Total Rewards (Harrahs) free NCL cruise giveaway

Has anyone taken advantage of the total rewards free NCL cruise?

I am only a gold member, and I received a free NCL cruise giveaway with an overnight stay at Harrah's Atlantic City.

Unfortunately, when you call total rewards they have absolutely no information about what is given away.

I happen to be going to the Jersey shore in two weeks. And I already made an overnight stay reservation at Harrah's as per the terms of obtaining the voucher for the cruise.

If anyone has first-hand knowledge of how this works could you please let me know as I do not want to go down there and waste my time for something that may be too good to be true.

Thank you very much.

You will get a list of cruises and dates from which you can pick your cruise. You have to pay the taxes and the DSF as well as the NCF part of the fare. It is for an inside cabin.

It's not a "free" cruise - as the other poster said there are fees you pay - probably about $300-$400 per person for an inside cabin for 7 days. you can also pay more to upgrade to a higher category.

You generally will have 3 months to book the reservation (calling NCL Casinos at Sea) and 1 year from date you pick up your cruise certificate to sail. Holiday blackout dates do apply. You will be limited to select from the cruises (ships/dates/itinerary) they provide you - no telling what your offer may be for.

I have done 7 or 8 of these - not too good to be true - but not free either. I have found that the rate I pay for these is still usually a good reduction from what I would have paid directly.

Also, you are able to use a Cruise Reward as a deposit (if you have one). The full balance is due at the time of booking.

Hope this helps!

We have received quite a few of these, but I'm not 100% sure we are talking about the same thing.

In our case, we have to visit the casino on a certain day to pick up a certificate. You then call the phone number provided, give them the certificate number and the cruise and date you would like to take from the ones offered.

As stated it is not free. We always upgrade to a balcony cabin which costs about $300 per person plus port and taxes. It comes to about $1200 including insurance for a seven day cruise.

It might be for an inside , or better. You can usually pay the difference to upgrade if you want.

You almost always have to pay the fees. $300-$500

Usually is selected dates and cruises.

As some have already posted here, this is far from "too good to be true". Actually it's not all that good.

- You only get an inside cabin.

- You have to pay taxes and "non commissioned fees", and you will sometimes save as little as $50 per person from the last-minute discounted price on those same cabins.

- Upgrading to a balcony is expensive and further negates the discount. Indeed, sometimes upgrading to a balcony is MORE EXPENSIVE than simply waiting until the last minute and buying a balcony at a heavily discounted price.

- There are automatic $12 per person per day ($336 for a two-person, 7-day cruise) staff tips. You can opt out of these, but then you will be screwing the staff.

- You have to pay for your own transportation to and from the ship.

- Sometimes the itineraries and dates are restricted.

However, these ARE combinable with existing NCL promotions. So my advice would be to wait for one of those. For example, wait until they have a "free upgrade" promotion and book then.

Everything that people responded with so far is accurate in terms of this being a legit deal and having to pay the fees and taxes, pay to upgrade, etc. However, I believe this might be the new Harrah's offer that recently showed up, not the typical vouchers they give away. The new offer that showed up said something about a 3- or 4-night cruise from Miami. This makes me think it is an offer for the Sky only. If you do want to pick it up when you stay at Harrah's I think you must call and reserve your voucher with the offer code (separate from the hotel reservation).

As some have already posted here, this is far from "too good to be true". Actually it's not all that good.

 

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- There are automatic $12 per person per day ($336 for a two-person, 7-day cruise) staff tips. You can opt out of these, but then you will be screwing the staff.

 

Is your math different because i get $168 for 2 people for 7 nights.

You're right. I'm stupid. Multipled by 2 one too many times.

We considered the Getaway for July in an inside. Then got a Total Rewards certificate we could use for the same trip.

The certificate saved us about half. We do not upgrade. Well worth it to me.

Thank you all for the valuable info.

 

The certificate saved us about half. We do not upgrade. Well worth it to me.

I'm with you on that. We try to cruise twice a year, the casino cruise is the me/wife and is done very Inexpensively. The cruise with the kids no so much.

• Sent from my screen to yours.

We did the total rewards cruise in November 2012 on board the Pearl.

Would we do it again? Definitely!

Yes, it's an inside cabin but we upgraded to an ocean view for i believe $200 more. Well worth it. You did have to pay port fees and taxes. With the upgrade i believe our "free cruise" cost around $700. That does NOT include the daily tips of $12 pp per day that is paid at the end of the cruise nor any charges that you make on the ship.

All your drinks are free in the casino which can save you a lot depending how much you drink. You are given a players card with the information loaded and when you sit down to play they come over , greet you by name and ask what drink you'd like. After a couple of days they'd greet me and ask me, mudslide or margarita?

Where else can you have your lodging, meals and entertainment for a week paid for $700 for 2 people and get to see ports with beaches and sun???

This September we are sailing the Getaway. I only wish total rewards would give us another free cruise.

Got 1 2 weeks ago. This is what I got which doesn't do anything for me since I get a better deal direct through NCL CAS

Remember with your Total Rewards level you can get a discount on the cruises already.

Platinum - 10%

Diamond - 20%

Seven Stars - 30%

It is lower for S1-S7 cabin though. The discount is off of the the first two people in your cabin. If you book additional cabins, the first two in those cabins get a 5% discount (unless of course they qualify for one of the higher discounts listed above).

Everything that people responded with so far is accurate in terms of this being a legit deal and having to pay the fees and taxes, pay to upgrade, etc. However, I believe this might be the new Harrah's offer that recently showed up, not the typical vouchers they give away. The new offer that showed up said something about a 3- or 4-night cruise from Miami. This makes me think it is an offer for the Sky only. If you do want to pick it up when you stay at Harrah's I think you must call and reserve your voucher with the offer code (separate from the hotel reservation).

That was what I was thinking, too.

We did the total rewards cruise in November 2012 on board the Pearl.

Would we do it again? Definitely!

 

Yes, it's an inside cabin but we upgraded to an ocean view for i believe $200 more. Well worth it. You did have to pay port fees and taxes. With the upgrade i believe our "free cruise" cost around $700. That does NOT include the daily tips of $12 pp per day that is paid at the end of the cruise nor any charges that you make on the ship.

 

All your drinks are free in the casino which can save you a lot depending how much you drink. You are given a players card with the information loaded and when you sit down to play they come over , greet you by name and ask what drink you'd like. After a couple of days they'd greet me and ask me, mudslide or margarita?

 

Where else can you have your lodging, meals and entertainment for a week paid for $700 for 2 people and get to see ports with beaches and sun???

 

This September we are sailing the Getaway. I only wish total rewards would give us another free cruise.

If you like the itinerary and enjoy cruising, then I agree that you might as well use those certificates to get a discount. Indeed, an oceanview room for two people on a 7-day cruise for $700 (before tips) is a very good deal.

However, it is also important for "bargain shoppers" to understand that they aren't saving as much money as they think. For example, when you do a mock booking and see that your inside cabin for two would cost $1200, and your "fees and taxes only" room is only $500, you feel great. You think you just saved $700!

In reality, you haven't. Those same rooms are dumped in the weeks prior to cruise time (sometimes even as much as 60 days before cruise time), and you'll sometimes find that your $500 "free" cruise would have been $600-$700 once it got close to sail time. So you still saved money, but not anywhere as much as it appears.

I'm not telling people not to use those certificates. If you want to cruise anyway, saving ANY money is great, no matter how much it is. I'm just cautioning people who are mainly doing this because they believe they are getting something "free" or extremely discounted. In most cases, they aren't.

And, as already mentioned, if you have been on NCL before and played in the casino, check with CAS and see if they can get you a better deal.

Remember with your Total Rewards level you can get a discount on the cruises already.

 

Platinum - 10%

Diamond - 20%

Seven Stars - 30%

 

It is lower for S1-S7 cabin though. The discount is off of the the first two people in your cabin. If you book additional cabins, the first two in those cabins get a 5% discount (unless of course they qualify for one of the higher discounts listed above).

These discounts are only on the "commissioned fare" portion.

So if you have a "free" inside cabin certificate, that is the absolute lowest you will possibly pay for that cabin (the taxes and NCF). The 30% discount listed above would be the taxes, NCF, plus 70% of the "commissioned fare" portion. The certificate being discussed reduces the commissioned fare portion to zero.

However, this actually could come into play if you are upgrading. That is, you might be better off as a Seven Stars getting 30% off a mini suite (especially at last minute rates) than you would upgrading an inside cabin certificate.

These discounts are only on the "commissioned fare" portion.

 

So if you have a "free" inside cabin certificate, that is the absolute lowest you will possibly pay for that cabin (the taxes and NCF). The 30% discount listed above would be the taxes, NCF, plus 70% of the "commissioned fare" portion. The certificate being discussed reduces the commissioned fare portion to zero.

 

However, this actually could come into play if you are upgrading. That is, you might be better off as a Seven Stars getting 30% off a mini suite (especially at last minute rates) than you would upgrading an inside cabin certificate.

The FREE is the exact same.

These discounts are only on the "commissioned fare" portion.

 

So if you have a "free" inside cabin certificate, that is the absolute lowest you will possibly pay for that cabin (the taxes and NCF). The 30% discount listed above would be the taxes, NCF, plus 70% of the "commissioned fare" portion. The certificate being discussed reduces the commissioned fare portion to zero.

 

However, this actually could come into play if you are upgrading. That is, you might be better off as a Seven Stars getting 30% off a mini suite (especially at last minute rates) than you would upgrading an inside cabin certificate.

You don't say how often you've used your Seven Stars discount but I have found that they don't always give it to you if the fares have been greatly reduced close to sailing date.

You don't say how often you've used your Seven Stars discount but I have found that they don't always give it to you if the fares have been greatly reduced close to sailing date.

I've never used it, but that's pretty awful if true.

Since I'm a 7 Stars, I just use my "free" (NCF & taxes) cruise benefit once per year, and then wait for an upgrade promo on the website.

I've never used it, but that's pretty awful if true.

 

Since I'm a 7 Stars, I just use my "free" (NCF & taxes) cruise benefit once per year, and then wait for an upgrade promo on the website.

It only happened to me once when I booked about 6 weeks ahead. Fares had been reduced quite a bit already. Every other time there was no problem.

I would love to know how these thing are distributed! I am a platinum player, and never gotten one.. but I see so many gold players getting them Hmmmm

I would love to know how these thing are distributed! I am a platinum player, and never gotten one.. but I see so many gold players getting them Hmmmm

This has probably been said before, but....

These are based on AVERAGE DAILY PLAY and are not based on tier.

If you play enough, they want you aboard. Even a Diamond player might not get much.

Average daily play.

This has probably been said before, but....

 

These are based on AVERAGE DAILY PLAY and are not based on tier.

 

If you play enough, they want you aboard. Even a Diamond player might not get much.

 

Average daily play.

100% correct

But as already stated, these aren't that great of a deal.

If you want a cheap inside cabin, just wait until fairly close to cruise time and you will usually get one.