Caesar's Total Rewards Offer - Free NCL Cruise - Any perks?

[texasreb]

You can get a Diamond card for being Founders Card member. Membership for about $300 a year. Don't even have to play in a Caesars casino. Yep Caesars does a match with them every year going way back. I have met those folks in Diamond lounge.

I think the NCL casino offers were covered. A cert when calling in to NCL casino group usually costs $600 plus your gratuities. You also get whatever offer NCL is doing for the cert cabin category.

[texasreb]

My wife just got a cabin offer from NCL, not Harrah's Caesars. All sailings are out of Miami, and go to mid December. Likely won't use it. Also got another from Harrahs this week. Likely won't use it either. Already have Royal booked at Thanksgiving. Another Royal offer to use that is taxes only. Have NCL booked March 10 NOLA.

[pokerpro5]

You should probably research more exactly what Diamond gets with Caesars to make it more worth than just the 20%. Not to mention, if you pay attention to cruises as much as some people do and pricing/sales/etc., you can save way more than what you're calculating. Our cruise on Encore next year, we're saving over a $1100 because in addition to the 20%, we booked it during tax free weekend so we aren't paying port taxes/fees/etc. Just on the cruise fare alone, we're saving over $300/person. Throw in the casino drink card, no need to choose UBP as a perk either unless we want the convenience of drinking anywhere on board.

 

Now multiple that by two essentially because we're on a second cruise in January that we're saving just over $400 on. So two cruises next year, our savings by being Diamond is over $1500 and that's before I get into any of the other perks/savings/freebies/etc. that come along with the membership you're referring to (such as instant Diamond at Wyndham Hotels via status match which is a big benefit for upgrades/etc.). Not to mention, again, all the ongoing benefits of Diamond with Caesars (especially for someone who may visit monthly or every few months)... Free show tickets, complimentary access to things, room discounts and guarantees, $100 dining credit, comped resort fees and more.

 

And to me, one of the biggest perks right now, the comped 4-day stay at Atlantis which is easily worth $1,000 or more depending on what time of year you go. And still haven't even gotten into the other discounts/memberships/etc. that the original membership card gets you. The AT&T discount alone pays for my membership... Everything else is just gravy. To me, I did the research and figured out that it's well worth the annual fee for me (and no, I'm not paying $495/year as you mentioned). Maybe you don't think it's worth for you... But for people who sail NCL 2 or 3 or more times a year.. It could easily be worth their time to investigate.

 

Trust me, I know more about the Total Rewards program than just about anyone, including most Caesars employees. (Look at my screen name. I'm a professional gambler.)

 

The Atlantis offer isn't comped for Diamond. You have to pay resort fees, maid fees, and room taxes. Plus the food is super expensive. Plus you get one of the lousy towers.

 

If you really want to stay at Atlantis and keep your expenses minimal (including eating relatively little), then sure, I guess you can get a good deal using the Diamond benefits. But again, this is something you'd actually want to do, and not just something you do because it's free (because it's not).

 

It's also misleading to claim that Diamond is helping you save extra because you're cruising on a "tax free weekend". First off, you still pay admin fees. Second, EVERYONE saves those taxes, not just Diamond members, so you're not getting anything extra that others booking at the same time aren't getting. You keep citing a "20%" figure, which I already explained isn't true.

 

Is it possibly worth getting Diamond through non-gambling on the Founders Card? Yes, if you really utilize it a lot. Simply staying enough at properties with resort fees will allow it to pay for itself. But you need to be realistic regarding what the average person will save with NCL.

[texasreb]

PokerPro, I read that 2014 post on NCL pricing. It looked pretty accurate to me 2014. Since NCL has rolled out the bidding system. Do you think your observations require some updating ? Maybe you have already.

Last I checked NCL NCF, or admin fee as they call it today. On most sailings it is $20 per day of sailing per person. Taxes port fees always seem to be higher than RCL. Sometimes go RCL 7 day cruise for just $89 per person.

Likely just me. NCL is not as good as it used to be.

[rtkenmore]

Trust me, I know more about the Total Rewards program than just about anyone, including most Caesars employees. (Look at my screen name. I'm a professional gambler.)

 

The Atlantis offer isn't comped for Diamond. You have to pay resort fees, maid fees, and room taxes. Plus the food is super expensive. Plus you get one of the lousy towers.

 

Apparently you don't know it as well as you think you do. One of the offers includes the Royal Towers as your comped rooms AND includes comped room taxes (off season) or Beach Tower (peak season). Granted, yes, Beach Tower is the lease expensive of the towers but it's still a nice resort. The 2018 offers do require you pay resort fee & maid fees which come out to about $67/day. The 2017 offer however included comped resort fees so the only charge was the $17/day maid fees. How you can think either of these offers is not worth it when a regular room at Atlantis goes anywhere from around $1200-1300 up to $2000 for a 4 night stay just for the room rate alone.

 

Not to mention the freebie that Atlantis throws in with the Experience Pass that includes a free round of golf, three free rounds of cocktails at three of their venues, and a free dolphin interaction perfect for any kids traveling with you. I don't know how much the round of golf costs but the rest is worth about $250 I believe. And the free $100 in slot play too which for a professional like you isn't much I know... But I won $250 off that free $100. ;)

 

If you really want to stay at Atlantis and keep your expenses minimal (including eating relatively little), then sure, I guess you can get a good deal using the Diamond benefits. But again, this is something you'd actually want to do, and not just something you do because it's free (because it's not).

 

Nothing is free, period. I think most anyone knows that... But with FC, we were able to stay 8 nights at Atlantis and only pay around $600 plus the food we ate while there. We mainly dined in Nassau instead of on site at Atlantis because it is so expensive but we enjoyed some very good local food which we would prefer anyway. I got four comped nights and my travel companion who is also Diamond got four so we booked back to back to stay Saturday through Sunday. You can say it's not a good deal all you want but I think most anyone else will say that's a killer deal when the same 8 nights we stayed would have been over $3200 at that time.

 

It's also misleading to claim that Diamond is helping you save extra because you're cruising on a "tax free weekend". First off, you still pay admin fees. Second, EVERYONE saves those taxes, not just Diamond members, so you're not getting anything extra that others booking at the same time aren't getting. You keep citing a "20%" figure, which I already explained isn't true.

 

Ok, take tax free weekend out of it since anyone can save that if they book that weekend. Doesn't change the fact that on the two cruises we have booked next year, we saved over $600 on one and over $400 on the other with the 20% off through Total Rewards. As for the admin fees, you keep saying "you still pay admin fees"... You do realize that is deducted from the advertised rate though and not in addition to the advertised rate as it seems you're making it sound.

 

Our Encore cruise was advertised $1819/person for the room we selected. The admin fee on that sailing was $240 so they calculated the 20% off on $1579 for a final rate per person of $1263.20 + $240 = $1503.20. Again, how you can say that's not a good deal to be Diamond is beyond me.

 

That one sailing saved $631.60 for two people. Even if we personally only took one cruise a year, it's still a net positive to be a FC member and get the 20% discount.

 

Is it possibly worth getting Diamond through non-gambling on the Founders Card? Yes, if you really utilize it a lot. Simply staying enough at properties with resort fees will allow it to pay for itself. But you need to be realistic regarding what the average person will save with NCL.

 

You seemed to ignore my final point: But for people who sail NCL 2 or 3 or more times a year.. It could easily be worth their time to investigate.

 

Anyone who chooses to sail Norwegian (or any of their sister lines because Regent & Oceania get 10% off) more than once a year, could definitely benefit from the Diamond discount. On two cruises, we're saving over $1000 next year on cruise fare alone. And I don't even factor in the yearly price of FC because the AT&T discount I receive essentially covers the costs of the yearly membership. All the discounts I get on NCL, at Caesars, and other discounts through FC are gravy because the annual fee is basically already covered.

But whatever, you know everything.

[texasreb]

hey rtkenmore: That part about discount on ATT cell phone bill I have seen before. Maybe like a year ago on tripadvisor. Is Founders Club still doing a new member promo ? It seems in years past an existing member could invite a new member for $300 annual fee.

[rtkenmore]

hey rtkenmore: That part about discount on ATT cell phone bill I have seen before. Maybe like a year ago on tripadvisor. Is Founders Club still doing a new member promo ? It seems in years past an existing member could invite a new member for $300 annual fee.

 

It looks like the going rate on referrals is $395.00 vs. the current standard rate of $595. I've seen it as low as $295 but that's very, very rare lately and there for a while, they advertised the "standard" rate as $795 but they've added a new Elite level as an add-on and when they did that, I think they lowered the standard back down some.

 

Have to share a referral email if you're interested. I think you can go to the website and view all the benefits without having a code. If not, I know you can view the benefits with the code before signing up.

[texasreb]

It looks like the going rate on referrals is $395.00 vs. the current standard rate of $595. I've seen it as low as $295 but that's very, very rare lately and there for a while, they advertised the "standard" rate as $795 but they've added a new Elite level as an add-on and when they did that, I think they lowered the standard back down some.

 

Have to share a referral email if you're interested. I think you can go to the website and view all the benefits without having a code. If not, I know you can view the benefits with the code before signing up.

Thanks Thomas for quick reply. All good info. If I could get the wife to switch carriers ? I would really be interested.

Might be some others reading this that will be interested. I am already a Harrahs Diamond. The wife was 7*.

I have been to their web page before reading the bennies. Sounds like a good program for travelers.

[rtkenmore]

Thanks Thomas for quick reply. All good info. If I could get the wife to switch carriers ? I would really be interested.

Might be some others reading this that will be interested. I am already a Harrahs Diamond. The wife was 7*.

I have been to their web page before reading the bennies. Sounds like a good program for travelers.

 

If you can find at last $300-$400 in value minimum with FC, then it's worth it if you ask me. I save about $20/month on my AT&T bill and I got lucky when I signed up so I'm locked in at $295. Between the NCL discounts, the Atlantis trip (which we've done twice now) and the Total Rewards perks, it's well worth it to me and I'll happily keep my membership for the foreseeable future. They keep adding more and more perks too to FC.

[kellygirl67]

On 10/6/2018 at 12:29 AM, pokerpro5 said:

 

Ah, I know all about schlepping water to the cabin!

 

On my last cruise, I refused to pay for water. I used to always bring my own aboard, but their obnoxious policy now makes that impossible.

 

So I dutifully carried both cards around, and whenever I passed the casino bar, I would stop and get two. I probably picked up about 30-40 waters during the cruise. Like you, I would take them on excursions ashore, and also would keep it in the room to drink when I wanted it.

 

Looking forward to hearing how your story turns out!

 Just realized I forgot to post an update on my story-  I called the NCL 1-800 # and they confirmed that we are scheduled to get the casino drink cards and that they should be in our cabin when we board....As you can imagine, the Hubs was very happy!!