baryton

No I have never been on the Navigator.  I was just on the Mariner in August, after their refurb.  I expect things to be about the same.  Should be fine, but definitely NOT Cunard 🙂

I have never been on Celebrity, I usually cruise on Norwegian, but RCI is just a bit below them as well; in my opinion.

Any day cruising is better than a day watching TV at home.

I'll be there.  Not much activity on the regular roll call either.  Hopefully a quiet cruise.

See you there 🙂

Rusty / Baryton

Hi there,

Getting ready to sail next month on the Escape, does anyone know who the current casino hosts are?

Not critical, but just curious.

Thanks in advance.

Baryton/Rusty

How do you sit at a table in between decks? Or do you mean sometimes they would have it on 5 and other times 4?

 

Dan

Dan, at the back of the MDR, between deck 4 and 5, there is a small landing/balcony, where the staircases are. It fits a table that can accommodate up to 12-16 folks.

This keeps you out among the folks having dinner on the three decks of the MDR. Can be a bit noisy, so a bit less ambiance for a fine dining experience with the Chef's Table.

Baryton/Rusty

Thanks to all for the replies. Just to double check I may have my TA send a message to RCI. The Chef's Table is good, but having it in a quieter space would be preferred.

Baryton/Rusty

Hi there. I recently sailed on Mariner of the Seas and purchased the Chef's Table. It was presented in the Main Dining room on deck 4.5. This was a middle area with a long table that held about 16. I enjoyed the meal, but would have preferred the ambiance be a bit quieter, rather than in the middle of the 3 deck Main Dining room.

I will be going on the Navigator of the Seas on November 18 and want to encourage my travelling companions to do the Chef's Table one night, but wanted to know where on NOTS they have the event.

Has anyone done this on the Navigator recently? Please advise.

Thanks in advance,

Baryton/Rusty

Hi folks,

I was looking at the deck plans for Mariner of the Seas. I didn't see the Connoisseur Room/Cigar Club anywhere. Is it still on Deck 5?

Thanks,

Baryton/Rusty

Hopefully won't confuse you too much.

Us members have been confused for over 2 long years!

 

Your SeaPass card cannot be used as a charge card in slots.

TITO (Ticket in Ticket Out) is the RC format on all of its ships.

(Anthem experts might want to chime in)

 

 

Cash can be withdrawn at cage 5% fee as already explained

5% fee waived once you are a VIP member.

 

 

As stated you can set up an account with CR prior to your sailing, have done this before when not wanting to take more than $10K in hard cash.

 

 

The other method is just take $10K in cash, it is one bundle of $100's

 

 

As a VIP you can also set up a daily limit that you can withdrawal from the cage, we normally cap that at $3K each.

 

Player ID numbers no longer exist and an open invite to anyone gambling in the casino is tracked via their Seapass card.

 

SLOTS

With Seapass inserted into any slot anytime you play

For every $5 spent you will get 1 point

I won't bore you with the mathematics on this.

 

400 points will earn you a $100 certificate on a future cruise

 

Old System

2000 points will earn you a $500.00 certificate on a future cruise.

2400 points will earn you a $500.00 certificate or an inside cabin

3600 points will earn you a $750.00 certificate or an Oceanview cabin

4800 points will earn you a $1000.00 certificate or a Balcony cabin

We got offered a Grand Suite just last month for all of 2018 on pretty much any ship in the fleet.

So this seems to be the NEW way of rewarding loyal VIP members.

 

Let's look at the scale, you will see it is not linear, and there is where the new program sucks!

There is no insentive to play past 2000 points.

This will make perfect sense to the frequent casino users.

 

As a couple I would hit 2000 points, then ask host for a duplicate card and then stop using the account hitting 2000, and top the other up to 2000 points.

That then is a combined $1000.00 a future cruise.

This may go away with the NEW program, but we did this as recent as December.

 

I have been in the program for 18 years or so and our last certificates of $1500.00 combined we used to pay down future cruises.

 

The latest is that certificates can NOT be applied to older bookings, but depends who you know at CR.

NEW system, a little more rigid, so not as much wiggle room.

 

In summary

2000 points is a formula of (1pt per $5 active) let's call that $10k

You are not necessarily dropping $10k, as you will win a bit, use winnings, lose a bit, you get the idea.

 

If you hit 2000 points, the host will see this on their terminal and find you

Once you hit 400 points they will know who you are.

The 1000 points will now be the trigger for the host to track you down and put that nice sticker on your card.

 

For free drinks that's no secret, old CR VIP members will have a sticker on their Seapass card.

This can be on card at check in, or the host can apply.

MLife players get vouchers, and some get stickers.

NOIR would certainly be stickered

NEW, 1000pts now needed on prior sailing to get free drinks

Low rollers may be given a few drinks vouchers. Tried and tested on a few sailings, but sort of died rapidly.

 

It used to be $5 bet per spin, over a 4hr period to get an invite to CR VIP program.

NEW 1000 points to enter at lowest tier.

 

Introduce yourself to host if your bankroll looks to be in the range of what I have mentioned above.

 

TABLES

more complicated

Most ships now swipe your card on joining a table, they track your wager, but tracking then becomes more of a hit n miss scenario.

Let pit boss know you want to be tracked.

 

It used to be $50 minimum per hand for 4hrs a day on tables to possibly get a CR VIP Invite.

 

If you are in the higher league you may also be eligible for Casino rates on bookings, along with the certificate amounts.

 

Example we had 3 Royal Suites booked using casino rate, with certificates applied and they are cheaper than some JS's

And then booked another 3 Royal Suites when you could combine CASINO Rate and Certificates.

The Good Ole Days!

Happy Days!

 

Some say casino rates are equal across the board, IMO, I disagree with this

People report 40%-60% savings on published website prices.

 

Good luck in the casino

And if I can assist further, will do, the only game I have no experience with on any ship is craps

A little bird told me that there are 4 tiers, my signature might give that away

I posted this originally JUNE 2016 BTW. Edited to add changes throughout 2016, 2017 & 2018.

We were formally told that our New Tier level would be known to us by March 31st, by a very reliable source at CASINO Royale.

That was back in December 2017.

Should know by Friday what Tier we will be, Signature could be a Clue Linda��

Great information. Thanks for taking the time to post.

Rusty

Hi snoopydo. It cannot come soon enough. I am tired of the snow and freezing temps.

Nice and warm in the gulf.

Rusty / Baryton

:D

Hi there. Starting this thread to see if anyone else will be on the March 4, 2018 sailing out of Tampa.

I have a Baltic cruise on the Getaway in a week, but wanted to start seeing if there will be FOD passengers for this sailing.

Hope to hear from others.

Thanks,

Baryton / Rusty

:halo:

Hi there folks,

Are any of you also doing the week prior to this TA? October 7 Baltic Capitals out of Copenhagen?

I don't see a roll call for that week on this board.

Just checking :)

Thanks,

Rusty / Baryton

:halo:

Yes, I have one booked on the Dawn next year. They will be designated as "PrivaSea" balconies. If I remember right.

Rusty / Baryton

I Remembered this review that was video produced for The Celebrity Reflection's Lawn Club Grill interactive restaurant. I wanted ya'all to see the kind of antics that a Martini Imbibed Auntie JW gets into on a JW and Jerome's Adventure sailing. JW, the least coordinated amongst us, learns to toss pizza dough. Oh Lord, just watch and enjoy!

 

:'):'):')

OMG JW. You never cease to amaze me. I can't wait to see what trouble follows you on our next Es-cap-pay !!

I will be following along behind you (and no I am never trouble). I want to make sure that someone is able to document everything in an unbiased manner.

Cheers

Rusty / Baryton

:cocktail::cocktail::cocktail:

When I was a Roll Call Leader and coordinated the Slot Pulls (18 of them) I would hold the Slot Pull immediately following the Meet and Greet, usually that takes place at 10 or 11 am (can't think if you posted that yet) and on The Escape, the M&G is usually in Cagney's.

 

I would let everyone know to gather in the Sky Line (so we can take advantage of our UBP) after the M&G and then we would go to the pre-selected machine. The evening prior, I had already introduced myself to the Casino Host and she suggested the most popular machine (Wheel of Fortune) and most choose that. But, I do know that for giggles, the Babies Slot Machine (Touch the Babies) seems to be the one getting the slot pull action these days because of my reviews and everyone wanting to "Touch The Babies". The Casino Host also had prizes for us, bottles of champagne, tee shirts, key chains etc for us as well, to give to the person who had the highest win on their spin or who got a bonus.

 

Rusty (Baryton), who is on our roll call here, on our last Escape sailing coordinated the roll call and the slot pull and did an awesome job, considering that we had over 100 folks on the roll call. Although, and he can chime in here anytime, he said it's a whole lot of work.

 

Jerome and I will be at the Meet and Greet.

OK, since JW invited me to "chime in", we had 47 on the slot pull. We did Wheel of Fortune at $15 each. Everyone got 5 spins (Max $3). We went through twice each, by that time we had spent just over an hour. We did get a couple $400 hits. By agreement we stopped with $470 cash out, and everyone got $10 back. It was enjoyable and lots of drinks and socializing.

I am sure touching the babies will be even more fun. We will have to wait and see.

Rusty/Baryton

:p:p:p:p:p

"We are baaaaaack!!"

 

Yes, it is true. JW and Jerome are back and going on the Third Adventure of The Norwegian Escape on March 25th, 2017.

 

I can just imagine what they are saying now. "Oh Crapola, JW'S COMING BACK, BATTON DOWN THE HATCHES!!!!" "Oy!"

 

So True----The adventure continues. Should be exciting :p

Rusty/Baryton

I will never eat in Moderno again. The meats they serve are way too salty.

 

Tracy

First off Tracy, I hope things are going well for you. I enjoyed meeting and speaking with you on our August cruise. And the couple of meals we ate together.

I like the concept of Moderno, but as you state, everything is just too salty. Some people may like salt, but it detracts from the overall taste for me.

Rusty/Baryton

:cool:

Hi all,

 

Can anyone tell me if there is a smoking section in or near Vibe area? Thank you!! And also in the other adult area... forgot the name, the one with the water grotto. Thank you!!

The starboard side of the bar at Spice H2O on deck 17 is designated for smokers. Or at least is was at the end of August when I was on. That and the cigar lounge on deck 8 plus one other spot which I have forgotten, are the only smoking areas other than the casino on Escape.

Rusty/Baryton

:p

oh yee's of little faith!

 

I am processing several changes to already composed chapters and will be posting them forthright, as soon as is humanly and humanely possible to do. Life is returning to a somewhat semblance of order so i can return to entertaining my many loyal and trusted followers. It gives me great pleasure to do so.

 

I realize that the new crew, which is the permanent replacement crew for the norwegian escape in 2017, will eventually get their barrings and leave their marks on service, consistency and quality. I can not fault the crew for the majority of our experiences. Some, very much so, yes. Most, though, are not at all the fault of the cruise line. This cruise was a perfect storm of if it's going to happen to "trouble", it will happen to me. Trust me, it did.

 

That being said, we are sailing on the norwegian escape in march, 2017, once more, to finally gauge how the crew has adapted to these new officers who will guide her through to the next chapter.

 

yeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhhh

:d

After only a few days, a group of us began calling this "The Jimmy Cruise" because the punk (his name was Jimmy) you referenced who dove into the pool from deck 17 then broke the cigar lounge door should have been thrown off the ship way before Nassau.

 

Every single day Jimmy was the talk of the ship as he bragged about smoking in his cabin (another fine to his credit card), taking drugs, being drunk 24/7, starting several fights, and ultimately sent to his cabin with security only to climb over the balcony railing to try and escape via another cabin...ugh.

 

While it didn't ruin my cruise, it sure was scary when he was around. I personally witnessed a couple of his antics and other VERY bad passenger behavior during the week.

 

I look forward to following this latest review, JW especially your humorous take on certain events.

 

Tracy

Tracy, it was a pleasure meeting you on board. Enjoyed our talks together. I think that those of us that made use of the Humidor, got more information about Jimmy than we really wanted.

But, it was a great cruise, despite some of the characters and their actions.

Looking forward to cruising again soon.

I too will let JW tell of our adventures on the 8/20 Escape, since he has a much better style in the telling.

Baryton / Rusty

:eek:

Well, that was a big $6 jump for Glenfiddich.

The pricing won't stop my drinking single malts, but wish there were one or two under the $17 range.:o

According to Gambee's review and bar menu pics from earlier this year on the Escape; Glenfiddich shows as $10.95.

That might be the only single malt available under the UBP, but that could have changed.

I just about only drink scotch these days, and enjoy JWB or even Dewars when I mix with water or soda.

Glenfiddich is nice, but my favorite is MacAllan:cool:. I hope it's not too highly priced.

Looks like things didn't take long to get interesting. Following along. Enjoy the cruise.

JW, every post of yours recounting your recent Escape cruise, just makes me more anxious for the upcoming Escape cruise. Can't wait to meet.

Keep up the great review. :cool:

following. Sounds like fun.

Keep 'em coming JW. Entertaining to the MAX :D