RCIFanatic

Lmao thank you for the story. Additive, got it. Understood. It just seems to make more sense that it’s 4x points since you would pay for double occupancy minus the 2nd person’s port and tax fees. To climb up C&A cost efficiently, it seems solo travelling in non-suite cabins would make more sense since you’ll still earn 2x points. Oh well, good to know. Good thing it’s a comped junior offer.

That’s an odd number but I guess it’s better than 2

Anyone have any experience with requesting for the line of credit on board and how easy is it to have it granted for one cruise and the subsequent cruises? If there are any casino winnings, can they wire back to a bank account the surplus at the end of the cruise? Alternatively, can we wire funds into the casino prior to embarkation?

If I travel in a junior suite solo, would I receive 4x crown and anchor points as opposed to only 2x points for a suite cruise?

How much cash can you add onboard and what happens to leftover cash on the account?

As long as you declare it and can show proof of source, it’s usually not a big deal regardless of the amount. Good to know! This will essentially be my first RC cruise as my last one must have been almost 10 years ago. Looking to get minimum JS suites going forward so this first trip might be a little expensive lol

Haha yes of course. Let the smuggling begin! I’m jk of course for anyone else reading. Please declare it at customs lol Do you see it as an entertainment purchase or travel purchase?

Okay thanks for the clarification. For sure, makes sense. In the worst case scenario (I think in this case it is best case since this will only happen when you win), then you can just declare it at customs, right? Great minds think alike lol. I already prepaid two of my credit cards above the remaining balance in anticipation for this upcoming cruise. I was just worried about prepaying too much on one card in case the card provider gives me issues. I have had issues in the past from transferring those credit balances back to my chequing though. Seems like some sort of AML thing and they always ask to show proof of source of transfer into the credit card originally. That process usually takes 10 business days to clear everything and receive funds back. My card limits are high enough as well, but because I have the credit split between two cards, I may need to swap between them.

Reason I’m asking is because it would save me from bringing cash on hand onto the cruise and if I happen to hit my card limit, then I can always switch to a different card. The cash would be for the use of the casino so it would be much easier speaking with the casino host as opposed to going to guest services to change the credit card on file. I think I’ve read here and on other platforms multiple times that the charge to the room will be seen as a regular entertainment or travel purchase on the credit card and won’t be seen as a cash advance. So technically, the 5k daily limit could earn one $50-$150/day on their credit card as cash back or points. Based on what I’ve read, it seems as though once you hit a threshold (I believe it’s either 300 or 500, quite certain it’s 300) on your onboard account, they will automatically charge your credit card to clear the account.

Okay thanks for the heads up. Do you know if this can also be done by a casino host as well?

@WAAAYTOOO @DoomSlayer That’s really unfortunate especially if there are upgrades involved. I guess I won’t bother a TA then for future casino comp cruise bookings. Thanks again for your response!

Are we able to switch the credit card on file tied to our Sea Pass card mid cruise? Or are we stuck with the one that we have initially?

Sorry to hijack your thread! Would a TA make any sense when it comes to comped cruises via Casino Royale? More specifically, do TA’s receive any commission from these comped cruise bookings and if they do, are they reduced commission? (In other words, do they have any incentive to help those with comped cruises)

I like to gamble Anyways, plane ticket has been booked already and worst case, we’ll fly or ferry over to the next island and board on Day 2

Hrmm.. That's unfortunate. We may not be able to make it for the Key Lunch then if it's on embarkation day and ends at 1330. We arrive at around 1350 from our flight and probably won't get to the cruise closer to 1500-1600. We'll make sure to book everything on embarkation day so we can have our entire trip scheduled. Perfect, thank you for the rest of the information. Appreciated! Good to know, thank you!! Yes, it's departing from Hawaii and the cruise disembarks at Vancouver. Do you know how early we would be able to board on embarkation day?

I just wanted some clarification for my upcoming cruise on Ovations of the Seas on May 2nd. It's been many many years since I have last cruised and have a lot of questions! Based on the itinerary, it seems the ship is sailing at 9pm. I have yet to check in, but will do so later on this week. With priority access to the terminal on Day 1, how early can I actually board? The exclusive welcome lunch in the Main Dining Room - Is this on Day 2 if we're not boarding early in the day on Day 1? Which activities beyond Rock Climbing and FlowRider will there be private time available for? (from what I have read, it seems these will generally be at undesirable times like early morning) Are the North Star and Ripcord by iFly also included in this? When would they let us know when those private times will be and would we have to book in advance? On disembarkation day, how early is the a la carte breakfaste open and how quickly would we get off the ship if the itinerary says 6am arrival? (both with and without The Key) Sorry for all of the questions and thank you in advance for all of the help here!

This makes more sense. Thanks for the clarification. I thought I saw the hand paid jackpots and thought that included all of the payouts. It would make sense that someone hasn’t won the progressive payout yet with such a small sample size which would create that huge volatility you were talking about. And you said generally the higher the denomination, the higher the RTP? Yeah, I don’t remember the last time I played a slot machine. I feel like I would be lost with all of the different features lol. But it’s just good to know that if I need that extra point boost to get to the next tier or whatever I need, then I can jump on the slots with a small expected loss.

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/casino/casino-royale-rewards-table.pdf Not sure if it can be cashed out immediately without play but it looks like you can use it towards your onboard expense account. So maybe a work-around to having to play it out is to have some expenses racked up on the account and paid for with points or vice versa?

I thought 1 point = 2cents of free play? Which would equal about $130 of free play for 6500 points? Unless they have tiered redemption where you get better value for higher point redemption. Can anyone confirm this?

Lots of good info here! Looks like the RTP/PAR on this machine is around 80-85%. Good to know. Actually, I plan to get it in 2 days and I will be playing mostly table games and not slots. I am also looking for comped JS and higher as well from my play. Wow, from what I’ve read, I was under the impression that the PAR/RTP was around 80%. If it is around 95%, then that’s amazing value. If you work out the numbers, that’s less than 1k on average in losses to reach prime status. That can’t be right, can it? I’d definitely consider throwing in some slot play in that case to boost my points on the cruise. Thank you! Good to know. To squeeze some extra value, can I ask the host to convert at the beginning of the last night and then once again close to the end of the night to redeem the points accumulated from the last night of the cruise?

@Ampurp85 Good to know! I will definitely do that and reach out to a casino host at the beginning of the cruise so I know what thresholds I need to reach. Very valuable info, thank you! Comped cruise life, here we come!

Good rule of thumb to note. I’ll make sure to put out a bigger bet initially then just to be safe. I’ll likely be found at BJ and Bacarrat. Craps looks fun and interesting. May consider learning while I’m on my next cruise. Would like to see if I can make enough trips for this upcoming year to hit masters status haha. This will be my first Royal Caribbean cruise in many years, but I’m hoping I can get free junior suites going forward. Will be quite difficult though with it being set at 9,000 points instead of 8,000 as I’ve read elsewhere. I have a set budget in mind and won’t go over it for the purposes of chasing points though. Best of luck to you in your future cruises and thank you for all of your help!

Thank you! I found this video: But it looks like we are at the mercy of the pit boss so what you’re saying is make nice with the pit boss like you said in an earlier post. Do pit bosses receive a portion of the tips? It makes sense how many points will be awarded based on the house edge for the game but I also wonder how they can even track how much you are betting inside in roulette when some people splash the chips across the entire board lol

Thank you as well Matt for confirming this! Hoping to hit prime on the second day. I think I read or watched a video that said average bet is how many points I would earn per hour. E.g. if I bet $10 on average, I would earn 10 points per hour. Do you know when they usually shut down the tables daily?

Thank you for confirming! I plan to play mostly table games and I understand that it takes a little longer for these to update on the account. How long is this delay usually though? Also, generally what time are the table games open to and close on sea days?