Casino At Seas

[ks]

How much gambling time on the cruise or accumulation of points is expected when accepting a free cruise with Casino at Seas? Does it depend on the category of cabin your are given? 

[Bronx12]

14 hours ago, ks said:

How much gambling time on the cruise or accumulation of points is expected when accepting a free cruise with Casino at Seas? Does it depend on the category of cabin your are given? 

 

I called Casinos At Sea to ask the same thing. I was told that you need $3000 US in play to receive a 7 day complimentary cruise, and $6000 US in play for a 14 day complimentary cruise.

Hope this helps 🙂

[BirdTravels]

That's a $3K theoretical loss. 

[ed01106]

On 5/26/2019 at 10:20 AM, Bronx12 said:

 

I called Casinos At Sea to ask the same thing. I was told that you need $3000 US in play to receive a 7 day complimentary cruise, and $6000 US in play for a 14 day complimentary cruise.

Hope this helps 🙂

Not experienced in gambling —— does that mean you need to place $3000 in bets, regardless if you win or lose?

 

If so blackjack might be a good investment.  An intelligent black jack player should lose $150 on $3000 worth of bets.  $150 for a 7 day cruise is a sweet deal.

[clcjdn]

The math is a little more complex than that.  CAS comes up with 2 loss calculations. 

 

1. Your "actual" loss.

2. Your "theoretical" loss.

 

Your actual loss when playing in a machine is automatically calculated.  When at the tables you have to ask to be rated.  Be careful if you hit a $1200 jackpot or better on the machines (ie the W2G rule).  CAS has not counted that as an actual loss for me in the past, as they consider it their money.  I put those amounts away in the safe and stick to my budget.

 

Here is a simple example for theoretical loss:

 

Play slot machine A the whole time.  The machine is set to 80% payback, the house take is 20%.  Your expected loss rate is also 20%.  You bring $1000 to gamble, the expected "theoretical" loss is $200.  $1000 * .2 = $200.  However, this doesn't work in a straight line, so you will likely cycle some money, as in play that same $1000 more than once.  Let say you can cycle that $1000 5 times in the cruise, now your coin in is $5,000 times 20% house edge, and your theoretical loss is now $1,000, same as what you brought with you.  The issue is you cannot look at a slot machine and find a payback %.

 

You can look at a video poker machine and get a payback % with perfect math.  For NCL, most VP machines are about 95% payback, or 5% house edge.  If you run your $1000 though them, the expected loss is $50.  If you cycled 5 times, then it would go to $250, less than above.  However, with a higher payback games, you should be able to cycle more.  On an average trip playing 95% video poker on NCL, I expect to cycle my bank roll between 10 and 20 times.  Take that same $1000 and cycle 20 times for $20,000 of coin in, and you get an expected loss of $1,000.

 

Both of these are less than the $3,000 quoted above, so you would have to adjust your starting bank roll up to get closer to that number. 

 

CAS figures out which loss is higher, and your comp offers are based on that.

 

Please note:

I would be careful playing to get comps like this.  It seems to me that CAS has been tightening the requirements for rooms and gambling just to get a comp is a dangerous business.  We usually bring $5K to gamble with because we can get a comp room for less $1,000, but there are trips where it is a struggle to stay in the action and I have received a comp offer on anything from an inside to a suite on the Jewel class ships.  YMMV!

 

Joe

 

P.S.  This past June and this upcoming Thanksgiving are the first times since 2012 that Carnival has been cheaper for our family of 5 on comparable cruises, so I think they are trying to "up" their game.    

 

 

[ed01106]

Okay, here is my question.....to get the free cruise 

 

do I need to lose $3000 or wager $3000?

 

Because if it is lose $3000 --- I can find a 7 day cruise for way less than $3000.  

 

But if it is wager $3000 even on machine with a 80% pay out you should cycle through $3000 of bets with only a $600 loss  

[clcjdn]

Its an actual or theoretical loss of $3000.  Whichever is higher.  Also, keep in mind, CAS comp means paying about $300 in administrative fees/port fees not counting the gratuities on the drink package (currently $138.60) or dining package (around $14.50) per person.  So in reality $600ish is the cheapest you will get out on a "comp" room.

[Funky Fusion FoodsJ]

Cruised first time with NCL on Sun last month.  Had an actual loss of just over$500 on a 4 day cruise.  Played a lot by hitting smaller 200 to 400 wins then putting it back in.  Called today to see what they’d rated my gambling and they had it down as a $2800 loss.  They offered a 7 day cruise inside cabin, totaled just over $600 for port fees, tax, drink package fees so I booked it.

[VideoTech]

OP's question was never answered.  OP asked how much gambling was expected when you're on a comped cruise.

 

The answer: None is required. You could technically take the comped cruise and never set foot in the casino. However, it is expected that you likely will gamble, since being a gambler is what got you the "free" cruise to start with. Of course, if you don't gamble at all then you won't be eligible for another comp. There is no "expected" amount. CAS assumes that you will likely at least gamble what you did on the last cruise that earned you the comp. 

[clcjdn]

On 6/22/2019 at 9:23 AM, VideoTech said:

OP's question was never answered.  OP asked how much gambling was expected when you're on a comped cruise.

 

The answer: None is required. You could technically take the comped cruise and never set foot in the casino. However, it is expected that you likely will gamble, since being a gambler is what got you the "free" cruise to start with. Of course, if you don't gamble at all then you won't be eligible for another comp. There is no "expected" amount. CAS assumes that you will likely at least gamble what you did on the last cruise that earned you the comp. 

Thanks for the clarification!  I kind of glossed over the original post I guess.  🙂

[Mike_DeA]

On 6/19/2019 at 1:42 PM, ed01106 said:

Okay, here is my question.....to get the free cruise 

 

do I need to lose $3000 or wager $3000?

 

Because if it is lose $3000 --- I can find a 7 day cruise for way less than $3000.  

 

But if it is wager $3000 even on machine with a 80% pay out you should cycle through $3000 of bets with only a $600 loss  

If this less expensive way worked, many more people would be doing it.  As stated, it's an actual loss of $3,000 or theoretical loss of $3,000.

[Tutontow]

On 6/19/2019 at 1:42 PM, ed01106 said:

Okay, here is my question.....to get the free cruise 

 

do I need to lose $3000 or wager $3000?

 

Because if it is lose $3000 --- I can find a 7 day cruise for way less than $3000.  

 

But if it is wager $3000 even on machine with a 80% pay out you should cycle through $3000 of bets with only a $600 loss  

I know this is tired, old advice but gamble the way you normally do and if you get a "free" room offer that is just icing on the cake.  On our last cruise we hardly gambled.  It was a seven day cruise and we maybe gambled ten hours.  We did have a great 45 minute run at blackjack and left the ship 7k ahead.  When I called CAS I was told we base our rooms on your expected loss and obviously you didn't lose so the best I can do for you is an inside cabin.  It worked out for me because I just pay the difference and upgrade to a balcony.

[riddle]

50 minutes ago, Tutontow said:

I know this is tired, old advice but gamble the way you normally do and if you get a "free" room offer that is just icing on the cake.  On our last cruise we hardly gambled.  It was a seven day cruise and we maybe gambled ten hours.  We did have a great 45 minute run at blackjack and left the ship 7k ahead.  When I called CAS I was told we base our rooms on your expected loss and obviously you didn't lose so the best I can do for you is an inside cabin.  It worked out for me because I just pay the difference and upgrade to a balcony.

 

[riddle]

So you ended 7K ahead and still got a future inside comped?  This is contrary to what I have been hearing with regard to CAS.  I guess I seldom win so I do get comps but I have to lose considerably even to get an inside.  

[Tutontow]

1 hour ago, riddle said:

So you ended 7K ahead and still got a future inside comped?  This is contrary to what I have been hearing with regard to CAS.  I guess I seldom win so I do get comps but I have to lose considerably even to get an inside.  

I know what you are saying.  Carnival lost me for that very reason.  We went on a Premier / Gamblers cruise on Carnival.  We played more than I care to admit.  We were having a great run in the casino.  When we got home the offers dried up.  That was five cruises ago, which have all been on NCL.  I will say I enjoy cruising but when my offers dry up I will move to land based casinos.  It is strange how cruise lines compute comps.  Every land based casino I play in doesn't care whether you win or lose.  They compute time played by average bet.

[ed01106]

1 hour ago, Tutontow said:

I know what you are saying.  Carnival lost me for that very reason.  We went on a Premier / Gamblers cruise on Carnival.  We played more than I care to admit.  We were having a great run in the casino.  When we got home the offers dried up.  That was five cruises ago, which have all been on NCL.  I will say I enjoy cruising but when my offers dry up I will move to land based casinos.  It is strange how cruise lines compute comps.  Every land based casino I play in doesn't care whether you win or lose.  They compute time played by average bet.

If you are playing blackjack and winning, offers may have dried up because they conclude you are card counting.