Beware of Onboard Casino Offers

[lkneller]

Just off Oasis yesterday.  

 

Played in Casino every day and earned 13,000 points.  According to sign on Casino Host desk, 10,000 points qualified for free Jr suite and 1,000 free play.

 

On Saturday afternoon certificate was delivered confirming that I earned the certificate and stating the details Junior Suite.  It also stated that to QUALITY for the free play, I had to create a reservation while on board via Next Cruise Dept!  Didn't know that ahead of time!    So we scrambled at last minute to create a book later reservation.

 

The email that came from Next Cruise stated my reservation number and also stated that if I didn't reserve my cruise in next 7 days I would lose my free play offer.  But the phone number to call to book as stated on the email.  3059822694 comes up as a non working number and I am unable to reach anyone there.  They also said the $200 deposit is non refundable.

 

went online to clubroyaloffers and my offer is not showing up.

 

called club royal and spoke with rep.   She was very polite. But she said she couldn't do anything until the certificate was posted to my account and that could take up to 1 week. 

 

I will be going into hospital Thursday for Heart ablation, and don't expect to be in a position to deal with this for a week or so after that.  Especially since this run a round is so frustrating and stressful.

 

the certificate listed only 2 cruises from NJ to bahamas and they were limited to (Oct only for oasis), and (Oct-Dec for anthem).  I went through all the dates that we could possibly go on these cruises and only 1 had a jr suite available. I asked rep if she could hold that room for me until certificate came through and she said it was not available through casino.  Even though I was sitting on royal website and it is clearly showing available there.  

 

she said the ONLY thing she could do since there were no Jr suites available was to DOWNGRADE me to a spacious balcony.

 

sorry but this is so WRONG.  I asked the host while onboard what cruises out of Cape Liberty were available for these offers and he said  there are lots to pick from.   Only to find that is completely untrue.  

 

the fine print on the certificate on the bottom states to go online to view the Complete list of cruises and date options.  

 

My only hope is that when the certificate is finally online there will be other dates to choose from that ACTUALLY have a Jr suite.

 

Don't assume you will get what you earned. 

 

I have had this happen before with certificates that I was unable to use, but they were 4,800 points and I didn't invest as much time and $$$ to earn them so I wasn't so upset.  But this time I really looked forward to the Jr suite and put in many many hours in the casino to earn that.  

 

good luck to anyone that tries to use their certificates and I hope it works out OK.  but be aware this could happen. 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

[AlohaLivin]

25 minutes ago, lkneller said:

Just off Oasis yesterday.  

 

Played in Casino every day and earned 13,000 points.  According to sign on Casino Host desk, 10,000 points qualified for free Jr suite and 1,000 free play.

 

On Saturday afternoon certificate was delivered confirming that I earned the certificate and stating the details Junior Suite.  It also stated that to QUALITY for the free play, I had to create a reservation while on board via Next Cruise Dept!  Didn't know that ahead of time!    So we scrambled at last minute to create a book later reservation.

 

The email that came from Next Cruise stated my reservation number and also stated that if I didn't reserve my cruise in next 7 days I would lose my free play offer.  But the phone number to call to book as stated on the email.  3059822694 comes up as a non working number and I am unable to reach anyone there.  They also said the $200 deposit is non refundable.

 

went online to clubroyaloffers and my offer is not showing up.

 

called club royal and spoke with rep.   She was very polite. But she said she couldn't do anything until the certificate was posted to my account and that could take up to 1 week. 

 

I will be going into hospital Thursday for Heart ablation, and don't expect to be in a position to deal with this for a week or so after that.  Especially since this run a round is so frustrating and stressful.

 

the certificate listed only 2 cruises from NJ to bahamas and they were limited to (Oct only for oasis), and (Oct-Dec for anthem).  I went through all the dates that we could possibly go on these cruises and only 1 had a jr suite available. I asked rep if she could hold that room for me until certificate came through and she said it was not available through casino.  Even though I was sitting on royal website and it is clearly showing available there.  

 

she said the ONLY thing she could do since there were no Jr suites available was to DOWNGRADE me to a spacious balcony.

 

sorry but this is so WRONG.  I asked the host while onboard what cruises out of Cape Liberty were available for these offers and he said  there are lots to pick from.   Only to find that is completely untrue.  

 

the fine print on the certificate on the bottom states to go online to view the Complete list of cruises and date options.  

 

My only hope is that when the certificate is finally online there will be other dates to choose from that ACTUALLY have a Jr suite.

 

Don't assume you will get what you earned. 

 

I have had this happen before with certificates that I was unable to use, but they were 4,800 points and I didn't invest as much time and $$$ to earn them so I wasn't so upset.  But this time I really looked forward to the Jr suite and put in many many hours in the casino to earn that.  

 

good luck to anyone that tries to use their certificates and I hope it works out OK.  but be aware this could happen. 

 

 

 

 

 

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

The new program is indeed confusing and frustrating. The Next Cruise caveat is adding in a real hurdle.  I am sorry that you are having the scramble here in such a short period of time.

[BennyBrun]

Wow… the offer states that you must book the reservation through next cruise by sitting down with someone and they pull up the offer details and book an actual room with you.  They forward the reservation to Casino Royale along with your certificate number to comp off the cost of the cruise and charges you port fees and taxes to your sea pass card.  As a bonus they also add the applicable OBC because you booked onboard.  You receive an instant email confirmation with your booking with all the costs and then about 2-7 days later you receive another email with the cost zeroed out since you already paid the taxes and fees.  You generally don’t use that cruise later option because that is not for casino offers as they have a list with very specific sailings that you can book using that certificate.  Usually the offers is loaded to your account within 24-48 hours after you receive the certificate.  You might want to call back and politely ask to schedule a call with a supervisor with a time so that they can escalate if need be.  Be persistent about scheduling that call and you will have to explain to them the issue again before they will be willing to schedule that call for you.

[lkneller]

by the time the certificate was delivered to our cabin, and we read it and for the first time and learned that we HAD to book at next cruise we went down immediately and there were only 2 appointments left and they were the same time early dining started.  which we had!  We didn't want to skip out on our dining room staff because we planned to tip them extra and didn't want to miss them.   If it wasn't the last night we would have skipped dinner.  

 

one of the crew at the next cruise then came over to us and said we could fill in the form and drop it in the box and they would create a reservation and charge the deposit and we could call them when we get home.  

 

Can't even believe they would send a confirmation email advising us to call a non working phone number!  And no other way to contact!

 

didn't get the opportunity to sit down with anyone because we were not informed that we needed to until it was too late.

 

 

[BennyBrun]

39 minutes ago, lkneller said:

by the time the certificate was delivered to our cabin, and we read it and for the first time and learned that we HAD to book at next cruise we went down immediately and there were only 2 appointments left and they were the same time early dining started.  which we had!  We didn't want to skip out on our dining room staff because we planned to tip them extra and didn't want to miss them.   If it wasn't the last night we would have skipped dinner.  

 

one of the crew at the next cruise then came over to us and said we could fill in the form and drop it in the box and they would create a reservation and charge the deposit and we could call them when we get home.  

 

Can't even believe they would send a confirmation email advising us to call a non working phone number!  And no other way to contact!

 

didn't get the opportunity to sit down with anyone because we were not informed that we needed to until it was too late.

 

 

I am sorry to hear that and I hope they can fix it for you.  Casino reservations always needed to have a very specific information so hopefully you can schedule a call with a supervisor and see what they can do for you.

[Mikew0805]

44 minutes ago, lkneller said:

by the time the certificate was delivered to our cabin, and we read it and for the first time and learned that we HAD to book at next cruise we went down immediately and there were only 2 appointments left and they were the same time early dining started.  which we had!  We didn't want to skip out on our dining room staff because we planned to tip them extra and didn't want to miss them.   If it wasn't the last night we would have skipped dinner.  

 

one of the crew at the next cruise then came over to us and said we could fill in the form and drop it in the box and they would create a reservation and charge the deposit and we could call them when we get home.  

 

Can't even believe they would send a confirmation email advising us to call a non working phone number!  And no other way to contact!

 

didn't get the opportunity to sit down with anyone because we were not informed that we needed to until it was too late.

 

 

See the casino host next time. The rules are posted at their desk. Also, you do not have to sit down with anyone, you can just fill out the form on the back of the flyer at the casino host desk and they will charge the deposit, and you have 7 days to make a reservation. They are clear that there is limited availability, and unfortunately with the reduction in points for free cabins over the last 6 months, there were way too many cabins handed out for players that would not normally have gotten one. That is why you are having a hard time finding availability.

 

I don't like the new program, but it is all spelled out, so not much I can do about it. Good luck!

[lkneller]

thanks for some good advice.  I did call back and ask for a supervisor but the rep wanted to know why I needed a supervisor.  So I did repeat the story and she asked me to take a photo of the certificate and email it to her, and she said she would go to the back end and try to expedite the process.  She also used my reservation from next cruise to book the sailing and the room I wanted but as BennyBrun stated the invoice shows full pricing.  

 

she says she will follow up with this and contact me when she can see the offers for this certificate.

 

I kept asking her what will happen if this sailing is excluded from the certificate and she couldn't answer that question.  so now I just have to cross fingers that they don't come back and say that sailing is not included.

 

I booked October, 2022, and the certificate states up to 8 nights Oct-Dec.  2022

 

the booking says there is a $500 non refundable deposit and she could not answer my question what would happen if I had to change it because this date was not covered.

 

so it could work out OK,  but it also could be more problems ahead.  Just hoping it works out.

 

I agree that lowering the tiers may have triggered more activity.  I had earned 10,000 points ending march 2022, and now see they gave prime at 1500 points instead of 2500.   

 

 

[BennyBrun]

58 minutes ago, lkneller said:

thanks for some good advice.  I did call back and ask for a supervisor but the rep wanted to know why I needed a supervisor.  So I did repeat the story and she asked me to take a photo of the certificate and email it to her, and she said she would go to the back end and try to expedite the process.  She also used my reservation from next cruise to book the sailing and the room I wanted but as BennyBrun stated the invoice shows full pricing.  

 

she says she will follow up with this and contact me when she can see the offers for this certificate.

 

I kept asking her what will happen if this sailing is excluded from the certificate and she couldn't answer that question.  so now I just have to cross fingers that they don't come back and say that sailing is not included.

 

I booked October, 2022, and the certificate states up to 8 nights Oct-Dec.  2022

 

the booking says there is a $500 non refundable deposit and she could not answer my question what would happen if I had to change it because this date was not covered.

 

so it could work out OK,  but it also could be more problems ahead.  Just hoping it works out.

 

I agree that lowering the tiers may have triggered more activity.  I had earned 10,000 points ending march 2022, and now see they gave prime at 1500 points instead of 2500.   

 

 

While that sounds all great but make sure you have name of the person you spoke and document everything because you most likely will need to speak to a supervisor!!  The dates in those certificates are very limited and does not cover every sailing so this is just friendly advice that again you take down names and really hold firm on speaking with a supervisor next time.  If she has to “check” with someone that mostly she is going to pass it to a supervisor to look at it and it’s always better to go direct to plead your case to someone that can make the decision.  Again I want this to happen for you so just friendly advice to follow up as this most likely won’t be the last contact. 

[orville99]

Just out of curiosity, how much money did you drop in order to get those points?

[lkneller]

You get 1 point for every $5 you play through the slots.   I can't speak for video machines or tables, that I don't know.  I only play slots.

 

 

 

 

[luckyinpa]

29 minutes ago, orville99 said:

Just out of curiosity, how much money did you drop in order to get those points?

royal says 

• Slot Machines – Earn 1 point for every $5 you play on a reel slot machine or $10 on a video poker machine.

so if my maths are good, 65000. which is enough to buy a royal suite loft  on even wonder 

[AlohaLivin]

1 hour ago, luckyinpa said:

royal says 

• Slot Machines – Earn 1 point for every $5 you play on a reel slot machine or $10 on a video poker machine.

so if my maths are good, 65000. which is enough to buy a royal suite loft  on even wonder 

Just to note, it isn’t the amount lost, but the amount through the casino (or machine). Granted there are losses, just not the amount it would seem if “played” vs “lost” is the operative term 👍🏼
 

 

Edited May 9, 2022 by AlohaLivin

[mugtech]

Wow, lost money in the casino and then were mislead about what your losses got you.  Shocking!!!

[BennyBrun]

if you are playing for fun and have the budget / money to do so then it is a form of entertainment…but to play for “free” stuff is another story… yes people will tell you that they got lucky etc. etc. but the casino has the advantage and they don’t keep the lights on and giving away rooms if they are losing money.

[TexasRon]

The $400 off thing my wife got for hitting Prime is probably useless based on all the rules for use.  I will make contact and see what we can do, but realistically I take gambling money expecting to lose it and I don’t want to add another event to the gambling budget.  Not sure we can make it work for our next two planned cruises…then it expires…

 

We have done okay the last two cruises and one casino visit…but those streaks tend to go south at some point.

[Sunshine3601]

8 minutes ago, TexasRon said:

The $400 off thing my wife got for hitting Prime is probably useless based on all the rules for use.  I will make contact and see what we can do, but realistically I take gambling money expecting to lose it and I don’t want to add another event to the gambling budget.  Not sure we can make it work for our next two planned cruises…then it expires…

 

We have done okay the last two cruises and one casino visit…but those streaks tend to go south at some point.

The type of certificate the OP received is not a standard offer so your $400 off will be cashed in a bit different.   

 

My DH received a certificate similar to the OP but only $300 in freeplay.   We didn't book onboard but booked after we got home.  Got a JS just no freeplay since we didn't book thru next cruise.

[Janet524]

Doubt I'll ever encounter a problem like this.  You don't get many perks spending $10 a night on the nickel slots.😉

[A&L_Ont]

15 hours ago, orville99 said:

Just out of curiosity, how much money did you drop in order to get those points?

 

We usually take $40 each, a couple nights on the ship, and donate it to the cause.  

 

If it lasts and hour or so at the slots, it is better than a night at the movies after you add snacks and popcorn. It is almost the same cost as well.  Wagering a set amount of money, to get a cabin with such restrictions makes me enjoy the way we go about it.

 

That being said, different strokes for different folks. We like suites while others like insides.  That's the thing about cruises, they pretty much have everyone covered. 

[lkneller]

update- my certificate is posted to my account.  I was able to download the details into pdf so I could actually read the list!

 

there are 8 sailings on adventure  2 each month July-Oct.  

there are 2 sailings on oasis  2 in Oct

there are 6 sailing on anthem 1 Oct, 3 Nov, and 2 Dec.

 

clear to see the limited availability with an actual list to look at.  

 

I did ask for this in casino but host said he did not have this.

 

I am not usually lucky but this time I can say so far I am good.  the cruise I picked IS on the list!

 

Now I did wake up sick this morning.  Off the ship on Sunday....   Have to cancel my heart ablation for Thursday...  not so lucky there....

 

 

 

 

 

[RFerrington]

5 minutes ago, lkneller said:

Now I did wake up sick this morning.  Off the ship on Sunday....   Have to cancel my heart ablation for Thursday...  not so lucky there....

UGH.  Sorry to hear this !  Good luck with the procedure and hope you are feeling better very soon.  Good news on the casino comp.  That IS good luck !

[Sunshine3601]

12 minutes ago, lkneller said:

update- my certificate is posted to my account.  I was able to download the details into pdf so I could actually read the list!

 

there are 8 sailings on adventure  2 each month July-Oct.  

there are 2 sailings on oasis  2 in Oct

there are 6 sailing on anthem 1 Oct, 3 Nov, and 2 Dec.

 

clear to see the limited availability with an actual list to look at.  

 

I did ask for this in casino but host said he did not have this.

 

I am not usually lucky but this time I can say so far I am good.  the cruise I picked IS on the list!

 

Now I did wake up sick this morning.  Off the ship on Sunday....   Have to cancel my heart ablation for Thursday...  not so lucky there....

 

 

 

 

 

Sorry to hear you are now sick and have to cancel your procedure.   Hopefully symptoms remain mild.

Yes, it is quite a huge list of sailings with a decent amount from cape liberty and Baltimore.

Happy to hear your sailing is on the list.   Now make sure they do give you the freeplay.    It will be shown on your invoice.  

[TexasRon]

15 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

The type of certificate the OP received is not a standard offer so your $400 off will be cashed in a bit different.   

 

My DH received a certificate similar to the OP but only $300 in freeplay.   We didn't book onboard but booked after we got home.  Got a JS just no freeplay since we didn't book thru next cruise.

My wife’s offer had two things listed—a free interior room if booked with NextCruise onboard and $400 that can be used within a year for a new booking.

 

Unless there is different wording on the actual offer when it posted online (it is there now but I have not read the fine print), or the casino folks can do something, her offer is worthless to us.  There may be a shot at the free play part of it… Our cruises are planned for now…

 

I see I have two other offers on my account…the MGM Rewards free cruise and a $300 offer from play on our cruise.  I had 1380 points.

 

I am not mad at all; just stating what I see and know so far…this is after spending an hour with the casino folks before anything posted.  I would be happy if something worked out to make it better for us!

[soremekun]

How much did 13,000 points cost you?

Edited May 10, 2022 by soremekun
.

[edrussell]

Fair warning, my wife and I are gamblers and have been going to Vegas for years so we already know the COMP world pretty well.

 

We took our very first ever cruise in Jan of this year on a COMP (from MyVegas).  On that sailing my wife not only hit the 800 point mark for an instant certificate but she also made prime.  We used the reward certificate onboard via Next cruise for a Sept 2022 Oasis booking.  It only amounted to a 300 off on that sailing.  We were happy enough with that as we had been told by fellow cruisers to expect other offers.  That has definitely occured.

 

We were forced to move that booked Sept Oasis sailing further back by 2 weeks due to our daughter's expecting our second grandchild near the sailing date.  During that call to move the sailing they actually applied a full offer and the entire base fare was covered by the offer.  They then moved our deposit over to all but cover the taxes and port fees.

 

We used our annual prime certificate for an Anthem sailing in 2023, 7 nights.  Fully covered the base fare.

 

Then 2 weekends ago we decided to redeem yet another offer for a 5 night sailing on Anthem for May 21.

 

So, based on that first sailing (my wife ended up with about 1600 points on roughly a 600 loss, she had a few good runs) we ended up with 3 booked sailings, all of which have fully covered base fares.  Also we have some freeplay thrown in.

 

So, yes the instant certificate wasn't that useful for us (then again we would have taken the 300 off) but by using the other offers we have received thus far we have done quite well.  Especially so considering we have 3 more offers available to us right now to use with many more to come.

[lkneller]

nice to hear some have done well with offers.

 

Enjoy your cruises!