tonyfsu21

I’ll be honest, apologies ahead of time because I al going to go a bit of a suite snob rant here.
I am not that impressed with the suites on Icon. Not only have they shrunk all the suites a bit (right up to the Royal loft), but like you said, some of the balcony furniture has changed. The most non-impressive thing though is something that @CGTLH noticed two days ago on a cabin crawl. The size of the bathroom in the VP, GS, and Sunset suites all appear to the be the same size. Beautiful, but narrow, and again, smaller. I am going to have to watch videos of the owners suites when I get a chance.
The Icon Loft is pretty much the size of a crown loft. And the Royal loft is not a spacious as the ones on Oasis class either, and in a horrible location for privacy. 
That seems to be the running theme on this ship. From the cabins to the SL/CK, everything has shrunk a bit. 

I've seen videos of all the suites balconies and almost non of them (if not any) has loungers anymore. 
Weird choices... 

The TVs do swing out a little to angle them towards the bed. This is from the panoramic suite, but similar TV location.

This is such good information! There seems to be an influx of new casino players looking to achieve prime for a “free cruise and drinks in the casino”. This seems like a great idea until you consider the fact that this is gambling and the bankroll required to achieve prime could potentially buy you many drink packages and at least 1 cruise fare. It can be a costly road to prime unless you have luck on your side.  

I’m with you on that. The behavior of some hangry folks and the lack of hygiene keeps me out of there for the most part. There’s seriously no shortage of food on the ship so I always manage to eat (mainly speciality dining). 

I don’t personally like the windjammer, however, it’s a better option than the main dining room IMHO. The food in the dining room has gone way down hill & fast!

Agree, and that’s why it’s called gambling. Perhaps you get lucky and keep cycling the casinos money all the way to prime. On the other hand you have bad luck and the casino beats you up until your casino status equals 3 deluxe beverage packages and a 7 day cruise! Anything can happen. 

@smokeybandit's link will definitely give you the basics, but be aware - the casino rewards program is complicated and there are lots of "unwritten" rules as we are currently discussing in another thread.
To answer your direct questions:
1.  You earn points on all games EXCEPT for live Texas Hold' Em and the coin slider things (don't know what they are called). 
2.  Points accumulate throughout the "casino" year, which runs from 1 April - 31 March.  On April 1 you go back to zero and start accumulating points for the next "applicable” casino year (which is really 2 years down the road).  Points that we are currently accumulating (1 April 2023 - 31 March 2024) are for the casino year that starts 1 April 2024 so whatever status you achieve by 3-31-24 will be applied from 1 April 2024 - 31 March 2025.  Clear as mud, right ?
3.  All slots earn 1 point for every $5 play through; video poker earns 1 point for every $10 play through.  You earn points at the table games but the algorithm is voodoo.  Basically, the more you wager and the longer you play, the more points you accumulate.
How much money do you need ?  It depends on what game(s) you play, how much you plan on playing and how often you intend to cruise and gamble.  Some people seem to be able to get lots of points out of very little money, but that has never been my experience (unfortunately)...but I don't play slots, so that helps explain.  Table games are much less predictable for point accumulation than slots.
We cruise often so we are able to accumulate points relatively slowly and still achieve Prime status.  If you are only going to be cruising a few times a year then it is much more important to play big to achieve your status quickly.
The bottom line is...if you are a gambler and plan on gambling no matter what, casino status is a bonus.  If you are NOT a gambler and would otherwise not be in the casino, trying to achieve casino status is probably a mistake.  It's costly and it's well...gamblng....no assurance that you are going to win....probably won't win.  Good luck !!

I’m with you on that. The behavior of some hangry folks and the lack of hygiene keeps me out of there for the most part. There’s seriously no shortage of food on the ship so I always manage to eat (mainly speciality dining). 

If QN has cafe 270 then you should get breakfast there and stay out of the WJ. 

The “casino drink package” is the best drink package! 😀

I don’t personally like the windjammer, however, it’s a better option than the main dining room IMHO. The food in the dining room has gone way down hill & fast!

I’m with you on that. The behavior of some hangry folks and the lack of hygiene keeps me out of there for the most part. There’s seriously no shortage of food on the ship so I always manage to eat (mainly speciality dining). 

I don’t personally like the windjammer, however, it’s a better option than the main dining room IMHO. The food in the dining room has gone way down hill & fast!

I’m with you on that. The behavior of some hangry folks and the lack of hygiene keeps me out of there for the most part. There’s seriously no shortage of food on the ship so I always manage to eat (mainly speciality dining). 

I don’t personally like the windjammer, however, it’s a better option than the main dining room IMHO. The food in the dining room has gone way down hill & fast!

That partially explains the deserted deck 5 during prime time. 

So all you have to do is go on the app, any time during your sailing. Click the person and scroll to the bottom, where a NextCruise widget is. It says "see exclusive offer" then you click on that and chose a person, pay the $200 and they send you an open booking within 24hrs. They charge the card on file. I had my email in 2hrs with my booking ID, and I am currently on hold with club royale to book my offer. That $200 goes to taxes, fees and whatever upgrades.
Just an FYI, NC won't book casino offers anymore, they will book you an open booking and you have to call in. Might as well avoid all of that and just do the open booking yourself. 

The “casino drink package” is the best drink package! 😀

I don’t know if @AshleyDillo or @SpeedNoodles mentioned this already, but there is an unconfirmed 5500 on board this sailing. It was not discussed at the Top Tier party but some crew have mentioned it. 

Day 2 swag
 

Thank you so much for the information! I guess I got lucky this time around. 

Don't feel bad.  The casino booking rules are NOT clear at all.  I have made this very mistake at least twice.  Actually, I don't consider it a mistake.  I think they do it on purpose to avoid giving you the FP.  How do you know you're going to need a NC cert. if you think that your award was for $$ off only ?  What in the directions tells you that if you do not have a NC Cert you will NOT get the free play and/or the OBC ?  Nothing.  You just have to know this.  It's BS.
So my new rule is, get a NC cert even if you don't know for sure that you're going to need it.  For us, it's not a biggie b/c we are always on the verge of booking something anyway.
You are very very fortunate to have gotten someone who would award you the FP.  I have never heard of that happening before.  The only thing they did for me as a "courtesy" was to allow me to book a casino comp when I had not purchased a NC cert before disembarking.  It was one of those situations where....when I left the ship I thought I had been awarded a $300 off only.  Once I got home I discovered that they had upgraded my cert and it was now a comp offer....but only if you have a NC Cert !  That's why I now never leave the ship without a NC Cert.

I agree, it’s only a matter of time. Although, how on earth do you successfully police that one?