CAS - does this make sense???

[MrMike45]

We have been on 17 cruises with NCL within the last 7 years.  All except the first one was booked thru CAS with comped/discounted rooms.  

 

Our last 6 cruises, between my and my wife's play we were comped either an Ocean View or Balcony room.  And paid an admin fee to upgrade to a Balcony or Mini-Suite.  

 

Our last cruise was in October 2018.  We were again comped an Ocean View.  We were taking our son on his first cruise, and my mother who is disabled.  We traded in the OV comp for 2 Inside room comps.  And then paid to upgrade one of the insides to a balcony room, so we were directly across from each other.  

 

I just emailed them today to ask about booking our next cruise, in May 2019, to Bermuda.  

 

I was told "based on our past play, the best we can offer is a 20% casino discount on an Inside room"?  I asked how and why our comps would decrease so dramatically, especially since the last cruise we took was 3 months ago in which we did a fair amount of play in the casino.  Waiting to hear back from them on some silly BS algorithm I'm sure, but wanted to post here since you guys are 20x more knowledgeable.  Does this make any sense at all?  

[Nightengale31]

1 hour ago, MrMike45 said:

We have been on 17 cruises with NCL within the last 7 years.  All except the first one was booked thru CAS with comped/discounted rooms.  

 

Our last 6 cruises, between my and my wife's play we were comped either an Ocean View or Balcony room.  And paid an admin fee to upgrade to a Balcony or Mini-Suite.  

 

Our last cruise was in October 2018.  We were again comped an Ocean View.  We were taking our son on his first cruise, and my mother who is disabled.  We traded in the OV comp for 2 Inside room comps.  And then paid to upgrade one of the insides to a balcony room, so we were directly across from each other.  

 

I just emailed them today to ask about booking our next cruise, in May 2019, to Bermuda.  

 

I was told "based on our past play, the best we can offer is a 20% casino discount on an Inside room"?  I asked how and why our comps would decrease so dramatically, especially since the last cruise we took was 3 months ago in which we did a fair amount of play in the casino.  Waiting to hear back from them on some silly BS algorithm I'm sure, but wanted to post here since you guys are 20x more knowledgeable.  Does this make any sense at all?  

Of all my 7 NCL cruises, the first was a balcony comp from a local casino, 5 were balcony comps from CAS, and the last was a Haven Spa suite comp also from CAS on a 10 day Italy coastal cruise going on 2 years ago. On the first day of this last cruise I hit a jackpot for $7,500 which supplied my usual amount of money that I gamble on a cruise and the remainder came home with me which was not a huge amount. In between all my NCL comped cruises I could not begin to count the email cabin comp offers I would get from CAS, but following my Italy cruise I have not heard a peep from them. Interestingly, after not sailing with Princess for 8 years which I did 6 cruises with them the only perks I was lucky to get from the same amount of play that I would do on NCL was a free specialty dinner or a drink or two while playing in the casino. Don't think back then Princess was offering cruise comps or discounts, and that is the reason I jumped ship to NCL. Last year out of the blue I got an email from Princess  after no sailing with them for 8 years a balcony comp offer on a number of cruises and decided to take up the comp offer on a 10 day Caribbean cruise sailing at the end of this month. Since making that booking over 8 months ago Princess continues to send me balcony cabin comp offers.

 

Moral of the story, when you think you have figured out the cabin comp system then comes the monkey wrench that upsets that apple cart. I think in my case with regards to CAS tossing me to the curb was because I was a decent winner on my last cruise with them, and I  had the same thing happen to me with Foxwoods land casino. Last February Foxwoods began sending me weekly free play of a few hundred dollars and my husband and I decided to take a ride up to play a bit and to have dinner to celebrate both our birthdays that month. With that free play I hit nearly a $16,000 jackpot on a penny progressive slot not even playing max, and after that the free play that I had for the remaining weeks of February disappeared and I have not heard from them or been back since.

 

You may think you played a good deal on your last NCL cruises which you likely did, but if you consistently won a good amount of your play back you become a winner and not a looser. And casinos don't like consistent winners they like and cater to consistent losers which is why they remain in business.

 

Might be worth your time and effort to call CAS back which you will likely get a different agent who will likely give you an entirely different offer which could be better than the one you have been currently offered.

Edited January 3, 2019 by Nightengale31
word add

[MrMike45]

I believe you are right.  

 

The last cruise in October, both I and my wife did fairly well, and overall we finished up about $2500 in the casino.  

 

The CAS rep explained to me that based on our previous play on the last cruise our theoretical win/loss only qualifies us for a 20% comp on an inside room.  I asked about the 16 other cruises we were on, why those are not factored in?  And why winning a few bucks (not a jackpot or anything huge) would cause our comps to drop so dramatically?  Here response was the canned "this is the company guidelines and procedure".

 

I forwarded the email to a CAS supervisor I have worked with in the past.  If he does nothing, and the best they can offer me is 20% on an inside room only...definitely time to look into other cruise lines 

[stampincrazyinTX]

5 hours ago, MrMike45 said:

We have been on 17 cruises with NCL within the last 7 years.  All except the first one was booked thru CAS with comped/discounted rooms.  

 

Our last 6 cruises, between my and my wife's play we were comped either an Ocean View or Balcony room.  And paid an admin fee to upgrade to a Balcony or Mini-Suite.  

 

Our last cruise was in October 2018.  We were again comped an Ocean View.  We were taking our son on his first cruise, and my mother who is disabled.  We traded in the OV comp for 2 Inside room comps.  And then paid to upgrade one of the insides to a balcony room, so we were directly across from each other.  

 

I just emailed them today to ask about booking our next cruise, in May 2019, to Bermuda.  

 

I was told "based on our past play, the best we can offer is a 20% casino discount on an Inside room"?  I asked how and why our comps would decrease so dramatically, especially since the last cruise we took was 3 months ago in which we did a fair amount of play in the casino.  Waiting to hear back from them on some silly BS algorithm I'm sure, but wanted to post here since you guys are 20x more knowledgeable.  Does this make any sense at all?  

Call back and try for a different agent.  I've called 3 times in the past 2 weeks and got a different 'offer' from each of them.  First agent offered a comp room, Second agent said all she could do was a 20% on an inside and the third agent said he could do a 20% discount on anything up to and including a mini-suite.  These were all for the same date, same sailing, same ship, same everything...the only different thing was the agent I was speaking with.  With the third agent, I pushed back and asked how 'based on my play' my offer could have changed in less than 2 weeks.  I told him that the agent I previously spoke with said we qualified for a comp and could he please look into that.  After several minutes of 'keyboard clicking' noises, he came back and said 'oh, oh, I see it now.  Yes, you do have a comp on your account.'  SMH.  So frustrating.  

 

I would highly recommend calling back and trying someone else.  Maybe third time will be the charm like mine was 🙂

[Sunseeker810]

Sadly, when they offer us only 20%off is is not worth it.  They take off 20% but then they add their service fee on top of that.  So, in reality, not much savings at all. 

 

I too tried for Bermuda and was told only 20% off.  Although, they would let me have an inside to the Caribbean. 

[MrMike45]

Going to let this simmer for a bit and then try again next week.  The supervisor has yet to answer my email, which honestly, I'm not hopeful will happen.  

 

Thanks for the advice.  Will keep you posted if our offer magically changes the next time I try.  

[stampincrazyinTX]

I've never been on a Bermuda cruise so please forgive my ignorance.  Does the casino stay open for those three days while you're docked in Bermuda?  If not, perhaps that has something to do with only being offered the 20% off?  Perhaps they don't see enough casino revenue on those cruises.  Who knows!  

[Sunseeker810]

Bermuda is very popular.  The casino opens at 9pm while in port.  It is very busy in there.  I guess that we Bostonian's like to gamble!  Actually, I think that I prefer the Caribbean because the casino is far less crowded.  

[Nightengale31]

1 hour ago, stampincrazyinTX said:

I've never been on a Bermuda cruise so please forgive my ignorance.  Does the casino stay open for those three days while you're docked in Bermuda?  If not, perhaps that has something to do with only being offered the 20% off?  Perhaps they don't see enough casino revenue on those cruises.  Who knows!  

Yes, Bermuda is a very popular cruise for all lines that do it mainly because so many from the northeast that don't care to fly to the port can drive or take a bus or train to the ports in NY, NJ, and Boston. I did an NCL Bermuda cruise on the Breakaway several years back which was a new ship at the time and this was it's 3rd sailing. CAS comped me a spa minisuite for this cruise likely because I had lost a boatload of money in the casino on my previous NCL cruise. It was a wonderful cruise on a wonderful ship, and even though I live only an hour ride to Boston it was worth the almost 3 hour drive to NY to cruise on this ship. And, it was so nice after getting in at 7:00 am we were back in R.I. at 11:am.

 

I have done just about every Caribbean cruise, Alaska, Panama Canal, and Italy and my Bermuda cruise still remains one of my favorites.

Edited January 4, 2019 by Nightengale31
spelling error

[MrMike45]

We've been to Bermuda 4 times.  Our favorite itinerary.  

 

Our last cruise to Bermuda was in Sept 2017, full comp Balcony room.  

[riddle]

I have about 35 comped cruises from CAS.  They have ranged from balcony to inside, mostly inside.  I have upgraded and I have kept the insides.  Just depends.

 

If this happens to me I will probably continue to cruise NCL, pay for the cruise outright (inside) and not gamble.  I will take my gambling to Vegas.

 

You might want to try URComped for your next cruise.  I am going with them in 2 weeks on MSC.  I paid $400 down but will get it back when on the cruise in onboard credit.  I also have free drinks in the casino and was upgraded to a balcony from an inside for 0 dollars.

[Sand and Seas]

14 minutes ago, riddle said:

You might want to try URComped for your next cruise.  I am going with them in 2 weeks on MSC.  I paid $400 down but will get it back when on the cruise in onboard credit.  I also have free drinks in the casino and was upgraded to a balcony from an inside for 0 dollars.

Can you tell us what kind of cabin URComped got you on MSC?

After your return, please come back and give us a comparison of their casino to NCL's. 

Have a great cruise

[MrMike45]

I've seen alot about people using URcomped but never signed up.  Not even sure how it works exactly?  How do they track your play? 

Edited January 7, 2019 by MrMike45

[Casino Comp Chick]

22 hours ago, MrMike45 said:

I've seen alot about people using URcomped but never signed up.  Not even sure how it works exactly?  How do they track your play? 

 

If you have sailed with NCL within the last 18 months a junket company cannot book you with them NCL basically own you, they however can book you on Celebrity, Royal, MSC etc. You would have to upload a current cruise comp offer from another casino and/or your players cards from land casinos showing a high tier. After your first sailing with them they base your next comp on the play you did on your previous sailing through them. 

I am using them in March on the Anthem, even though I got direct offers from Royal none of them were out of Bayonne so I booked through URComped to get the ship and date I wanted.

[MrMike45]

1 hour ago, Casino Comp Chick said:

 

If you have sailed with NCL within the last 18 months a junket company cannot book you with them NCL basically own you, they however can book you on Celebrity, Royal, MSC etc. You would have to upload a current cruise comp offer from another casino and/or your players cards from land casinos showing a high tier. After your first sailing with them they base your next comp on the play you did on your previous sailing through them. 

I am using them in March on the Anthem, even though I got direct offers from Royal none of them were out of Bayonne so I booked through URComped to get the ship and date I wanted.

 

Thank you for the info CCC.  What do you mean by a current cruise comp?  Would that be my wonderful 20% off an inside room email I got from the CAS rep I spoke with?  

 

Can I upload my casino card from the last cruise we took on the GEM back in October (I think it was a blue card)?  Or is it only land based casino cards they accept?  Since we have been cruising the past 7 years, our trips to AC and Vegas have been far less frequent, so I'm not even sure what tier level (or how many cards I still have for that matter) would be.  

[Casino Comp Chick]

20 hours ago, MrMike45 said:

 

Thank you for the info CCC.  What do you mean by a current cruise comp?  Would that be my wonderful 20% off an inside room email I got from the CAS rep I spoke with?  

 

Can I upload my casino card from the last cruise we took on the GEM back in October (I think it was a blue card)?  Or is it only land based casino cards they accept?  Since we have been cruising the past 7 years, our trips to AC and Vegas have been far less frequent, so I'm not even sure what tier level (or how many cards I still have for that matter) would be.  

 

Yes if you are Sapphire definitely send a copy of your card over but I was referring to the postcards NCL sends and/or any land based certificate. 

 

 

[MrMike45]

Oh ok.  Will wait for the next post card we receive in the mail and sign up along with our player card info.  

 

Thanks for the tip!