Star inaugural prices. You better sit down

[Rackham]

52 minutes ago, Geezer Of The Seas said:

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.

Economies of scale and modern engineering. From what I recall, and someone please correct me if I'm wrong, a modern Oasis-class ship only uses 30% more fuel than a Radiance-class ship yet caries around 3x the passengers. Then for services aboard the ship, the it's not a linear scale between sizing either. There's an increase moving to a larger ship with the higher educated and paid positions, as you'd expect, but it's not 3x the positions either. Then there's all the additional features which can be included in a larger ship thanks to the captive audience and available space. i.e. additional revenue generating opportunities, stuff which looks cool in ads and home videos, and things which impress general audiences to draw them back again versus trying the competition.

[Cakemeister]

13 hours ago, Jzx1103 said:

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. 

Thanks to you and AshleyDillo for this info. 

I'm a two-cruise-a-year guy right now, due to vacation restraints. So I could get 4K points on a cruise in April, then get the second cruise of the year comped. The following April, I would get the Prime cruise, get another 4K, rinse and repeat? And, by the time the Prime benefit would kick in, I could sail on Icon if I chose, since Icon will be a year old by that time.

Is the slot machine payout rate known? The difference between the 85% payout rate and the 60% payout rate would make a big difference. 

EDIT: What about video poker? If the payout rate for video poker is 95% with 6/5 jacks or better, then you could in theory get to 4000 points and lose only $2K doing it. At a 85% payout, you would lose $2.4K to get the same 4000 points.

 

[Geezer Of The Seas]

10 hours ago, Rackham said:

Economies of scale and modern engineering. From what I recall, and someone please correct me if I'm wrong, a modern Oasis-class ship only uses 30% more fuel than a Radiance-class ship yet caries around 3x the passengers. Then for services aboard the ship, the it's not a linear scale between sizing either. There's an increase moving to a larger ship with the higher educated and paid positions, as you'd expect, but it's not 3x the positions either. Then there's all the additional features which can be included in a larger ship thanks to the captive audience and available space. i.e. additional revenue generating opportunities, stuff which looks cool in ads and home videos, and things which impress general audiences to draw them back again versus trying the competition.

They can build them bigger, but appears they're building themselves out of port infrastructure to accommodate them.

Since we've only departed from Port Canaveral, I'll use them as an example. It's small, and by the port executive's own admission, running out of space for cruise line activity. Unless Carnival were to share terminal space with Royal, Terminals 1 & 3 are the only large enough to dock Oasis Class vessels, though I once (on video) saw Oasis of the Seas nose in to the pier at CT 10 to apparently offload a medical emergency (after her prior night's departure). Lot of ship hanging out in the turn basin. They will be building a new terminal at the present location of Bluewaters Marina (will be shared facility).

Electrification of cruise ship piers for shoreline power. The port executive acknowledged the power infrastructure as it exists isn't up to the task, estimating cabling and construction of a substation would run at least $200 million. Then there's road access into the port. He would like to see SR 528 6 laned from the I-95 interchange to the port and the barge canal drawbridge (SR 401) replaced with a highrise span. Throw in the constant requirement to dredge the harbor and the channel which extends a little  over a mile offshore southeast of the port......... There's a cost to bigger and it wouldn't just be the fare charged.

My love of smaller vessels isn't showing too bad, is it? 

[Jzx1103]

2 hours ago, Cakemeister said:

Thanks to you and AshleyDillo for this info. 

I'm a two-cruise-a-year guy right now, due to vacation restraints. So I could get 4K points on a cruise in April, then get the second cruise of the year comped. The following April, I would get the Prime cruise, get another 4K, rinse and repeat? And, by the time the Prime benefit would kick in, I could sail on Icon if I chose, since Icon will be a year old by that time.

Is the slot machine payout rate known? The difference between the 85% payout rate and the 60% payout rate would make a big difference. 

EDIT: What about video poker? If the payout rate for video poker is 95% with 6/5 jacks or better, then you could in theory get to 4000 points and lose only $2K doing it. At a 85% payout, you would lose $2.4K to get the same 4000 points.

 

For video poker you only get 1 point for every $10 wagered. They never publicly published the payout percentage of slots, although multiple folks saw 85% setting when they saw slot technicians doing maintenance on the slot machines onboard. With that said my payback percentage over the past 7 years has been 88%. So pretty close with a huge sample size of 7 years. I won two grand jackpots which explains the extra payback % with my results. The guy who says 60% meant if you never hit any of the progressive jackpots. But thats impossible if you played enough to be getting free cruises. Its like saying you can get a payback % of zero if you put in $20, spin it 4 times and get nothing. Its flawed logic. As for you going on 2 cruises a year. So yes I would just do all my gambling on 1 of the cruises. Get both the instant reward certificate and the annual tier certificate and there's your 2 free cruises for the year. As for whether you can pick the Icon as a annual Prime cruise, we will have to see if Royal blacks out Icon since its so expensive. I got my Icon comp'd from an instant certificate and another on a mail offer, not annual Prime. I always book my annual Prime cruise during my kids spring break. Typically on a newer Oasis ship. This past march we sailed Wonder as the annual Prime cruise.

[Ampurp85]

Re: the casino option

The major thing to remember is if you don't enjoy the casino, this tactic is not worth it. I utilize this tactic and have always come out ahead. Another important note is that the options may not be available during ideal times.

My last cruise on Allure in October I won 2 certs so my group could sail Alaska on Quantum. It cost me about $2k and I spent the evenings and mornings in the casino, but I had plan to do that anyway, so my time wasn't lost. The most important thing is to look at the list before you begin. Since I had goals, two rooms for Alaska, it made it easier to know that they were achievable. 

I was also lucky enough to use my 2023 annual cert on Wonder because I sail in Jan. So don't assume that Icon/Star etc. will be available just because they have been in service a year. If I recall the Icon sailings available on the list were for sailings not doing well in shoulder season and on the higher point list. 

[Jzx1103]

Yes my Icon sailings are May 11th and Dec 14th 2024. I saw Icon summer sailings (June and July 2024) on 9000 pt certificates which are really high. So don't expect getting Icon during peak season with low points certificates.

[Cakemeister]

There was a thread a few months ago about comped cruises:

I love the casino, but what I love is craps, not slots or video poker, and it's impossible for me to get enough points at table games to get anything comped.

I'm cheap so I like the interior cabins sailing out of Galveston during the off-peak season. Are there always some of those available for comps?

@jzx1103 Have you noticed any difference between payouts at the beginning of a cruise and payouts on the last day or two? It's rumored they change things around. 

Also, are any particular type of machines better than others, or do they all pay out the same? 

 

 

[Rackham]

5 hours ago, Cakemeister said:

EDIT: What about video poker? If the payout rate for video poker is 95% with 6/5 jacks or better, then you could in theory get to 4000 points and lose only $2K doing it. At a 85% payout, you would lose $2.4K to get the same 4000 points.

 

The 95% RTP on video poker is with perfect play. It's possible to learn how to play perfectly at home before your cruise. The casino aboard may or may not allow a how to play cheat sheet while sitting at the machine (I haven't tried). I haven't bothered paying attention (since I play low values), but since the video poker machines allow you to pick your credit denomination, you might be able to wager $50-$100+ a hand. Each hand can be done in seconds once you're in the groove. 

[WAAAYTOOO]

3 hours ago, Ampurp85 said:

The most important thing is to look at the list before you begin. 

This should be in all CAPS, underlined and bolded.  So important !

I’ve told this story before so forgive me, those who have already heard it.  Dan and I were on a shorty cruise, which, for table players (of our category) means that there is next-to-no way we will earn an instant comp.  We just don’t wager enough for that to happen on a shorty…but anyway, Dan was close to a milestone where he would qualify for an instant comp so he decided to push forward and pass the points level for the comp.  Once he made it, he was so happy that he was getting a comp….that is, until he looked at the pathetic list of included sailings just to find out that there was NOT ONE SINGLE departure from Florida !  The cert was completely useless to us.  Note to self:  always know what you’re playing for !

[Jzx1103]

2 hours ago, Cakemeister said:

There was a thread a few months ago about comped cruises:

I love the casino, but what I love is craps, not slots or video poker, and it's impossible for me to get enough points at table games to get anything comped.

I'm cheap so I like the interior cabins sailing out of Galveston during the off-peak season. Are there always some of those available for comps?

@jzx1103 Have you noticed any difference between payouts at the beginning of a cruise and payouts on the last day or two? It's rumored they change things around. 

Also, are any particular type of machines better than others, or do they all pay out the same? 

 

 

 

No it doesn't matter with slots, its on a random number generator. They do not changethe settings in the middle of the sailing lol, I've had good and bad sessions on any day of the cruise. I've also hit jackpots and seen other folks hit jackpots at the beginning, middle, and at the end of the cruise. As for table games, yea its more of a mystery how points are calculated. I have a buddy who seems to mastered how to get comp's playing craps onboard. But I don't understand the game enough to know what method he uses. I watched him a few times and it doesn't seem like he's betting that much.

[AshleyDillo]

On 12/8/2023 at 11:40 AM, Cakemeister said:

I'm cheap so I like the interior cabins sailing out of Galveston during the off-peak season. Are there always some of those available for comps?

Here's this month's offers to be earned onboard as instant certificates (provided you secure a NextCruise open booking while onboard). You can use the offer codes above the QR codes and look at the available sailings from https://www.clubroyaleoffers.com/CertificateOfferCodeLookUp.asp

This will give you an idea of what ships/itineraries they are comping currently.

[billdauterive]

On 12/8/2023 at 1:05 PM, Jzx1103 said:

As for table games, yea its more of a mystery how points are calculated. I have a buddy who seems to mastered how to get comp's playing craps onboard. But I don't understand the game enough to know what method he uses. I watched him a few times and it doesn't seem like he's betting that much.

Craps is my game of choice (just ask @Matt).  I can usually at least get to the lower comp levels even on short duration cruises without too much issue.  I'm by no means a high roller and I'm one of the most unlucky people you'll find, although I am a degenerate gambler so I spend a lot of time at the table (once again just ask @Matt).  In fact I just got off a 4 night and got to 1500 with probably about 12 hours of total table time with a starting total bet of a little over $50 (craps has multiple rolls before coming to a resolution so it's not the same as betting $50 a hand/spin at other games like blackjack/roulette).

The main thing is to make sure your betting is getting rated properly by the box man or dealer.  Craps is much harder to rate properly since there are so many different bets and the bets can go up after each roll.  In my experience it's about 50/50 whether they are rating you properly for your level of play or if you need to explain why they are underrating your level of play.  Usually they'll watch you better after a few times of asking what you're currently being rated at and will adjust accordingly if your betting pattern is fairly consistent and you have enough time at the table.  *Although this past Sept on Navigator I had to go to the casino host several times to have the eye in the sky verify and adjust my points up as the box man (and woman) refused to rate me properly even after explaining and showing them multiple times exactly what I was doing.

If you're interested in just earning points (i.e. comps) on craps there's a lot of youtube videos you can watch to show different strategies once you know the basics of how to play craps.  Personally I'll use one that is similar to this one at a  higher betting level than I normally do when I'm just chasing points for a higher comp level (like 3k, 4k or 6500) and not as concerned with trying (and usually failing) to win big.  If anyone wants to know more, feel free to message me and I can give more details/ideas as I could talk craps all day.