TXCoastPatriot

There's tons of options out there.  If the point redemption for OBC was better it might be worth using the Royal one. I have a card that gives me 3% cash back on travel so that's a guaranteed 3% return on my slot machine room charges 😂

They are insinuating it will be the Wonder.
https://www.royalcaribbeanblog.com/2024/03/22/royal-caribbean-beach-club-cozumel-mexico
Same article, Mr. Bayley stated: 
"It wasn't by accident we put Allure of the Seas into Texas, and now we've got Harmony of the seas. And if you just think forward a few more years, I wonder what we're going to do next."

Here is the Instant Credit Next Cruise Desk awards from late February…
 

Here is the offer I received a while back.  Harmony sails out of Galveston and I’m only 3 hours away, but I’ll be in Ghana Africa on a mission trip and cannot make it.
2024 SLOT TOURNAMENT SERIES - HARMONY 08/17/24

Put your aunt and your kid in the real bed (split into 2 singles) and you and your wife could take the couch.

The RC credit card is really not a good card for points or onboard credit.  A lot of travel cards provide better points and cash redemption that can be used to fund your cruise.  To set some base lines for discussion, each point with the Royal Caribbean card is worth $0.01, so 5,000 points = $50.  This means you earn 2% on cruise purchases and 1% on everything else.
My Navy Federal Flagship card has an identical point value ($0.01, so 5,000 points = $50), but I earn 3% for ANY travel related purchase (Airfare, hotels, car rentals, cruises, Royal Caribean's slot machine 🎰 room charges, charters -- think fishing excursions or 3rd party port excursions, and much more).  For all other purchases I earn 2%.  These points are redeemable for cash that you can stick in an account and later use to pay for parts of your cruise (or anything else you want to use cash for).  There really is no point in converting this to onboard credit as you can pay in cash (or pay with your card and use the cash to pay off your card), but if you really wanted to, you could buy a gift certificate and use it for onboard credit.  On top of this, you also get some other freebies like free a TSA precheck and a free amazon prime subscription which more than pays for the $49 annual fee.
My Amex Platinum card guarantees onboard credit of $100 for an interior cabin, $200 for a balcony, and $300 for a suite if I use my card to pay for the cruise.  I get 2 points per dollar for the cruise booking itself and 5 points per dollar for flights and hotels, in addition to hotel credits that I usually use on stays right before my cruise. I get 1 for everything else.  I can redeem points as statement credits to pay for part of the cruise, or use them for something else if I want.  Again, you could convert to onboard credit by using points to pay for Royal Carribean gift cards, but why bother.  If I pay for the trip (airfare, hotel, and cruise) using this card, I get full coverage trip insurance that covers car rentals, trip cancellations and trip interruptions, trip delay reimbursements, emergency medical transport and evacuations, passport assistance, and translation services.  I never buy 3rd party insurance because of this coverage.  Admittedly, it does not cover actual medical issues (just provides medical evacuations), but I have global medical coverage through my employer that includes cruise ships, so I am covered.  You could get away with just medical only coverage if you used this card.  This card does have a high annual fee, but I get tons of rebates and cash back on it and it more than pays for itself each year.  And all the free travel status perks are extremely nice too and make the trip a lot more enjoyable.
I have both of these cards that I use in tandem to maximize my points.  I'll use the Amex card to pay for trips and the Navy Federal card to use for onboard expenses and trip incidentals.  I use another card for restaurants which gives me 3% cash back when I travel too to helps maximize points, cashback, and insurance value.

They still have to purchase their own drinks (or use a voucher) so there is not a significant benefit for the non-pinnacle apart from being able to sit in a lounge that is more exclusive. To me, this seems more onerous on the wait staff who in theory now need to check whether the guest is eligible for a "free" drink. I feel that in practice, the non-pinnacle will also get free drinks.
 

I keep a photo album on my phone just for cruise info.
I have a pic regarding same codes.
The highet category that can be gotten is a JS when you combine the same offer code.
Here is the list 
same code
Int + Int= OV
Int + OV=BAL
Int + Bal = JS
Int+JS =JS

OV + OV = Bal
OV+Bal = JS
OV+JS = JS
Bal+Bal=JS
Bal+JS = JS
 
JS+JS= JS
I will keep in mind that when combining won't get you to a GS that the value of the second cert is used towards the upgrade fee.

I've shown similar examples before...
My Wife just got off Oasis yesterday.  And in the week she was away, we've received all these offers in the mail.

 
I don't know how the cruise ship advertising industry works.  Does Royal/Casino Royale pay for all this advertising, or allow an advertising agency to foot the expense, with the agency keeping a portion of the sales?  And if so, just maybe we are on the easy-sell list.
 
 
 

Just in case anyone is curious, you can look up the current (and previous) instant reward certificates to see what's available for yourself.
http://clubroyaleoffers.com/CertificateOfferCodeLookUp.asp
The code format for instants certs is: (2 digit year) (2 digit month) ("A" - 5 or less night cruise, "C" - 6+ night cruise) (07 - 1200 points, 06 - 1500 points, 05 - 2000 points, 04 - 3000 points, 03A - 4000 points, 03 - 6500 points, 02A - 9000 points, 02 - 15000 points, 01 - 25000 points).
So for example, if you want to look up the 1500 point for short sailings ending in Feb '24, the code would be 2402a06.  If you want to look up the 4000 point long sailings ending Jan '24, the code would be 2401c03a.

Especially since exchanging a single chip costs RC no money but does notch a mark in the customer service satisfaction belt.

You are mistaken….Smiling ALWAYS helps 😉

For any and all RCCL Casino Royale talk, including but not.limited to CLUB ROYALE!
Hopefully, this will.inspire additional, specific topics!! There is already one for Master's Level Players to share thoughts and discuss opportunities. If you are a Master's Level, please hunt it down!
For Tonyfsu21... here ya Go! Enjoy!!

I am running about the same (points wise) but we don’t cruise every 6 weeks. I am getting the standard issue cheap wine, cheap champs and the fruit. I seriously think the company needs to up the ante on the program if they want to keep the higher level players active. 

As Signature with Club Royale, we will typically get at least 1 bottle of wine, a bottle of champagne, and a plate of fruit from Club Royal on a 7-N.
Right now I have 7 distinct free cruise offers.  I typically get a mailer every other week showing a specific offers and what ships & dates apply. Even though we sail about every 6 weeks and earn 5000-7000 points, our free offers have been cut back mostly to 4/5 nights from 7-N on far fewer ships.
I noticed in February the Instant Cruise Certificate points for a Jr Suite went up from 6500 to 9000 pts.  6500 was very doable.  9000 will be a stretch in April on the Harmony.
These are certainly dis-incentiving my future play.

Deck 14, Forward.

No reason to apologize.  You are using this site the way it is intended.  

As a Signature player, I’m impressed with any Master’s achievement.  Personally I am very interested is the topic and the point you have raised is important because as I have found Club Royale seems to increase the bar each time I sail.  What was 6,500 points in January became 9,000 in February.
I too am “confused” of those who are critical of your simple question.  A few need to re-evaluate their criticism and should be more courteous of others interests.

$12,500 coin in on slots to get to 2500 currently I believe. 1 point earned per $5 coin in. 
 
How much your loses (net spend) are in achieving this coin in is purely down do how much luck you have.

"Serious" but lacking in the understanding of the math of BJ. When someone at the table makes a play that isn't mathematically correct, they are just as likely to help others as hurt them.
If someone doesn't like how you play, tell them to go find another table. It's your money and your right to play however you want.
That said, it is obviously beneficial to learn proper basic strategy... but to help yourself, not others.

A very good lesson to learn.  Don’t take for granted the green light, it may not be registering your points until you see your name.

Waytoo, Ashley 
Thank you both so much.  I looked deeper into Fulton Place and I agree with you both. I just reserved for our November 2nd sailing.  Bring on the “single prop” Brilliance.

We have used Fulton Place also and found it suited our needs.

As Texans sailing from Galveston…often, this is outstanding news for us.  Roatan, Costa Maya, and Cozumel had become routine.  We don’t even get off the ship in Costa Maya.  Cozumel is a just a trip to the pharmacy and lunch at Poncho’s Backyard.
I agree, Costa Maya or Progresso would be great locations.
 Bring on some Wonder of the Seas!

Onboard the Anthem sailing from Bayonne NJ…
Last night (day 1) in the casino there was an issue with the player card recognition system on the slot machines. Only the machines…not the tables.
When players tapped their cards, the receiver turned green and screen said ‘Welcome Guest’ instead of ‘Welcome (players name)’. Because the receiver turned green, many players thought their card was accepted and the points would count.
However, although the points played would count on the display…they would not be applicable to the player. The casino host had to keep making announcements over and over as the casino became more crowded after dinner.
Apparently, there was an IT issue resulting in all of the player’s information being deleted from the system. The onboard technical members were working with shoreside to manually enter each player’s information into the program and that was taking quite a bit of time.
The casino host kept telling people to take a photo of their points before leaving a machine. Otherwise, there would be no way for them to post the points to the player’s account when things got back to normal.
As time went on, the host kept announcing how many more players had their information restored and kept asking for patience from those still in the queue.
Wondering if this was just on the Anthem or were other ships affected.

I must say this is probably a blog where you are the only Masters level player which is why you have yet to achieve your reiterated goal of anyone posting more then prime level numbers. I gamble mucho dinero and don’t come close to 310k points so I can’t comment. Maybe level the playing field and start out with “what tier/point level do you hope to achieve by 3/31”?