dodgestang

Waaaaytoooo I've sailed twice on Royal in 2018....before that my last cruise was in 2000...so essentially I had no history with Royal. I went out on Grandeur, booked the royal suite with drink packages and ate at Izumi and chops with the wife and 2 kids....had a fabulous time. I gambled what to me seemed like normal amount for a couple nights, same type of gambling I would do in AC when I am at the Jersey shore with the family and I made 'prime' on this first sailing and also received a free balcony cruise cert. I used that cert for a second sailing, upgraded it to the RS for only a few $$$$ with the wife and 2 kids again and at the end of that sailing received another free balcony cruise cert. Going on 3rd cruise in April ? and already thinking about summer cruises to take since I know I will have the prime I can leverage or maybe I will get another cert with a favorable sailing to my schedule and port preferences.

If you are Prime during Casino period April 18 to March 19....as I understand it....prime cruise becomes available April 1 2019.

Say hi to Francis for us ?

I know.....from my perspective though....I just wanted a bucket darnit ;). I wanted to be one of the cool kids sitting by the pool just grabbing a beer when I was ready....not having to get up every 8 minutes ?

Yes....you could get 4 pack/bucket of corona at the pool bar on Grandeur last 2 times I was there....only caveat being....since I had a drink package....they wouldn't give me one ?

Not Amazon Prime....just in case. Prime is 2nd level if the Casino Royal player program that is based on how much time you spend gambling in their casino onboard and every wager. It isn't too hard to make Prime...I did it in one cruise and I don't think I gamble alot ?

My understanding is....yes....as long as it isn't a holiday.

Hmmmm.....virgin epic troll? Always a good idea to 3d render your adult only cruise ship with graphics from the #1 video game in the world all the kids are playing

I'm sorry to hear about your personal life changes, but you gambled and lost on this one. Seriously though....is it really taking advantage of people when they lay out all the ground rules in advance and you even had the option to purchase insurance but declined?

I've been on 2 RC cruises in 4 months (one the last week of aug, prime season for hurricane disruption and the week before Christmas which saw storms blowing through the itinerary and disrupting lots of vessels). Both went to CocoCay without issue. Just saying. ? Also their construction is behind schedule anyway. Pier was supposed to be done some time ago based on reading just on this discussion forum. It is well know (like for decades now) that cruise ships can change ports of call at any time. The primary reason ships don't stop at coco is when the seas have large swells because it is dangerous to board the tenders from the ship which is just anchored near the island.

Call me weird....but I don't like the look of some ultra modern NYC fufu hotel for a cruise suite. ?

It can be addicting. I cruised in late august for the first time in 18 yrs. Then cruised again in Dec And now am cruising again in April

You need it! It's got the best bathroom on the boat....and a piano... ?

If its sold out....there is no reason for a price drop.

Last cruise I tipped the room attendant and the concierge with a little something extra, other than that....left it at pre-paid on everything.

Neat trick I found about the self service booking form....I had called and apparently it was very busy time with high wait times....so I filled out the form after 20 minutes and forgot about it. Got a call within 24 hours from Casino agent. When I filled out the form I just noted the offer and the sailing (which I knew didn't line up)....so then they called me and we figured something out. It's funny....7 days ago I was swearing I wouldn't sail with them again because of the terrible execution on the free play chips (that is no longer available at the time of this post)...and now I am going out with them again in April. *sigh*....it doesn't help that the wife has fallen in love with the carefree life style of being on board ship.

I can tell you from experience, they will NOT replace your promo chip with a real chip on a winning hand. Which appears to be different than what you are being told pre-sailing...and is also different than what I was told pre-sailing. I know it is a new program and expect there to be hiccups....but its been several weeks now so to hear that they are still giving incorrect info upfront is troubling.

Perhaps on the comps....but two cruises with the line....and both times I ended up being asked back via a free cruise offer (which is common I know) but I'm not sure the Suite is normally included in those offers ;). I ended up on the winning end this time and easily bet through my buy in the first night and walked away a winner for the cruise....but having a program explained one way prior to the cruise and then executed differently on board is a real negative and one of the reasons we are not taking up the freebie offer. I have no experience with other programs from other casinos because I've never done anything like this before so I had no context in terms of what to expect other than RCCL conversation and discussion here. Now I know ?

This is obvious. But you are missing the main point of my gripe here. At the end of your run you have actually BET well in excess of $2200 (see my post earlier that detailed that out), you earned no additional compensation for those bets that were in excess of the $2200 you pledged to bet (in terms of comps that accrue) and lastly I was let to believe the EXACT opposite when discussing the program on the phone in order to help me make the decision to buy into the program. If I've bet $100 and win.....the winnings for the hand INCLUDE the original stake.

Perhaps some of the people in suites think enjoyment of the cruise is a zero sum game....and they can't have full enjoyment if the staff is sharing extras with people ;). I'm not like that.....then again....the concierge is always like "How come you don't come up to the lounge" when I am on board ship ? and I'm always like "ohh too busy" but the real reason is that it is often filled with people who complain about free bread on a cruise ?

Bet $10, hand loses....lose $10 in free play chips Bet $10, hand wins, win $10 in regular chips, still keep your $10 in free play chips (which have no value other than for betting on that cruise). So....to make it really easy. Someone thinks to themselves...I only want to get $20 and buys into $20 free chips. Plays hand one for $5 and wins. Now he has $20 in free play chips and $5 in regular chips. (But you are still down $15) Plays hand two for $5 and wins. Now he has $20 in free play chips and $10 in regular chips (But you still down $10) Plays hand three for $5 and loses Now he has $15 in free play chips and $10 in regular chips (So you are down $15) Plays hand four for $5 and loses Now he has $10 in free play chips and $10 in regular chips (So you are down $20 but you have already placed $20 in total bets and still have to place $10 more in bets) ____________________________________________________ In other programs it would work like this I only want to get $20 and buys into $20 free chips. Plays hand one for $5 and wins. Now he has $15 in free play chips and $10 in regular chips ($5 in winnings and $5 free play turned back into real chips) Plays hand two for $5 and wins. Now he has $10 in free play chips and $20 in regular chips Plays hand three for $5 and loses Now he has $5 in free play chips and $20 in regular chips Plays hand four for $5 and loses Now he has $0 left in free play chips but $20 in regular chips...so has essentially broken even and can then decided if he wants to keep gambling This is how free play on slots works....if you bet $5 of free play on a slot and it pays out...if doesn't pay you the first $5 in free play...it pays out it all usable currency. The program is a mess for their table play. Like I said...I'm sitting here with 2 free cruises now that I was planning on trying to use this year and really feel like moving to another platform for my cruising/gambling fun times. And its a shame too, the Grandeur is easy to get to for me...and the Royal Suite was really nice.

You buy 2k in free play chips and they give you an extra 200. So you start with $2200 in free play chips. The way it was explained to work was that I had to bet through it all, and after every game if I lose, the chips go away, and if I won the winnings and the free play chips that you had bet that round all turned into regular chips. This is not how it was done.

I am not on board anymore. This is the answer I received when I called on the phone prior to buying in. It was NOT the answer on the casino floor and I 'escalated' the issue immediately and no one on the boat would agree with that is how the program works.

Well....I got the answer on board....you have to play the chips (obviously) but they don't replace the played chips....so you are basically pledging to lose all the chips. They pay your winnings in regular chips, but I was very upset on board to find out that I bought 2k in chips and every hand I played (for instance I played hold'em and was betting between $75 - $175 depending on the round)....and if i won...I still had all my wager as free play chips that was not converted back to regular chips. It severely curtailed my play and enjoyment for obvious reasons. With the way I play I had gone through 2k in bets within 10-12 hands easily (and was technically UP for that first day) but I still had over 1k in chips that I 'had' to play which of course means that after the table luck turns and they go away fast....sigh It was upsetting enough that I may actually not return to the cruise line again in the future because of the different answers I got on the phone versus on the floor.