3% fee in casinos - read & contribute if you JUST got back from a cruise

[thecoop]

I'm just off the Grandeur and they were charging the 3% fee for getting cash in the casino.

 

I was on same cruise, definitely a sign there stating they will charge. Now I did join a blackjack tournament for $20 and used my seapass card to pay for it and was not charged 3%.

[Bakincakes]

Oh, right. Like corporate bean counters couldn't have figured out a way to charge pax without CC...... :rolleyes: :rolleyes: :rolleyes: .

 

It was a way to increase charges - like charging $14.95 for steak alternate. Like stopping pax from bringing wine on board. Plain and simple.

 

All these services/policies have been part of cruising for years - free alternatives to the offerings in MDR, cash from the casino, ability to bring alcohol on board. And any so called "abuses" of said pax benefits have gone on for years.

 

These changes are all part of the current trend to keep RCI profits high. A business principle that I certainly understand (until you drive your customer base away anyway :D ). But call it what it is. Don't try to blame the pax for goodness sake! :rolleyes:

 

 

Cruiselines are businesses that are in the business of making a profit. Wouldn't make much sense to be in business unless that is your goal.

 

RCI doesn't allow alcohol to be brought on board. You can argue that is because of the stiff payouts they have made from lawsuits or because alcohol is a good chunk of the profit they make. Smugglers eat into that profit,despite what they wish to believe, so the rest of the pax will pay more for drinks to make up that difference.

 

Offering meals for a "fee" in the MDR probably won't make much profit at first. There is limited seating in specialties and pax who bring small kids may want to have "upscale" meals without having to sit through a long dinner in Chops or Portofino. Other pax may enjoy the MDR and may also wish to purchase special meals. It should be up to them. If people are willing to pay for them, why not?

 

Pax increasingly want more choices and cruiselines will do their best to offer them and will charge for them if they can get away with it. Obviously one of the areas that has been dumbed down is the fare in the MDR. RCI is probably losing pax because of this and are looking to up the ante by offering better meals for a price. Good.

 

Cruising is changing. There are alot of things that have been part of cruising for "years". Like formal nights...midnight buffets...etc. Pax never needed to be told what was appropriate dress for the MDR. Now they need to be given guidelines that they don't bother with anyway.

 

I like the Cunard way of doing things on a ship. Let pax choose what kind of vacation they want. Charge them for their cabins and let them choose a meal plan. Everyone gets what they want.:)

[cruizinmimi]

Just got off the Mariner 2 weeks ago and YES, they charged 3%. Here is my gripe:mad:

1. Go on cruise with $250 OBC waiting for us. That is my money, not rcl's money.

2. Along about mid week after a show one night, decide to go into the Casino and see if we can win some money. We only have our seapass card with us...money is in cabin safe.

3. Go to Roulette table and ask for $50 in chips and they ask for the seapass card. When we signed the paper, there was the 3% charge.

My gripe is that if you have an OBC showing and you are playing at a table, "Why are they charging you 3% to use your own money":mad:

MORAL - Next time, we will take the time to go to our cabin and get the money out of the safe. This is just not right royal caribbean. It's just not right!:mad:

[cruizinmimi]

Cruiselines are businesses that are in the business of making a profit. Wouldn't make much sense to be in business unless that is your goal.

 

RCI doesn't allow alcohol to be brought on board. You can argue that is because of the stiff payouts they have made from lawsuits or because alcohol is a good chunk of the profit they make. Smugglers eat into that profit,despite what they wish to believe, so the rest of the pax will pay more for drinks to make up that difference.

 

Offering meals for a "fee" in the MDR probably won't make much profit at first. There is limited seating in specialties and pax who bring small kids may want to have "upscale" meals without having to sit through a long dinner in Chops or Portofino. Other pax may enjoy the MDR and may also wish to purchase special meals. It should be up to them. If people are willing to pay for them, why not?

 

Pax increasingly want more choices and cruiselines will do their best to offer them and will charge for them if they can get away with it. Obviously one of the areas that has been dumbed down is the fare in the MDR. RCI is probably losing pax because of this and are looking to up the ante by offering better meals for a price. Good.

 

Cruising is changing. There are alot of things that have been part of cruising for "years". Like formal nights...midnight buffets...etc. Pax never needed to be told what was appropriate dress for the MDR. Now they need to be given guidelines that they don't bother with anyway.

 

I like the Cunard way of doing things on a ship. Let pax choose what kind of vacation they want. Charge them for their cabins and let them choose a meal plan. Everyone gets what they want.:)

 

Please try and stay on the "subject" that the OP intended:)

[Bakincakes]

Please try and stay on the "subject" that the OP intended:)

 

 

Of course . My apologies.:)

 

 

Next.

[mjyanne]

Just got off the Mariner 2 weeks ago and YES, they charged 3%. Here is my gripe:mad:

 

1. Go on cruise with $250 OBC waiting for us. That is my money, not rcl's money.

2. Along about mid week after a show one night, decide to go into the Casino and see if we can win some money. We only have our seapass card with us...money is in cabin safe.

3. Go to Roulette table and ask for $50 in chips and they ask for the seapass card. When we signed the paper, there was the 3% charge.

 

My gripe is that if you have an OBC showing and you are playing at a table, "Why are they charging you 3% to use your own money":mad:

 

MORAL - Next time, we will take the time to go to our cabin and get the money out of the safe. This is just not right royal caribbean. It's just not right!:mad:

 

Same thing happened to me on Adventure. I asked for $300 and was charged $309. I refused, said I had a large OBC and it was my money and I wasn't paying a fee to use it. She waived it "this time" but told me I had to go to Guest Relations in the future if I wanted to draw against my OBC. GR can verify you balance and will actually give you your money (I did this the last day).

[cruisingnewyorkers]

Carol,

 

They charged it on the Sovereign, 9/19. I used to get extra money out if I lost too quickly, but now I find something else to do and save my money.

I had extra shipboard credit and would not pay a fee to get it, so my sister ordered a couple bucket of beers to use it up.

Cheers!

 

donna

[glendon3281]

I just got this reply from C & A... :confused: So do I carry this letter when asking for money on my SeaPass to gamble with?

 

Dear xxxxxx:

Thank you for your email. We apologize for the delay in our response.

Guests may purchase chips or slot tokens with a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover or Diners Club credit card from the casino cashier. The maximum amount depends on the cardholders credit limitations. A 3% charge is added to those using a credit card and excludes the SeaPass.

 

Ms. xxxxxxx, thank you for choosing Royal Caribbean International.

 

Sincerely,

Christopher Fitzgerald

Customer Service Representative

[seagoer55]

I just got this reply from C & A... :confused: So do I carry this letter when asking for money on my SeaPass to gamble with?

 

Dear xxxxxx:

Thank you for your email. We apologize for the delay in our response.

Guests may purchase chips or slot tokens with a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover or Diners Club credit card from the casino cashier. The maximum amount depends on the cardholders credit limitations. A 3% charge is added to those using a credit card and excludes the SeaPass.

 

Ms. xxxxxxx, thank you for choosing Royal Caribbean International.

 

Sincerely,

Christopher Fitzgerald

Customer Service Representative

 

Hmm, sounds like another case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. I just returned from the Sovereign yesterday & there were signs posted at the casino cashier & ALL the tables stating there would be a 3% charge when using your seapass...

 

I had extra OBC and had no problem closing out & getting my money from the Guest Relations desk..I did it early Sunday evening..

[poomagoo]

Got off Navigator yesterday and we were also charged the 3% in the casino for taking out money on our seapass. Didn't really bother us as it was the cheapest option for getting $$$ for the casino and the cashier always reminded us of the charge before they processed the transaction.

[pmshirl]

I just got this reply from C & A... :confused: So do I carry this letter when asking for money on my SeaPass to gamble with?

 

Dear xxxxxx:

Thank you for your email. We apologize for the delay in our response.

Guests may purchase chips or slot tokens with a Visa, MasterCard, American Express, Discover or Diners Club credit card from the casino cashier. The maximum amount depends on the cardholders credit limitations. A 3% charge is added to those using a credit card and excludes the SeaPass.

 

Ms. xxxxxxx, thank you for choosing Royal Caribbean International.

 

Sincerely,

Christopher Fitzgerald

Customer Service Representative

 

The only possible way to not use a Credit card for the cash, is to back your Seapass card with CASH! No kidding RC....it would be our OWN CASH that we would be drawing out from the Casino! What A Rocket Scientist, Mr. Fritgerald is!:D :D

[cruisinfanatic]

Hmm, sounds like another case of the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing. I just returned from the Sovereign yesterday & there were signs posted at the casino cashier & ALL the tables stating there would be a 3% charge when using your seapass...

 

I had extra OBC and had no problem closing out & getting my money from the Guest Relations desk..I did it early Sunday evening..

Do you or anyone else know if you can get some of your OBC in cash from guest relations anytime during the cruise, or just at the end.

[mjyanne]

Do you or anyone else know if you can get some of your OBC in cash from guest relations anytime during the cruise, or just at the end.

 

You can get it anytime you have a negative balance (in other words an OBC).

[tocanada]

Just returned from a cruise on Adventure (9/21/08 sailing). They are charging the 3% fee. I had an onboard credit ($850). Took $300 on my sea pass card in the casino and told the pit boss I refused to pay the fee to use my money. She said she would waive it this time but any future requests would be charged 3%. If I wanted to avoid the charge I had to go to guest relations and get the advance from them. This is only available if you have a negative balance.

I have just returned from Serenade and this was the first time I have been charged the 3%. I had a credit on my account the whole cruise but was still always charged the 3% at the Casino. Guest Relations would not give me any cash and just said that any credit balance would be credited back to my Credit Card. As I am from Canada, I lose 2.5% on any foreign currency transaction.

I have no problem with RCCL charging the 3% if they are being charged a transaction fee by the credit card companies but in my case, it was my cash. What also upset me was I could find no mention about this fee in their website, my cruise contract or in any postings on the ship. The first time I learned about it was from the Casino employee when I went to make a cash withdrawal.

andrew

[readytolose]

I haven't had time to read this whole thread so I don't know if this had been posted before but here is a link to a cruise compass from Liberty of the Seas October 4-11. It states right in the compass there will be a 3 percent fee. It is on the right side under Gaming.

The link is from CC member COT427.

 

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2637318790103672366RcdTxY

[dramaqueen4lyfe]

On Jewel last month we were able to get cash back from GR on 2 occasions with no problem or surcharge. 3% was being charged in the casino.

[lisa.coughlin]

Just off the Majesty on Monday and they did charge the 3% at the casino. It went right on the sea pass card. I took out 100.00 and the charge was 103.00 on my account.

 

Lisa

[jakenashleysmom]

Same here, on Enchantment 9/25 was charged $103 for $100.

[tocanada]

I haven't had time to read this whole thread so I don't know if this had been posted before but here is a link to a cruise compass from Liberty of the Seas October 4-11. It states right in the compass there will be a 3 percent fee. It is on the right side under Gaming.

The link is from CC member COT427.

 

http://good-times.webshots.com/photo/2637318790103672366RcdTxY

 

I checked all my Cruise Compass from the Serenade cruise of Sept 20th, 2008. It just says "Fee may apply"

andrew

[MTemple212]

Getting ready to go on a charter cruise on Jewel next week and will check it out if they charge the 3% in the casino. We used to get cash from the casino on all of our celebrity cruises to pay our tips at the end of the cruise and were never charged an extra fee. I would just give them my onboard card and they would give me the cash I wanted with a receipt that had the same amount of cash I received from them.

[want2gosailing2]

We always used the casino for cash its safer than carrying cash around and 3% is still a better deal than a cash advance on your card which charges a higher fee and with most cards charges a higher interest rate on the money if you don't pay it back right away. Its still the best way if you don't like carrying cash.

 

Doug

[floatel_lvr]

According to the cashier in the casino on the Liberty tonight, ALL ships started charging 3% last week to get money in the casino.

 

If you have JUST returned from a cruise that left August 16th or later, please describe your experience here.

 

Is this woman's assertion correct? Is it now truly fleet-wide?

 

:mad: :mad: :mad:

 

I just got back on 10/12 from the Freedom and forgot to check... :mad:

 

I kept reading on here about the 3% so we brought plenty of cash. Good news is I took some of theirs home... :). It's about time...

RA

[wvufan]

Just got back from the Millenium. They charge 3%. However, my credit card is the Celebrity Rewards AMEX card, which gives me 1% for my purchases, so it really only cost me 2 % for the cash.

 

I feel that they shouldn't charge you a fee if you already have OBC in excess of the amount you are requesting.(which we did). I made that point to guest relations to no avail.

 

Happy Sails to You

 

OOOEEE:D :D Bob and Phyl

[Aggie71]

I left on Radiance on Sept 26 & we were told in the casino that there was a 3% fee for cash. So it didn't just start this week.

I was kinda expecting this to happen sooner rather than later because the other cruise lines have charged a 3% fee for a long time. I don't like the change, but I realize they are advancing me cash on my credit card & that does cost them....however, we had a shipboard credit & I don't see why we should have had a fee until we used up the credit.

[aqhacruiser]

I was on the 9/25 and the 3% charge is on the Explorer.