Casinos and Slot Tournaments-Cost?

[supercanadian]

Going on the Sunshine in February. We’ve never had any luck playing in the casinos on our own, but we’re not exactly big spenders either. We were thinking we’d enter a slot tournament instead. Does Carnival usually hold them? How often? How much do they cost to enter? Tell me all about your experiences with the on-board casinos in general.

[PhillyFan33579]

The slot tournament costs $25 to enter. Qualifying usually lasts for 2 hours. Qualifying consists of trying to get the highest score possible in 5 minutes. The top 8 or 9 (depends on the ship) advance to the finals for another 5 minutes of playing. The winner of the finals wins $500.  During qualifying, you can enter/play another round for $15.  The slot tournament is held 1-2 times per cruise. 

 

Speaking of Sunshine, our next cruise is on her on February 15. 

Edited January 5, 2019 by PhillyFan33579

[supercanadian]

7 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

 

 

Speaking of Sunshine, our next cruise is on her on February 15. 

 

Thanks @PhillyFan33579 ! We’re in the sailing right after you. Enjoy your trip. It will be our first time, and we can’t wait to go!

[Banditswife]

They also have black jack tournaments too, if that interests you.  Last 2 cruises we found the casino a bit more generous than previous cruises.  Meaning the slots seemed to be paying out more than our earlier cruises. Also remember if you use your players card in the machines, it will rack up points for the dollars you gamble.  Once you reach 1500 points, you drinks are free in the casino. 

[Eliot Ness]

I typically find the slots on a Carnival casino fairly tight, although I have come out ahead on  a couple of cruises and someone near me always seems to be doing pretty good.  For the slot tournaments they put a select group of machines in a special mode and you just constantly hit the spin button as fast as you can.

 

You might want to consider playing black jack, much better odds than slots, just study up on basic strategy.  As Banditswife mentioned there is also a black jack tournament that can be fun.

 

We just booked a Sunshine cruise for February 15....... this will be our first cruise on her.