Fly and Sail

Same on Rotterdam. This ticked me off, and I cancelled my drinks package mid-journey. Got a full refund for the remaining 4 days. Not dealing with this nonsense when I already overpay for drinks (I never order 15 drinks/day). My dad suddenly had charged show up on his account and when i asked the F&B Director to produce the receipts there was one for two Heineken (same receipt) at 10:04AM - we were at breakfast during that time and the receipt said "card swiped". Makes zero sense!

Fair enough, but there's nothing this club can give you that you can't get with a little money. I'd rather save tens of thousands of dollars by not buying cruises as a retail customer instead of getting lip service via some club membership 15-20 years down the line (IF I even live that long).

IMHO, it's simply not up to customers to dictate a company what marketing and financial strategy to follow. A company will always do what's best for their bottom line and if someone feels that peeved because another guest gets a casino comp, a free laundry or meals then be my guest and sail with Carnival. Or - since Carnival follows the same strategy - take a ferry somewhere.

I assume you mean that you have to pay a base fare for Mariner status. Based on practical experience, I disagree. It might be somewhere in the rulebook, but in reality, you get your points on comps. And you definitely get them and are entitled to them if you pay any kind of upcharge to the higher cabin which will then be the base fare.

The casino is operated by Carnival Casino Operations (CCO) so comped cruises are initially a marketing expense. Left pocket, right pocket. At the end of the day, HAL is owned by them (Carnival). What's even worse is that HAL allows smoking in the casinos (at least on the Rotterdam). I have played the first two days and then stopped going because my clothes now reek of smoke to the point of me getting sick. I banished them to the balcony.

Casino Rates aren't really something to look for. I only travel when it's totally comped and only taxes apply. Then you can add a beverage package, wifi and the Thermal Spa Pass.

That's pretty common among all cruise lines. I'm Celebrity Captains Club Elite Plus from my 13 free cruises. Chances are these gamblers pay more for their cruise in losses than revenue passengers do paying cash.

My offers have been garbage for all of 2023, now getting a few better ones but with BCC now charging a single supplement or respectively a discounted fare for the second person in the cabin they can go to hell. Another problem is that all my offers for for cruises ex Florida - I live in Asia..

Overall, yes, but some machines that have maxed out jackpots and jackpot features keep returning better results until they cashed out that bonus and "leveled off" again.

Were you actively playing for that amount or trying to generate credit card points?

Tier 4 - ME! 😄

Nice! I used to live a few blocks away, like 15 years ago, and I always enjoyed coming here.

You can assign these when you do the check-in for your sailing and again when you do the final check-in on the app on the day of departure. This is highly superior compared to what HAL does to passengers which is pretty annoying (their app sucks too).

I would take the expertise of a Captain employed by RCCL/X over the "expertise" of people on an online messaging board any day. And common sense as well. 😄

The real problem with having a level as high as Zenith is that it fosters a huge expectation, but you'll eventually be let down by the reality that this status really isn't all that great. Just like Lufthansa HON Circle.

I'm eagerly awaiting your report of the handpay. However, as far as Dragon Lights is concerned you should only play it when the number of potential free games is very high. You need to change the bet sizes a bit and see how the display changes to the most advantageous one. That's how I ended up with the $700 on our last night.

Thanks for impressions of the casino! I always take my videos and photos when the casino is closed, which makes for a much better experience as nobody hassles me. 😄

Yes, exactly that one. Play the $1,28 or $1,76 that way you won't get into too much trouble and the payoff is pretty good. Especially this machine, a $50 mini is ripe for the picking!

The cruises up around the UK and the Nordics are more active and less dressy in general.

Last year we had to go through FULL immigration at Long Beach and the line of passengers was endless. It took forever. Try to get off as soon as possible!

Fu Dao Le & Dragon Lights. The only paying machines on the vessel.

Has the Summit been "Revolutionized" yet? Hearing about all these maintenance issues makes me quite wary of it.

If those two are still there, please go and donate a couple bucks.

Love following along, I'm missing last years voyage on the Millie already (and the casino). Have fun!!

There is plenty of security and CCTV on the ship. Not the ideal place for any kind of shenanigans.