Can we get gambling money without a service charge?

[tampadee]

Or should we just bring cash for slots?

 

 

[Russiamomm]

Unless you have high status in the casino, there is really no way around the 3% service charge.  Probably best to bring cash.  There is an ATM onboard.  It costs $6.99 plus whatever your bank may charge.  If you have an NCL MasterCard you will get the 3% back in points that can be taken as a credit to your balance, wiping out the charge.  

[phillygwm]

You can establish a line of credit with the casino at no charge.  Not going to be worth your while if you don't gamble a fair amount.  I maintain one but rarely use it.  Instead, I have a bank account with an ATM card with a large daily limit.  I prefer to use that even with the $6.99 fee.  Don't pay $6.99 to withdraw $100, though.  Just bring cash if that's the case.

Edited January 19 by phillygwm

[hallux]

6 minutes ago, phillygwm said:

I prefer to use that even with the $6.99 fee

or find a bank account that will refund that fee.  Yes, my bank account not only doesn't charge fees for out of network ATM withdrawals but will also refund the fees charged by the other bank...

[Russiamomm]

26 minutes ago, hallux said:

or find a bank account that will refund that fee.  Yes, my bank account not only doesn't charge fees for out of network ATM withdrawals but will also refund the fees charged by the other bank...

True.  My bank also reimburses all ATM fees.  That’s why I usually just pull cash out of the ATM.  Even if it is a wash with the NCL credit card, using the ATM keeps me somewhat on track.  I know the money is there and don’t have to worry about paying it back the next month.

[BirdTravels]

Gamble $175K on slots or $350K on video poker to attain Ruby status. You would also get a black ultra drinks card for anything from the casino bar and $400 OBC on every cruise. 

[Russiamomm]

11 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Gamble $175K on slots or $350K on video poker to attain Ruby status. You would also get a black ultra drinks card for anything from the casino bar and $400 OBC on every cruise. 

LOL.  At least for me, that’s never going to happen.  I was thrilled to make Pearl on my last cruise in December, but that only took taking five cruises during the year.  😂

[bftcruiser]

Someone told me the way around it is to start at the slots, take money from your "bank" (which is charged to your card) and then "cash out" at the slot. Go to the cage and collect your cash money. Then go play the tables.

[cruiserbear55]

23 minutes ago, bftcruiser said:

Someone told me the way around it is to start at the slots, take money from your "bank" (which is charged to your card) and then "cash out" at the slot. Go to the cage and collect your cash money. Then go play the tables.

You're still going to incur the 3% charge.

[ngrund]

29 minutes ago, bftcruiser said:

Someone told me the way around it is to start at the slots, take money from your "bank" (which is charged to your card) and then "cash out" at the slot. Go to the cage and collect your cash money. Then go play the tables.

That would work on the cruise lines that do not charge a fee for slots-some have no fee for slots, but charge at tables

[9tee2Sea]

 When I play ( slots, never table games), I insert cash  ( whatever amount i choose to gamble that day) into the machine.  Most of the time, my beginning balance will get me thru a few days of playing ( if I lose it all in 1 day, I'm done for the day)  If I happen to win a large amount ( over $200), I cash my bank out, then create a new bank to play on.

[Russiamomm]

3 hours ago, bftcruiser said:

Someone told me the way around it is to start at the slots, take money from your "bank" (which is charged to your card) and then "cash out" at the slot. Go to the cage and collect your cash money. Then go play the tables.

 

3 hours ago, cruiserbear55 said:

You're still going to incur the 3% charge.

Yup.  NCL charges the fee to pull money at the slots.  I know Carnival doesn’t, and there may be some other lines that do the same.  NCL is not one of them, so this doesn’t work on NCL.

[bftcruiser]

1 hour ago, Russiamomm said:

Good to know. I was on a Carnival cruise recently and that's where a fellow gambler told me the workaround the 3% fee at the tables. 

 

Yup.  NCL charges the fee to pull money at the slots.  I know Carnival doesn’t, and there may be some other lines that do the same.  NCL is not one of them, so this doesn’t work on NCL.

 

[julig22]

1 hour ago, Russiamomm said:

Yup.  NCL charges the fee to pull money at the slots.  I know Carnival doesn’t, and there may be some other lines that do the same.  NCL is not one of them, so this doesn’t work on NCL.

But on the other side, it's a purchase, not a cash advance - so you do get whatever benefits your CC gives you for travel purchases. With the NCL card, that's 3%, so a wash. If you use a travel card with higher benefits, you can actually make money - or accumulate travel points - over using cash - assuming you don't carry a balance.

[UKstages]

yup.

 

the technical term for this is "manufactured spending."

 

i never bring cash to the casino. i always charge to the room. i get the 3% fee waived due to casino status and i also earn 3% on the NCL card. it would be a wash, if i didn't have the convenience fees waived. for me, though, i'd be losing 3% if i used cash because i wouldn't get the benefit on the NCL card.

[PartyPlannerLady]

On 1/19/2024 at 6:12 PM, tampadee said:

Or should we just bring cash for slots?

 

 

If you are worried about a simple 3% perhaps you should nit be in the casino in the first place.

[mistertomatoe]

Add it to all the other things NCL does to nickel and dime. It's also different from what other cruise lines do. It ruined it for me as far as gambling when I first found out about the 3%. I was done with NCL's casino. I can burn my money at other casinos. Gamblers can be peculiar people.

[UKstages]

1 hour ago, PartyPlannerLady said:

If you are worried about a simple 3% perhaps you should nit be in the casino in the first place.

 

what? me worry?

 

ohmigosh, no.

 

but thank you very much for your concern.

 

if you look again at my post, you will see that i get the "convenience fee" waived. i am a ruby player within NCL's CAS ecosystem, which means i have a tier score somewhere between 35,000 and 99,999.

 

while it's true that 3% is on the low end of the scale for what amounts to a cash advance (billed as a "purchase" on your credit card), it places the gambler at an extraordinary disadvantage.

 

in simple terms, if you only run the money through a machine once, you can think of it as turning a 99.54% expected return on a video poker game into a 96.54% return, if you lose (most people do).  it essentially turns the payback on an already unplayable 85% slot machine into an 82% return. to put it another way, if you manage to squeak out a $60 win on a two thousand dollar bankroll, you haven't really made any profit at all because of the "convenience fee." (of course, the payback on the machine actually stays the same, but the point is that you'll always be fighting your way to profit against the fee you paid for access to cash.)

 

an advantage player would never pay 3% for access to cash without recovering 3% or more in benefits. (of course, an advantage player wouldn't really be playing in a shipboard casino unless there was an exploitable opportunity.)

 

so, somebody who is "worried" about the 3% fee would actually be quite smart! see below for the other side of the coin, assuming that one has decided to pay the convenience fee.

 

5 minutes ago, mistertomatoe said:

Add it to all the other things NCL does to nickel and dime. It's also different from what other cruise lines do. It ruined it for me as far as gambling when I first found out about the 3%. I was done with NCL's casino. I can burn my money at other casinos. Gamblers can be peculiar people.

 

3% is on the lower end for what amounts to a credit card cash advance, which comes along with none of the negative features of a credit card cash advance. with a standard credit card cash advance, you'd be paying 25% or more interest on top of the fee, which could be as high as 5%. NCL wants you to gamble, which is why the fee is relatively low and the terms (the "advance" is charged as a "purchase") are favorable.

 

without a doubt NCL is famous for its nickel and dime approach... no argument there... but this is almost the opposite of that. i can't speak for other cruise lines who may charge less or may charge nothing at all (i haven't researched it), but if you're on an NCL ship, you have no other choice. i believe the "convenience fee" pricing is quite fair.

 

try to finance a car or a home at 3%. 

[CKCruising]

1 hour ago, UKstages said:

...try to finance a car or a home at 3%. 

You are not financing anything at 3%, you are paying a 3% convivence fee to get your money.  If you pay your credit card off, you already have the money.  If you pay interest on your credit card (stop using it to gamble!!!) then you are at much more than 3%.

It would be like saying it costs you 3% to apply for the mortgage and then you pay their rates (on the amount including your 3%).

Otherwise, I agree with your statement that the 3% is fair.

[itsnotjustme]

10 hours ago, UKstages said:

if you're on an NCL ship, you have no other choice.

I see two other choices.

 

1) Bring cash.  That may not be practical if you would need a large amount (say more than $1,000)

2) Use the ATM on the ship and pay a $6.99 fee.  Make the withdrawal large enough to cover you full cruise of gambling (if not exceeding any daily limit)

[PartyPlannerLady]

On 1/22/2024 at 11:47 AM, UKstages said:

 

 

try to finance a car or a home at 3%. 

 

My mortgage is at 2.125%  30 year fixed.

[reveur15]

Is it possible to buy refundable onboard credit online before the cruise on my NCL account and then cash this money at guest service without fee? Anybody tried this ?

[BDL]

What about OBC?  Can I take some out in the casino (with the 3% fee) and gamble with it?  Can I cash it out without running it all through a machine?

[Russiamomm]

3 hours ago, reveur15 said:

Is it possible to buy refundable onboard credit online before the cruise on my NCL account and then cash this money at guest service without fee? Anybody tried this ?

Yes and no.  I did this in October because I had an Amex offer giving me $200 statement credit when I charged $1000 to NCL.  The offer came in five days before I was going to Alaska and I had already paid for everything, including the DSC.  I bought $1000 of OBC to get the $200 back.  BUT…. You can’t get your cash back onboard until the last day of the cruise.  While you can charge cash at the casino, you are still going to pay the 3%.  I used cash in the casino and cashed out the OBC on the last day.

[Russiamomm]

2 hours ago, BDL said:

What about OBC?  Can I take some out in the casino (with the 3% fee) and gamble with it?  Can I cash it out without running it all through a machine?

What kind of OBC?  Non-refundable OBC cannot be used on the casino.  Refundable can be, but you will still pay the 3% fee.