It’s now been nearly three years since my first cruise with Royal Caribbean. I’ve previously shared on the site two ways that you can get a free cruise: The annual tier cruise and the instant cruise certificate you get on board. However, as I’ve cruised more a third bucket has taken bigger prominence, and is likely the bread and butter for many cruisers: The Casino Royale cruise offers.
So in today’s post I’m going to walk through those offers, and compare them to how you get the other two. For those who cruise somewhat regularly, all three have their value, but as of late the offers have been a particular driving force.
How Casino Offers Differ
The casino offers are much more in line with what casino players are traditionally used to when it comes to a casino offer. They include a set of parameters of what’s included: A cabin type, and sometimes some free play, are incorporated, and are paired with a list of sailing to select from.
They have an expiration date and a value that can be used as a credit towards an itinerary not listed (albeit without any extra perks either). The offers are based on your play history, so different players with different play histories will see different offer variations.
It’s not unusual to have multiple casino offers available at a time. Usually there’s a primary offer that’s the monthly offer, and then there can be additional offers based on a theme (Cruises that visit a specific spot, like Alaska or Cococay for instance), departure port or some other scenario.
The annual tier cruise, on the other hand, is generally connected to how many tier points you get, and is redeemable on nearly any cruise of seven nights or less. The room type is linked to the tier you reached (PRIME gets an inside cabin, for instance). They must be redeemed and sailed within the tier year.
The instant certificates are based on the number of points earned for a single cruise. They expire 30 days after the completion of a cruise, so you have to use them quickly. If you’re not sure about the next cruise, the value can be lost.
So that leaves the casino offers, which generally flow regularly. While each individual offer is usually around for about 30 days, new offers pop in to replace them. And I’ve found that often they can pop in for a better option than either the tier or instant offerings.
I last cruised in August on a four night cruise and earned 2500 points, enough to renew PRIME and get an inside cabin certificate. However, I’m routinely getting casino offers for Balconies or Ocean View rooms right now, and some of the offers are joined with free play.
For my last cruise I was able to leverage a casino offer to get a Balcony and free play; for my upcoming seven night cruise I got an Ocean View and free play. Both were from those casino offers, unlike the inside cabin I would have otherwise had.
You can check your casino offers by logging in to the Club Royale Offers website and enter in your last name and Crown and Anchor number. That site can also show you your tier status and tier points earned.
