Very Good CAS Experience on the Gem 8/24

[A1SusieQ]

Hello all,

 

I returned today from a 7 day cruise on the GEM. I was a guest of CAS.

 

 

This was my first cruise with the new Tier levels as my last cruise was March of 2013 also on the Gem.

 

 

I have been reading some of the negative experiences of others (Mostly Breakaway). I thought I would post a positive experience on the Gem. :)

 

 

I was told at booking that I was "Golden" status. So many others reported here that they were told they were golden on the phone, only to show up to the casino to be told they were "Hot". I went with low expectations and would not have been upset if they had only given me Hot status.

 

 

In my room at embarkation was a Golden Card with a premium drink card attached to it. :)

 

My sister was traveling with me and in the room for her was a Lucky Card with a house drink card attached to it. (This was her first NCL cruise)

 

 

My first trip into the casino, I went to the front desk and was greeted with a hug by Pearl, the casino hostess.

 

I asked her about the Spa pass and she told me that I would be the only one eligible for the Spa pass, not my sister. She then gave my Sister the Spa pass as she explained that I was the only Golden Level person on that cruise. (The spa pass was just a sticker on our Key Card)

 

We had to tell them what 2 days we wanted the Spa pass for, so my sister chose the final 2 Sea Days.

 

 

As I walked around the casino that first day, it seemed that everyone from the cashiers in the cage, the bartenders and the slot attendants, knew my name and came over to introduce themselves. (Some I knew from previous sailings, but many were new)

 

 

I took cash from my onboard account and was not charged a fee. (I did not have to point it out to anyone, they put a line through the charge on the receipt)

 

 

On the first night, I was offered dinner for 2 and a bottle of wine in any restaurant. They wanted to make the reservation, but I already had La Cucina reserved, so they called La Cucina to take care of it. No letter needed to bring to the restaurant like we used to have to do, it was taken care of in the computer.

 

 

On night 3, they offered dinner for 4 and a bottle of wine in any restaurant as they knew I was travelling with my 2 children also. Once again, no letter needed to bring to the restaurant, it was taken care of in the computer.

 

I was also given 2 ladies t-shirts from the casino.

 

 

I earned 14,000 points on this cruise. 2 small hand-pays (1 $1,300 and another $1,400) a few $600-$800 hits, but the Casino still beat me at the end of the day. :rolleyes:

 

$930.00 was taken off my on-board account by the casino. ( I don't know what formula they used.)

 

 

I did have lots of fun and felt very comfortable there.

 

 

I have a one-nighter on the Gem this December which should keep me at Golden level for my Breakaway Cruises next year. I hope my status will convert over to the Breakaway, but once again I will keep my expectations low and hopefully be pleasantly surprised.

 

Any questions, feel free to ask.

[whenisthemidnightbuffet?]

Glad to hear you had a good experience and thank you for letting us know. The Gem was my favorite ship, until Breakaway came along. Breakaway not my favorite casino though, don't really like the lay out. I see we'll be sailing together on the 1/17th CTN.

[A1SusieQ]

Glad to hear you had a good experience and thank you for letting us know. The Gem was my favorite ship, until Breakaway came along. Breakaway not my favorite casino though, don't really like the lay out. I see we'll be sailing together on the 1/17th CTN.

 

See you on the CTN in January. That will be my first Breakaway Experience. I am looking forward to it.

[gizmo911]

Hello all,

 

I returned today from a 7 day cruise on the GEM. I was a guest of CAS.

 

 

This was my first cruise with the new Tier levels as my last cruise was March of 2013 also on the Gem.

 

 

I have been reading some of the negative experiences of others (Mostly Breakaway). I thought I would post a positive experience on the Gem. :)

 

 

I was told at booking that I was "Golden" status. So many others reported here that they were told they were golden on the phone, only to show up to the casino to be told they were "Hot". I went with low expectations and would not have been upset if they had only given me Hot status.

 

 

In my room at embarkation was a Golden Card with a premium drink card attached to it. :)

 

My sister was traveling with me and in the room for her was a Lucky Card with a house drink card attached to it. (This was her first NCL cruise)

 

 

My first trip into the casino, I went to the front desk and was greeted with a hug by Pearl, the casino hostess.

 

I asked her about the Spa pass and she told me that I would be the only one eligible for the Spa pass, not my sister. She then gave my Sister the Spa pass as she explained that I was the only Golden Level person on that cruise. (The spa pass was just a sticker on our Key Card)

 

We had to tell them what 2 days we wanted the Spa pass for, so my sister chose the final 2 Sea Days.

 

 

As I walked around the casino that first day, it seemed that everyone from the cashiers in the cage, the bartenders and the slot attendants, knew my name and came over to introduce themselves. (Some I knew from previous sailings, but many were new)

 

 

I took cash from my onboard account and was not charged a fee. (I did not have to point it out to anyone, they put a line through the charge on the receipt)

 

 

On the first night, I was offered dinner for 2 and a bottle of wine in any restaurant. They wanted to make the reservation, but I already had La Cucina reserved, so they called La Cucina to take care of it. No letter needed to bring to the restaurant like we used to have to do, it was taken care of in the computer.

 

 

On night 3, they offered dinner for 4 and a bottle of wine in any restaurant as they knew I was travelling with my 2 children also. Once again, no letter needed to bring to the restaurant, it was taken care of in the computer.

 

I was also given 2 ladies t-shirts from the casino.

 

 

I earned 14,000 points on this cruise. 2 small hand-pays (1 $1,300 and another $1,400) a few $600-$800 hits, but the Casino still beat me at the end of the day. :rolleyes:

 

$930.00 was taken off my on-board account by the casino. ( I don't know what formula they used.)

 

 

I did have lots of fun and felt very comfortable there.

 

 

I have a one-nighter on the Gem this December which should keep me at Golden level for my Breakaway Cruises next year. I hope my status will convert over to the Breakaway, but once again I will keep my expectations low and hopefully be pleasantly surprised.

 

Any questions, feel free to ask.

 

 

I will be on the Gem on Saturday (9/7) and I do have a few questions. I am also a guest of CAS. Was the 2 day spa passes a perk or did you have to purchase. Also, did you get dinner as a comp through CAS? Am I getting this right, there is no charge to take cash money from your OBC account? Did you put cash in or was it that you had a good amount of OBC? I have been on several cruises and never had this available to me.

 

I am not sure what level I am at now ( think silver) but I know that I will have a blast no matter. Also, would you have the Gem dallies by any chance and if so could you post. Thanks.

[Frick_&_Frack]

Thanks for posting. Do you know if Pearl will be there on Set. 7th? She's a sweetheart!

 

Sounds as though the perk items are finally on-track which is great to know!

 

Glad you had a super time. I'll be making my "donations" next week! :eek: :D

[garycarla]

There have been some reports that Golden rec'd certain VIP perks. The one we are concerned about is breakfast and lunch at Cagneys. Was that offered?

[Casino Comp Chick]

I will be on the Gem on Saturday (9/7) and I do have a few questions. I am also a guest of CAS. Was the 2 day spa passes a perk or did you have to purchase. Also, did you get dinner as a comp through CAS? Am I getting this right, there is no charge to take cash money from your OBC account? Did you put cash in or was it that you had a good amount of OBC? I have been on several cruises and never had this available to me.

 

I am not sure what level I am at now ( think silver) but I know that I will have a blast no matter. Also, would you have the Gem dallies by any chance and if so could you post. Thanks.

 

 

You have to be "Golden" for that 15001+ casino points. When you say you are silver I think you mean Lattitudes which is different then CAS. That is NCL's version of frequent flyer miles.

The spa pass is free for people who are rated 2 top casino tiers. It gives access to loungers, hydro pools, salt room etc. It does not include massages, facials etc.

Dinner was free, again another perk.

The casino fee waive of 3% is also for top tier (They don't want heavy bettors to not have access to more money that can be spent in the casino). Here are the 2 links

 

http://www.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/casinos-at-sea/players-club

http://www.ncl.com/latitudes-rewards/rewards-points-and-benefits

 

Casino Tiers

Lucky - 0-5000 points

Hot - 5001-15000 points

Golden - 15001-35000 points

VIP - 35001+ points

 

Lattitudes Tier

Bronze - 1-19 cruise points

Silver - 20-47 cruise points

Gold - 48-75 cruise points

Platinum - 76+ cruise points (This will give you dinner for 2 also but its from NCL and not CAS)

 

Hope that is all clear to you

[A1SusieQ]

There have been some reports that Golden rec'd certain VIP perks. The one we are concerned about is breakfast and lunch at Cagneys. Was that offered?

 

So sorry Garycarla. We stayed in a Suite so that conversation never occurred.

 

Sent from my DROID Pro using Tapatalk 2

[A1SusieQ]

Thanks for posting. Do you know if Pearl will be there on Set. 7th? She's a sweetheart!

 

Sounds as though the perk items are finally on-track which is great to know!

 

Glad you had a super time. I'll be making my "donations" next week! :eek: :D

 

Yes Pearl will be there until early October when she goes on vacation. She will then return the middle of December.

 

Sent from my DROID Pro using Tapatalk 2

[A1SusieQ]

I will be on the Gem on Saturday (9/7) and I do have a few questions. I am also a guest of CAS. Was the 2 day spa passes a perk or did you have to purchase. Also, did you get dinner as a comp through CAS? Am I getting this right, there is no charge to take cash money from your OBC account? Did you put cash in or was it that you had a good amount of OBC? I have been on several cruises and never had this available to me.

 

I am not sure what level I am at now ( think silver) but I know that I will have a blast no matter. Also, would you have the Gem dallies by any chance and if so could you post. Thanks.

 

Yes the 2 day spa pass was a perk offered by CAS also the dinners were comped by CAS.

 

My onboard account was secured with a credit card (the NCL mastercard) I took cash from the onboard account however it only shows as an NCL charge (not as a cash advance) I do not get charged a fee from NCL and I do not get charged a fee from Mastercard. In addition, I get double the points (for now at least)

 

 

If you want to know your level, you can call CAS and ask them.

 

Sent from my DROID Pro using Tapatalk 2

[TVLady3]

There have been some reports that Golden rec'd certain VIP perks. The one we are concerned about is breakfast and lunch at Cagneys. Was that offered?

 

I was on the Gem last month and as Golden I received breakfast & lunch in Cagney's. I was not in a suite. I also received a pack of cigerates a day.

I was sent all kinds of invites to parties, an invite for a bridge tour and early entry for the chololate buffet and VIP priority luggage tags & escort off of ship.

Just about everything you receive in a suite but with out the butler.:D

[Fishbait17]

So glad to hear that everything went so smoothly. That was the sailing I was supposed to be on (until I cancelled two weeks prior :(). Thanks again for the report!

 

Robin

[sjbdtz]

Thanks for posting. Do you know if Pearl will be there on Set. 7th? She's a sweetheart!

 

Sounds as though the perk items are finally on-track which is great to know!

 

Glad you had a super time. I'll be making my "donations" next week! :eek: :D

 

 

Yes, Pearl will still be there for the sailing on the 21st, too...along with Glenn, Maria and Jules (who is there for the Tournament).

 

 

I'm curious about the Spa pass....according to Jules, for Golden-level it's a 2 day spa pass for TWO PEOPLE. I'm confused by your comment that you were the only Golden player.. so your sister couldn't go, but then they gave her stickers anyway?

 

Maybe I misread something.

 

 

Stephen

 

 

.

[jaja]

Yes, Pearl will still be there for the sailing on the 21st, too...along with Glenn, Maria and Jules (who is there for the Tournament).

 

 

 

Stephen

 

 

.

 

 

Sounds like a nice casino staff...!!! I am sailing on 10/12...will they be there..?

[Frick_&_Frack]

Yes Pearl will be there until early October when she goes on vacation. She will then return the middle of December.

 

Sent from my DROID Pro using Tapatalk 2

 

Thanks. Pearl had told us she'd be still aboard when we came back, but I figured I'd ask

 

Thanks again!

[A1SusieQ]

Yes, Pearl will still be there for the sailing on the 21st, too...along with Glenn, Maria and Jules (who is there for the Tournament).

 

 

I'm curious about the Spa pass....according to Jules, for Golden-level it's a 2 day spa pass for TWO PEOPLE. I'm confused by your comment that you were the only Golden player.. so your sister couldn't go, but then they gave her stickers anyway?

 

Maybe I misread something.

 

 

Stephen

 

 

.

 

Hi Stephen, you read it correctly. Pearl told me that only the Golden person was eligible for the spa pass. She then said since I was the only golden person onboard that sailing and that she would also give my sister the spa pass. I too thought the pass was naturally for 2 people. I am going with my "hot" husband on the Breakaway and I hope they extend the same courtesy to him as well.

 

 

 

And don't forget Arlene the slot attendant will also be on the September sailing as well. :)

 

 

Sent from my DROID Pro using Tapatalk 2

[hpecorari]

Yes, Pearl will still be there for the sailing on the 21st, too...along with Glenn, Maria and Jules (who is there for the Tournament).

 

 

I'm curious about the Spa pass....according to Jules, for Golden-level it's a 2 day spa pass for TWO PEOPLE. I'm confused by your comment that you were the only Golden player.. so your sister couldn't go, but then they gave her stickers anyway?

 

Maybe I misread something.

 

 

Stephen

 

 

.

 

I was golden on the breakaway in June and they gave both of us a two day spa pass without question

http://www5.ncl.com/freestyle-cruise/casinos-at-sea/players-club

It says complimentary spa access for two -

FYI golden gets two days and VIP gets five days

Have no idea why they said only you

 

Harriet