foggyphils

I booked a last minute casino cruise yesterday for this Saturday out of Galveston on the Vista with a free inside cabin promo. The cruise has been sold out for 3 weeks. My assumption is if someone cancels last minute, they throw it over to the casino promo? The code FLC is almost impossible to book online because it's usually for 1 last minute cabin. I had to get my PVP to check daily, sometimes more than once per day so she could grab the cabin once someone let it expire in their cart. She called me yesterday to tell me she had the one cabin left on hold and I had to make a decision in 15 minutes. (I was basically open to any Galveston cruise in March or beginning of April.)

Great thread! I just went on my first HAL cruise since 2005. I spent most of my time at Roulette. Probably 4 out of 7 nights for 2-4. hours. I also played a bit on the slots. I always used my cabin card to take $100 out at a time for Roulette and I funded my slot account with $500 on my first day. I would say no more than 30 mins total on slots but I played about $50 each night that I played roulette. After all that play, I ended up about $20 ahead. Cheap entertainment and fun 😉 Oh, ALSO, I emailed the casino team before our cruise and let them know that we get Carnival casino offers. They set me up with $50 Funplay and my Hubs got $25 in Funplay. We got off the Koningsdam on Aug. 6th and I got my first email with the following offers: Casino Promos Campaign ID: HEP2238CO Promo UX7 Includes $150 OBC, Free drinks, and some other "VIP" stuff. (see screenshot) I do have a question...on the email it says "Book an advertised VIP sailing to receive an exclusive invitation to the Holland America Line Players Club ultimate VIP sailings." Is this a different tier of promotional cruises?

Not all cruise lines reset at midnight. Our carnival cruise reset a 6am. I’d ask once you get onboard. Especially if times change on the ship. I have in laws that reach the 15 limit. They assumed it was midnight too, but got denied right after midnight. 😂 Customer service confirmed it was 6am!

If you go over the 15 drink limit with the signature drink package, do they count the 15 most expensive (or even least expensive) drinks or do you start paying with drink number 16? Hope this makes sense! TIA!

I didn’t have to buy the AARP membership to purchase HAL cards, only signed up for the free rewards program. HAL gift cards are available to anyone. There were some other cruise line gift cards that do require membership. (I think Carnival and Princess). I also like you dont have to collect points to purchase like Allstate does.

Yes, my hubs is very appreciative of an easy bar trip 😉

Perfect! Thanks for the feedback. I keep second guessing myself 😄

@Troban someone painstakingly did it from cruisecritic. Search “ koningsdam aft view” on the boards. I’m on a tiny device right now so I’m not able to do it right now.

Thanks everyone. I asked for 8199 but someone else beat me to it 😄 Ended up choosing 8201!

Thanks for the replies. I'm glad I didn't see the 24 hour response time until it was too late! LOL I went ahead and bit the bullet. My issue is I need to pay today or tomorrow at the latest so was a bit worried 😉 In case others are curious, it took just a few minutes to receive all but 1 (of course!) gift card. I called the 800 number and the nice CS rep sent the email for the one I was missing. I kept the order numbers for all five cards from off the confirmation page so I knew exactly which one I was missing. Total time on phone was 3 minutes from dialing to hanging up. Now, to pay up!

Thank you Mary! This is exactly the info I was hoping to confirm. Much appreciated!

Oh yes, and good point. I'm aware of the pool deck above but I really like that the deck 8 cabins are fully covered. My thoughts are that they will be more protected from the elements. Also, they may be a bit bigger according to this chart. And it will be a quick flight up one floor of stairs for any wildlife viewing on the sides. At least that's my logic 😄. Not sure if it's sound!

For the AARP offer, is the digital code immediately sent or do you have to wait? If so, how long?

Anyone have an opinion on which one of these deck 8 aft cabins I should choose? 😄 It's for a RT Alaska cruise out of Vancouver.

Great idea using it as a back up. SW is so flexible! And those prices are just crazy cheap so it's hard to pass up. I'm the frugile one so I would be happy with figuring out the logistics to make it work. I would have to keep my hubs in the dark bc this would make his head explode and not think it's worth the headache. 😉

Still trying to figure that out! LOL At first glance it looks like it should be a 1-1.5 hour drive but the realities of logistics and border crossings gets a bit overwhelming. I found some private transfer/limo services online that will take you from the port to BLI that could be an option. ~$200 each way. The uber app shows options but then someone said Uber can't cross the border OR drive into BLI. It looks like I might be back at my stupidly expensive Vancouver flights. I remember crying about $500 flights to YVR a few years ago. Now I'd jump on that price! And oddly enough, Seatle flights are even more expensive.

Anyone have experience flying into BLI (bellingham) airport for a Vancouver cruise? This sale has flights about $1000 cheaper than my original option of Vancouver. Just don't know if we can make a 12:45 flight.