tonyfsu21 Posted December 4, 2018 Report Share Posted December 4, 2018 I am looking at Allure for Thanksgiving 2019 and have some questions for those of you Casino Royale members. I am a seasoned casino player with a signature level rating. I called last week to book a loft suite but was told that I needed to hold off until April 1st to get the best CR discount. The agent noted that even though it appears I have enough points to at least make Prime status at the moment she cannot do anything until the ratings are official. Why is this not a continuous rolling system so that you always maintain some sort of status? Is it because of the fact that this is a Nov 2019 booking and they cannot project my level for 2019? The whole system regardless is FUBAR and there are many folks who are still not in full understanding of this program (including myself). I’m considering just booking the cabin at current rate and calling back in April. On on a separate note: Star Class bookings. How do you get the best deals? Do you use a travel agent and they work on your behalf with Casino Royale? I have read posts of people getting exceptional deals on Star Class but I’m guessing this is done with both a very flexible travel schedule and a lot of leg work on their behalf (any most likely no prime time Holiday sailings??). I think I want to try Star Class this time around! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted December 4, 2018 Report Share Posted December 4, 2018 26 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said: Is it because of the fact that this is a Nov 2019 booking and they cannot project my level for 2019? But they CAN project your status for 2019. That's what's (or one of the MANY things) so frustrating about this program. They already know whether you have accumulated enough points to reach the threshold of a certain tier status. As she said, she can tell that you have already at LEAST reached Prime level. My guess is that, while they know you will be at least Prime, they would prefer to wait and see if you reach Signature again. Since the points accumulation are iterative, you will continue to accumulate points right up until March 31 2019. Have you been keeping close track of your points ? I have. I get a final point count at the end of each and every cruise and record the points and all information related to rewards (certificates, etc.) in a spreadsheet. I have a bad feeling that there may be a "disagreement" about point accumulation when it comes time to place everyone in tiers next year. Maybe I will be pleasantly surprised, but I don't think so. 26 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said: On on a separate note: Star Class bookings. How do you get the best deals? Do you use a travel agent and they work on your behalf with Casino Royale? I have read posts of people getting exceptional deals on Star Class but I’m guessing this is done with both a very flexible travel schedule and a lot of leg work on their behalf (any most likely no prime time Holiday sailings??). I think I want to try Star Class this time around! I could have given you a very reliable answer to this question last week....before this whole RoyalUp program started. Now, anything I say is purely a guess based on past experience but with no real way of knowing how the whole bidding thing is going to affect Club Royale members. My best experience has been to wait until I am awarded ANY kind of "free" cruise. I have done this with my annual Prime (inside) rooms and I have done it with rooms awarded through a casino certificate. In my experience, $$ off certificates are worthless. The only thing that really helps is a FREE room, regardless of what category it is. If you are using your "free" annual cruise (Prime, Signature or Masters....shouldn't matter), all you do is choose a cruise you want to take. The only restrictions are that it cannot be a "holiday sailing" and must be 8 nights or less in duration. As far as I know, there are no restrictions on which ships you can sail. The issue of "holiday sailing" is a bit nebulous. I have read that some people were denied if their cruise was during ANY Federal holiday. We were able to book during President's Day week (15 Feb 2019) without an issue but I have heard of others who tried to book that same week and were denied. It will just depend (as it so often does) on who answers the phone when you or your TA calls. If you receive a "free cruise" certificate, you MUST choose from among the cruises listed on the certificate. Pick one you like and go for it. I have done this both ways - on my own, direct with RC and with my TA who is a superb asset in dealing with the casino folks. Once you have picked a cruise, just tell them that you want to upgrade to a Star Class suite. They will tell you how much it will cost and you either do it or you don't. My experience has been that that the upgrade from inside room to Star Class is very reasonable....but Star Class is still expensive, no matter how you look at it. For my Prime room (the one that we booked for President's day of next year on Anthem), we started out at "free" (inside), upgraded to a 2D, ocean view balcony for $448, upgraded to a J4 JS for another $412, and finally upgraded to a Grand Loft Suite for an additional $2884 - making it a grand total of $3714. That cabin category is sold out for that cruise so I cannot tell you how much it would be if you bought it now but I can tell you that the same exact cabin for the same week in 2020 is currently $9443 with the current BOGO60 so the casino price is 40% of the full "retail" price. We are also on the Feb 15, 2020 cruise on Anthem also in a Grand Loft Suite. Having said ALL of this, I have no idea what the new RoyalUp program is likely to do to casino pricing. We will just have to wait and see but I think that if you book beyond 90 days, you will still get the good casino pricing. Just my opinion, of course. tonyfsu21 and DLCruiser 1 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ndfan89 Posted December 15, 2018 Report Share Posted December 15, 2018 I am new to RCI. I received a certificate from Mlife for a free cruise. I booked Allure, 17 March 2019. Decided on a ocean view room with balcony, 2 adults/1 child for $935. I can upgrade to grand suite for $1009 more. Is this a good deal? Thanks for for your help! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APM Posted December 15, 2018 Report Share Posted December 15, 2018 Just a bit confused, i thought MLife offers were limited to 5 day cruises. That’s great if they let you apply the value to a 7 day Allure trip. My experience has been that the best deals are when u upgrade from a cop offer..like u r doing. Also, my experience has been a baseline room to a junior suite is a 100% increase, and a junior suite to grand suite is another 100% increase. So i would say ur getting a double upgrade for the price but only you can determine the “value” of the GS. More room with 3 people, coastal kitchen lunch & dinner, suite lounge for mom and dad every night (can’t beat the view). Personally, i nominally assign a value of $100 per person per night as a good value. So by the information u presented ur getting 21 cruise night for ~$2k which is what i would call a good deal for ur vacation dollar. Enjoy your trip Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ndfan89 Posted December 15, 2018 Report Share Posted December 15, 2018 Apparently it’s based on play if you get 5/7 cruise and cabin type as well. . I was given a 7 night for a inside room. I upgraded to ocean view with balcony. However, after calling casino Royale today I think I might upgrade to the suite . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
APM Posted December 15, 2018 Report Share Posted December 15, 2018 Gotcha...assume ur a Noir then. If ur that experienced with the Vegas perks, i would definitely go grand suite to enhance your cruise experience. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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