LOVINCRUIZIN

I know I am a little late, but Dive Friends of Bonaire are excellent. We wen to two excellent wall dives. Loved it and can;t wait to go back

THen I guess we will have to play their game.

I have not tried NCL, but think I will.

BTW - what cruise are you on IN August?

We are doing Splendor 8/12.

Maybe we'll see you in the casino ;)

Hello!

The gambling was fun...but no winning:(

Midway through I earned the drink card, however as a non-drinker, that didn't mean much to me!

I called a month after returning, and the gentleman I spoke to said that since that was a free cruise, I have no further comps for my next cruise, which is in August (and is also a free cruise).

He did indicate that after I returned from the next cruise, I would have something towards my December cruises.

So not much to report, but will let you know late-August what I end up with.

Still thinking about giving NCL a call!

LOVINCRUIZIN,

I have seem LIR and 3 Card on NCL. I believe they are pretty standard for them.

Thanks. Really have to give them a shot:D

Free cruise offers are so hard to pass up:o

Leaving on Carnival Splendor in 4 days. Will see what perks come my way. Hopefully drink cards for my August cruise:D

One other comment: On RCCL in December (Legend) there was not a let-it-ride table. I thought that was strange. There were many blackjack tables (and many never opened), but yet no LIR and only 1 3-card table.

For those lucky NCL fans, do they generally have those games? How about 4-card?

Cruising through casino offers is new to me; took my first in December on the Epic through an offer I received from Foxwoods. I was comped an inside cabin & free drink card and after playing all week, received $121.00 off my final bill and took home 20% of my gambling budget. Took my second cruise in March on the Breakaway, also with an offer I received from Foxwoods (inside cabin & drink card). Received $300.00 off my final bill and came home with half of my budget. A couple of weeks after the cruise, I read a thread on this site posted by someone on the same cruise as me (thanks GeriC) and she had called CAS and they offered her a comped cabin, so I thought I'd give it a try and they offered me a balcony cabin on the Breakaway so I booked in October. I don't have any experience with other cruise lines, but I'm pretty happy with the way I've been treated by NCL.

LOVINCRUIZIN, I see you're from NY; have you considered a cruise on the Breakaway? The tone of the e-mail that you received from RC would have had me looking for another cruise line that appreciated my business. I think that you would be happy with NCL.

Very cool that you are getting such great offers:D I am sailing 4 times on Carnival this year (thanks to the two freebies), but am open to change. I was a "loyal royal", but am definitely open to change. And based upon your experiences (and others) NCL seems like it might be a good fit. I will look there for 2015. Thanks and good luck:cool:

Thanks, sml3! I appreciate your candidness!

I am cruising carnival this year becuase they gave me 2 free cruises. The other two (B2B on Breeze) were by choice, and for the same reasons as you. I am sure we will have a good time no matter what, just wondering how they stack up from someone with mainly RCCL experience like me. I was having a hard time justifying $6500 for three of us on the Quantum in December in a balcony (11 nights). Instead I got 14 nights on Breeze for $4300, so I am feeling better about the deal. And I think the slides, 5D theater and ropes course will hold my kids interest. Not saying my move is permanent, but I am feeling better about the decision - THANK YOU!!

And happy sailing to you :)

sml3 - your cruise history is a little reflective of mine. I sailed mostly with RCCL and considered myself a loyal royal, however this year I am sailing 4 times on carnival. What made you "jump ship" :o and are you happy with your decision? Any main differences?

It'[s been a while since I was on Carnival for any length of time, but will be going in 2 months.

Just curious, if you wanna share :)

Amy

Cancelled my Quantum sailing and booked 30 days this year on Carnival. Helps that 2 of the 4 cruises were free:o

So- we'll see how good Carnival is to us, otherwise I am off to NCL in 2015!

Thanks, all, for the great advice!

Thanks 3D Beach.

Arrogance is a good word - I think that captures the sour taste the note left with me.

So I am going to try Carnival with my free cruises, and if I'm not satisfied with their generosity, I'll consider NCL. You (and others) are making that option sound very appealing so I am compelled to give it a shot. What do I have to lose:rolleyes: :D :eek:

Wow - thanks for the lengthy, thoughful reply. In general, I completely agree with you. I think the part I felt more insulted about was the email in which she sounded like she was ambivelant who I cruised with, and then the lame (and apparently false) justification about who runs each cruises's casino, like that should make a difference.

I am going on the first of these free cruises in April. I will definitely post. I am very open minded, and my last cruise on Legend of the Seas was disappointing in many respects, so I might just be "won" over :D

Thansk again - happy sailing and good luck to you!!!

I usually drop around $5k in the ships' casinos and have found Club Royale to be pretty generous with their rebates. I think a lot also depends on how much time you spend on the machines. I was told by a casino host that you have to play the slots for a minimum of 3 consecutive hours a day, with a minimum of 2,000 points collected by the end of the cruise, to get any kind of rebate. Also, I understand the casino host can influence the rebates -- it's not just the sea-pass tracking. I've found that if I do win a decent jackpot ($4,000+), I'm inundated with free trip offers from RCL, probably because they want their money back! That's my experience, anyway.

Thanks for your thoughts. I play some slots, but generally play the tables. ON this last cruise I played mainly 3 card poker. Some Caribbean Stud. They didn;t have a let-it-ride table. And I was losing $500 minimum a night. When you're not hitting, it doesn;t take long. So, you're right, I didn;t log the hours, but they were very aware of my losses.

I am going to try carnival twice this summer, since the cruises are comped. And I am going o explore NCL and hope they treat me like Samantha suggests/

Good luck!!!!

Yikes! So they insulted you and lied to you. I would have been as upset as you are - and have been, which is why I left Carnival. NCL does have an association with Harrah's, which is in turn owned by Caesars, which is in turned owned by Apollo. Carnival has zero land-based casino association.

I would feel the same way. I left Carnival because they started doing the same thing with the sad offers - 9000 points on a 3-day cruise got me a 15% off offer. :rolleyes: I moved my cruising to NCL (spending about half what you do in the casino), and they are already comping me cabins. Whatever you decide to do, good luck to you in the future and happy sailing!

Thank you! I have never been on NCL. Not sure why - think the freestyle concept seemed like work to me making reservations or standing in line to eat.

But I've read some of your posts and think I am going to give them a try. You've given some excellent commentary - thank you.

And...good luck to you and enjoy!!!!

So....regardless of who operates the casino, since I am paying $6400 for my cruise, I don;t drink and am therefore costing them nothing, am I not worth more to them than $250?! That's the insulting part. Carnival hasn't seen me in a while and is eager to have me back. The tone of this email sounds to me like they are ambivelant which cruise I select.

Do you share my opinion, or am I personalizing this too much:rolleyes::confused:

Hello Amy,

I am so sorry you are disappointed with your rebate. Unfortunately you

played twice as many hours on your first cruise then this one and that can

affect your rebate amount as well as your average bet. So this is why the

difference in the rebate.

You are correct, other cruise lines can offer and do offer complimentary

cruises as they are backed by land-based casinos. Harrah's and Caesar's

owns and operates Noweigan Cruise lines and Carnival Cruise line casinos.

Royal operates and owns their own casinos. There are large differences in

the cruise lines and how they operate their casinos. They have flexibility

as the land-based casino covers their expenditures where we at Royal, cover

our own. I do hope you understand that casinos onboard ships and

different cruise lines are not all the same.

You do have choices and you are welcome to cruise whichever cruise line you

like. We would love to have you onboard, but again the choice is always

yours as to which cruise line you prefer to sail with.

I do hope this helps clarify the difference in the casinos on different

cruise lines for you. Again, we would welcome you onboard anytime you

choose to sail with us, but the rebate remains as is.

Regards,

Donna Kurz

Club Royale, Casino Operations

Hi all,

There is not much activity on cruise casinos here, but I do see a few active members. As you can see, I mostly cruise Royal Caribbean, although I am taking advantage of 2 free Carnival cruises this year and will be very open minded about where my loyalties fall. I spend considerable money in the casino whenever I cruise ($5K range). LAst year, I received an $850 rebate which I applied to my Dec 2013 cruise. After last month's cruise, they offered me $250. I am booked on Quantum Dec 2014 which is costing me $6400. A $250 credit is insulting to me. I send them an email confirning this, and got a response that I will post next. What are your thoughts?!

Agree - St. Thomas or Barbados. Bring some food - they will surface and hang with you.

The area in St. Thomas where the turtles hang was rough water.

In Barbados a few weeks ago they were on the side with calm waters.

It's all completely random on Carnival. I think the just put all the names in a hat and draw the winners for all of these offers. Two cruises ago I lost over 6k and spent a lot of time in the casino and was offered 25% off my next cruise and $150 casino cash. I played table games, always gave my sail n sign card when playing, was nice to the dealers and tipped very well. To sum it up, their pit bosses are useless.

Check the website - you might be plesaqantly surprised. BTW, my ex-husband abd friend both received the same offer, so it may or may not be random, but think it is fairly common

I received two free cruise offers. I've booked one for April, and am deciding on the second. I just want to clarify that it is not the undesirable sailings (ie: 23 days, if some are considering that undesirable!!!), it's good for any sailing. So, for those of you that haven't gotten the offer, look up your VIFP number nad check the site. My letter stated one cruise at $50 pp, but online I had the same offer listed for two free cruises. So this is 100% true. ONly catch is that on most sailing, it is for an interior cabin only. Only select sailings allow an upgrade to ocean view for about $35 more. Woohoo...thank you Carnival!!! As you can see, I generally cruise Royal Caribbean and haven't been on Carnival in a while, but I've been convince to cruise twice with them this year. I may be converted...which I am sure is part of their plan;)

I feel your pain and would be super pissed myself. Hold out for a better compensation.

I'm sorry - that would really suck for me. That's my relaxation and one of my favorite features.