Is It Worth It to Travel to Vegas for a Free Cruise?

[riddle]

I currently have 3 "free" CAS cruises booked for this year and I believe that is the max at one time.

 

I have an offer to go to Vegas with free room and pick up a free cruise on an NCL certificate. I can fly there for about $300.

 

I am trying to decide if it is worth it. While I love Vegas this would be a short weekend trip as I have no vacation left unscheduled. The biggest drawback is that they will not tell you in advance what dates/ships are included in the certificate. I retire at the end of September so time won't be an option after that but I don't want to fly out there only to find out the certificate is worthless. None of my other cruises can be rescheduled due to time constraints.

 

Would you take the chance?

[LrgPizza]

Any excuse to travel to Vegas is worth it.

[calmpets]

It sounds like the worst case scenario is you get to spend a weekend in Vegas. If the $300 airfare isn't a financial pinch for you I'd probably do it.

[spm6987]

Just a heads up - you will be responsible for port fees & taxes.

[garycarla]

I would go to Vegas just because I like to go to Vegas.

 

If you have already cruised with CAS, you can just call them direct and get a good deal. Unless you are a real low level player on the ship.

 

As to going to Vegas to get a semi-free cruise certificate, you need to do the math.

 

Depending the room type they are offering, that certificate may only be worth a few hundred once you pay the fees. Will you win or lose that much in Vegas making it a wash?

[emcelh]

If I were planning to spend a weekend there, even if there were no cruise certificate to pick up, yes. Otherwise, probably not.

[SeaShark]

The cruise line thinks that it is "worth it". If they didn't, you wouldn't be getting the offer.

[Nola26]

I received a couple of land based casino cruise offers. The certificates probably had 10 different cruise options and I think about a 60 day window to book. All cruise options were in maybe a 10 month window.

 

I received a certificate in October and had to book by mid December. A 2015 Thanksgiving cruise was beyond my booking window.

 

HTH

Edited March 8, 2015 by Nola26

[AndyCapn]

As mentioned above, you're given a schedule of cruises that occur within the next 12 months and are given 2 months to select one of them. Perhaps it depends on your comp level at the casino, but all ours were inside staterooms except one, which was oceanview.

 

So while it's not an "any cruise, any time" offer, there's still a good number and variety of choices. If you were thinking of taking a cruise in the upcoming year, it's probably worth the $300 flight.

 

If you have multiple offers, you may be able to use two to combine into an upgrade. For example, my wife and I combined our two oceanview rooms and upgraded to a balcony instead. Based on current prices, that's about a $1500 savings.

[realtreebar]

For a cruise Yes, I love vegas, and love crusing too!

[Nola26]

As mentioned above, you're given a schedule of cruises that occur within the next 12 months and are given 2 months to select one of them. Perhaps it depends on your comp level at the casino, but all ours were inside staterooms except one, which was oceanview.

 

So while it's not an "any cruise, any time" offer, there's still a good number and variety of choices. If you were thinking of taking a cruise in the upcoming year, it's probably worth the $300 flight.

 

If you have multiple offers, you may be able to use two to combine into an upgrade. For example, my wife and I combined our two oceanview rooms and upgraded to a balcony instead. Based on current prices, that's about a $1500 savings.

 

Likewise ours were inside. I used the first as offered on a solo Sky cruise. I'm paying to upgrade the second to a balcony for a family trip on the Getaway this summer. Couple the certificate with the current promotion (3rd free and the Inside OBC) and wow its a nice deal.