Experiences with anyone booking cruises with casino royale

[NJ&Ozzie]

Hi,

 

Got a certificate from Casino Royale to book a new cruise. Called for pricing a few times during the week and each time got a different C.R. rep & different pricing - even tho cruise prices had not changed on travel agent site. A couple of cruise prices from C.R. were actually more expensive than booking with our usual online travel agent.

 

Thought the prices were supposed to always be about 20% less. Are we missing something? What's the trick?

 

Would appreciate any advice on booking with Casino Royale or any experiences.

Thanks,

NJ

[nealstuber]

We usually use a large online TA as they almost always offer free grats. Last time around, we did have casino “gravitas” and got a rate that was more than enough to offset the deals we usually got. I didn’t do the math but it was in the 20% range.

 

I really enjoyed working with them Vs my online agency. We were able to go from a JS to a JS wrap with no hassle and ended up booking a B2B in the same cabin because the rates were so good.

 

 

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[CruisingHusker]

I am not getting near the deals I used to since they changed the program. I used to get 25-30% off but yesterday they offered me a 5% discount for a casino rate. They won’t allow you to use the certificates earned on a cruise in conjunction with the casino rate. It was a better deal for me to pay regular price and apply certificates from my husband and myself that we just got on the Harmony. Unless you’re a big spender things are changing. I am not happy with the changes and I won’t be cruising as much as I have been. I’d like to point out that I’ve spent more than I ever have the last couple of cruises and I’m still offered a measly 5% off.

[rt1092]

They won't allow you to use Casino Royal Certificates combined with casino rates.

There was a booking I wanted that was over a year out and they were able to book it for me for 5% less than the regular rate but it is a "refundable" booking So as we get closer if I want to add certificates, I can cancel and rebook.

[NJ&Ozzie]

Hi,

We decided to use our certificate on another cruise just booked on our recent cruise.

 

But issue we're having with Casino Royale is that pricing we're being given is not consistent. Sometimes their pricing is more expensive than booking with travel agent. So not sure what the advantage is with booking with C.R. How do we get the best price from C.R.?

 

NJ

[mobrien36]

Please I have some ideas for you if you have any significant play. Please let me know and I can direct you in the right direction.

 

 

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[lazydayz]

I have found the way to get the best rate is to use the casino certificate for a listed cruise, then ask for the upgrade price. For this fall, I upgraded a free balcony to a CLS on Allure for less than $1900 total for two. For a NYE cruise on Adventure I upgraded a free JS to a Grand Suite for under $500 total for two.

 

Compare those prices to the suitcase exchange offer I got yesterday. Ironically, it is for the Allure cruise I already booked. They offered me $100 off any rate, an invite to a cocktail party and a suitcase. Seriously? No thanks.

[mk-ultra]

I have found the way to get the best rate is to use the casino certificate for a listed cruise, then ask for the upgrade price. For this fall, I upgraded a free balcony to a CLS on Allure for less than $1900 total for two. For a NYE cruise on Adventure I upgraded a free JS to a Grand Suite for under $500 total for two.

 

Compare those prices to the suitcase exchange offer I got yesterday. Ironically, it is for the Allure cruise I already booked. They offered me $100 off any rate, an invite to a cocktail party and a suitcase. Seriously? No thanks.

 

Ditto. I just find an already decent price on a cruise I'm interested in, book it in the normal fashion, then call CR to apply the dollar value of my certificate to the cruise (listed on the reverse side of the certificate). I completely ignore the listed free cruises on the front side. The only catch I've found with doing this is that the OBC offered by booking on NextCruise while onboard can't be fully used if you apply the certificate. I don't know the exact rules they apply, but the $400 OBC I got from booking onboard was reduced to $100 OBC when my casino certificate was applied. Apparently, the offers can't be combined and you'll get whatever OBC is generally available at the time of applying the CR discount, not the onboard booking OBC bonus.

 

One really good thing I've found (at least in my experience) is that the reps on the CR dedicated number seem to be more knowledgeable about how RCI works than the average regular agent. I called CR to ask about missing solo-supplement points, and they called C&A and had it straightened out in 5 minutes to the tune of 21 additional points.

[lazydayz]

Agree about customer service with C.R. I switched up all of our upcoming cruises and the C.R. employee worked on this for over an hour. She was committed to helping me find the best value for the cruises I wanted. One I canceled had a nonrefundable deposit so she found me an extra $200 discount on the replacement cruise. Nice!

[Snookum]

Hi,

 

Got a certificate from Casino Royale to book a new cruise. Called for pricing a few times during the week and each time got a different C.R. rep & different pricing - even tho cruise prices had not changed on travel agent site. A couple of cruise prices from C.R. were actually more expensive than booking with our usual online travel agent.

 

Thought the prices were supposed to always be about 20% less. Are we missing something? What's the trick?

 

Would appreciate any advice on booking with Casino Royale or any experiences.

Thanks,

NJ

 

my son gambles a lot on RCC casino and our travel agent always calls the casino for pricing for him. he always gets 500 off any cruise or they have a list he can pick from that are free! I get the discount but not like him!:)

[sellwingri]

The deals used to be a lot better than they are now. Certificate discounts are basically all you get and if you don’t have one, the price is basically the same as any TA can get you.

 

On a positive note, the CS reps are usually great. They start in other RCI phone groups and if they do a good job, they can apply for a job in Casino Royale. It used to be easy to reach them (never any wait time to reach someone) but that’s changed as well. A 10 or 15minute wait to reach someone is now the norm.