Russiamomm

Haven’t been on the Jade, but did travel on the Joy in a 2 BR suite in the Haven. The second BR is perfectly fine for one adult. I traveled with a friend. She had the small room and was happy as could be. This is not an issue. Enjoy your trip!

Yup. I play almost exclusively Blackjack. It’s really hard to build up the points at the tables. Sigh.

Thanks for posting this. We are on a casino comp on Feb 11. How far in advance did you get this email? I haven’t gotten it yet. I'm disappointed with the not being able to get drinks at the bar bit, but super excited about the coffee perk. Quick stupid question on all of this. It was my play that got us the comp. Is it safe to assume that DH will also get a casino charm? (He does play, but not as much as I do.). TIA.

Thanks. I assumed that was the case, but a girl can dream, right? 😃

Both of us have Deep Blue Extras. I know the coffee benefit is per cabin, but what about the other perks. Specifically, how much bar tab will we get? $100 or $200? I assume it’s only $100, but would be great if we each got it. TIA!

There are some issues. As others have said, the benefits are by the individual. It won’t matter for the meals. Your son can take you as his guest as the coupon is for two people. Same for the laundry. They don’t know who’s clothes are in the bag. I’m not sure about tender tickets. I would assume it’s by the cabin, but don’t know for sure. The one thing I do know about is the Wines Around the World. I’m platinum. On a cruise last fall my cabin mate was gold. They wouldn’t let her sign up for it. It’s by individual status holder. I didn’t go because I didn’t want to leave my friend out.

Feels like it! As I’ve said before, don’t like the drink package, don’t get it. Think the drinks are too expensive, don’t buy them. Think cruises are are too expensive? Don’t cruise. Easy, peasy. While I enjoy a good debate as much as the next guy, I really don’t get some of these posters who seem to have an agenda. If they hate NCL so much, why are they still sailing on them? And do they start these silly arguments onboard as well? If so, I hope I don’t run into them on a ship. We all cruise to have fun. We pay what we feel is a value to us. I just don’t get some of these posters who seem to want to “win” at all costs.

I know, right? Why can’t people just be nice?

This. Book the table for two. They only charge for whoever shows up. I’ve never had an issue booking a table online. Just book for two. For larger odd numbered parties book the next number up.

I completely agree! I enjoy it. And the math works for me. I really don’t understand all these debates. Don’t like the package? Don’t get it? Don’t think you will get your money’s worth? Decline the package. Easy, peasy. But please don’t assume that those of us that get it, and enjoy it, have not “done the math”. And to a lot of us it’s about a whole lot more than the math.

Honestly, I don’t know the answer to your question. I know you can cash in MC points for OBC, but I don’t know if it’s refundable or non-refundable. I assume it’s refundable, but I don’t know. Either way, for $250 I wouldn’t want to jump through the hoops to figure it out. Those same $250 can be a statement credit. Charge something on the card, take the credit, and bring $250 in cash with you. Or simply charge the $250 to the room, pay the 3%, get the 3x points from the card and all is broken even anyway. Just my thoughts, but I also agree with others that you get more value from your points saving them and using them for upgrades.

Thank you! We’ll see what happens during my next trip in March. Last April I was on a B2B on the Gem booked through CAS. Also got a bottle of wine, a free meal at Moderno and treats every single day from the casino. Never did understand why, but gladly took the perks! But I’ve never gotten any OBC and was always just given the jade card.

I agree with the others - you have to try it to compare. Personally I much prefer NCL. It’s all I’ve sailed for the past several years, but took a short trip on the Independence of the Seas in November. I don’t think I’ll ever go back to RCL. Our major complaint was the cost of drinks and the lack of free food options on RCL. It was a comped cruise for us. We paid for an upgrade into a suite. We didn’t buy a drink package - just thought the cost was crazy. We’re so used to NCL’s FAS. The drink package would have cost us more than $200 a day for the two of us. On NCL it’s just over $20 pp/pp. I was quite stunned when I bought a drink on the pool deck the first day and it was almost $18. Needless to say, we didn’t drink much that trip. On the food, we are so used to NCL’s Freestyle dining, I didn’t like the set meal times. Also was really taken aback that quite literally the only free food options were the buffet, the MDR and pizza. There were lots of food options, but they were all at an additional cost. Granted, NCL has limited free food options too, but at least you have O’Sheehans and with FAS you get some free specialty meals. Not so on RCCL. Finally, I think the entertainment is better on NCL. We were on Indy for five nights. We were ready to get off. I’ve never been on an NCL ship that I was ready to leave.

Thanks! I misspoke. I have to be close to Pearl, not Ruby. LOL. But will they give you the status midway through the cruise, or is it like the Latitudes program, which only is applied after the cruise is over?

Anyone know how many points you need for each tier or how to see them? Also, when do they apply it? My next NCL is March 25 - April 1. I have to be close to Ruby. Will they apply it during the cruise?

Thanks all. I think I’m still only Jade. I’ll keep this in mind though. Have two more cruises scheduled in between now and May.

I sail with NCL exclusively through CAS. Sometimes get a comped cabin, sometimes just a discount on the fare. I’ve never gotten any OBC from the casino. Am I missing something or do I just not gamble enough? Please share your secrets. 😃

I agree that you can’t use it in the casino. My question is how did you get that much OBC? I’ll take it! Spa, spa and more spa, with specialty dining and espresso martinis every night. 😂

Should not be a problem. Splenda is readily available. I use Equal. It’s not always available, but will use Splenda in a pinch.

It seems to be hit or miss. I applied for the credit back in January for an April 20 sailing. Posted within five days.

Is there a reason a thread that’s almost 4 years old has been resurrected? If CAS has no record of this the offer is likely expired. I would call Harrah’s.

Absolutely true! But you’re more likely to earn a free cruise on a longer cruise than a shorter one. 😂 Seriously, though, personally even a 7 day is too short for me. You’re just getting into vacation mode and it’s time to get off. 😢. I prefer the 10+ day sailings, regardless of what extras you may get for the longer sailings. There’s also fewer kids and drunks on the longer sailings. That’s a plus for me.

Good question. I’ve never sailed without FAS. I don’t know how that works. You may have to call.

This is where I am too. We used NCL’s BOGO for a cruise out of NYC. Flight times and connections were horrible. It wasn’t worth the $300 or so we saved. We have a TA booked for April. The difference in price was literally thousands. That makes it worth the frustration and possible horrible connections. I’m actually more concerned about connections getting to NYC than home from Rome. There’s only so many options to get back to the States from Europe.

It is a separate card, but they still use your regular card to swipe for the drink. But you won’t be charged for it. It’s only good at the casino bar, which is only open when the casino is open. You don’t need to be “actively playing”. You can swing by the bar to pick up a drink at any time or just sit at the bar and have a drink. You can also swing by and pick up bottles of water if you want. I usually do that the night before a port day to have water to bring ashore. As far as what it’s good for, I’m not 100% sure, but I think the basic card has pretty much the same rules as the FAS drink package - anything up to $15. But I may be wrong. The casino is a full bar. They do have frozen drinks, but selection may be more limited than the pool deck. Starbucks isn’t included. While you can get coffee at the bar, it will be the regular coffee you can get around the ship.