Ever heard of this?

[Liao]

2 minutes ago, hcat said:

On average, if anyone knows, what per cent of cabins per cruise are comped or discounted for gamblers?

Are these prime cabins, like the suite nentioned here or " leftovers" if bookings are slow for cettain ships/ itins?

 

  Do these deals bring alot of revenue to Celebrity?  if gambling alot..it would seem less spent on excursions, dining, shops, spa etc???

But when the ship is in port…

[PTC DAWG]

Only a couple have said it, it has nothing to do with how much you lose..it’s how much you play…I play craps almost exclusively, house advantage on the bets I make are very low.  The house knows exactly how much they stand to make based on what you are risking..

 

average bet times hours played then house advantage applied equals house winnings over time..that shows them your worth. Hence different comp offers.  
 

Free balcony is my best offer so far..

[Cruisegirl6]

Yes, it happened to us but they gave us the certificate in our cabin past 8pm the last evening (this past Saturday on the Beyond) and it had a code with a bunch of sailings that goes till march 2025.  We noticed we received aqua class as usual but it said if we book on the ship FutureCruise we be upgraded to a sky suite only future cruise was closed that evening.  I called yesterday and explained future cruise was closed when we received our certificate on the last evening and well we lost out.  But, I won over 10k jackpot and will just keep the money and not give it back since they won't honor the sky suite upgrade.  It was not our fault that we received the certificate late when future cruise was already closed.

 

She accumulated points to receive that offer and yes, she had to spend quite a bit of money unless she won a jackpot.

[phoenix_dream]

After reading this thread all I can say is wow!  It amazes me how much $$ people are willing to spend to gamble on the ship, where the odds generally are horrendous compared to land casinos.  As has been said, there is no "free" cabin of any sort.  You are definitely paying for it.  That said, if I could gamble $10,000 or so and know for sure I would be offered a Sky suite I would go for it as booking one outright definitely costs more than that (assuming the offer is for a couple - not clear on that point)

[kwokpot]

12 hours ago, phoenix_dream said:

After reading this thread all I can say is wow!  It amazes me how much $$ people are willing to spend to gamble on the ship, where the odds generally are horrendous compared to land casinos.  As has been said, there is no "free" cabin of any sort.  You are definitely paying for it.  That said, if I could gamble $10,000 or so and know for sure I would be offered a Sky suite I would go for it as booking one outright definitely costs more than that (assuming the offer is for a couple - not clear on that point)

Yes, all cruise comped offers from every cruiseline are for double occupancy.

Edited May 7 by kwokpot

[jelayne]

7 hours ago, hcat said:

 

  Do these deals bring alot of revenue to Celebrity?  if gambling alot..it would seem less spent on excursions, dining, shops, spa etc???

 

We have a number friends who gamble frequently and with a fair amount played on cruises.  Most times cruises are casino comped.  They do specialty restaurants, get massages, mani/pedi and buy wines by the bottle but no ship excursions.  The cruise line loves them because they are spending in the high profit areas.

[paulh84]

1 hour ago, phoenix_dream said:

After reading this thread all I can say is wow!  It amazes me how much $$ people are willing to spend to gamble on the ship, where the odds generally are horrendous compared to land casinos.  As has been said, there is no "free" cabin of any sort.  You are definitely paying for it.  That said, if I could gamble $10,000 or so and know for sure I would be offered a Sky suite I would go for it as booking one outright definitely costs more than that (assuming the offer is for a couple - not clear on that point)

People do give away a huge amount of money in the casino, but as already mentioned, there are many who are tactical in their play. Our friends are not big gamblers but will generally spend $4000-$5000 in the casino knowing that they will get comped cruise(s) out of it. they may win some but ultimately they would spend that same amount on another future cruise anyway. As someone myself who isn’t a casino person, there is a really good YouTube video a lady did that explains what to do and what to play in very simple terms. 

[kwokpot]

21 hours ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

Nice job to your DH...or did you get the big wins?

So my husband is the gambler,so the $1,500 Freeplay was all his. I helped him play it out but more importantly helped him KEEP IT by frequently cashing out the wins every so often and holding onto the tickets. What was great about the winnings was none of them were 'jackpots' $1,200 and over so we never got a W-2G for any of the $1,800.

The biggest win was probably $300 so the $1,800 was earned through slow and incremental cashing out of small wins over the course of two hours. 

Edited May 7 by kwokpot

[Lastdance]

Actually, I have yet to gamble in the casino, but do know a few who have received “free cruises,” no emphasis on free.  However, I definitely do need to get in there and see what’s going on and pick up a few pointers.  Furthermore, I a mesmerized by wheels and not getting any younger, as I write this.

 

Well, I got a "free suite" by selling shares of RCL stock.  Having a few hundred and selling some, along with keeping some worked for me!  I am sure that many of you have done that too. 🤷‍♀️

 

I just do not want a free Caribbean cruise, but any place in Europe is fine!  Celebrity, are you listening?  Oh and hold the butter!

Edited May 7 by Lastdance

[Tyler414]

Kinda like the folks who say they won $1000 on a machine, but forget to mention they put $5000 into it for it to spit out $1000 😂

[billc23]

1 hour ago, kwokpot said:

So my husband is the gambler,so the $1,500 Freeplay was all his. I helped him play it out but more importantly helped him KEEP IT by frequently cashing out the wins every so often and holding onto the tickets. What was great about the winnings was none of them were 'jackpots' $1,200 and over so we never got a W-2G for any of the $1,800.

The biggest win was probably $300 so the $1,800 was earned through slow and incremental cashing out of small wins over the course of two hours. 

If you do not receive a W-2G do you need/required to pay taxes on net winnings? Asking for a friend...

[kwokpot]

12 hours ago, billc23 said:

If you do not receive a W-2G do you need/required to pay taxes on net winnings? Asking for a friend...

Technically yes,in practice,no. Technically if you win $20 on a lottery scratch off you should pay taxes. How many people REALLY DO?😉

[George C]

I have only been offered a free inside cabin , we sail in suites. Another couple we are friends with have had free cruises and gets free drinks in the casino.

[Jim_Iain]

Yikes ... I feel cheated.   The Casino called and said they were sending and offer to our room.   It ended out being $100 off a number of select cruises -  Caribbean  only.    No thanks.

 

OK... I'm not a big gambler.

[kwokpot]

One of the mailings we receive. 

[PTC DAWG]

12 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

Yikes ... I feel cheated.   The Casino called and said they were sending and offer to our room.   It ended out being $100 off a number of select cruises -  Caribbean  only.    No thanks.

 

OK... I'm not a big gambler.

Unfortunately, those offers are getting more common,,

Edited May 8 by PTC DAWG

[SbbquilterUT]

On 5/7/2024 at 5:49 AM, Travelling2Some said:

Hah!  I don't gamble, buy drink packages or take ship-sponsored excursions.  To add insult to injury, I book inside cabins and watch for price drops.  I'm surprised they don't put me on some kind of a list of unprofitable passengers and hang up on me when I call to book!!!

Yep - DH and I are Elite and are waiting for the day they see our on board spend is microscopic and make our cabin rate higher. 

[phoenix_dream]

21 hours ago, paulh84 said:

People do give away a huge amount of money in the casino, but as already mentioned, there are many who are tactical in their play. Our friends are not big gamblers but will generally spend $4000-$5000 in the casino knowing that they will get comped cruise(s) out of it. they may win some but ultimately they would spend that same amount on another future cruise anyway. As someone myself who isn’t a casino person, there is a really good YouTube video a lady did that explains what to do and what to play in very simple terms. 

Curious - do they always get comped cruises if they spend that much?  And what type of cabin - inside, balcony, suite?  

[paulh84]

1 hour ago, phoenix_dream said:

Curious - do they always get comped cruises if they spend that much?  And what type of cabin - inside, balcony, suite?  

 

I know they rarely paid or they were comped an inside/OV and had decent luck paying cash for an upgrade. The program has apparently changed since I have taken a cruise with them. 

 

25,000 Points Complimentary Future Cruise Offer - Sky Suite

15,000 Points Complimentary Future Cruise Offer - AquaClass

9,000 Points Complimentary Future Cruise Offer - Concierge Class

6,500 Points Complimentary Future Cruise Offer - Veranda Stateroom (additional itineraries)

4,000 Points  Complimentary Future Cruise Offer - Veranda Stateroom

3,000 Points Complimentary Future Cruise Offer - Oceanview Stateroom 2,000 Points Complimentary Future Cruise Offer - Interior Stateroom (additional itineraries)

1,500 Points  Complimentary Future Cruise Offer - Interior Stateroom

1,200 Points $300 Off Next Cruise

800 Points $250 Off Next Cruise

600 Points $200 Off Next Cruise

400 Points $100 Off Next Cruise
 

On a slot machine $1 played is 5 points. 

 

This video explains it and the recent changes. There are some older ones but they are not up to date with the program changes.

https://youtu.be/6VVU6wTbBqg?si=Yx2-lg67hZKOV5xY

 

Edited May 8 by paulh84

[abbydancer2003]

On 5/6/2024 at 8:12 PM, kwokpot said:

https://urcomped.com/blog/details/3452347/celebritys-blue-chip-club-announces-onboard-certificate-program

Can I hijack this for a question?  I looked at the points and I've been Pearl forever.  I gambled about 2000.00 in OBC on a recent cruise, and got from Blue Chip - nada.  Is that because to advance to Onyx I'd have to spend real money?  And to get an offer it has to be real money (if so, that's OK with me, just want to know).  Note:  I've probably spent over 4K of OBC in the last two years, but it's all from OBC, except 340.00 from a slot pull.

[kwokpot]

3 hours ago, abbydancer2003 said:

Can I hijack this for a question?  I looked at the points and I've been Pearl forever.  I gambled about 2000.00 in OBC on a recent cruise, and got from Blue Chip - nada.  Is that because to advance to Onyx I'd have to spend real money?  And to get an offer it has to be real money (if so, that's OK with me, just want to know).  Note:  I've probably spent over 4K of OBC in the last two years, but it's all from OBC, except 340.00 from a slot pull.

Hmmm. You should be earning tier points on funds charged to your onboard account even though it's going against OBC.  You don't earn tier points on casino provided  Freeplay. You can call BCC and find out how many tier points you earned on your previous sailings. Are you tapping and/or using your room card when you play the slots?

Edited May 9 by kwokpot

[abbydancer2003]

30 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Hmmm. You should be earning tier points on funds charged to your onboard account even though it's going against OBC.  You don't earn tier points on casino provided  Freeplay. You can call BCC and find out how many tier points you earned on your previous sailings. Are you tapping and/or using your room card when you play the slots?

Well, go figure.  We're doing Beyond in June and checkin opened about an hour ago (9pm in California).  I just looked at my boarding pass, and I'm Onyx.  Literally, just happened.

 

And other than one slot pull, I use the card.