How many points in casino needed for free cruise offers?

[RoyalC]

Got an offer and sailing next month on a 16 day cruise as a result (because of Caesar's status being Diamond).

In order to get another offer (free cruise/pay taxes type) sometime after the cruise, how many points should I rack up generally speaking?

 

[Elaine5715]

1 hour ago, RoyalC said:

Got an offer and sailing next month on a 16 day cruise as a result (because of Caesar's status being Diamond).

In order to get another offer (free cruise/pay taxes type) sometime after the cruise, how many points should I rack up generally speaking?

 

Other than the bounce back offers that may be extended to the top players, future offers aren't based on points.  Best guess to be in the top points on a 7 day cruise, it would be about 30,000 points.  On a 16 days...twice that.  

However, if you are using the same email/contact information for your Caesar's and Carnival's account, the bots will find you.  Your Caesar's status is much more interesting to the casino marketing bots than your onboard play alone.  

[MRVEGAS711]

You'll want to start with a casino bankroll of at least $2000 to be in consideration for "free" offers.

[RoyalC]

Thank you both for your replies 

[audcc77]

I usually have about 2-3000 points in a 5-7 day cruise.  I have lots a free interiors with drinks in casino for me and companion with some free play$. I don’t spend anywhere near $2k. For the last 2-3 years I’ve been sailing free interiors. I have no clue why. I have 4 more pending. I think I usually gamble $700-ish.  My companions and DH don’t gamble much or drink. 
 

My last cruise for 6-days was a week ago.  I was doing well in the casino on the slots  and while I spent $200 of free play and $300 of my money, I racked up 7,000 points 😳 which was huge for me. I ended up with $1,400 in winnings.   
 

I’ve spent less and won less and ended up with a free room envelope on my door on debark morning.  
 

I’m hoping because of my higher than usual points, I might get better offers.  I thought that was the whole purpose of having the points.  
 

Does anyone have a guess if/when one receives additional offers after returning home?  I’ve already received the standard play, repeat offer which was worthless. 

[kdr69]

dont i wish i had an understanding of the algorithm they use to determine that. I gamble maybe 1000 each cruise and i cruise once a year sometimes twice and have a lot of free interior room offers although 95% are to Australia.

[KKB]

Wish I knew.

Got our 1st free one via FB--ad saying if I sent my casino card I might get a free cruise.  (it was a broad offer...3-14 days, AK, Europe, Caribbean, MX, Hawaii) Interior, drinks free in casino.

Did 2 weeks in Hawaii in January--our 1st Carnival cruise.

 

Offers have been a bit less, but a number of $100 offerings.

Blew it & didn't book 30 day Sydney-Japan-Alaska cruise for that price.

 

Earned about 2K in 8 days & 4K in 12 days last month. That was about a $2K bankroll combined.

Offers have all but dried up. (we only look at 8+ days--suggestion of Carnival crew)

 

Obviously mine is a very limited experience.

 

 

Edited March 12 by KKB

[sparks1093]

I don't gamble a lot, I'll throw $20 to $100 in a slot machine once a cruise. The number of points that I get from that is really low. My conclusion is that it takes both time and money to get to the number of points necessary to receive anything significant in return. I don't want to spend a significant amount of either resource in the casino because there is too much other stuff to do. 

[audcc77]

34 minutes ago, kdr69 said:

dont i wish i had an understanding of the algorithm they use to determine that. I gamble maybe 1000 each cruise and i cruise once a year sometimes twice and have a lot of free interior room offers although 95% are to Australia.

$1000 or 1000 points?  On slots?

 

[kdr69]

17 minutes ago, audcc77 said:

$1000 or 1000 points?  On slots?

 

1000 dollars i play poker

[mz-s]

Carnival does not have a published schedule of comps, other than I think 1500 points gets you drinks on us while playing for the remainder of the cruise. The rest of their comps - free steakhouse dinner, free cruise offers, etc., are not given out at a set number of points.

[audcc77]

11 minutes ago, kdr69 said:

1000 dollars i play poker

Oh.  The tables scare me.  I cannot count.  I have the math version of dyslexia.  Maybe I’m spending more than I think I am.😂
 

I just do slots, so maybe that’s why I get free cruises. 
They are interiors or ocean views, but better than nothing.  

[Elaine5715]

2 hours ago, audcc77 said:

I usually have about 2-3000 points in a 5-7 day cruise.  I have lots a free interiors with drinks in casino for me and companion with some free play$. I don’t spend anywhere near $2k. For the last 2-3 years I’ve been sailing free interiors. I have no clue why. I have 4 more pending. I think I usually gamble $700-ish.  My companions and DH don’t gamble much or drink. 
 

My last cruise for 6-days was a week ago.  I was doing well in the casino on the slots  and while I spent $200 of free play and $300 of my money, I racked up 7,000 points 😳 which was huge for me. I ended up with $1,400 in winnings.   
 

I’ve spent less and won less and ended up with a free room envelope on my door on debark morning.  
 

I’m hoping because of my higher than usual points, I might get better offers.  I thought that was the whole purpose of having the points.  
 

Does anyone have a guess if/when one receives additional offers after returning home?  I’ve already received the standard play, repeat offer which was worthless. 

Points aren't relevant to future offers.  New ones come out to those targeted when the current ones expire.  

[Elaine5715]

1 hour ago, kdr69 said:

dont i wish i had an understanding of the algorithm they use to determine that. I gamble maybe 1000 each cruise and i cruise once a year sometimes twice and have a lot of free interior room offers although 95% are to Australia.

It is right in their fine print.  

[audcc77]

3 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

Points aren't relevant to future offers.  New ones come out to those targeted when the current ones expire.  

I’m not sure I agree with this.  
 

There has to be something which triggers people to begin to get free cruises at some point in time. I would think that it would be points.  
 

Time will tell.  
 

I already have lots of free interiors and ocean view offers on many itineraries.  I’ve had these for months and they expire in May.  

 

If Carnival sends me anything substantially worthwhile within  the next few weeks due to my triple casino points from last cruise, then I’ll try to remember to report back.  

 

I’m praying for an Elite.🤞😎

[mz-s]

24 minutes ago, audcc77 said:

Oh.  The tables scare me.  I cannot count.  I have the math version of dyslexia.  Maybe I’m spending more than I think I am.😂
 

I just do slots, so maybe that’s why I get free cruises. 
They are interiors or ocean views, but better than nothing.  

 

In general casinos tend to give better comps to slot players. That seems to be true no matter if it's a cruise or land based casino.

[kdr69]

24 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

It is right in their fine print.  

so no need to gamble just give them your personal info? 

[mz-s]

1 hour ago, kdr69 said:

so no need to gamble just give them your personal info? 

 

They turn levers as needed to fill the ships. Recall that during COVID many folks got free cruises who had never set foot on a Carnival ship - or hadn't cruised Carnival in years and years.

 

While I am sure the casino does look at past play to determine future comps, it's only one aspect of their formula.

[jsglow]

2 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

In general casinos tend to give better comps to slot players. That seems to be true no matter if it's a cruise or land based casino.

That's because the house advantage on slots is much higher. Slot players literally built Vegas.

[Paelos]

So my experience is as follows. Last cruise I went on in Feb I gambled very little, probably about 700 total points, but that was enough to get a 40% offer and the Drinks on Us in the Casino. I didn't book it because there wasn't much value there and I didn't have the time off. I would also get a lot of last minute interiors for free, but those were also impossible due to no time off. After about 6 months those all fell off.

 

I'm going again in April and it's on a 4-3 B2B. My plan is to gamble a good bit on the 4 day since it has more time at sea, and it's during the week. My goal is to get to 1,000 points across a couple of days of play and hit that free drinks limit (we have $500 of OBC on each leg, so I'm just going to use that as my bankroll).

 

Also from a points perspective, tables get you nothing, it's not even worth your time. If you are serious about getting comps it's machines or nothing. That being said, trying to find the right combination of video poker play and slot play is my goal to get max points.

Edited March 12 by Paelos
additional info

[mz-s]

8 minutes ago, jsglow said:

That's because the house advantage on slots is much higher. Slot players literally built Vegas.

 

I thought the mob built Vegas 😜

[edrussell]

Our first and only sailing on Carnival thus far was a 7 day last Sept.  We were COMP'd on the sailing (interior room) via Carnival status match that my wife applied for.  So no play of any sort with Carnival before that sailing.  We gambled slightly above our usual pace, but nothing too crazy.  We had fewer sessions (exclusively slot players) but played at a higher spin (9 per spin) and did very well overall.  Came out ahead for the trip.  

 

Ended up with just shy of 4000 points.  There has been an avalanche of offers since.  A mix of interior, oceanview, balcony etc.  We are currently booked on 5 Carnival sailings into 2025!  Super pleased with the COMP value.

 

[audcc77]

4 minutes ago, edrussell said:

but played at a higher spin (9 per spin) and did very well overall.  Came out ahead for the trip.

Good for you!  
 

$9 a spin … That’s what this nice southern belle woman was doing next to me and she was doing VERY well.  She said she won $2,600 the prior evening. This was on the Sunshine.  
 

When I was up $500 on the machine, that’s when I decided to spin the $9 button and that’s when I eventually worked my way up to $1400 winnings. 
 

[edrussell]

8 minutes ago, audcc77 said:

Good for you!  
 

$9 a spin … That’s what this nice southern belle woman was doing next to me and she was doing VERY well.  She said she won $2,600 the prior evening. This was on the Sunshine.  
 

When I was up $500 on the machine, that’s when I decided to spin the $9 button and that’s when I eventually worked my way up to $1400 winnings. 
 

Full transparency that is above our normal range.  I took a chance on a hundo in a 777's machine and ran it down to 14, then all the way back up over 1000 in about 30 minutes.  Was a nice run for sure.

 

[StephPS79]

5 hours ago, audcc77 said:

I’m not sure I agree with this.  

 

There has to be something which triggers people to begin to get free cruises at some point in time. I would think that it would be points.

 

Not many people do.  By Elaine's theory, as other has have said, there would be no need to gamble.  Anyone with a nice open line of credit could drop a twenty in a machine, get 100 points, and expect an Elite offer to come flowing in.  Many of us have experience to tell us this just isn't true.  

 

Yes, I think we can agree that there are marketing demographics that play in to offers, but to think points have no impact on future offers is just silly, as we've all seem impact.

 

With that said, I think there are probably a lot more factors than just points, even on the bounce-back offers.  Just off a cruise, and I finished with 21K+ points, and my bounce-back offer was 50% off rates.  Terrible.  Everyone says that they give offers to the top whatever percent, but I did check in with other people in the social group, and people with significantly less points (like half) had offers for free rooms.  Most of those people did lose a lot.  My out of pocket was probably about $400 charged to the room in the casino, so I do think some of that info is reviewed, even for the bounce-back offers.  

 

Of course, as others have mentioned, no one really knows the answer, and there are many factors and variables, but that's just my last experience.