CAS and Garden Villas....any experience?

[chloemonkey]

I decided to try to book an upcoming cruise on which we would like both Garden Villas. We only have one previous NCL but all of us are gamblers so the ratings on four of us may help....and any discount would be great!

 

So I called CAS yesterday, spoke with a woman who said that she would check with the Star (system was down at the time) and get back to me. I told her that I was ready to book and did not want to lose the two Garden Villas at which point she assured me that she would put a "hold" on them for one day. But she assured me that she would probably get back to me later in the afternoon.

 

I did not hear from her yesterday and began to worry today as with the time difference (CAS being in Miami) I was concerned about the "one day" hold being over and the possibility of losing the cabins. Being one who hates to be a bother, I finally decided to call back to inquire as to whether or not she had any information for me. The person that answered this time told me that the agent that I had spoken to was "out of the office today" and that he therefore could not help me. I explained to him that I was concerned about losing the "holds" on Garden Villas and at first he told me that he could not help me "without a reservation number." I had trouble explaining to him that we had not gotten that far and that my concern was the loss of the villas as the hold would be up today. After much going back and forth, he DID finally agree with me that the hold would expire and finally agreed to put an additional hold on the two rooms for one additional day - but also told me that this would expire tomorrow at 3:30 eastern time.....

 

Sorry to ramble, but I look to you all for "support" as again, I am horrible at asserting myself! And need to know how to proceed. Therefore these are my questions:

 

1) Should I worry that I got an agent that is not on top of things? As I would be REALLY angry if one or both of the Garden Villas was not available due to this gal not getting back to me....

 

2) Is it a usual occurence that the agents do not hear back from the ships regarding level of play/points? As that could possibly been a reason for the agent not being able to get back to me with an offer. But again, shouldn't the agent have put an additional "hold" on the rooms to secure the reservation until she returned?

 

3) Has anyone booked one or both Garden Villas through CAS? And are they more or less likely to discount/comp these suites? Again, both my husband and I are heavy players and the other two previous guests are somewhere around medium play. I know both my husband and I played $10 per hand video poker 4-6 hours a day for 7 day cruise.....can't do the math even if I understood the formula! We DID get a large "chunk" off of the onboard account! So much so that I had to go and purchase a bunch of stuff in the gift shop (thanks to the casino attendant that let me know that I had MUCH more credit than we had used up!) We also got 2-3 comped dinners in specialty restaurants, free drinks, 2-3 bottles of wine......a shirt or two? But I may be confusing the "shirt" thing with RCI - which managed to give me JUST a free shirt after playing 10's of thousands of dollars on our cruise with them last month We found RCI's Player's Club to be horrendous....therefore my quest to return to NCL!

 

4) Are there different levels of agents with CAS? And if there is one in particular that any of you experts would recommend....maybe I should contact him/her? Or would that "irritate" the first woman that I spoke with?

 

Any and all comments would be greatly appreciated! It is not as though we were/are not going to book both Garden Villa's anyway......Just thought that ANY discount would be great! And CAS WILL benefit from our group as this time we will also have 4 adult daughter and two of their spouses who ALSO (sadly!) play almost as much as mom and dad!

 

Thanks to all of you experts in advance!

[Sammikins]

Hi Chloe. After our first cruise on the NCL Sun they told us we qualified for a free minisuite on a 7-day cruise. (Actually we told them which cruise we wanted first and they came back and said they could do the minisuite.) We then upgraded to an AB (we paid the difference) and are taking other family members on the cruise with us. I have talked to the people in the NCL Casino Marketing Department several times: Priscilla, Ron, Adrian, don't know of any more. All seem competent and nice. You get 18 months from the cruise that generated the free cruise to use the free one. Hope this helps. Good luck getting those villas!

[goaliegirl]

We just got back from a cruise on the Epic. We are CAS players and upgraded (paid the difference) to a suite in the villas. The villas were awesome.

 

However, since we've been back, we called on Tues to book our next cruise and either our play was not rated, or they changed the system, or we're booking at a REALLY expensive time. We were only offered 17% off (the lowest offer) some cruises and a free inside cabin on another. These are typical 7-day Caribbean cruises. We *always* go at Xmas/New Year. We haven't quite figured out what's up yet, as our play is definitely not average. We are usually comped a balcony, even during busy times.

 

We then called an agent that deals with CAS directly and have not heard back. This is a little disconcerting as he is usually on the ball.

 

I'll be following this thread with interest! :)

[chloemonkey]

We just got back from a cruise on the Epic. We are CAS players and upgraded (paid the difference) to a suite in the villas. The villas were awesome.

 

However, since we've been back, we called on Tues to book our next cruise and either our play was not rated, or they changed the system, or we're booking at a REALLY expensive time. We were only offered 17% off (the lowest offer) some cruises and a free inside cabin on another. These are typical 7-day Caribbean cruises. We *always* go at Xmas/New Year. We haven't quite figured out what's up yet, as our play is definitely not average. We are usually comped a balcony, even during busy times.

 

We then called an agent that deals with CAS directly and have not heard back. This is a little disconcerting as he is usually on the ball.

 

I'll be following this thread with interest! :)

Thanks for your input. I did not hear back (again!) so called a third time as I was concerned about loosing the cabins. I was told that the gal that was helping me before was on the phone so a NEW guy asked for my name and said that he would look into my request. after being on hold for just a short minute or two, he came back on the phone and said that he had gotten my information from the "original" gal and would help me.....

 

I STILL wonder what would have happened to my rooms if I would not have called back AND why the original gal had not bothered to return my call if she did indeed already have my "ratings" from our last cruise? I also wonder how NCL would feel about the possibility of having lost these two Garden Villa bookings as I would have NOT booked the trip if the GVs were not available. and for the record, I waited until one hour before the "hold" on these two rooms were going to expire before I called......So although this is my first experience with CAS, it does not appear that they are very pro-active when it comes to increased bookings for NCL?

 

Anyway.....bottom line was that we were given cost of a mini-suite for two against one GV and a 10 percent discount against the second GV for my parents as supposedly my father's level of play did not qualify him.

 

So......it seems to me that 17 percent is a LOW discount for you guys as they are giving my parents 10 percent just for being "past" passengers. And it sounds as though you play more than my father. One of the big problems HE has is that he forgets to put his card in he machines and then realizes HOUTS later!

 

I will be curious to see if you pursue this and if CAS gives you a better offer. Now I am a bit confused too as to who I should contact regarding about the trip.......NCL or CAS? Any thoughts?

[AClady]

Long time lurker at CC. First time poster. My experience with NCL is if you are CAS member all of your dealings will be with them. I have been on 12 cruises as a CAS member and if I call NCL about any subject, they always transfer me to CAS. Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

[chloemonkey]

Long time lurker at CC. First time poster. My experience with NCL is if you are CAS member all of your dealings will be with them. I have been on 12 cruises as a CAS member and if I call NCL about any subject, they always transfer me to CAS. Good luck and enjoy your cruise.

 

Thanks for your input! I tried today to go online (NCL) site in order to make final payment and it says "call agent" and would not let me make a payment. So I guess that "CAS" is considered my travel agent?

 

And will I also have to deal with CAS with regards to bar setup, room config,etc? If you know that is......Any other info would be appreciated!

 

Oh! Is the CAS department open on weekends? I really wanted to get this all done before work next week......

[Monaco02]

Thanks for your input! I tried today to go online (NCL) site in order to make final payment and it says "call agent" and would not let me make a payment. So I guess that "CAS" is considered my travel agent?

 

And will I also have to deal with CAS with regards to bar setup, room config,etc? If you know that is......Any other info would be appreciated!

 

Oh! Is the CAS department open on weekends? I really wanted to get this all done before work next week......

 

Yes, when you book through CAS they are then considered your TA, everything is done through them. Not sure if they're available on weekends.