Charge to play NCL Slot Machines?

[Petersonfcu]

Ships in the Carnival cruise family allow you to transfer money from your shipboard account to a slot machine without any sort of fee.   Is this also true with the slots on Norwegian cruise ships?  Sorry if this has been asked and answered before . . . I did do some searching but to no avail.

[EaglesWin]

42 minutes ago, Petersonfcu said:

Ships in the Carnival cruise family allow you to transfer money from your shipboard account to a slot machine without any sort of fee.   Is this also true with the slots on Norwegian cruise ships?  Sorry if this has been asked and answered before . . . I did do some searching but to no avail.

 

Yes.

[esm54687]

Fee is 3% of the amount transferred per transaction

[1025cruise]

I just bring cash...

[dznymom]

Unless you are a higher tier player (which you probably are not since this seems to be your first NCL cruise) you will incur a 3% fee.  I bring cash and use the ATM if I run out (which I did last cruise haha).  The ATM fee was only $5.99 which is peanuts compared to  Vegas!

Edited July 13, 2019 by dznymom
typos

[Petersonfcu]

30 minutes ago, esm54687 said:

Fee is 3% of the amount transferred per transaction

So if I sit down at a slot machine, put my ship card into the machine, and transfer $100 into the machine, my onboard account will be charged $103?    I understand that if you go to an ATM or to the casino cage for cash you will be charged a fee, but I am talking about a direct electronic transfer from your ship account into the slot machine.   On Carnival ships this direct transfer is fee free.  Hopefully, someone can say "I have actually done this on a Norwegian ship, and the answer is . . . "

 

Thanks!  

Edited July 13, 2019 by Petersonfcu

[esm54687]

22 minutes ago, Petersonfcu said:

So if I sit down at a slot machine, put my ship card into the machine, and transfer $100 into the machine, my onboard account will be charged $103?    I understand that if you go to an ATM or to the casino cage for cash you will be charged a fee, but I am talking about a direct electronic transfer from your ship account into the slot machine.   On Carnival ships this direct transfer is fee free.  Hopefully, someone can say "I have actually done this on a Norwegian ship, and the answer is . . . "

 

Thanks!

 

"I have actually done this on a Norwegian ship, and the answer is..." EXACTLY AS I SAID 

 

I completely understood your question and answered it

 

Edited July 13, 2019 by esm54687

[Petersonfcu]

1 hour ago, esm54687 said:

 

"I have actually done this on a Norwegian ship, and the answer is..." EXACTLY AS I SAID 

 

I completely understood your question and answered it

 

Wow.  No need to get so defensive.  There was contradictory info here given the post by EaglesWin above.

[BirdTravels]

2 hours ago, Petersonfcu said:

So if I sit down at a slot machine, put my ship card into the machine, and transfer $100 into the machine, my onboard account will be charged $103?    I understand that if you go to an ATM or to the casino cage for cash you will be charged a fee, but I am talking about a direct electronic transfer from your ship account into the slot machine.   On Carnival ships this direct transfer is fee free.  Hopefully, someone can say "I have actually done this on a Norwegian ship, and the answer is . . . " Thanks!  

Yes. As clearly stated, it is a 3% fee (ignoring the person that said "Yes" it is free,,,, since they were 100% incorrect). It shows up as a ship charge, so it does not appear as a cash advance on your credit card at the end of the cruise. Royal charges a 5% fee. 

 

So consider, if you advance $500, you pay a $15 service charge. If you went to the ATM, it is a $5.99 service charge. So, unless you are really advancing only $100 (in which case, you should just bring cash), use the ATM machine. 

 

Upper tier casino players get the fee waived. 

Edited July 14, 2019 by BirdTravels

[Petersonfcu]

Thank you for the detail and the comparison with the ATM charge.  In the past, I have sometimes run a significant amount of money through the casino, so 1) bringing cash is not really an option and 2) I really want minimal fees.

[pcakes122]

Also, not a guarantee, but while you will be charged to transfer money to the slots, even if you don't have a play history with NCL the casino host/hostess may remove the charges from your bill at the end of the cruise if (as you said) you run a significant amount of $$$ through the casinos.  I think you can easily expect to have "convenience" charges waived with a $5K or more loss.  Once you have a play history with NCL, you will be ranked as part of their casino tier system and you will be eligible for zero convenience fees on future cruises.

[esm54687]

8 hours ago, Petersonfcu said:

Wow.  No need to get so defensive.  There was contradictory info here given the post by EaglesWin above.

Not defensive at all... just wanted to make sure I answered your question again in the exact format you requested. 

[newmexicoNita]

11 hours ago, Petersonfcu said:

So if I sit down at a slot machine, put my ship card into the machine, and transfer $100 into the machine, my onboard account will be charged $103?    I understand that if you go to an ATM or to the casino cage for cash you will be charged a fee, but I am talking about a direct electronic transfer from your ship account into the slot machine.   On Carnival ships this direct transfer is fee free.  Hopefully, someone can say "I have actually done this on a Norwegian ship, and the answer is . . . "

 

Thanks!  

Yes, this is correct. I think the first line I saw do this was Holland America about 15 years ago. As far as I know most others have followed suit. 

[Petersonfcu]

10 hours ago, esm54687 said:

Not defensive at all... just wanted to make sure I answered your question again in the exact format you requested. 

WELL OK THEN!!!!!!

Edited July 14, 2019 by Petersonfcu

[Petersonfcu]

9 hours ago, newmexicoNita said:

Yes, this is correct. I think the first line I saw do this was Holland America about 15 years ago. As far as I know most others have followed suit. 

deleted

Edited July 14, 2019 by Petersonfcu

[DanSgt]

One other option to incur no fees, is to start a line of credit. The form is on the NCL site and I have used this way several times. On the last evening I write the casino cage a check for the exact amount I withdrew during the trip.

[SpeedDaemon]

So does this also imply that the casino can be used to get any remaining OBC back in cash at the end of the cruise for a 3% fee by transferring the exact amount left and immediately cashing out?

[esm54687]

On 7/15/2019 at 10:35 AM, SpeedDaemon said:

So does this also imply that the casino can be used to get any remaining OBC back in cash at the end of the cruise for a 3% fee by transferring the exact amount left and immediately cashing out?

Yes

[Phildel]

I have a question on using cash for slots. does it have to be  dollars ?. As we are from the UK just wanted to check if I need to exchange some currency to dollars before leaving. We will also have money in euros for use ashore as we will be on a med cruise on the Jade. Thanks

[bobsfamily]

5 hours ago, Phildel said:

I have a question on using cash for slots. does it have to be  dollars ?. As we are from the UK just wanted to check if I need to exchange some currency to dollars before leaving. We will also have money in euros for use ashore as we will be on a med cruise on the Jade. Thanks

I would, I think all NCL ships accept US dollars only in the casino BUT I could be wrong with a Med cruise.

[BirdTravels]

5 hours ago, Phildel said:

I have a question on using cash for slots. does it have to be  dollars ?. As we are from the UK just wanted to check if I need to exchange some currency to dollars before leaving. We will also have money in euros for use ashore as we will be on a med cruise on the Jade. Thanks

The currency on all NCL ships in all markets is US dollars. The casino only takes US dollars. The ship will exchange currency at a poor exchange rate. 

[ppcox]

5 hours ago, Phildel said:

I have a question on using cash for slots. does it have to be  dollars ?. As we are from the UK just wanted to check if I need to exchange some currency to dollars before leaving. We will also have money in euros for use ashore as we will be on a med cruise on the Jade. Thanks

It’s $ for the casino but you could use the ATM ( all be it for a charge) to get dollars  onboard if you need more. We are on a Med cruise in September and will need to get Euros and dollars. 

[Phildel]

Thanks for the replies. I will make sure I bring some dollars