We just returned from an Alaska cruise on RCI (not booked through MLife as we were traveling with relatives and also received a generous resident discount). Here's my experience:

After we booked the cruise through a travel agent last December, I called the M-Life number (1-800-762-0702) to see if we were entitled to any benefits. They told me at the time that since we didn't book through them and also got some RCI discounts, we were not eligible for any of the onboard MLife benefits. They said I would still accrue MLife points and to bring our cards to present to the casino host.

Then I came home and started looking through the various forums to see how other MLife members fared.

About a month before the cruise, I called the Club Royale (onboard casino) number: 1-888-561-2234. This is the number to call!

I spoke to a very friendly representative and told her I realized I wasn't eligible for any MLife benefits, but I wanted to give them our MLife numbers to be sure I would at least accrue points for my onboard gambling. She took our numbers and entered them into their system. She then told me that as Platinum members we would, in fact, be eligible for the MLife benefits, including the drink coupons, automatic Gold status in the Crown & Anchor society, a welcome cocktail party, a specialty dinner, and 30 minutes of internet service. I told her I was delighted to hear that, as I had been told previously that we weren't eligible for those benefits, and she told me "things had changed" since then.

So...fast forward to Day 1 on the ship. Our SeaPass cards showed us as "Gold" members despite this being our first RCI cruise. There was a welcome letter from the Crown & Anchor Society in our stateroom, outlining discounts (shopping and beverage and shore excursions). We also received the following day an invitation to a cocktail party for C&A members. We made our way to the casino and checked it out, and the cashier told us to introduce ourselves to the casino host when he would be there later in the evening.

Your SeaPass card also doubles as your Players Club card. The casino host confirmed our MLife numbers (we did show them our MLife cards), gave us 10 free drink coupons (to be used the casino only), and put a little sticker on our cards that enabled us to pull cash from our SeaPass accounts (and the credit card associated with them) without a service charge -- any cash withdrawals would show up as "entertainment" on the SeaPass account, and you could also use your onboard credits toward that "entertainment." We never did hear anything about the specialty dinner (which was fine, since we were traveling with family) or the Internet minutes. During the week, the host would stop by and chat for a few minutes (he did the same with my husband) and give us additional drink coupons. On our final evening, he came by and gave me a certificate for a free cruise for select sailings to be used by the end of October, all from the East Coast.

We really enjoyed the casino, fun dealers at the tables, half older machines and half new-ish. After many years of playing blackjack, I finally saw somebody win the side bet that pays 1,000 to 1 (he was playing $5 on it). I also had a few evenings of entertainment with a memorable former "Masterchef" contestant (Leslie, if anybody remembers him) who is a lot more fun drunk than he was on the show!

Oh, and if you do play blackjack, the minimum bet is $6, which seemed odd until another player told me you could play the $5 bet and the $1 side bet and consider it $6.

After reading Evoni's comments, I am hoping those points will translate to MLife tier credits as advertised. If anybody else has taken a RCI cruise, I would appreciate knowing if they do in fact show up.

Update: My tier credits from the cruise were posted to my MLife account one day shy of six weeks following the cruise.