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Casino Strategy To Prime? Symphony OTS


VillainsGin

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Looking for data pertaining to Symphony OTS since that will be the ship I'll be sailing on in Jan, 2020.

Data gathered so far has been from Allure, Oasis, harmony, and Symphony.

 

I've been researching and asking questions on a few platform from people who have hit prime in the casino during the same cruise trip. Since my very first cruise ever is on Jan, 2020 I wanted to also set a high goal and hit prime during my 1st sailing so I can earn another free sailing for prime members.

From what I gathered from tips to hit prime is:

~You need 2,499 points to hit prime.

~Each $5 spent on "slots" earns you 1 point.

~$ spent on tables still a mystery.

~*Most Important: you still earn points from using the winnings or pushes from your original bet*

 

Ideally if I love the entertainment of gambling why not just try and shoot for prime to get free annual cruises? 

Only question I have that I could not find is when they offer you these free cruises are you require to gamble or can you just hit prime and never gamble again, while reaping the benefits of a free annual cruise? If anyone knows about this question it could be a huge deciding factor for me.

 

Prime members on average have spent between $700 -$2,500usd when they hit prime on the same trip.

$700 with one of the prime members was because he stated "he was getting lucky and winning quite a few slot machines and tables and he kept using his winnings to gamble for the points" This was throughout his 5 day trip.

The other prime member who spent $2,500 said " he was having mediocre luck but not absolutely worse luck, he still manage to win some big hands/bets" This was throughout his 7 day trip

 

Taking from just first hand experiences on a good trip you can hit prime with $700 or perhaps cheaper if you're luckier!

OR on a mediocre trip could cost up to $2,500 or worse if you're unlucky.

These annual cruises given so far have been offered for 4 nights & 7 nights annually seems to be well worth the money spent at the casino.

Kind of like investing in the long run for consistent permanent annual cruises?

 

Anyone else have any thoughts, tips, or experiences for anything related to hitting Prime Membership?

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2 minutes ago, TJ! said:

Anyone else have any thoughts, tips, or experiences for anything related to hitting Prime Membership?

Prime isn't a permanent status.  You have to re-qualify each year. 

The free cruises have limitations and you may not be able to find one of the free cruises that lines up with your ability to take a vacation.  If you don't have any restrictions on when you can sail, you can price your own comparable off-season cruise out for the amount you would need to gamble to hit prime.  However, if gambling is something that you enjoy you might as well play with your SeaPass card in the slot machine or on the table and collect the points.  Whatever you are willing to lose on gambling can be looked at as an additional entertainment cost of a cruise.

You can be an infrequent gambler and still get offered cruise deals from Casino Royale as well.  

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4 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

Prime isn't a permanent status.  You have to re-qualify each year. 

The free cruises have limitations and you may not be able to find one of the free cruises that lines up with your ability to take a vacation.  If you don't have any restrictions on when you can sail, you can price your own comparable off-season cruise out for the amount you would need to gamble to hit prime.  However, if gambling is something that you enjoy you might as well play with your SeaPass card in the slot machine or on the table and collect the points.  Whatever you are willing to lose on gambling can be looked at as an additional entertainment cost of a cruise.

You can be an infrequent gambler and still get offered cruise deals from Casino Royale as well.  

Thanks Ashley! This definitely burst my bubble in hoping for a free annual cruise permanently hahah now thinking back on it what a absurd dream.

Another questions comes up after knowing this:

If you have to re-qualify every year what if on your 1st sailing you dont hit prime and that was the only cruise you took that same year.

Would they clean off the points earn for that year and you would have to start all over again for the new year when you have to re-qualify again?

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8 minutes ago, TJ! said:

If you have to re-qualify every year what if on your 1st sailing you dont hit prime and that was the only cruise you took that same year.

Would they clean off the points earn for that year and you would have to start all over again for the new year when you have to re-qualify again?

The qualifying year runs April 1 - March 31.  Points are cumulative throughout the qualifying year and will reset to 0 on April 1.   Your tier status will reset on April 1 as well, so basically you want to earn as much as you can early on to maximize getting the benefits for the entire year.  

If you can manage to make prime in a single sailing you will get the free cruise certificate for hitting 2500 points in a sailing as well as the free annual cruise.

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10 minutes ago, AshleyDillo said:

The qualifying year runs April 1 - March 31.  Points are cumulative throughout the qualifying year and will reset to 0 on April 1.   Your tier status will reset on April 1 as well, so basically you want to earn as much as you can early on to maximize getting the benefits for the entire year.  

If you can manage to make prime in a single sailing you will get the free cruise certificate for hitting 2500 points in a sailing as well as the free annual cruise.

Oh perfect so there is still a chance of getting lucky on capitalizing prime for the free cruise certificate! Going to try my luck and see if I can hit prime on my 1st sailing.

Do you know the details of the cruise certificate? Any date, cruise ship, length limitations or restrictions?

Can the cruise certificate cover for my significant other or is it just me and I have to pay for her?

Better yet is the certificate of any usd value to be redeemed?

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2 minutes ago, MotleyCruiser said:

I always wondered if cashing in my winnings on roulette or craps and re buying chips at the tables increases my points.?!

That is a question I would like to know as well!

I keep thinking of the most efficient way to pad or recycle my bets for points without putting too much out of pocket.

I have no idea what type of tables and the limits there are as well since I heard they change the games once in a while.

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11 minutes ago, TJ! said:

That is a question I would like to know as well!

I keep thinking of the most efficient way to pad or recycle my bets for points without putting too much out of pocket.

I have no idea what type of tables and the limits there are as well since I heard they change the games once in a while.

I agree with that.  They punch in your cash amount each time with your SeaPass. I think using cash each time you sit is the most beneficial way.

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Husband and I went on our one and only Royal cruise in late June - early July and he earned Prime status on the last night of the cruise. He  left the casino in the wee hours of that night  (morning, really) with the cruise certificate in his hand. On the back of the certificate is a list of cruises - some as short as 4 nights (I believe) and some as long as 7 nights. There may have been 1 8-night cruise as well. In any case, you have 30 days to call Casino Royale to book one of the listed cruises. If none of them will work for you, the certificate is redeemable for $500 off the price of a cruise of your choosing. The cruise that you reserve must sail within a year's time. 

We weren't picky and one date/ship worked out for us. From what I recall, the cruises offered were starting in September 2019 and went to April 2020, and I have read that they are updated every quarter. So maybe in October, another list will be available, but I don't believe that you can use any list but the one that is on the certificate, or the trade-in value. 

2400 points earned will gain you a cruise for 2 for an interior stateroom. If you have better luck, you may earn a comped OV stateroom (3600 points) or balcony (4800 points.) I think that some people earn suites as well, of course, by racking up even more points. I believe that these certificates are always for 2 people, but I am sure that someone here will correct me if I am mistaken. I understand that these higher-level certificate will have a higher trade-in value, but again, that factoid was gleaned from reading message boards and Facebook group posts. 

Don't stop at 2499 points - that will earn you the interior cruise certificate, but you will need 2500 points to earn Prime tier. If you earn Prime status on your January cruise, in April, 2020, you should receive a "code" for your free annual Prime cruise (not the same one as the certificate cruise!) This can be a cruise of your own choosing, up to 8 nights, I believe,  but no holiday cruises. Husband hasn't received this code yet, obviously, so we haven't experienced this yet, but we received the information about the annual cruise in an email from a Casino Royale rep. 

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1 minute ago, Sushitex said:

Husband and I went on our one and only Royal cruise in late June - early July and he earned Prime status on the last night of the cruise. He  left the casino in the wee hours of that night  (morning, really) with the cruise certificate in his hand. On the back of the certificate is a list of cruises - some as short as 4 nights (I believe) and some as long as 7 nights. There may have been 1 8-night cruise as well. In any case, you have 30 days to call Casino Royale to book one of the listed cruises. If none of them will work for you, the certificate is redeemable for $500 off the price of a cruise of your choosing. The cruise that you reserve must sail within a year's time. 

We weren't picky and one date/ship worked out for us. From what I recall, the cruises offered were starting in September 2019 and went to April 2020, and I have read that they are updated every quarter. So maybe in October, another list will be available, but I don't believe that you can use any list but the one that is on the certificate, or the trade-in value. 

2500 points earned will gain you a cruise for 2 for an interior stateroom. If you have better luck, you may earn a comped OV stateroom (3600 points) or balcony (4800 points.) I think that some people earn suites as well, of course, by racking up even more points. I believe that these certificates are always for 2 people, but I am sure that someone here will correct me if I am mistaken. I understand that these higher-level certificate will have a higher trade-in value, but again, that factoid was gleaned from reading message boards and Facebook group posts. 

Don't stop at 2499 points, that will earn you the interior cruise certificate, but you will need 2500 points to earn Prime. If you earn Prime status on your January cruise, in April, 2020, you should receive a "code" for your free annual Prime cruise (not the same one as the certificate cruise!) This can be a cruise of your own choosing, up to 8 nights, I believe,  but no holiday cruises. Husband hasn't received this code yet, obviously, so we haven't experienced this yet, but we received that information about the annual cruise in an email from a Casino Royale rep. 

Very nice summary....and 100% accurate.

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21 minutes ago, MotleyCruiser said:

I always wondered if cashing in my winnings on roulette or craps and re buying chips at the tables increases my points.?!

This is really a great question....and one I'm afraid I cannot answer with any certainty.  I will give you my opinion....but that's all it's worth.

After many years of trying to work the program to my advantage, trust me when I say that I have tried it all !!

1.  I do not believe that cashing in and re-buying chips will help you.  Honestly, to my knowledge, the only thing that they track with the "card swipe' at the tables, is how long you play and how much you win or loose.  The table swipe, IMO does NOT have anything to do with the rate at which you acquire points.

2.  Points acquisition has waaay more to do with the amount of your wager than it does with how much money you bring to (or take away from) the table.  That's why the table players are at such a disadvantage as compared to the slots players.  With slots, every single wager you make is recorded.  With table games, they come by periodically and make "notes" on an iPad about what your wagers are but if you vary your wagers (I do not....Dan does) and they happen to only pass by when you are making lower wagers, then that is what they are recording.  Conversely, if they happen to pass by when your wager is up, you will get credit for more and your multiplier will be higher.

3.  Frankly, the best thing you can do to be noticed is play at the high stakes tables.  Dan always makes a point of playing at least 1 full night at the $25-$50 per hand blackjack table.  Since the minimums at those tables are higher to start with, your time at those tables will net you more points all the way around.  Dan never EVER plays as many [total] minutes as I do but he almost always ends up with more points at the end of the cruise than I do b/c he spends time at the high stakes tables and I go nowhere near them !

Again.....this is all conjecture.  They keep their ratings secrets SECRET so I really have nothing to go on but LOTS of experience.

One last thing.  Don't listen to the people who tell you that they do not give you "credit" for losing money.  This is one thing I DO know for sure.  If you have lost a lot of money over the course of the cruise, they DO consider that in determining what kind of certificate you will get (but NOT with the number of points you are awarded).  Winning will not penalize you but losing DOES count in your favor.  I once had a certificate re-issued from a small $$$ off certificate to a free balcony certificate based solely on the amount of money that I had lost (nothing to brag about, for sure !).  On that cruise, both Dan and I earned free balcony certificates (the only time that has ever happened !).  Many would say that we just 'prepaid" our cruises, which is a fair analysis !

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16 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

This is really a great question....and one I'm afraid I cannot answer with any certainty.  I will give you my opinion....but that's all it's worth.

After many years of trying to work the program to my advantage, trust me when I say that I have tried it all !!

1.  I do not believe that cashing in and re-buying chips will help you.  Honestly, to my knowledge, the only thing that they track with the "card swipe' at the tables, is how long you play and how much you win or loose.  The table swipe, IMO does NOT have anything to do with the rate at which you acquire points.

2.  Points acquisition has waaay more to do with the amount of your wager than it does with how much money you bring to (or take away from) the table.  That's why the table players are at such a disadvantage as compared to the slots players.  With slots, every single wager you make is recorded.  With table games, they come by periodically and make "notes" on an iPad about what your wagers are but if you vary your wagers (I do not....Dan does) and they happen to only pass by when you are making lower wagers, then that is what they are recording.  Conversely, if they happen to pass by when your wager is up, you will get credit for more and your multiplier will be higher.

3.  Frankly, the best thing you can do to be noticed is play at the high stakes tables.  Dan always makes a point of playing at least 1 full night at the $25-$50 per hand blackjack table.  Since the minimums at those tables are higher to start with, your time at those tables will net you more points all the way around.  Dan never EVER plays as many [total] minutes as I do but he almost always ends up with more points at the end of the cruise than I do b/c he spends time at the high stakes tables and I go nowhere near them !

Again.....this is all conjecture.  They keep their ratings secrets SECRET so I really have nothing to go on but LOTS of experience.

One last thing.  Don't listen to the people who tell you that they do not give you "credit" for losing money.  This is one thing I DO know for sure.  If you have lost a lot of money over the course of the cruise, they DO consider that in determining what kind of certificate you will get (but NOT with the number of points you are awarded).  Winning will not penalize you but losing DOES count in your favor.  I once had a certificate re-issued from a small $$$ off certificate to a free balcony certificate based solely on the amount of money that I had lost (nothing to brag about, for sure !).  On that cruise, both Dan and I earned free balcony certificates (the only time that has ever happened !).  Many would say that we just 'prepaid" our cruises, which is a fair analysis !

What is your experience with other blackjack players at high stakes?  I play high stakes at my home casino (not due to being a high roller) mostly due to two reasons.  The first, if I have to play with someone, they typically know what they are doing.  The second is that I often get the table to myself.  A slight third reason is that drinks are free in there, but I don't usually drink too much when gambling.  Our high stakes is $50 min which is about what I would play on any table.  

My cruise next week is my first cruise where I will actually pay attention to the casino more than just an hour or two one night.  Unsure of the blackjack table layouts and high stakes.

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4 minutes ago, hsweat22 said:

What is your experience with other blackjack players at high stakes?  I play high stakes at my home casino (not due to being a high roller) mostly due to two reasons.  The first, if I have to play with someone, they typically know what they are doing.  The second is that I often get the table to myself.  A slight third reason is that drinks are free in there, but I don't usually drink too much when gambling.  Our high stakes is $50 min which is about what I would play on any table.  

My cruise next week is my first cruise where I will actually pay attention to the casino more than just an hour or two one night.  Unsure of the blackjack table layouts and high stakes.

First piece of information is to let you know that I suck at blackjack.  That is really Dan's game ( I love Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em). However, I will validate your first 2 points.  That is also why Dan prefers the high stakes table.  Probably more for #2 than #1.  Rarely will there ever be anyone else there, but if there is, they are not rookies.

Another reason for choosing the high stakes games is b/c the payout for BJ is better on the single deck and high stakes games than on the other games.  I always get this wrong but Stephanie will help me out if I do !!!  ...the high stakes games pay 3:2 on a BJ and the other smaller stakes tables pay 6:5.

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1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

I do not believe that cashing in and re-buying chips will help you.  Honestly, to my knowledge, the only thing that they track with the "card swipe' at the tables, is how long you play and how much you win or loose.  The table swipe, IMO does NOT have anything to do with the rate at which you acquire points

I only see then swipe is when you get your chips. They never update anything and do not 'cancel you out' when someone leaves. I don't think they track time at all. speaking for roulette and craps

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1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

This is really a great question....and one I'm afraid I cannot answer with any certainty.  I will give you my opinion....but that's all it's worth.

After many years of trying to work the program to my advantage, trust me when I say that I have tried it all !!

1.  I do not believe that cashing in and re-buying chips will help you.  Honestly, to my knowledge, the only thing that they track with the "card swipe' at the tables, is how long you play and how much you win or loose.  The table swipe, IMO does NOT have anything to do with the rate at which you acquire points.

2.  Points acquisition has waaay more to do with the amount of your wager than it does with how much money you bring to (or take away from) the table.  That's why the table players are at such a disadvantage as compared to the slots players.  With slots, every single wager you make is recorded.  With table games, they come by periodically and make "notes" on an iPad about what your wagers are but if you vary your wagers (I do not....Dan does) and they happen to only pass by when you are making lower wagers, then that is what they are recording.  Conversely, if they happen to pass by when your wager is up, you will get credit for more and your multiplier will be higher.

3.  Frankly, the best thing you can do to be noticed is play at the high stakes tables.  Dan always makes a point of playing at least 1 full night at the $25-$50 per hand blackjack table.  Since the minimums at those tables are higher to start with, your time at those tables will net you more points all the way around.  Dan never EVER plays as many [total] minutes as I do but he almost always ends up with more points at the end of the cruise than I do b/c he spends time at the high stakes tables and I go nowhere near them !

Again.....this is all conjecture.  They keep their ratings secrets SECRET so I really have nothing to go on but LOTS of experience.

One last thing.  Don't listen to the people who tell you that they do not give you "credit" for losing money.  This is one thing I DO know for sure.  If you have lost a lot of money over the course of the cruise, they DO consider that in determining what kind of certificate you will get (but NOT with the number of points you are awarded).  Winning will not penalize you but losing DOES count in your favor.  I once had a certificate re-issued from a small $$$ off certificate to a free balcony certificate based solely on the amount of money that I had lost (nothing to brag about, for sure !).  On that cruise, both Dan and I earned free balcony certificates (the only time that has ever happened !).  Many would say that we just 'prepaid" our cruises, which is a fair analysis !

So Ideally you would be better off using your seapass card rather than cash so they can track it better?

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2 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Very nice summary....and 100% accurate.

Wouldn't you want to take the longest cruise possible if your schedule allowed for it?

If they're offering up to 8 nights I would not hesitate to make sure my schedule worked for that.

It seems like the biggest bang for your buck if you had a looong dreadful run to earn prime at the casino?

 

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8 minutes ago, TJ! said:

Wouldn't you want to take the longest cruise possible if your schedule allowed for it?

If they're offering up to 8 nights I would not hesitate to make sure my schedule worked for that.

It seems like the biggest bang for your buck if you had a looong dreadful run to earn prime at the casino?

 

8 nights on a small ship vs 7 nights on one of the Oasis class ships?  

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Just now, AshleyDillo said:

8 nights on a small ship vs 7 nights on one of the Oasis class ships?  

Oh i had no idea I read the information and assumed it would be on Oasis class ship.

If that's the case I'd shoot for the 7 days 100% and be damn sure I made my schedule work with the sail dates no matter what haha.

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Just now, WAAAYTOOO said:

You must use both.  You absolutely want to give them your Seapass card if you are looking to be compensated. If you just play without having them swipe your card you will get no credit.

So if the key is to register and make sure you're recorded wouldn't you want to use card only instead of both?

 

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23 minutes ago, TJ! said:

So Ideally you would be better off using your seapass card rather than cash so they can track it better?

You give them your card with the cash.  I don't even know if you can charge at the tables to your room account.  That may have to be done at the cage.  Although on Allure last week they had a sign up telling everyone to get cash from the slot machines and they weren't doing it at the cashier.  No charge for charging to the room at the slots at any casino tier either...it's how I cashed out my OBC and did a little manufactured spending on my credit card for points.

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10 minutes ago, TJ! said:

Wouldn't you want to take the longest cruise possible if your schedule allowed for it?

If they're offering up to 8 nights I would not hesitate to make sure my schedule worked for that.

It seems like the biggest bang for your buck if you had a looong dreadful run to earn prime at the casino?

 

Yes, longer cruises are better if you are looking to score a certificate. Unless you’re spending a LOT of money it’s hard to get a free cruise cert on a short cruise.  As far as points are concerned, if you’re planning on taking lots of shorty cruises it really doesn’t hurt you but if you’re only getting a couple of cruises in a casino year, you are better off taking longer ones.

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17 minutes ago, TJ! said:

 

If they're offering up to 8 nights I would not hesitate to make sure my schedule worked for 

 

That’s how we came to have B2B Star Class cruises on Anthem in Feb. Those were our 2 annual Prime cruises that we upgraded to SC.  Those were our 2028-2019 Prime cruises. For our 2019-2020 Prime cruises I squandered Dans on a 4 night NAV cruise b/c we ran out of vacation !  Mine will be used for another 8 nighter on Anthem again but no SC this time ??

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2 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

First piece of information is to let you know that I suck at blackjack.  That is really Dan's game ( I love Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em). However, I will validate your first 2 points.  That is also why Dan prefers the high stakes table.  Probably more for #2 than #1.  Rarely will there ever be anyone else there, but if there is, they are not rookies.

Another reason for choosing the high stakes games is b/c the payout for BJ is better on the single deck and high stakes games than on the other games.  I always get this wrong but Stephanie will help me out if I do !!!  ...the high stakes games pay 3:2 on a BJ and the other smaller stakes tables pay 6:5.

Would be very happy if it were 3:2....everything I have seen says 6:5 but nobody mentioned high stakes

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3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

First piece of information is to let you know that I suck at blackjack.  That is really Dan's game ( I love Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em). However, I will validate your first 2 points.  That is also why Dan prefers the high stakes table.  Probably more for #2 than #1.  Rarely will there ever be anyone else there, but if there is, they are not rookies.

Another reason for choosing the high stakes games is b/c the payout for BJ is better on the single deck and high stakes games than on the other games.  I always get this wrong but Stephanie will help me out if I do !!!  ...the high stakes games pay 3:2 on a BJ and the other smaller stakes tables pay 6:5.

Royal's new policy is blackjack pays 3:2 on tables that are $15 a hand and higher.. Anything under $15 a hand pays 6:5.. Also on Holiday sailings they make the tables $25 and over for 3:2 which is annoying but as we know they make up the rules as they go along lol. 

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15 minutes ago, brian_md said:

can i pm you to get some details on this?

It might just be to charge to your Seapass card and paid by a credit card with real good benefits (as long as you are Prime or above and are not charged the 5% fee by RC).  Might even bring home extra cash.  I get triple points for travel and restaurants on one of my cards, so I have no problem using that for all my RC stuff, including getting cash from Casino Royale.

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2 hours ago, brian_md said:

can i pm you to get some details on this?

Feel free to PM me.  But effectively I added money to the slot machine through the room charge option in the account screen.  Then I would hit collect on the slot machine and it spit out a ticket that I redeemed for cash.  It showed as a casino entertainment charge for the amount I took out with no service charge on my onboard account.  At the end of the cruise I was charged one total amount for my onboard account to my charge.  It registers as a travel category charge so I get the points for that.  

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On 9/10/2019 at 5:01 PM, MotleyCruiser said:

I only see then swipe is when you get your chips. They never update anything and do not 'cancel you out' when someone leaves. I don't think they track time at all. speaking for roulette and craps

Exactly, that's the beef I have with their system. The land based casino's record precisely how much money you buy in with and precisely how much money you leave the table with. This helps the casino determine your discretionary comp balance which is different than the points you accumulate. When they swipe your card they don't enter any information, it just records the game you are playing at, and for how long. That information is imported to the casino floor's spreadsheet where they manually enter how much you are playing per hand which it turn renders your points. Where they make up for it is a free cruise that can have a base value of $3,000 +/- depending on which category you earn.

If you lose a lot of money quickly (table games), at a land based casino you can always ask a host or pit manager for an room, dinner, or other comp based on your net loss, even if it was fast. On Royal Caribbean, they are basing their comp's solely off of your theoretical loss over time. 

Example: If you play Roulette for 10 hours over the course of a cruise with a theoretical hold of 5.6% with an average bet of $100 per spin (20 spins per hour) the casino can theoretically expect to win $1,120.00 from you. [$100 per bet * 20 spins * 10 hours] * [0.056 hold]. If the casino issues back 10% (varies at different casinos) of your theoretical losses, you can expect a folio credit of $120.00 + points accumulated.

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6 hours ago, Ken23 said:

It might just be to charge to your Seapass card and paid by a credit card with real good benefits (as long as you are Prime or above and are not charged the 5% fee by RC).  Might even bring home extra cash.  I get triple points for travel and restaurants on one of my cards, so I have no problem using that for all my RC stuff, including getting cash from Casino Royale.

I always tried to figure out if this some how affected my comps at the end of the cruise because RC are taking a 3% hit from the credit card companies on the money taken out. I feel that a couple times that I took out 10k plus, my comps seemed a little light at the end of the cruise. Not sure if anyone has some inside information on this , as there could be a variety of factors. Thanks.

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Just a couple of comments for this thread....

 

I'll start by clarifying that I have never worked for RCI, but I did work in the casino game for twenty years, with some of that time on another cruise line.

 

Your buy in will make zero difference to your rating. Your win/loss will make zero difference to your rating.

 

On table games, the only thing that counts is average bet and time played. Depending on how they actually work out the average bet, you should increase when you see the inspector or pit boss watching... that's if the figures are entered manually by the staff. In some cases, casinos base the rating on the table minimum you are playing, so playing $25 per hand on a $10 table will not earn you the same points as playing $25 per hand on a $25 table. I don't know if RC is one of those or not.

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On 9/11/2019 at 1:54 AM, Miller Lite said:

I always tried to figure out if this some how affected my comps at the end of the cruise because RC are taking a 3% hit from the credit card companies on the money taken out. I feel that a couple times that I took out 10k plus, my comps seemed a little light at the end of the cruise. Not sure if anyone has some inside information on this , as there could be a variety of factors. Thanks.

I've been responsible for credit card processing contracts with large companies and while 3% is a number that small volume companies pay I can tell you NO company the size of Royal is paying more than 1.5% for processing,  even AMEX processing.  The more volume you have the lower you can negotiate the processing fees.

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On 9/10/2019 at 7:49 PM, AshleyDillo said:

Feel free to PM me.  But effectively I added money to the slot machine through the room charge option in the account screen.  Then I would hit collect on the slot machine and it spit out a ticket that I redeemed for cash.  It showed as a casino entertainment charge for the amount I took out with no service charge on my onboard account.  At the end of the cruise I was charged one total amount for my onboard account to my charge.  It registers as a travel category charge so I get the points for that.  

 

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