There is actually some discussion among Seven Stars members that Caesar's should make the program more flexible, and allow freeplay in lieu of benefits not taken.
For example, many people don't like traveling (or are unable to do so), so the Seven Stars Annual Trip goes to waste. Others don't have a desire to go to the destinations where Caesar's properties are located. Again, it goes to waste. It's annoying to let this benefit go to waste, as you get $500 in food credits and up to $1200 worth of airfare. (The free hotel nights don't matter because you get them anyway.) Indeed, these are real costs to Caesar's. They have to pay almost full value to the airline, and the food, while much cheaper than $500 for them, still costs real money. This is different than giving free hotel rooms or seats at a concert, where it can be rationalized that they are simply filling unsold inventory at virtually zero real cost.
Some people have suggested that they let you take some form of freeplay, even if reduced, in lieu of the trip. So it could be something like "You get $500 food and up to $1200 in airfare, or you can take $800 in freeplay at your home casino."
Same goes for the annual meal. I haven't used mine yet because most of my visits to Vegas restaurants involve me, my girlfriend, and my young son. Even at an expensive place like Nobu, we can't spend $500 unless we order some really expensive wine. Last year I waited until December 31 when my parents were in town, and I brought them to the dinner, in order to spend all the money. However, this year I just haven't had the chance to do something like that. None of my friends or family ever seem to be in Vegas when I can go to one of these dinners. If I can't make this happen, I'll have to just do the Nobu thing and try to spend as much as possible.
Again, it has been suggested that they allow you to take some form of reduced freeplay in lieu of the $500 meal. Or turn the $500 meal into $250, and give some freeplay along with it.
I understand why they don't allow you to exchange anything for the annual cruise, because Norwegian is giving that to Caesar's for free as part of a partnership agreement. Basically Norwegian is willing to give up one balcony stateroom in exchange for getting a high stakes gambler on board. They only allow one of these because it allows Norwegian to "try out" a Seven Stars member, and only invite him back for free if he gambles. If he doesn't, then he only gets to come back free once per year as part of their marketing agreement with Caesar's (unless he grabs one of those certificates they hand out like candy, but then he only gets an inside cabin with blackout dates.)
Also, the "Signature Events" should again be able to be exchanged for some form of freeplay. None of them really appealed to me this year. I ended up going to the shopping one, and going to the overpriced Tommy Bahama. My girlfriend isn't really a high-end-designer-brand shopper, so she didn't want it. She used my last one to buy an expensive purse, but she doesn't need a second one.
Anyway, I think Caesar's would have a lot more happy customers if they provided more flexibility.
I was going to give up on the cruise for the second year in a row, due to the lack of airfare coverage by Caesar's. The cruises from California basically suck and aren't worth my time. I found a way to "double dip" by making my cruise from the same place as my annual trip -- New Orleans, so I'm doing it. One other nice thing about New Orleans is that they put $500 in RCs in your account instead of a $500 dining credit, so you can just bank the RCs and eat at one of the many interesting restaurants around the city.