Casinos at Sea how does that work?

[margoula]

When you book through Casinos at Sea and you are given a free cruise do you have to bet a certain amount of money at the casino while you’re cruising......do you have to enter slot tournaments........what exactly is the deal......how do you qualify for these free cruises?

[JoeTec]

I have received my free cruises thru my land based casino. & I don't need to enter any tournaments or gamble a certain amount of money

[margoula]

51 minutes ago, JoeTec said:

I have received my free cruises thru my land based casino. & I don't need to enter any tournaments or gamble a certain amount of money

thank you......

Do you also receive the promotions ...... and I understand you can pay extra if you want a different category of cabin......right?

[Smong]

We have booked through CAS for our last 4 cruises. We get a “free room”  not totally free you have to pay taxes and port fees and any gratuities for drink package or meal package. We usually get a mini suite and pay to upgrade to haven. My husband does spend a nice amount of time in the casino. They base it on your play time just like a regular casino. The more you are in there the better the room you will get after your cruise. If you don’t gamble much on the cruise you may or may not be offered a room for future use. My son plays much less then my husband and he was just comped an ocean view for our upcoming cruise. So no you don’t have to enter any tournaments. You don’t have to even step foot in the casino once you are onboard. But if you don’t spend a good amount of time in the casino you most likely won’t be comped a room for future 

[esm54687]

4 minutes ago, margoula said:

thank you......

Do you also receive the promotions ...... and I understand you can pay extra if you want a different category of cabin......right?

Yes, you are eligible for Free at Sea promotions and also the Upgrade Advantage Program. 

 

You may upgrade from the comped category to the category of your choice by paying the difference. However, you only get the promos from your comped category but your Upgrade Advantage Program category bid is based on the category you are booked in. For example, you receive a comped cruise for an IA (value $700) and you want to upgrade to a BA (value $1600)..... it will cost you $900 to upgrade, you only get the IA promos, your Upgrade Advantage Program is based on the BA

[KarimaJ]

Yes what everyone else said. It's a pretty nice program actually. We can call anytime we want and ask what we are eligible for on a certain cruise. No need to wait for any mailers or emails.

[dbrown84]

Another nice perk with the land based comps is the free drink card.  It can only be used at the casino bar and it's only rail liquor plus beer and wine, but that is ok with me.  Plus it includes bottled water, which the regular drink package does not

[wth182]

You can receive an offer from a land based casino that partners with NCL.  In this case they offer a room category based on play.  You pay all port fees/taxes and a $20/person/day admin fee.  There’s no single supplement if you want to sail alone.  You are eligible for any offers such as free at sea, airfare or OBC that’s currently running for your offered category.    Keep in mind most of these offers will raise the price of the total because they still charge gratuities.  When you call to book you can upgrade to a better stateroom but the price difference is not the same as you see online, could be more or less.  As mentioned you and your guest will also get a.card valid for free well drinks in the casino and bottled water as well as energy drinks.  

If you are a returning CAS player, you can call to book through them and they may offer a discount or a comped room depending on your level of play.

Either way there is no requirement to even set foot in the casino, but that is what they want you there for so don’t expect an invite back if you don’t play at all.

[Sand and Seas]

And to add to the info above, their slot club gives you additional guaranteed comps for future cruises based on what Tier you reach.   If you will be cruising with them once or more a year, it's a nice bonus.   It starts for those that earn 5000 or more points during their Tier earning period of April 1st to March 31st.  

 

I was Sapphire (15,000 plus points per year) which gave us $200 OBC for each cruise.  Now we are cruising  four times a year I am Ruby (35,000 points per year.)   Each cruise I start with $400 OBC, 400 internet minutes, and upgraded drinks in the casino.  Additionally, we get other comps off our onboard bill.  (You check with host on last night)

 

As others have said, when we get home from a cruise I just pick out any other cruise I am interested in and call them to see what kind of cabin they can offer me.  The CAS agents are (usually) super friendly and helpful.  You do pay a $20 per person/per day Admin fee for the cruise plus port fees.  It is also good to watch for what promos NCL is running. 

[Slyfox16]

What land based casinos in NY, NJ or Ct participate in getting a certificate and how do you get it?

[BirdTravels]

9 hours ago, Slyfox16 said:

What land based casinos in NY, NJ or Ct participate in getting a certificate and how do you get it?

Your land-based casino would have to offer it to you as a promotion (i.e., you have to be a member of their player's club and get it offered to you). NCL is affiliated to Caesars, so Caesars properties in ACY (Caesars, Bally's, Harrahs) offer the promotions.

 

As with any casino promotion, the want you to come to their property to pick up a promotion (free cruise, free ball cap, free  duffel bag), and gamble (and lose) in their casino to cover their cost of the "free" item.  

[BirdTravels]

14 hours ago, margoula said:

When you book through Casinos at Sea and you are given a free cruise do you have to bet a certain amount of money at the casino while you’re cruising......do you have to enter slot tournaments........what exactly is the deal......how do you qualify for these free cruises?

CAS is like any land-based casino. You get comps based on your prior gaming with them. You can not call CAS and ask for a free cruise. So,,,, if you have cruised with NCL in the past and spent money in the casino (with your players card or room key tracking your play), you can call CAS and ask them what they can offer you. If you are an occasional player, it is likely a discounted room. 

 

Also like a land-based casino, you collect tier points which will get you onboard perks on future cruises. In S&S's example above, they are Ruby players and get a lot of perks onboard. A Ruby player wagers at least $175,000 on slots ($350,000 on video poker) or equivalent table play each year to maintain their status. 

 

Your play on any given cruise determines what CAS will offer you on your next cruise. If you take a free cruise and don't set foot in the casino, you won't be offered anything on your next cruise. They are looking for consistent play (several hours a day). If you don't track your play with your player's card or room key, they have no way of knowing that you were in the casino, and would not be offered anything in the future. 

[cdnsteelman]

In terms of play on ship, CAS tracks your play using a points system. On my last cruise (March) the points were $5 per point on slots, $10 per point video poker and table games, and ZERO points for Texas Hold'em (note that is not losses, that is money wagered). I tend to spend a lot of time at the poker table for which I earn no CAS points. I do play enough other qualifying games to be a ranked CAS player but nowhere near the higher levels. In fact in the last qualifying year I didn't even make PEARL (5,000 points) because I spent almost all of my time playing hold'em. The point of my post, however, is to say that even if you are a casual player you should use your room key or player's card to track all of your play for at least two reasons: 1) once you're in the system you'll get mailers several times a year for "free" cruises on set sailing dates and itineraries and 2) as has been mentioned you can simply call the CAS desk to ask what sort of a discount they will give you on  sailings of your choice. In my case they have offered 20% off and, again, I'm not a casino whale by any reach.

 

To the OP I see a couple of different angles to your question. If you "won" the free cruise somehow through a land-based casino and are not concerned about earning similar such rewards from NCL CAS then there is no need to ever step foot in the casino (as others have said), think of it as a one-and-done prize.

[dbrown84]

2 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Your land-based casino would have to offer it to you as a promotion (i.e., you have to be a member of their player's club and get it offered to you). NCL is affiliated to Caesars, so Caesars properties in ACY (Caesars, Bally's, Harrahs) offer the promotions.

 

As with any casino promotion, the want you to come to their property to pick up a promotion (free cruise, free ball cap, free  duffel bag), and gamble (and lose) in their casino to cover their cost of the "free" item.  

yes, I play at caesars, bally's  and Harrahs in AC and I get the offers from them, as well as Horseshoe in MD and MD live.  I think Mogegan sun and Foxwoods in CT also do the NCL cruises.  If for some reason you do get an offer and miss the chance to go and pick up the certificate, you can call the NCL casino line and still book the cruise.  They will email you a copy of the certificate so you can see what is available to you.  I've only ever cruised on these certificates.  I have my fourth cruise scheduled for January (11 night cruise), and I'm getting a new certificate on Nov. 3rd.  I've noticed the longer cruises (10 and 11 night) start to show up recently.  I lucked up on my last cruise and booked it when NCL was offering free flights on inside rooms.  That cruise was our of New Orleans, and since I'm a Caesars player (Diamond), I was able to get free rooms before and after the cruise at Harrahs in New Orleans.  That cruise was real lite on the pocket :)

 

[Shidah]

16 hours ago, esm54687 said:

Yes, you are eligible for Free at Sea promotions and also the Upgrade Advantage Program. 

 

You may upgrade from the comped category to the category of your choice by paying the difference. However, you only get the promos from your comped category but your Upgrade Advantage Program category bid is based on the category you are booked in. For example, you receive a comped cruise for an IA (value $700) and you want to upgrade to a BA (value $1600)..... it will cost you $900 to upgrade, you only get the IA promos, your Upgrade Advantage Program is based on the BA

Unless you upgrade to the Haven, then you get all 4 or 5, whatever is being offered at that time for your cruise.

[esm54687]

25 minutes ago, Shidah said:

Unless you upgrade to the Haven, then you get all 4 or 5, whatever is being offered at that time for your cruise.

That's not been my experience using a comped BA cruise..... twice went from BA to H4 and kept only the 2 that were given for the BA.  I enjoyed all the Haven benefits and amenities but only 2 Free at Sea promos. 

 

I will certainly be checking in the future 

[DZcreature]

13 hours ago, Slyfox16 said:

What land based casinos in NY, NJ or Ct participate in getting a certificate and how do you get it?

 

I receive offers twice a year for a "free cruise" from Twin River Casino in Lincoln, Rhode Island. I had been signed up for the Twin River players club for a while, but did not get offers until I had also signed up for Casinos at Sea on one of our cruises. I also started going to the casino more often, but I think signing up for Casinos at Sea helped. Last time I picked up a voucher, none of the cruises I was offered worked for me, but I called Casinos at Sea, and they gave me a discount on a cruise that I picked out myself.

 

They gave me the perks that were being offered at the time for the room category I chose. They also said I will get the drink card which we can use in the ship's casino to get drinks, and every night we usually go to the casino bar to get bottles of water to bring back to our room.

[Shidah]

52 minutes ago, esm54687 said:

That's not been my experience using a comped BA cruise..... twice went from BA to H4 and kept only the 2 that were given for the BA.  I enjoyed all the Haven benefits and amenities but only 2 Free at Sea promos. 

 

I will certainly be checking in the future 

I have upgraded  4 times this way (to a Haven from a lower comp, including my next cruise this spring) and have always received all the free at sea perks that were currently available for the Haven.  Not using the upgrade bid system, but paying for the upgrade through CAS.  When I upgraded to just a balcony, I received the perks for the oceanview only.

[drvmywifecrzy]

Also dont forget on the last night to check and see if you qualify for additional comps.  I have had them cover off certain purchases from gift shop, photos, spa, etc

[pinklucky61]

i just received another cas certificate. not sure i can use it because of work, anyone know if we can book with minimum payment (believe it's $50 each) or will we have to pay free at sea gratuities as well?

[dbrown84]

2 hours ago, pinklucky61 said:

i just received another cas certificate. not sure i can use it because of work, anyone know if we can book with minimum payment (believe it's $50 each) or will we have to pay free at sea gratuities as well?

you can book with the minimum payment (whatever the current deposit amount is) and have until 120 days out to cancel or finish paying.  If you have a cruise next certificate, you can you that to book the room and they will put it back into your account if you cancel before 120 days

[BirdTravels]

On 10/26/2019 at 10:47 AM, Shidah said:

I have upgraded  4 times this way (to a Haven from a lower comp, including my next cruise this spring) and have always received all the free at sea perks that were currently available for the Haven.  Not using the upgrade bid system, but paying for the upgrade through CAS.  When I upgraded to just a balcony, I received the perks for the oceanview only.

This is correct. If you pay for an upgrade to a Haven room through CAS, you get all of the Haven perks. That changed 2-3 years ago. 

[Goldconnection]

14 hours ago, drvmywifecrzy said:

Also dont forget on the last night to check and see if you qualify for additional comps.  I have had them cover off certain purchases from gift shop, photos, spa, etc

 

Sounds great.

[pinklucky61]

18 hours ago, dbrown84 said:

you can book with the minimum payment (whatever the current deposit amount is) and have until 120 days out to cancel or finish paying.  If you have a cruise next certificate, you can you that to book the room and they will put it back into your account if you cancel before 120 days

thank you

[niknot]

I just booked an Alaska cruise a week or so back using this program. This is just a summary of my experience.

 

My husband receives offers from Harrahs’ and Rivers’ properties but this is the first time that I have been able to convince him to take advantage of them. So, the information below includes both programs. He had an offer for a balcony cabin and one for an inside cabin. We are going to try the balcony cabin the first time out.

 

We were eligible to take advantage of any of the free offers available (including free airfare). We will need to pay for all of the free at sea gratuities however. We will also be responsible for paying the standard service gratuities.

 

The balcony cabin (BA) is a midship location, but you may be able to select another location. I asked about an aft balcony and was told that they were not included but I did not think to ask about the cost to upgrade to an aft balcony. I did select my cabin from the open cabin list.

We will be responsible for paying the standard service gratuities as well.

 

Our Cost – Cruise Only

Administration fee = $280.00

Port fees = $470.48

Total = $750.48

 

Deposit = $100.00 or $50.00 per person

 

The final payment is due in late January for a late May cruise.

 

Trade in Value

 

Had we not wanted to use one of the cruises on their list we could have received a credit off of another cruise. The inside cabin was valued at $250 or $275.00 per person and the balcony was valued at $450 per person. If we chose the trade in value, then we would not have had to pay the CAS administration fee. $280.00 (for two passengers in the cabin)

Edited November 3, 2019 by niknot