Royal Caribbean casino players just got a valuable surprise

There are three ways casino gamblers can earn free cruises on Royal Caribbean ships. The fastest way is to earn an instant rewards certificate by achieving a certain number of points in the casino on a single cruise. Casino Royale offers a series of lists each month, and higher point totals can get you a better list of free or deeply discounted cruises to choose from.

The second way is through targeted offers, which appear on the Club Royale website (clubroyaleoffers.com), and are also delivered via email and postal mail. Each offer typically has a “menu” of sailings to choose from. In full disclosure, most of the casino offers I use come in this form.

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The third way is through the annual tier benefit cruise, which is a perk of achieving elite status in Royal Caribbean’s Club Royale loyalty program. A member who achieves Prime status by earning 2,500 tier points in a gaming year gets to choose a free interior room on a cruise of up to seven days. Those who achieve Signature (25,000 points) or Masters (100,000 points) status get to select a balcony room or a grand suite, respectively.

The annual tier cruise is a particularly valuable benefit in a few different ways. For one thing, it rewards frequent cruisers – not just those who gamble a lot while on a single sailing.

For example, if you average 400 points per cruise, you’d barely qualify for any discount at all through instant certificates, and you’re unlikely to get many targeted offers in your account. But if you average 400 points and cruise seven times during the gaming year, you will earn Prime status and receive a free cruise.

The second reason the annual tier cruise is a valuable benefit is that unlike the other two ways to earn free cruises, you aren’t limited to a certain list of sailings. There’s a short exclusion list, which typically includes the line’s brand-new ships and a few high-demand sailings, but otherwise you are free to choose from any cruise Royal Caribbean offers, as long as it’s seven days or less in length.

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Club Royale’s 2025 exclusion list

When the 2025 annual tier benefit cruises were made available in April, the exclusion list contained a few things that many had anticipated.

Star of the Seas, Royal Caribbean’s hotly anticipated new ship that launches in August, was completely excluded.

Icon of the Seas, the Star’s sister ship currently in service, wasn’t completely excluded, but about half of its sailings during the year were.

Many holiday week sailings were excluded, even on smaller ships, such as those sailing over Christmas and New Year’s weeks.

In all, there were 106 excluded sailings (including Star), which is a tiny fraction of the thousands of sailings Royal Caribbean completes in a given year.

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The exclusion list just got shorter, and in a big way

Several credible reports on social media have indicated that Star of the Seas cruises – some of them at least – are now eligible to be booked with the annual tier benefit.

The most common dates being reported are in the February and March 2026 timeframe, and it makes sense. Generally, the period between New Year’s Day and when schools start Spring Break weeks is relatively slow for the cruise industry.

It is believed that Star of the Seas is only being offers to Masters and Signature level members.

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• Royal Caribbean makes key beverage package change

This isn’t the first time we’ve seen a similar situation with Star of the Seas. Shortly after announcing two 4-day “showcase” sailings in August ahead of the official maiden voyage, Casino Royale offers went out to help fill the ship (I’m booked on one of them through an offer).

Most of the reports say that the member needed to call the Club Royale phone number and specifically ask if any cruises on Star of the Seas were available to book. Some report that if they had already booked their annual tier cruise that they had to cancel it, wait a few days for their offer code to reactivate.

Now, it’s unclear if Star is officially off the exclusion list. But if you’re looking to try our Royal Caribbean’s newest ship after it enters service, it could be worth calling to find out what is available.

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Make a free appointment with Come Cruise With Me’s Travel Agent Partner, Postcard Travel, or email Amy Post at amypost@postcardtravelplanning.com or call or text her at 386-383-2472.

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