2025 Annual Prime Certs

[Ampurp85]

Looks like these are the prime cert rollout dates

[MdFormula350]

cool thanks was wondering about that.

[WAAAYTOOO]

Once again, you beat me to the Post ! 

I don't see anything about "exclusions".  I'm sure there are plenty.  I sure hope they don't exclude Icon this year.  I am hoping to book Dan's Signature cruise on Icon on Day 1.

[Zenra]

Oh neat, my cert this year will be 2 "tiers" higher than last year.

[Ampurp85]

@WAAAYTOOO they did this exact thing last year and the exclusions weren't posted until the first emails went out for Masters. But considering Star and Legend are available to book we should be okay for Icon as that is on my list as well. 

I was the first prime day (am) cert last year, which was a whole week earlier than this year's release and I am the second day prime(am) this year........don't know if I will be a prime next year as the prices, itineraries, and comps on Royal have gotten too crappy for me. If I can't book icon, it will be the proverbial straw and Celebrity/MSC will be it. 

[Zenra]

17 minutes ago, Ampurp85 said:

...considering Star and Legend are available to book we should be okay for Icon as that is on my list as well.

This is my hope honestly.

[Mark_A]

I just booked Icon using my Instant Certificate from last week on Wonder!! Going July 5th.  Last time I was on Icon was the Inaugural...

[AndrewOfTheSeas]

Hi All,

Probably a silly question, and i assume the answer is anytime within the 'Casino Year'...

But when do you have to sail with the 'free cruise'? eg. must sail before 31st March 2026? or can you do a later in 2026 sailing? 

Thanks.

[Pattycruise]

5 minutes ago, AndrewOfTheSeas said:

Hi All,

Probably a silly question, and i assume the answer is anytime within the 'Casino Year'...

But when do you have to sail with the 'free cruise'? eg. must sail before 31st March 2026? or can you do a later in 2026 sailing? 

Thanks.

On our before March 31 2026.

 

[Doug_Texas]

Have not been Prime but will attempt to qualify on B2B April 2025 cruises.  If I make “Prime” for the first time in April 2025 do I have to wait until April 2026 to get the annual free cruise or do I one for 2025 as well?  (I’m only referring to the annual free cruise - not the promotional offers or the instant certificates onboard, I understand those).

[Zenra]

29 minutes ago, Doug_Texas said:

Have not been Prime but will attempt to qualify on B2B April 2025 cruises.  If I make “Prime” for the first time in April 2025 do I have to wait until April 2026 to get the annual free cruise or do I one for 2025 as well?  (I’m only referring to the annual free cruise - not the promotional offers or the instant certificates onboard, I understand those).

You would get it on the next reset, so 2026 as you mentioned.

I had wondered the same thing the first time I hit Prime but I didn't get the comp until they reset for the year and handed them out to everyone.

Thinking on it now as I type this, since the cert is based off of your accrued points for the year, not just tier, it makes sense to only send them out once a year.

[Ampurp85]

April first is the new prime year, so you will have to wait. If you make prime by the 31st of March you would qualify for the 2025 annual comp.

[LandstromCruise]

But, you can as soon as you hit prime start getting the free drinks in the casino and no fee to charge to your room to get money at the tables. 

[InmyElement]

Thanks for all the great info and I've been wanting to start/try the process of earning for the first time. We sail on Odyssey (Mar 30 to Apr 6) When should I start "gambling" Thanks

[Ampurp85]

1 hour ago, InmyElement said:

Thanks for all the great info and I've been wanting to start/try the process of earning for the first time. We sail on Odyssey (Mar 30 to Apr 6) When should I start "gambling" Thanks

The 1st of April is when it resets so any points on 30/31st won't matter. 

[Pattycruise]

On 3/20/2025 at 7:56 AM, InmyElement said:

Thanks for all the great info and I've been wanting to start/try the process of earning for the first time. We sail on Odyssey (Mar 30 to Apr 6) When should I start "gambling" Thanks

That will depend.  If your goal is to get on the radar and earn a free cruise I would scan the QR code on the host desk to see what’s available and your target point range.  Determine if you’ll need to include March 30 and  31 in your gambling to reach the instant certificate goal.

 If your goal is to earn prime within the casino year your gambling would begin on April 1 after the casino opens.  You’ll need to earn 2,500 points in the casino year which is April 1-March 31 in order to enjoy the prime perks.  The points can be accumulated over many sailings within the casino year.  Your points will reset each cruise but they track them “in the background”

 Of course you can also begin gambling on March 30 and continue through your whole cruise.  If that’s the case Id ask the host how many points you earned in the new casino year/so you’ll know what you need to add to those points in order to reach prime

[Jolly Ogre]

Hmmm... 4/2/25 and still no reset?

[Ampurp85]

31 minutes ago, Jolly Ogre said:

Hmmm... 4/2/25 and still no reset?

Last year it took almost a week into April for the reset to occur. I can't recall a time since I have been prime when it actually happened between the 1st-3rd of April 

[SplashOfWater]

1 hour ago, Ampurp85 said:

Last year it took almost a week into April for the reset to occur. I can't recall a time since I have been prime when it actually happened between the 1st-3rd of April 

The points from our cruise which debarked 3/30 just posted today. It makes sense that the reset takes about a week to give the casino time to get all the points updated.

[Ampurp85]

The points finally reset.

[billdauterive]

I'm surprised the certificate code hasn't leaked yet to see what the blackout dates/ships are ahead of time.  I guess we'll find out tomorrow.

[JustMeJoe]

22 hours ago, billdauterive said:

yet to see what the blackout dates/ships

What are the odds that Icon is on the exclusion list .

[CHart]

Well, it was there for the Signature 25Tier2 but not I cannot get it to come back to take a screen shot. 

Start is excluded and some Icon Salings. Other Oasis and some other random sailings but mostly Start exclusion. 

[CHart]

And with that here it is. For Signature. 

{BFD10748-CFD1-4B6A-B43E-CF70DC96377B} (1).pdf

[Ampurp85]

Thanks @CHart I will finally be able to do Icon when my certs come out tomorrow. Since I want Jan sailings. 

[billdauterive]

53 minutes ago, CHart said:

And with that here it is. For Signature. 

{BFD10748-CFD1-4B6A-B43E-CF70DC96377B} (1).pdf 199.96 kB · 6 downloads

Thanks! I feel like there's less exclusions than last year.  At least not near as many during the summer time (minus Icon of course). 

Those random Harmony ones in late Nov/early Dec are strange though since that's usually the low demand season for Galveston.

[CHart]

4 minutes ago, billdauterive said:

Thanks! I feel like there's less exclusions than last year.  At least not near as many during the summer time (minus Icon of course). 

Those random Harmony ones in late Nov/early Dec are strange though since that's usually the low demand season for Galveston.

Yes, I also find it weird the 2 night Oasis is blocked off. Good thing I am already booked on it!

[billdauterive]

FYI, you can view the Masters list on the website with 25tier1.  I still cant view the Signature or Prime with 25tier2 or 25tier3. 
The Masters list is slightly different with a few less (or at least different) exclusions than the Signature list @CHart posted.  So I suspect the Prime list may also be different with more exclusions.

[billdauterive]

Just now, CHart said:

Yes, I also find it weird the 2 night Oasis is blocked off. Good thing I am already booked on it!

Yeah, who would use the yearly cert on a 2 night!

[mistertomatohead]

This is my first year. I'm Signature and the trade in value is only $1000 (balconies only).The sailings are a disappointment because I was getting offers for some Junior Suites. I'm guessing it's because my play went beyond Signature but wasn't enough for Masters. I see the Masters list has Grand Suites. Is this normal or are things worse than previous years?

Also, is there anything special with the sailings on the list? OBC? Freeplay? Gifts? Special events?

[Ampurp85]

5 minutes ago, mistertomatohead said:

This is my first year. I'm Signature and the trade in value is only $1000 (balconies only).The sailings are a disappointment because I was getting offers for some Junior Suites. I'm guessing it's because my play went beyond Signature but wasn't enough for Masters. I see the Masters list has Grand Suites. Is this normal or are things worse than previous years?

Also, is there anything special with the sailings on the list? OBC? Freeplay? Gifts? Special events?

The annual cruises are bare bones and it's always been interiors for prime, balconies for signature and suites for masters. The annual certs are exempt from all promotions because they consider these a gift. I do believe that signature and masters get another cruise that is just special to their tiers. 

[SplashOfWater]

We booked Icon for Jan 10, 2026. We combined both of our balcony offers to upgrade to a Junior Suite. Thought about upgrading to a Surfside Family Suite for full suite access, but the cabin looks small and the balcony overlooks the tot lot.

Port fees + taxes were almost $400!!!

[LandstromCruise]

I am booking Icon now on Feb 28. The “balcony” room offer though is for Central Park Infinite balcony, not oceanview on that sailing 

 

[WAAAYTOOO]

Booked Dan’s Signature cruise this morning.  March 21 on Icon.  Will book my Prime cruise tomorrow for March 14 (aIso Icon).  I went ahead and placed a hold booking for mine today since I will be busy tomorrow morning.  I wanted to make sure I could get the room I wanted.  We will have to change rooms as Dan’s booking is an Ocean View Infinite Balcony (slight upgrade $$ for this as the baseline Signature category is a Central Park Infinite balcony) and mine will be a spacious interior (will also be a slight upgrade $$ since the baseline Prime category is a “regular” interior). Oh well…it will most likely be our only chance to try Icon.  I can deal with a cabin move.

[Mark_A]

I booked Star of the Seas for my annual certificate for next March!  Glad it was on the list.  I have 2 Casino offer bookings for this year on ICON.  July and December

[billdauterive]

26 minutes ago, Mark_A said:

I booked Star of the Seas for my annual certificate for next March!  Glad it was on the list.  I have 2 Casino offer bookings for this year on ICON.  July and December

Whoa, you got really lucky!!!  Star definitely should be completely blacked out as it will be less than 1 year old the entire casino year.  Both the Masters and Signature lists explicitly show it not available for anytime in March.

I think you may have gotten a rep that didn't realize it's an EXclusion list and not an INclusion list...

[billdauterive]

Sounds like I might be the only one that's NOT trying to book Icon with my cert this year.  I'm waiting for next year when everyone will be trying for Star and Icon will be completely empty

[Ampurp85]

I tried booking icon for last year's annual, but it was in thr exclusion list despite being over a year old. Thank God I booked refundable but I will be booking it for Jan 2026. Icon is just too expensive on its own.

[mistertomatohead]

2 hours ago, SplashOfWater said:

We booked Icon for Jan 10, 2026. We combined both of our balcony offers to upgrade to a Junior Suite. Thought about upgrading to a Surfside Family Suite for full suite access, but the cabin looks small and the balcony overlooks the tot lot.

Port fees + taxes were almost $400!!!

Are you saying the two of you got the same annual cruise offer and you combined them for one Junior Suite?  I have a bunch of regular offers, I take it I can't use those to combine with my annual cruise which says balcony and get a Junior Suite going solo.

[SplashOfWater]

Just now, mistertomatohead said:

Are you saying the two of you got the same annual cruise offer and you combined them for one Junior Suite?  I have a bunch of regular offers, I take it I can't use those to combine with my annual cruise which says balcony and get a Junior Suite going solo.

We are both Signature and each had the 25TIER2 offer for a Balcony. We quite often combine our offers to upgrade a category. The offer has to have the same base code and if it's an instant reward it must be from the same sail date. As far as I know, you cannot combine one person's offers to get a solo upgrade.