Ambiverol

Taxi 100%. Much easier, quicker, and less $. The fare is appx. $20-24 without tip. I've had them stop at wine king on the way and that adds about $5.

I agree with the other poster, the shuttle is a PITA compared to a cab.

Fyi, my max wait in the taxi line from FLL to port is maybe 5 mins. From port to FLL 10-15 mins.

Royal Caribbean - Casino Royale - They also have a program where you get an amount off of whatever cabin you prefer to book. This works nicely in the sense that you don't have to wait to see what cabin they are going to give you. The booking process was extremely easy because of this. They don't comp your bill at the end. As of November 2012 they also did not have a drink program for free drinks but the casino manager may offer you a drink on occasion. After the cruise if you book through them they will send you a rebate voucher for an amount off of a future cruise. If you book through a junket or casino marketing company you will get a check - yes one that you can cash - in the mail about 60 days after your cruise. After the amount we got off of our cabin and our (unfortunate) losses we are getting back about 50% of what we spent in the casino.

 

I am in the RCCL club, and thought I'd clarify a few things.

They do offer free drinks while in the casino. On the smaller ships, the staff eventually figures out who is in the club. On the Oasis, the casino host gives you a stack of free drink coupons on the first night and says "see me if you need more". During "masters tournaments" (invite only type things) they place a sticker on your (and your guests) sea pass.

That sticker also serves as your entry to any of the shows on the big ships (except the comedy show). You don't have to mess around with the ticketing system.

They do the usual wine in the room once or twice per cruise, chocolate covered strawberries, maybe an invite to a specialty restaurant, and a fruit bowl or something. Also, they have comped my bill at the end of the cruise (it's never too much, except for cash pulls-which are not comped).

Casino Royale puts out a list of cruises at the beginning of the year that will be free or reduced, but they are very tough to contact. I've been on hold for nearly an hour waiting to speak with a representative. The average hold time is probably 30 minutes and I've waited 3 weeks to get a call back. It sucks.

I hear NCL has a much smoother program. RCCL is very good once you're in, but it's hard to get in! You need to wait for them to pull you aside one day and say, "Psst, hey kid, you're in!" It took me a couple of cruises to get their attention. The rebate given on the next cruise is usually pretty good.

To answer some of the questions about minimum bet amount, I pulled out my most recent letter from Casino Royale.

It states:

Play at least 3 hours per day

BJ/Dice $50/hand

Carib Stud/LIR/3 card/Roulette $25

Slots $5/spin

I personally don't go out of the way to adhere to any of these numbers. Playing for comps can get you in trouble. Usually it works itself out that I fall well within these parameters, but it is secondary to playing the game.

I know many people think the 3 hour thing is a bit much, but I think RCCL multiplies it out. For example: 3 hours at $50/hand=1.5 hours at $100/hand=45 mins at $200 hand, etc. Sometimes I only gamble 2-3 nights on a 7 day cruise and still get excellent offers from RCCL.

The good: Very generous once you are in

The bad: Hard to get in, HUGE pain to contact the players club

Thanks to the OP for the junket info. That may be the route to go if I ever "jump ship" to NCL.

I've done it twice. It's good. Menu was identical both times (allure). We were fortunate to have met really fun table mates.

Tips:

-It takes forever, and you will be stuffed. It's likely you will not want to do much after

-Save room for the beef-excellent

-They will alter the menu and whip up good stuff if you ask (ie don't eat red meat, don't like fish, etc). They seem happy to do it, unless you go crazy I suppose.

-You can ask for more wine. Or, if you liked a previous one better, more of that please! Bottomless glass.