Thank you CC posters for enlightening us to CAS. You saved us MONEY.

[DaggoB]

Prior to cruising on NCL the only cruise line we sailed with was Carnival. With Carnival we were gold VIP and received many extras from the casino. Depending on the cruise we would get free rooms which would be anywhere from inside cabin to balcony with upgrades available for a price. These offers also included free drinks while playing in the casino. Cheers for both of us and OBC from $50 up to $500. All of these offers were different depending on the cruise which was booked. We decided approximately five years ago to try NCL because we were either getting too old for the style of cruising which was on Carnival or the other cruisers were getting too young. Most likely we were getting too old for the party style cruising. As of today we still get offers in the mail and emails with the same offers. 
 

Prior to our last cruise on the Bliss which was two weeks ago I was reading a post about CAS where CC members stated that they get 10 to 20% off, comped rooms or upgrades from CAC. We just figured that CAS sends out info just like Carnival does. Not too smart on our part. I asked my wife to call CAS after we return from our cruise to see if we were eligible for some sort of discount on our next cruise. We really enjoyed the Bliss so I did a mock booking, an actual booking and my wife called CAS for a Club Balcony Suite with large balcony on deck eight for a five day cruise out of San Pedro. She was told that we had a cruise certificate that had expired but we had another one which was issued in November. The gentleman stated that we should have received e-mails notifying us of this. Guess what? We never received any e-mails. Needless to say we booked the cruise. Here are the three price break downs which includes gratuities, insurance and all free at sea extras. No other charges. 
Mock booking. $2710.34—-$889 per person

Actual booking with military discount —$2532.54—-$800 per person

CAS booking—-$1717.44—$336.55 per person plus $90 per person for admin fees. 
 

It does pay to read these boards. Thank you again. 

[registrar]

What is CAS?

[DaggoB]

Casinos at Sea

[Russiamomm]

45 minutes ago, DaggoB said:

Prior to cruising on NCL the only cruise line we sailed with was Carnival. With Carnival we were gold VIP and received many extras from the casino. Depending on the cruise we would get free rooms which would be anywhere from inside cabin to balcony with upgrades available for a price. These offers also included free drinks while playing in the casino. Cheers for both of us and OBC from $50 up to $500. All of these offers were different depending on the cruise which was booked. We decided approximately five years ago to try NCL because we were either getting too old for the style of cruising which was on Carnival or the other cruisers were getting too young. Most likely we were getting too old for the party style cruising. As of today we still get offers in the mail and emails with the same offers. 
 

Prior to our last cruise on the Bliss which was two weeks ago I was reading a post about CAS where CC members stated that they get 10 to 20% off, comped rooms or upgrades from CAC. We just figured that CAS sends out info just like Carnival does. Not too smart on our part. I asked my wife to call CAS after we return from our cruise to see if we were eligible for some sort of discount on our next cruise. We really enjoyed the Bliss so I did a mock booking, an actual booking and my wife called CAS for a Club Balcony Suite with large balcony on deck eight for a five day cruise out of San Pedro. She was told that we had a cruise certificate that had expired but we had another one which was issued in November. The gentleman stated that we should have received e-mails notifying us of this. Guess what? We never received any e-mails. Needless to say we booked the cruise. Here are the three price break downs which includes gratuities, insurance and all free at sea extras. No other charges. 
Mock booking. $2710.34—-$889 per person

Actual booking with military discount —$2532.54—-$800 per person

CAS booking—-$1717.44—$336.55 per person plus $90 per person for admin fees. 
 

It does pay to read these boards. Thank you again. 

Just another hint.  You can apply the military discount to CAS bookings too.  10% off the fee you paid for upgrades.

 

I’ve also been happy with CAS. As you said, there’s not always a free cabin offered, but they always offer a discount.  And I really like having my “Casino Guy” there to price things out for me and take care of details.  The free drinks in the casino isn’t that big of a deal because we always get the drink package, but it is good for the bottled (boxed) water.  We always pick up a few the night before a port day.  And I always get a few treats in the cabin from the casino host.  On my ten day trip in April we got them every day, plus a bottle of wine.  Nice touch.  And I’m not that big of a gambler.  If you spend any time/money in the casino it’s worth giving them a call.  

Edited December 12, 2022 by Russiamomm
Typos

[BirdTravels]

The "challenge" is that CAS should be booking you based on your play and not some unknown "certificate" they have on account for you. Recently (in the past 6 months), CAS has been playing this game where if they can get a certificate to pay for the cruise, nothing comes out of their house account (i.e., someone else paid for the cruise or discount). In any case, you have a great room. 

[BirdTravels]

41 minutes ago, registrar said:

What is CAS?

Casino. 

 

On the cruise we were just on, about 500 or about 20% of the adult passengers onboard were casino guests. Casino guests are those that are comp'ed or discounted by NCL or comp'ed/discounted through a certificate from a land-based casino chain line Caesars. On other Caribbean cruises, over 25% of the adult passengers are casino guests. So,,, as you walk down the hall of the ship, you can count the doors 1, 2, 3, free. 

[dbrown84]

I've done 6 cruises (with a 7th scheduled for April), all thru CAS.  My last cruise was a comp slot tournament cruise thru CAS.  All the others have been certificates from land based casinos.  After applying either a cruise next or cruise first, I'm using to spending under $500 out of pocket for a cruise (I usually travel solo).   that's including the DSC.  I'm curious how you only have $90 as the admin fee.  I thought the fee was $20/day (I've always paid that amount).   I do cancel the free at sea drink package rather than pay the gratuities that come with it.  The drinks at the casino bar is plenty good enough for me and I can also get waters and cans of soda.  I'm limited to one bar, but that's never been inconvenient for me

Edited December 13, 2022 by dbrown84

[dbrown84]

Just now, dbrown84 said:

I've done 6 cruises (with a 7th scheduled for April), all thru CAS.  My last cruise was a comp slot tournament cruise thru CAS.  All the others have been certificates from land based casinos.  After applying either a cruise next or cruise first, I'm using to spending under $500 out of pocket for a cruise (I usually travel solo).   that's including the DSC.  I'm curious how you only have $90 as the admin fee.  I thought the fee was $20/day (I've always paid that amount).   

ahhh, nevermind.  I think the $20/day is for comped cruises.  You have a discounted cruise

[Red-Sol]

Another tip regarding CAS...if you cruise frequently you can have more than 1 cruise booked using whatever comps CAS will offer based on prior play (What that is varies from cruise to cruise) 

[Russiamomm]

20 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

I've done 6 cruises (with a 7th scheduled for April), all thru CAS.  My last cruise was a comp slot tournament cruise thru CAS.  All the others have been certificates from land based casinos.  After applying either a cruise next or cruise first, I'm using to spending under $500 out of pocket for a cruise (I usually travel solo).   that's including the DSC.  I'm curious how you only have $90 as the admin fee.  I thought the fee was $20/day (I've always paid that amount).   I do cancel the free at sea drink package rather than pay the gratuities that come with it.  The drinks at the casino bar is plenty good enough for me and I can also get waters and cans of soda.  I'm limited to one bar, but that's never been inconvenient for me

The only problem with that is the casino bar is only open when the casino is open.  So if you have a port intensive cruise there are plenty of times when your free drinks card is useless.  For $20 a day, I’ll gladly get the FAS so I can get a drink anywhere, any time.

[dbrown84]

Just now, Russiamomm said:

The only problem with that is the casino bar is only open when the casino is open.  So if you have a port intensive cruise there are plenty of times when your free drinks card is useless.  For $20 a day, I’ll gladly get the FAS so I can get a drink anywhere, any time.

yeah, you're right.  $20 per day is a minimum amount to pay.  I just don't because it works out for me, but if I felt inconvenienced or anything, I'd definitely pay it.  I'm actually considering taking the package on my next cruise and upgrading to the premium drink package.  I would do it so I can drink Macallan all week, but I'm nervous from seeing the posts about drink shortages these days.  I would be bummed to pay for the package and upgrade only to be told that the one drink I'm doing it for is out

[phillygwm]

14 minutes ago, Russiamomm said:

The only problem with that is the casino bar is only open when the casino is open.  So if you have a port intensive cruise there are plenty of times when your free drinks card is useless.  For $20 a day, I’ll gladly get the FAS so I can get a drink anywhere, any time.

Agreed.  Plus I don't drink alcohol in the casino (just everywhere else!)

 

59 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The "challenge" is that CAS should be booking you based on your play and not some unknown "certificate" they have on account for you. 

Sometimes, land-based casinos (Caesars) do offer certificates for an inside, which you can upgrade.  It's usually not as favorable as a true CAS deal.

Edited December 13, 2022 by phillygwm

[Russiamomm]

2 minutes ago, dbrown84 said:

yeah, you're right.  $20 per day is a minimum amount to pay.  I just don't because it works out for me, but if I felt inconvenienced or anything, I'd definitely pay it.  I'm actually considering taking the package on my next cruise and upgrading to the premium drink package.  I would do it so I can drink Macallan all week, but I'm nervous from seeing the posts about drink shortages these days.  I would be bummed to pay for the package and upgrade only to be told that the one drink I'm doing it for is out

Obviously completely up to you and depends on your preferences/priorities, but I’ve found that it’s cheaper to just pay the extra over the $15 limit if I want something outside the standard package than to pay for the premium package.  And I always get one or two Starbucks a day,  It’s still cheaper than paying for the upgraded package.

 

[pcakes122]

58 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

The "challenge" is that CAS should be booking you based on your play and not some unknown "certificate" they have on account for you. Recently (in the past 6 months), CAS has been playing this game where if they can get a certificate to pay for the cruise, nothing comes out of their house account (i.e., someone else paid for the cruise or discount). In any case, you have a great room. 

CAS rules have changed and they are issuing their own "certificates."  I never step foot in a land casino and I was told by my CAS rep that I have two certificates awarded that are pending booking.

 

They no longer comp based on the theo from your last cruise. (They have a new calculation that averages play from your last 3 cruises.)

 

That said, my rep advised that they CAN still book on "play", but ONLY when you no longer have any certificates to use.  

 

The management at CAS has completely changed and they are trying a new marketing strategy (per my rep.)

[dbrown84]

1 minute ago, pcakes122 said:

CAS rules have changed and they are issuing their own "certificates."  I never step foot in a land casino and I was told by my CAS rep that I have two certificates awarded that are pending booking.

 

They no longer comp based on the theo from your last cruise. (They have a new calculation that averages play from your last 3 cruises.)

 

That said, my rep advised that they CAN still book on "play", but ONLY when you no longer have any certificates to use.  

 

The management at CAS has completely changed and they are trying a new marketing strategy (per my rep.)

ahhh, this explains something that happened to me.  I called in because I thought I had a land based cert on my account.  Turns out I didn't (it had expired), but they told me that I had a comp cruise available with an entry to a slot tournament.  At this point, it had been over two years since my last cruise, back before covid, and I'd never actually got a comp cruise directly from CAS before.  So, if they are actually doing their own thing now, they should do a better job of letting us know what we have trips available.  The hold time for the CAS call center is way too long to just call in and check randomly 

[dbrown84]

one other change I did find out about from a rep......there are pretty much no blackout dates for the comps anymore.  Just Christmas and New Years.  It used to be that most holidays were black outs

[Russiamomm]

I do agree that they could do a better job at communicating what you have out there.  More than once I called to price out a trip only to find out I had a comp that I knew nothing about.  And the waits can be long, but get your own “Casino Guy”.  I have a direct number for him.  Usually have to leave a message, but it’s never been more than 24 hours for a return call.