$280.00 administration fees?

[cdnsteelman]

26 minutes ago, DiscoCV said:

My biggest beef is that My Vegas only tells you about the taxes and port fees... that part is fine. But there is no mention of the Admin fees, so in fact, the cruise is far from free. I did a quick calculation and it would be about half price.

Don't get me wrong, I love a great deal, but it's advertised as free when it shouldn't. The other cruise lines do not charge these fees.

I totally get this and suggest you let both My Vegas and NCL CAS know that clearer communications up front would be much more helpful. I do note that CAS has changed their wording from "free cruise" to "fee stateroom" on the communication I receive so they've clearly heard some feedback on this issue before.

[Warm Breezes]

Just now, Sotermarler said:

Are you all referring to the NCL cruise that costs 600K gold coins on MyVegas? How on earth did you get so many coins?  I have been playing for 2 or 3 years and still only  have 100K!

I had over 1.3 million gold coins before I snagged our cruise.  DH and I have been playing on my face book account for 5-6 years.  We have used some of our points in the past for Las Vegas rooms, meals, and shows.  DH plays myVegas slots on our laptop.  I play myVegas Slots, myVegas Blackjack, PopSlots, and myKonomi on my iPad.  All are connected to my face book account and rack up our myVegas gold coins.

[Sand and Seas]

Just wanted to add that you can use CruiseNext certificates to pay for your CAS Admin Fees, Port Charges, and promo service fees.       If you are comped a balcony or above and book at least 6 months out you can use two certificates.  They sometimes run special times they let you use the two certificates at less than 6 months.   Being able to get $500 off at next cost of $250 really brings down the cost for us. 

 

[teehuge]

Hi! I got the NY one on Friday and got the email to book today. I don't know how many they offer, but they did refresh today so more were available. Beware though that they are not free - I still had to pay taxes, port fees and an "admin" fee. We did choose the unlimited beverage perk so also had to pay gratuities on that. We also added trip insurance. Total we paid was $760 (we had a cruise next certificate that we used as well). All in all, a great deal for two people for a week's cruise with free drinks, but not free 😄

 

[cdnsteelman]

16 minutes ago, teehuge said:

Hi! I got the NY one on Friday and got the email to book today. I don't know how many they offer, but they did refresh today so more were available. Beware though that they are not free - I still had to pay taxes, port fees and an "admin" fee. We did choose the unlimited beverage perk so also had to pay gratuities on that. We also added trip insurance. Total we paid was $760 (we had a cruise next certificate that we used as well). All in all, a great deal for two people for a week's cruise with free drinks, but not free 😄

 

Assume that's a 7-nighter for two in an inside?

[teehuge]

yes. We asked about upgrading to a balcony but the price quoted was $400 more per person

[Sand and Seas]

The $140 per person per week is the same whether you are comped an Inside or Balcony or Haven.  Port fees are the same also.

 

[cdnsteelman]

2 hours ago, teehuge said:

yes. We asked about upgrading to a balcony but the price quoted was $400 more per person

Yup - that's what I paid for my upgrade from inside to balcony on a 10-nighter but I only paid it once as I'm going solo.

[ellell]

Very interesting. I hope to book our first Myvegas cruise tomorrow. This information will be very helpful! Thanks to everyone that posted!

 

[Stlcardsfan79]

On 10/30/2018 at 4:54 PM, Sand and Seas said:

Just wanted to add that you can use CruiseNext certificates to pay for your CAS Admin Fees, Port Charges, and promo service fees.       If you are comped a balcony or above and book at least 6 months out you can use two certificates.  They sometimes run special times they let you use the two certificates at less than 6 months.   Being able to get $500 off at next cost of $250 really brings down the cost for us. 

 

Thanks we have never purchased cruisenext certificates and were wondering if we could use them would booking offers from land based casinos. 

[Sand and Seas]

2 hours ago, Stlcardsfan79 said:

Thanks we have never purchased cruisenext certificates and were wondering if we could use them would booking offers from land based casinos. 

Yes , they work for land based casino comp offers too.  We used to cruise only using the land based offers.  Then we gave CAS a call directly and found we qualify to get cruises directly from them.   Never hurts to ask

[cruzingambler]

Hi,  we received a "free" offer from our local Indian Casino, Pechanga.  The "free" offer was for an inside cabin with drink package.  With port taxes/fees, insurance, gratuities for drink package and on board gratuities, the inside cabin about $550pp.  We upgraded to an angled balcony.  All said, our "free" cruise $1050 pp.  We are excited!!  We saved approx. $1000 over the "normal" price.  Love trying the New ships & Love Mexico!  Fortunately, we live 20 minutes from the port so we don't have to pay for airfare so it works out well for us! 

[Heather1972]

On 10/30/2018 at 4:18 PM, Sotermarler said:

Are you all referring to the NCL cruise that costs 600K gold coins on MyVegas? How on earth did you get so many coins?  I have been playing for 2 or 3 years and still only  have 100K!

 

Make sure you are playing all 5 games that are connected to maximize getting gold coins. Collect your bonus every couple of hours on each game. Some people set their alarms to go off. I don't go that far.  Play all the games within the games to get extra chips to keep playing.  It took me 14 months to get just under 2.2 million. I got the last 700k gold coins just recently on the my konami game just by winning several billion in chips.  I play it now each day until I'm locked out of earning more gold coins. 

 

[wberthin]

Yes I experienced the same as everyone else, except in our case we got the cruise out of miami.  And when I called they said they had no cabins below a suite so if I wanted that cruise I had to pay virtually as much as if I booked direct for a suite.  Stupid me, I had already booked the flights.  To be fair, I got three carnival ones last year and didnt experience any of this stupidity (no admin fees, cabins that you "won" were actually available etc) - they were really free cruises.  Just taxes and tips.  Hardly anything.  I was able to switch to the NY cruise but my flights are a write off.  Left a bad taste in my mouth.  Have always liked NCL, gone on them many times (Princess is my fav tho) but this has turned me against NCL.  Dont think Ill sail with them again after this trip.  Certainly will never take one of their so-called free cruises.

[wberthin]

Oh and not that I want to start a fight, but people that dont know shouldnt talk like they do.  Saying its not NCL and its whoever you got the cruise thru is pure bs .....

and I get you like the cruiseline but dont make up stuff just cuz you feel defensive (which is a bit absurd considering you are talking about a large company not an innocent mom and pop shop)

[mjkacmom]

10 hours ago, wberthin said:

Yes I experienced the same as everyone else, except in our case we got the cruise out of miami.  And when I called they said they had no cabins below a suite so if I wanted that cruise I had to pay virtually as much as if I booked direct for a suite.  Stupid me, I had already booked the flights.  To be fair, I got three carnival ones last year and didnt experience any of this stupidity (no admin fees, cabins that you "won" were actually available etc) - they were really free cruises.  Just taxes and tips.  Hardly anything.  I was able to switch to the NY cruise but my flights are a write off.  Left a bad taste in my mouth.  Have always liked NCL, gone on them many times (Princess is my fav tho) but this has turned me against NCL.  Dont think Ill sail with them again after this trip.  Certainly will never take one of their so-called free cruises.

How far in advance did you try to book?

 

[BirdTravels]

11 hours ago, wberthin said:

Yes I experienced the same as everyone else, except in our case we got the cruise out of miami.  And when I called they said they had no cabins below a suite so if I wanted that cruise I had to pay virtually as much as if I booked direct for a suite.  Stupid me, I had already booked the flights.  To be fair, I got three carnival ones last year and didnt experience any of this stupidity (no admin fees, cabins that you "won" were actually available etc) - they were really free cruises.  Just taxes and tips.  Hardly anything.  I was able to switch to the NY cruise but my flights are a write off.  Left a bad taste in my mouth.  Have always liked NCL, gone on them many times (Princess is my fav tho) but this has turned me against NCL.  Dont think Ill sail with them again after this trip.  Certainly will never take one of their so-called free cruises.

Not sure why you would pay for airfare and wait several days to see if the cruise was available. 

 

All airefare has a 24 hour void period to cancel without penalty. 

[Oceangal711]

On 10/30/2018 at 6:48 AM, timberframe!!! said:

We recently won a NCL cruise from the my vegas casino game. When we booked, they had a $280.00 administration fee to complete the reservation. I don't remember a fee when I won a Carnival cruise on my vegas. Did everyone get hit with that fee? When I pointed out that there wasn't any such fee when booking on their website, they said that it was built into the advertised price of each cruise. 

When booking with CAS they charge this fee as far back as I can remember. $20 per person per day.

[Nelsj099]

I am a long time CAS cruiser ... I do all of my cruises as a solo so with that I get a free solo supplement.  Which saves me enough money to not even care what NCL is charging in Admin fees.  My next cruise is 16 nights to Australia and New Zealand.  I paid to upgrade my room to a balcony from an inside and 750$+ in Taxes.  It came out to 2000ish dollars for a 16 night cruise for one.  after doing this last year I can honestly say already that it is 2000$ well spent just over 100 a night for accommodation and food for 16 nights, Christmas and New Years parties.  Free drinks in the casino no UBP for me, with premium alcohol and 300 stateroom credit. Worth it... 

 

Free no way! But, I can't wait to leave for Australia tomorrow night! 

[Stlcardsfan79]

2 hours ago, Nelsj099 said:

I am a long time CAS cruiser ... I do all of my cruises as a solo so with that I get a free solo supplement.  Which saves me enough money to not even care what NCL is charging in Admin fees.  My next cruise is 16 nights to Australia and New Zealand.  I paid to upgrade my room to a balcony from an inside and 750$+ in Taxes.  It came out to 2000ish dollars for a 16 night cruise for one.  after doing this last year I can honestly say already that it is 2000$ well spent just over 100 a night for accommodation and food for 16 nights, Christmas and New Years parties.  Free drinks in the casino no UBP for me, with premium alcohol and 300 stateroom credit. Worth it... 

 

Free no way! But, I can't wait to leave for Australia tomorrow night! 

Wow that is a great deal, have a wonderful cruise! 

[DaCruiseBug]

NCL is the only cruise line I know that charges the "admin fee". It's just another way for them to nickel and dime their customers. There's no reason for it. RCL, CCL etc only charge you taxes. MSC actually even pays your taxes for you so when they say free...they mean free!

 

As far as MyVegas not telling you about the admin fee...it actually says that in their disclaimer. It doesn't specify the amount but it does mention admin charges.

[ellell]

Those who sailed on NCL MYVEGAS cruise. Where the drink casino cards in your cabin when you arrived?

 

On my last cruise, I was promised a card with a total rewards discount sail but was not given one. Guess, the rules changed between booking and sailing. I was really disappointed and angry.

 

I’m thinking about asking CAS for an email stating, I get the card so the same thing does not happen this trip.

 

Happy Cruising!

[HOSKI]

I'm really glad to read this thread as we just booked our first "free" cruise through CAS.  I had started a thread about it being "free".  We have several free cruises booked on another line and there was no admin fee.  We got to choose from a large selection of sailings but of course a bunch were sold out of CAS cabins before we could book. Hubby was entitled to a balcony and the upcharge to going higher was expensive.   I'm excited to try NCL again after many years but it bugs hubby that there is a fee that we aren't paying from other cruise lines.  When he booked it the rep told him the fee was on all cruises and is actually $40 a day but with CAS it is only $20 per day.  I did think the dining service charge was very cheap on the free SDP.  I will say that we would never book NCL without the free beverage package because their beverage packages are so high.  I know they are built into the price of the cruise but when the cruise is "free" you aren't paying for the beverage package. 

 

I'm curious to see if we will get the drinks card in our stateroom or if they won't bother since we having the beverage package.  Does anyone know if they sell a coffee card for specialty coffees or should I buy a Starbucks card to take on the Escape?

[NLH Arizona]

9 minutes ago, HOSKI said:

 

I'm curious to see if we will get the drinks card in our stateroom or if they won't bother since we having the beverage package.  Does anyone know if they sell a coffee card for specialty coffees or should I buy a Starbucks card to take on the Escape?

Yes, you will get a drink card.  No coffee card.  You might want to check if you can use a Starbucks card on the ship.

[Heather1972]

The drink card will only be good at the casino bar and it is not open all the time. Watch your bill like a hawk. I had a hell of a time getting a water and some other drink I did not buy removed from my bill. The casino bartender was careless and charged someone else's purchases to my account.