How you get a free cruise from the casino.

[Tutontow]

All I know is that the term "free" is subjective in this case. It's not really free if you are spending that much money in the casino. They are getting their money from you one way or another.

 

I am one of those guys who is going to gamble whether or not I get any type of freebie.

 

I gamble the same way with the same bets no matter whether I get any type of freebie.

 

Having said that on our last cruise my wife and I lost 4K between the two of us. Fortunately we can do that and it doesn't affect our budget one iota. We are retired and pretty much financially set.

 

Anyway to get to the point she was awarded an inside cabin for two and I was awarded the same.

 

I have already booked a grand suite for five nights that would have cost $3200.00. I paid $700.00 for that room. Do the math. I agree it is not free but I received $2500.00 off my cabin and I gambled the same way I always do.

 

Hopefully we will find time to take advantage of her free offer or get her sister and BIL to join us.

 

One thing for sure about the "free" offers, the farther up you upgrade the more you are "saving". It is nice because there is no way I would pay for a suite so this gives us the opportunity to cruise in one.

[Tutontow]

Finally, I got this response...

 

Table players don’t actually accumulate points. They’re provided with comps based on losses or total time playing.

 

This backs up what I was told. I received three "free" cruises last year. I was told in an Email response that if you lose $1500.00 you will get a free cruise and DOU card the first night on the free cruise.

 

On my last free cruise we got ahead quite a bit the first night and our luck never ran out. By the last night while playing BJ we were putting out $25.00 tips for the dealers. We won some money but alas no free cruise.

 

It seems to me if you play as a couple you are better off always buying in with one card until you lose $1500.00 and then buy in with the other persons card.

[caribnsnrklr]

WOW 24,000 points on one cruise is the equivalent to a whopping $60,000 play through on slots. Holy smokes!

 

Cash back on Premier cruises really sweetened the deal for us along with significantly reduced rates.

 

Just came back from Breeze cruise and there was a lady in casino all week when I went in. Her points were at 47,000.00 early on last night. I thought that was crazy since it takes me all week to hit 5300 lol.

Ive gotten the bounce back offers already and was told 5000 points is what you need to get it and the drinks on us card next cruise. Though if you have a free cruise booked already no bounce back letter.

[elsbarre]

So new to gambling on the ship... What does drinks on us include?

[Tutontow]

Just came back from Breeze cruise and there was a lady in casino all week when I went in. Her points were at 47,000.00 early on last night. I thought that was crazy since it takes me all week to hit 5300 lol.

Ive gotten the bounce back offers already and was told 5000 points is what you need to get it and the drinks on us card next cruise. Though if you have a free cruise booked already no bounce back letter.

 

A little off topic but I used to frequent a forum for casino workers. There was a dealer for another cruise line commenting one day about a little old lady who was widowed. She would play all seven spots on the BJ table at $10,000.00 a hand. That is correct 70k on the table every minute the tables were open.

 

I don't even think Carnival has anything higher than purple chips. So I couldn't tell what cruise line it was.

 

BTW she was a regular and the dealers actually bought her gifts.

Edited April 20, 2015 by Tutontow

[elainmir]

We received our first ever bounce back offer last cruise. I had 2500 + points and dh had around 2300. We played slots and blackjack. We were in the casino quite a bit. We didn't go home winners but we held our own;) and didn't lose alot. @ 4-6 hundred between the 2 of us. We had booked that cruise we were on under the casino select offer sent to us via VIFP club.

I don't bet typically more than 90 cents to a dollar per spin, sometimes if it's going great I'll go 1.20 -1.50 per spin. Hubby does 6-10 per hand on Black Jack. So we are not high rollers by any means!:D

So now we've booked the bounceback for spring break..not sure if we'll get the DOU card or not but I'm looking forward to the cruise and casino time ;)

[Jimmy Geegitz]

You have to lose more than the cost of a cruise= free cruise. Well...not really

[sooner33]

That cannot be right. That means that you have to spend a minimum of $2,000 on slots. I was with my friend, and I know she did not spend that much, and she was awarded a free cruise.

 

Very easy to do , last year i gambled 25k on the cruise only lost 1k the whole cruise though

 

Now remember thats wins and losses

 

the points are based on everytime you hit spin so you win a little here and there and go back and forth

[MAGNUM PI]

From personal experience, I know that Carnival will offer "free" cruises, just for having utilized a casino card. Period.

 

I have only taken one Carnival cruise, in my life. It had been a few years, since we had taken it. One day, I received a postcard in the mail, with a "free" cruise offer.

I initially thought it was a scam, or there was some "catch" to it. Discovered it was legit.

 

In fact, it offered two back to back cruises! The postcard indicated we had been selected, because we had once used a casino card. On that one cruise, we spent little money, on slots. We are not high rollers. No way did we earn even 1,000 points. And it was a few years, since that Carnival cruise, too.

 

So, I know that this was merely random. No magic formula involved.

[AngAndBoys]

Has anyone had any luck getting a DOU card upon embarkation if you gambled on your last cruise? We earned right at 5000 points and we cruise again in June. Was hoping for the DOU card right away if possible. I am going to email and ask, I know they will probably give us a little casino cash, we got some last time but the DOU card is worth more over the course of a week.

 

I did last summer. Cruised the month before, got over 5000 points, had a DOU card waiting when I boarded the second cruise. :D

[robin13]

Well all of this talk about free cruises is really getting me excited. I have a cruise booked for this September and will be real curious to see if I get any offers after the cruise is over. I used to cruise exclusively on Carnival but switched cruise lines and started doing Royal and NCL. I play mainly BJ at $10 - $15 a hand and I am usually in the casino every day. I will also play penny slots from .50¢ to $1.50 a spin depending on how the day is going.

 

I did receive a card in the mail from Carnival regarding a casino offer of $40 and a reduced rate for a room. I booked the cruise but found out that you had to put a deposit of $500 down. Since I was paying off a cruise on Celebrity I wound up switching to ES and only had to put down $99. So hopefully my play in September will help me get some better offers as I am always ready to cruise.

[Twintowngirl]

Our last cruise (last month), my wife only racked up 2500 points, yet we got the bounce back offer.

Other cruises, she has racked up over 5k points, but no offer.

 

Andy

 

I had a similar amount of points totaled up by my last night. I had just gotten to the point where "the drinks were on the house" and I ordered a beer. It seems from then on my luck with the slot machine changed so I didn't spend much more money after that point. I received a bounce back offer the last night of the cruise, my first one ever. My group consisted of 11 friends and a few of us played the slot machines. Of that group, 3 of us got bounce back offers but we couldn't all go the same week that was limited by the offer. So we are all going on different ships from different ports during different weeks. We will have a lot of notes to compare when we all sail together next February!

 

Deb

[Oklahoma Cruiser 2012]

On 4/13/2015 at 1:06 PM, Stilles said:

so at minimum you spend 17.5k gambling on every cruise?

That's not all out of pocket.  Points are accumulated on "coin" back in. 

[Oklahoma Cruiser 2012]

On 4/13/2015 at 2:26 PM, Stilles said:

 

It might have a cumulative effect. It could very well be she was close to 5k points and then on your last cruise went over the threshold.

 

Also read the line in my original post where it says AT MINIMUM 5,000 points which would lead me to believe that just because you get 5k points doesn't mean you automatically get a free cruise out of the deal.

 

There maybe only a limited amount of cruises they give out during a certain time and they go from the top of pile of people with the most points and work their way down who really knows. All I'm doing is relaying the info given to me by carnival.

 

Regards,

Stilles

Smart point. Say they have a limited number of cabins blocked for the Casino (say 5) and they have 5 people who earned 25k points and 5 people who earned 5.5k points. While technically, they would all qualify for the blocked rooms, the Casino wants butts in the seat that'll give them a better shot at the money, which would be the 25k gamblers, not the 5.5k gamblers. 

[Oklahoma Cruiser 2012]

On 4/13/2015 at 2:40 PM, WhoDatNation said:

How many points do you earn at the table games?

Depends on the table game. Some have a higher H/A (house advantage) than others.  For instance, Pai Gow is a push game where you could play for hours on $50, Blackjack (particularly on a cruise ship) has a higher H/A, so you're "worth" more to the casino. 

[Brkintx]

Holy thread revival Batman! 

 

Butt in seat time, average daily theoretical loss value, total points... are all factors on the PLAYER side of the equation. One thing to remember is that the casinos have their own player information systems nowadays (similar to how LexisNexis Clue is for Insurance) and your value as a player can be established based on algorithms that include and go well beyond your cruise ship casino time/spend.

However... there's also the HOUSE side of the equation as well, and thresholds for free this or that can certainly change based on business priorities, revenue targets, etc.

[Oldsweets]

No, rhyme, no reason, no consistency.  We have gotten bounce back on every cruise except the last one 2 weeks ago aboard Sunshine.  We had 19500 and 15000 points respectively between the 2 of us and we had a lot of table play and slots as well.  We didn’t see a bounce back offer aboard or since our return.  Additionally, what were good offers of $1000, free drinks everywhere, & free balcony have  dried up to inside, $500, drinks while playing.   Guess we have worn out our welcome or just cast into a group of known cruisers/gamblers.  We decided to give carnival a break from our money and are booking with other lines for the next few months and we will see if offers return.  I should add we have canceled some bookings (3 with penalty) that we had scheduled over the next 3 months as the table/slot drink service has gotten simply terrible. Thought we would see how holding off would help and why not wait until carnival gets more staff aboard.  

Edited May 20, 2022 by Oldsweets
Spelling/grammar

[WKUTopperFan]

My cruise in March ended with the regular hand delivered Bounce Back Free Suite offer. As I already had a few cruises booked on Carnival and other lines I didn't use it. My subsequent offers (not including my Elite offers with comped balcony and Ultra with comp balcony and Free Drinks Everywhere) is for a Free Suite in sailings up to 5 days. I don't know what is going on. They have never limited my suite offering to 5 day long sailings... if I try to use that offer on 7bday sailings the best I can get is a free balcony, I have to pay to upgrade to a suite. I'll never understand Carnival's casino offers. Free suites and Drinks Everywhere one Day and then something different the next... I don't get it.

[justafem]

I got no kind of 'bounce back' offer on the cruise I just got off of on the 16th.  Granted this was our first cruise on carnival and have another booked that leaves in 10 days.  But (for me), I spent a bunch, ended up with just over 1000 points on a 4 day sailing.  

 

I doubt if I'll spend as much on our upcoming 10 day.  I really didn't like carnival after exclusively sailing princess.  Suite benefits are nonexistent and it seems uncontrolled and disorganized.  Just my opinion.  I am trying it again, so there's that.