Recent Trip on Epic - Casino

Just returned from Epic. We were on a CAS comp. Original comp was for a penthouse suite; we upgraded to a 2 bedroom.

The casino was very "tight" although I did end up hitting a fairly large quick hit jackpot on the third night, which allowed me to increase my gambling budget. Video poker, which is what we usually play, was abysmal, so I started playing slots. And I read on here that a lot of people really liked quick hits, which I had never played, so I tried it one night, and hit 7500. on a quick hit bonus. On a penny machine.... It took more than one full hour to get paid the jackpot. My husband hit a smaller jackpot - just over 1200 -- and he too waited close to an hour to get paid. Very annoying.

The casino manager was unfriendly and non-communicative from the start. When I approached the desk a few times to inquire about something or other, he often didn't even look up from his computer screen and left me standing there waiting until he felt like addressing me. I did not receive a single treat in my room from the Casino all week (got them from the captain, the concierge, for platinum status but nada from the casino). Neither he nor anyone else from the casino staff sought me out or interacted with me throughout the cruise -- no offer of dinner, or wine or anything else. I earned 14,428 points on this cruise alone.

Now, the backstory might be relevant to some, though I don't think it should be. I was VIP status for multiple consecutive years, and in the years I wasn't VIP, I was always at least golden. We usually take two cruises a year. But timing wise, last year we took our cruises in January and March, and this was our first cruise this year. So, I was " "lucky" when I boarded since their earning year goes from April 1 to March 31. So, I get that based on my low tier status, I might not have been on the radar screen when I boarded, but probably should have been since they comped me a suite. But surely they have my history, and surely when they saw the level of my play, someone should have been paying attention, right? I moved up to the next tier level on the second or third day, and still no one approached. I ended the cruise just short of golden. I probably would have played longer to get to golden for my next cruise if anyone had told me I was that close, but they re-set the points at Barcelona, the homeport, and so you had to go ask because it doesnt show a cumulative number on the card reader.

I had UDP and the UBP, so I didn't really care about dinners and wine. It would have been nice to have been offered a spa comp, or sent a plate of strawberries, or just some acknowledgment.

On the last night, I waited in line to speak to him about my points, and specifically asked that they comp at minimum the roughly $240 in "convenience fees" I racked up for withdrawing from my shipboard account. He first told me I had used my point comps for tiering up (of about 100.00 I think) to play, and that, because of that, he could only take another 100. off my bill. I am not usually loud, and am not usually pushy, but I pretty much flipped out. On all my prior cruises, the casino has comped every single onboard expense I had -- spa, gift shop purchases, liquor purchases etc. I made a big fuss, and was probably a bit obnoxious, and there were lots of people behind me in line listening, so in the end he comped off an additional $450. in onboard expenses. In any event, he was neither pleasant nor friendly.

Since I did play for a bit after I checked out on the last night, I called yesterday to get my point total. It was exactly the same as when I checked out even though I did play for about another hour or so. In any event, the speculation that getting a WG or hitting a jackpot decreases their offers to you did not hold true for me. As I mentioned above, we had a couple of jackpots, one pretty large, and when i called yesterday to check on what I might be eligible for on NY-Bermuda on Breakaway next spring, they offered me an H9 suite.

Terry

Congrats on the couple of wins. On my last cruise in March I earned just shy of 15000 points, like you did. I play mostly tables($700 ave at Black Jack) and hit one $2500 hand pay on a slot machine. I had a theo loss of about 8000, but I actually won a few thousand for the week. I called to book the Breakaway to Bermuda in Sept and was only offered a balcony(I usually get minis or full suites). Do you mind telling me what your theo or actual was? I am just very confused with CAS lately. Thanks

Congrats on the couple of wins. On my last cruise in March I earned just shy of 15000 points, like you did. I play mostly tables($700 ave at Black Jack) and hit one $2500 hand pay on a slot machine. I had a theo loss of about 8000, but I actually won a few thousand for the week. I called to book the Breakaway to Bermuda in Sept and was only offered a balcony(I usually get minis or full suites). Do you mind telling me what your theo or actual was? I am just very confused with CAS lately. Thanks

I have no idea how to calculate actual or theo loss. As much as I gamble, I should pay more attention to these things, but I don't. When I count actual loss, do I count in the money we won but then played back? If so, actual was around 14,000. If it is only out of pocket, i.e., what I brought with me and lost, about 5000. On theo, I know the "formula" is (Casino Advantage) X (Total Wager), but I have no idea how to actually calculate it and I didn't ask them what it was. I generally play video Ultimate Poker, at 15.00 a spin, for 5-6 hours a day.

The only way to get the theo is to ask. Every game has a different house edge and a different theo percentage. Your entire trip is calculated with all of the games that you played combined. Your actual is what you actually lost out of pocket. It is much easier for the casino to track you on the machines. As long as you put your card in every time you play, they will know to the penny how much you won or lost in the end.

You are getting a much better comp than me, congrats. Your comp is based on your theo or actual, whichever is higher. My theo was higher than your actual and I am getting less. I am just having bad luck with my comps with CAS. I played through over 1 million dollars in March, winning in the end(CAS hates that), only to be comped a balcony, Oh well

The only way to get the theo is to ask. Every game has a different house edge and a different theo percentage. Your entire trip is calculated with all of the games that you played combined. Your actual is what you actually lost out of pocket. It is much easier for the casino to track you on the machines. As long as you put your card in every time you play, they will know to the penny how much you won or lost in the end.

 

You are getting a much better comp than me, congrats. Your comp is based on your theo or actual, whichever is higher. My theo was higher than your actual and I am getting less. I am just having bad luck with my comps with CAS. I played through over 1 million dollars in March, winning in the end(CAS hates that), only to be comped a balcony, Oh well

So if I just call and ask, they will tell me my actual and theo loss?

Two other thoughts. One, I know the date matters because I have called them before and they have offered me different level rooms for differ dates on the same itinerary. I was inquiring about next June. Second, I assume they combine my play and my husband's play for the purpose of comps if he is traveling with me. He had just over 5000 points. Maybe that is the difference.

I'm amazed they didn't come over to acknowledge you as you went up levels during the cruise! The Escape is another large NCL casino but they were extremely nice to me and I had just reached Golden on my 3rd cruise during the year. I'm not playing anywhere near what you had played, but glad to see the land based CAS office recognizes you with the great comped suites. They comped me an Ocean View the last couple of cruises...I'm happy enough with that!

I finally got around to calling and getting actual and theo loss: Theo 9633; actual loss 2069. That just includes me - they wouldn't give me my husband's, said he had to call himself. But he is a much more casual gambler and plays way less than I do. He had about 5000 points.

The only way to get the theo is to ask. Every game has a different house edge and a different theo percentage. Your entire trip is calculated with all of the games that you played combined. Your actual is what you actually lost out of pocket. It is much easier for the casino to track you on the machines. As long as you put your card in every time you play, they will know to the penny how much you won or lost in the end.

 

You are getting a much better comp than me, congrats. Your comp is based on your theo or actual, whichever is higher. My theo was higher than your actual and I am getting less. I am just having bad luck with my comps with CAS. I played through over 1 million dollars in March, winning in the end(CAS hates that), only to be comped a balcony, Oh well

Last trip we lost $8000 bucks and only got comped a balcony room-we played every day for at least 4 hrs and on sea days maybe 6 hrs. This was a 10 day cruise with 4 seas days. Just doesn't seem right.:eek:

Last trip we lost $8000 bucks and only got comped a balcony room-we played every day for at least 4 hrs and on sea days maybe 6 hrs. This was a 10 day cruise with 4 seas days. Just doesn't seem right.:eek:

Were you playing on two different cards? Perhaps they need to link them. I think you should call CAS back and ask them to look at all your play.

You can indeed call CAS and they will tell you your actual and theoretical loss on your last cruise. I think that they also factor in your hours of play, because they record that as well.

We played on the Pearl back in March on a comped cruise. We were surprised how stingy they were were with the onboard comps for the amount of money we were playing and the number of hours of play. We played exclusively at the $25 table, and our max bets were $600 which we did several times. After several hours of this kind of action, our onboard comps earned were $8!!!!!

Yes the casino seems tight and we weren't impressed with the friendliness and helpfulness of the manager. We wanted to pull $5k from a credit card for casino play, and were told we'd pay the 3% fee. Fortunately we didn't "need" to do that.

Were you playing on two different cards? Perhaps they need to link them. I think you should call CAS back and ask them to look at all your play.

Nope one card! :eek:

Thanks for sharing your story. I would have had the same fit you did when not being acknowledged. I'm a lower roller than you and they usually treat me like gold (never had a room comped)

Royal needs to get their act together and have a more transparent casino loyalty program. everyone i hear from has a different experience.