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I Won a Cruise (Bingo on Enchantment!)

weisla

By weisla,
in Royal Caribbean International

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weisla

weisla

Posted
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Woo Hoo - I'm currently on my first RCI cruise on Enchantment out of Baltimore and I won a 7 night Caribbean cruise playing Bingo on yesterday! We dock tomorrow in Baltimore and I'm already on cruise critic (paying the crazy onboard internet rates) researching my next 7 day voyage. I am so excited and I still can't believe I won!

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jt58203

jt58203

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Woo Hoo - I'm currently on my first RCI cruise on Enchantment out of Baltimore and I won a 7 night Caribbean cruise playing Bingo on yesterday! We dock tomorrow in Baltimore and I'm already on cruise critic (paying the crazy onboard internet rates) researching my next 7 day voyage. I am so excited and I still can't believe I won!

 

Congrats!!!! ( I hope to do the same next month :))

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staceyvols

staceyvols

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If you don't mind me asking, I'm interested in how many, if any, extra fees are involved. We bought furniture last year with a "free" cruise. Had to pay taxes, about $500. A Carnival cruise was included but with bunk beds. It cost $100 to upgrade to queen size bed or the same hundred got us to RCCL. It was still cheaper than buying a cruise but not free! Always wondered about the bingo ones.

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uksimonusa

uksimonusa

Posted
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Woo Hoo - I'm currently on my first RCI cruise on Enchantment out of Baltimore and I won a 7 night Caribbean cruise playing Bingo on yesterday! We dock tomorrow in Baltimore and I'm already on cruise critic (paying the crazy onboard internet rates) researching my next 7 day voyage. I am so excited and I still can't believe I won!

 

Congratulations, you know that royalcaibbean.com is free on the ships, no internet charge to research there

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cruisenfever

cruisenfever

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If you don't mind me asking, I'm interested in how many, if any, extra fees are involved. We bought furniture last year with a "free" cruise. Had to pay taxes, about $500. A Carnival cruise was included but with bunk beds. It cost $100 to upgrade to queen size bed or the same hundred got us to RCCL. It was still cheaper than buying a cruise but not free! Always wondered about the bingo ones.

The OP will still have to pay port taxes and fees once the cruise is booked. It is just the cruise fare for 2 that is free and I don't know if that's for an OV or a balcony.

 

She can upgrade if she wants and pay the difference. You do not earn cruise points for free cruises.

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Jimbo

Jimbo

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Fortunately not. I've had reason to look up a cruise on Royals website before talking to the loyalty ambassador before in the internet cafe and can confirm that it is free.

 

Is that something new, what is there an Icon on the desktop to click before signing on with your seapass card?

 

Jimbo:)

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cruisenfever

cruisenfever

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Is that something new, what is there an Icon on the desktop to click before signing on with your seapass card?

 

Jimbo:)

You don't need to sign in with your SeaPass Card. You can either click on Crown & Anchor or Royal Caribbean. They can be found at the bottom of the screen.

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clean1owner

clean1owner

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If you don't mind me asking, I'm interested in how many, if any, extra fees are involved. We bought furniture last year with a "free" cruise. Had to pay taxes, about $500. A Carnival cruise was included but with bunk beds. It cost $100 to upgrade to queen size bed or the same hundred got us to RCCL. It was still cheaper than buying a cruise but not free! Always wondered about the bingo ones.

 

What you got with your furniture was a promotional voucher program, not even close to winning a free cruise playing bingo. Those voucher programs are only 1 step away from the telemarketer who calls to congratulate you for "winning a free cruise", which has enough fees to add up to the same ammount as just paying for the trip.

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weisla

weisla

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Thanks all, we received a certificate for cruise fare for 2 on a 7 night RCI Caribbean voyage in an inside or OV cabin (or we can pay fare difference to upgrade). It expires 1 year from issue and has blackout dates around certain holidays (Easter, Thanksgiving, Christmas, New Years). We have to pay port taxes and fees and our own transportation to/from the port. I did use the free access to the RCI website from the computer lounge, you can also access Celebrity, Azamara and a number of related sites at no charge.

 

We booked an OV on Oasis deck 10 for the March 10th 2012 Eastern Carribbean sailing! I'll do some research once I get home to decide if I'll pay the difference for an upgrade, if available. I also have to mail the certificate to the RCI Comp department. The fine print states that they have to approve the itinerary based on "revenue management" though the Loyalty Ambassador who booked us today seemed to think that wouldn't be a problem (fingers crossed).

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Paulxyz2004

Paulxyz2004

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Is that something new, what is there an Icon on the desktop to click before signing on with your seapass card?

 

Jimbo:)

 

Nothing new it´s free ever since they put Internet cafes on the ship. Yep I remember cruises before they had this service and then it started without WiFi available at all.;)

 

On a side note CruiseCritic used to be free as well, but that changed some time ago.

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pinklucky61

pinklucky61

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The OP will still have to pay port taxes and fees once the cruise is booked. It is just the cruise fare for 2 that is free and I don't know if that's for an OV or a balcony.

 

She can upgrade if she wants and pay the difference. You do not earn cruise points for free cruises.

I won my first rccl cruise in a contest and got points for it. Maybe I just got lucky.

 

 

---

I am here: http://maps.google.com/maps?ll=30.492466,-87.179397

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cruisenfever

cruisenfever

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I won my first rccl cruise in a contest and got points for it. Maybe I just got lucky.

Depends on the contest. The cruise you won was paid for by someone other than RCI so you still got credit.

 

The cruise won at Bingo (and it's only cruise fare) is being paid for by RCI, so the winner would have to pay something in order to get credit. It's just like when you cash in Visa Points for a free cruise. If you don't pay something towards that cruise you will not get credit for it.

 

Lucky or not, it was a great prize for you.:)

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megr1125

megr1125

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Fortunately not. I've had reason to look up a cruise on Royals website before talking to the loyalty ambassador before in the internet cafe and can confirm that it is free.

 

That's great that it worked for you....on EX and a couple others, you could pick the dates, but once you tried to get a price the site would go all nutty and kick people off...

 

so yes, technically you can use it for free...when it feel like working!

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Familygoboston Great Review Rare

Familygoboston

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Congrats on your early Christmas present. You might want to talk to your tax accountant too. We won a free flight to St Martin in a travel show drawing and we received a 1099 income form from the company for the total value of the trip as income. It will likely be taxed as income, as any prize will. You may be lucky enough to have some other " off setting" gambling debts? But you might want to be aware of your income tax responsibilities too, so you don't have any nasty surprises come tax day.

You will love Oasis...have a great cruise!

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clean1owner

clean1owner

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Congrats on your early Christmas present. You might want to talk to your tax accountant too. We won a free flight to St Martin in a travel show drawing and we received a 1099 income form from the company for the total value of the trip as income. It will likely be taxed as income, as any prize will. You may be lucky enough to have some other " off setting" gambling debts? But you might want to be aware of your income tax responsibilities too, so you don't have any nasty surprises come tax day.

You will love Oasis...have a great cruise!

 

 

What you will want to do is price the same exact cruise , (Ship, Date, Cabin), and record the ammount you could purchase it for TODAY. If possible, do a screen print of the final cost. Then from that price, subtract port taxes and fees that you have to pay out of pocket for the prize trip. Compare your result to what is reported on the 1099 form. If you can purchase it for less than what is declared, you can have the 1099 adjusted in your favor. You may even be able to have the 1099 adjusted if you find a lower price any time between now and your departure date, although that can be a little tricky to accomplish.

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