Casino Refresher Course Needed

[Kclovesken]

Silly question. Does it say in the freestyle the hours for the casino? 

[Sand and Seas]

1 hour ago, Kclovesken said:

Silly question. Does it say in the freestyle the hours for the casino? 

Not exactly.  The casino opening can depend on when the ship leaves port and how far out it must be.  It varies by port.  (There is an arrangement with Bermuda and casino can open in the evenings there.)  Usually open all day and well into the night while 'At Sea'.

 

I usually look in the Freestyle Daily for when the casino bar is scheduled to open.  That's the best 'guesstimate' for when machines will be turned on and tables will open.   

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, Kclovesken said:

Silly question. Does it say in the freestyle the hours for the casino? 

You will see times like the following in the Freestyle Daily. It basically means that the slots are open 24 hours a day. Table games open at 9:00 am and stay open so long as there are people gambling in the casino. 

 

[Daytonasailor]

On 1/26/2022 at 7:01 AM, Keata said:

can any recent cruisers let me know if the above is still correct?  Thanks in advance. 

I'm sailing on Feb 11th out of Miami. If no one answers you by then, I'll let you know when I get back. I plan on doing the same thing with my NCL non-refundable OBC.

[WindyCs]

A neat little feature that I noticed on our last cruise (Dec 26-Jan 2) is that if you have credit in a slot machine and remove your card from the machine the credit goes back onto your "card account" - NOT your room account. It seems like a protective measure in case you forget to cash out and take your card and walk away. 

Once you put the card back in your can go into your "card account" and deposit the money back to the machine.

 

I've never seen this before, thought it was clever. I only noticed because usually I take my card out and press cash out at basically the same time. Didn't work! 

[Cruiser1976]

So can someone confirm that there still is a service fee if you use your room card in the machine to get cash to play which adds to your onboard account? Someone mentioned above that Royal does the same, however, I have always done it this way on Royal and never been charged a fee and don't have any casino status with them. Does NCL the actually charge a fee? If so, i'd rather just bring cash!

 

Thanks

[julig22]

15 minutes ago, Cruiser1976 said:

So can someone confirm that there still is a service fee if you use your room card in the machine to get cash to play which adds to your onboard account? Someone mentioned above that Royal does the same, however, I have always done it this way on Royal and never been charged a fee and don't have any casino status with them. Does NCL the actually charge a fee? If so, i'd rather just bring cash!

 

Thanks

Charged 3% on the Gem last month.  But because I get NCL points, it's a good deal for me.

Edited January 27, 2022 by julig22

[Daytonasailor]

On 1/26/2022 at 7:01 AM, Keata said:

can any recent cruisers let me know if the above is still correct?  Thanks in advance. 

Cruised from 2/11 to 2/16 on the Getaway. My T/A gave me $100 and NCL gave me $75 OBC. I checked on my account and there was a credit for $175 on my account. I went to the casino and put my room card in a slot machine. A small menu appears on the bottom of the screen. In the upper left of this screen there is a small green icon which looks like a $ bill. Click on that and follow the prompts. What you are doing is charging the amount of $ you want charged on your account. They charge you 3% for this transaction. I entered $100 in the amount I wanted. I then hit cash out on the slot machine and a coupon came out for $100. I don't know why I didn't get $97. Then I took the coupon to the cashier and she gave me $100 in cash. Worked well with no problems. Years ago, I would be in the ship store buying T shirts and coffee mugs trying to use up all my OBC. This method seems to work better.

[BirdTravels]

On 1/27/2022 at 6:16 PM, Cruiser1976 said:

So can someone confirm that there still is a service fee if you use your room card in the machine to get cash to play which adds to your onboard account? Someone mentioned above that Royal does the same, however, I have always done it this way on Royal and never been charged a fee and don't have any casino status with them. Does NCL the actually charge a fee? If so, i'd rather just bring cash!

 

Thanks

Royal charges 5%. NCL Charges 3%

 

Consider, if you charge $500 to your room account, NCL will charge you a $15 service charge for that cash advance. You go to the onboard ATM machine and withdraw $500, you will pay the $5.99 ATM service charge. 

[julig22]

14 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Royal charges 5%. NCL Charges 3%

 

Consider, if you charge $500 to your room account, NCL will charge you a $15 service charge for that cash advance. You go to the onboard ATM machine and withdraw $500, you will pay the $5.99 ATM service charge. 

Or if you have a cc that gives back 3% on travel, it costs you nothing since it is a charge, not a cash advance.  Or use the NCL card and get 1500 points toward an upgrade.

[graphicguy]

Sailed ENCORE in October.  I went to give them the “green” casino card I had from before COVID.  They said they just needed my room key card.  So, that’s what I gave them (pit boss).

 

But, I played table games.  Didn‘t try slots.  Maybe different?

[Keata]

1 hour ago, Daytonasailor said:

Cruised from 2/11 to 2/16 on the Getaway. My T/A gave me $100 and NCL gave me $75 OBC. I checked on my account and there was a credit for $175 on my account. I went to the casino and put my room card in a slot machine. A small menu appears on the bottom of the screen. In the upper left of this screen there is a small green icon which looks like a $ bill. Click on that and follow the prompts. What you are doing is charging the amount of $ you want charged on your account. They charge you 3% for this transaction. I entered $100 in the amount I wanted. I then hit cash out on the slot machine and a coupon came out for $100. I don't know why I didn't get $97. Then I took the coupon to the cashier and she gave me $100 in cash. Worked well with no problems. Years ago, I would be in the ship store buying T shirts and coffee mugs trying to use up all my OBC. This method seems to work better.

Thank you very much for confirming that it still worked and the "easy guide" on how to do it!  Safe travels on all your upcoming voyages.

[EllieinNJ]

2 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

Royal charges 5%. NCL Charges 3%

 

Consider, if you charge $500 to your room account, NCL will charge you a $15 service charge for that cash advance. You go to the onboard ATM machine and withdraw $500, you will pay the $5.99 ATM service charge. 

Did this on Royal in January.  Took out $100 charged to room and got back slip for $100 and cashed out.

[aubreyc1988]

On 11/20/2021 at 12:40 PM, jezabel80 said:

I think it's better getting a casino card.  I would be afraid of forgetting my key card in a machine.  Also, with a casino card, they track your play and you can get comps and discounts or free cruises in the future.   I don't know if the Casino tracks your play if you're just using your key card.

When I was on Bliss in October, they refused to give me a casino card and forced me to use my room card which was infuriating to me 

[Sand and Seas]

11 minutes ago, aubreyc1988 said:

When I was on Bliss in October, they refused to give me a casino card and forced me to use my room card which was infuriating to me 

Did you also have a 'free drinks while playing' card?  These are usually attached to a casino card.

[cruiserbear55]

On 1/26/2022 at 5:13 PM, Sand and Seas said:

Not exactly.  The casino opening can depend on when the ship leaves port and how far out it must be.  It varies by port.  (There is an arrangement with Bermuda and casino can open in the evenings there.)  Usually open all day and well into the night while 'At Sea'.

 

I usually look in the Freestyle Daily for when the casino bar is scheduled to open.  That's the best 'guesstimate' for when machines will be turned on and tables will open.   

New law passed in Bermuda November 2021 will now allow cruise ship casinos to remain open 24/7 while docked. For a further fee to the islands coffers, of course. Lots of retailers, especially in Dockyard, upset as they think passengers will just stay on the ship gambling all day and not get off to visit the area and spend$$. Time will tell.

 

 

[aubreyc1988]

12 minutes ago, Sand and Seas said:

Did you also have a 'free drinks while playing' card?  These are usually attached to a casino card.

No, I wasn't booked with casino that trip, and I'm the sort of person who would leave their card in the machine after having a few drinks, just prefer to have a separate card for gambling

[Beach Life 1]

27 minutes ago, aubreyc1988 said:

When I was on Bliss in October, they refused to give me a casino card and forced me to use my room card which was infuriating to me 

I wonder why?  I wouldn't like that.   I would hate if I left my room card in the machine,  and then  have to go to guest services and get a new room card.   And, as  @Sand & Seasaid,  I like that they attach the drink card to your casino card.  The drink card hanging off the casino card is always a good reminder that my card is in the machine.

[aubreyc1988]

23 minutes ago, jezabel80 said:

I wonder why?  I wouldn't like that.   I would hate if I left my room card in the machine,  and then  have to go to guest services and get a new room card.   And, as  @Sand & Seasaid,  I like that they attach the drink card to your casino card.  The drink card hanging off the casino card is always a good reminder that my card is in the machine.

Yeah I was not happy, I went to the Casino host and asked twice and he was pretty rude about it. It's not a big thing because they give it to you when you are a casino guest but I don't always sail as a casino guest so it was pretty annoying. 

[oceanbill457]

Could a recent guest tell me what odds they use on craps on Bliss?

[Beach Life 1]

4 hours ago, aubreyc1988 said:

No, I wasn't booked with casino that trip, and I'm the sort of person who would leave their card in the machine after having a few drinks, just prefer to have a separate card for gambling

That's what's great about the drink card.   After a few casino drinks,  that drink  card hanging from a chain on your casino card,  helps you to not leave your card in the machine, lol. 🤪

[dcassetta]

Different question, but our Costco package comes with a $25 casino play.  How would we redeem this?

[Sand and Seas]

5 hours ago, aubreyc1988 said:

Yeah I was not happy, I went to the Casino host and asked twice and he was pretty rude about it. It's not a big thing because they give it to you when you are a casino guest but I don't always sail as a casino guest so it was pretty annoying. 

Wow...no reason for him to be that rude!   I asked for an extra players card on the Breakaway in December and they printed one for me.   

[aubreyc1988]

2 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

Wow...no reason for him to be that rude!   I asked for an extra players card on the Breakaway in December and they printed one for me.   

it's probably on a ship by ship basis or something, depends on who is working. I am going to ask on the Joy and hopefully will get one