You Can't Always Get What You Want

[UKstages]

this tale may be of more interest to those who regularly book through casinos at sea, NCL’s casino loyalty program which rewards players with discount or “free” cruises. but the struggle to find a suitable room onboard your chosen vessel is universal. so, who knows? others may enjoy this. then again, for those who don’t travel on comped cruises, you might walk away from this not quite understanding what the problem was… in fact, you’ll probably think I passed up a heckuva deal.

 

last december, i had an offer for a “free” 12-night casinos at sea cruise, so i decided to branch out from my usual caribbean and european itineraries and book something a little more exotic. the offer was to have expired on december 15, 2023, with a sail by date of november 3, 2024. that’s unusual… normally CAS booking windows are much shorter.

 

i chose a 12-day new zealand/australia itinerary in march of 2024. i am only a few points away from qualifying for the “elite” casino tier that carries substantial additional benefits, including 1K OBC on each cruise and free unlimited wifi. the annual earning period ends on march 31st, so i was trying to squeeze in another cruise before then.

 

this cruise is on the spirit, which i believe may be NCL’s oldest and smallest ship. i do prefer a larger ship, but i’m not much for water slides and rock climbing and such and the smaller ships can be refreshing. i had a great time in the haven on the gem a year or two ago and figured the spirit would provide a similar experience, even though i would be in a balcony. still, the spirit was a bit of a compromise for me, since i had promised myself that i would only sail the newer, larger ships because they all have nonsmoking casinos. (but the only ship they are running on this itinerary at the moment is the spirit. so, this was to be the eternal classic battle of the itinerary versus the ship.)

[UKstages]

i emailed a CAS rep with whom I had worked in the past, but with whom i didn’t really have an ongoing relationship. i had called CAS a few days earlier to find out what my current offers were and just by random chance, i got him when calling the general CAS line. 

 

(that’s the thing about CAS that is so frustrating… you never know what your offers are unless you call. they will send an email or a snail mail flyer saying you have a “free” room, but they never tell you what level of accommodation you’re rated for, unless you call. every other cruise line not only tells you what your specific offer is, but many of them allow you to book it online, play with dates and choose rooms… but not CAS! during the post-covid restart, i apparently had lots of comped haven offers in my account, but most of them went unused, since i didn’t know until a CAS agent told me.)

 

anyway, i figured i would let this guy book me since i had just spoken to him. I emailed him and told him the cruise i wanted and he placed the cruise on hold. when I went online to look, he had booked me in a room adjacent to the port forward smoking section. other than the casino, that’s pretty much the only place to smoke on the ship. i knew that wasn’t going to work. i can smell people smoking on a balcony two hundred feet away from my balcony… i was pretty sure i’d be miserable being next to the smoking area.  i asked for a cabin change.

[UKstages]

it was at this point that I got an email from united airlines. flights booked to australia and new zealand using miles were on sale! I could fly into auckland and out of sydney and save 30,000 miles! outstanding!

 

my agent came back with a new cabin assignment. he put me in a room directly below the fitness center. i explained that wouldn’t work, either, as i’d hear thumpity thump thump at 6 am, but also 11 pm and 2 am, since they let the entertainers onboard use the gym overnight. then he put me under the pool and then under the buffet and on and on in an endless number of unsuitable rooms. there wasn’t a single balcony room available with rooms above and below. this was well after final payment, but still 90 days out.

 

i even tried the next cruise from sydney to papeete, tahiti, but there was a problem…. papeete only has air lift on certain days of the week. the cruise was disembarking on a wednesday, i believe, and i couldn’t fly home until thursday or friday. and resort hotel rooms were going for astronomical prices, if they even let you book just one or two nights.

[UKstages]

then I got the rather clever idea that I would just stay on the ship… do a back to back. I love B2Bs. I would continue on to honolulu on the same ship! it would be a great opportunity to visit several hawaiian islands. hawaii is normally not on the table for CAS customers, since the pride of america doesn’t have a casino. the spirit would be traveling internationally, though, and therefore has a casino, and thus able to provide access for CAS guests to four hawaiian islands. perfect! 

 

sadly, once again, there were no decent rooms left on either of these cruises and i wasn’t about to spend 24 days onboard under the fitness center or adjacent to the smoking area. so I abandoned my plans for new zealand, australia, the south pacific and hawaii.

[UKstages]

then I turned my attention to a 15-day panama canal cruise on the bliss… miami to LA (san pedro) or LA to miami… whichever i could get on. i had been on the bliss before, in its debut year, and i enjoyed it. this time i reached out to another CAS cruise consultant with whom I had developed some rapport. i explained that my offer was for a 12-day cruise, this was a 15-day cruise, and so i asked her to please see what she could do with a BOP offer. (BOP is NCL jargon for a play-based offer… “based on play.")

 

she placed something on hold and when i looked at the reservation, i was shocked at the price. now, normally, I can do a ten or twelve-day cruise for about $700 per person, including FAS gratuities, port fees and taxes, plus the absurd CAS admin fee of $20 a day. (that’s what the typical “free” cruise costs. ) i usually have a cruise first $500 certificate or two banked in my account, making my immediate out of pocket cost a little more than $200 as a solo traveler.

 

the quote for the panama canal cruise was nearly $2500. now, to be fair, port fees and taxes on that itinerary are quite high… but not two grand high! for the three days that weren’t covered by my CAS offer i would be charged nearly two thousand dollars. i simply couldn’t justify that, especially since they were willing to give me twenty-four days (on the B2B) for “free.” made absolutely no sense that I could get twenty-four days - or even thirty-six days on a B2B2B - comped, but a fifteen-day cruise would cost me $2500.

[UKstages]

and that’s how I would up on a ten-day cruise on the getaway embarking tomorrow. 

 

it’s to the caribbean, to ports I’ve been to many times, including many i just visited on the joy three months ago. but it’s in a club balcony (which must have been a proactive BOP upgrade on the part of the rep, since my offer was technically only for a balcony).

 

i hear australia, new zealand, tahiti, hawaii and the panama canal are lovely this time of year. but I’ll be going to bermuda (weather permitting), st. thomas, st maarten, san juan and puerto plata. (well, heck, I suppose all those ports are weather permitting, but bermuda is especially prone to cancellation right now.)

 

you can’t always get what you want.

 

but if you try sometimes, you just might find that you get what you need.

[schmoopie17]

2 minutes ago, UKstages said:

 

you can’t always get what you want.

 

but if you try sometimes, you just might find that you get what you need.

That song will now be in my head for the next week. But because it was the theme song for one of my favorite movies, "The Big Chill"...it's all good.

[vacation44]

@UKstagesHave a wonderful cruise.   

 

Where you able to secure Vibe passes?

[UKstages]

thanks.

 

i typically use OBC for the vibe, so i can't purchase in advance. i am one of those who does a mad scramble when embarkation begins. i'm sapphire, so i can usually get on right after haven. i live a short distance from the manhattan cruise terminal, have an early check in time, and will walk to the pier. so, i should be fine. as of a few days ago, the vibe was still available online (not sold out), which i found interesting. it's a port intensive cruise, but i still figured it would be sold out since it's a caribbean itinerary.

[TenForward]

9 hours ago, UKstages said:

thanks.

 

i typically use OBC for the vibe, so i can't purchase in advance. i am one of those who does a mad scramble when embarkation begins. i'm sapphire, so i can usually get on right after haven. i live a short distance from the manhattan cruise terminal, have an early check in time, and will walk to the pier. so, i should be fine. as of a few days ago, the vibe was still available online (not sold out), which i found interesting. it's a port intensive cruise, but i still figured it would be sold out since it's a caribbean itinerary.

Good luck getting Vibe passes and have a wonderful cruise!  Would love any info on activities/entertainment. We're on this almost identical cruise in April. 

[Faulkh]

I just love that song and will be humming it all day. Enjoy your cruise,  best wishes on securing the vibe and play until you get to the next level. Have fun!

[itsnotjustme]

I must say the process of getting from an idea for a cruise to pulling the trigger is somewhat exhilarating.  It can also be a pain.  But as an analytical person I am looking at:

 

- Itinerary

- Dates

- Cabin type and availability (generally balcony or club balacony - rarely a suite when priced right)

- Cost per person per day

- Special offers from my travel agent (like free gratuities or extra airline reward miles)

- Special offers from NCL like extra latitudes points (Thanks to extras I am Sapphire now)

- Airfare

- Pre-cruise hotel

- Pre-cruise activities

 

When it all comes together, then it is time to book!

 

[JGmf]

15 hours ago, UKstages said:

(that’s the thing about CAS that is so frustrating… you never know what your offers are unless you call. they will send an email or a snail mail flyer saying you have a “free” room, but they never tell you what level of accommodation you’re rated for, unless you call. every other cruise line not only tells you what your specific offer is, but many of them allow you to book it online, play with dates and choose rooms… but not CAS! during the post-covid restart, i apparently had lots of comped haven offers in my account, but most of them went unused, since i didn’t know until a CAS agent told me.)

 

Yes, amazingly frustrating that CAS is so opaque about their offers.  I'm assuming it's b/c they like being the gatekeeper, shaving offers or enhancing them behind the scenes, allowing them to modulate CAS bookings as they see fit.

 

It's driven me to Princess -- not exactly convenient b/c I love sailing out of NYC -- but they are way more generous; and I can book online with full knowledge of all my offers.  What I get from Princess Casinos more than offsets the flight costs and travel times for Florida embarkation.

 

Enjoy your cruise @UKstages!

 

[PartyPlannerLady]

But if you try sometime you just might find that you get what you need!

[ontheweb]

39 minutes ago, PartyPlannerLady said:

But if you try sometime you just might find that you get what you need!

But can you get any SATISFACTION?

[complawyer]

go and ask ruby tuesday or take one of mother's little helper's

[JandC_Cruising]

35 minutes ago, ontheweb said:

But can you get any SATISFACTION?

Sure, but no SYMPATHY FOR THE DEVIL!

😈

[complawyer]

how off topic can we get? LOL  after you paint it black, get off of my cloud, and bring me back some brown sugar to share with jumpin jack flash

[vacation44]

On 1/26/2024 at 11:46 PM, UKstages said:

thanks.

 

i typically use OBC for the vibe, so i can't purchase in advance. i am one of those who does a mad scramble when embarkation begins. i'm sapphire, so i can usually get on right after haven. i live a short distance from the manhattan cruise terminal, have an early check in time, and will walk to the pier. so, i should be fine. as of a few days ago, the vibe was still available online (not sold out), which i found interesting. it's a port intensive cruise, but i still figured it would be sold out since it's a caribbean itinerary.

Hope you are having a wonderful time so far.

 

Were you successful in obtaining the Vibe pass?

[Travel R]

Hope you are enjoying yourself, but seems like these are being booked last minute, so it is more of a matter of what inventory remaining vs. what you want.  Not sure how CAS works, but if you looked for something in a few months (or next year), I would guess that you would have had a much larger selection of rooms on desired ships/itineraries.

[libtrek]

On 1/26/2024 at 6:49 PM, schmoopie17 said:

That song will now be in my head for the next week. But because it was the theme song for one of my favorite movies, "The Big Chill"...it's all good.

I too now have a song stuck in my head. Have fun.

[smillerholmes]

On 1/26/2024 at 6:40 PM, UKstages said:

last december, i had an offer for a “free” 12-night casinos at sea cruise, so i decided to branch out from my usual caribbean and european itineraries and book something a little more exotic. the offer was to have expired on december 15, 2023, with a sail by date of november 3, 2024. that’s unusual… normally CAS booking windows are much shorter.

 

i chose a 12-day new zealand/australia itinerary in march of 2024. i am only a few points away from qualifying for the “elite” casino tier that carries substantial additional benefits, including 1K OBC on each cruise and free unlimited wifi. the annual earning period ends on march 31st, so i was trying to squeeze in another cruise before then.

 

this cruise is on the spirit, which i believe may be NCL’s oldest and smallest ship. i do prefer a larger ship, but i’m not much for water slides and rock climbing and such and the smaller ships can be refreshing. i had a great time in the haven on the gem a year or two ago and figured the spirit would provide a similar experience, even though i would be in a balcony. still, the spirit was a bit of a compromise for me, since i had promised myself that i would only sail the newer, larger ships because they all have nonsmoking casinos. (but the only ship they are running on this itinerary at the moment is the spirit. so, this was to be the eternal classic battle of the itinerary versus the ship.)

This sounds so much like my first experience with CAS - finding out I had won a free cruise, must be taken by 12/31, 10-days, no Hawaii.  The only way I could make that cruise work was to add it as a B2B on the Getaway with my already booked cruise to Bermuda. 

 

As it turns out alot of things are dependent on whatever witchcraft they use to form the offers. No Hawaii? Because I was told that, I booked a cruise on the Spirit through my regular PCC, only to find out they can comp the Spirit because of the casino.  A savings of 5K.  10-days? Eh, not really - you want to do a 20-day Panama Canal - no problem.  

 

So now I only ask what my offers are as a starting point.  

 

Agreed it is maddening calling CAS - but I cannot lie, it is worth it.  Especially since I primarily travel solo; not having to worry about timing the single supplement and all that entails.  It's a blessing so I deal with the mental pain and have multiple options in front of me ready to go when I call.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

[cygnets]

Just for future reference the Spirit is a non smoking Casino. When they made her upgrade to adult cruise ship and did away with all kids clubs they revamped the casino and made a smoking cube room that is up stairs from main casino and it works. No smoke smell in the casino. 

[Nola26]

I actually like calling the casino department directly to find out what cruise offers are available. In many cases I've had offers that I didn't pick up or know about. I've also been able to book Christmas week cruises that were normally blocked.

 

What I don't like are the significantly reduced hours for the department, M-F and the admin fee, what a money grab. Celebrity nor Holland America charged such a fee. Princess wanted a $200 account deposit per person that would be OBC once I board, but I had no plans to spend that amount of money onboard so I didn't book with them, certificate gave me a choice Princess or Holland America.

[UKstages]

On 1/30/2024 at 11:06 AM, PartyPlannerLady said:

But if you try sometime you just might find that you get what you need!

 

yes, indeed, as noted in post #6.

 

On 1/30/2024 at 1:26 PM, vacation44 said:

Were you successful in obtaining the Vibe pass?

 

in brief, yes. 

 

but it was a bit of a comedy of errors. or a tragedy of errors, more accurately.

 

as a sapphire, i boarded in new york at about 11:20 am. i got a big kick out of the clueless contract employee at the MCT who told those waiting in the diamond and sapphire area to be patient... that we'd be next, right after he lets the platinum folks on. needless to say there was practically an uprising; the sapphires were ready to storm the bastille. one of his colleagues schooled him and let him know it was the other way around.

 

once onboard, i went straight to teppanyaki and headliners, as one does when one wants to purchase vibe passes. there was no vibe table set up. i asked a couple of people where they were selling vibe passes. neither of them knew what the vibe was. i went to guest services, where i asked a woman holding a directional sign sending people to "restaurant reservations." she also said she didn't know what the vibe was, but she put her sign down and said she would find out. she came back and said, yes, it's at guest services. "wait in this line and you can purchase one." so, i wait fifteen minutes or so to get to the head of the line and the rep says, "oh, sorry, sir, the vibe is all sold out for this cruise."  to which i say, "are you sure? because up until a couple of days ago, when the cruise was closed for online sales, there were still passes available. and the NCL internal knowledge base says that you hold a small number of passes for sale on embarkation day. i was here at 11:20... how could the vibe be sold out?"

 

he said he would check. he goes in the back, to that mysterious place where a team of supervisors and managers hold court and issue approvals and denials for all manner of customer requests. he comes back and says, "yes, i am so sorry, sir, the vibe is completely sold out for this sailing." and then he leans in and says sotto voce, "sir, trust me, you don't really want the vibe. you will be much happier in spice H2O. it is the same as the vibe and it is complimentary."

 

my first thought about this was: damn! there is no barrier to the bird's influence ... the bird has corrupted and trained NCL employees to see no value in the vibe! i explained it wasn't the same and that i wanted the vibe because there were no kids, no crowds, no noise and no smoking.

 

i wrote a quick note to the GM and dropped it in the "dear mario" box. maybe he can help me get a vibe pass!

 

that first night in the casino, an executive host recognized me from having sailed with her on the prima last may. she asked if i needed anything or if she could do anything for me. i said, "well, actually, yes, i'm being told the vibe is sold out. can you get me in?" she said she would try. now, typically, the hosts in the casino have no real power beyond getting restaurant reservations or comping a meal or sending a cheese plate or whatnot to your cabin. so, i had no realistic expectation that she would be successful. but she was! about an hour later she came back with the name of a guest services supervisor i was to talk to the next morning. he would sell me a vibe pass and a comment had been made on my account so anybody at guest services would be able to help me.
 

the next morning i headed to guest services and a different rep told me that the vibe was sold out. i asked her to look at the note on my account and call the GS supervisor. she did and she did. he arrived and also tried to talk me out of the vibe! "sir, the weather is so bad, i don't really think you will enjoy it. I hate to see you waste your money. have you considered that spice H2O has everything the vibe has at no charge?"

 

the bird!

 

he reluctantly sells me the pass, when i explain i'm using OBC and he says something about wishing he was living my life. this is day 2 of the cruise and there is just one problem... the vibe is closed because of the weather. heavy rains and winds, which caused the cancellation of the port call to bermuda (as predicted). and it's closed the next day, as well. on day 4, a sea day, it's finally open. and my key card worked and all was good.  except the weather wasn't very good... low 60s, a heavy mist and wind, followed by a torrential rain that effectively closed the vibe again around 3 or 4 PM. today, day 5, was lovely. i spent most of the day in the vibe, as we were in port in saint maarten.

 

here's where things get interesting:

 

i never heard from the GM.

 

and i asked one of the bartenders what the count was... how many people had vibe access on this sailing. he said they were at 127 out of a capacity of 267. so, the vibe wasn't sold out! even if you add me as the 128th person, the vibe was only at about 50% capacity. i think they stopped offering the vibe to anyone who hadn't pre-purchased simply because they knew the weather would be bad and they didn't want to deal with complaints and requests for refunds.

 

that's my story and i'm stickin' to it.

 

On 1/30/2024 at 1:35 PM, Travel R said:

Not sure how CAS works, but if you looked for something in a few months (or next year), I would guess that you would have had a much larger selection of rooms on desired ships/itineraries.

 

yes, of course. typically, the CAS offers have more narrow booking windows and don't allow booking a year in advance. six months, perhaps, but rarely a year. and these were the last NZ and australian cruises of the season. i might try again next month for the same dates... it's possible there may have been some cancellations.

 

 

Edited February 1 by UKstages