NCL CAS Point Discrepancy Help

[samiam0403]

Hoping some of you NCL CAS experts can help a girl out. I've sailed with NCL for a few years, and each cruise earn enough points for a comp'ed cabin through CAS - typically an oceanview or balcony. Unfortunately, I don't sail frequently enough to roll over my status - I essentially start over on every cruise. I sailed on the Getaway in January, and (thanks to winning a jackpot) earned over 5,500 points. I was then given my Hot status card (which I still have), my tier up bonus points, and had a good sum taken off of my onboard account, and all was good in the world.

 

I then called CAS a few weeks later and booked my next cruise - oddly, I was only comped an inside. I thought nothing of it assuming it was because it was a Bermuda cruise. Fast forward to March when I sailed on NCL on a charter cruise and went to the casino to enquire about my drink card. I was told I was only Lucky, so I wasn't entitled to one, but that they would e-mail the Getaway and check. I never heard anything back from the host. :mad: Upon my return home, I e-mailed CAS and was shortly informed that I had only earned 3,300 points. :eek: I asked how I had been issued a Hot card and reminded them that I could SEE the amount of points I was earning on the machines - and that I was not imagining things. No further response.

 

Has anyone else had an issue like this? Is there any way to fix it? I'm sure my inside comp isn't a better one because they've 'lost' over 2,000 points of mine. Can you get a printout or statement of some kind showing your points earned from the hosts before you leave the ship? I've loved NCL and their casino program since I switched to them a few years ago, but this has left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. :(

Edited April 23, 2016 by samiam0403

[LaCal]

Same kind of thing happened to me approx 3 years ago.....I was gambling every day 8-10 hours and betting minimum of $50 on the tables plus playing slots....Midweek I asked the casino manager how many points I had etc.

 

He came back and said hardly any 😳😳. Plus my hours they had me at made no sense.....Even he knew something was wrong cause he saw me gambling each day n lotta hours.....He said don't worry I'll get it sorted out

 

I didn't think to much of it as I already had the free drink card but the last night I checked with him and nothing was fixed 😳😳😡 I was assured once again it would be taken care of......Once back home I called CAS about 2 weeks later and nothing was correct still and they stated sorry we can only go with what's been inputed

 

So I jumped ship over to Carnival and couldn't be Happier....They've been giving me a Free Ocean View cabin and $1,000 cash plus drink card and treats, streak house dinner etc for the last few years on each cruise.......Next ones to Europe in Oct 😜😜

 

NCL did just send me a email last week offering me a Free cruise and perks....Guess they realized I haven't been cruising with them for awhile lol

[alm623]

Samantha: I believe that even though you earned 5,500 points since you won a JACKPOT your winnings were deducted from your 5,500 points leaving you with the 3,000. This has happened to me twice on NCL. They don't want you to play and WIN. They want you to lose money.

[neurosurg]

I had something similar happen while on board my last cruise.

 

My card said I had earned 20000 points or so. However, in reality some of those points were not real points, but some kind of "bonus" they had added after I crossed some mysterious threshold. They couldn't explain it, but in reality they said I had actually "earned" 14000 points or so.

 

I do remember it had jumped a few thousand points from one night to the next without play about midway through the cruise but I thought those points had come from my table games play.

 

And to top it off, since I did end up winning a few thousand, my next comp was for an inside cabin. To compare, I had lost a couple thousand the previous cruise and was comped a balcony, and "earned" probably 7500 points that cruise. So I do believe they take into consideration if you won or lost the previous cruise, when giving your next comped room.

[CalLuvsCrusingToo]

Thats very strange. Never had points deducted for a Win.

Nov.2015, I got to Gold status, plus got a W2G the last night.

Nothing deducted from my points or I would have been short earning Gold.

I barely made it. Even had Host checking points 3 times the last night to

make sure I didn't come up short!

 

Now you know, Points expire end of March, so since I'm Gold as of Nov, got my next NCL cruise in May to start the points over, for This year.

 

I've come to the conclusion it takes me 2-3 cruises in a year (before Mar.31)

to acquire Gold level.

 

I get my Drink card thru Harr/Caesars comps. Pretty sure I got the

casino Drink card when I booked thru CAS also.....

 

But the points deduction thing has me baffled?:confused:

Thats never happened to me.

[pcakes122]

I've never had points taken away for a jackpot (or any other) win, but one thing to consider. CAS does not offer comped cruises based on tier points. The calculation to determine your comp level is based on your theoretical loss - so, while you rack up points for your play (and that impacts your tier benefits like drink cards, spa, and F&B credits) - what matters to determine comp cruises is your actual LOSSES (and projected losses.)

 

So, in that sense, you are "penalized" for winning jackpots because the casino cares about your net loss. (i.e. how much of your OWN money did you leave on the ship.)

 

It may SEEM like the comps are based on points because the play that gains you points is directly connected to money you spend on the machines/tables - but it matters whether it is your OWN money, or whether it's the CASINO's money that you are feeding back to them.

 

If you ask any CAS rep if the comp offers are based on "points", they will tell you that points don't factor into their calculation.

 

To the OP, perhaps your actual LOSS was the $3300 CAS quoted you (even though you earned 5000+ points??)

Edited April 24, 2016 by pcakes122

[samiam0403]

Thanks for the input, all. Some great points were brought up. The balancing out of wins and losses when calculating comps makes perfect sense. I suppose I can ease up on my CAS crankiness on that point. :D

 

I'm still unclear how I would lose points and 'regress' from Hot to Lucky between January and early March though. I was told that I would retain that status until 2017 - and I asked specifically about how the earning year vs status year worked. Ah well. Guess I'll take my $3000 jackpot and comped Breakaway cruise and shut up now. :D

[skeeter195]

Once you earn points they cannot be taken away unless it is done manually. Here is my example. This past fall on the Breakaway I did not check my points until the last night(I play tables). I was told that I had earned 2800(way off by my calculations). I asked the host what my biggest bets were and I was told $425, I asked him to go to the last BJ table that I was playing we confirmed that I had made many table max($1000 bets) that evening and throughout the cruise as the dealers and floor person had witnessed. I was told an adjustment would be made. Fast forward to my recent Gem cruise in March, and when I had my points transferred from the Breakaway I had a total of 1300. When the "adjustment" was made I lost points somehow, oh well my fault for not tracking myself throughout the week. The Gem cruise I watched carefully and I earned 14500(my normal amount for a cruise). So my advice is to keep track of your points and get a printout(I did from the Gem) at the end of your cruise.

 

Now the comps are total BS. I always book 2 cruises at a time and always get the same comps(usually mini suites or above). When I returned from the Gem I went to book 2 cruises and was comped a mini on the 1st and an ocean view on the 2nd:eek:. I had a long phone conversation from the "boss" at CAS and this is what I was told. As of now if you book more than 1 cruise at a time it will go off of an average of your last 2-4 cruises(OK again my own fault for the Breakaway cruise). Your comp will be based on either your theo loss or your actual loss, whichever is higher. I have been lucky enough to win money on my last 6 NCL cruises, so my theo loss is what is being used for my comps. It did not really matter that I had made over 1 million dollars in bets on this last Gem cruise, I was only only going to be comped a mini and ocean view because my theo loss was only around 8000. I asked what would have happened if I lost my entire 30k bankroll and I only earned 1000 points. I was told I would have been offered haven rooms for the next 2 cruises. I will continue to sail NCL and use CAS for my comp rooms until the well runs dry. In no way shape or form will I be giving CAS the type of play that I have been giving them. I just feel unappreciated at this point.

 

Oh yeah lastly, I was told even though I am liked in the casino by all(I usually tip over 2k to the dealers throughout the week), CAS does not really like winners in their casinos. This last statement has not been sitting well with me. Obviously true, but something that should not be said to a customer.

[gl1200a]

I would continue to pursue an explanation in the drop of status.

If your Hot in January your Hot in March. If your Hot March 31, that is your status you begin the new year (april 1, 2016) at, until March 31, 2017.

(unless you tier up)

 

Where you really lost out was the loss of the drink card on the charter cruise.

Your loss of comped dinner for your next cruise for not being Hot.

 

As far as what room you were comped, as was explained, is based on theoretical and not points. Win, is a factor in their theoretical.

 

What I would do is whenever I was bored, I would email or call someone in CAS until I got a satisfactory explanation for drop in tier.

 

Take a picture of your Hot card, both front and back. They always write your name with sharpie and sail date on one of the cards. Make them give a valid reason for the drop in status.

 

Just checked a couple of my cards and it's the drink card they write on, so take a picture of both cards.

Edited April 25, 2016 by gl1200a
Cause I wanted to

[skeeter195]

As far as what room you were comped, as was explained, is based on theoretical and not points. Win, is a factor in their theoretical.

 

 

A win will not effect your theoretical loss. That is based on the amount of money play at a particular game or machine. Playing $1000 through a slot machine will not only get you more points than playing black jack but also get you a bigger theoretical loss. The reason is a great slot machine on a ship will probably only pay out at best 90%, leaving a 10% house edge. Black Jack on the other hand while playing correctly will have a house edge of less than 1%. The bigger the house edge, the bigger the theoretical loss.

 

Now, a win will without a doubt effect your actual loss. This is where I have a problem. Say I have played all week and earned 4000 points and have broke even up until the last day. If I quit then I will be comped an inside room for my next trip. Now the last night in 15 minutes I lose 20k on the Black Jack table. My points will jump up a few hundred points, but I will be comped a Haven suite for my next cruise. This is where CAS is really unfair to the player who puts a lot more at risk throughout the cruise but wins or breaks even.

[CasinoCruzGirl]

Hoping some of you NCL CAS experts can help a girl out. I've sailed with NCL for a few years, and each cruise earn enough points for a comp'ed cabin through CAS - typically an oceanview or balcony. Unfortunately, I don't sail frequently enough to roll over my status - I essentially start over on every cruise. I sailed on the Getaway in January, and (thanks to winning a jackpot) earned over 5,500 points. I was then given my Hot status card (which I still have), my tier up bonus points, and had a good sum taken off of my onboard account, and all was good in the world.

 

I then called CAS a few weeks later and booked my next cruise - oddly, I was only comped an inside. I thought nothing of it assuming it was because it was a Bermuda cruise. Fast forward to March when I sailed on NCL on a charter cruise and went to the casino to enquire about my drink card. I was told I was only Lucky, so I wasn't entitled to one, but that they would e-mail the Getaway and check. I never heard anything back from the host. :mad: Upon my return home, I e-mailed CAS and was shortly informed that I had only earned 3,300 points. :eek: I asked how I had been issued a Hot card and reminded them that I could SEE the amount of points I was earning on the machines - and that I was not imagining things. No further response.

 

Has anyone else had an issue like this? Is there any way to fix it? I'm sure my inside comp isn't a better one because they've 'lost' over 2,000 points of mine. Can you get a printout or statement of some kind showing your points earned from the hosts before you leave the ship? I've loved NCL and their casino program since I switched to them a few years ago, but this has left a bit of a sour taste in my mouth. :(

 

 

Something is very wrong. You always get a drink card regardless of your status when booked through CAS. Even my very first time when I booked through a land based casino and had no status I received a drink card. My next 2 cruises I remained Lucky and still got a drink card and booked direct through CAS. Last cruise I finally made it to Hot. Cruising this weekend and will see what's going on

[gl1200a]

Something is very wrong. You always get a drink card regardless of your status when booked through CAS. Even my very first time when I booked through a land based casino and had no status I received a drink card. My next 2 cruises I remained Lucky and still got a drink card and booked direct through CAS. Last cruise I finally made it to Hot. Cruising this weekend and will see what's going on

 

What I read, it was a charter cruise, they had her status as Lucky. I assumed, (mistake possibly) due to the fact it was a charter so not booked through CAS. That is when she discovered they had her as Lucky rather than Hot. If she was Hot IMO regardless it being a charter she would have been granted a drink card.

I'm doing a LOT of assuming.

If a person is Lucky, and not booked through CAS, no drink card until whatever the points is you have to earn (1500?) to receive a drink card. Hot, automatically regardless of who booked through gets drink card.

 

I'll shut up now :D

[samiam0403]

What I read, it was a charter cruise, they had her status as Lucky. I assumed, (mistake possibly) due to the fact it was a charter so not booked through CAS. That is when she discovered they had her as Lucky rather than Hot. If she was Hot IMO regardless it being a charter she would have been granted a drink card.

I'm doing a LOT of assuming.

If a person is Lucky, and not booked through CAS, no drink card until whatever the points is you have to earn (1500?) to receive a drink card. Hot, automatically regardless of who booked through gets drink card.

 

I'll shut up now :D

 

You're exactly right. :) It was a music charter, not booked through CAS, that took place 2 months after earning 'Hot' in January. I was in the exact same scenario last year and was given the drink card and dinner for 2 at Le Bistro on the charter. CAS continues to tell me that the hosts on the Getaway made a mistake and that I did not earn Hot. Ridiculously frustrating. I'll re-attack with my CAS point of contact later this week when I call to upgrade my Bermuda cruise to a Haven suite now that we get all of the offers associated with the upgraded/upsold room. At least they were kind enough to warn me to wait to upgrade until that change happened. :)

[samiam0403]

Something is very wrong. You always get a drink card regardless of your status when booked through CAS. Even my very first time when I booked through a land based casino and had no status I received a drink card. My next 2 cruises I remained Lucky and still got a drink card and booked direct through CAS. Last cruise I finally made it to Hot. Cruising this weekend and will see what's going on

 

They continue to maintain that I was given 'Hot' status by mistake on the Getaway. :rolleyes: Never mind that I could see my points adding up through the week and went to the host desk the second I saw it go above 5000 points for my new card. Not much to do with it at this point other than mention it to my CAS rep when I call this week. :(

[samiam0403]

Once you earn points they cannot be taken away unless it is done manually. Here is my example. This past fall on the Breakaway I did not check my points until the last night(I play tables). I was told that I had earned 2800(way off by my calculations). I asked the host what my biggest bets were and I was told $425, I asked him to go to the last BJ table that I was playing we confirmed that I had made many table max($1000 bets) that evening and throughout the cruise as the dealers and floor person had witnessed. I was told an adjustment would be made. Fast forward to my recent Gem cruise in March, and when I had my points transferred from the Breakaway I had a total of 1300. When the "adjustment" was made I lost points somehow, oh well my fault for not tracking myself throughout the week. The Gem cruise I watched carefully and I earned 14500(my normal amount for a cruise). So my advice is to keep track of your points and get a printout(I did from the Gem) at the end of your cruise.

 

Now the comps are total BS. I always book 2 cruises at a time and always get the same comps(usually mini suites or above). When I returned from the Gem I went to book 2 cruises and was comped a mini on the 1st and an ocean view on the 2nd:eek:. I had a long phone conversation from the "boss" at CAS and this is what I was told. As of now if you book more than 1 cruise at a time it will go off of an average of your last 2-4 cruises(OK again my own fault for the Breakaway cruise). Your comp will be based on either your theo loss or your actual loss, whichever is higher. I have been lucky enough to win money on my last 6 NCL cruises, so my theo loss is what is being used for my comps. It did not really matter that I had made over 1 million dollars in bets on this last Gem cruise, I was only only going to be comped a mini and ocean view because my theo loss was only around 8000. I asked what would have happened if I lost my entire 30k bankroll and I only earned 1000 points. I was told I would have been offered haven rooms for the next 2 cruises. I will continue to sail NCL and use CAS for my comp rooms until the well runs dry. In no way shape or form will I be giving CAS the type of play that I have been giving them. I just feel unappreciated at this point.

 

Oh yeah lastly, I was told even though I am liked in the casino by all(I usually tip over 2k to the dealers throughout the week), CAS does not really like winners in their casinos. This last statement has not been sitting well with me. Obviously true, but something that should not be said to a customer.

 

I would continue to pursue an explanation in the drop of status.

If your Hot in January your Hot in March. If your Hot March 31, that is your status you begin the new year (april 1, 2016) at, until March 31, 2017.

(unless you tier up)

 

Where you really lost out was the loss of the drink card on the charter cruise.

Your loss of comped dinner for your next cruise for not being Hot.

 

As far as what room you were comped, as was explained, is based on theoretical and not points. Win, is a factor in their theoretical.

 

What I would do is whenever I was bored, I would email or call someone in CAS until I got a satisfactory explanation for drop in tier.

 

Take a picture of your Hot card, both front and back. They always write your name with sharpie and sail date on one of the cards. Make them give a valid reason for the drop in status.

 

Just checked a couple of my cards and it's the drink card they write on, so take a picture of both cards.

 

Skeeter195 and gl1200a - Thank you both so much for your insight and advice. I'll continue to fight the good fight for another week or so, but if I keep getting stonewalled, there's not a whole lot more I can do. I'll try the picture of my card, but I have a feeling they'll stick to the 'oops, a mistake was made' story. Which is just good incentive for me to stick to one cruise a year with NCL and spending the rest of my casino dollars just up the road in Biloxi. :)

[gl1200a]

Hopefully they'll straighten it out.

Can't imagine how an error like that could be made being slot play.

 

Alice Cooper this weekend at the Beau :D

 

Good Luck

Edited April 26, 2016 by gl1200a

[pcakes122]

Now the comps are total BS. I always book 2 cruises at a time and always get the same comps(usually mini suites or above). When I returned from the Gem I went to book 2 cruises and was comped a mini on the 1st and an ocean view on the 2nd:eek:. I had a long phone conversation from the "boss" at CAS and this is what I was told. As of now if you book more than 1 cruise at a time it will go off of an average of your last 2-4 cruises(OK again my own fault for the Breakaway cruise). Your comp will be based on either your theo loss or your actual loss, whichever is higher. I have been lucky enough to win money on my last 6 NCL cruises, so my theo loss is what is being used for my comps. It did not really matter that I had made over 1 million dollars in bets on this last Gem cruise, I was only only going to be comped a mini and ocean view because my theo loss was only around 8000. I asked what would have happened if I lost my entire 30k bankroll and I only earned 1000 points. I was told I would have been offered haven rooms for the next 2 cruises. I will continue to sail NCL and use CAS for my comp rooms until the well runs dry. In no way shape or form will I be giving CAS the type of play that I have been giving them. I just feel unappreciated at this point.

This times 1000. I feel exactly the same way. I play mostly slots with some 3-card here and there and I earn an average of 12K points per cruise. I've had a Haven comp (after a $14K loss) but mostly minis. I sailed the Breakaway and Gem B2B in Feb/Mar and hit a few jackpots. When I got back I was comped a mini (for the Breakaway play) and an oceanview (for Gem play.) CAS told me that because I "only lost $7100" on the Gem that I only qualified for an oceanview. Really?

 

My reaction was exactly the same as Skeeter's. I will continue to use CAS and sail NCL for my planned cruises, but on my upcoming cruises there is no way I will be playing at the level I've been playing with them.

[Coastalbreezes]

They continue to maintain that I was given 'Hot' status by mistake on the Getaway. :rolleyes: Never mind that I could see my points adding up through the week and went to the host desk the second I saw it go above 5000 points for my new card. Not much to do with it at this point other than mention it to my CAS rep when I call this week. :(

 

I've had similar problems in the past. On the last day of the cruise I now always take a photo of my points next to my player's card with the date on it. It has helped solve discrepancies.

 

Tracy

[CasinoCruzGirl]

I've had similar problems in the past. On the last day of the cruise I now always take a photo of my points next to my player's card with the date on it. It has helped solve discrepancies.

 

Tracy

 

Great idea

[CalLuvsCrusingToo]

Good reminder!

 

I take a pic of the Points screen too, on last day..... (and usually a couple During the cruise too, showing accumulation.)

 

Its not only on ships. I take pix end of year of my regular casino play, cuz

if I reach a Level, and they say I didn't? BAM, I got my pic.

I needed it Once, couple years ago, and I've been taking pix ever since.:)

[Nightengale31]

I agree CAS does not like winners, but the same can be said for all casinos land or sea because they stay in business with loosers. On 4/17th I returned from my 10 day Med cruise on the Epic in a comped Haven spa suite. With $2000 into the slots over 3 days which was my cruise gambling budget I was ready to throw in the gambling towel, but as luck would have it in the wee hours of the morning of day 4 I hit a jackpot for $7,500 on a 1 cent Quick Hit machine. I played back $1,500 of my winnings the remainder of the cruise and had many many several hundred dollar wins that I also played back. Despite all this play I was still shy a few hundred points taking me from Hot to Gold. Seems like I could get to Gold fairly quickly with less $$ and play time on previous cruises. It is what it is and glad this time around I walked off the ship with more $$ than I walked on with. I've done just about every itinerary I have wanted to do with NCL, so if no future balcony or above cruise comps are offered no big deal. I will just pay for a future cruise outright on a ship and itinerary I want to sail which probably costs less or about the same as what I would need to gamble to get a balcony or above comp from NCL or any other line for that matter.

[clcjdn]

I play mainly video poker, and also have seen that CAS doesn't treat "winners" like land based casinos....usually when you have some of the casino's money they want to get you back to reclaim their money....for CAS, this results in a lower "actual" loss and they offer you less (as in a lower level cabin) for your next cruise. I also think that for VP specifically, they are calculating their "theo" at the exact % with perfect strategy based on math. I also think that less than 5% of the VP playing population can play at 100% perfect strategy. Personally, I play at about 99-99.5% correct based on my VP training app and 16 years of frequent play. In reality, this is depressing the "theo" amounts for the majority of the people, which means they give less away. In the end, I have decided that anytime I get a tax form (the $1200 or more winners) I will just put that money away. We learned this after we hit for 3 tax forms worth $9K in one day on the Jewel, accumulated more points in a single cruise than any other sailing, and were offered less than the previous sailing. The "actual" loss was significantly less since we were playing on their money, and the "theo" loss was only changed slightly balcony to mini suite.

[cherylroslyn]

Something is very wrong. You always get a drink card regardless of your status when booked through CAS. Even my very first time when I booked through a land based casino and had no status I received a drink card. My next 2 cruises I remained Lucky and still got a drink card and booked direct through CAS. Last cruise I finally made it to Hot. Cruising this weekend and will see what's going on

Have a great time and good luck Geri!!!!!