Free Cruise from Saratoga

My husband and I have each received an offer from Saratoga Casino & Raceway for a "free" cruise aboard Norwegian Cruise Lines. Knowing that Saratoga is very cheap with their offers ( we live in western Massachusetts - about 1 1/4 hours away and we'd rather make the 2.5 hour drive to the Connecticut casinos) I find it very difficult to believe this is really FREE.

Has anyone ever received something like this before? We are .25 slot players and don't go there more than 5-6 times per year.

they have done this in Twin River R.I. and my friend did get a cruise. they do try to offer you an upgrade, but she settled for the basic cruise instead. We have been to Saratoga a few times while visiting Lake George, and we really had fun there, although we didn't win. They seem to offer good deals for the over 50 crowd, and we did enjoy our stay there.

Many of these types of offers leave you holding the bag on port charges and taxes. On NCL in our experience, it was about $575 for both of us for a week long, three destination ports cruise.

Still, not a bad deal but a far cry from "free".

It's worth a call to find out what you'd be on the hook for.

Dan

If you like to cruise (ME!) the Free cruise IS worth it. Especially for 7 days.

Yes, you have to pay Port charges, but you'd have to pay for them anyway.
(Just like if you Win one on a game show, you still have to pay taxes, etc.)

And we only had to pay $65 to upgrade to an Outside cabin. I think that is totally worth it too.
(if you are 7* or higher rollers, you'll get an Outside cabin to begin with)

The biggest expense for us.........is IF you have to pay to fly to the ship.

Most of the NCL cruises weve been invited to, originate out of Florida or New Orleans.
If you live closeby, its a Win-Win. Otherwise, you gotta pay or use FFmiles to get there.

I asked Harrahs why they don't give some cruises out of Calif. like the Mexico or Alaska Cruises?

She said its up to NCL. Those cruises fill too easily, so she said NCL doesn't give them very often.

Not necessarily true of all casino giveaways. Our last two cruises from Hard Rock and TI were all inclusive....no port fees, no taxes. In one case, they even flew us to and from FL. We've always been responsible for gratities and any other personal charges we incur i.e. shore excursions, upgraded dining, drinks, etc.

In fact, I can't think of a casino cruise that we took that didn't include port charges and taxes. Each casino chain is obviously different.

It's still quite a good deal if you were planning on going on a cruise anyway but once again, I wouldn't consider it free.

Dan

Good to know Dan. I like YOUR Free mo' betta!

Booked our "free cruise" last week. 7 day western Caribbean cruise, out of Tampa. $275 each port fees and taxes. $84 each some other fees. So $718 for two. Leaving Feb 12th. I figured we saved 500-600 bucks. First ever cruise, can't wait.