sail in suites based on this logic above.

Virgin is a super premium cruise line compared to Crystal, Regent etc.. to be honest Virgin is underpriced for what it is, in the future I have no doubt their basic cabins will be $3000+ as an entry way, about 3x what Princess/Carnival/RCI charge.

1 hour ago, Chamoretta said:

I think it is worth the cost.  I usually try to get a cruise to be around $100 per night per person.  If you take away additional cost for sodas, Wi-Fi, specialty dinning using competitors pricing per day  it comes out to be about $100 per night. I plan to do a cost value video in late January or February breaking it down.

Except even the cheapest cabin is $1000 per person per 5 days so $200/night is VV while other cruise lines you can easily find $100 or under but VV is a premium product. 

On 12/18/2021 at 7:29 PM, kk99 said:

Updating from my experience on Apex 12-4-2021. First time sailing since the end of 2019. All tiers extended through December 31, 2022. All prior points were reset to zero when the ships started sailing again,  and you retained your prior tier status.

For every dollar played through a slot machine, 1 point for the count towards BCC status, video poker $5 to get 1 tier point. So if you played 100 dollars on the slots, and you won 50 dollars and played it through, you would have 150 points.  You need 25,000 points for amethyst,  100,000 points to get sapphire, 500,000 for sapphire plus, 1 million for Ruby, so if you sail 4 times before the end of 2022, your accumulated points will determine the next year’s status of your tier.

For every 5 dollars cycled through a slot machine ( more for video poker $10) you earn 1 dollar of free play that must be used and played off on a slot machine or video poker machine before the end of the cruise. So if you played through 15,000 dollars on a slot machine, it equals $300 of free play, which is in addition to your tier free play guarantee on the BCC chart.

 

No access for higher level players to the Retreat, also Zeniths excluded, due to having fewer people in the lounge due to Covid policies for lessening crowds,  unless already staying in a suite. 
 

No casino reception event, no free slot tournament entry fee waived, no bottle of wine or treats sent to the room, no offers to pick up a specialty dinner or take something off for shipboard or spa charges as they would do in the past if your level of play warranted it, just going by the benefits per the chart on Celebrity’s website. I do realize that all of the budgets have been trimmed, so this did not surprise me, just stating this for others who have not been back onboard a  Celebrity ship yet under the new BCC guidelines.

 

So for some BCC players, there was a test promotion on Apex  for our sailing at Future Cruise Sales, where you could book most sailings up to a sky suite in 2022 at a discount percentage. Friends that I was traveling with who are Sapphire, received a 30% discount off their base casino fare, and they booked  a sky suite for a 2022 12 night European cruise on Apex. However, when I wanted to do a future booking, Future cruise sales could not do it, as no rate discount code was in their system for Ruby players. So Celebrity missed an opportunity for a new booking.

 

Both the Apex casino host and  casino manager sent emails to BCC management  shoreside to try and get the rate code opened, and it never happened.  I also called BCC when we were in port to try and get it resolved. The BCC staff are all really nice on the Apex, so clearly a kink in the system to be worked out shoreside.

When I got back from the cruise , I did call BCC to see what the dollars off per night to be applied to a brand new booking that was earned and received 2 different answers. I am waiting on an email response now.

 

We like Celebrity , and sail on different brands for itineraries or different experiences.

I am holding a neutral position on the BCC restart of the program. There needs to be clarity  and consistency in the program, and people can decide to participate , try and maintain, increase or decrease their tier level if it is a benefit to them.

Happy sailing everyone, and best of luck and good health for all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

$15 000 play through  is $3000 in free play not $300. No one would play 15,000 unless there was a huge reward, your post said $300 (1$ freeplay for every $5 spent).

Also, who are you kidding to get 25,000 points just for lowest status? Most people only sail on 1 or 2 cruises a year, and from those people they have fun in the casino with $100 daily slot budget. You are kidding your self yo think anyone is spending $25,000 in a year on a cruise gambling..  get real.

4 minutes ago, denisey said:

 

We were at Terminal C, but I know they were getting ready to change that to Terminal F.  The website does say Term F in the FAQ's

Problem is that when you click on the map under directions on your Virgin map for day 1 it takes you to pier C not F. This is still as of today 12/05/2021.

What cruise terminal in Miami?

What Cruise Terminal does this depart from? C? D? E?

For those who cruise in and out of Miami or any other destination, how does one get a PCR test 48 hrs before a flight back to Canada if we are stuck on a boat?

Flights back home take off a few hours after the ship docks, so how do people get PCR test in time to fly back?

For those who cruise in and out of Miami or any other destination, how does one get a PCR test 48 hrs before a flight back to Canada if we are stuck on a boat?

Flights back home take off a few hours after the ship docks, so how do people get PCR test in time to fly back?

Looking for advice on what to get when have comped casino drinks. My wife and I both have a sticker on our card allowing unlimited drinks only in casino so we plan to take advantage.

What is the absolutely best $ for $ drink i can dream up in a casino? Shot of LouisXXV cognac?  Flute of Dom Perigon? Request a wine from the vintage collection?

The bar tender you'll have to ask to call down to the main bar to get them to make it and bring it up..don't care if I sound fussy I want to know what the best possible most expensive drink I can snatch from the casino?

Sailing Princess.

Do you have a list of the best drinks to ask for when in a casino? Last casino cruise we were offered any drink when in a casino but had no clue what to order so we wasted our drinks on basic rum and cokes. Later on by talking to others we found out that any drink including complex martinis or multi mix elixirs were possible, just have to know what to ask for.

So dollar for dollar, what is the most value you can extract from a single free drink if offered?

29 minutes ago, mina said:

my statement was IF the offer is for an inside, then you have to pay to upgrade.  It is not incorrect, just not clearly stated.  I do not gamble enough to get the free balcony offers.  

If you don't gamble how do you get invited back on cruises? There is no way I can afford 3 cruises a month if I had to pay for them out of pocket. I get comped through casino for free cruises across almost every cruise line, you need to up your casino game if you want to cruise free and save money.

On 7/5/2021 at 9:56 PM, caribill said:

 

Of course.

 

In Vegas, if you do not like the odds in one casino, you can easily go to another.

 

On a ship, that would be a long swim.

This can't be further from the truth..the casino on a cruise has an incentive to pay out HIGHER to keep you coming back crusing. If they had lower than Vegas ods people would never visit the casino, cruise casinos are pretty generous as they have a revenue sharing agreement with the cruise line so more people cruise = more profits from the cruise line as a payout, this is on top of casino earnings. Casinos are incentivized to keep you coming back on cruises, and feeling happy.

Thus many casinos on cruises are constantly packed, a lots of people join their loyalty programs because casinos are so popular due to winnings on cruises, don't be fooled by propaganda that odds on cruises are less.

On 7/6/2021 at 7:21 AM, mina said:

A few things to think about when considering a casino offer for a free cruise:  if the offer is for an inside, you need to pay for the upgrade to a balcony, if you want one and sometimes the princess plus is not included.  Your 200 deposit is non refundable if you have to cancel.  You do get it back as obc on the cruise. In addition, you pay for the cruise in full at the time of purchase.  For airfare through princess, you have to call the casino dept and book through them as well if it is a free cabin offer.  If you add it online yourself, it cancels your entire cruise, a known system issue. For us, I had to pay in full for business airfare to Europe upfront as they claim any booking has to have everything paid in full upfront, even the flexible air.    The air is still flexible air, but you can not change it online if the price goes down, you need to call them again.   Honestly, I will never do a free cabin again thru them as the upfront payments and hassle of trying to call to reprice and rebook my air just is not worth it. They are collecting interest off of about 7k of my $$ for almost a year before we even sail.   I will stick to the 35% reduced casino rate so I do not have to pay in full upfront or go through the hassle. 

This is incorrect, I get FREE balcony cabins year round from my comp play. PRINCESS sends out a brochure where you select up to 3 sailings to go on, all free no need to pay for cruise upfront. Only $200 booking fee which is refunded as OBC. This is incredibly generous for someone like me who is unemployed and is living ship to ship, I absolutely love the casino comp program.

7 minutes ago, Iamcruzin said:

Until cruising starts sailing at full capacity I think that all of these FCCs and extra money on gift cards are just fools gold and it doesn't matter what cruise line you sail on.

Absolutely, I been telling people its a huge mistake to pay for a gift card as they cant be used for Casino cash, so its not like cash its just a gift card.

To commit to such a huge value as $500 in cruise spending is nonsense how many people actually spend $500 during their cruise? How bad are people with money managment to allow them selves to not only spend that much but actually buy gift cards.. my God horrific.

5 hours ago, c-boy said:

Congrats on the 12 dayer. I'll assume your a card player.  I am under the impression that Konami's SYNCROS uses biometric player tracking, you know anything about that ? 

You are getting far ahead of your self, SYNCROS is widely used by land based properties, cruiseships are not yet clients of this casino management tool. For optimum money churn you should always always be playing tables.

It helps of course that I know 90% of the casino pit bosses personally by now after years of comp sailing, they polish up my playthrough rates in exchange I bring them customers, friends and promote the casino while I am walking around the ship.

See true power lies with the pit boss because they decide and they keep track of who played how much and for how long, its a rudimentary archaic system that allows for personal exploitation you see.

If I put down $1000 on craps but only play $50 on passline for an hour, its not uncommon for the playthrough to be recorded at 300 or 400% higher by the pit boss then I actually played because I know them and we got each other's back and casinos on ships have 0 way to verify individual level table games unless something is clearly off but I fly under the radar. Remember who you talking to, a legend in the casino comp community.

7 minutes ago, pms4104 said:

Does anyone really think Princess' casino operation comps anything, or everything, to consistent winners?  

 

That would be a really crappy business model!

Casinos reward you for "churned money" or playthrough. I am sure you heard of credit card "churners" right?

Well what is less talked about are the "casino churners", a small but knowledgeable group of people who are using MS "manufactured spending" techniques in the casino to generate high play through to qualify for points.

I myself am one of these people, I am fortunate to be able to be a prime member at the YourComped club and have been sailing free around the world on major cruise lines all compliments of the Casino.

Matter of fact, I am going on a 12 day Hawaii cruise in December with Princess, all paid for by Princess. The casino doesn't discriminate between legitimate players and those who churn play through dollars, they aren't that sophisticated, so my free bonuses and comps keep coming.

I consider my self one of the cleverest and most successful cruisers on the planet thank you very much.

41 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

Wow - and you are the guy that was admonishing other posters for "gambling" by purchasing Princess Gift Cards!!  Now you are all for real gambling away for the cruise fare paid.  😲

Well I go on FREE cruises comped by the casino. I haven't had to pay for a cruise since a few years back.

See the real pros and expert cruisers don't pay for things like "run of the mill tourist" oh no, we get VIP service from the casino and get our cruises, drinks and credits COMPED.

I spend my time in the casino grinding away making money, cruising is how I pass time and casino is how I pay the bills.

43 minutes ago, Steelers36 said:

The pandemic has lost and is about over and done.  Didn't you get the memo?

 

Looks pretty good out there to me:  https://www2.gov.bc.ca/gov/content/covid-19/info/restrictions

Meanwhile, we in ON have the most restrictions in N.A., if not most of the free world.

 

Sorry if you had a big financial hit as you implied.  Sorry, but I see you as one of the too many Canadians who have been scared to death by government lockdowns and constant "news" about Covid.  Hope you are vaccinated and did not suffer from catching Covid. 

 

ETA:

I am not sure I would have been as 'level' above if I had first read your post #19 in "Money for Casino" thread where it seems casino gambling is just the ticket to win back your cruise fare.  Now, that is true gambling.

My point is that just because you can afford to spend $500 on a gift card, doesn't mean you should and in most cases with any type of gift card its a waste. Gift cards have been economically studied for years and have been proven to time and time again benefit the corporation not the user.

Unless your cruise is next week you most definately should NOT be buying gift cards.

Any other decision will shine light on your poor money management and financially savvy mindset, yes I am calling those out who are foolish enough to partake in this ridiculous promotion.

For a lot of people they bring and start with $500 cash first day and then slowly spin that over the cruise length by grinding the single deck BJ, waiting out a hot craps roll by lingering at a table sometimes for hours to get in at the right time, or waiting for a good roulette sequence.

For many cruise passengers they end up paying the cost of their on board spending and sometimes even the trip it self via casino winnings. If you are struggling to cover your costs and not winning consistently at a casino (which has better odds by the way than land based casinos for reasons i can get into later if desired) then may i suggest investing into some books or articles on casino strategy.

How can people justify spending $500+ during a pandemic and so much uncertainty?

You have 0 clue what will happen to you physically, emotionally or mentally months from now.. there could be work restrictions, family restrictions, government restrictions, more outbreaks, unexpected delays, cancelations.

No one is that well off financially to be able to gamble with $500, many of us are barely scrapping by after the blow to the economy from cv19.

And if by chance your gift card can be salvaged due to a cancelation you are then stuck to find another Princess cruise, locked as a trapped customer.

Can you see its a massive cash grab by Princess to help fuel the recovery and its the cruise passengers often noted for their easy tourist dollars and poor financial intelligence who are lining up to bolster Princess treasury, wake up people.

10 hours ago, bennybear said:

I think only you have your best interest at heart, anyone selling something has their own agenda.  And many TA’s have never even travelled much.  You will likely find out more on forums like this.

Well for someone who spent 50 mins explaining why a cruise to Hawaii is almost always better than a land trip the TA was extremely passionate about it. If he had that many points to bring up and dedicated 50 mins to the conversation he basically made him self the authority on the topic and thus I responded with a forum post to let others know that a land vacation  to Hawaii doesn't come close to what a cruise 🛳 offers based on his points. I am hyped and stocked.

On 2/5/2021 at 1:22 PM, Mike45LC said:

 

Wow,  incredible (in the real meaning of the word, not credible) praise for cruising Hawaii, from someone who has never been on a Hawaiian cruise!  Have you ever been on a land-based trip to Hawaii?  Have you ever been to Hawaii?

 

Above, I only mentioned the preponderance of sea days as a possibly downside for some cruisers.  But in light of MarinerBoy's exultation, here are some other factors to think about:  Short port visits, perhaps not enough time to slow down and experience the various ports?  Not much evening time to enjoy evening and night activities?  Having to rush back to the ship to be on board for the ship's departure?  Worrying about a possibly late arrival in port when you have a private excursion booked that has a 9:00 a.m. meeting time?  

 

Both sea visits and land visits can be wonderful, but I will not accept "it's the best way" from some wannabe who hasn't even taken his first cruise to the Islands and who is hyped up on some salesman's spiel.  

The travel agent who pushed this cruise on us spent about 45 to 50 minutes going over the reasons why a "sea Hawaii" is the way to go.

 All the points that were presented to us i wrote in this forum. If we bought into them I am certain most people on this forum would as well, the travel agent is a industry professional they had our best interest at heart I felt.

The #1 cruise most likely to go is the inner USA cruise- the December 2021 San Francisco to Hawaii 15 day Princess voyage is a slam dunk. I am willing to make a bet with anyone who wants to put money on this particular voyage moving ahead comment below.