Club Royale/Casino Offers Questions

[NeutralNovice]

Hi all!  So I just completed my first cruise on RCI.  We were on the Harmony and we had a great time!  I am a gambler so I did do quite a bit of gambling at the casino and was able to get enough points to earn a free cruise that they were offering right off the bat.  The only thing is that I am not sure if I will be able to take another vacation in the 1 year that I have to actually cruise--let alone figure out which cruise I want in the next 30 days.

 

I've cruised on Princess before and continuously receive casino-level offers.  Most of them are just large discounts but some are also complimentary special event cruises as well.

 

For other gamblers out there, do you receive many offers in the mail?  If so, how good are those offers?  I'm sure it depends on overall play so for reference, I earned about 4900 points during this cruise.

 

The next cruise I definitely want to be on is a cruising on the Ovation of the Seas in Alaska; however, in the "Instant Offer," an Ovation sailing isn't available.  My voucher has a value of $1,000 toward a cruise not listed but it's still rather expensive, in my opinion.

 

Any insight from seasoned cruisers who get offers would be appreciated!!

[fla gang]

4900 points makes you a Prime member and will allow you to take any cruise up to 8 days excluding holidays. Not sure when the deadline is. I think you are responsible for taxes and fees only.

[NeutralNovice]

4 minutes ago, fla gang said:

4900 points makes you a Prime member and will allow you to take any cruise up to 8 days excluding holidays. Not sure when the deadline is. I think you are responsible for taxes and fees only.

 

Awesome, thank you!  Do I actually have to wait until I receive some sort of offer to use that annual cruise or can I just book straight away?  Also, is it combinable with other offers?

[sellwingri]

Your free cruise for reaching Prime status will be available to book and use from 4/1/2019 to 3/31/2020.  Some say they received an email last year but I did not.  I just did the research and found an 8 day cruise that was not over a holiday and called Casino Royale to book it.    It is not combinable with other offers but you can upgrade from an inside cabin to another type and pay the difference.

 

Prime status entitles you to a free interior cabin.  You’re responsible for the port fees and taxes and gratuities.

[CruisesOnMyMind]

Actually you have 2 free cruises coming your way. The first one of course is the cruise certificate you won on the cruise for reaching the points needed on a single cruise. Your certificate will list the cruises on the back that you can choose from and the time frame you have to take it in. 

 

The second cruise is for reaching Prime which entitles you to a free cruise to be taken between April 1st 2019 and March 31st 2020. You will receive a certificate after April 1st for that cruise. As already stated it can be 8 nights or less and not over a holiday.

 

You could possibly use the second certificate for the Alaska cruise. Call the number on your certificate and enquire, but be clear you are not calling on the existing free cruise but for the second you'll receive in April.

 

Edited February 6, 2019 by CruisesOnMyMind

[SHIP TRAVELER]

Just curious,  What kind of play does it take to get 4900 points in one cruise? 

Did you play slots or table games?

Thanks for sharing you experience.

 

[agslc5]

10 hours ago, fla gang said:

4900 points makes you a Prime member and will allow you to take any cruise up to 8 days excluding holidays. Not sure when the deadline is. I think you are responsible for taxes and fees only.

Actually this is incorrect. you only need 2,500 points to be a Prime member. 

[fla gang]

What are you at 4900 points?

[fla gang]

Are you Signature with 4900 points?

[Retired LEO]

4 minutes ago, fla gang said:

Are you Signature with 4900 points?

25,000 points for signature

[fla gang]

So at 4900 points you are prime , correct?

[Retired LEO]

6 minutes ago, fla gang said:

So at 4900 points you are prime , correct?

Correct. Prime is 2,500 points. Signature is 25,000 points. Masters is 100,000 points. 

[agslc5]

13 minutes ago, fla gang said:

So at 4900 points you are prime , correct?

Yes at 4,900 points you are Prime.. But your Original comment made it sound like you needed 4,900 to qualify for Prime. I re read your comment and see thats not what you meant but thats how it came across at first. I just didn't want people to think to Qualify for Prime you needed 4,900 points when really you only need 2,500 points. 

[NeutralNovice]

4 hours ago, SHIP TRAVELER said:

Just curious,  What kind of play does it take to get 4900 points in one cruise? 

Did you play slots or table games?

Thanks for sharing you experience.

 

 

To me, it takes quite a bit to get to 4900pts, especially the way cruise ships pay out.

 

For slots at least, 1pt = $5 Played

If I lost every slot pull, that means I lost up to $24500 (obviously that wasn't the case) but essentially I put over 24k in play throughout the cruise.  Compared to land based casinos, you have to play a substantial amount more to get to that level.

 

I've kind of noticed that RCI is incredibly stingy with their payouts, table rules, poker house rakes, slot tournament prizes, and BINGO.

 

I stupidly paid $66 for a SINGLE game of BINGO, not researching the rules first.  And the prize payout, regardless of the number of participants, was $300.  I will never play BINGO on RCI again as long as the payouts are like that.

 

If I remember correctly, the house takes a certain percentage of each hand played during cash poker games, up to $15 per hand, which is insane.

 

Craps odds bet (the one behind pass line) had a 1x max odds. And I swear the dice are weighted.  I have never seen/personally hit so many damn sevens after the point in my life.

 

And the slots seem to be tighter than a wet-then-frozen lid on a JIF jar that was closed by the mighty Thor himself.

 

And good grief, that slot tournament is a rip off as well.  The payouts do not reflect the number of buy-ins.  Only the top player winds anything.  Either $500 for 25>x buy ins or a free cruise for x>25 buy ins.

 

At this point, I don't really want to gamble much on RCI anymore.  I'd rather just enjoy whatever free cruises I get now then just wait for my land based casinos to offer me free cruises.

Edited February 6, 2019 by NeutralNovice

[sellwingri]

Slot tournaments used to pay out cash after every round is completed on any given day so every day was a new tournament.  Now they tally points every day and compile a list of highest point totals.  Those people then play in a final round for a free cruise.  The cruise (inside cabin) is usually one they pick out for a specific date.  No thanks!  

Edited February 7, 2019 by sellwingri

[SHIP TRAVELER]

18 hours ago, NeutralNovice said:

 

To me, it takes quite a bit to get to 4900pts, especially the way cruise ships pay out.

 

For slots at least, 1pt = $5 Played

If I lost every slot pull, that means I lost up to $24500 (obviously that wasn't the case) but essentially I put over 24k in play throughout the cruise.  Compared to land based casinos, you have to play a substantial amount more to get to that level.

 

I've kind of noticed that RCI is incredibly stingy with their payouts, table rules, poker house rakes, slot tournament prizes, and BINGO.

 

I stupidly paid $66 for a SINGLE game of BINGO, not researching the rules first.  And the prize payout, regardless of the number of participants, was $300.  I will never play BINGO on RCI again as long as the payouts are like that.

 

If I remember correctly, the house takes a certain percentage of each hand played during cash poker games, up to $15 per hand, which is insane.

 

Craps odds bet (the one behind pass line) had a 1x max odds. And I swear the dice are weighted.  I have never seen/personally hit so many damn sevens after the point in my life.

 

And the slots seem to be tighter than a wet-then-frozen lid on a JIF jar that was closed by the mighty Thor himself.

 

And good grief, that slot tournament is a rip off as well.  The payouts do not reflect the number of buy-ins.  Only the top player winds anything.  Either $500 for 25>x buy ins or a free cruise for x>25 buy ins.

 

At this point, I don't really want to gamble much on RCI anymore.  I'd rather just enjoy whatever free cruises I get now then just wait for my land based casinos to offer me free cruises.

Thank you for the response.  We usually play video poker and I know the pay out there even on $1 x 5 is around 95% at

the most.  We would never play those schedules in a land based casino but sometimes play them on the ship just

for entertainment.  We play $1.25 (quarter game) really slow.  I don't think they give as many points for video poker as for slots, I know most land based casinos do not. Maybe next cruise I will play the "don't" on craps to see if they

switch the dice on me.  Just kidding, but I do play the don't on a cold table.