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Using multiple cc's at a Princess casino
My SO and I have a 7-day Princess cruise in July, and we're planning to open a number of cc's to hit MSR via the casino slots. I understand your shipboard account and casino account are discrete entities. I also believe from what I've read that the cage charges a fee (3%? 6%?) to buy chips, but there's no fee if you load your room key at a slot machine.
I'm a bit confused as to whether the casino charges are actually charged to your cc when you load the amount to your room key, or whether they're only finally charged when you disembark. If the former (which I'd assume, since they want to know you have the funds to repay the money they're giving you), it's obviously easy to use different cc's. If the latter, does Princess allow split payment to spread the charge around? |
I'm not familiar with Princess per se, but with other cruise lines you can change your default CC. I believe they'll run the previous charges through at that time as a soft charge of sorts and then allow you to charge your next items on the new CC. If Princess is similar to Royal C. or Carnival then please be sure to play 1 or 2 hands at that slot machine before cashing out to save the fee. If you don't, they will likely suspend your account. It's up to the manager on whether they'll reinstate that privilege, but even if they do it's typically done as a one time thing. To avoid that nonsense, just play a couple of hands even if at the lowest amount. You can choose a penny machine if you want and play a whole nickle's worth to avoid that hassle.
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Thank you! We definitely plan to play a few hands after each cc load to avoid the situation you described. What did you mean by "to save the fee"? I believe Princess is part of the Carnival line, so what you said should apply. Is it just as simple as going to the cage on, say, the second day, and ask to use a different card?
Weirdly, I spoke to Princess about the ability to use different cards. I just phrased it as "what if my card has a low-ish limit, but I want to enjoy myself on the cruise, can I use multiple cards?" so as not to give anything about my plans away. And they said no. But hopefully that rep just isn't familiar with how the casino works. |
I was on a Princess cruise back in February, and spent a lot of time in the casino. I got to hear quite a few stories from the dealers and pit critters, so I can chime in with some relevant info. (Long story short - your idea is highly likely to be shut down quickly by the casino staff.) In theory, your idea should work. In practice, no. It is true that you can charge up to $3k/day (max $21k/cruise) on the slots to your shipboard account, with no cash advance fee. In fact, on Princess (not on all CCL lines), you can even do this with table chips. You could then go down to the main desk, have them run your card for the current room balance, and switch the card on file for the next day. Lather rinse repeat. Your problem is going to be getting the cash off your room key card, since, as I recall, Princess doesn’t have TITO - everything goes to and from the casino account on your card. You have to go to the cage to get cash. If you charge, say, $1000 to your casino account, play $15, and try to cash out the remaining $985, they’re going to catch that no-play right away. The first time, they’ll let it slide. The second time, you’ll just get a warning. The third time, they’ll freeze your charging privileges in the casino, AND ding you with a cash advance fee, same as if you did it at customer service. You might have better luck doing this with chips at the table, but they will still notice that you’re no-playing them and tell you to get stuffed after a day or two. These guys are there all day, every day, and they’ve seen all the attempted exploits. |
Originally Posted by LAtrotter
(Post 31091824)
Thank you! We definitely plan to play a few hands after each cc load to avoid the situation you described. What did you mean by "to save the fee"? I believe Princess is part of the Carnival line, so what you said should apply. Is it just as simple as going to the cage on, say, the second day, and ask to use a different card?
Weirdly, I spoke to Princess about the ability to use different cards. I just phrased it as "what if my card has a low-ish limit, but I want to enjoy myself on the cruise, can I use multiple cards?" so as not to give anything about my plans away. And they said no. But hopefully that rep just isn't familiar with how the casino works. Anyway, at that point you use your room card at the slot machine to take out funds on your Sign & Sail account (or whatever they call the same thing) and play a few hands before heading to the casino cashier for cash. Again, it doesn't seem to matter what amount you're playing. More just that you're playing a few hands. Also, if they do put up a fuss, just ask the supervisor to reconsider or plan to have to pay the fee at the ATM machines so that you can play with cash from then on. |
Damn. I appreciate the heads up.
Sounds like you're saying there are different ways to charge for slots vs chips? You pay for the slots via room card at the machine itself, while you buy chips at the cage, is that right? Also, what's TITO? I'll try to do some research to see what the options are. Worst case, if I can do two days at ~3k/day on my card, I'd call that a huge win. |
Originally Posted by Gregory Nelson
(Post 31092116)
I was on a Princess cruise back in February, and spent a lot of time in the casino. I got to hear quite a few stories from the dealers and pit critters, so I can chime in with some relevant info. (Long story short - your idea is highly likely to be shut down quickly by the casino staff.) In theory, your idea should work. In practice, no. It is true that you can charge up to $3k/day (max $21k/cruise) on the slots to your shipboard account, with no cash advance fee. In fact, on Princess (not on all CCL lines), you can even do this with table chips. You could then go down to the main desk, have them run your card for the current room balance, and switch the card on file for the next day. Lather rinse repeat. Your problem is going to be getting the cash off your room key card, since, as I recall, Princess doesn’t have TITO - everything goes to and from the casino account on your card. You have to go to the cage to get cash. If you charge, say, $1000 to your casino account, play $15, and try to cash out the remaining $985, they’re going to catch that no-play right away. The first time, they’ll let it slide. The second time, you’ll just get a warning. The third time, they’ll freeze your charging privileges in the casino, AND ding you with a cash advance fee, same as if you did it at customer service. You might have better luck doing this with chips at the table, but they will still notice that you’re no-playing them and tell you to get stuffed after a day or two. These guys are there all day, every day, and they’ve seen all the attempted exploits. Sounds like you're saying there are different ways to charge for slots vs chips? You pay for the slots via room card at the machine itself, while you buy chips at the cage, is that right? Also, what's TITO? I'll try to do some research to see what the options are. Worst case, if I can do two days at ~3k/day on my card, I'd call that a huge win. |
Originally Posted by TravelingNomads
(Post 31093259)
On other cruise lines you change the card on your Sign & Sail account down at the front desk, not in the casino. It's much easier if you've paid for that pass that lets you walk right up to the front desk, but I'm not sure if Princess offers that or not. On our last cruise it was around $79 for the entire cabin and ended up being well worth it given the long lines.
Anyway, at that point you use your room card at the slot machine to take out funds on your Sign & Sail account (or whatever they call the same thing) and play a few hands before heading to the casino cashier for cash. Again, it doesn't seem to matter what amount you're playing. More just that you're playing a few hands. Also, if they do put up a fuss, just ask the supervisor to reconsider or plan to have to pay the fee at the ATM machines so that you can play with cash from then on. |
TITO - Ticket in, ticket out. In that kind of setup, you could charge to your room, immediately cash out to a printed ticket, then use a machine to get that converted to cash money without human interaction. Chips are purchased at the table, not the cage. You’d present your room key to the dealer or pit boss, and ask for $X of chips to be charged to your room. As noted up-thread, all the credit card action for this scenario occurs at the front desk, not in the casino. FWIW, I’ve only dealt with long lines at the front desk on the first day and last evening of the cruise. Then again, I’m a late-night guy on a cruise full of seniors. :) |
Originally Posted by LAtrotter
(Post 31094109)
Do you recall what that pass was called? I'll do some research to see if it's offered on Princess. I had no idea the lines at the front desk would be that crazy, but thinking about it, it makes sense with ~3,000 guests.
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Originally Posted by TravelingNomads
(Post 31095745)
It was called a FTTF (Faster To The Fun) pass. You get a special line to embark early and a few other perks, but the one that we appreciated the most was skipping the line at the front desk.
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Hey, LAtrotter. That's why I don't use real casinos, the fees are too high and it was getting on my nerves every single time it's not worth it, especially when you are playing blackjack. One day, I decided to start playing at online casinos, I used Google in order to find a suitable variant for myself. I've been searching for 2 days and I finally found this site: https://freeblackjackdoc.com/blackjack-game . I've been using it for 2 months and I didn't have any issues with it. Also, you can play there for the money, so don't worry about it.
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If the ship is Medallion Class the check in and boarding process for me has been very quick the two times the ship had it didn't even have to sit and wait to be called. One of the times they even had to retake my wife's picture but was done right there when swiping onto the ship.
Just no early access to cabin or early off the ship as with Faster to the fun on Carnival which still puts you behind the mega-time cruisers and suites, shore-x on debarkation. |
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