No more free casino money

[CMurph]

I wasn't charged a 3% transaction fee when I took money on my SeaPass Card earlier this month on the Mariner?

 

Did you get money at the table in the casino? Or at the cashier? That usually is the difference. At the table there is no fee and they give you your money in chips. At the cashier's window is where they will charge you a fee for cash.

[debshomespun]

On the May 3 Radiance cruise to Hawaii, we tok out cash in the casino from the cashier on our seapass account, and was not charged the 3%. That may have changed by now.

 

We also got the "free pulls" coins, 3 coins for each coupon in our booklets. We would use them at various times, as we had 6 coupons between the 2 of us (diamond members). We didn't win anything, so we kept the last 3 coins. I bet I could sell them on ebay for some extra cash! :D I thought they made a nice souvenior!

[phoenix1181]

Best thing to do, if you want to take out money against your SeaPass is go to the Purser's Desk and ask for the cash against your SeaPass.

 

Are you saying I can get cash at the Purser's Desk and not be charged the 3% or did you mean they would refund a credit balance at the end of the cruise?

It's too bad so many used the casino like a bank............. I always bring gambling money with me but having the availability of getting money without leaving the table frequently kept me playing. Now, I expect I'll cut my losses and go do something else. Better for me, but it would be interesting to find out how the 3% fee affects the casino earnings.

[sherry7]

.......Best thing to do, if you want to take out money against your SeaPass is go to the Purser's Desk and ask for the cash against your SeaPass.

 

On Splendour we had a rather large OBC left on both cruises and since they don't know how to credit your credit card when you have a credit on your SeaPass account, they give you any unused OBC in cash.

 

Did you have to wait until the last night of the cruise to do this? On my next cruise, I'm going to have a OBC of about $1000, and I know that there's no way we'll spend all of that, since we normally book our excursions privately.

 

 

Most of the cruise lines do charge 3% if you take money out in the casino on your sail and sign card. Depending on how much you want to take out, it COULD be less exensive than using the ATM, but if you want more than $200, the the ATM is cheaper.....

 

Unfortunately, every time I've tried to use an ATM onboard, it's been out of cash already. RCCL needs to rectify that problem, because it's rather annoying.

[manuelstar]

It really must depend on the ship you are on. There was no transaction fee in the casino on the Independence (May) and Navigator (June).

[sherry7]

It really must depend on the ship you are on. There was no transaction fee in the casino on the Independence (May) and Navigator (June).

 

Here's a thought....maybe it depends on the type of credit card you actually use (Visa, MasterCard, Am Ex, Discover, etc)?

[manuelstar]

Here's a thought....maybe it depends on the type of credit card you actually use (Visa, MasterCard, Am Ex, Discover, etc)?

 

I don`t think so. We all used different types of credit cards, Amex, Visa and Mastercard and noone was charged the fee. But I know that they charged it on Celebrity`s Century (also May), no matter which credit card you used for your sea pass card. It really must depend on the ship, at least at the moment, like some other things that vary from ship to ship.

[sunandsalt]

Here's a thought....maybe it depends on the type of credit card you actually use (Visa, MasterCard, Am Ex, Discover, etc)?

 

Type of card did not matter. We were told the fee was a trial on 4 RCL ships.

[cruisenfever]

Are you saying I can get cash at the Purser's Desk and not be charged the 3% or did you mean they would refund a credit balance at the end of the cruise?

 

It's too bad so many used the casino like a bank............. I always bring gambling money with me but having the availability of getting money without leaving the table frequently kept me playing. Now, I expect I'll cut my losses and go do something else. Better for me, but it would be interesting to find out how the 3% fee affects the casino earnings.

 

 

Did you have to wait until the last night of the cruise to do this? On my next cruise, I'm going to have a OBC of about $1000, and I know that there's no way we'll spend all of that, since we normally book our excursions privately.

On Splendour, the night before debarkation we received a call from the Purser's Office telling us that we had $$$ unused money on our SeaPass account and to please come down to Guest Relations so that we could receive the money in cash to clear our account. When we usually have any unused OBC on other ships it is automatically put on our credit card as a credit............but with using the RCI Visa, if it goes on as a credit.........they deduct points.

 

I would assume that you could do this on any ship.

[camreesmom]

No charge for getting cash in the casino from the cashier on the Monarch this month.

[suezyq50]

Did you see the transaction fee right away?

[JJ2sail]

No charge for getting cash in the casino from the cashier on the Monarch this month.

 

We were just on Monarch 6/16, and was charged the 3% fee in the casino, took out $300 and charge to seapass was $309, but it was less then taking money from their ATM machine, it charges 6%!

 

They also had a little card on the wine in our cabin saying that if we took it to the dining room we would be charged a corkage fee (I think $12), not sure if that is new or not. Don't remember seeing it before.

[critterchick]

You are cruising next weekend???!!!!

 

:eek:

 

:D

 

Don't you wish you were?;)

[cruisegirl1]

We sailed the Sovereign in June and did not pay any transaction fee in the Casino.

 

Also the “free money” to get tokens to use in their “special slot” are a joke and I consider them an insult to loyal passengers. Personally, from a marketing standpoint, just take a way the free token coupons all together. No one really thinks their special machine will hit, do they?

 

M

[CRUISINGCPA]

On Mariner last week we were given $1 tokens for our coupons, we just collected them & cashed them in later for real cash.

[NEARING 100 CRUISES]

In reading the responses to my original post, it seems that RCCL needs to standardize all the ships. When you book, you are buying the brand and do not want to have surprises on different ships.:)

[cruissett]

We were just on Monarch 6/16, and was charged the 3% fee in the casino, took out $300 and charge to seapass was $309, but it was less then taking money from their ATM machine, it charges 6%!

 

They also had a little card on the wine in our cabin saying that if we took it to the dining room we would be charged a corkage fee (I think $12), not sure if that is new or not. Don't remember seeing it before.

 

:eek: They were going to charge you a corkage fee for wine supplied by RC?? Now that's not only new but unreal! We always get a bottle of wine from our TA and have never had a problem taking it to dinner or even to Portifino's. That's a lot of nerve of RC, the price is already 3 times higher then you'd pay if you bought the bottle at a store, and to add corkage??

[cruisenfever]

:eek: They were going to charge you a corkage fee for wine supplied by RC?? Now that's not only new but unreal! We always get a bottle of wine from our TA and have never had a problem taking it to dinner or even to Portifino's. That's a lot of nerve of RC, the price is already 3 times higher then you'd pay if you bought the bottle at a store, and to add corkage??

This is a rather new policy that has gone in effect................:(

[katiel53]

:eek: They were going to charge you a corkage fee for wine supplied by RC?? Now that's not only new but unreal! We always get a bottle of wine from our TA and have never had a problem taking it to dinner or even to Portifino's. That's a lot of nerve of RC, the price is already 3 times higher then you'd pay if you bought the bottle at a store, and to add corkage??

 

 

We were told about 2 years ago that if we had wine delivered to our cabin and took it to the dining room that we'd have to pay a corkage fee. It supposedly was stated on the website. For some reasons, we were never charged. I asked on the ships to be sure there wasn't a fee. (Mariner & Brilliance.) In January,on Radiance, I asked again and was told the maitre d' had to approve it. He came over to us and explained that we could bring the bottles to the dining room this time, but in the future we would be billed a corkage fee.

 

The wine had to be ordered for the dining room for there not to be a corkage fee. I asked our TA that when he sends us wine, could he specify it was for the dining room and he said he wasn't given that option. I am hoping that now he will have the option of sending it to the dining room or the cabin.

 

We also were able in the past to swap out and pay the difference between the price of what our TA sent us and the cost of a bottle of Asti for my husband. That practice has also been discontinued. Not all of this makes sense to me, but I guess there are reasons for it. If we can't change a bottle of wine to something more expensive, I will drink the cheaper bottle, so the cruise line loses money.

[Krazy4Kruisin']

It is 3% on all transactions, it came into effect on April 1st, even if you get chips on the tables with your Seapass card, the same goes for Celebrity.

 

No transaction charges on our Splendour cruise last month. We got chips every day/night using the seapass card and they just gave us the chips. I have always liked that, unlike on Carnival where they charge you 3%.

[mamaza]

Since I mostly used the cash from the casino at the blackjack tables, the new policy saved me some money on my cruise on Jewel of the Seas. I can deal with the normal house advantage when I gamble. That's how they make money. But I refuse to start out 3% behind before I even sit down at the tables. So instead of blackjack, we went to the show. Even after buying a cocktail, we were still way ahead. :)

Exactly.

 

I usually bring cash to gamble with but I surely won't check out more IF it cost 3% to do so.

[bayonne]

I do not understand why anyone would not use these coupons. I take them to the window, collect my $12 and leave. We just did a b2b so I collected $24. You do not have to use the money in the casino. Of course if my DH was with me they would have ended up on the blackjack table. I just take the money and leave. I will miss these coupons. They are the only reason I go to the casino.

 

 

 

Gee, if $12.00 means so much. You might want to collect all of the soda cans for your recycling rebate!!

[Lightsluvr]

A change that chaps me is the "free" drink coupon in the C&A book. No more free beer or wine. The coupon is only good for a mixed drink (house brand), bottled water or soda.

Still lots of bingo coupons, though! Woo Hoo!! :p

 

LL

[wvufan]

Reference the 3% cash fee. Under no circumstances should it be applicable to amounts withdrawn from the casino as long as you still have a balance in OBC. That's charging you for YOUR money.

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE:D :D Bob and Phyl

[petesweet]

How do you find out about the 3% charge?

1. Is there a sign?

2. Do you need to ask when you get the money?

3. Do you just get a big surprise when you get your bill?

 

Thanks.