Star inaugural prices. You better sit down

[Vancity Cruiser]

52 minutes ago, bobroo said:

The old man is sitting in his rocking chair trying to find the ambition to drag the soapbox into the good ol’ town square again. Star of the Seas has brought about many philosophical questions.

I'm here for the rant..........

[Jzx1103]

Lol I will just wait for the casino comps. Didn't have to wait very long for my Icon comps.

[Mark_A]

I am glad I already have three booked for 2025!  I am getting my Icon fix on the Icon Inaugural. I got a good price on the first day of booking. That is enough for me.....I'll go back to the lowly Wonder, and Odyssey

[Geezer Of The Seas]

4 hours ago, Jzx1103 said:

Lol I will just wait for the casino comps. Didn't have to wait very long for my Icon comps.

Casino comps on Star? Cot in the engine room.......or the bilge? 

[billdauterive]

2 minutes ago, Geezer Of The Seas said:

Casino comps on Star? Cot in the engine room.......or the bilge? 

You misspelled brig...

[billdauterive]

Just now, billdauterive said:

You misspelled brig...

Actually that would save me a LOT of money if I couldn't actually get to the casino...

[Jzx1103]

3 hours ago, Geezer Of The Seas said:

Casino comps on Star? Cot in the engine room.......or the bilge? 

Well I already have 2 comp's on the Icon next year (from losing $2500 total in the casino to get both). They're not as hard to get as people think. Certainly much better than paying the outrageous cruise fares outright. Heck for the price I see folks willing to pay for Icon, they might as well as just gamble it all in the Casino, you're pretty much guaranteed to get Icon comp'd plus much more for losing that much in the casino. 

[Geezer Of The Seas]

Lose money in the casino? Boy, I could do that as I know less than nothing about gaming. Even our $50 forays into the slots (penny of course) I haven't got a clue except something good's happening when the machine goes nuts.............then it all disappears a play or two later. 

[HeWhoWaits]

13 hours ago, billdauterive said:

Actually that would save me a LOT of money if I couldn't actually get to the casino...

This speaks volumes about the casino comps for cruises. If you bet enough money in the casinos to get comped cruises, you're likely paying much more overall for your trips than those of us who play very little in the casino (and even more vs. those who skip it altogether).

[HeWhoWaits]

10 hours ago, Jzx1103 said:

Well I already have 2 comp's on the Icon next year (from losing $2500 total in the casino to get both). They're not as hard to get as people think. Certainly much better than paying the outrageous cruise fares outright. Heck for the price I see folks willing to pay for Icon, they might as well as just gamble it all in the Casino, you're pretty much guaranteed to get Icon comp'd plus much more for losing that much in the casino. 

The fact that you "only" lost $2500 to get those comps means you were much more successful in the casino than the average for the amount you had to bet to get the comps.

[Jzx1103]

11 hours ago, HeWhoWaits said:

This speaks volumes about the casino comps for cruises. If you bet enough money in the casinos to get comped cruises, you're likely paying much more overall for your trips than those of us who play very little in the casino (and even more vs. those who skip it altogether).

Not true at all, if you ask anyone who is a seasoned player on Royal that plays in Casino and get comp'd cruises. You'd learn that comp'd cruises aren't hard to get at all. And you'd likely only lose 33% to 60% of what the cruises actually cost to get the free cruises. The key is you'd actually have to be willing to go on the free cruises to make it worth it. For example on my Allure cruise in last August it takes 4000 pts minimum to get Icon comp'd.  Thats $20k coin in. With slot average of 85% payback percentage thats an average of $3000 in losses (I did a bit better than the avg). But by gaining 4000 pts on that cruise not only got me the Icon (which would've already costed more than $3k to book it yourself). It also got me the annual Prime cruise, plus additional mail/email/online offers. Thats minimum 3 free cruises for an $3k loss on average. So many non gamblers have no clue what they're talking about constantly spewing BS about how us gamblers lose way morethan what the free cruises cost. Truth is if you know what you're doing and know how to manage your gambling budget. You'd definitely make out like a bandit with the comp'd cruises versus paying for the cruises outright. Especially these days with the outrageous cruise fares Royal is charging. I actually kept a record. Over the past 7 years since I started sailing all comp"d on Royal. I've sailed on 18 comp'd cruises with Royal that would've costed me $76692 had I booked it myself. My total losses in the Casino the past 7 years was $31k (and there are many other comp'd cruise offers I received but didn't use because I only have so many vacation days a year)

[HeWhoWaits]

2 minutes ago, Jzx1103 said:

With slot average of 85% payback percentage

That 85% "average" payback includes the megajackpot payouts. The average payback for typical play onboard is closer to 60%.

[Jzx1103]

29 minutes ago, HeWhoWaits said:

That 85% "average" payback includes the megajackpot payouts. The average payback for typical play onboard is closer to 60%.

Lmao do you actually gamble often in Club Royale or are you just going by one bad experience. If not I'd suggest you stop pretending to be an expert. I accrued 7 years worth of my results gambling on Royal ships. Recently just introduced my friend to the comp cruise game on Royal and he couldn't be happier with the results. He gambled on Royal for the first time last cruise and lost $2100 and gained 3k pts last cruise. (If you know what you're talking about you would know this is a very average result). He used the instant certificate to book an Alaska cruise (June 2024 Quantum) he originally was gonna book himself and pay $4800. (Instead he paid $860 taxes and fees including adding his daughter as 3rd guest). So thats already a win for him as he paid $2960 (casino losses + taxes + 3rd person fee) instead of $4800 for the same room category (Large OV Balcony). Plus he still get annual prime cruise and has already gotten two additional mail offers. Yes 85% includes progressives if that particular slot even has a progressive. But guess what progressives gets hit too. I've hit it many times. If you're only getting 60% returns after prolong playtime in the casino, then you might want to just accept you're one of the most unluckiest person alive. Sure it can happen in a individual gambling session. But in the long run, it always averages out to close to the 85% whether you're initially lucky or unlucky. 

[HeWhoWaits]

54 minutes ago, Jzx1103 said:

do you actually gamble often in Club Royale

Often enough to know that if I want the casino experience, I'll go to Vegas or Reno. Better odds AND much more variety.

Nowhere near long enough to spend the amount of money required to get a cruise comp - there ARE other things to do onboard, after all.

[Jzx1103]

22 minutes ago, HeWhoWaits said:

Often enough to know that if I want the casino experience, I'll go to Vegas or Reno. Better odds AND much more variety.

Nowhere near long enough to spend the amount of money required to get a cruise comp - there ARE other things to do onboard, after all.

Then you probably shouldn't be assuming we lose more than the cost of the comp'd cruises like its fact if you don't even gamble enough onboard to get one (it only takes 1200 pts lol). As I said the real way to lose is if you don't use the comp'd cruises. My family enjoys cruising a lot. Prior to me starting to gamble on cruises I've paid for 3 cruises a year. Then when I learned how Casino Royale program actually works in 2017, I realized I've been doing it all wrong by paying for my cruises instead of getting them comp'd from the casino. Over the past 7 years my gambling losses were literally just pre-paying for my future cruises except at a much more discounted rate. Talk to other regular players in Club Royale and they will tell you the same. Yes Vegas does offer better paybacks. But nothing beats the perks you get back from gambling on a cruise ship (free cruises that costs thousands to book on your own is way better than a few free nights with some dining credits at a Vegas resort). Especially if you're a cruiser to begin with like my family. 

[JFCruise]

@Jzx1103 - how much time daily do you spend in the casino, though? Is a free cruise worth it if you have to spend a bunch of vacation time sitting at a pretty boring slot machine?

[Jzx1103]

3 hours ago, JFCruise said:

@Jzx1103 - how much time daily do you spend in the casino, though? Is a free cruise worth it if you have to spend a bunch of vacation time sitting at a pretty boring slot machine?

I only play in the casino at night. Usually from 10pm after the shows are over to 1am or 2am. (Trust me, I get the full cruising experience!!!) Thats another common misconception from the non gamblers is that you have to spend the entire cruise gambling to get comp'd cruises. Spinning slots goes really fast. Now table games (which I rarely play) could take much longer time. Also its never boring to someone who enjoys playing slots. So for us, not only are we getting comp'd cruises at less of a cost than paying our own. But we get to have fun doing it. Not to mention the free drinks etc... its a win...win...win scenario for all of us. (Unless you go overboard and gamble beyond your means or beyond what you need to gamble for the comp'd cruise you're aiming for. Which I'm sure is what the Casino is hoping you'd do, there are also plenty of degenerates that gamble so much they get 20k pts on a cruise even though they're already max'd out on their free cruise bookings)

[Xaa]

10 hours ago, Jzx1103 said:

Unless you go overboard...

This would be me.  I am not one that can operate in reasonable limits.  I am all on or all off.  Casino for me sadly is an all off.

For those with regular self control, I love to see you leveraging an enjoyment you have and doing the math to save some money and cruise more.

[OCSC Mike]

1 hour ago, Xaa said:

I love to see you leveraging and enjoyment you have and doing the math to save some money and cruise more.

Agreed. This type of thing is right up my alley. I have no issue with the self-control but I don’t stay up til 1-2am & I wouldn’t personally enjoy spending 3-4 hrs/day in the casino on a cruise.

If it works for you (meaning anyone), that’s great!

[HeWhoWaits]

11 hours ago, Jzx1103 said:

Also its never boring to someone who enjoys playing slots.

True. A real YMMV activity.

My wife could play the slots for the 3-4 hours a night you mention but will never accumulate enough casino points to get anything free (not even drinks) because she plays the penny slots at the minimum bet each time. It's entertaining to her.

As for me, ten to fifteen minutes at a slot machine is enough (win or lose) and it's time to move on to something I find interesting. I'm in the the "slots are boring" camp.

[jeffmw]

This is what Disney has done and it's what converted our family from Disney World vacations to Royal cruises. 

Disney World used to be a manageable vacation where a family could choose between a budget, mid-priced, or luxury vacation -- but at the end of the day the core experience was the same for everyone. Slowly but dramatically, everything skyrocketed in price, while the focus of new construction and innovation shifted entirely to creating more luxury options. Disney stopped worrying about accommodating families on a budget and looked solely to becoming an experience where more money bought you a better experience and the baseline costs got you less and less.

Royal has seen the same increase in demand and sadly appears to be going the same direction in, 1) seeing how much people will pay for the baseline experience while 2) providing more and more pressure to upgrade to the next level. 

 

 

[Ampurp85]

After reading the article on the front page of the blog, this Star pricing is insane. Celebrity is not for everyone but that fact that another newly released ship cost almost 50% less, and it's considered a luxury brand, is mind-boggling. I don't think this is sustainable, but it also will be a while before the prices become somewhat reasonable. 

[Vancity Cruiser]

23 hours ago, Jzx1103 said:

Not true at all, if you ask anyone who is a seasoned player on Royal that plays in Casino and get comp'd cruises. You'd learn that comp'd cruises aren't hard to get at all. And you'd likely only lose 33% to 60% of what the cruises actually cost to get the free cruises. The key is you'd actually have to be willing to go on the free cruises to make it worth it. For example on my Allure cruise in last August it takes 4000 pts minimum to get Icon comp'd.  Thats $20k coin in. With slot average of 85% payback percentage thats an average of $3000 in losses (I did a bit better than the avg). But by gaining 4000 pts on that cruise not only got me the Icon (which would've already costed more than $3k to book it yourself). It also got me the annual Prime cruise, plus additional mail/email/online offers. Thats minimum 3 free cruises for an $3k loss on average. So many non gamblers have no clue what they're talking about constantly spewing BS about how us gamblers lose way morethan what the free cruises cost. Truth is if you know what you're doing and know how to manage your gambling budget. You'd definitely make out like a bandit with the comp'd cruises versus paying for the cruises outright. Especially these days with the outrageous cruise fares Royal is charging. I actually kept a record. Over the past 7 years since I started sailing all comp"d on Royal. I've sailed on 18 comp'd cruises with Royal that would've costed me $76692 had I booked it myself. My total losses in the Casino the past 7 years was $31k (and there are many other comp'd cruise offers I received but didn't use because I only have so many vacation days a year)

This was a fascinating read for me as a non gambler. I was in the ignorant camp that assumed people lost 10k to get a 5k cruise. Seems like you have figured it out and have a great system going! Its not going to convert me to a gambler but thanks for this insight, it was informative and intriguing.

[JohnK6404]

Interesting read and comparison (pricing comparison to) between Star and the new Celebrity Xcel posted by Allie today:

Royal Caribbean's new cruise ship prices are more expensive than Celebrity's new premium ship | Royal Caribbean Blog

[Jzx1103]

4 hours ago, HeWhoWaits said:

True. A real YMMV activity.

My wife could play the slots for the 3-4 hours a night you mention but will never accumulate enough casino points to get anything free (not even drinks) because she plays the penny slots at the minimum bet each time. It's entertaining to her.

As for me, ten to fifteen minutes at a slot machine is enough (win or lose) and it's time to move on to something I find interesting. I'm in the the "slots are boring" camp.

Yes I wouldn't recommend anyone who doesn't get any enjoyment out of gambling to do this. I told my friend the same prior to him trying out the method on our last cruise. Luckily he did enjoy the process so now he's hooked. Overall I think Club Royale created an excellent casino program for us gamblers to be able to get some amazing perks while we do something we enjoy doing anyways. I definitely couldn't stomach booking Icon Class ships on my own at current prices. 

[Vancity Cruiser]

50 minutes ago, JohnK6404 said:

Interesting read and comparison (pricing comparison to) between Star and the new Celebrity Xcel posted by Allie today:

Royal Caribbean's new cruise ship prices are more expensive than Celebrity's new premium ship | Royal Caribbean Blog

I think Royal's pricing is outrageous but I will defend them a little here by pointing out the price discrepancy does make some sense as you are literally getting a 7 day waterpark pass included with your fare. 

[TheMaxRebo]

10 minutes ago, Vancity Cruiser said:

I think Royal's pricing is outrageous but I will defend them a little here by pointing out the price discrepancy does make some sense as you are literally getting a 7 day waterpark pass included with your fare. 

I think that is how Royal is positioning/marketing this as ... it isn't just a cruise vs staying somewhere on land, it is like everything you could possibly pay for as part of a land vacation all rolled into one - all the food at tons of places, the pools, the water park, and the entertainment, etc. 

 

Doesn't mean it is worth it - but to compare the cost of this to a comparable vacation you have to add in a lot of elements (assuming all those elements appeal to you as you are paying for them whether you use them or not)

[OCSC Mike]

39 minutes ago, TheMaxRebo said:

I think that is how Royal is positioning/marketing this as ... it isn't just a cruise vs staying somewhere on land, it is like everything you could possibly pay for as part of a land vacation all rolled into one - all the food at tons of places, the pools, the water park, and the entertainment, etc.

That's Oasis class to me since I don't need the water park. In fact that's kind of how I viewed everything from Voyager class on up.

[Doug_Texas]

I know a lot of people think the price pendulum will swing back, I'm not so sure.  It never did with Disney World and the Disney pricing shift happened well before COVID.  The people Disney priced out are a market segment they don't care about anymore ($60K/yr middle class family of 4).  They can fill the theme park with higher earners/spenders. (This doesn't apply to all you Floridians who can drive to the park for the day.)   It is definitely true the RCL investor presentations talk about benchmarking their pricing to land based vacations and this notion of "ship as destination" certainly isn't our profile in retirement.

The Blog article today showing the new Celebrity Xcel being 30%-50% cheaper than Star OTS is stunning.  If Celebrity ever matches my D+ drink coupons instead of the restrictive "happy hour" I'll be taking some of those cruises instead (I'll never make Pinnacle anyway).

[Vancity Cruiser]

1 hour ago, Doug_Texas said:

If Celebrity ever matches my D+ drink coupons instead of the restrictive "happy hour" I'll be taking some of those cruises instead (I'll never make Pinnacle anyway).

Makes much more sense to save big money on booking a Celebrity cruise and paying for drinks that paying 40% more for your cruise just to get the 5 free drinks per day

[Xaa]

1 hour ago, Doug_Texas said:

($60K/yr middle class family of 4).

I'm not sure that's middle class.

[markinct]

It's going to be a very long time before I sail on an Icon class ship....    I'll just have to make do with the rest of the fleet. 

[Cakemeister]

On 12/6/2023 at 12:00 PM, Jzx1103 said:

Then you probably shouldn't be assuming we lose more than the cost of the comp'd cruises like its fact if you don't even gamble enough onboard to get one (it only takes 1200 pts lol). As I said the real way to lose is if you don't use the comp'd cruises. My family enjoys cruising a lot. Prior to me starting to gamble on cruises I've paid for 3 cruises a year. Then when I learned how Casino Royale program actually works in 2017, I realized I've been doing it all wrong by paying for my cruises instead of getting them comp'd from the casino. Over the past 7 years my gambling losses were literally just pre-paying for my future cruises except at a much more discounted rate. Talk to other regular players in Club Royale and they will tell you the same. Yes Vegas does offer better paybacks. But nothing beats the perks you get back from gambling on a cruise ship (free cruises that costs thousands to book on your own is way better than a few free nights with some dining credits at a Vegas resort). Especially if you're a cruiser to begin with like my family. 

I'm always looking to save a buck. Some questions: 

Do you get to pick which ship and what date you go on the comped cruises?

Do you get Crown and Anchor points for comped cruises?

You get one point per $5 bet on a reel slot machine or $10 bet at video poker. Is it total money bet or number of bets? Does a $20 bet get you four points? 

I am looking at the rewards site: Casino Cruises Reward Program | Club Royale | Royal Caribbean Cruises and I only see one comped cruise per year for getting to 2500 points. Is that right? 

IIRC the plan year starts April 1, when points reset. Could you go on a cruise in April, grind out 2500 points, and get your free drinks in the casino on the remainder of that cruise and your free cruise that year?

EDIT: Do you get a cruise for two, or just one? Would you need to grind out another 2500 on your companion's card?

Thank you for posting, it was very interesting and thought-provoking!

 

 

[cruisellama]

On 12/4/2023 at 6:43 PM, Zambia-Zaire said:

Royal in danger of price cannibalizing itself.

Must be doing a Disney price match

[Rackham]

3 hours ago, Doug_Texas said:

I know a lot of people think the price pendulum will swing back, I'm not so sure.  It never did with Disney World and the Disney pricing shift happened well before COVID.  The people Disney priced out are a market segment they don't care about anymore ($60K/yr middle class family of 4).  They can fill the theme park with higher earners/spenders. (This doesn't apply to all you Floridians who can drive to the park for the day.)   It is definitely true the RCL investor presentations talk about benchmarking their pricing to land based vacations and this notion of "ship as destination" certainly isn't our profile in retirement.

The Blog article today showing the new Celebrity Xcel being 30%-50% cheaper than Star OTS is stunning.  If Celebrity ever matches my D+ drink coupons instead of the restrictive "happy hour" I'll be taking some of those cruises instead (I'll never make Pinnacle anyway).

One thing Disney World has going for it, which Royal doesn't, is the ability to reduce major expenditures such as staffing through reduced hours of operation and reduction in scheduling, hotel rooms available, and ride vehicles in use during predicted slower times. On the other hand, Royal is aiming to fill 100% of the cabins, 100% of the time as major related expenditures don't change much with less occupancy aboard a cruise ship. Not to mention the reduction in ship occupancy means a reduction in post booking spending by the total passengers booked for a sailing. Which leads me to this. I don't think we'll see the bargain basement pricing again (baring a major event which reduces leisure travel), but I also don't believe we'll continue to see these massive year-over-year increases either. Royal needs the bookings, and while Royal's ships are unique in the industry, they're not as unique as a whole compared to other lines as Disney theme parks are to the majority of theme parks in the USA. Basically, Royal has actual competition in the mass market cruise line space which can't be completely ignored long term.

[TimeRacer]

I'm not surprised by the prices, but they do hurt. Those inside cabin prices are more than our family of 4 paid for a balcony on Ovation next year. Guess my plan of hitting up older ships with quirkier itineraries is going to be the way going forward. (And yes, I know Ovation isn't really an older ship, but I guess age is relative in cruise ship time)

[AshleyDillo]

2 hours ago, Cakemeister said:

Do you get to pick which ship and what date you go on the comped cruises?

If you earn a cruise by hitting a certain number of points on a sailing you have to choose a sailing off of their list or you can use the trade-in value on any cruise.  The annual tier cruise that you earn by hitting Prime can be any ship more than a year old and 7 nights or less and not over the holidays. There is now also an exclusion list for the tier cruise. This past year it excluded most of the Wonder sailings even though she's over a year old.

2 hours ago, Cakemeister said:

Do you get Crown and Anchor points for comped cruises?

Yes.

2 hours ago, Cakemeister said:

Does a $20 bet get you four points? 

Points are based on money played through. If you win on a spin and play those winnings it counts the same as if you put in fresh money. A $20 bet gets you 4 points on slots. The max out of pocket for Prime would be $12,500. That would happen if you didn't win a single cent on any of your spins.

2 hours ago, Cakemeister said:

only see one comped cruise per year for getting to 2500 points. Is that right? 

One tier cruise, yes. However you can earn comped cruises based on points earned in a single sailing. Those lists change monthly and are specific to the number of nights of the sailing you are on and how many casino points you earned. Right now the comped cruises start as low as 1200 points on the sailing I am on.

2 hours ago, Cakemeister said:

IIRC the plan year starts April 1, when points reset. Could you go on a cruise in April, grind out 2500 points, and get your free drinks in the casino on the remainder of that cruise and your free cruise that year?

If you earned 2500 points on April 1, 2024 you would get free drinks for the rest of the 2024 casino year (April 1, 2024 through March 31, 2025). You would not get your Prime tier cruise until April 2025. You would be considered Prime for all of the 2024 casino year and also for the 2025 casino year (April 1, 2025 - March 31, 2025). You are basically qualifying for Prime for the following casino year but you get the Prime perks as soon as you hit the 2500 mark. They will put a sticker on your card on that cruise you hit it and free drinks start immediately.

You also will get other cruise offers throughout the year but those aren't guaranteed.

2 hours ago, Cakemeister said:

Do you get a cruise for two, or just one? Would you need to grind out another 2500 on your companion's card?

The tier cruise and the comped cruises earned on a sailing are double occupancy. Sometimes the random cruise offers are for singles only, basically you have to pay for one person in that case. You can combine your tier offers and result in a better room.

You can also upgrade your comped room and pay the difference in price between your free room and the upgraded room.

[Geoff P]

The Icon and Star prices are absolutely insane…I mean, I’m doing multiple Disney trips for less than I could do one 7 day on Icon (I have 2 young kids)… would love to do an icon class just because I think the kids would like it, but at the prices I would just do Disney at that point. 
 

on a side note though, not sure the high pricing is limited to the new release ships…just helped my parents book Alaska for next year and the ended up going with Princess as they got the Princess Premier package on Discovery Princess for less than an ocean view balcony on Quantum, and then would need to get drinks and Wi-Fi etc on top with RCL…seeing that is making me look at other lines for my next trip 

[Geezer Of The Seas]

1 hour ago, Geoff P said:

 

on a side note though, not sure the high pricing is limited to the new release ships…just helped my parents book Alaska for next year and the ended up going with Princess as they got the Princess Premier package on Discovery Princess for less than an ocean view balcony on Quantum, and then would need to get drinks and Wi-Fi etc on top with RCL…seeing that is making me look at other lines for my next trip 

Like some have posted and Mrs. Geezer told me this afternoon, Royal is pricing and waiting to find the "ceiling" for what folks are willing to pay.  A grizzled veteran of 4 cruises (), we significantly curtailed the CP spending, still managing to enjoy ourselves. We'll cruise until we can't; just hope that's later than sooner. I still don't understand this compulsion of Royal's to build ships to accommodate the population of a small town. Is this the bean counters' proscription for profitability  at a now 2 billion a copy? Do funnels that retract tell Royal that their vessels may be edging toward too damn big? Of course, when the state of Florida was pondering 2-3 billion to tear down/rebuild the Skyway Bridge about nine years ago, they came up with a Plan B: Fill in part of the Gulf on the SW tip of Pinellas County for a new cruise port that would eliminate the entire transit of Tampa Bay. An excellent thought but that comes at a significant price as well, not to mention Tampa wouldn't be horribly thrilled.

[Jzx1103]

3 hours ago, Cakemeister said:

I'm always looking to save a buck. Some questions: 

Do you get to pick which ship and what date you go on the comped cruises?

Do you get Crown and Anchor points for comped cruises?

You get one point per $5 bet on a reel slot machine or $10 bet at video poker. Is it total money bet or number of bets? Does a $20 bet get you four points? 

I am looking at the rewards site: Casino Cruises Reward Program | Club Royale | Royal Caribbean Cruises and I only see one comped cruise per year for getting to 2500 points. Is that right? 

IIRC the plan year starts April 1, when points reset. Could you go on a cruise in April, grind out 2500 points, and get your free drinks in the casino on the remainder of that cruise and your free cruise that year?

EDIT: Do you get a cruise for two, or just one? Would you need to grind out another 2500 on your companion's card?

Thank you for posting, it was very interesting and thought-provoking!

 

 

Ashleydillo did a good job of explaining everything so I'll add the way I do things. Typically I only have enough vacation time to do 3 sailings per year (sometimes I stretch it to 4). So how I usually get my 3 free cruises would be to Gamble most on the first cruise of the new Casino year (which runs from April 1st to Mar 31st). I usually go for either 4k pts or 6500 pts on that one sailing. This year on my first cruise of the new casino year,  I was running good on slots at first and hit over 9k points on that sailing. I would say at 4k or 6.5k pts on one sailing the comp list pretty much covers almost all sailings for the next calendar year. I pick my favorite sailing which is also usually one of the more expensive sailings on the list. (This comp alone Typically cover my gambling losses or better). For the annual tier cruise, I typically choose a sailing on Spring break (because I have 2 boys ages 10 and 8 we also get my Wife to just Prime every year (never too hard imo) so I can get a 2nd room for my annual tier comp. We typically book an Oasis  Class ship during  Spring Break (its farely expensive  to book yourself but upgrades from interior to Balcony can be cheap). For our 3rd free cruise we typically pick one outta Galveston from the mail offers we get cause we live in Houston.