Casino Comp'd Cruise

[cltnccruisers]

1 hour ago, azbirdmom said:

 

It could depend on the offers or even the ship.  I didn't question it because I ran into the same high quote when I asked the price for a suite the last time I used one of these deals.

That makes sense.  When I booked the agent start off with a list of cruises so it's not that all are available.  I stopped her and told her the one we were looking for and fortunately it was on the list.  Then I asked about upgrading to a balcony.  She came up with something on a higher deck forward.  I kind of directed her to an area more to our liking and all was well.  Don't know if our preference affected the upgrade price but we're content.

[memoak]

1 hour ago, azbirdmom said:

 

It could depend on the offers or even the ship.  I didn't question it because I ran into the same high quote when I asked the price for a suite the last time I used one of these deals.

The price to upgrade to a full suite was crazy high which is why opted for the club class mini

[gerig]

On 3/15/2022 at 1:20 PM, memoak said:

Yes but the cost might be pretty high. We had a free balcony for our cruise on April 30 and upgraded to a club class mini for a very decent price but the full suite upgrade was going to be way higher so we passed on the full suite

I had already booked a suite for my Alaska cruise but then I received a free offer for a balcony for the same cruise I booked.  I found out that they do not discount suites at all but actually surcharge them because the current rate without a casino offer was 6400 and if I booked a "free balcony" casino offer and upgraded it would cost me 6800.  I received this response from 2 different people.

 

[roxievegas]

Husband and I were in the Blackjack Tournament on Majestic, May 19 - 26th - round trip out of San Pedro to Mexico.600

My husband came in tied for 16th place and I came in 25th  - we both received $600 free play as our prize.  My husband has been very lucky in the casino this trip.  We are coming home with money.

We booked this trip with him getting $300 free play and me $500 free play.  So made out great with our free play, free balcony, and princess plus package. (and upgraded to mini suite for $40 per day)

[chicopaige]

Is the free play $ that comes with a casino offer automatically on your Medallion or do you need to go to the casino desk to get it added to your account?

[memoak]

9 minutes ago, chicopaige said:

Is the free play $ that comes with a casino offer automatically on your Medallion or do you need to go to the casino desk to get it added to your account?

In the past I have always had to go to the cashier to have it loaded for slots or get chips for table games. My next trip with free play is in 1 month so I will see what gives 

[roxievegas]

you have to go the casino cage to have the money loaded to your medallion.  It will be in your "free play"" bucket

[cltnccruisers]

13 minutes ago, roxievegas said:

you have to go the casino cage to have the money loaded to your medallion.  It will be in your "free play"" bucket

Do we have to take the offer sheets or do they have it on record?

[suekel]

1 hour ago, cltnccruisers said:

Do we have to take the offer sheets or do they have it on record?

Take a copy of your travel summary that shows it.  On one cruise they said I had no free play so I showed them the copy that I brought.  Good back up.  

[roxievegas]

agree to take back up.  I have never had a problem, but they can have mix up/problems, so having your printout will help get you the money

[caribill]

On 3/24/2022 at 3:27 PM, azbirdmom said:

 

By the way, I initially asked for a quote on a Club Class mini suite and was told that these aren't part of the casino program.  So the cost that I was quoted was the web rate less the usual CASINO discount.  I knew suites weren't part of their program but didn't know that Club Class was in the same category.

 

On 3/24/2022 at 3:51 PM, memoak said:

That sounds crazy. We had a free balcony plus $500 casino free play and were able to upgrade to a club class mini via the casino group 

 

If they are not part of the casino program, can't you still upgrade to a mini-suite by paying the difference between what you had booked and the non-casino price for a mini-suite?

[caribill]

On 3/15/2022 at 10:37 PM, cruzin4us said:

If you fly with Southwest, their fares won't show up unless it's about 6 months before you cruise.  For instance right now they are only booking until Sept. 5, 2022.   The beauty of SW is you don't have any baggage fees.

 

 

It would be great if Southwest was participating in EZAir, but they don't.

 

EZAir is great for international flights, but pricing is usually not better than booking directly with the airline.

 

Even so, the main benefit of using EZAir for USA domestic travel is that changes/cancellations can be made with no fees if done prior to 45 days in advance of the before cruise flight. Also, if Princess cancels the cruise, there are no penalties for the flights being cancelled, even if within 45 days.

[cruzin4us]

3 hours ago, caribill said:

 

It would be great if Southwest was participating in EZAir, but they don't.

 

EZAir is great for international flights, but pricing is usually not better than booking directly with the airline.

 

Even so, the main benefit of using EZAir for USA domestic travel is that changes/cancellations can be made with no fees if done prior to 45 days in advance of the before cruise flight. Also, if Princess cancels the cruise, there are no penalties for the flights being cancelled, even if within 45 days.

Southwest is now participating in EZAir flights.   The problem is if your trip is farther out than Sept 5th, you won't be able to see any southwest options.   SW is supposed to open up more flights on March 30th.

 

 

Edited March 26, 2022 by cruzin4us

[memoak]

9 hours ago, caribill said:

 

 

If they are not part of the casino program, can't you still upgrade to a mini-suite by paying the difference between what you had booked and the non-casino price for a mini-suite?

If there are cabins available they should be able to however they may lose perks they originally had. Of course if Princess sends them an upsell option then they should keep all perks 

[caribill]

9 hours ago, cruzin4us said:

 

 

 

 

Interesting that flex fares are not available and that the listed price seems (to me at least) high for that route for a Southwest non-refundable fare.

 

I just checked on SWA web site and a 1-way "Wanna Getaway" fare for that flight is available for $94.

[cruzin4us]

1 hour ago, caribill said:

 

Interesting that flex fares are not available and that the listed price seems (to me at least) high for that route for a Southwest non-refundable fare.

 

I just checked on SWA web site and a 1-way "Wanna Getaway" fare for that flight is available for $94.

I booked my flights separately on SW and did find a cheaper rate as well.   I'm just happy to see that SW is now an option.

[roxievegas]

17 hours ago, caribill said:

 

 

If they are not part of the casino program, can't you still upgrade to a mini-suite by paying the difference between what you had booked and the non-casino price for a mini-suite?

when you get on board, go to guest services and ask if there are any mini suites, or suites available and what would your cost be.  We have upgraded/movedup/paid to a mini suite on the last two cruises.  The cruise in December the cost was $30 per day and this past week we paid $40 per day (not per person) moved from a "free balcony" to a mini suite.

[candy4040]

Could someone please post the number for the casino offerings.   I have three offers back to back and received my free play only on one.  My travel consultant said I could only get one free play offer but in the past I have always received separate free play for each cruise booked.

[WAvoyager]

34 minutes ago, candy4040 said:

Could someone please post the number for the casino offerings.   I have three offers back to back and received my free play only on one.  My travel consultant said I could only get one free play offer but in the past I have always received separate free play for each cruise booked.

Here’s the number on my latest Casino offer - pretty sure that’s the general casino line.

661-284-4414

 

in the fine print it does specify free stateroom is good for three sailings, and Free Play is for first cruise only, but maybe your offer is different.  That’s the fine print I always remember.

2 Casino free play applies to one new cruise and will be issued as a casino credit (“Credit”) only for the Invited Member, not the Invited Member’s guest. Credit will be issued to the Medallion^®device (for slot play). For Table Promo Chips, guest must redeem Credit from the Casino cashier. Credit must be played/used before guest may cash out. Credit must be used on a single booked cruise only, is not transferable, and expires at the end of such cruise. Casino machines and table games vary by ship. Casino free play is quoted in USD

Edited March 27, 2022 by WAvoyager

[cltnccruisers]

This is getting a bit interesting.  We booked a June cruise on Caribbean Princess with this offer then upgraded to a balcony.  Last week we got another mailer similar to the first.  Then today we got one with the same cruises but for a balcony stateroom instead of an interior.  This may turn out to be the way to extend our cruising life after I finally retire.  Not sure what prompted the uptick to a balcony for today's offer - maybe because we paid for an upgrade in June?

[WAvoyager]

On 4/25/2022 at 10:04 AM, cltnccruisers said:

Not sure what prompted the uptick to a balcony for today's offer - maybe because we paid for an upgrade in June?

It’s probably just the general inefficiency of the casino department.  I have had one interior + $50 offer, one balcony + $500, and one balcony + Princess Plus + $1000 offer, all active at the same time.  And when I had to call the casino team to resolve issues with a reservation we booked, they thought we were using the interior room, and had paid to upgrade to the balcony.  (Uh, no…).  We had to dig up the original offer brochure, to give them the promo code - they couldn’t find it in their system!

 

We’re constantly getting offers, and there’s no real consistency to the offers we receive.  And that’s with no changes to our history with them.

 

They must have multiple teams or processes generating these offers because they appear to be completely random.  🤪

[cltnccruisers]

11 hours ago, WAvoyager said:

It’s probably just the general inefficiency of the casino department.  I have had one interior + $50 offer, one balcony + $500, and one balcony + Princess Plus + $1000 offer, all active at the same time.  And when I had to call the casino team to resolve issues with a reservation we booked, they thought we were using the interior room, and had paid to upgrade to the balcony.  (Uh, no…).  We had to dig up the original offer brochure, to give them the promo code - they couldn’t find it in their system!

 

We’re constantly getting offers, and there’s no real consistency to the offers we receive.  And that’s with no changes to our history with them.

 

They must have multiple teams or processes generating these offers because they appear to be completely random.  🤪

I probably shouldn't try to make sense of the process.  We've got the June cruise and that'll be it for the year.  So we'll just keep our eye out for offers in 2023.

[WAvoyager]

1 hour ago, cltnccruisers said:

I probably shouldn't try to make sense of the process.  We've got the June cruise and that'll be it for the year.  So we'll just keep our eye out for offers in 2023.

I think that’s the perfect takeaway!  😁

 

oh - and that if you get a lower than usual offer, you can probably ignore it and just wait for a better one!

[DR in LA]

Hi all,

 

We went on a California coastal getaway last October and are thinking of doing it again on Sapphire this October.  When we came back from the last cruise, I got several casino offers on postcards, but they have stopped coming in the mail...and now I want one of those offers for the upcoming cruise.  Do I have any options?  Unfortunately, I didn't save the postcard offers.  Thanks much in advance for any guidance.

[uspearls]

5 hours ago, DR in LA said:

Hi all,

 

We went on a California coastal getaway last October and are thinking of doing it again on Sapphire this October.  When we came back from the last cruise, I got several casino offers on postcards, but they have stopped coming in the mail...and now I want one of those offers for the upcoming cruise.  Do I have any options?  Unfortunately, I didn't save the postcard offers.  Thanks much in advance for any guidance.

Have you logged into your account and checked under My Account/Future Cruise Credits/Onboard Credits?  This is the third place you will see your casino offers (along with emails and snail mail) and as other said, there seems to be no consistency between them!