Inveterate Cruiser

Ok thank you very much. At least this gives me something to shoot for (8k points) during my 7 day Caribbean cruise starting this Sunday on the MSC Seascape. 

I will be sailing on the MSC Seascape later this month and was wondering if there are video poker machines on the ship? I play JoB so was wondering what the paytables are like ie 9/6, 8/5, 7/5 etc. Many thanks in advance!

Not sure if there’s anyone out there with experience with MSC’s casino rewards program but just to confirm that it’s $3 play = 1 point and free cabins start at 10k points earned during a 7 night cruise ($30k handle)? Happy to learn more if this is inaccurate info…..

I will be sailing on the MSC Seascape later this month and was wondering if there are video poker machines on the ship? I play JoB so was wondering what the paytables are like ie 9/6, 8/5, 7/5 etc. Many thanks in advance!

4 hours ago, Itochen33 said:

As far as I know the Casino Cabins are not eligible for upgrades. Could have changed now after Covid though.
To get the Email for Plusgrade you have to sign up for the newsletter under your booking number from MSC. 

I went on the website and saw that you can only add your email addy to get the newsletter. There wasn’t a way to sign up using my booking number? How is that done?

Thanks for the response!

Does anyone know if free cabins that you get from casino status (mine was from Ocean Casino Prime) are eligible for Plusgrade to Yacht Club? I haven’t seen any emails and its about 1 month to my sailing. Anyone know how i can get added to the Plusgrade list?

Well Carnival stock has risen past $9 and pulled back $0.50 today. But still far off from the recent low of $6.50…..

5 hours ago, notscb said:

I didn't see this anywhere on the thread yet, but on another forum on CC folks have mentioned that if you need cash without ATM fees, the best way to do it is through the casino. Charge your room card and then cash out kind of thing. I wanted to mention this here to see if anyone has done this on Carnival or if this is line-specific (RCL).

It’s line specific with regards to fees ie you can do it for CCL at the table but there is A 3% fee. There is a way to get around it though but I won’t go into it here. RCL also charges but not for those with casino status. MSC does not charge any fee. I don’t think Celebrity does either.

6 hours ago, deadmoney said:

I had a buy set for $7

It got down to $7.01 today😡

I'll try again Monday

Be patient - it will go lower……. RCL and NCLH are reporting results soon too…. If results are poor CCL will get dragged down at the same time……..

On 10/11/2022 at 1:12 PM, CruizinSusan70 said:

The powers that be at Carnival are fully aware of the casino trick, so YMMV.

Let’s hope it continues to live on……

On 10/10/2022 at 11:44 AM, canes20 said:

Have enough shares for the OBC when we cruise, but have a limit order set to buy more to sell if it ever goes back up. I keep lowering the amount I want to pay for the shares. The stock is around 6.23 at the moment. I have been lowering my price from $7.50, I was at $6.25 yesterday but had lowered it to $6.00. I just went to $5.00. Such a risky thing right now, could buy it and go bankrupt and loose it or it could eventually go up and could sell and by like purchasing what I have now free.

I set limit orders to buy 10 shares at $6.50 and $6 and will probably add more limit orders at $5.50 and $5……. I’m waiting to see RCL’s and NCL’s results……

29 minutes ago, myboys said:

Thanks to a post on this board I purchased gift cards through AARP rewards at a 10%discount. You do not have to be 50 to be a member and membership was $12/yr.  ( Rakuten is offering $6 cash back on 1 yr memberships as well but I neglected to check there first) I purchased though PayPal to get an addition 5% back though Chase Freedom rewards since that is their bonus category this quarter. Every little bit helps! 

Same here. I am now 50 but I was not 50 when I became an AARP member….  I have bought thousands of $ of Carnival e-gift cards so have more than made my money back….. and Carnival makes it easy to convert the GC back to real cash but I’m not going to explain how I do it on a public forum……. DM if interested…..

4 hours ago, sunonfire said:

I did try Allstate but I could not find gift cards. I saw rewards but I’m not a member.

Search for the Allstate thread on the CC Carnival forum…….

Nice way to churn CC points……., similar to MSC…….

Those who picked up some Carnival stock at $6.80+ Monday morning would be up 10% already today.........

5 hours ago, skeeter195 said:

Check with Celebrity to see what the rate is to charge chips to your room.  On NCL the charge is 3%.  When I charge chips to my room at the end of the cruise it is put in as a purchase and not a cash advance on my credit card.  Now, my credit card gives me 5% back for travel purchases so I get charged 3% and get back 5%.  So if I break even or come out ahead in the casino, bring home the cash and pay off the charge I am up 2%.  I do get the 3% waived now at times with my tier level and max out my card  on board and then get the full 5% back after paying off the card.  I look at it as giving me a small edge with my casino money.  As everyone knows the casino is never going to give any kind of edge.  

Do you mind me asking which wonderful CC is this that gives you 5% back for travel purchases? And is it unlimited to limited to $1500 per quarter or something like that? I need to get that CC also…….

On 10/2/2022 at 10:01 AM, sunonfire said:

This maybe an easier way for some my AMEX card gives me 6% back at grocery stores. My Publix sells Carnival Gift Cards. The gift card can be any amount from $100 to $500. I will earn 6% rewards on the purchase. I’m going to purchase for my final payment.

Seems like you would do better saving 10% through Allstate (no membership required). If you buy using a cashback credit card (Citi DoubleCash) you could get 12%.

If you must buy at a grocery store some of the grocery stores eg. Mariano’s in IL give gas points also. Potentially one could get up to 8% in gas points in addition to 6% cash back at grocery stores using the Amex CC……. 

1 minute ago, Illbcruzn4life said:

The bigger they are the harder they fall

I'm only saying that CCL will be the first to go under (if they do) because CCL has the worst balance sheet of the 3.......

4 hours ago, tidecat said:

It's not necessarily the next 12 months you have to worry about as far as whether Carnival is a going concern. But if Carnival misses earnings by a country mile again in Q4, and doesn't start to turn a profit in Q1 of 2023, then this becomes a reasonable possibility.

I agree that the next 2 quarters are pretty critical. Oct-Dec 2022 should be pretty good (cruising pent-up demand) but there will probably be some tail-off in revenues starting 2023...... if they don't show lower losses their stock will continue to get hit and they will find it even more difficult to raise equity in order to refinance their debt...... 

7 hours ago, nycny said:

It was from RCCL directly with a copy of the offer.  Maybe on URComped but I always prefer to go to the source rather than a commissioned entity.

Do try URComped. The value that URComped brings is that because they are a long-time partner with URComped, RCL has agreements with URComped of what they should comp a referred customer with certain free offers and bankroll vs someone who just walks off the street making claims.  

12 hours ago, mouche said:

I am level 6 Topaz, I get $10 off in SB and $700 for sept bonus and 1$ promo.

 

My swagbucks ledger...

 

• Expand9/21/2022 8:41AM
• Bonus SB
• MyGiftCardsPlus September Bonus
• + 1000 SB

• Expand9/21/2022 8:41AM
• Other
• MyGCP MyGCP: 16637-74694-a37b-ee16, Promo: 100 SB
• + 800 SB

Ah ok - I need to work harder at my SB then......

11 hours ago, ray98 said:

Yikes.....$7 a share.  They are still losing $8.5m a day during peak season with ships as close to full capacity as they have been since Covid. 

 

I foresee a tough road that may not end well; this debt load coupled with a declining outlook for this market segment due to a recession all adds up to a bad result.

Agreed. 90% occupancy and they're still losing $0.65 a share which is probably what drove the big sell off. I missed getting some stock at $7.01 today but think I will have more opportunity to do so next week or when RCL or NCLH report results. 

I never got a good sense of why the loss was so much larger than expected. Interest and depreciation expenses can be forecasted so that's unlikely the reason. I suspect it was the spike in oil prices and food inflation in June-Aug 2022 which means those should abate as the year goes by and in 2023. Unfortunately, I think Carnival also needs to learn from RCL's playbook - cut out free lunches at Cucina and Jiji, cut out lobster and steak at the MDR, raise drink package prices, sell far more specialty dining...... 

4 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

RCL has been taking on more and more debt. They have a lot more downside possibility.

 

NCL is likely the first to go bankrupt, if any of the big 3 do.

I disagree. Carnival will be the first to go down. 

I think Carnival is perhaps the only cruise line that is still sailing a 31 year old ship (Ecstasy) although I believe it is being retired in October 2022. But sailing the Ecstasy vs the Celebration would give one a wonderful comparison of how cruise ships and cruising has progressed over this period of time.