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Casinos at Sea - Complimentary Stateroom Offer


BearClaw28
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On Friday I received an email from Casinos at Sea offering a complimentary Stateroom for any of 5 cruises that NCL has over the next 4 months. Has anyone else received this and is it legit? Are there any conditions or anything that they don't make you aware of until you're on the ship? What do I pay for and is there an extra charge for bringing a companion?

 

Thanks for your help in advance.

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We are sailing this month on the Epic through a similar offer from our travel agent/Harrah's connection. The offer we booked is for a complimentary inside cabin, and we paid taxes, port/fuel charges, etc.

My husband is the primary gambler, and he is the only one that is obligated to be on the cruise, so I guess I would be considered a companion.

Our agent said there are no conditions attached, only there is an expectation we would spend our customary time in the casino based on previous play. With the money we are saving on the cabin, I'm sure that will be the case! ;-)

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Casinos at Sea complimentary Stateroom

 

I got a similar offer via Harrah's/CAS and I checked on the Spirit out of New Orleans. It does not cover port fees. Check your info that you got for that too.

 

GUEST FARE $160 per person

GOVERNMENT TAXES/FEES $94.76 per person

 

$509.52 for 2 people for the complimentary inside stateroom 7 day Spirit cruise out of NOLA, with the 4 extra port stops. I believe you would have to pay for 2 people anyway, so you might as well bring someone.

 

When I first got it, I assumed the 399 per person, or whatever it is on the NCL site would be covered and I would just pay the $94.76 per person. Then I called and found out differently.

 

They did tell me originally when I got the free certificate that it would be about 250 per person, for the complimentary stateroom. I had thought that was with the 12 per day DSC and 10 a day possible fuel charge, which would come out to about 250 with that 94.76.

 

I know now there isn't a fuel charge, but they have the ability to add it whenever.

 

So, it is about 250 per person, not including DSC.

 

It comes out to about 60% off of the NCL cruise fare, depending on which inside stateroom I would get.

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Expect to pay $200-$300 each for taxes and fees. And the daily service charge of course.

 

And the daily "donations" to the casino. You will of course get a drink card since this is via CAS.

 

We have gotten some of these as well. Must be these particular cruises are running low in bookings.

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OP.. if you look at my signature, all of the NCL cruises we have taken or have booked in the future were comp'ed by CAS except for our very first NCL cruise. When you call CAS to book a cruise, they will tell you what cabin catagory they are able to comp for you based on your play in the casino on your last cruise. If you choose to book whatever catagory that is, then all you will owe is your taxes and port fees. This is a thank you from CAS for the play you did on your last cruise. While they do hope you will continue that same play or more on the comp'ed cruise, there is no obligation. If you do not play in the casino equal to or more than your last cruise, you just won't be given a simular offer until you cruise again (paying your own way) with same or better play.

 

Years ago, when we first booked our first cruise through CAS where they comp'ed us, we were told that if on the comp'ed cruise we did not play enough to satisfy them comp'ing the cruise we were on we could be charged back for the comp'ed cruise. I guess they had a hard time enforcing that because like I say they have not done that in a long time.

 

There maybe exceptions to you bringing a guest. For example I had never heard of a cabin being comp'ed where the second guest had to be paid for until this last offer for the slot tournament. I have read on CC where people called to book that but because they were taking a guest not invited by CAS, the second guest fare had to be paid. I had never heard of that before. Usually CAS just comp's the cruise period.

 

Bottom line is, whatever you are told, when you call to book the cruise with CAS, that you owe is all that you will owe, except of course whatever onboard expenses you incur. Daily Service Charges will be considered an onboard expense that you will be responsible for.

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As with Terrymtex above, all our cruises on NCL are a result of comp'd cabins through Harrah's and CAS. This includes the first one, which occurred when Harrah's bought into NCL and moved their business over from RCCL.

 

As others have said, you are comp'd the cabin charge only, with the cabin selection based on your play level on previous cruises. You are responsible for all taxes, port fees, excursions, etc - in short, anything beyond the basic cabin charge. Since all cabins are booked double occupancy, there is no problem if you want to bring a second person along.

 

We have noticed that the level of comp'd cabin depends not only on your level of play, but on the class of ship and the itinerary too. So for the Epic (new ship, popular itineraries) you're going to get a lower level of cabin than you would on the Spirit (older ship, less popular itineraries) for the same level of play. That's fine with us, we prefer the smaller ships, and you can get good itineraries on them too.

 

Once on the ship, do get to know your casino director. He or She is responsible for all your comps on the ship, including dinners, spa treatments, and most importantly, the level of credit the casino will give you off your final bill. Again, it's all based on your play in the casino, but you can help yourself out by being more than just a name on a computer list to that person.

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I have received three of these in the past month or so. The first was the invite for the tourney (email followed by snail mail), the second was a "Book by April 30, sail by April 30" (snail mail), the third has a bit longer booking and sailing period (email), all in various cabin types. Wish I had the time to add these to my other regular comped CAS sailings, I would be sailing 5 times yearly! Maybe it's a good thing I don't have the time right now, I would be broke from all that casino time ;)! Highest we have ever paid in taxes/fees was about $600 for two, with any kind of comped CAS sailing.... Keep in mind that some of the "taxes and fees" are written into the fare posted on NCL.com, so if you see a cabin on the website for $499 pp + $100 port fees, you will be paying higher than $100 for the comp.

 

Robin

Edited by Fishbait17
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If it is we are going out of NY in a balcony cabin with a $200 slot tournament fee for about $300 per person for the taxes. We are on the July 30th cruise.:)

 

 

Hey Hey - We'll be on the same cruise - same deal ( a great one). Playing in the same tournament ! Best of luck ...

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So I spoke to the CAS rep today for more information on the only complimentary cruise that I would be able to take, Norwegian Jade leaving Venice in July. The amount that I would have to pay upon booking is $479.72 for taxes, that for 2 people in a Balcony (BA) midship 10th deck. Booking on the site, the same cruise would cost $1887.70. Not a bad discount.

 

The problem now is the airfare to Venice which seems to have increased a lot since I gave it a cursory look on Friday.

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If you dont mind my asking how much time do you typically spend playing in the casino to get these offers. We are going on our first NCL cruise next year and love to spend time in the casino. Considering we will have 4 sea days I can see us spending quite a bit of time in there. Also I know in the Nj casinos I always get better comps then my DH because i play slots. He plays the table games mostly and his comps are usually not as good. So my other question is what type of play usually gets the best comps while cruising with NCL? Thank you all for your help.

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If you dont mind my asking how much time do you typically spend playing in the casino to get these offers. We are going on our first NCL cruise next year and love to spend time in the casino. Considering we will have 4 sea days I can see us spending quite a bit of time in there. Also I know in the Nj casinos I always get better comps then my DH because i play slots. He plays the table games mostly and his comps are usually not as good. So my other question is what type of play usually gets the best comps while cruising with NCL? Thank you all for your help.

 

I've only been on one NCL cruise, which is why I was surprised to receive a complimentary stateroom offer. It was for 7 days with 3 sea days. I spent a few hours each night at the craps table and part of the sea days as well. Granted I played a few thousand dollars over the course of the trip, at a land based casino my play would be enough for a comp room at most. On NCL it was enough for a comp cruise except for taxes.

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I've only been on one NCL cruise, which is why I was surprised to receive a complimentary stateroom offer. It was for 7 days with 3 sea days. I spent a few hours each night at the craps table and part of the sea days as well. Granted I played a few thousand dollars over the course of the trip, at a land based casino my play would be enough for a comp room at most. On NCL it was enough for a comp cruise except for taxes.

 

We received the same offer and are seriously considering the Europe cruise also, except the airfare is so pricey. :( My husband did about the same amount of play at the craps table as you described.

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As with Terrymtex above, all our cruises on NCL are a result of comp'd cabins through Harrah's and CAS. This includes the first one, which occurred when Harrah's bought into NCL and moved their business over from RCCL.

 

As others have said, you are comp'd the cabin charge only, with the cabin selection based on your play level on previous cruises. You are responsible for all taxes, port fees, excursions, etc - in short, anything beyond the basic cabin charge. Since all cabins are booked double occupancy, there is no problem if you want to bring a second person along.

 

Once on the ship, do get to know your casino director. He or She is responsible for all your comps on the ship, including dinners, spa treatments, and most importantly, the level of credit the casino will give you off your final bill. Again, it's all based on your play in the casino, but you can help yourself out by being more than just a name on a computer list to that person.

 

I just returned from my 2nd comped Harrahs/CAS cruise. To add a little humor here, I felt like a baby being placed in the arms of an Aunt, when Total Rewards had everything set up for CAS to look after “my needs” once on board. :)

Thanks for the info Videotech. I did try to get to know the casino host but I do have to say I’ve had much better exec. hosts from my land based casinos. I did find her rather useless and I am a very very low maintenance gamer. The casino manager on the other hand knew me by name and was very helpful if I did have any questions.

The one thing I did not know was that you could be comped for extras on the ship like dinners and or spa treatments. I’ll definitely have to look into this on our next cruise.

I did want to correct one thing though since I was caught by this error of words. You have quoted that you have to pay “port fees” which is what Harrahs state as well when they offer you a certificate. You actually are responsible for NCF fees which is inclusive of port fees. On our last cruise we got reimbursed for a port missed and I was quite confused that this amount did not even come close to equaling one port amount I paid. When I contacted NCL upon my return to enquire I was told what used to be called port fees were now NCF’s and since it included many things the name was changed. It is still a wonderful savings but it’s always nice to know exactly what you are being charged for.

Also thanks to Terrymex01 above for mentioning you could call CAS directly to see if I am eligible for another comped cruise, that saves me from waiting to see if Harrahs will offer me another certificate, or having to flying to Las Vegas to pick it up.

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The one thing I did not know was that you could be comped for extras on the ship like dinners and or spa treatments. I’ll definitely have to look into this on our next cruise.

 

 

 

In my experience, this is not something you ask for. When you have qualified, they will approach you and offer.

 

We had 3 free dinners & 2 1.5 hour spa treatments on our 2nd-last cruise, and 3 free dinners (with bottle of wine) on our last as well....and each of those times, the host approached us.

 

 

 

Stephen

 

.

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Question about rate of play. I know that this was answered earlier to some degree, but I still have a few questions. The last cruise I was on with NCL I LIVED in the casino. I spent hours a day at the blackjack tables with moderate bets. However, CAS did not seem to credit me too much for how much time I spent in the casino. That being said I didn't really lose any money. I started with $100 dollars the first night that I never lost. At times I would bring my chips back to the table with me without having cashed them in. I am wondering if that hurt my rate of play? If I should have cashed in my chips every time I left the table and then sat down with cash instead of already having chips. Any information on this would be helpful!

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Thanks to meeting Terry on our repo, we are going on our 3rd comped thru CAS. I've heard that the slots (which I play) do get comped better than the tables. I've also found what you get depends on whom you speak with. Was offered the standard 17% discount which I did not accept. A few weeks later got a comped mini. Lesson, if you are not happy just call later and speak with someone else. Was told that Alaska and Bermuda cruises were not comped at the same rate. Probably has to do with less play time

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Question about rate of play. I know that this was answered earlier to some degree, but I still have a few questions. The last cruise I was on with NCL I LIVED in the casino. I spent hours a day at the blackjack tables with moderate bets. However, CAS did not seem to credit me too much for how much time I spent in the casino. That being said I didn't really lose any money. I started with $100 dollars the first night that I never lost. At times I would bring my chips back to the table with me without having cashed them in. I am wondering if that hurt my rate of play? If I should have cashed in my chips every time I left the table and then sat down with cash instead of already having chips. Any information on this would be helpful!

 

The problem with table games is that you are relying on the pit boss to track your play manually. He/She can't watch you every minute, they've got other things to do. So all they can note is a general idea of the length of time you spent at the table, and some notes about the amount of money you put in play. Because of this, you might get a good rating for one night from one pit boss, and a lower rating from another session with another pit boss. However, they're generally pretty good at it, and should be able to give you a fair rating.

 

Machines, on the other hand, track every dollar you put in play, and the exact length of time you played, generating a very exact rating.

 

But to answer your question, it's not the way you handled your chips, or any difference between starting with cash or chips. The cashier cage has nothing to do with your rating.

 

Your rating is based on the amount of money you put in play over time. From your description of your play, it sounds like all you put in play was $100, over the entire length of your play. In their eyes, that's not much play, no matter how long you sat at the tables, and it won't earn you much in the way of comps.

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In my experience, this is not something you ask for. When you have qualified, they will approach you and offer.

 

We had 3 free dinners & 2 1.5 hour spa treatments on our 2nd-last cruise, and 3 free dinners (with bottle of wine) on our last as well....and each of those times, the host approached us.

 

 

 

Stephen

 

.

 

Thank you for your input Stephen, you may be totally right on this, but then again I've always been under the assumption that it never hurts to look into anything. The most someone can say to you is "no you are not eligible". I really doubt they would do something drastic like boot me off the ship because I asked if I was eligible for a comp of some sort. :D I am not expecting just asking.

 

As stated I have had a lot of exec hosts from Harrahs, Rama, Golden Nugget in Vegas to a few minor non-chain casinos, so I am not new to casino comps, just did not realize they did that aboard a ship. Also trust me I doubt this host would have gotten off her butt to offer anyone anything. She could not answer the simplest of questions.

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Comps are based on points earned. Points earned on slots are transparent - 1 point for every $5 bet. Points earned on video poker are at half that rate (1 pt for $10). Points earned at tables are at the mercy of the pit boss. The reason that points are earned faster for slots is that the odds more in the casino's favor, so therefore the better the player odds, the worse the points accumulation (which is why you earn very little for BJ vs slots). A few hours a day with bets at $25 or less won't earn you much in BJ. For my comps, I gamble alone (hubby will dabble a little but never earns more than 25 points or so). I earn an average of about 7000 points per week, and cruise about 3-4 weeks per year. Once you hit 10,000 points or so in a year (can't remember the exact number) you are "moved up" in rank and given a different colored card (Bronze I think?). I think it's 40,000 in a year to earn Gold after that. I believe once you hit Bronze, you are eligible for at least one dinner with wine on each cruise, although I can't be 100% sure, but that's when they started coming for me. For my play (about 7000 points per trip) I generally get comped a mini suite on most cruises, although I tend to book not-so-popular cruises. Comps themselves and costs to upgrade your cabin are based on not only the price difference, but how much CAS booked activity that sailing already has and how much booking activity in general the cruise has - hence you can pay a lot more to upgrade to a certain cabin or suite type on certain ships and sailings than others (which is why the upgrade costs are so high on the "slot tournament" sailings) and you can be offered only an inside on one sailing but a mini suite on another. Things have really tightened up on CAS in the last year or so, but they still offer the greatest comps at sea for me.

 

Robin

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