Club Royale - Casino VIP ?'s

Hi

My husband and I just returned from Anthem of the Seas last week and I have some questions about the Club Royale program.

We both received stickers on our cards during the sailing that gave us free drinks in the casino and waived the 5% fee if we take money out on our cards - these were great perks.

We also both received letters the last night from the casino host for free cruises. My husband's letter is for a balcony cabin for 2 and lists various sailings. My letter is for an ocean view cabin for 2 and lists various sailings. It also allows you to use a $ value off a different cruise if those dates don't work. His for $1,000 and mine for $750

Here are my questions:

1 - Can I apply the value off a current booking made through my normal travel agent? It wasn't booked through the casino team. The sailing isn't until August so we are before final payment. If we don't think any of the sailings on either certificate will work, can we apply the valus from both to our next cruise?

2 - How do upgrades work with these letters? If we want to sail in a suite do we just pay the difference from the balcony (his letter) or ocean view (my letter) or is it based on the difference from the value $1000 for his letter and $750 for my letter?

3 - Do we still earn C&A points for either free cruises or ones we use the value of the certificate?

4 - Can I still use my normal travel agent and link her in with the Casino team?

5 - We have our first sailing on Celebrity next year - does our casino status roll over there as well? Do we need to do anything?

I know I can call the casino team and ask all these questions, but I wanted to start here.

Thank you in advance for your help

Noreen

Hi Noreen,

1-It is for new bookings only and must be made through Casinos at Sea. No you can't apply to your next cruise. CAS has very specific cruises you can use these certificates on. They are not combinable, your husband can book a cruise and you can book a cruise. You can use for a different cruise with anywhere from 25 to 40% off.

2-You can upgrade to higher categories and pay the difference between the cabin types. I upgraded from an interior to an ocean view on a 7 day cruise and it cost me $70.

3-Yes you earn your C&A points.

4-Yes as stated in #1 you can use your TA.

5-I am not sure about this one. You can't use the certificates for a Celebrity cruise.

Please remember you still pay Taxes/Fee/port charges, insurance, gratuities, etc., everything else you pay. This is only on the base cost of the cruise.

What I do is call CAS check availability and my cost, then call my TA to reserve it. You should book all your cruises through CAS from now on because their rates are cheaper than the cruise lines even with specials WOW sales etc., on about 98% of cruises.

Candie

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Hi

 

My husband and I just returned from Anthem of the Seas last week and I have some questions about the Club Royale program.

 

We both received stickers on our cards during the sailing that gave us free drinks in the casino and waived the 5% fee if we take money out on our cards - these were great perks.

 

We also both received letters the last night from the casino host for free cruises. My husband's letter is for a balcony cabin for 2 and lists various sailings. My letter is for an ocean view cabin for 2 and lists various sailings. It also allows you to use a $ value off a different cruise if those dates don't work. His for $1,000 and mine for $750

 

Here are my questions:

1 - Can I apply the value off a current booking made through my normal travel agent? It wasn't booked through the casino team. The sailing isn't until August so we are before final payment. If we don't think any of the sailings on either certificate will work, can we apply the valus from both to our next cruise?

2 - How do upgrades work with these letters? If we want to sail in a suite do we just pay the difference from the balcony (his letter) or ocean view (my letter) or is it based on the difference from the value $1000 for his letter and $750 for my letter?

3 - Do we still earn C&A points for either free cruises or ones we use the value of the certificate?

4 - Can I still use my normal travel agent and link her in with the Casino team?

5 - We have our first sailing on Celebrity next year - does our casino status roll over there as well? Do we need to do anything?

 

I know I can call the casino team and ask all these questions, but I wanted to start here.

 

Thank you in advance for your help

Noreen

I would have thought with a $1000 and $750 certificates, a Club Royale Senior Representative would have contacted you by now. They called me first thing Monday morning after my November Cruise.

I would call them and ask.

We find we get our best rates by booking through our Casino Representative at Royal. We choose to then turn our booking over to our TA.

Noreen,

We've been on a good number of cruises and visited the casino each time. However, we are never invited into Club Royale. Might I ask a general idea of how much you spent, what the average wager was, and if it was slots or tables? I'm trying to get an idea of what is needed to be invited.

Anyone else is also welcome for feedback.

Thanks!

Noreen,

 

 

 

We've been on a good number of cruises and visited the casino each time. However, we are never invited into Club Royale. Might I ask a general idea of how much you spent, what the average wager was, and if it was slots or tables? I'm trying to get an idea of what is needed to be invited.

 

 

 

Anyone else is also welcome for feedback.

 

 

 

Thanks!

It is not really a factor of $ spent (although it sorta works out that way), but your bet per hand/roll/spin and length of play. If you play $50+ per game average over 4 to six hours a day, you are likely to reach the peek. How the lower points are awarded is a bit above my pay grade. Slots are easily defined from chart below. Some know more about the system as it works today than I do.

I earned a $1000 certificate as well on Allure 1/29.

Here is the new revised point scheme. I think the points required were dropped but earning them increased.

They also eliminated the free Specialty Dinning awards along with trinkets.

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You should be able to combine your offers. On the certs that I have (from Dec 2016) it says, " Qualified recipients within the same household may combine their offers on the same sail date for 1 category upgrade not to exceed a Junior Suite." You should be able to go from a balcony to a Jr Suite and then just pay the difference between the Jr Suite and the room you want.

I'm not sure that the casino rates now are always better than the normal "sales." The CR rates definitely were better for me, before they changed the program last year, but for the last couple that I booked, the CR rep said the one of the other rates was better than the casino rate and went with that rate. I get the $1000 certs too so I assume we're in a similar player category for room rates.

You should be able to combine your offers. On the certs that I have (from Dec 2016) it says, " Qualified recipients within the same household may combine their offers on the same sail date for 1 category upgrade not to exceed a Junior Suite." You should be able to go from a balcony to a Jr Suite and then just pay the difference between the Jr Suite and the room you want.

 

 

 

I'm not sure that the casino rates now are always better than the normal "sales." The CR rates definitely were better for me, before they changed the program last year, but for the last couple that I booked, the CR rep said the one of the other rates was better than the casino rate and went with that rate. I get the $1000 certs too so I assume we're in a similar player category for room rates.

The times we book our cruises, next month out to 6 months, it was a huge discount for us. We stay in GS. We did book two cruises a year out and were able to apply the CR discount to those through our CR Rep.

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We will be taking our first RCL cruise in July and we like to spend some evenings in the casino. The above information is very useful. It is nice to know how many points we need (to earn/spend) for a discount on a future cruise or free cruise. Can the discounts be combined by two people? That is, if I get a $200 discount at the end of the cruise and my mom get a $400 discount, will that be $600 off our next cruise?

We will be taking our first RCL cruise in July and we like to spend some evenings in the casino. The above information is very useful. It is nice to know how many points we need (to earn/spend) for a discount on a future cruise or free cruise. Can the discounts be combined by two people? That is, if I get a $200 discount at the end of the cruise and my mom get a $400 discount, will that be $600 off our next cruise?

Sure, as long as they are your SO.

Your Mom, do you live with her or her with you??

Honestly, I am not sure how that works. I am sure Royal would work with you if you both are players and rooming together.

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Thank You

Thank you to all of your for your replies.

I have a better idea how all this works now (sort of until they change the rules again)

And will now be able to ask more pointed questions when I call

Thank you again

The times we book our cruises, next month out to 6 months, it was a huge discount for us. We stay in GS. We did book two cruises a year out and were able to apply the CR discount to those through our CR Rep.

 

 

 

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I think they like you a lot better than they like me... On my last cruise they initially told me that I couldn't get the sticker to waive the 5% fee. So I told them ok, no gambling for me once I lose the 200 bucks I have in my pocket. She finds me 10 minutes later to give me the sticker, saying it was a mistake. When it's almost time to leave I find a cert for 100 bucks in my room, so I bring it down and ask about it. They then give me the $1000 one, saying it was a mistake. I get home, try to use the cert on an existing cruise, like I had in the past and get told that oh we just changed the rules so you're SOL.

Thank You

 

 

 

Thank you to all of your for your replies.

 

 

 

I have a better idea how all this works now (sort of until they change the rules again)

 

 

 

And will now be able to ask more pointed questions when I call

 

 

 

Thank you again

Please make sure you do call. Best phone call I made as a result of CC.

(888) 561-2234

I still would think with your rated play for $1000 you would have one person to talk to. Try this number and see where it gets you.

(855) 219-7386

Good luck and happy gambling. It is entertainment to me.

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Here are my questions:

1 - Can I apply the value off a current booking made through my normal travel agent? It wasn't booked through the casino team. The sailing isn't until August so we are before final payment. If we don't think any of the sailings on either certificate will work, can we apply the valus from both to our next cruise

This comment is for a future cruise that has not reached final payment yet.

As far as applying certificates to a future booked cruise I was told RC (or TA in our case) will have to cancel my future booking and rebook the cruise at the current casino rate via the phone number on the certificate, then the certificates can be applied. But since I had booked my future cruise (Independence - July 2017) a year ago it wasn't worth using the certificates since the current price was $1400 more than when we had booked. Our savings would have only been a couple hundred dollars which is significantly less than the value of the two certificates.

If you don't want the cruise they offer you are allowed to combine the dollar value of the certificates (must be in the same household) and apply them to a sailing of your choice. I had my TA (big box store) call the phone number on the certificate. In fact our Dec 2016 cruise was mostly paid for from the certificates we received from our May 2016 sailing on the Anthem.

I actually ended up using the Dec 2016 Anthem certificates to book the Anthem again for Oct 2017. Living 20 minutes from Cape Liberty this will be an inexpensive vacation for us.

We always end up using the dollar value of the certificates since the free cruises just don't work for us.

4 - Can I still use my normal travel agent and link her in with the Casino team?

Yes you can if she/he is willing to call the phone number on the back of the certificate. Our TA (big box store) still gives us a rebate (gift card) based on what we pay. If you use a TA just remember that any changes to the reservation must be made through that TA and not RC.

All this info was as of Mid January 2017, for all I know RC might have already changed how they do things.

Hi Noreen,

1-It is for new bookings only and must be made through Casinos at Sea. No you can't apply to your next cruise. CAS has very specific cruises you can use these certificates on. They are not combinable, your husband can book a cruise and you can book a cruise. You can use for a different cruise with anywhere from 25 to 40% off.

2-You can upgrade to higher categories and pay the difference between the cabin types. I upgraded from an interior to an ocean view on a 7 day cruise and it cost me $70.

3-Yes you earn your C&A points.

4-Yes as stated in #1 you can use your TA.

5-I am not sure about this one. You can't use the certificates for a Celebrity cruise.

Please remember you still pay Taxes/Fee/port charges, insurance, gratuities, etc., everything else you pay. This is only on the base cost of the cruise.

What I do is call CAS check availability and my cost, then call my TA to reserve it. You should book all your cruises through CAS from now on because their rates are cheaper than the cruise lines even with specials WOW sales etc., on about 98% of cruises.

Candie

 

 

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I was offered the free casino drinks on Carnival Vista but not before on RCCL. Is this something new? Is it fleetwide?

It would be great to have on our Celebrity TA as we didn't take the very expensive drink package

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Noreen,

There has been much discussion about this exact topic on the Royal Caribbean Blog. What we have all found out is Royal has no plan written on paper that they follow. One CAS representative will tell you one thing and the next rep tells you another.

According to a friend who receives three to four FCC's (Future Cruise Credits) a year and discounts of up to 50 to 60% off other cruises, it is not how much you play, how long you play, table games, slot machines. What she and I found out is on slot machines they expect you to play the max bet, if a machine is 30, 60, 90, 120 or 150, you would need to play $1.50 for at least four hours every day. You don't have to stay at the same machine or table but always max bet, 30 cent bets will get you nothing.

Free drinks come with gambling in the casino, usually by the second day onboard, they know who they will give free drinks to because of the money they spent on embarkation day.

Noreen, what you have is known as an FCC can be used on any cruise. Here is a posting from the blog that might or might not answer questions for you.

The FCC are actual certificates that the casino host awards you while you're on the ship. Their wide use is still fairly recent so maybe you just haven't had the opportunity to cruise since they've been doling them out so freely. They range in value from $500 into the thousands (from what I understand. I have ever received one greater than $1000).

You will find that the CR (Casino Royal) rates run about 42 - 46% off full retail price (and, to be fair, nobody pays full retail)....so you will be getting ~15% more off above whatever prevailing promo rates RCCL is usually running. It varies depending upon what promo they are running but you will generally make out best with the CR rates. In all my years of being a CR member, I have only had 1 occasion when the CR rate was NOT the lowest rate and that was last year when they first started running EXTREMELY good C&A rates on Empress.

FCCs are stackable....which means that if you BOTH get an FCC, you can use them together on one cruise. Being a CR VIP is fairly difficult to do these days. They are giving out the FCC's like candy but just because you get an FCC does not mean that they will give you the CR rate on a cruise. You HAVE to be a VIP member to get that big discount. So while anyone can join CR, to be an invited VIP member is very exclusive.

To answer your question, you just have to throw big money around! I don't mean to be flippant about it, but you really do have to make yourself known to the casino host and casino manager.

There are 2 other benefits of being CR VIP. One is that you basically drink for free while you are in the casino but I will warn you - whatever you drink is subtracted from the value of your FCC (if you get one). That's why my FCC is always bigger than my husband's, even though he wagers WAAAAY more money than I do. He drinks his profits away and I do not ! I drink cokes and water and I don't think they subtract anything for those. So...just be aware of that. The other perk is that when you are CR VIP, you do not pay the 5% convenience fee for taking cash against your seapass card. This is the most important perk, for us. We no longer have to carry a big wad of money onto the ship. Now we just play with THEIR money and it costs us nothing. Of course, if you lose, then you have to make it back up but we try not to do that !

To give you an idea of a CR VIP discount, I booked a 9 day in January 2018. I am a solo cruiser so more expensive, the cruise price, only the cruise price, was almost $1,600 with a $634 CR VIP discount, so cruise price dropped to $966. For 9 days that worked out to $100 a day for the cruise, unbelievable rate.

Sorry this is so long but I wanted to give you the information from a couple who have been VIP members from about 10 years and do know what they are talking about when it comes to FCCs.

Candie

I believe slot play is predictable. For every $5 played equals 250 pts. Table play is subjective and better to be recognized.

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Incorrect, you get no C&A points for a free cruise...K.O.

Incorrect, you do get C&A points for a free cruise...

I have a question that i hope someone here can answer. The last time I sailed on Royal was almost three years ago. I sail mostly on Carnival because I am always getting offers for free cabins from them.

I am sailing in April on a 14 night TA from Ft Lauderdale to Barcelona on Freedom OTS and I am in charge of setting up the slot pull. I called CR to see if they could provide any prizes for the slot pull and the gentleman I spoke to told me to contact the casino host after I board. Has anyone ever done this and is there a special casino card that I need to put in the machine while I play or does my room key also serve as my casino card. The gentleman I spoke to looked me up in their system and told me if I played at the same rate as my last cruise I should qualify for free drinks after 1 or 2 days. I couldn't believe they still had me in their system after all this time.

Any help will be appreciated.

I believe slot play is predictable. For every $5 played equals 250 pts.

Wow... if that were true, one would get a free cruise in a balcony cabin after gambling just $96! :D

Every $5 played earns you 1 point.

According to the Allure of the Seas sign posted above, 250 points may be cashed in for $5 in free slot play.

I called CR to see if they could provide any prizes for the slot pull and the gentleman I spoke to told me to contact the casino host after I board. Has anyone ever done this

That is, indeed, the way it's generally done. I'll be doing that myself in a few weeks for the slot pull for my sailing's roll call.

and is there a special casino card that I need to put in the machine while I play or does my room key also serve as my casino card.

You can just use your SeaPass (room key) in the slot machine to earn points. If desired, you may be able to get a special points-earning card from the casino. I've been given one of those a couple of times. Both it and my SeaPass were linked to the same casino account. I guess I could have played two machines simultaneously since I had two cards.

The gentleman I spoke to looked me up in their system and told me if I played at the same rate as my last cruise I should qualify for free drinks after 1 or 2 days. I couldn't believe they still had me in their system after all this time.

This part I can't comment on. During my previous cruises since becoming a Club Royale "VIP" member (from back when it was invite-only), they've almost always offered me free drinks in the casino from day 1. (One particular cruise, the host wasn't onboard as she had left early, and the remaining casino staff told me that I wasn't qualified for "VIP" considerations. A call during the cruise to Club Royale on land corrected their misconception, but not before the cruise was almost over.)

I guess I'll see what I'm offered this next cruise in three weeks.

What we have all found out is Royal has no plan written on paper that they follow. One CAS representative will tell you one thing and the next rep tells you another.

This is, unfortunately, VERY TRUE!

I had received a $500 certificate during my last cruise in October. In the past, they've been flexible about applying it beyond the scope of its terms and conditions. This time, when I called Club Royale, I was told:

1. They had no record of me receiving a certificate. (I did notice that the certificate number was listed with a date-like expression similar to 2016Q4 instead of a proper certificate number, so that's probably why it didn't make it into their system.)
   
2. By the time they verified the certificate actually existed, it was after the 30 days post-sailing during which the certificate was valid.
   
3. They were not willing to apply it to an existing booking...
   
4. which was sailing more than one year after the certificate was issued.

Other than #1 above, all the others were legitimate restrictions spelled out in the terms and conditions, so I didn't complain despite them having waived those restrictions just a few months earlier.

Now, during the time that #1 was being resolved, I had sent a copy of the certificate to my travel agent for the existing booking I referred to above. Imagine my surprise when a couple of weeks later, I received email with an updated invoice from my travel agent indicating that Club Royale had indeed credited the $500 toward that booking.

Go figure.

Marc,

Thank you for the replies.

Gale

Namelocg,

Hi Gail, Candie here. My last 3 cruises I organized the M&G and slot pulls. If you still have my number call me, I can give you a bunch of info.

Candie

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Wow... if that were true, one would get a free cruise in a balcony cabin after gambling just $96! :D

 

 

 

Every $5 played earns you 1 point.

 

 

 

According to the Allure of the Seas sign posted above, 250 points may be cashed in for $5 in free slot play.

You are correct. I misread the chart I posted.

It should have been for slot play, every 250 pts you get $5 free play.

However, on slots, pts are awarded on the machine and on your SeaPass. You can see your pts loaded on your SeaPass. Pts on slots are easy to track. Pts on tables are subjective.

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