NCL Casinos At Sea: Tiers, Points and Free Cruise Certificates

• Reel and video slots: 1 point per $5 wagered.
• Video poker: 1 point per $10 wagered.
• Table games: no fixed rate is published. Points depend on your average bet, session length or hands played and the game. Give the dealer your room key so your play is recorded.
• No points: NCL says select slot machines and table games earn no points. The Points Guy reported in 2024 that, across cruise casinos generally, games such as Texas Hold'em and coin pushers often earn nothing. NCL does not name the excluded games.
• Individual earning: NCL says points must be earned individually.
• Joining: membership is free, you join by playing in an onboard casino, and you must be 21 or older.

Program year: tiers are based on points earned from April 1 to March 31. Every member restarts at zero at 12 AM EST on April 1. You can move up a tier during the year, and tiers are re-evaluated each year. Bonus points, adjusted points and points transferred between ships do not count toward tier.

Point expiry: unredeemed points stay on your account for 18 months. The spending balance and the tier count are separate: your points can outlast the April 1 reset, but they no longer count toward next year's tier.

Sources: NCL Casinos At Sea Players Club, NCL casino cruise Players Club. Examples of games with no points, across cruise casinos: The Points Guy.

Four tiers, set by points earned in the April 1 to March 31 year. The tier assignments below are the ones NCL's footnotes state. Onboard credit is non-refundable and restrictions apply.

Rules for tier perks: benefits apply only on sailings of 3 days or longer, members must be 21 or older to redeem them, and guests booked through the Friends and Family program do not receive tier benefits.

Perks NCL lists without a tier

NCL's benefits table also lists these, but the page text does not say which tier gets them:

• Stateroom discounts: on NCL up to a Mini Suite (MB), excluding Pride of America; on Oceania up to a Category A stateroom and on Regent up to a Category A suite. Amounts are not stated.
• Unlimited open bar and an unlimited Starbucks package for all guests aged 21+ in the member's stateroom.
• A $500 shore excursion credit, based on availability.
• Service charge waived for guests 1 and 2 on sailings of up to 12 nights.
• Water packages: a 12-pack on sailings up to 10 nights, a 24-pack on 11 nights or more.
• Private transfers to or from the ship, home, hotel or airport, within 25 miles each way, booked at least 48 hours before departure.
• Priority Casinos At Sea embarkation, stateroom amenities, and exclusive offers and invites.

The Points Guy reported in October 2024 that a complimentary drinks package starts at Ruby (upgraded at Elite), and that the shore excursion credit, private transfers and waived service charges are Elite perks. NCL's page does not confirm that split, so ask a casino host before you count on one.

Sources: NCL Casinos At Sea Players Club, NCL casino cruise Players Club. Tier split for unassigned perks: The Points Guy (press, unconfirmed).

• Pearl and above: slot and table play, spa treatments, specialty restaurant dinners, charges off your final bill (folio) or future cruise credit. NCL says Pearl and above guests can request point redemption while onboard.
• When: folio redemption is requested onboard on the last day of the cruise, from 6:00 to 9:00 PM. Ask a casino host.
• Excluded: gaming, lottery, bingo, medi spa, art auction, charitable contributions, manual gratuities and service charges, among others.

NCL's Players Club FAQ says folio redemption is currently available on Oceania and Regent, while the benefits table lists folio redemption for NCL too. The page does not resolve this, so confirm with the casino host on your sailing.

Sources: NCL Casinos At Sea Players Club, NCL casino cruise Players Club.

A Casino Cruise Certificate is valid for one complimentary cruise fare and/or a cruise fare discount, as shown on the certificate. NCL does not publish how many points it takes to earn one. The official terms set these conditions:

• Who it covers: the named player and one guest. NCL's US page says third and fourth guests travel free on select dates, but its FAQ says they pay prevailing rates, subject to availability; ask the Casino Reservation Center. NCL's US page lists a 10% saving on a second stateroom.
• Who must sail: the named player, or a Casinos At Sea member, must be on board. If not, NCL charges the full cruise fare.
• What you pay: an administration fee of $20 per person per day, government taxes, port expenses and other required fees.
• Fuel: NCL reserves the right to charge a fuel supplement.
• Service charges: discretionary onboard service charges are extra and are added to your onboard account automatically.
• Cancelling: the US terms say cancelling within 120 days of the sailing date may forfeit the certificate. The Canadian terms say any change or cancellation after booking may forfeit it. NCL recommends travel protection.
• Blackouts: holiday and peak blackout dates may apply, and use is subject to availability.
• Upgrades: you can upgrade at prevailing rates, but promotional amenities are based on the complimentary stateroom, not the upgrade.
• Household certificates: two qualified players in one household with certificates from the same promotion can combine them for one stateroom category upgrade. The US page caps this at a Club Balcony; the Canadian terms say up to a Mini Suite.
• Value: non-refundable, non-transferable and no cash value. The Canadian terms say certificates may be voided if gameplay cannot be verified.
• Expiry: none of the official pages we reviewed state a validity period. Check the date printed on your certificate.

Certificates are booked through NCL's casino reservations team; the Canadian terms say only reservations made through the Casino Reservation Centres are valid. The Players Club and certificate pages both list 1-877-742-9528, 9:00 AM to 9:00 PM EST Monday to Friday and 10:30 AM to 7:00 PM EST on weekends. NCL also says a certificate can have trade-in value toward itineraries not listed on it.

Sources: NCL Casino Cruise Certificate (US), Casino Cruise Certificate terms (UK), Casinos At Sea Certificate Program (Canada), NCL Casinos At Sea Players Club.

Assumptions: two guests use one certificate for a 7-night NCL cruise in a standard stateroom, and the per-day charges apply to 7 days. The admin fee and service charge rates are NCL's published figures. The taxes and port expenses figure is our own assumption to make the arithmetic concrete; NCL shows the real amount for your sailing when you book. This assumes your tier does not include NCL's service charge waiver, which NCL lists for guests 1 and 2 on sailings of up to 12 nights without naming a tier.

The formula: out of pocket = (admin fee + service charge) × guests × days + taxes and port expenses + any fuel supplement. If NCL counts 8 days on a 7-night sailing, the admin fee and service charges become $320 each, and the total in this example rises to $940. If you upgrade to a suite, NCL's service charge is $25 per person per day, or $350 for two over 7 days, plus whatever the upgrade itself costs.

Compare that total with the paid fare for the same sailing before you book. On a short or low-priced cruise, the fees can be a large share of what the cabin would cost anyway.

CruiseLookup calculation. Admin fee: NCL Casino Cruise Certificate and certificate terms. Service charge rates: NCL onboard service charge FAQ (bookings made on or after January 1, 2023). Taxes and port expenses: assumption, not an NCL figure.

The formula: coin-in = tier points × dollars per point. Slots are $5 per point and video poker is $10. All points must be earned within one April 1 to March 31 year.

Coin-in is total wagered, not money lost. Every bet counts, and winnings you bet again count again. A $100 stake played through a slot several times can produce several hundred dollars of coin-in. At $1 per spin, Pearl takes 20,000 spins on slots.

Your result depends on the games you play. Actual results swing widely in both directions.

CruiseLookup calculation from the earning rates and tier thresholds on the NCL Casinos At Sea Players Club page.

Points earned on NCL, Oceania and Regent go into one Casinos At Sea account, so play on any of the three brands counts toward the same tier. Stateroom discounts apply on all three brands, up to a Category A stateroom on Oceania and a Category A suite on Regent. Most other perks in NCL's benefits table, including the onboard credit amounts, are listed for NCL only, so the page does not confirm they apply on Oceania or Regent.

Sources: NCL casino cruise Players Club, NCL Casinos At Sea Players Club.

Latitudes Rewards, NCL's loyalty program, earns 1 point per cruise night, plus 1 extra point per night for full-fare suites booked on the original reservation, The Haven or a Latitudes Insider Offer. The Latitudes page lists no way to earn from casino play, so Casinos At Sea points do not move you up a Latitudes tier. NCL does not say whether nights on a casino certificate sailing earn Latitudes points, so ask when you book.

Latitudes tiers run from Bronze at 1 point to Ambassador at 700. Every tier lists exclusive offers from Caesars Entertainment, but the page does not say what they are. See our NCL Latitudes Rewards guide for the tiers and how long each takes, and our cruise casino programs comparison to see how Casinos At Sea stacks up against Royal Caribbean, Carnival and the rest.

Sources: NCL Latitudes Rewards, NCL Status Honoring.

Gambling extra to earn a certificate rarely beats paying the fare. If you are going to play anyway, Casinos At Sea gives something back. If the cruise is the goal, watch fares instead with a free CruiseLookup price alert.