Annual Prime cruise.

[WAAAYTOOO]

Dan and my annual Prime casino comp cruise have finally posted.  There is a long list of excluded cruises....which is to be expected - summer and holidays.

Dan will probably choose an August or October Wonder cruise.  He is going to stay in an interior (ugh).  Not sure what I will do yet - most likely SY or OA in August or October.  I will definitely be upgrading mine !  LOL

[DoomSlayer]

1 hour ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

Dan and my annual Prime casino comp cruise have finally posted.  There is a long list of excluded cruises....which is to be expected - summer and holidays.

Dan will probably choose an August or October Wonder cruise.  He is going to stay in an interior (ugh).  Not sure what I will do yet - most likely SY or OA in August or October.  I will definitely be upgrading mine !  LOL

Just saw mine in my account too.  Hard part for me is I have 3 cruises already booked in the timeframe already (before next April) and I am running out of vacation days for work   Only time that would have worked for me is during the blackout times around Christmas when my work is shut down anyway.

Not sure I am missing out too much though because the 3 cruises I do have booked are from casino comps anyway with Balcony and Suite comp tiers.

[NapTime]

Updated Casino Royal Rewards

MGM will also tier match your level on Royal just have to call MGM

[billdauterive]

3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

There is a long list of excluded cruises....which is to be expected - summer and holidays.

Are the blackout dates more than in the past?  From what I've read I was under the impression the blackout dates were only for major holidays in the past and not summer as well.  I've never been prime before but I think I've got a good chance to hit it this year.  Since I might be borderline status, I'm just curious if it would make sense to push extra at the last minute if needed.  If all summer is blacked out, it might not be worth it to me.

[DoomSlayer]

17 minutes ago, billdauterive said:

Are the blackout dates more than in the past?  From what I've read I was under the impression the blackout dates were only for major holidays in the past and not summer as well.  I've never been prime before but I think I've got a good chance to hit it this year.  Since I might be borderline status, I'm just curious if it would make sense to push extra at the last minute if needed.  If all summer is blacked out, it might not be worth it to me.

These are the blackout sailings I see in my offer:

[billdauterive]

16 minutes ago, DoomSlayer said:

These are the blackout sailings I see in my offer:

Awesome info, thanks!  So if I'm reading this correct, no Alaska itineraries are affected.  That's really what I was wondering as far as blackout dates.

[KevinK]

17 minutes ago, DoomSlayer said:

These are the blackout sailings I see in my offer:

Yup, same as mine..  I always though no major holiday.  But I guess no Summer vacation also...  Since June & July is a no no and only leave for Aug.

[DoomSlayer]

18 minutes ago, KevinK said:

Yup, same as mine..  I always though no major holiday.  But I guess no Summer vacation also...  Since June & July is a no no and only leave for Aug.

Doesn't look like anything is blacklisted out of Texas in the summer, you could always do something from Galveston.

[Falling_Down]

I was pretty disappointed to see blackout date changes...but oh well....what are we gonna do

[WAAAYTOOO]

As expected, Dan booked Wonder in August.  I ended up doing Mariner in October.

[Ampurp85]

Okay updates. They will no longer allow you to apply the prime credit to any booking made previously with NextCruise. A cruise previously booked through Royal as long as its not close to final payment is still on the table. I had a 3person balcony booked but had to do two VB interiors. But I'm booked on Wonder Jan 2024 for only $560 with taxes, port fees, and gratuities. Also it went from $500 trade-in to $750 because they know it cost more.

[WAAAYTOOO]

27 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

Also it went from $500 trade-in to $750 because they know it cost more.

WOW !  That's a huge surprise.  That doesn't sound like them at all !  LOL

To clarify....if you have a booking already and want to convert that booking into your annual tier comp cruise, you can still do that ?  ...or are you saying that all you can do is apply the cash value ($500/$750) to that existing booking ?

[Ampurp85]

54 minutes ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

WOW !  That's a huge surprise.  That doesn't sound like them at all !  LOL

To clarify....if you have a booking already and want to convert that booking into your annual tier comp cruise, you can still do that ?  ...or are you saying that all you can do is apply the cash value ($500/$750) to that existing booking ?

If you have a booking, not made with NextCruise, you can apply your annual comp. Otherwise, based, on the winds, you get the trade-in value.

[Pattycruise]

7 hours ago, KevinK said:

Yup, same as mine..  I always thought no major holiday.  But I guess no Summer vacation also...  Since June & July is a no no and only leave for Aug.

Not all ship/sailings  are blacked out for summer.

I know Oasis was nearly sold out for the one week I wanted in July.  I’m so glad I didn’t book a paid cabin for 2 of my kids and then try to get 2 more cabins with my Tier and my husband Tier cruise-it wouldn’t have happened.

[BrianB]

I’ll just apply the value to an existing booked cruise. As long as it’s not through NextCruise…which is getting harder to find because I book most through NextCruise. Saves lots of money up front with just the $100 deposits…and getting that back through OBC. Also, the summer restrictions don’t matter to me because I don’t cruise mid May through Mid September as NJ is beautiful in the summer. I know…first world problems.

[Ampurp85]

So I'm going to leave this here.......   but any earned comps are combinable with all NextCruise promotions. I got the OBC for booking with them, my freeplay and I just paid taxes and fees. Which you have to do with casino comps but it would have been reduced deposit.

[Hoppy2BHere]

Revive this with one more question…

   If you book your prime tier comp cruise and want to upgrade the room (<7 nights and all other criteria met), do you only receive the $500 credit towards the booking or do they book it with an upgrade fee or amount commensurate to upgrading from an interior to whatever you are requesting? My wife is new to prime this year and we are trying to figure out the best use of her cruise…

Thanks in advance!

J&S

[WAAAYTOOO]

2 hours ago, Hoppy2BHere said:

Revive this with one more question…

   If you book your prime tier comp cruise and want to upgrade the room (<7 nights and all other criteria met), do you only receive the $500 credit towards the booking or do they book it with an upgrade fee or amount commensurate to upgrading from an interior to whatever you are requesting? My wife is new to prime this year and we are trying to figure out the best use of her cruise…

Thanks in advance!

J&S

You just pay the difference between the awarded comp price (in our case, interior) and the cost of the upgrade….so you get the full value of the casino comp applied to your upgrade.

[WAAAYTOOO]

So this is a bit off topic, but I found out something very interesting today.

It seems that the casino host can create a special card (similar to a Sea Pass card but good only in the casino, only good for the current cruise, and good only for machine play.  Will not work at the tables) that directs all of your casino points to someone else.  IOW, if I use this card when I play the machines, all of the points earned would go to Dans account or vise versa.  I know there are people who play someone else’s card in order to accumulate points for that other person, but I always thought this was “cheating”.  Not so !  It’s completely legit and I got such a card tonite !  So, going forward on this cruise, any points that I accumulate playing any machine, will go to Dans account and allow him to accumulate points more quickly, therefore, qualifying for a higher instant reward comp certificate.  I was stunned when I learned about this.  It seems completely counter to Royals attitude of minimizing casino perks.

This “hack” seems hugely advantageous to couples !  Since Dan and I have both already achieved Prime for next year and have no hope of reaching Signature individually, this combining of points would greatly advantage one of us to push forward to perhaps getting to Signature.  …and that is in addition to improving our onboard instant reward comps.

Who knew ?  I haven’t used the card yet but I will try it tomorrow and see how it works !  We still have 4 more days left on this cruise.

[Pattycruise]

3 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

So this is a bit off topic, but I found out something very interesting today.

It seems that the casino host can create a special card (similar to a Sea Pass card but good only in the casino, only good for the current cruise, and good only for machine play.  Will not work at the tables) that directs all of your casino points to someone else.  IOW, if I use this card when I play the machines, all of the points earned would go to Dans account or vise versa.  I know there are people who play someone else’s card in order to accumulate points for that other person, but I always thought this was “cheating”.  Not so !  It’s completely legit and I got such a card tonite !  So, going forward on this cruise, any points that I accumulate playing any machine, will go to Dans account and allow him to accumulate points more quickly, therefore, qualifying for a higher instant reward comp certificate.  I was stunned when I learned about this.  It seems completely counter to Royals attitude of minimizing casino perks.

This “hack” seems hugely advantageous to couples !  Since Dan and I have both already achieved Prime for next year and have no hope of reaching Signature individually, this combining of points would greatly advantage one of us to push forward to perhaps getting to Signature.  …and that is in addition to improving our onboard instant reward comps.

Who knew ?  I haven’t used the card yet but I will try it tomorrow and see how it works !  We still have 4 more days left on this cruise.

It’s referred to as the “white card” in the Club Royale Facebook group (not official group for club Royale)

there is discussion that this card will be done away with.  Who knows!  On Anthem they told me to just tap my card at a machine my husband was going to play so I could do get his points.  
 

there’s always rumors that this is not permitted (yet the hosts offer this) 

enjoy getting one of you to signature!!

[WAAAYTOOO]

7 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

It’s referred to as the “white card” in the Club Royale Facebook group (not official group for club Royale)

there is discussion that this card will be done away with.  Who knows!  On Anthem they told me to just tap my card at a machine my husband was going to play so I could do get his points.  
 

there’s always rumors that this is not permitted (yet the hosts offer this) 

enjoy getting one of you to signature!!

Yes, that’s it !  It is white.  I guess I had never heard of it b/c I rarely play machines….but we have found some video poker machines that we enjoy so we’ve been trying those.  I’m sure they WILL get rid of the white card since I’ve just discovered it !

[togo]

Just so ya'll know, I had a different experience a week ago.  I had a cruise previously reserved with Next Cruise.  I was able to apply my annual free cruise to this reservation and it all worked out.  It took me three calls to get the right agent.  Based on what I read here, I don't know which is right or wrong now.  But I would like to know for future trips as I usually book with next cruise and then apply my annual to that booking later.

 

 

[The Fox]

11 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

This “hack” seems hugely advantageous to couples !

As new as we are to cruising (only since Jan 2020), we have done this many times. And we continue to do it. We received Prime easily. One thing to note, as you are following the points, they don't always sync up at the same time. So if you're sitting next to each other, the point difference may be different. I will be interested to see if they have this option in two weeks when we sail on Voyager. Since we have no points on this new year we will be wanting to maximize our playing.

[Snotarni]

Can we book our Tier Comp Cruises at Next Cruise?  Or does it have to be on the phone?  Thanks!!

[Ampurp85]

2 hours ago, Snotarni said:

Can we book our Tier Comp Cruises at Next Cruise?  Or does it have to be on the phone?  Thanks!!

You can but Next cruise has to wait for the Casino approval. 

[Ampurp85]

15 hours ago, WAAAYTOOO said:

So this is a bit off topic, but I found out something very interesting today.

It seems that the casino host can create a special card (similar to a Sea Pass card but good only in the casino, only good for the current cruise, and good only for machine play.  Will not work at the tables) that directs all of your casino points to someone else.  IOW, if I use this card when I play the machines, all of the points earned would go to Dans account or vise versa.  I know there are people who play someone else’s card in order to accumulate points for that other person, but I always thought this was “cheating”.  Not so !  It’s completely legit and I got such a card tonite !  So, going forward on this cruise, any points that I accumulate playing any machine, will go to Dans account and allow him to accumulate points more quickly, therefore, qualifying for a higher instant reward comp certificate.  I was stunned when I learned about this.  It seems completely counter to Royals attitude of minimizing casino perks.

This “hack” seems hugely advantageous to couples !  Since Dan and I have both already achieved Prime for next year and have no hope of reaching Signature individually, this combining of points would greatly advantage one of us to push forward to perhaps getting to Signature.  …and that is in addition to improving our onboard instant reward comps.

Who knew ?  I haven’t used the card yet but I will try it tomorrow and see how it works !  We still have 4 more days left on this cruise.

Yes, I learned of this last year from a couple who were Rv'ers and now are comped cruisers. The husband doesn't gamble at all, so the wife gets the white card for the casino and earns his status for him. I planned to do this with my brother on our next cruise. I feel like the casino encourages this as I have seen it on every cruise since I noticed it on my Sept 2022 Nav sailing. 

[Ampurp85]

Since this topic is in regard to Prime certs, I just wanted to share some info. 

If you call the casino line, directly, they will automatically connect you to a regular royal rep. Apparently the casino line is insane and wait times are and have been up to five hours. These reps can answer general questions but will still put you on hold to transfer you. I have no idea why they are rerouting the calls when those reps cannot help but it is a pain. 

If you book a cert onboard with Next cruise, be sure that they apply the code. Mine wasn't applied and they told me my balance would be zero in 3-4 days. After a week I still didn't have an updated invoice with the Freeplay. I called at 7am this morning and was able to get it applied right away. They have a lot of new reps, so you really have to push them to get things resolved properly. 

[Hoppy2BHere]

Thanks for your help WAAAYTOO.

After a 30 minute wait on the prime line, we were able to book our prime cruise with an upgrade to a balcony on Wonder in September. This was our first booking like this. What a deal. 
 

J&S

[The Fox]

@Ampurp85 @WAAAYTOOO

Another question on the Annual Prime Cruise. My husband and I both earned certificates for interior rooms. We want to book separate balcony rooms and take our daughter and her two daughters (adults). I understand that we need to split the three of them up between the two rooms for booking purposes, then change that after getting on the ship.

My question is about the cost. I figure my husband and I will have to pay the upgrade to the balcony. And two of the girls will have to pay the upgrade also. I'm thinking the third girl will have to pay the full fare, or thereabouts. We will be needing a room with a pullman or sofa bed also if that makes a difference. Any insights would help before I decide to call.

Also, can we book through Next Cruise and get the OBC?

[BlackJackPlayer]

My wife and I are both prime for the current year (4/1/23 - 3/31/24). In the past, prime got each of us an interior cabin so we were able to do back to back cruises at little cost (balcony upgrade + port taxes) for each cruise. I recently heard rumors that being prime entitled only the certificate holder to a free fare but the second person would have to pay full fare if he/she was not prime. Does anybody know if this is true or just a rumor? Thanks.

 

[Ampurp85]

10 hours ago, BlackJackPlayer said:

My wife and I are both prime for the current year (4/1/23 - 3/31/24). In the past, prime got each of us an interior cabin so we were able to do back to back cruises at little cost (balcony upgrade + port taxes) for each cruise. I recently heard rumors that being prime entitled only the certificate holder to a free fare but the second person would have to pay full fare if he/she was not prime. Does anybody know if this is true or just a rumor? Thanks.

 

Not true. That was a particular certificate. I booked my interior with another person who isn't prime.

[BlackJackPlayer]

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

Not true. That was a particular certificate. I booked my interior with another person who isn't prime.

I assume the person who wasn't prime did not have to pay? 

[Pattycruise]

16 hours ago, BlackJackPlayer said:

I assume the person who wasn't prime did not have to pay? 

The 2nd guest on the annual comp, regardless of their casino status or lack thereof,  does not pay anything other than port fees/taxes and gratuities.