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Skeeter195, see my posts on this thread regarding theo:

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2290698

I mainly play VP with a sprinkle of slots, and no real time at the tables. Keep in mind my findings on the $1200 jackpots in relation to actual loss. FYI, I usually budget about $4,000 for gambling on a 7 day cruise and play through most of my wins. I usually average $5,500-$5,800 in Theo.

When they are comping you a cruise, are they looking at your last cruise only or averaging your last 2 or 3 cruises? (We are cruising about 4 or 5 times a year)

Last cruise only. Another tip I just thought about would be that sometimes you qualify for more than 1 comp after a cruise....if you get a good level, would be better to book 2 rather than wait for 1 then book the 2nd....if that makes sense....thanks!

HHHHHEEEEELLLLLLLLLLOOOOO MotherofTrips: Negn has it about right. It is based on how much you gamble and the time spent gaming. If you could stay at a slot machine or at a table game for several hours and bet at certain levels then you stand a very good chance for receiving some complimentaries also known as a comp.

From my personal experience with CAS/NCL, I would say that it really does depend somewhat on win/loss for future cabin comps. Per my rep, they take either theoretical loss or "actual" loss, whichever is larger when offering your next comp. On my June cruise my theo was like $5600, but they had my actual at $8000. Now, I know I did not lose $8000 on that cruise, but I did not have a hand pay/tax form. I simply played back all of my wins (including a few 800-1000 winners). My out of pocket was probably 4500. After that cruise I qualified for a penthouse suite on the older ships or an H9 spa haven on the newer ships. Fast forward to my Jewel cruise and my theo was again 5600, but my actual was only 3000. I had 4 tax forms for wins over 1200, and I played back about half of that money. My assumption is that the tax forms go against the "actual" directly, meaning you would have to give it all back plus some to get a large "actual" when you have received a tax form. In my mind, if I hit a tax form going forward, I am better off just pocketing that cash because unless I spend all of it plus some additional $, my actual will not be that high. However, if I stick to my budgeted amounts for the remainder of the sessions, I should be able to continue getting my normal theoretical amount. This does seem to be in direct contrast to all the other casinos I visit, but I believe it to be true based on how their system works and my experience with "actual" loss from them.

Do you guys know how all the points work for table games?

I am in club royale with royal Caribbean but thinking about jumping ship.

 

I am diamond at harrahs/total rewards.

 

I play strictly roulette

on my 7 day cruise in September I played 23 hours at $170 per hand

on my 7 day cruise last week I played 41 hours at $163 per hand in roulette

 

 

any idea how this equates to ncl points?

I can't offer anything on table other than I what I have read here about them not being consistent.

Yes they are usually fully updated by Wednesday after sailing. I always get my point count the last night of a cruise and then double check with CAS on Wednesday after.

Let us know what 11,000 gets you.

The said my theo was like 5,800 so only balcony this time. I have been all over the map....last trip was 7,500 points but they had my actual loss at quite a bit more than the 5,800 which got me the suite....this time, 4 tax forms, so my "actual" loss was less....seems like if you get tax forms, you probably won't get as much on the next one. :) Good to know, next time, I'll pocket those wins.....

Quick update, heard back from casino management today, sounds like I called in too quickly. Based on the email I received today, my next offer should be in line with my 11,000 points. Will keep you posted.

HI you will not see a huge difference between Hot/Golden because they base your comp on your last sailing not your tier level. For example if you take 3 cruises during the tier period

Cruise 1 - accumulated 3000 points - you will be offered inside/Oceanview

Cruise 2 - accumulated 10,000 points - you will be offered Mini/maybe full suite

Cruise 3 - accumulated 2000 points - you will be offered 20% discount (inside cabin comps need 2800 points).

It is always best to book a cruise anytime after Wednesday after getting off a ship (the points are fully updated from the ship to CAS by then) then to wait until after another sailing as your points may not be as high on the 2nd sailing so it's best to book them as you get them.

Hope that helps.

After my last one, I don't even think this example is always true....just got back from the Jewel...11,000 points, only offered an OV because we had 4 winners over 1200 with tax forms....something about playing with their money....email sent to management...only logged 13 hours of machine play....11,000 points in 13 hours on video poker....not likely.....

On our recent cruise at about 9 p.m. the final night, our points had reset to zero. My wife and I each thought the other had turned them in. We were told by the players desk that CAS guests have the points automatically removed on the final night and applied to their OBC.

 

We got $150 towards our OBC for 7000-8000 points between the two of us. Just for comparison, that would have been $70-$80 free play had we cashed them ourselves. It also seems to approximately match what we got on our prior cruise: that OBC credit is double what you would get with free play.

Not always....on the Epic in March I only got about $60 on 5,000 points. On the Breakaway in June I got >$150 for 7,500 points...the main difference....I kept checking in with the hosts on the Breakaway to see where I stood for the week on theoretical loss etc. The guy on the Epic didn't seem to care too much....funny thing is, the guy who hooked me up on the Breakaway was on my Epic sailing, but I never did get to meet him....still depends on the host IMO.

Can I inquire what the high roller types play to get $1,000 FP etc? I'm guessing Slots, Not tables?

 

I'm mostly quarter & $ VP, and get CET NCL & CAS comp offers, but always for Inside cabin & never any FP.

Sailed on a CAS offer last year for Tourney,

but my CAS offers haven't been anything special over what I get thru CET.

Just wondering.....

 

Also, HOW do you get Carnival awards? Pay for cruise, and then get comp offers thru casino afterward??

 

We sailed Carnival years ago, (too many Mexico trips, we don't go there anymore), but since we get so many NCL perks thru CE, kinda gave up on Carnival.

Sounds like its gotten better though....... Thanks for input.....

I used to sail on Carnival, got the Premier Offers, etc... I found the VP on NCL to be better (more variety instead of just 10 coin single line $0.25 machines they have SuperStar machines with Ultimate X, 3 Play, etc). Also the payout on Double Double Bonus are slightly better at 7/5 vs 6/5 on Carnival. The thing I found with NCL/CAS is that I can go on pretty much any cruise for about $300 each for first 2 guests (and can work with Friends and Family Sail free, or UBP, or both). The Premier cruises are fun, but we were never drawn and the casino was always crazy. Trying to convert my parents from CCL to NCL this next year....we'll see how that goes..... Good luck!

Hi again, just waiting for luggage to arrive and to head to Tsars for Life Boat drill. After lunch we headed up to the Spa to check in for the Thermal Suite package I pre purchased.

For those interested the VIP party will be tomorrow on Monday from 5:30 to 6:15 we let Hanno know to move our Cagneys reservation to 6:15 and he was happy to do this.

I am not a huge country music fan but like some of it but I have to say that the song "I Love This Bar" by Toby Keith should be "I Love The Ship" [emoji6] we have met our Butler Joaquin and our cabin steward Dewa both appear to be great [emoji106]🏻 ok got to go head to life boat drill.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Is this VIP party the CAS party, a suite party, or a latitudes party? We are on the ship via CAS at the end of the month, and will likely have to move dinner reservations as well.....Thanks!

Joe

Me to

 

A few weeks ago was in Atlantic city. Playing joker poker triple face. Put $100 in lost was down to $2.50. Max bet is $3.75. On that last hand I had nothing threw away all the cards got dealt 4 3s with joker only payed $300 instead of $1000 I was so made I just wanted to spit. I played the $300 halfwY through after cursing my head off from being so dumb I hit 4 9s with joker and paid me $1000. Never ever again will I play a machine without the max bet never!!!!

Solid advice.....I have found that the remaining 2.50 or 1.25 plays well on single line... :) I have to say at least 3 or 4 times that last little bit got either my wife or I a royal on single line.....3 or 4 times in about 15 years....so not that often but enough that we always do it that way. Good luck on the machines....

We are on the Jewel at the end of the month.....interested to see what shakes out. :)

At land based casinos a 'zero' day can really hurt you even if you follow it up with very heavy played couple days. It would make me nervous if I was hoping for future CAS comped cruises. Since I get the best comped cruises from land based casinos, I don't worry so much on board but still play for fun at lower stakes than I play in Vegas.

The way it has worked for me in the past in Vegas is a last 3 trip average for comps....so a zero or low play trip would bring the average down quite a bunch. When it comes to CAS I have been told that they look at your last sailing first when establishing a comp value. I also have been told that they can look at a previous cruise if it is recent for comp value. They did this for me on one of my cruises. In my mind, it is a different system.

Good to know! Thank you. I have heard some say that the casino drink card is something a player is given after a certain amount of play and then others say it is given when you get a casino at sea account/players card. Any idea which? Thanks again. I sail on breakaway on 01 Nov 15

You can earn the card on the ship with a certain amount of points or table play (not sure the number any longer). Other than that, if you book a cruise through CAS or with a land based casino voucher, any adults in your cabin should get the drink card. Keep in mind these guidelines are for the Base level drink on us (House) level. There are higher tiers with higher levels of play.

What is required to get the casino drink card? Is the UBP useable in the casino? When you mention a casino bar does that mean they don't have servers and you have to go get your own drinks? What would the tipping process be like. Cash?

Yes, you can use your UBP in the casino (I believe CAS actually prefers it, so they don't have to "pay" NCL for your comped drinks). There are usually a few things that the CAS drink card covers that the UBP does not (think bottle of water, latte, and energy drinks).

All the NCL ships I have been on have a casino bar with bartenders and also have servers making the rounds, so you don't have to go get your own drinks. I have been on a few, but expect the remaining ones to be like the ones I have been on.

As for tipping, I follow every drink with $1 cash. I do this whether in the casino or just using the UBP anywhere on the ship.....it works for us....the bartenders get to know us, the servers get to know us, and we don't have issues getting a drink when we want one. Just our philosophy, but hope it helps.

I will be sailing next week, I will post when I return.

Awesome! Thanks!

I did a search and couldn't find the Jewel dailies from LA yet. I am not sure if this is the first year for that ship/port combination or not. If anyone has these, and can publish, it would be greatly appreciated! We leave at the end of next month. Thanks!

On the NCL Breakaway, they were open at 9:00 PM.

That's not the same thing.

 

Video poker machines generate fewer points (and comps) than slots because the player loses slower (on average) at video poker than slots. The casino "hold" is much higher at slots.

 

But that's not skill-related. It's game related.

 

By "skill rating", I mean differentiating between a player playing proper video poker strategy versus one playing improper strategy.

 

For example, a bad video poker player would hold 5-6-7-9 and go for the straight, when dealt 56792.

 

A good video poker player would throw away all five cards.

 

An advanced rating system would differentiate between these two players and give the better comps to the guy holding the low inside straight draw, but I don't believe any machines (even in Vegas) can report back on skill yet.

I know that they have options for auto hold (at least with online VP) so I think they could have the pieces to put together a "skill" level for VP players. Interesting concept that I would NOT like to see....I know I play at about 98.5% perfect strategy for DDBL poker, and fervently believe that if a greater % of the population played at that % the machines would have to be down graded even further than the 95% ish on NCL. If that spread to Vegas and other land based casinos, it would probably make VP an unplayable game as well.....just my $0.02...... :)

Oh, and I agree with your throw all 5 away, unless they were suited. ;)

Actually they will give you a hard time.....direct you to guest services for that volume. At least that was my experience the last 2 times.....when cashing a ticket for a couple hundred bucks I would ask for my last $20 as a $10, a $5, and 5 $1's.....was basically like pulling teeth.....do they think I am going to "collect" all of "their" $1s.....and take them home with me? Now I usually just work with the server or bartender to come up with change rather than deal with that hassle......oh, and I start saving $1s a few weeks before I go so that I have a stack when I start......

I was told on the Jade that this was because the casino department has to pay for each of those beverages. With all the UBP's this actually saves the casino department a ton of money. That's not to say that you won't hear a different explanation from someone else but that is what was told to me by the casino manager on the Jade.

 

 

Rochelle

I also heard this from the staff on the Breakaway in June. I was able to get Red Bull, coffees, etc with the CAS drink card when I wanted, but I was at the bar playing most of the time.

My first cruise three years ago.

Hubby gave me an envelope on my 50th birthday it was a two night cruise from sydney to Brisbane on the dawn princess. With a night at my daughters in Brisbane to follow then onto a week at the gold coast before flying back home.

We flew from country Victoria to Sydney my dad took us to the airport and said I will pick you up when you get back.

I was nervous as it was first time cruising but very excited when I found out we had free upgrade from inside to balcony cabin.

I was sitting there enjoying the view when a knock came at the door. Hubby said that will be cabin boy with our luggage let him in so I opens door and heard surprise! And there standing there was my mum and dad and son and daughter! I burst into tears :)

Then when we set sail I was leaning with my arms on the balcony railings and a pod of dolphins started swimming and jumping out of the water alongside the ship I started crying again I was so happy it was the best birthday present ever.

I looked across at darling hubby and he had tears in his eyes too.

We have now just booked our 7th cruise in 3 years and he now says it was one expensive birthday present as we are both hooked on cruising now lol.

For me, this is what cruising is all about! I know I get sucked into all the negativity and such on these boards.....such a breath of fresh air to read this post. Thank you so much for sharing! We also got the bug, and I just completed my 10th cruise a couple months back, with 11 and 12 already scheduled. :)

Unfortunately, I have read that RCL did not purchase the license for Liberty of the Seas due to the cost of the license and the number of days LOTS is actually in the Bermuda port. Thus, no casino while docked!

I stand corrected. Have never done RCL.....Thanks!

I did NCL to Bermuda, but I cannot fathom RCL being different. The law was changed in Bermuda to allow ships to open their casinos at 9:00 pm each night. I have to assume that RCL is taking advantage of that change in the law since they helped drive it.

Keep in mind that if you get 2,500 points, you can have the host review your play and potentially remove some of those fees as comps.