Free Cruises with Caesar’s not So Free

[Oldsweets]

Just picked up our Free Cruise certificates from Caesar’s and were pleasantly surprised we were offered/given these promotion as we had pulled back from playing with Caesar’s as former Diamond members to gamble with better promotions or offers with others.  The free cruise with NCL for an inside was prices out as $280 in Administrative Fee’s and $515.63 for Port Fees and Taxes or total of $795.63.  Another $1,000  to upgrade to a Balcony.  Why in the world would someone consider booking one of these Casino Offers given the Casino Offers from Carnival, Royal, MSC, Virgin,, and the list goes on? I will admit I was surprised when I went to pick up the Free Cruise Certificate how literally we were the only ones in line.  Guess I know why now.  Yes, when I hung up I booked a Casino Offef from another Cruise

LIne.   

[hladygirl]

We also got free cruise certs from a casino for Ncl. There are three of us who got the certs. One for a balcony, one for ocean view and one for inside. We combined the two lower staterooms and got one balcony to share. I upgraded both cabins to club balcony suites and ended up paying $2,000 for the 7 day cruise that would have cost me over $11,000 for the same cabins. This included the free at sea drink package and specialty dining. I think I got a bargain.

[dbrown84]

I've done 6 cruises with land based casino comps.  I also feel that it's a great deal.  I like (actually prefer) inside cabins, so I don't pay to upgrade to a higher cabin type.  My next cruise will be on the Viva for 7 nights out of San Juan, with no sea days, for just $311.  Even after adding in the DSC, I'm still looking at under $500 total.  I purchased one of the $250/$500 cruise first certs, so I'm just paying $250 out of pocket.  Can't be beat.  I did look into a carnival cert that I received from another casino, but they don't offer drinks in the casino so the cost of drinks will be much more than the cost of the admin fee that NCL charges.  I read that once you go on carnival, you can earn drinks with future comps, but NCL have drinks included with the cert you receive. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

We used URComped to turn a Carnival casino free cruise voucher into a Celebrity cruise. Got a mid ship deluxe veranda stateroom for 6 night Caribbean cruise for $320 all in. We weren’t impressed with the NCL offers at all. 

[complawyer]

well, oldsweets, obviously, to each his own, but for total costs and itinerary, i think ncl wins hands down. 

 

that being said however, where do you play in order to accumulate the freebie cruises?

[Oldsweets]

“M” Your complaint about my posting is interesting and proves once again that folks like you are only interested in their own opinions.  Sorry you’re so narrow minded that you couldn’t take my observations as just that and moved on.  In answer “C” we obviously play the numerous other Cruise Lines and have been using UR Comped most successfully for MSC as well as a few other cruise lines.  Our land casino play has dropped off given the amount of sea days we spend playing and find that all the casino offers are less then what the cruise lines are offering either directly or through U R Comped. 

[Cruising Lynne]

13 hours ago, MoCruiseFan said:

This thread is proof that some people just LOOK for excuses to complain.

I did not feel that the OPS post was an excuse to complain. It is good information for people who get vouchers from different casinos and for different cruise lines.

 

I feel that free cruise vouchers I have received from my local casino for NCL cruises give me a good discount from what I would pay without a voucher, but certainly not free. I have a friend who also gets NCL cruise vouchers from this casino, but has not used them because he gets better offers from the Carnival casino program.

 

I have used the NCL voucher many times, and am using one I received for Holland America soon. They did not have the administrative fee and it is a 10 night trip. The NCL vouchers I get are for 7 night trips. The thing I liked better about using my NCL voucher is that I do not have to pay it all right away. I have until final payment is due. I usually pay to upgrade my room so with the taxes and fees and upgrade charge it is quite a bit. When I booked the Holland cruise, I had to pay for the taxes and upgrade when I booked. I did not like having to give all that money right away, but I didn't want to pass up the offer.

 

[BirdTravels]

21 hours ago, Oldsweets said:

Just picked up our Free Cruise certificates from Caesar’s and were pleasantly surprised we were offered/given these promotion as we had pulled back from playing with Caesar’s as former Diamond members to gamble with better promotions or offers with others.  The free cruise with NCL for an inside was prices out as $280 in Administrative Fee’s and $515.63 for Port Fees and Taxes or total of $795.63.  Another $1,000  to upgrade to a Balcony.  Why in the world would someone consider booking one of these Casino Offers given the Casino Offers from Carnival, Royal, MSC, Virgin,, and the list goes on? I will admit I was surprised when I went to pick up the Free Cruise Certificate how literally we were the only ones in line.  Guess I know why now.  Yes, when I hung up I booked a Casino Offef from another Cruise

LIne.   

The reason that there wasn’t a rush is that once you sail on a free cruise certificate, you could book your next cruise directly with the cruise line. 
 

NCL charges the annoying admin fee. But port taxes and fees are normal charges on “free” cruises. And nothing compelled you to upgrade to a balcony. 

[Oldsweets]

Thank you for your polite and factual response.  Sadly many choose to attack the message instead of talking about the details.  I completely agree with the Administrative fee being an annoyance and is the actual expense that seemed unreasonable enough to make booking a soIid “NO”.  We agree with your point on taxes and port fee’s and pay them monthly with other cruise bookings and accept them as part of a casino booking.  We do though most enjoy MSC’s approach with “Free means Free”.  With MSC we have no taxes or port fee’s and the $400 deposit is refunded once aboard as an onboard credit.  To date we have only sailed MSC with free yacht club suites so they have been extremely generous and anticipate these offers with shirk given the volume of bookings they are also enjoying.  We had enjoyed celebrity but find the reworked casino offers now so significantly reduced as to cause us to search other options.  As long as ur comped and carnival casino’s programs remain as aggressive as they have been we will avoid those who tack on Administrative Fees.  Thanks for your positive feedback!  

[Oldsweets]

“c” you make some interesting observations and appreciate your positive remarks as well as the informative remarks of others.  We have made more good decisions than bad ones because of the experiences and feedback of others.  We cruise almost monthly and are constantly looking for ways to expand our cruising/casino options and had hoped that the free ncl cruise was an option.  We have struggled to ever get on NCL’s radar even as Platinum Plus NCL members who regularly played the casino.  Little to no offers with NCL while Yacht Club with MSC and suites and $1,000 in free play with carnival.  No s complaint but simply the realty of folks who cruise often and -Kay regularly and enjoy whatever benefits we can capture.  Thanks again for the productive comments if many of you.
  

[fstuff1]

On 5/15/2023 at 7:22 PM, Oldsweets said:

Just picked up our Free Cruise certificates from Caesar’s and were pleasantly surprised we were offered/given these promotion as we had pulled back from playing with Caesar’s as former Diamond members to gamble with better promotions or offers with others.  The free cruise with NCL for an inside was prices out as $280 in Administrative Fee’s and $515.63 for Port Fees and Taxes or total of $795.63.  Another $1,000  to upgrade to a Balcony.  Why in the world would someone consider booking one of these Casino Offers given the Casino Offers from Carnival, Royal, MSC, Virgin,, and the list goes on? I will admit I was surprised when I went to pick up the Free Cruise Certificate how literally we were the only ones in line.  Guess I know why now.  Yes, when I hung up I booked a Casino Offef from another Cruise

LIne.   

Used to be Diamond elite with Caesars in 2021.

i didnt goto Atlantic city at all last year because caesars eliminated the free diamond lounges for 2 of their 3 casinos, making it a zoo for the 3rd one because EVERYONE now goes there.

 

Yes, i could have paid (comp $) to goto the 7stars lounge but Diamond Lounge fiasco was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I guess i'm not the only mid level gambler that stop playing at Caesars since this year they are re-instituting Diamond lounges at the other 2 casinos.

too little, too late for me.

 

Anyway, havent gotten a free ncl offer from them this year but got one from my local casino.

yes, the $20/day admin fee is annoying since my other line (Celebrity) doesnt charge it.

i turn down the drinks package because free drinks at the casino bar. if tommorow is a port day, plan ahead and stock up on a couple of unopened cans/bottles of beer.

 

for cabin upgrades, i put in a minimum bid ($150/person). it's cheaper but the risk is that you might not get the upgrade which is ok risk for me.

 

so basically for me, it's just port fees/taxes + $20/day admin fee - $250 cruisenext so like $200/person.

I guess the free $125 from cruisenext somewhat offsets the admin fee.

 

incidentally, you get $100 obc as a ncl stock benefit.

on celebrity, you don't get the $100 stock benefit if it's a free cruise. 

 

with the cruisenext certificate and $100 obc, NCL is actually cheaper than a free celebrity cruise if you dont do any add-ons.

 

Edited May 17, 2023 by fstuff1

[dbrown84]

35 minutes ago, fstuff1 said:

Used to be Diamond elite with Caesars in 2021.

i didnt goto Atlantic city at all last year because caesars eliminated the free diamond lounges for 2 of their 3 casinos, making it a zoo for the 3rd one because EVERYONE now goes there.

 

Yes, i could have paid (comp $) to goto the 7stars lounge but Diamond Lounge fiasco was the straw that broke the camel's back.

I guess i'm not the only mid level gambler that stop playing at Caesars since this year they are re-instituting Diamond lounges at the other 2 casinos.

too little, too late for me.

 

Anyway, havent gotten a free ncl offer from them this year but got one from my local casino.

yes, the $20/day admin fee is annoying since my other line (Celebrity) doesnt charge it.

i turn down the drinks package because free drinks at the casino bar. if tommorow is a port day, plan ahead and stock up on a couple of unopened cans/bottles of beer.

 

for cabin upgrades, i put in a minimum bid ($150/person). it's cheaper but the risk is that you might not get the upgrade which is ok risk for me.

 

so basically for me, it's just port fees/taxes + $20/day admin fee - $250 cruisenext so like $200/person.

I guess the free $125 from cruisenext somewhat offsets the admin fee.

 

incidentally, you get $100 obc as a ncl stock benefit.

on celebrity, you don't get the $100 stock benefit if it's a free cruise. 

 

with the cruisenext certificate and $100 obc, NCL is actually cheaper than a free celebrity cruise if you dont do any add-ons.

 

this sounds just like my story :)  I also decline the drink package and use the casino drink card.  I did get a minimum bid upgrade to a  balcony once, but other than that I just stick with what was given (inside).  After applying a $500 cruisefirst on my next cruise, my total out of pocket cost will be $250, which includes pre-paying the DSC.

 

Caesars also lost me when they closed the lounges.  I started going to Borgata, which has a much better lounge than the Caesars properties anyway.  I've started going back since they re-opened the lounge at CP, especially since they brought back buffet style

[MoCruiseFan]

On 5/16/2023 at 1:32 PM, Cruising Lynne said:

I have a friend who also gets NCL cruise vouchers from this casino, but has not used them because he gets better offers from the Carnival casino program.

 

 

I use the CCL vouchers to line the cat's litter box.  They have terrible casinos. especially that electronic dealer Texas hold 'em table.  Not to mention that the one CCL ship I was on was so rusty I was concerned that it might not survive the cruise and the late night pizza and only ½ way cooked and dripping with grease.  Nastiest food I have ever been served.

[CruiseMH]

Free cruises given by casinos are never a bargain cause it only means that the casino collected so much money from you that the can give you these vouchers.

If you wood book a cruise for regular fare without playing in the casino before you would for sure have saved a lot of money.

 

[JustAPilot]

2 hours ago, CruiseMH said:

Free cruises given by casinos are never a bargain cause it only means that the casino collected so much money from you that the can give you these vouchers.

If you wood book a cruise for regular fare without playing in the casino before you would for sure have saved a lot of money.

 

Agreed, if you have that much money laying around that’s burning a hole in your pocket please consider donating it to your local spca, shelter or foundation, your donation will go much further then some blinking lights on a slot machine and lining some casino slum owners pockets, the house always wins. 

[Cruising Lynne]

4 hours ago, CruiseMH said:

Free cruises given by casinos are never a bargain cause it only means that the casino collected so much money from you that the can give you these vouchers.

If you wood book a cruise for regular fare without playing in the casino before you would for sure have saved a lot of money.

 

I have said this to my husband. His response is that getting a voucher for a cruise for having played at the casino means I get to have fun twice!

[fstuff1]

Play only video poker.

1% avg loss at $5 '9/6 ddb' ($25/spin)

2% avg loss at $1 '7/5 bonus poker' ($5/spin)

3% avg loss on $0.05 '6/5 bonus poker' (.25/spin). This is probably THE best game on any ncl ship for low rollers.

 

even at double the coin-in needed to earn a tier point in vp, your loses will (on avg) be ALOT less compared to slots and roulette

 

for example:

Sapphire casino tier = 15k points = $75k coin-in slots = $150k coin-in vp

$150k x 1% = $1500 loss (on avg)

if you cruise 5 times in a year and split your play evenly, that's $300 loss per cruise (on avg)

 

Edited May 19, 2023 by fstuff1

[dbrown84]

the cost of entertainment is a sunken cost.  doesn't matter if it's golf, horseback riding, or gambling.  

So it's incorrect to say that a free cruise voucher is not a bargain because you'll lose money in the casino.  One has nothing to do with the other.  You're going to lose money in the casino whether you paid for the cruise or not.  so you still have a net savings.  If you paid $2000 for the cruise, you'll still gamble because it's what you like to do and you're on vacation.  So if you lose $1K in the casino, then your trip cost you $3K.  If you go a voucher, then maybe you paid $500 for the cruise.  Even if you now lost $2K in the casino, you still paid less total.

[PTC DAWG]

On 5/18/2023 at 4:53 PM, CruiseMH said:

Free cruises given by casinos are never a bargain cause it only means that the casino collected so much money from you that the can give you these vouchers.

If you wood book a cruise for regular fare without playing in the casino before you would for sure have saved a lot of money.

 

LOL, what do you do for entertainment?  I’m curious.  

Edited May 20, 2023 by PTC DAWG

[dbrown84]

6 minutes ago, PTC DAWG said:

LOL, what do you do for entertainment?  I’m curious.  

I'm on my way to a 10:00 tee time

[luvcruzing]

17 hours ago, fstuff1 said:

even at double the coin-in needed to earn a tier point in vp, your loses will (on avg) be ALOT less compared to slots and roulette

Of course on my last cruise (not NCL), there were exactly 12 video poker machines and hundreds of slot machines.

[smillerholmes]

On 5/17/2023 at 9:55 AM, fstuff1 said:

Anyway, havent gotten a free ncl offer from them this year but got one from my local casino.

yes, the $20/day admin fee is annoying since my other line (Celebrity) doesnt charge it.

i turn down the drinks package because free drinks at the casino bar. if tommorow is a port day, plan ahead and stock up on a couple of unopened cans/bottles of beer.

 

 

This little nugget is just what I needed to see.  I had been stocking up on sparkling water for port days - it never occurred to me to get some beer or even the canned sparkling stuff.  Duh!  Thank you so much for sharing!

[CruiseMH]

20 hours ago, PTC DAWG said:

LOL, what do you do for entertainment?  I’m curious.  

 

I do a lot for entertainment and i spend quite some money on entertainment and for sure i spend money on things that other people find crazy or useless.

But thats not the point.

The point is that the statement  "free cruises given by casinos are a bargain" is simply not true.

 

[BirdTravels]

9 minutes ago, CruiseMH said:

 

I do a lot for entertainment and i spend quite some money on entertainment and for sure i spend money on things that other people find crazy or useless.

But thats not the point.

The point is that the statement  "free cruises given by casinos are a bargain" is simply not true.

 

100% of your cruise fare is covered. Even with a service charge which is the only addition to what you pay as a non-casino guest, it is a big bargain. $1000s of dollars in savings. 

[fstuff1]

2 hours ago, CruiseMH said:

The point is that the statement  "free cruises given by casinos are a bargain" is simply not true.

 

it is true.

gamble smart.

post #12: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2937788-free-cruises-with-caesar’s-not-so-free/?do=findComment&comment=65405533

 

Edited May 21, 2023 by fstuff1