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Princess Ultimate VIP Cruise Questions

Poohbear5701

By Poohbear5701,
in Princess Cruises

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Gogoddess5

Gogoddess5

Posted
Posted

As a Princes Casino Ultimate VIP invited guest a couple of years ago...I received VIP boarding, special welcome cocktail party, casino credit, complimentary drinks in the casino (you have wear a special lanyard to identify you), gifts in the stateroom. There were several special drawings held in the casino throughout the cruise that you had to be present for and playing to be eligible.  VIP cocktail reception towards end of cruise where several drawings were held, including for a free cruise. 

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Gogoddess5

Gogoddess5

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Posted

Forgot to mention - I believe there's typically a Casino VIP cruise in late fall and in early spring.  Your invite should indicate a month you would qualify for. I think the exact date is revealed after you qualify.

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Beave8920

Beave8920

Posted
Posted (edited)
3 hours ago, Poohbear5701 said:

The flyer I received is not perfectly clear...it appears they want you to take a cruise before August 14, and then they invite you on an Ultimate VIP Cruise.  What is the Ultimate VIP cruise and when is it?

 

Poohbear.....since I started the thread last year and asked the same question as you did, here's my experience from start to finish:

 

I booked one of their advertised casino cruises from the flyer I received.  I  received all the perks they advertised (reduced rate / free drinks / obc / casino host etc)  No complaints.  It was a 7 day West Coast cruise, and we had a great time.  And we did spend substantial time in the casino and did lose a substantial amount of money!

 

The way I read the fine print was that if I booked a cruise from their list I would receive an invitation for the VIP Ultimate cruise the following Nov.

 

But when I inquired about the "follow up cruise" that was advertised from the casino host, she was very vague about the follow up offer - specifically that she wasn't totally sure what the offer would be or where it would sail from.  THAT SHOULD HAVE BEEN THE CLUE!

 

So I waited for the invitation.  About mid Oct I received an envelope in the mail inviting me to attend the VIP Ultimate cruise in the Carribean in mid Nov at a reduced cost.....not free as I had assumed.  In fact, it was only about 30% off the listed rate.

 

So I'm guessing they identified better Big Money Spenders and offered them a better offer (maybe free), and then filled in with reduced rate players.  In any event, my experience was that it was a "bait and switch" type kind of thing.  So we didn't go!

Edited by Beave8920
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Mike45LC

Mike45LC

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Posted

Beave, thanks for this explanation.  I noticed how weasel-worded the "offer" was (no offense to Ron Weasely of Harry Potter fame) and that made me very suspicious.  Because none of the qualifying cruises fit our schedule, we didn't pursue it.

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  • 1 month later...
CUontheC

CUontheC

Posted
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I was on the Ultimate VIP cruise last year.  I also sailed on a cruise this year that is supposed to allow me to go again this year.  So far I have not received a flyer regarding this.  Has anyone received one?

 

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caribill

caribill

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Posted
2 hours ago, donswife said:

How much do you typically have to spend in the casino to receive casino rate offers?

 

 

Even people who receive the offers do not know.

 

There have been posts on other threads from people who rarely go into the casino who have received casino rate offers and posts from those who do wager quite a bit.

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roxievegas Holiday Sharing Rare

roxievegas

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I am not sure if my flyer is what you are referring to, but my husband received a players club flyer for a slot tournament for a cruise out of LA for the Royal, Nov 16th - 35% off cabin (inside) and free entry into the $200,000 slot tournament.  We have two cruises booked in October, and not sure if we want to go in Nov.  We have to book by May 30

I did not receive the offer.  Only hubby and he spends 3X as much time in the casino.  Remember, it is not how much you spend, it how much you gamble.  If you put $100 in the machine and get no return on the machine, you gambled $100.  If you put in $100 and get back $50 - $60 in hits during the course of play, but continue to put it all back in you gamble $150-$160 and get points on all of that.  It's the points you accumulate.  I sat a machine - started with $100 and played for 3 hours before it was all gone, but at the end I had put an additional 500 points on my account.

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  • 2 months later...
jangor

jangor

Posted
Posted

I just wanted to add that even if you can not take one of the VIP cruises, but you are a Players Club member, you may be able to get a discount on any cruise you sign up for.  Call the Players Club number and check.  We got 30% on a non-Player Club cruise.  No special perks, but the discount was worth it.

 

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karatemom2 "Live from...." Rare

karatemom2

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On 4/27/2019 at 12:43 AM, caribill said:

 

Even people who receive the offers do not know.

 

There have been posts on other threads from people who rarely go into the casino who have received casino rate offers and posts from those who do wager quite a bit.

 

It's a mystery wrapped inside an enigma! No one really knows the magic formula. We have been getting the offers for a couple of years now - the first year we actually received one of the VIP cruises at no charge - except for taxes and port fees. But we haven't been offered that again and my DH is a pretty high roller on the craps table - but the table games are harder for them to monitor then slots where every dollar is accounted for. But he usually gets a OBC each trip for an upcoming booking within certain parameters as well which we are sometimes able to use, but more often not because we can't always go within the specified time frame.

 

And as someone has pointed out, if you qualify for the casino rate you can use it on any booking. But the VIP trips are fun - your drinks in the casino are free, there is a cocktail party - generally the day you board where you also get free drinks and hors d'oeuvres. You also generally get a delivery of chocolate covered strawberries the day you depart as well as once during the trip - or sometimes a plate of chocolates. The casino also generally gifts you with a bottle of champagne on the formal nights and a gift of some sort the last day of the trip - we have received special mugs, drinking glasses, beach towels, chip sets, etc. In addition, there are special drawings in the casino every night for those traveling as part of the VIP promotion. We enjoy it - but only take it if there is a trip we would normally do and the schedule works.

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marden1970

marden1970

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Posted

Karatemom - we also get offers we can't use because we already have another cruise booked.  If you send an email to oceanplayersclub.com and click on contact us there is a form you can submit.  Ask them real nice if they would consider adding some of that obc to the cruise you already have booked and sometimes they will.

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  • 6 months later...
AFRH-G

AFRH-G

Posted
Posted

I receive these every year. Vague offer. Turns out to be exactly what it says. An invite - only. When I received my first offer - I took an unwanted cruise to qualify for the VIP invite. I received an Invite to the VIP Cruise - with the standard casino discount percentages. I called and was told that the VIP Cruise offers more drawings and gifts.

I've not been impressed with Princess casino offers and benefits. On one cruise I racked up over 200,000 points and lost over $30,000. I asked what I could expect as a benefit - was told I could get 15% off my next cruise. 

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orientodyssey

orientodyssey

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Posted

Same here.  Received the Casino offer flyer, listing some "VIP Casino" departures that we can book, to be qualified for an invitation on an "Ultimate VIP Casino Cruise".  One of the listed cruise in Aug happen to be the one we already booked so talked to TA and did get the Casino Discount (25% on Europe, 35% on Caribbean).  Although the flyer says it comes with free drinks at casino / obc  / Casino Host / VIP check in, etc.   There is no where we can check if it will be honored.   

 

Wonder for those who had take advantage of the VIP Casino Rate, do you get separate confirmation at check in? Is there a seperate line for VIP Casino guest at the port?  Is your card / or Medallion specially marked so you get free drinks at Casino?   Also will the Casino OBC show on Princess Cruise Confirmation?  Or we have to confirm at the Casino?

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suzyed

suzyed

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Posted
On 4/27/2019 at 3:43 AM, caribill said:

 

Even people who receive the offers do not know.

 

There have been posts on other threads from people who rarely go into the casino who have received casino rate offers and posts from those who do wager quite a bit.

Not only that...most are not going to disclose how much they spend.

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  • 1 year later...
reallyme

reallyme

Posted
Posted (edited)
On 3/6/2019 at 3:06 PM, Gogoddess5 said:

As a Princes Casino Ultimate VIP invited guest a couple of years ago...I received VIP boarding, special welcome cocktail party, casino credit, complimentary drinks in the casino (you have wear a special lanyard to identify you), gifts in the stateroom. There were several special drawings held in the casino throughout the cruise that you had to be present for and playing to be eligible.  VIP cocktail reception towards end of cruise where several drawings were held, including for a free cruise. 

 

But, did you win a prize?  In the offer I received recently  it shows 2 ultimate vip cruises and a bunch of other cruises.
I would get a free balcony and some casino play.  What I am trying to determine is what gifts are.  It says if  cruise on one of the ultimate vip cruises "and also receive a special gift, like an Apple Macbook Pro, 65 inch LED TV, or casino free play"

 

Edited by reallyme
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Crystal04

Crystal04

Posted
Posted
3 hours ago, reallyme said:

 

But, did you win a prize?  In the offer I received recently  it shows 2 ultimate vip cruises and a bunch of other cruises.
I would get a free balcony and some casino play.  What I am trying to determine is what gifts are.  It says if  cruise on one of the ultimate vip cruises "and also receive a special gift, like an Apple Macbook Pro, 65 inch LED TV, or casino free play"

 

I received the same offer and was curious about the prizes. The itineraries  for the 2 cruises didn't seem that good though.

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