Journey2016

Ten years after our first cruise, we are taking our first back to back on the Freedom in June. The first cruise will push us over the top to Diamond Plus. Since it normally takes a week or so to get credit for your points, how do we get recognized for our new status for the second half of the B2B?

So I did some experimenting during my last cruise. (The sacrifices I make- go figure). Here is what happened:

Allure of the Seas: 7 day cruise Dec 2018:

Gambled $175 on slots, kept pushing button until money ran out. This earned me 56 points. Works out to $3.13 per point. 

I also played Craps for 8.5 hours. My average bet was $100. I lost a total of $2400, earning 634 points. This cost $3.79 per point. 

Doing the math, if I had played the $2400 on slots, I would have wound up with 766 points instead of 634. 

When I was on the Independence in November, I was at the Craps table for 9 hours and an average bet of $80, earning 125 points for the $1000 I lost at the tables. The cost there was $8.00 per point.

When I was on the Symphony in June, I was betting the same as always, and I won about $3800 on the trip. 23 hours in the casino, and earned 684 points. 

Here are my conclusions:

Winning or losing doesn't matter when it comes to earning points.

The way that points are awarded seems to be rather inconsistent. 

Dollar for dollar, slots earn points at about 20% lower cost than tables. Without knowing the odds of winning at the slots, I can't tell you which is more effective. I do know the odds of winning at craps is 48.6%. 

Either way, I have gambled with $6,000 on RCCL cruises in 2018, winning $400 and a total of 1,374 points, plus a total of $700 in cruise certificates. The people saying that they are getting free cruises are either gambling with way more money than I can afford, or they are lying. Under the old CR system, I was getting free drinks and free cruise offers. Since they revamped the system, all of that has gone away. I get much better comps in Vegas with MGM than I do with CR.

On 12/9/2018 at 10:03 PM, fla gang said:

Will the machine hit more frequently when playing max bet?

No. Whether or not a machine hits is random.

4 hours ago, kwokpot said:

That's NOT THE CASE in a land based casino. This is what I was told my a pit boss told me. Chips are entered into the computer as CHIPS IN and NOT CASH IN.

When I gamble in Vegas at the MGM casinos, they track my play VERY accurately. They even have an accurate tally of wins/losses for my play in MGM casinos. It doesn't matter if I chip in or cash in.

On 11/25/2018 at 10:13 AM, snoope said:

Where can one see the brochure you mention? If would like to take a look at that!

Attached

cruise brochure.pdf

2 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

My advice for Table games players is make friends with the Pit Bosses. Talk to them, make nice so that they KNOW YOUR FACE. Additionally, when you first start playing, your first few hands should be the MORE THAN YOUR normal average bet. This way that's what's going to be added into the computer. Do That EVERY TIME you see the Pit Boss surveying your table. 

That didn't help. According to the pit boss, my average bet was $80. That means that they are not using the formula advertised to calculate points.

We just got back from a 5 day cruise on the Independence. According to the pit boss, my average bet was $80. I was at the table for a total of 9 hours. On the last night alone, I was there for 1.5 hours. After I cashed out, I asked the casino host how many points I earned. He said 125 points. 

According the system as it is published in their Club Royale brochure, I should have earned 80 points per hour, meaning that I would have earned that 125 points on just the last night. I still do not understand how I am getting shafted on points. 

You can pay for a cruise in monthly payments now- without interest. I don't see why they are doing this, unless they plan on eliminating the ability to pay the fare over a period of time. 

Where we usually succeed is looking at upgrades. We once upgraded from a Balcony to a Jr Suite for $21. On our Med Cruise on the Symphony, it cost us $385 to upgrade from a Balcony to a Jr Suite.

She can, but says that she doesn't want to spend half an hour translating the menu every time we go to eat.

I play the craps table. According to CR, I spent 23 hours in the casino on my last cruise. I was betting $25 to $300 per roll, with about $150 being my average bet. I earned 684 points. You need to earn 2500 points to get free drinks. Do the math. It's cheaper to buy your drinks.

I see people on here claiming to get free cruises every time they sail. I can't even imagine how much they are gambling to get that.

My family just booked a Christmas cruise on the Allure. My brother in law's girlfriend is bringing her parents. They only speak Slovakian. She has some questions that I cannot answer. Maybe someone here knows the answer:

Does the cruise ship have menus in Slovakian, or can the menus be provided in advance, so we can prepare translations before we go?

Does it depict slides?

 

Sent from my SM-G965U using Tapatalk

Yes, it does.

I spoke with the Club Royale number, and this is what I was told:

You get 1 point for each $5 you wager at the slots.

For craps, you get 1 point for every 10 minutes that you play for each $5 you wager.

With that being said, I got nowhere near that many points on my last cruise. According to the cruise line, I wagered for just under 23 hours on a 7 day cruise. I got 684 points. If you do the math, all I got credit for was an average bet just of just over $6. The problem? The table minimum at one table was $10, and I played the $25 table for two nights, so you tell me how they are doing it.

Last week, during the Symphony's 10th cruise, we received our block. I planned it so that we would get one from the new ship:

Last time I went through PE (December 2017), the suites went to the head of the line, but we were told that they did not honor global entry.

I Think they are Palma and Naples

The formal nights are in fact Palma and Naples. There is no dress code enforced. I saw many men wearing shorts. i saw one who wore shorts, a tie dyed tank top, and a ball cap. There is no dress code enforcement on RCCL ships. Wear whatever you want.

I have had good cruises and bad in the casino. In 2009, I hit a slot for $3,500 on the first night while onboard the Enchantment OTS. They took my picture holding the money, and it was posted all over the ship. People kept coming up to me and saying "You're the casino guy, aren't you?"

Two summers ago, I won more than $4k on a cruise, and just last week I hit Symphony for several thousand.

It isn't all winning, though. I lost $2K last year while on the Radiance OTS. I blame that stupid bathtub sized craps table.

In reference to my question in another thread, I just got off the phone with Club Royale, and they told me how points are supposed to be calculated, and I am convinced that the casinos onboard are not doing it correctly. Here is the answer:

You are supposed to earn 1 point for every $5 spent on slots. When it comes to craps, you are supposed to get 1 point for every 10 minutes you are gambling for each $5 wagered as your average bet.

Here is where I am convinced that the casino is shortchanging us. They told me that my wife had earned 16 points on the last cruise. They could not tell me how much she had wagered, only her point total. The thing is, she brought $200 to play slots, and lost all of it. Even if she had not won a single dime, this should have earned her 40 points. She won a few times and lost that money as well, plus I fronted her $200 to play craps with me on the last night of the cruise. We played for 2 hours, and I watched her bet the pass line, and once the point was set, she took odds and also a place bet on 6,8, and 10. By their math, she should have ended the cruise with at least 75 points. She got 16.

Similarly, I know my minimum bet was $25. In fact, for two nights I was on the table that had a $25 minimum bet (the second table had a $10 minimum). The total cruise, they say I earned only 684 points during the 23 hours I was at the table. What happened here was that the casino only gave me credit for playing $5 per roll of the dice, even though my average was FAR higher than that. Since it appears as though the the casino is not giving you credit for the amount wagered, the gambler who spends 10 hours at the table betting $5 per roll will earn more points than the gambler who bets $500 per roll for two hours.

I have been a CR member for 2 years now and still dont know how pointa arw calculated.

I am a craps player, and I typically bet $25 to 50 on the pass line, backing it with 30-100. I also always bet 30 each as place bets on 6 and 8, frequently another 25 on 5 and 9. I also make other bets occasionally as well. I think I average 35 per come out roll and 170 per roll after the point is set. I play 2 or 3 hours a night.

According to the CH, I earn less than 300 points per cruise. I took 3 cruises of 7 days each last year. (LOS in March, Rhapsody in June, Allure in December) When I got on the Symphony last week, I wasnt even a choice player.

On the flip side, my wife plays the slots. She never gambles more than 300 for an entire cruise. She was choice this time.

Last night I received a $100 voucher for my play this past week, which according to the CH meant I earned between 400 and 800 points. I dont get it.

Can anyone explain how points are earned? The CH couldnt do that. Just trying to understand the rules of the game...

Sorry. Mistake

Yes. The craps table always asks for it.

I have not yet sailed the Harmony. That one is on the list.

Show times vary each day. There is another thread with a comprehensive listing.

There is no grill for hamburger/hot dog outside, other than the dog place on the Boardwalk.

The towels are on the pool deck and in the solarium. You need a card, and they charge you for not turning them in. However, they don't count them when you turn them in. You could check out five towels, turn in three, and they wouldn't know, but it isn't like the pool towels are worth all that trouble.

You have to use a card to turn on the lights. We used an old hotel room key. Your sea pass is on your door when you check in. If you are in a suite, you get a wristband as well.

It is no more crowded than the other Oasis ships. This time we are lucky, as there are only 600 kids on board. That is due to the fact that Scentsy has booked about 1000 cabins on this ship, and they did not allow kids. The downside to that is the people are MLM salesmen, and we had a Scentsy cruiser try to sell us a timeshare the first day. (LOL)

I was invited to be a Club Royal member in the summer of 2016. Since then, I have been awarded a free cruise and a 300 dollar credit. All this time, I get the casino sticker on my sea pass, and this has entitled me to escape the fees when using your sea pass to get cash for the casino.

I typically do 3-4 cruises a year, and I play in the casino every night for 1 to 3 hours, always the same way: I play craps, and I bet the same way whenever I am playing, with anywhere from $50 to $400 on the table every roll, with my average being about $200 per roll. My wife only occasionally plays, and most of her play is penny slots. My cruise is December was paid for in part with a $300 credit from the casino that I earned last March.

So imagine my surprise when, having booked my latest cruise on the Symphony through Club Royale, my seapass card has no casino mark, and my wife's does. When I asked the casino host, I was told that my gambling habits don't entitle me to club royale. She then listed my points from my last three cruises, and all of them had me at less than 200 points each. She claimed that you don't get the free cash advances until 2,500 points. When I asked her why my wife got them and I didn't, and why I had gotten the cruise voucher from the March cruise, she had no real answer.

I got back to my cabin this afternoon, and there on the bed was a voucher for $100.

So here is my question: Is there some source for determining how points are awarded? Are there any clear rules for this? I am not complaining, I just want to know the rules so I can understand. This trip in the casino, I won a significant amount of money, and I am thinking that may have something to do with it.

I enjoyed looking for the little wonders on other ships, but there are none on the Symphony.

The sports bar (Playmakers) was showing a lot of sports, but the time difference makes it difficult. We wanted to watch the Stanley Cup finals, but the games didn't begin here until 2 am.