Rivers Casino offering free Royal Caribbean cruises

[Daghis]

This isn't specifically related to the casinos onboard, but since land-based casino players are likely to play in the ship's casino as well, and I'm sure that's the expectation, I figured it was worth posting this here.

 

The Rivers Casino in Pittsburgh yesterday offered free cruises to their top tier players (not sure how many in all it ended up being). The cruises ranged from 3-night Bahamas cruises to week-long Caribbean ones and maybe even better than that.

 

Last year, the Rivers Casino offered free cruises on NCL. I'm thrilled that they're working with Royal Caribbean this time around as that's my preferred cruise line.

 

The free cruise pricing is pretty typical. The cruise fare itself is free, but players are required to pay for taxes, gratuities, and CruiseCare (their travel insurance). For a 4-night Bahamas cruise offer that I received, it ends up being about $140/person (single or double occupancy).

 

One thing that's a bit unusual is that on the free cruise certificate, it explicitly says, "While playing in the casino, Cruise Certificate recipients will be provided with complimentary drinks (excludes Premium brands)." This isn't something that Royal Caribbean has done typically, except as a bonus for Club Royale members. I'm curious to see whether they'll provide drink cards like NCL has or if they'll just provide drink coupons like I've received in the past from the Casino Host.

 

Anyway, I just thought I'd share the information in case others are curious about land-based casino partnerships with the cruise lines.

[LOVINCRUIZIN]

Congrats! That's a nice offer.

I just received a AC offer to fly to Tunica free and stay 3 nights. Thought that was a nice (and little unusual) offer.

BUT...going to Vegas in a couple of weeks so turned it down:D

[vegasgirl6]

I received this offer from Rivers Casino in Des Plaines Il. We are going on a 5 night Western Carribean the end of Feb. Total cost for a balcony room was $326.00 for both of us. Great, great deal. I also got airfare from SW using a new card which entitled me to 2 free flights after spending $1000. (Actually cost $69.00 for the credit card fee). Then I applied for a Hyatt credit card and got 2 free nights. (Actual cost $75.00 for the fee).

I think I did very well!

[PittsburghMom]

Congrats Daghis! We've probably played together down at the Rivers! This is by far the best promotion that they've offered IMO.

 

Have you used your certificate yet? I just booked our 7 night cruise this week. They upgraded us for free to a balcony and thankfully didn't require the travel insurance. Total out of pocket for gratuities/port fees was only $185/pp which I thought was a great deal for 7 nights/8 days to the Caribbean. The cost seems to depend on which ship is chosen as the newer ships offer more amenities, but have higher fees. It doesn't affect the first 2 people very much, but you'll see a big difference if you decide to take along a 3rd or 4th passenger. (We opted to have family watch our little ones for the week.)

 

Out of curiosity, how did they handle the free drinks? Did you get a sticker on your SeaPass card?

[PittsburghMom]

Also, just an FYI, I got an email back from the ClubRoyale that said that any casino play aboard the ship while using these certificates will not be rated. Supposedly, you must be paying for the cruise in order for casino play to count. I'm surprised as you'd think that they'd still want to rate a person for future cruises. They also mentioned that we'd either be given stickers on our cards for drinks or handed coupons each day, although I'm not quite sure how they'd know to hand out the coupons... Do we have to request them?

[Daghis]

Have you used your certificate yet?

You probably didn't notice, but this thread was from last year. :)

 

Yes, I did use the certificate. I already had a 7-night cruise on Freedom of the Seas, so I stayed a few days extra and went on the following 4-night Monarch of the Seas cruise.

 

Total out of pocket for gratuities/port fees was only $185/pp which I thought was a great deal for 7 nights/8 days to the Caribbean.

That's fantastic!

 

Out of curiosity, how did they handle the free drinks? Did you get a sticker on your SeaPass card?

Yes, the casino host put a sticker on my card that said "No 3%", so I wouldn't have to pay the normal 3% fee for getting money from my SeaPass account (which I wouldn't have anyway if I had been sailing on a regular RCI cruise as I'm a Club Royale member). That sticker was also used by the bar staff for the free drinks while I was playing.

 

The host did say that he was using the sticker because they had so few people who qualified for the free drinks, it was just easier that way. I suspect on your 7-night cruise, they might do something else like drink coupons.

 

Also, just an FYI, I got an email back from the ClubRoyale that said that any casino play aboard the ship while using these certificates will not be rated.

Yup, that's what I was told by the casino host. He pretty much only saw me as a cruiser from Rivers Casino and not a Club Royale member, not that it made that much of a difference in actuality.

 

Also, Club Royale told me that since this was a sponsored casino cruise, I wouldn't be able to receive my cash rebate from my prior cruise during this sailing.

 

They also mentioned that we'd either be given stickers on our cards for drinks or handed coupons each day, although I'm not quite sure how they'd know to hand out the coupons... Do we have to request them?

Most of the time in my past experience, the casino host is very good at keeping up with you and checking in daily. When they say hi, they usually offer the drink coupons then, or you can simply go up to them and ask for more.

[pgharea]

We just booked our rivers casino cruise on the allure of the seas for December. Seems like a sweet promotion.

 

 

Sent from my screen to yours.

[guillaumejd]

Sounds interesting, I wish my casino had a partnership with a cruise line! :(

[PittsburghMom]

They've been really generous to us so far. They offered a GTY balcony upgrade for free & we ended up getting assigned to one of the nicest. I've seen so many negative reviews for Royal Caribbean, but so far it's all been a good experience for us. Oh...Just an FYI, but I was not required to purchase the Cruise insurance. That must be optional. Taxes & gratuities for 2 people, 7 night cruise in a balcony room was only around $350!