Casino help!

[kelseysmom21]

Going on a cruise shortly and was wondering what everyone does for the casino.... I really do not  carry that much cash 🙂 thank you all in advance!

[jdc987]

Charge to room key.  Credit card on file.

[kelseysmom21]

Thank you is there any other way that you know of?

 

[NRWPA]

There's an atm on board every ship I've been on

[KarlChilders]

25 minutes ago, kelseysmom21 said:

Thank you is there any other way that you know of?

 

https://www.ncl.com/credit

[kelseysmom21]

Thank you all so much!!!!

[dbrown84]

You can also wire money to NCL to use in the casino.  You won't have to pay the 3% fee to get the cash (like you would if you charge to your room).  You'll have to pay your bank whatever they charge for the wire though

[BirdTravels]

5 hours ago, jdc987 said:

Charge to room key.  Credit card on file.

You would pay a 3% service charge.

 

Let's say I wanted $1000 to play with during my cruise. 

 

$1000 on my room key would result in a $30 service charge to my room account. 

 

If I do two $500 ATM withdrawals, I would pay $5.99 * 2 = $12 ATM fee. 

[newmexicoNita]

17 hours ago, kelseysmom21 said:

Going on a cruise shortly and was wondering what everyone does for the casino.... I really do not  carry that much cash 🙂 thank you all in advance!

You can get money and have it placed on your key card: they do charge 3% just like most other lines do. Or, if you have OBC you can use it: again 3% charge. We do this on almost all NCL cruises. 

[dbrown84]

13 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

You would pay a 3% service charge.

 

Let's say I wanted $1000 to play with during my cruise. 

 

$1000 on my room key would result in a $30 service charge to my room account. 

 

If I do two $500 ATM withdrawals, I would pay $5.99 * 2 = $12 ATM fee. 

plus the fees that your bank will charge you for using another bank's ATM.  In any event, it sill will probably be cheaper than paying the 3%

[Jenner9]

2 hours ago, newmexicoNita said:

You can get money and have it placed on your key card: they do charge 3% just like most other lines do. Or, if you have OBC you can use it: again 3% charge. We do this on almost all NCL cruises. 

You can use your OBC in the casino?

[cdnsteelman]

Without having an idea of your gambling budget / limit (and I have no desire to know, that's personal), I will say I do carry my "lost" money ($2-3K) in cash and put it in the safe. I get many don't feel comfortable carrying large quantities of cash (and many play much more than me). It would seem the 3% convenience fee with your shipboard account or an advance wire to a casino account are the best way to go if you don't want to carry currency.

[cyndyga]

If you download a charge to your room on a slot machine I never was charged any fee just the amount I downloaded charged to room at least on the Breakaway?

[newmexicoNita]

17 hours ago, cyndyga said:

If you download a charge to your room on a slot machine I never was charged any fee just the amount I downloaded charged to room at least on the Breakaway?

We were charged the 3% just a few weeks ago and have always, for the past 5 years about been charged 3% i don't know why you weren't but good for you. 

[newmexicoNita]

20 hours ago, Jenner9 said:

You can use your OBC in the casino?

We always have used it, whether refundable or non refundable Of course they will apply it to refundable OBC first.

 

[Stevio]

I too have been trying to find a definitive answer to onboard credit and the casino for a while now and even after 20 + NCL cruises have not found one. However the following is what I have found to operate on NCL ships.

Refundable OBC  is used to pay your final room account bill at the end of the cruise (just about everything you spend on board is charged to the room account), be it casino, shopping, etc’ and if there is any left over refunded.

Non Refundable credit “officially” cannot be used in the casino. It again is set against the final bill and should be used up before any refundable credit (though not for casino or service charges etc).

If you go to the casino cage and ask for cash to be charged to your room account it will be charged to your refundable OBC or credit card with the addition of a 3% fee at the end of cruise.

If you use your room card or casino card in any slot machine there is a keypad to charge your room. You just enter the last two digits of your year of birth and date and tap in the amount you want. It warns you of a 3% charge and transfers that amount to the slot machine for you to play or cash out. This charge however I have found can be paid with non refundable OBC.

 

So in my experience,  if on the final evening of your cruise you have $100 non refundable credit left in your account and go to the casino desk and take out $100 in cash you will be billed an end of cruise £103 dollars on your credit card and lose the $100 in expired OBC.

If however you go to a slot machine and withdraw $100 which you cash out without playing and present the resulting printed slip to the same casino desk you will have $100 in your hand and be billed an end of cruise $3.

Edited November 9, 2019 by Stevio

[BirdTravels]

18 hours ago, cyndyga said:

If you download a charge to your room on a slot machine I never was charged any fee just the amount I downloaded charged to room at least on the Breakaway?

I suspect that you pulled your key card without printing a voucher. Then picked up that same money on your next machine. That is free.
 

It is when you cash advance against your room you get the 3% fee. Or you spend a tremendous amount of money and the casino waived the fee. 

[drvmywifecrzy]

Line of credit is free to use.  Just set it up in advance of your cruise thru NCL.com  

[sassyshar]

Line of credit (casino credit) is the best way to go.  I find that I play slower and smarter knowing that I have to go to the cashier for more money.      

[Jenner9]

12 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

I suspect that you pulled your key card without printing a voucher. Then picked up that same money on your next machine. That is free.

How do you  use it at the next machine without a fee?  Someone did tell me that if you have a credit on a machine and pull your card out before printing your voucher/coupon that the money goes on your card? Also, is the ship card and casino card the same or is there a separate casino card?

Edited November 10, 2019 by Jenner9

[NRWPA]

1 hour ago, Jenner9 said:

How do you  use it at the next machine without a fee?  Someone did tell me that if you have a credit on a machine and pull your card out before printing your voucher/coupon that the money goes on your card? Also, is the ship card and casino card the same or is there a separate casino card?

I don't know the answer to your first question but can verify the second and answer the third. Yes, if you pull your card before printing a voucher, the money on the machine goes back on your card. For the third question, there is a separate casino card you can get by going to the Host desk and asking - or you can use your cabin card. The advantage to the casino card is that if you order a drink while you're playing you will not have to remove your cabin card from the machine so the server can charge you or your beverage package. If you booked your cruise through the casino, a player card should be in your cabin when you arrive.

[stretch44]

Think there might be a way to not pay any fees if you have the right credit card (although I have not done this yet).  Some travel cards will give you 3% cash back for purchases involving travel.  If that is the card you have on file with NCL, then I think it would be coded as travel and you would receive the 3% fee back as a cash reward from the credit card.

[BirdTravels]

16 hours ago, Jenner9 said:

How do you  use it at the next machine without a fee?  Someone did tell me that if you have a credit on a machine and pull your card out before printing your voucher/coupon that the money goes on your card? Also, is the ship card and casino card the same or is there a separate casino card?

On most ships, if you pull your card before printing a voucher, the credits on the machine will be transferred to you your card. Your ship card and the casino issued cards work the same. 

[echick]

On 11/8/2019 at 12:54 PM, cyndyga said:

If you download a charge to your room on a slot machine I never was charged any fee just the amount I downloaded charged to room at least on the Breakaway?

Same here. We used our card on the slot machine on both the Getaway and the Escape and were never been charged a fee. I thought the 3% was charged if you got the advance while playing a table game

[echick]

On 11/10/2019 at 1:24 PM, stretch44 said:

Think there might be a way to not pay any fees if you have the right credit card (although I have not done this yet).  Some travel cards will give you 3% cash back for purchases involving travel.  If that is the card you have on file with NCL, then I think it would be coded as travel and you would receive the 3% fee back as a cash reward from the credit card.

We've never been charged a convenience fee on NCL no matter what credit card was on file. Just shows as "entertainment charge" on our bill for the exact amount we got. Now, this is while using our card in a slot machine. I thought I may have heard the 3% is charged if you get the cash advanced while playing a table game or through the cashier.