Ocean Bar Slot Machines...the rest of the story

[Laminator]

I can speak for HAL in general and the Rotterdam specifically. On this cruise there are 2 groups of casino players. One of 150 from Club 21 and one of 125 from a land based casino. 1 out of every 7 pax is casino related. On the Dec 1st cruise there will be 600 invited Club 21 players. One out of every 3 pax will be casino related. HAL is making a major marketing push toward their Club 21 players. They also have other events on the 2 new ships. Their goal is to have the machines from the Ocean Bar removed by mid December. They are once again offering free play based on the points you earn on the slot machines. There are alot of new features including tournament entries that you play on the various enabled machines.

Edited November 15, 2021 by Laminator
Typos

[Florida_gal_50]

Please stop being logical and sensible😛🤪.  If you keep that up there will be nothing to be hysterical about.

[nimiq]

1 hour ago, Laminator said:

I can speak for HAL in general and the Rotterdam specifically. On this cruise there are 2 groups of casino players. One of 150 from Club 21 and one of 125 from a land based casino. 1 out of every 7 pax is casino related. On the Dec 1st cruise there will be 600 invited Club 21 players. One out of every 3 pax will be casino related. HAL is making a major marketing push toward their Club 21 players. They also have other events on the 2 new ships. Their goal is to have the machines from the Ocean Bar removed by mid December. They are once again offering free play based on the points you earn on the slot machines. There are alot of new features including tournament entries that you play on the various enabled machines.

What is Club 21 ? Do you have to register before a cruise to become a member and earn points ? 
 

Thanks

Sea Ya

Eric 

[Laminator]

8 minutes ago, nimiq said:

What is Club 21 ? Do you have to register before a cruise to become a member and earn points ? 
 

Thanks

Sea Ya

Eric 

Club 21 is what HAL calls their players club. You earn the points thru your room card whether you are a Club 21 member or not. Talk to the casino host onboard your next cruise as there are changes being made and I do not want to misinform you.

[Djptcp]

Thanks for your post. I stopped reading the original thread about slots in the Ocean Bar because it was hysteria. DH and I will be part of the 600 passengers on the Dec. 1st $50,000 slot tournament. We were on the Koningsdam in ealy 2020 for the $50,000 slot tournament and additional slots in the Ocean Bar will be welcomed on the Rotterdam as the K's casino was overwhelmed every night!

[Laminator]

26 minutes ago, Djptcp said:

Thanks for your post. I stopped reading the original thread about slots in the Ocean Bar because it was hysteria. DH and I will be part of the 600 passengers on the Dec. 1st $50,000 slot tournament. We were on the Koningsdam in ealy 2020 for the $50,000 slot tournament and additional slots in the Ocean Bar will be welcomed on the Rotterdam as the K's casino was overwhelmed every night!

I wish you the best of luck in the tournament. There are a total of 5 or 6 casino hosts onboard including the head casino host from Miami for HAL getting everything ready for the tournament.

As an FYI the casino is now open at Half Moon Cay. 

[oaktreerb]

After seeing the bank of 10 slots added outside the specialty dining area last week I was calling the Koningsdam the “Casino of the Seas”.

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, oaktreerb said:

After seeing the bank of 10 slots added outside the specialty dining area last week I was calling the Koningsdam the “Casino of the Seas”.

 

Well, there has never been a "Casinodam" in the fleet.  Some of us were surprised when the good ships Eurodam and Koningsdam received their names with so many historic HAL ship names from which to choose. 

 

Why the HAL marketing for gamblers?  Oh, income from these people, I realize.  These good folks ought to book a Carnival Cruise Line ship.  Such an excessive ambiance of gambling does not belong on a ship of Holland America Line.  

Edited November 16, 2021 by rkacruiser

[cruise1949]

I hope this is not It part of the TA in April. How could I find out if groups of this nature are going to be on sailings? 

[oakridger]

3 hours ago, cruise1949 said:

I hope this is not It part of the TA in April. How could I find out if groups of this nature are going to be on sailings? 

 

Check this link:   

 

 

 

[Laminator]

6 hours ago, cruise1949 said:

I hope this is not It part of the TA in April. How could I find out if groups of this nature are going to be on sailings? 

Up to this point they have never held a major tournament on a TA. If you were not familiar with how HAL runs these events you would have no clue there were 150 Club 21 pax on this cruise. The tournament on Dec 1st will be quite a bit more obvious. I am quite sure HAL knows who is buttering their bread if they are offering these folks discounted and or free cabins.

[Florida_gal_50]

6 hours ago, Laminator said:

Up to this point they have never held a major tournament on a TA. If you were not familiar with how HAL runs these events you would have no clue there were 150 Club 21 pax on this cruise. The tournament on Dec 1st will be quite a bit more obvious. I am quite sure HAL knows who is buttering their bread if they are offering these folks discounted and or free cabins.

It doesn’t bother me about these slots and I’ve said so.  Can you please explain how hal is making money on this?  I’m being serious, do they get some kind of a cut?  I assume this players club is separate from hal I just don’t understand how hal profits so much from this.  Thanks.

[taxmantoo]

8 hours ago, Laminator said:

 I am quite sure HAL knows who is buttering their bread if they are offering these folks discounted and or free cabins.

One week out of 52 on one ship out of 11 is certainly not a whole lot of butter! I'd call that a pat of butter.  😏

[Laminator]

1 hour ago, taxmantoo said:

One week out of 52 on one ship out of 11 is certainly not a whole lot of butter! I'd call that a pat of butter.  😏

It's more than one week a year....many....I am sure you have seen the posts in here of casino offers where there are 5 pages of cruises to choose from. There are probably at least a half dozen major events per year. 

I think it would be very difficult for a ship to have a casino that actually loses money with a captive audience. 

[Laminator]

5 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

It doesn’t bother me about these slots and I’ve said so.  Can you please explain how hal is making money on this?  I’m being serious, do they get some kind of a cut?  I assume this players club is separate from hal I just don’t understand how hal profits so much from this.  Thanks.

It's all under the carnival umbrella. Some things they do make absolutely no sense to me. I get an offer for a free Neptune Suite and a significant amount of casino cash. My wife will also receive an offer for either a free Neptune Suite or a free signature Suite and casino cash. We wind up bringing friends. They are thrilled.. So the way I look at it is if l lose $9000 I am even as that is what i would pay for the Suite. All of the drinks in the casino are included so that is another $100 a night in savings. I think of it as all accounting methods. They probably write off the rack rate for the suite. The drinks which are $11 and up for the most part cost them a buck or two. More write offs. Like watching the Price is Right where that 5 day trip is valued at $7000 when we all know we can find it for half that price.

They have offered these deals for years so I highly doubt it is a losing venture as I am sure heads would have rolled

I am sure HAL knows they need to change their demographic. I think these casino promotions will start being more geared to those with more disposable income. I know they are investing a huge amount of money upgrading their technology in the casinos over all of their brands.

As you have seen some people rail against these casino promotions. You can't make everyone happy.

[Florida_gal_50]

9 minutes ago, Laminator said:

It's all under the carnival umbrella. Some things they do make absolutely no sense to me. I get an offer for a free Neptune Suite and a significant amount of casino cash. My wife will also receive an offer for either a free Neptune Suite or a free signature Suite and casino cash. We wind up bringing friends. They are thrilled.. So the way I look at it is if l lose $9000 I am even as that is what i would pay for the Suite. All of the drinks in the casino are included so that is another $100 a night in savings. I think of it as all accounting methods. They probably write off the rack rate for the suite. The drinks which are $11 and up for the most part cost them a buck or two. More write offs. Like watching the Price is Right where that 5 day trip is valued at $7000 when we all know we can find it for half that price.

They have offered these deals for years so I highly doubt it is a losing venture as I am sure heads would have rolled

I am sure HAL knows they need to change their demographic. I think these casino promotions will start being more geared to those with more disposable income. I know they are investing a huge amount of money upgrading their technology in the casinos over all of their brands.

As you have seen some people rail against these casino promotions. You can't make everyone happy.

I just wondered if the club 21 is  independent and how hal gets its pound of flesh.  There has to be something in it for them that's for sure.  Thank you for the information.

[SilvertoGold]

OP:  thanks for posting this thread.  Good info and a bit of a relief to know what is going on with those slots in the Ocean Bar.  

[Laminator]

24 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I just wondered if the club 21 is  independent and how hal gets its pound of flesh.  There has to be something in it for them that's for sure.  Thank you for the information.

Each brand has their own name for their casino group per se. HAL'S name is Club 21. I am sure others here can help with the names from the other brands.

[tompeter]

54 minutes ago, Laminator said:

It's all under the carnival umbrella. Some things they do make absolutely no sense to me. I get an offer for a free Neptune Suite and a significant amount of casino cash. My wife will also receive an offer for either a free Neptune Suite or a free signature Suite and casino cash. We wind up bringing friends. They are thrilled.. So the way I look at it is if l lose $9000 I am even as that is what i would pay for the Suite. All of the drinks in the casino are included so that is another $100 a night in savings. I think of it as all accounting methods. They probably write off the rack rate for the suite. The drinks which are $11 and up for the most part cost them a buck or two. More write offs. Like watching the Price is Right where that 5 day trip is valued at $7000 when we all know we can find it for half that price.

They have offered these deals for years so I highly doubt it is a losing venture as I am sure heads would have rolled

I am sure HAL knows they need to change their demographic. I think these casino promotions will start being more geared to those with more disposable income. I know they are investing a huge amount of money upgrading their technology in the casinos over all of their brands.

As you have seen some people rail against these casino promotions. You can't make everyone happy.

Quick question, are you able to get your free casino drinks while playing in the Ocean Bar area or is it just while playing in actual casino? We will be on next week and trying to get an idea for my family members....Thanks!

[Laminator]

1 minute ago, tompeter said:

Quick question, are you able to get your free casino drinks while playing in the Ocean Bar area or is it just while playing in actual casino? We will be on next week and trying to get an idea for my family members....Thanks!

I have yet to play in the Ocean Bar but I am absolutely certain you can. If you qualify for free drinks in the casino you should get free drinks in the Ocean Bar. I will verify tonight.

[tompeter]

2 minutes ago, Laminator said:

I have yet to play in the Ocean Bar but I am absolutely certain you can. If you qualify for free drinks in the casino you should get free drinks in the Ocean Bar. I will verify tonight.

Thanks for the help!

[Mr. Dog]

1 hour ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I just wondered if the club 21 is  independent and how hal gets its pound of flesh.  There has to be something in it for them that's for sure.  Thank you for the information.

 

HAL gets a cut on Club 21.  I’m not sure of the cut but they definitely make money on the casino.  That’s why there are casino offers and discounts 😉 

[boatbob]

Seth said that the slot machines would be in Ocean Bar for only a few cruises in Nov. & early Dec.

[si4444]

Anyone booked on the Dec 19 statendam vip cruise from fort. Lauderdale ?

 

Scott 

 

 

[kazu]

10 minutes ago, si4444 said:

Anyone booked on the Dec 19 statendam vip cruise from fort. Lauderdale ?

 

Scott 

 

 

 

There are indeed - go visit your roll call where you will find others that are on this cruise - https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2768786-december-19-2021-eastern-caribbean/