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Anyone?

People who have reached a certain minimum level of play in the casino are offered the opportunity to go on a "Premier" cruise - a number of these are offered throughout the year from various ports. Each "Premier" guest gets to bring one other guest; the fares are generally lower than a standard cruise fare - though in my opinion they used to be MUCH lower (I did go on some that cost just port fees and taxes). Also, typically the Premier guests will receive some amount of cash at the casino cage - probably in the range of several hundred dollars, though it may vary depending upon the past level of play and the rate that was paid for the cabin. Also, there will be a drinks & hors d'oeuvres reception the first night of the cruise, some type of gift in the cabin daily and drawings / giveaways in the casino multiple times a day throughout the cruise (plus free drinks for the premier player and guest in the casino throughout the cruise). Some people, including some gamblers, have tried to avoid these cruises as the casino can be very busy for the duration of the cruise. If you reach a minimum level of play on a premier cruise, you may be invited to an Elite cruise (same general deal - better swag and prizes) and there are even a few Ultra cruises throughout they year for those whose play reaches the next plateau. Hope that helps.

~Bob

I've researched this question and the answer seems to be that the NCL ship's casinos stay in US $ even in Europe. But hopefully someone who has done your specific cruise will answer.

I have been on 4 NCL European cruises - all casino bets were in US $. (Years ago they actually had 2 roulette wheels on one ship - one was the US wheel and the other was the european wheel and the european wheel bets were in euros...) Our last european cruise, however, was about 3 years ago and they only had the US wheel and every bet in the room was dollars. They will actually exchange euros for dollars on the ship, but the exchange rate is so poor that you're better off just staying with dollars. Hope this helps.

~Bob

Have been on several Premier cruises. Was surprised that table minimums were generally not higher than typical. Craps on every Premier cruise I have been on was always a $5 minimum game. (2X odds maximum).

~Bob

Sailed in mid August (about 3 weeks ago) on Carnival Pride from Baltimore. Casino was open the first night (about 6 or 7 PM). Not sure if it varies by cruise line. (We did have to pay "tax" on the comped casino drinks the first night, however. Not a big deal - less than $1/ drink, but it was odd to see that on the bill - much like Galveston, etc.)

Are there $5 blackjack and roulette tables? We'll be on Sensation if it varies by ship.

 

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Took a Premier cruise in April (on the Magic out of Port Canaveral). Blackjack minimum was $6; craps table was $5 (very surprising), I believe that roulette was also $5 (though I did not play). Though there were 300+ Premier guests, I did not find that the casino was so crowded that you could not find a place to play. Also, the drink service (even with free drinks for me and my guest all week) was excellent. I do know that each ship / itinerary is different, but I was a bit concerned about table minimums and service on Premier cruise, but was pleasantly surprised.

~Bob

Hello, we have a suite booked for an upcoming cruise and our documents have Priority on them, does that mean we will be able to go directly to our cabin to drop off our stuff, or do we need FTTF for that? Thank you.

Be sure to tell the staff when you get to the terminal for embarkation that you are priority - you will be sent to a special area to check in - even faster than the FTTF line.

~Bob

Thank you! I am traveling on a bounce back offer. I am still going to email carnival

There are actually at least 2 different bounce back offers. PMB & PMI. If your offer actually stated that you get the DOU card (PMI) , then they will have one waiting for you with the casino host as soon as you first visit the casino. If you have the "lesser" offer (PMB), then you will have to "earn" your card by getting at least 1,500 points first.

~Bob

Looking to see if there are anyone traveling on the Carnaval Magic, April 15, 2017 from the Lakeville, Massachusetts area.

There is a group already on the Roll Calls page for this cruise - we are also traveling from MA (next to Worcester) for this cruise. On a day in MA when there's two feet of snow falling, it's particularly exciting to think about the Caribbean... (32 more days).

~Bob

Assuming that you're asking about the Carnival Players Club (CAS is Norwegians Casinos at Sea…) - you can log on to the Carnival site and click on the "Plan" tab and select VIFP Member Offers. You'll probably have to type in (or cut and paste) your VIFP number and then you should see the Carnival offers for Premier Cruises (if you qualify) and/or the Pack and Play Offers (just released this week - if you qualify). I'm not sure if the Bounce Back offers would also be listed here - I've always called Carnival directly with a list of possible cruises that I could sail on to see if any were available under the Bounce Back offers I've received. On the other hand, posters have been commenting here that Bounce Back offers have been recently either seriously scaled back or eliminated entirely - I can say that I've cruised 4 times in the last 10 months: April, 2016 = Bounce Back Offer; July, 2016 = Bounce Back Offer; August, 2016 = Bounce Back Offer; February, 2017 = No Offer (with at least the same / increased amount of play). Could be because I already had a Premier cruise booked for April OR that other gamblers on the most recent cruise were betting more OR that they're scaling back - but just an FYI…

~Bob

Have been seeing more threads lately where room stewards are giving people a choice as to morning or evening or both but without a card to be signed.

 

Several people have said that stewards are pushing back when people ask for twice a day.

 

Would be interesting to see if people on recent cruises would tell us their experiences with this.

Just off the Sunshine on 2/26 (one week ago). We had the Grand Suite and were hoping for excellent room service. First afternoon we were asked to sign the form (we asked for 2X a day service) and we also had written down a few requests (there were no robes in the room, etc.). and gave him a nice tip to start the week. He did not comment at the time, though I would say that our room service was possibly the worst we've had in ~30 cruises. We were supposed to have had a letter from customer service explaining the benefits of a cruise (never got that); robes showed up the afternoon of day 2; cleaning of the room was not great, etc. Didn't really put much of a damper on a great cruise, but we were disappointed in the steward.

~Bob

Just got off the Vista. We did the family harbor suite and the room seemed tiny in my memory in comparison to suites on the older ships. Whats ships have the larges/ most spacious rooms within Carnival?

 

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The family harbor suite is 275 square feet plus another 65 square feet of balcony. Two days ago we returned from a cruise in the grand suite on the Sunshine (these cabins are the same size on both the Sunshine and the Vista); the grand suite is 345 square feet with another 85 square feet of balcony space. It's about 25% larger than the family harbor suite. As others have mentioned, some ships have a captains suite (often 2 per ship) that are slightly bigger still?

Interestingly, we had three people in our suite - one was on the sofa bed. This was actually a full-sized (and comfortable) bed and could easily have accommodated a fourth person, but the room maxes out at 3. Some grand suites are listed for 2 people only, others for as many as 4 - go figure.

~Bob

Ok my wife have taken about 10 cruises on NCL and love them. But we are taking Carnival for the first time next year, and I am afraid we arent going to like them. Only reason we are taking Carnival is because my wifes family is taking the Sunshine and they want us to go with them. We are in the Grand Suite which seems nice, but we dont seem to get the perks as we do on NCL. Has anyone moved over to Carnival from NCL and how did you like?

I think I can give you some insight. I used to be a strict NCL fan (about 15 NCL cruises thus far?). About a year ago we sailed with a family group on CCL (our first CCL cruise in at least 10 years). Thanks to the casino (really, my donations to the casino), we have sailed three more times on Carnival in the last 6 months - including a Grand Suite cruise on the Sunshine that just got back on Saturday (2/25) morning.

The suite was very nice - large balcony (lounge chair and two other chairs plus 2 tables - really large space - about 20' long and about 4' wide). It was quite a change from even a standard balcony cabin. Regarding suite "perks" - they really didn't compare to those on NCL. Depending upon the ship and the suite - NCL offers exclusive breakfast and lunch dining rooms, reserved seats at shows, concierge service throughout the cruise, some have butler service, etc - none of those are offered on CCL, even for a grand suite. In the grand suite on Sunshine, if I had not been reading Cruise Critic, I would not have known about ANY suite perks. Apparently we were supposed to get a paper detailing our perks waiting for us in our room - that paper eventually showed up halfway through our cruise after I mentioned to the head of guest services that we never got one. Also, I was assuming that our cabin steward would be particularly good since there is a higher daily service charge for those in a suite. He was probably one of the worst we've ever had after about 30 total cruises. We had a few minor requests upon meeting him the first afternoon (no robes in our cabin??) - he did a poor job of accommodating these requests; robes didn't show up until late on the second afternoon, etc. In general I was hoping for really good cabin service and that was not the case.

On the up side - the suite guests do have boarding passes marked "Priority" - be sure that you don't get in the FTTF line - you should be directed to a special check in area in a separate room with a low desk, comfortable chairs and a personal check in. That was a positive perk. Also, we did get a fruit basket upon arriving to our room and a couple of other small treats delivered to our room. We were also invited to the Diamond party (only about 20 guests total along with the senior staff and a complimentary picture with the captain) as well as the Platinum / Diamond party later that week (probably 200+ attendees). Both (1 hour) parties had free drinks and appetizers - the food was really quite good at the Diamond party. We've only had about 50 days sailing with Carnival so these invitations were a surprise. We also received a $200 gift card for the art auction / gallery. We got a really great deal on the suite (thanks again to my casino play) and we had a very enjoyable cruise overall, but there really is little comparison with NCL suite perks - with Carnival you pay for a much nicer room and you get a much nicer room, but there's really not a lot else that comes with it. Hope this helps.

~Bob

How much were the taxes and port fees ? These seem to be quite variable cruise line to cruise line.

 

Thanks

The last premier cruise I booked - about a month ago - (interior cabin) was for an 8 day/7 night cruise for 2. My total charge was ~$256.00 for taxes and port fees. In my opinion, this is much cheaper than what I have been offered as "free" cruises with other lines.

~Bob

I don't mean for this post to be a rant--more of a question, and maybe an eye-opener for some.

 

I have a diamond card with Total Rewards, which gets me 20% off Norwegian cruises.

 

We usually cruise NCL twice a year either using that discount or with a free voucher from a land based casino.

 

I have followed this section of Cruise Critic closely and joined the NCL Casinos At Sea Facebook group and learned people get much better discounts, even free cruises, directly through NCL Casinos At Sea.

 

So in 2016, on two NCL cruises, I earned over 5,000 points.

 

After my wife and I returned home from the second cruise, we called the dedicated NCL Casinos At Sea number, told them we'd like to book another cruise, and asked what my play earned me. I was told they could offer me 20% off my next cruise.

 

I asked the representative if she was sure that's all I had earned--yes.

I told her I already get a 20% discount through Total Rewards and asked her why in the world would I continue to put money through NCL casinos if I don't get anything in return. She told me because I get 20% off in return. Clearly I was getting nowhere. And I feel like I'm getting nowhere with NCL.

 

Celebrity, on the other hand, gives us a comped balcony or above on just about any sailing we want.

 

So my question--if all I'm going to get through NCL is the 20% I can already get, why would I give their casinos another penny?

I used to book all my cruises with NCL (have sailed with them nearly 20 times). Last spring I was on a cruise with a large group on a Carnival ship - for the same amount of casino play as I would have had on an NCL ship, with Carnival I was offered a "bounce back cruise" for up to 15 days with their "drinks on us card" (which is far better than the NCL card (at least at the 2 lower NCL levels)). Also, my "free" cruise with Carnival covered everything except taxes and port fees (less than $200 per person) - my "comped" cruises with NCL have always had much higher fees. After my "free" cruise at the beginning of August I was again offered another bounce back offer with Carnival and we went again at the end of August - sure enough, another free cruise offered to us on the last day. Now I have three more booked with Carnival (one bounce back and two Premier cruises) and I'm paying very little for these cruises and they all come with an excellent drinks on us card (Premier cruises also includes the drink card for the guest for the duration of the cruise). I had about a ten-year run exclusively with NCL, but they have pared back their program so much that I am convinced that Carnival is a much better deal for my level of play.

~Bob

I understand the intent of having two people essentially betting against each other with the expectation that, most of the time, they'll break even and they're hoping to play long enough for a free drink card or some other "comp". Personally, I enjoy gambling with the hope that, sometimes, I'll end up ahead. The roulette players will NEVER end up ahead, even if they get "lucky" and few zeros come up, they will certainly lose more over the course of a hour than the cost of a free couple of drinks - but that's certainly their choice.

I would reiterate what others have said about "chasing" the comps - if you get a free drink card or a free bottle or a free meal - great. Just don't bet more than you can with the hopes of getting something from the casino. I would also concur that the ships have manipulated a number of the table games over the past 5-10 years to increase the house edge. At one point European cruises would have the single zero roulette wheel to mimic the game that many of the (european) patrons knew - that's no longer the case as the house edge is doubled on roulette by adding a double zero. Also, the pay tables on other table games (3-card poker, let it ride, caribbean stud [if even offered], etc. are often far less generous than land-based casinos. Blackjack is going more an more to 6-5 BJ payouts on lower limit tables and having the dealer hit a soft 17 also adds to the casino edge…

My game of choice is craps because (as of yet) the ship hasn't messed with the payouts. With the added blackjack changes, craps is by far the best game in the room for the gambler. Ship slot machines will have a casino edge that can approach 10% (or possibly more…), roulette and other table games have a house edge that is often in the 5- 10% range, but a "basic" pass line craps bet (with even 2X odds) has a house edge of less than 1%. If you don't know the game, the staff will be happy to explain it to you - it's fun, exciting, and you will probably lose your money far more slowly (and might even win a bit as well…)

My last 4 Carnival cruises were all comped cruises (with free drinks) and I almost exclusively play craps. Sometimes I come home with their money, sometimes they keep my money, but I do have a lot of fun and only bet what I can afford.

Just something to think about - the dice game can look very intimidating, but it's really not hard to learn the basics and, with a house edge of less than 1%, your money can often last a long time…

~Bob

I received the free inside cabin for 2 and on us drinks...will that be for both people in the cabin? Thanks

This has been my experience recently (with the 3 Carnival cruises we took in 2016...)

On each cruise I was given a bounce back offer, but there were two different letters. The offer that we used to book our most recent cruise (August), the offer did not come with a automatic drink card - it had to be "earned" all over again. (Based on my play the first night I did get a card as soon as I got to a table on day 2....)

The cruise prior to that, and our next cruise next month, were booked using the "better" bounce back offer (up to 15 days) and DID come with a free drink card, but only for the person who got the offer, not anyone else in the cabin - we specifically asked the casino hostess about this and she told us that the card was for just the person who was awarded the BBO.

A Premier cruise offer is different and does come with drinks on us cards for the first two people who are booked in the room and these are waiting for both people upon embarkation. Though, I will also say that we have had the card(s) waiting in the room on some cruises and on others we have to stop by the casino host to get them - seems to depend upon the ship.

~Bob

Does that mean if I get a Bounce Back, I will automatically get a DOU when I take that cruise? I was on the Paradise early this month, got the Bounce Back & am using it for a 5 day on the Sunshine Dec 26th. I've earned and used a Bounce Back before & I don't think I was given a DOU card. Do you have to ask for it at the Cash Desk?

Depends on the bounce back offer…. if the offer specifically states that you get the card (ex: PMI offer) it will be waiting for you when you get on the cruise. "Lesser" bounce back offers (ex: PMB) don't state that the offer comes with free drinks and the card will then have to be "re-earned" on the cruise. If you gamble a fair amount, you can often "earn" the card after the first night.

~Bob

Very well explained! Could you explain table games average bet $15 per hand for 4hrs. per day?

Actually, it's varies depending upon the game. Different games have different house advantages. "Traditional" blackjack (paying 3:2) with "perfect play" and craps have a house advantage of about 1.5% - it does depend upon other factors in each game that the casino can alter, but the overall casino advantage for those games is generally in that range. Roulette (with zero and double zero) has a higher house edge (just over 5%), other games (3 card poker, Let It Ride, etc…) also tend to be closer to 5% depending upon the various payout tables.

What all this means is that you generally have to bet more money at the tables for the same point accrual as the slot players as the tables are, generally, much more favorable to the player. As a matter of fact, they don't actually keep track of a table player's "points" like they do for slot players; it's all based upon the average bet amount, the number of bets an hour and the house advantage for each game. As a general rule of thumb, at the table games you have to be betting at least $25 a bet for an average of a few hours a day to earn the drinks on us card and/or free casino cruise offers. I am sure that there are people who have bet less and still earned either or both of these, but that's the general rule of thumb. Probably a longer answer than you wanted / needed.

~Bob

Do what does it actually mean for MDR to be waitlisted? I thought i read somewhere that if you have FTtf you can get in quicker?

We were on the Victory the last week of August - this was the only time that we had FTTF (we did buy it because we had to be sure we were off the ship as soon as possible on the last day…). Since we booked this cruise only about 10 days before the cruise (with a casino offer), we were wait listed for YTD. We talked to the Matire D' right after boarding to check on this and, thanks to FTTF, we were able to get Your Time Dining. He told us that they would accommodate the Platinum guests first and then the FTTF people. He also added that this particular cruise had a YTD wait list of well over 400 guests and the YTD was sold out more than 6 months prior to cruising. He also told us that, without the FTTF benefit, we probably would not have been able to switch to YTD. I believe that suite guests are also accommodated with their dining requests. Hope this helps.

~Bob

Been on the Sunshine for 6 cruises (3 B2Bs) and enjoyed them all. Will sail her again if and when she returns to Port Canaveral. :)

Just an FYI - Sunshine is sailing out of Port Canaveral this spring - our cruise departs February 17….

~Bob

How far from the port to Maya Chen

 

 

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It's about a 20 minute (very bumpy) ride. You can only go if you have a reservation - you can't just show up. They have a maximum capacity each day and have been known to be totally full. I would not suggest you take a cab and just arrive without being on their list. We've been a number of times and highly recommend it!

~Bob

Hi Coachdave,

 

Spending depends on a number of factors. Drinks On Us card comes after you accumulate 1500 points (slots) or 200 Theos (table games) on a 6+ day cruise. On a slot machine you get 1 point for each $2.50 bet. Assuming a 90% payout you will have lost $375 when the card comes. Video poker pays out a higher percentage (call it 95%) and therefore 1 point for every $5 bet (still looking at $350 lost). Of course you could be having good luck and be getting better payouts.

 

Table games are based on Theos. 200 Theos represents an expected (theoretical) loss of $200 based on the game played, average bet size, and hands per hour. Hard to judge where you are in accumulated Theos as you cannot look on a machine like in slots and see a number. On the plus side Casino Hosts and Pit Bosses (dealer supervisors) will occasionally buy a round of drinks for the table. Happens more frequently if you are the only player at a table and happen to also be betting for the dealer (dealer tips).

 

Shorter cruises (4-5 days) only require 1000 slot points or (I think) 150 Theos. I've read that 3 day cruises do not have DOU cards but have never been on a 3 day cruise.

 

Best advice is to gamble what you feel is to an enjoyable level of play. If it is drinks and bounce backs you are chasing it is better to pay for them outright and gamble less. If however a higher level of gambling is enjoyable and the losses can be written off to entertainment and you still walk away happy then the DOU and bounce backs are nice comps as are the chocolate covered strawberrys delivered to your room.

 

George

I was on a 4 day / 3 night cruise in August. Did receive a drink card on the second day of the cruise based upon my play on just the first night (craps only).

I was skeptical that I would get a card on such a short cruise, but apparently it does happen.

~Bob

Just a thought - years ago we had a cruise when we were in no hurry to get off the last day. We dropped most of our luggage in the hallway the night before and then took a walk through the passenger sections of the ship (trying not to impede the over-worked stewards) let the last morning. Nearly every room is open and you can quickly get a look at the various cabins - even if it's just from the hallway. We were actually the very last people off the ship.

We had a chance to duck into several of the suites that we would not normally ever have seen (except on maybe a cabin crawl via a roll call group). I realize that the ship is working to clear all the passengers, but we walked off with the last few stragglers and finding our luggage was certainly easy as we had the only bags remaining in the baggage claim area…

I enjoyed it as we didn't have to fight the cattle call at the very early hours of the morning. I'm guessing that we were off the ship by 10 or so at the latest. I was also amused at the vast amount of "stuff" that was piled in the middle of many of the cabins - drawers full of clothes that had been forgotten, beer helmets, souvenir glasses, etc.

Even though this was at least a decade ago, I still remember the enjoyment of not fighting the crowds to get off and the chance to see many different cabins. I know that others will comment that this may well have delayed the boarding of the next set of passengers, but I'm merely sharing our experience.

~Bob

I have sailed on several bounce back offers. I had thought that the PMI offer (which among other things if for up to 15 days and automatically includes the drinks on us card) would give me more choices than the PMB offer (I have had both, though I'm not sure that this is the case…

I received a PMI offer after my most recent cruise (about a month ago). Since I also have "school calendar issues" as a teacher, the only choices I had were Christmas week (Carnival is certainly not going to give a free cruise on the most expensive cruise week of the year…) or a week in February during the President's birthday holiday (a school vacation week). When I called in late August, I had about a dozen possible cruises that I thought might work for us that week - the first ten I asked about were not available. We were able to get a cabin on the Sunshine (6 days / 5 nights) that week - our total cost after we upgraded from a "free" inside cabin to the Grand Suite for 3 of us was less than $1,200 - so I'm quite satisfied for sure. However, as others have said, you do have to have some flexibility in your scheduling.

~Bob

Anybody skip the breakfast and prefer the sea day brunch? .........never tried the brunch, by that time im working on a burger or pizza

 

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On my recent (August) cruises, there was no sit down breakfast or lunch in the dining room on sea days; they serve "brunch" instead. So, to be technical, you can't really go to "breakfast" in the dining room on those days. Personally, I thought that the steak and eggs was excellent…

~Bob