Boston Babe Posted October 12, 2017 Report Share Posted October 12, 2017 Was wondering on RC and Celebrity can you use OBC for the Casino? I know @WAAAYTOOO may know. Also, I saw alot of information earlier about casino vouchers or something like that? How much do you have to generally gamble before you start getting points or whatever it is? Thank you in advance for any input!! Lorraine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted October 12, 2017 Report Share Posted October 12, 2017 You can use OBC in the casino BUT if you are not a qualifying member of the casino VIP program (Club Royale) you will have to pay a 5% "convenience fee" to get it. I have not sailed on Celebrity so I have no insight into how their program works. Each passenger is permitted to take a maximum of $5K per day (on their seapass card) at the casino. This is, of course, dependent upon whether or not your credit card limit would allow that. How much you have to gamble is a very difficult question to answer. Here is information that I got earlier this year while on the Grandeur: 400 points - $100 off next cruise 800 points - $200 off your next cruise 1200 points - $300 off your next cruise 1600 points - $400 off your next cruise 2000 points - $500 off your next cruise 2400 points - Complimentary inside stateroom for 2 3600 points - Complimentary ocean view stateroom for 2 4800 points - Complimentary balcony stateroom for 2 These "rewards" are given to the players in the form of a certificate. So when you hear the word voucher, they/we are talking about these certificates. You next question will, undoubtedly, be....how do you accumulate points ? 1 point is earned for every $5 that you play in regular slots. For video poker, it is 1 point for every $10 that you wager. For tables (which is what Dan and I play) it is far less straightforward. The formula has to do with the amount of your average wager and the length of time that you play. I have heard (and I do believe this) that the points amounts for free cruises (listed above) is different (higher) on the big ships. The reason that I think this is true is b/c we ALWAYS play the same games, make the same wagers and spend the same amount of time in a ship's casino, regardless of which ship it is. Our rewards on the O class ships is ALWAYS much less than it is on the smaller ships. There are a couple of theories about why this is happening but I believe (no facts to back this up, just conjecture) that on the bigger ships you have less "face time" with the casino manager (often I never even meet the casino manager on the big ships), casino host/ess and pit bosses. On the smaller ships, we very often become quite friendly with the management, and I believe that, for that reason, we are generally treated better. Fair or not, I think that's true. There have been MANY recent changes in the Club Royale program; most are not favorable to the players but the one change that IS favorable to the players is the fact that you no longer have to actually join the "Club". You are automatically put into the Club these days just by inserting your seapass card into a slot machine or have it scanned at the table. So, the good news is, you may well be a member already and not even know it ! Whether you have played enough to qualify for any of the "perks" or not, you will have to find out yourself by calling Club Royale (888-561-2234). But my advise to ANYone who has played in a Casino Royale in the past year is to call and find out ! What can it hurt ? You may WELL be entitled to some of the perks (waiving the 5% convenience fee, free drinks, casino rates, etc.) and not even know it. The ONLY thing that is consistent is that they will NOT tell you if you don't ask. I was totally stunned the first time I called CR and asked them if I qualified for any cruise rate discounts. It turned out that I DID and would NEVER have known about it if I had not called to ask. That was many years ago and the discounts were WAY better then than they are now but no telling how many cruises I paid full price for when I could have gotten a nearly 50% discount and never had a clue ! Call, call, call. All you need is your Crown & Anchor number. They track everything through your C&A number these days. A couple of clarifications about accumulating points. 1) $5 per point does NOT mean that you must LOSE $5 for it to count. The amount of points is based on throughput so you can "play" money that you have won and it counts the same as when you shove $100 into the machine. So do you have to put $10K in to a slot machine in order to accumulate 2K points ? Not unless you are VERY unlucky, in which case you should be somewhere ELSE besides the casino. 2) The casino does NOT care whether you win or lose. All they track is throughput. I know....you will hear people say that you must LOSE a certain amount of money before you get any freebies, but that's just not true. A casino is a numbers operation, which shouldn't surprise anyone. They know that if you wager $1000 and win $5000, eventually you will wager $5000 and lose $5000. They are patient. They know the numbers are in their favor (and trust me, they ARE). My advice to anyone who ever asks is...play what you are comfortable playing and then either ask the host or call Club Royale and find out if it is enough. If it is, cool. If not, you will have to decide whether a few free drinks and a little discount on your next cruise is worth stepping your game up. NEVER wager more than you can afford to lose ! Good luck ! tonyfsu21, Matt, craig403 and 1 other 4 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Razerbkfan Posted October 12, 2017 Report Share Posted October 12, 2017 I'm a relative newbie with only 4 RCL cruises, but I think the answer is no on the use of OBC in the casino. It would of course work for any drinks you might order but all of the games are played with cash. The casino is about the only area on the ship that you need to take cash for. Almost everything else you pay with you seapass card which the OBC will be credited to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boston Babe Posted October 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2017 Wow @WAAAYTOOO, alot to absorb. I know I don't have any points etc as the last time I was on a RC ship, it's now Scrap metal somewhere (Song of America!) and now I'm dating myself. I am going to check it out in May, and in fact will be on the Grandeur, so I like the idea of the smaller ship getting to know the Casino Manager staff etc. We are not big gamblers, but I love to gamble, just have to make sure I don't have any cocktails while doing it! LOL!! I so appreciate your feedback and advise. Thank you!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boston Babe Posted October 12, 2017 Author Report Share Posted October 12, 2017 @Razerbkfan, I actually googled it and on the RCCL website, it does say you can use OBC for the Casino, unless it's old information, which it could be. Perhaps @Matt could answer. Also said on Celebrity effective 2015 you can use it too. I trust matt more than any website! LOL Thank you!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matt Posted October 12, 2017 Report Share Posted October 12, 2017 31 minutes ago, Boston Babe said: @Razerbkfan, I actually googled it and on the RCCL website, it does say you can use OBC for the Casino, unless it's old information, which it could be. Perhaps @Matt could answer. Also said on Celebrity effective 2015 you can use it too. I trust matt more than any website! LOL Thank you!! I defer to @WAAAYTOOO in all things casino! Boston Babe 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted October 12, 2017 Report Share Posted October 12, 2017 You can. It’ll just cost you if you have to pay the convenience fee. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marc Posted October 15, 2017 Report Share Posted October 15, 2017 I've heard from others that if you have a cash account (no credit card on file for your SeaPass account), then they don't charge the 5% fee. The only experience I have with that was that I was asked once whether I had a cash account, but then the cashier noticed the "Club Royale" sticker on my SeaPass card, so I think that rendered that question moot. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RobWhatley Posted October 15, 2017 Report Share Posted October 15, 2017 17 hours ago, Marc said: I've heard from others that if you have a cash account (no credit card on file for your SeaPass account), then they don't charge the 5% fee. The only experience I have with that was that I was asked once whether I had a cash account, but then the cashier noticed the "Club Royale" sticker on my SeaPass card, so I think that rendered that question moot. Seems I read at one time there was a $5 (or there bouts) one time free spin available to C&A members.....was I dreaming? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RestingBird Posted October 16, 2017 Report Share Posted October 16, 2017 7 hours ago, RobWhatley said: Seems I read at one time there was a $5 (or there bouts) one time free spin available to C&A members.....was I dreaming? I'm pretty sure that's still a thing. Some sort of free spin. RobWhatley 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WAAAYTOOO Posted October 16, 2017 Report Share Posted October 16, 2017 I think we get 3 gold coins each to use in the special casino machine. I’ve never won more than a key chain (which I no longer take since I could start my own key chain store if there was a market ) but Dan seems to do better than me most of the time. On the last 2 cruises he has gotten a raffle ticket for a drawing on the last night. Of course, that’s where the good luck ends. No prize at the drawing but at least there is some anticipation. I don’t think it’s $5 though... RobWhatley 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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