There's a new stipulation tied to the free cruises Royal Caribbean gives away to its casino players.
Royal Caribbean offers incentive-based cruise giveaways where passengers that earn enough points on a given sailing can qualify for complimentary sailings.
Up until now, the cruises covered the fare of two guests, and passengers had to only pay taxes and fees.
Beginning with the December offers, the Casino Royale program has made some changes to what's included.
What's different is the offer is now cruise for one guest is complimentary, while the second guest discounted. It's essentially a buy one free, second cheap offer.
What's not clear yet is how much is the discounted fare exactly. Since cruise fares vary from sailing to sailing, the exact price could depend.
In reading the terms and conditions, it appears a solo cruiser would still have to pay for the second guest, "Recipients who sail as a single passenger without a guest in a double occupancy stateroom are responsible for the payment of the cruise fare for the second passenger, at the Casino discount rate. The Discount Stateroom Offer is not applicable to single occupancy staterooms.
The new "complimentary for one, discounted for the second" offering only applies to the 2,000 point and lower tiers. The 3,000 point and higher tiers are still listed in the traditional manner.
There's no word why Royal Caribbean has made this change. There's no doubt Casino Royale's popularity among cruisers has been quite high, and it's arguably the best deal in cruising right now.
A positive change to the casino offers are free cruise offers at just 400 points, which is a significantly lower tier than ever before.
Royal Caribbean recently introduced an 800 point tier, but at 400, it makes the barrier to entry much easier.
Moreover, it appears there are newer ships and dates further out to book at the lower tiers.
How instant cruise reward certificates work
If you gamble in the casino on a Royal Caribbean ship, you can earn points for your play. All you have to do is have your SeaPass card logged in before you start playing at a machine or table game.
Every Royal Caribbean ship features a casino equipped with table games, slot machines, and video poker. While the selection of games may differ slightly from ship to ship, and the size of the casinos can vary, their overall layout and offerings are generally consistent across the fleet.
Joining Club Royale is simple because every passenger is automatically enrolled, you just need to use your SeaPass card when playing.
For every $5 you wager in the casino, that is roughly equivalent to 1 point. On Video Poker, it's every $10. 10 points per hour playing $10-$15 blackjack.
The more you play and wager, the more points you earn.
There's a sheet at the casino host desk that lists all the cruise offers and point tiers available. You'll see two columns: money off or bonus offer.
The key is to earn enough points for any of the tiers, and make an open booking at NextCruise while you're still onboard. That enables you to call Casino Royale after the cruise and book one of the sailings.
You need to book an open booking with NextCruise while onboard to be eligible for the bonus offer that's listed in the second column.
Instant certificates are typically valid for redemption within 30 days after your cruise. Sometimes, the casino will provide a physical certificate with a partial list of available cruises delivered to your stateroom. In other instances, the offer may not be available until after your cruise concludes.
Even after you get home, you can verify your instant certificate offer on the Casino Royale website.
Different from a targeted cruise offer
It's important to note the difference between an instant certificate earned from your play onboard versus an offer Royal Caribbean mails to you at home.
After playing in a Royal Caribbean casino, you may receive offers for free cruises. While the cruise line doesn't reveal exactly how these offers are determined, they are generally influenced by the number of points you earned during your last cruise and an assessment by the cruise line's system of your potential value as a guest if offered a complimentary stateroom.
It's impossible to anticipate who will get an offer, and the exact offerings will vary. No matter what offer you get, you should book quickly because there are limited cabins available on a sailing at the casino rate.
There's no indication yet that these targeted offers have changed similar to the instant certificates.
