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Early saver vs Casino rate

Gaprofitt

By Gaprofitt,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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Gaprofitt

Gaprofitt

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Hi,

 

I'm looking at a Premiere Casino rate that's $50 less for 3 people total than the Early Saver Rate.  The Premiere rate does include
funplay, think that's Casino only credit of $200.  The cruise is for next April, so likely a busy Spring Break sailing.  Do I take the early saver or the casino rate? The early saver would give me price protection, but I may be throwing away the credit and $50.

 

Thanks,

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Gaprofitt

Gaprofitt

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1 minute ago, kwokpot said:

I would take the casino rate, I don't think the cruise fare will be coming down. Doesn't your Pemier rate come with DOU for you and a companion while playing in the casino?

 

Yes, it does.  I'm not a big drinker however.

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DallasGuy75219

DallasGuy75219

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2 hours ago, kwokpot said:

You can get bottled water, can of soda, beer. etc, as does your companion. 

Only if there are enough bar waiters to compensate for the fact that most of the casino is drinking for free on a Premier Cruise, and nowadays there never are.  Due to understaffing since the restart, "free DOU while actively playing", at least on a Premier Cruise, is practically false advertising unless you're willing to stalk and chase down a bar waiter to take your order. 

 

Then there's another 15-20 minute wait to actually get your drink because they're also understaffed on bartenders, and unlike some other cruise lines Carnival won't let bar waiters pour their own orders, at least in the casino bar.

 

So DOU on a Premier Cruise isn't nearly the deal that Carnial makes it out to be, at least on a Premier Cruise.

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  • 3 weeks later...
hard_eight

hard_eight

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On 10/22/2022 at 8:12 PM, DallasGuy75219 said:

Only if there are enough bar waiters to compensate for the fact that most of the casino is drinking for free on a Premier Cruise, and nowadays there never are.  Due to understaffing since the restart, "free DOU while actively playing", at least on a Premier Cruise, is practically false advertising unless you're willing to stalk and chase down a bar waiter to take your order. 

 

Then there's another 15-20 minute wait to actually get your drink because they're also understaffed on bartenders, and unlike some other cruise lines Carnival won't let bar waiters pour their own orders, at least in the casino bar.

 

So DOU on a Premier Cruise isn't nearly the deal that Carnial makes it out to be, at least on a Premier Cruise.

Tip better.

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DallasGuy75219

DallasGuy75219

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On 11/11/2022 at 4:00 PM, hard_eight said:

Tip better.

I tip every drink in the casino... not that I asked for your advice.  The issue is they have too few bartenders and bar waiters for the number of people with DOU on a Premier Cruise. 

 

Of course entire ships are understaffed... had a hard time getting a drink at the last Diamond party.

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justafem

justafem

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I've never had a problem getting a drink in the casino.  I tip per drink and normally have at least 3 servers wandering over to me.  They see my drink half full and there they are.  Every time.  

 

I actually take my tip money out and place it on the machine so I know I've ordered. Yeah, there have been times where I'm not sure if I have a drink coming and order more.  Always fun when 3 or more drinks show up! 

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grimpil

grimpil

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17 minutes ago, justafem said:

I've never had a problem getting a drink in the casino.  I tip per drink and normally have at least 3 servers wandering over to me.  They see my drink half full and there they are.  Every time.  

 

I actually take my tip money out and place it on the machine so I know I've ordered. Yeah, there have been times where I'm not sure if I have a drink coming and order more.  Always fun when 3 or more drinks show up! 

Not my experience since start up. I always tip $1 and if i run out i write in $1, doesnt seem to make a difference. My last cruise was the inaugural TA on the celebration, if you were able to place an order you waited about 30 min to get your drink. Many people were chasing down the poor waiters, they were clearly overworked

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mobed

mobed

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1 hour ago, garycarla said:

Anyone have luck getting a casino rate without sailing on Carnival first?

I did for my upcoming January cruise. It's my first carnival cruise. I uploaded my win/loss statement from a few shore casino's to my account. A few days later I started to receive deals.

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Pyxie

Pyxie

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Those saying "I've never had issues getting drinks in the casino." The difference is that a PREMIER cruise is full of people with the same DOU offer so there are fewer waiters and bartenders to handle the demand compared to a normal sailing with a casino offer.

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john91498

john91498

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Posted
On 11/11/2022 at 10:45 PM, angela12345 said:

I'm sure this has already been booked for a while.  But ... you used to be able to book Early Saver and then immediately match to your casino rate.  That was pre-pandemic.  Don't know one way or another if you can still do it this way nowadays.

 

This is what I do. I've always been able to get a better matching casino rate as the cruise date gets closer.

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garycarla

garycarla

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51 minutes ago, mobed said:

I did for my upcoming January cruise. It's my first carnival cruise. I uploaded my win/loss statement from a few shore casino's to my account. A few days later I started to receive deals.

Where can you upload these?

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vwrestler171

vwrestler171

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10 hours ago, Pyxie said:

Those saying "I've never had issues getting drinks in the casino." The difference is that a PREMIER cruise is full of people with the same DOU offer so there are fewer waiters and bartenders to handle the demand compared to a normal sailing with a casino offer.

I've been on premiers and elites and still had no issues getting drinks.

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kwokpot

kwokpot

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1 hour ago, resetjet said:

What is the cancellation policy on a casino rate on carnival?.  On royal, if you cancel, its full refund, so that makes a big difference to me.  

You will lose the $200 deposit, but get back the port fees and taxes. Definitely not as good as Celebrity or Royal. 

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resetjet

resetjet

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On 12/6/2022 at 9:35 AM, garycarla said:

Anyone have luck getting a casino rate without sailing on Carnival first?

Me and my wife just did.  Uploaded my royal status and some land based.  We are not big gamblers but know how to work the system.  We now both get trememdous offers.  We booked a panama canal and hawaii 15 day.  Cost $200 with $200 freeplay and dou. So we are taking friends in the other cabin. Honestly its so much less then buying a cruise and if you have to cancel,  no biggie.

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resetjet

resetjet

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On 12/6/2022 at 10:04 PM, vwrestler171 said:

I've been on premiers and elites and still had no issues getting drinks.

When you mention premier and elites what does that mean?  Are certain cruises casinos operated by different outfits or are these junkett providers?  Sorry new to the carnival game.

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