jaullram Posted May 3, 2017 Report Share Posted May 3, 2017 We booked our next cruise through the Club Royale number and got a good deal and put our vouchers towards it as well. Is it worth it to call to see if the price I got is still the best price - do they ever change like regular RCI sales do? I was also curious about how to keep getting discounts (is there a certain level of play we need to have on our next cruise)?. When I called they said that they can give discounts on cruises based on our play from the previous cruise for up to 18 months after so I am guessing we need to re-qualify on our next cruise to qualify for discounts further than 18 months. Last question. People mention free drinks in the casino for VIP members but since the program has changed, is that still offered and if so, how do I find out if we qualify? (My husband got a free interior stateroom offer on our last cruise and I received $300 off so not sure if that is enough). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted May 3, 2017 Report Share Posted May 3, 2017 Congatulations !! The best news is....if you qualified for a certificate and you got the casino rate then the chances are extremely good that you will qualify for the free drinks. i recommend you call CR and make sure that you are on "the list" which will go to the casino host on your cruise. This list has the names of those players who qualify for "special attention". If you are traveing on a casino rate cruise and have applied certificates then I feel quite certain that you are but it never hurts to check BEFORE getting on the ship. It should be mentioned that the casino host and ultimately, the casino manager have discretion on how and to whom to provide drinks, Some hosts still use the old drink coupons, which are a complete PITA. Most of the hosts these days put a sticker on your card that denotes free drinks and also alerts the pit bosses to waive the 5% convenience fee for getting cash on your seapass card. The sticker is a much better system - at least from a player's point of view. Perhaps the coupons make it easier to quantify how many free drinks they are serving though. As for requalifying, that is a closely held secret. They tell you that you need so many points and there is a theorum for calculating points but I think it's all voodoo, I truly believe that it depends on whether or not the casino host notices that you are there or not. I always spend the same amount of money and the same amount of time in the casino and the ones where I have gotten the best "rewards" are the ones where there is an active host with whom I can make a personal connection. If you are a slots player it's a bit easier b/c tracking your play is easy. I do not play slots; I am a table game player so it's not as straightforward. Even though the seem to slide my card into that little reader every time I sit down I'm never sure they are really registering my play. I'm sure it's all just a big conspiracy in my mind... The most recent time I called CR and asked them how to ensure that I continue to "qualify" the answer I got was - "Just keep doing what you're doing". Huh ? Oh well,,,,it keeps working, I guess I will just do what I do until it stops working !!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted May 3, 2017 Report Share Posted May 3, 2017 Sorry, Forgot to answer your question about checking price drops. I have never ever been able to get a price reduction on a casino rate cruise. It's that simple. The price I pay when I book my casino rate cruise has always been lower than any other promotion, special discount of any subsequent price for that cruise. I guess that's a good thing. Theoretically, if the base price (the full, undiscounted per person rate) of your cabin category falls below the base price that you paid when you booked, you would qualify for a price reduction. You could just call CR and just have them reprice the cruise. It's just that that has never ever happened on a single cruise I have ever booked through CR ! ...and I check multiple times per day. We almost always cruise in suites and those usually sell out so many times I'm not able to check those prices but so far - never ! So what you want to look for is the base price that your casino rate was based on when you booked. If that rate is less than what the base rate is on the website, no price reduction. If you find the the base price on the website is lower than what the base price was when you booked you should be able to get a reduction. Good luck. So far it has never happened for me !! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaullram Posted May 3, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 3, 2017 Thank you so much for this information. The main reason I wanted to find out about the drinks is it will impact whether or not I buy the drink package. The CR representative thought that my husband had a very good chance of free drinks and I may just get a voucher for a few but to make sure to introduce ourselves to the host (which we didn't last cruise and didn't get any acknowledgement from them until we went to pick up our vouchers). I did call the CR line and apply my certificates to a March 2018 cruise in a JS and got about 45% discount on top of the $800 certificates. Then a day later (because I couldn't wait a year to go on a cruise) I booked a short (5 night) cruise to Bermuda on Anthem and they gave us a 57% discount which was amazing considering we didn't have any certificates. Unfortunately, it is going to be hard getting a lot of points on the 5 night cruise seeing as how one of the nights (in Bermuda) the casino doesn't open until 9PM. I am considering trying to see if they will give me a discount on a 3rd cruise within the 18 month window so I can at least lock in a price and see if I can get a better one after our next cruise. I never knew about the previous program so I am trying to find out as much about the new one! Again - thank you! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted May 3, 2017 Report Share Posted May 3, 2017 I'm in the same boat as you (pun not intended) re: Bermuda. Not gonna be much gambling time on that one ! Yes, absolutely go up and introduce yourself to the Casino Manager first thing. It's the key to everything. We consistently get 45-50% off the full fare plus any certificates so that's pretty standard. The casino rate is really quite wonderful ! A recent change to the program requires that if you book a cruise using a casino rate and then come back and add certificates to it later, they will reprice the cruise to whatever the current rate is. You will still get the casino rate and the value of the coupons but if the base price of the cruise has gone up the repricing may negate the value of the certificates. Of course, they do this to try and push you towards booking a new cruise rather than applying your certificates to an already discounted cruise. So while your idea of booking another cruise now to take advantage of the casino discount is a good one, remember that it may not pay to try and apply any certificates that you earn to that cruise down the road. Sometimes just the casino rate is good enough ! tiny260 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiny260 Posted May 3, 2017 Report Share Posted May 3, 2017 WAAYTOOO, I have learned so much today about the CR program and what to do when by reading your and others post, I called CR today and found out I'm a member, I didn't even know that I was. I don't have a lot of discount because I don't bet very much, but they already put me on the list for my next cruise May-2017 (26 days, I think) and have waived the 5% fee. Now I just need to check in with the Casino host when I get on board. Not knowing about this service (CR) in the past I have never spoken to the host before. I haven't booked anything yet through CR, they suggested I wait until my cruise since it is so close and see what I get certificate wise. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted May 4, 2017 Report Share Posted May 4, 2017 Tiny, that is AWESOME ! I'm so excited for you !!! Let me know how it goes. This new program is so hard to figure out, You'd think they would want everyone to know that they are members at the very least ! Maybe the worst managed program I've ever known ! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestingBird Posted May 5, 2017 Report Share Posted May 5, 2017 My only guess for the vagueness of the program is the less info they give, the fewer people they have to give discounts to. If people knew the minimum amount to gamble to be in the club and get discounts then they'd only gamble that amount and call it a night. Who knows. Does that make any sense? It made sense in my head, but I've only had half my coffee this morning. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jaullram Posted May 5, 2017 Author Report Share Posted May 5, 2017 You are probably correct. We didn't know anything about the previous program on the 3 cruises we took and got nothing so I am hoping to find out as much about the new one so we don't miss out! RestingBird 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tiny260 Posted May 5, 2017 Report Share Posted May 5, 2017 I had previously been on 8 cruises dating back to 2000 and have gone to the casino on every cruise every night, I should have been a expert, but really knew nothing about it until I typed Club Royal in the search window on this forum, I learned a lot from Waaaytooo, I called a number she provided in one of her post and found out I'm a member of CR and didn't know it, I can't find the number she provided, I lost my note, sorry. WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted May 5, 2017 Report Share Posted May 5, 2017 You can call Club Royale at 888-561-2234 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
janza Posted May 6, 2017 Report Share Posted May 6, 2017 WAAAYTOOO is the casino GURU! Gave me the info i needed to get my husband in CR. Got great deals on Allure for Feb "18 and just booked Grandeur out of Baltimore for Oct '17. Couldn't wait till Feb WAAAYTOOO 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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