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22 hours ago, bp traveler said:

Thanks but I still am unclear if that is just for my husband listed as first in cabin or since we were all offered that we get it too?  Thanks

If you all had the same offer (DOU while playing) you will all get it. Just go see the casino host and they will know who did and didn't have the offer. Make sure that you all had the same offer for the same cruise. I've seen people who had the same offers but the offers weren't all for the same cruises.

23 hours ago, Scotto97 said:

How does Carnival handle bottles of wine that are purchased in the steakhouse, MDR and at bars if you have Cheers?

 

I understand Cheers passengers receive 25% off, but do bottles somehow count towards your daily 15 drink maximum?

 

Not sure how this would be done, since you're most likely going to split the bottle with 1 or more guests. 

Glass of wine counts. Bottle of wine does not.

1 hour ago, auburn77 said:

We play slots and budget our play. We have never gotten even close to 1500 points, yet we get excellent casino cruise rates. We are sailing later this month in a Grand Suite we got for about half price. When we booked, the offer said that it included DOU. Does this mean we get this from the beginning without accumulating 1500 points?

Maybe. If it says for you and a travel companion then yes. If it just says DOU while playing then only the person who booked. Unless you both had the offer then make sure to see casino host for the other person.

Mine's a $1,000 to go from a balcony to a grand suite on an 8 day cruise. People should post how long their cruise is with these offers. Makes a difference.

13 minutes ago, mfrometa said:

We will for sure have a budget, just trying to figure out if it is better to be playing slots or table games? Better in the evening or afternoon? 

Honestly you will get more points playing slots IMO. Doesn't matter when you play slots. 

19 minutes ago, Jim and Monika said:

I don't believe this is true. I have been at a table where someone hit their limit and the Casino bought them drinks. It may have changed, but it's like someone else buying you drinks. If you make friends onboard and they buy you a drink, it does not count. Just like you buying someone else a drink, because you can't share, it does not count. The old trick is to buy drinks for yourself when getting close to 15. Some bartenders allow it and don't ask who it is for, some ask and might not allow it.

This actually happened to us. We maxed out about 8 P.M. the first night of a cruise and the casino host bought our drinks the rest of the night. She actually assigned a server to each of us and told them to take care of us on her account. 

5 minutes ago, Virga said:

I have a related question, my apologies for the hijack.  

 

How about if a better casino deal is offered before you sail?  Can a sympathetic agent or good PVP transfer the payments from the initial booking to a new booking on the same sailing?  I assume you can until Feb 15th, at least, but under normal circumstances, is it usually doable?

They will do it but depending how far out before you sail you may get hit will cancellation penalties. They would basically cancel and then rebook under the new offer.

11 minutes ago, surfjock27 said:

I am going to try and explain this to where it makes sense.. LOL.

We are on the Mardi Gras in March. When we booked in January, we had a casino rate and booked an interior (for 2) for $294 a person. 
Now I am wanting to upgrade that to a balcony, but when I sign in, the casino rate is no longer available, although I know that rate is active again because others have it. For me to upgrade to a balcony now would be around $2,000 more. Someone mentioned on another thread you can only use one casino rate at a time, which is why I am unable to see it under my offers. Does anyone know if this is true? Would it be worth calling and seeing if I can upgrade at the casino rate, or am I out of luck because I should have booked a balcony to begin with back in January?

 

Thanks in advance and happy cruising!

If it's not under your offers it probably expired. All the casino rates I have seen have been for certain sailings and you can use the same offer to book multiple cruises. 

Still wouldn't hurt to call and ask. 

2 hours ago, skridge said:

I am pretty sure the guy I saw in the MAGA hat and the American flag speedo is the reason it is the Walmart of the seas. 

At least he wasn't sharing his drink package.

10 hours ago, mfrometa said:

Dang those are some nice offers. For someone who hasn't cruised in a while, what suggestions do you have for playing in the casino to earn some of the perks.

 

Thanks for all the help and have a good night.

The only suggestion I tell people when it comes to casino's is to only spend what you can afford to lose. Set a budget and stick to it. 

1 hour ago, chuck812 said:

Right - so let's say I gamble $100 in Funplay, and manage to break even, so now I have $100 in regular chips.  Do I need to cash out and buy back in, to earn points?  

Couple things:

 1 - Any winnings you get from playing FunPlay are yours and are real money.

2 - You don't earn points on the FunPlay, just on real money played through. So no points on the $100 FunPlay but if you then in turn played the $100 you won you would earn points on that. $2.50 played = 1 point on slot machines (except video poker, that's $5 to = 1 point).

3 - Any money you have in the machine you would cash out to your players bank (you can put real money in the machine but when cashing out it goes into a players bank on your sail n sign card). So if you had $100 in real money in your players bank and wanted the cash you would then go to the cahiers cage and request it.

4 - If you are playing table games they give you funny looking chips (FunPlay chips). You bet those, but if you win you get real chips back and would use those just like normal. Play them or go to the cage and cash them in. Table games are a different monster when earning points.

2 minutes ago, chuck812 said:

Thanks, everyone!  What I take away from all this is that it's rarely sensible to take comps into account while in a cruise ship casino. 

One more question.  We've got $100 in FunPlay for our July cruise, I wonder if they subtract that from the points you earn, or how they do so.  Depending on what you're playing, by the percentages (even BJ 6:5), $100 in funplay could translate into quite a bit of actual play.  But the "theo" seems like zero if you're playing with Carnival's money.  I wonder if it would help to cash out after a bit (assuming anything left), and then re-contribute...

You don't earn points with FunPlay and you can't cash it out. However, you will earn points or you can cash out anything that you actually won while using the FunPlay.

5 minutes ago, auburn77 said:

I booked under the casino rate a while back for our cruise next month. I am pretty sure it included DOU, but I don't see it anywhere in our booking. How would I check this? Wait till we get on board to check with the casino host? Can we only have 15 drinks a day thru DOU (kidding - we had the equivalent of Cheers on Princess included on our last cruise and had 6 drinks in seven days).

E-mail casino@carnival.com with your booking info and ask them.

And yes, 15 drink limit with DOU. LOL

3 minutes ago, mrak said:

I think I already know the answer, but is it possible to upgrade DOU to Cheers? Thanks in advance for answering my dumb question 

There is no upgrade. You either purchase Cheers or go with the DOU.

On 1/21/2022 at 10:15 PM, BasicSailor said:

The casino?  I was thinking this to be a private company leased out through Carnival. 

https://oceanplayersclub.com/privacy-policy/

Ocean players club is a division of Carnival Corp.

55 minutes ago, Calnev1 said:

This thread is typical of several other threads posted these past few months.   Someone says they got a "free" cruise offer, and then someone else is compelled to  immediately point out its not really "free" because you still  have to pay pay port taxes/fees and gratuities.   I think we all know by know about those expenses, but still . . . . someone always has to point it out.

 

From now on, I plan to refer to these great offers as "free* cruise offers" in my posts.   See that asterisk?  It represents the additional expense. So then maybe  no one needs to waste space mentioning it.

 

 

Maybe if we just call it a free "room" instead of a free "cruise" it will make them happy.

Too me it's no different than getting a free room at a land based casino but you still have to pay the resort fee. 

Just get the Big Fosters Oil can! LOL

11 minutes ago, BlerkOne said:

We agree to disagree. Loyalty programs, as previously mentioned, are marketing programs and they exist to generate a certain return on investment. Same as "free" rooms. The casino should have their own program and pay for it. Instead they are double dipping.

You don't think there is a return on investment in the casino? LOL

4 minutes ago, xDisconnections said:

 

Perhaps he has limited vacation time and Carnival is his preference? Nothing wrong with that -- the free option is not always the better option based on personal preferences. 

I have 3 free offers on Carnival right now so both would be free. Biggest reason we stay with Carnival is family also gets discounted/free cruises. And we have always had a great time on Carnival and have had no reason to really change. I'm sure we would also have a great time on other lines if we went. 

1 minute ago, cruizergal70 said:

Why are you staying on Carnival? The Norwegian cruises are free. Why not try it?

Mostly because we usually cruise with family who also get free or discounted cruises on Carnival and they don't get the Norwegian offer. 

3 minutes ago, NutsAboutGolf said:

 

MLife/MGM land based casino has a partnership with RCL/X, where when you receive an offer you can cruise on your choice of cruise line if you gamble enough.  While exceptions exist, the two lines are polar opposites with RCL being kid friendly and X being almost kid-less.

I get a free Norwegian cruise every year through My Choice. Have yet to use it since I stay on Carnival. 

10 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

I would think it is. But these are not normal cruising times, that "perk" is not guaranteed and many of those offers will dry up if covid disappears. As I mentioned earlier, Carnival screwed up when it allowed those cruisers to collect VIFP points on top of the casino perks. Casino loyalty should be a separate program, just like the Milestone program is unrelated to the VIFP program.

If a person is sailing they should get the VIFP points. It is cruise days after all no matter what anyone paid. You could have the most expensive room on the ship and I could go with the cheapest interior I could find and we would both get the same VIFP points. 

12 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Carnival has said before they aren't after cruisers who need bribes/perks. They want cruisers who like the Carnival brand. The rest are free to go to the highest bidders.

The players club would disagree with you. 

10 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

So, giving deeply discounted and free cruises to gamblers is not considered a bribe or a perk? The gambler likes the Carnival brand because they are bribed to continue sailing on them because of the gratis cabin.

It's a "comp", just like any other casino does. I can guarantee you that if a gambler didn't like Carnival (or any other casino) the offers wouldn't matter. 

12 hours ago, SNJCruisers said:

So the non existent benefits that Platinum status granted you mean nothing to you.  It would be no loss to you if you were still red since the casino based heavily discounted cruises are the only thing keeping you loyal to Carnival.

I wouldn't say they don't mean nothing. As far we are concerned we have earned that status even though most of the so called benefits we don't use. Would it be the end of the world if we were gold vs platinum? No. We like Carnival and I'm sure we would of cruised more than once even if we didn't get the casino offers, but by them giving us the offers we have sailed (and spent) a lot more than we would have without them.