Royal Casino - Prime

[The Scurvy Pirate]

53 minutes ago, little britain said:

At $5 per point assuming you hit a run of back luck your potential outlay cost for “free” drinks is $4960… isn’t it cheaper to PAYG?!? 🤷‍♀️

 

I also don’t understand potentially laying down $12500 to get a “free” cruise?!  Where do you draw the line and stop 🎰?

The chances of losing 992 times in a row on a slot machine are 0.00%.  There is a guaranteed payout of some percent on the slot machines (I want to say above 95% or maybe higher).  My wife got to prime and we had won $300 net for the cruise.  So, we had hours of fun, she gets free drinks from the casino through next March, we get multiple "free" cruise offers a month, and won $300.  We set daily limits on how much we will risk and stick to them.  Sometimes the real proplem is knowing when to quit when you are ahead (just one more spin...).  There have been times when we lost our daily limits for several days in a row, but that's all part of the game.

[bouhunter]

1 hour ago, little britain said:

At $5 per point assuming you hit a run of back luck your potential outlay cost for “free” drinks is $4960… isn’t it cheaper to PAYG?!? 🤷‍♀️

 

I also don’t understand potentially laying down $12500 to get a “free” cruise?!  Where do you draw the line and stop 🎰?

Correct it doesn't make sense to gamble just to get a free cruise.  Most people are there simply because they like to gamble and can afford it (hopefully).  We've pretty much broken even the past year, and will be going on 5 comped cruises in the next 8 months.  The perks are nice 🙂

 

[maketime4cruisin]

1 hour ago, watcher_62 said:

Does anyone know if Casino Royale offers (the QR scanning codes) are available online? Looking to see the offers for July...Thanks in advance.

just go to club royale offers .com and you will see what offers you have available 

[mil76]

13 minutes ago, bouhunter said:

Correct it doesn't make sense to gamble just to get a free cruise.  Most people are there simply because they like to gamble and can afford it (hopefully).  We've pretty much broken even the past year, and will be going on 5 comped cruises in the next 8 months.  The perks are nice 🙂

 

As the non-gambler in the equation, my goal is always to get a comp cruise out of it, and not lose more than that cruise would have cost.  Anything above that is gravy.  19 days on Anthem put that to the test big-time, but we got 4 more cruises out of it including our next bucket-list cruise (New Zealand).  I'd rather the DW do that than go to one of the Colorado gaming towns and come back with nothing but a hole in the wallet.

 

[watcher_62]

2 hours ago, maketime4cruisin said:

just go to club royale offers .com and you will see what offers you have available 

The info I am looking for isn't connected to my current offers. The offers in my online have their own sailings, specific to each.  I'm looking for the spreadsheet that lists all sailing offered for certificate point levels earned on a July sailing.   

[maketime4cruisin]

10 minutes ago, watcher_62 said:

The info I am looking for isn't connected to my current offers. The offers in my online have their own sailings, specific to each.  I'm looking for the spreadsheet that lists all sailing offered for certificate point levels earned on a July sailing.   

i have never heard of anything like that before. the only time i have seen anything like that was when i made prime. that had a list of cruises for like a year straight. If you are looking for something specific some of the offers that you have should have a trade in value that you can use for the sailing you are looking for. Best of luck! 

[bucfan2]

28 minutes ago, watcher_62 said:

The info I am looking for isn't connected to my current offers. The offers in my online have their own sailings, specific to each.  I'm looking for the spreadsheet that lists all sailing offered for certificate point levels earned on a July sailing.   

If ya get on the rccl casino fb page(s) (a search will yield a couple), the details on various code look-ups/etc are all there. 

[bouhunter]

3 hours ago, mil76 said:

  I'd rather the DW do that than go to one of the Colorado gaming towns and come back with nothing but a hole in the wallet.

 

Yeah, our local casino in Michigan might offer a 30.00 food discount if one is lucky 🙂

 

[SplashOfWater]

43 minutes ago, watcher_62 said:

The info I am looking for isn't connected to my current offers. The offers in my online have their own sailings, specific to each.  I'm looking for the spreadsheet that lists all sailing offered for certificate point levels earned on a July sailing.   

The list for July if you are on a 6+ night sailing is:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/casino/offers/2407C.pdf

 

The list for July if you are on a 3-5 night sailing is:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/casino/offers/2407A.pdf

 

You can see from the PDF name that the first four digits are the YYMM. The letter at the end designates whether the lists apply to instant rewards earned on a 6+ night ("C") cruise or a 3-5 night ("A") cruise. 

[PhillyFan33579]

5 hours ago, little britain said:

At $5 per point assuming you hit a run of back luck your potential outlay cost for “free” drinks is $4960… isn’t it cheaper to PAYG?!? 🤷‍♀️

 

I also don’t understand potentially laying down $12500 to get a “free” cruise?!  Where do you draw the line and stop 🎰?

I guarantee no one is laying down $12,500 playing slot machines. You need to wager $12,500, which is not the same as putting $12,500 at risk. For example, I always put $500 into a slot machine the first day/night of a cruise. I have had many cruises where that $500 lasted the entire cruise, so for most of the cruise I was gambling with the casino’s money. On the other hand, I have had many cruises where I lost $500 in 45 minutes or less. 

[BirdTravels]

5 hours ago, bouhunter said:

Correct it doesn't make sense to gamble just to get a free cruise.  Most people are there simply because they like to gamble and can afford it (hopefully).  We've pretty much broken even the past year, and will be going on 5 comped cruises in the next 8 months.  The perks are nice 🙂

 

Pre pandemic, up to 25% of the adult passengers on a ship were guests of the casino. Sailing on comped cruises, discounted cruises, land based certificates, land based discounts. Every 4th door as you walk down the hall to your room. So, yes, people gamble.
 

It is less post pandemic. 

Edited July 12 by BirdTravels

[watcher_62]

2 hours ago, SplashOfWater said:

The list for July if you are on a 6+ night sailing is:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/casino/offers/2407C.pdf

 

The list for July if you are on a 3-5 night sailing is:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/casino/offers/2407A.pdf

 

You can see from the PDF name that the first four digits are the YYMM. The letter at the end designates whether the lists apply to instant rewards earned on a 6+ night ("C") cruise or a 3-5 night ("A") cruise. 

Awesome - thank you!

[nelblu]

On 7/10/2024 at 7:39 PM, Biker19 said:

$5 wagered in the slots and similar in other games. 

$10 for the poker slots.  

 

Table games have a different earnings scheme-- $10 average wager on Blackjack for an hour equals 10 points.  Not sure about Craps.

[Sunshine3601]

7 hours ago, watcher_62 said:

The info I am looking for isn't connected to my current offers. The offers in my online have their own sailings, specific to each.  I'm looking for the spreadsheet that lists all sailing offered for certificate point levels earned on a July sailing.   

I know what you are asking, they post the QR codes for various points near the casino host or wall near cashier.  

Maybe someone on a current cruise has downloaded the lists.

Might want to ask on casino thread.

Edited July 13 by Sunshine3601

[Sunshine3601]

2 hours ago, nelblu said:

$10 for the poker slots.  

 

Table games have a different earnings scheme-- $10 average wager on Blackjack for an hour equals 10 points.  Not sure about Craps.

Definitely earn points quicker on slots.

[PhillyFan33579]

4 hours ago, Sunshine3601 said:

Definitely earn points quicker on slots.

I would much rather play blackjack, but I pretty much stick to playing slots because it is so much easier to earn points. 

[DallasGuy75219]

19 hours ago, The Scurvy Pirate said:

There is a guaranteed payout of some percent on the slot machines (I want to say above 95% or maybe higher).

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Absolutely no way the average slot payback in any cruise casino is 95% or more.

[Sunshine3601]

7 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

I would much rather play blackjack, but I pretty much stick to playing slots because it is so much easier to earn points. 

Same here

[twangster]

23 hours ago, little britain said:

At $5 per point assuming you hit a run of back luck your potential outlay cost for “free” drinks is $4960… isn’t it cheaper to PAYG?!? 🤷‍♀️

 

I also don’t understand potentially laying down $12500 to get a “free” cruise?!  Where do you draw the line and stop 🎰?

 

The $12,500 figure would be required if no spin ever won.  You would need to be massively unlucky to spin that many times and never once get a single hit.

 

For example one time I charged $300 to my room.  Not long after I hit a ~ $900 win.  I still had over $200 from my original $300 available.  So now I'm staring at something like $1,137 in the machine.   

 

If I cash out I am up $837.  I chose to continue playing because I wanted to make Prime.  I played that $900 for points not using any new money until all that was gone.  At that point I was around 950 points.  I wanted to reach 1200 points for the 1200 point level free cruise so it took me another ~$200 in new money to get there. 

 

I ended up with something like 1237 points.  That earned me a free instant reward cruise.  So far my run to Prime cost me just over $500.  The free cruise I booked was 6 nights on Adventure in an interior.  At the time that was a $1,300 cruise.  

 

On my next cruise I wasn't as lucky.  I completed my Prime run, earned a 1500 instant reward free cruise with around ~$1,100 more invested in the casino program.  I booked a 3 night on Allure in a balcony that was at the time something like a $1,500 cruise.

 

So at this point I have spent around $1,600, have earned Prime and two free cruises.  Come April they hand out the annual Prime free cruise which I used for a 7 night Wonder cruise.  That was an interior that I spent ~$600 to upgrade to a balcony through the casino department which at the time was around a $3,000 cruise.

 

I chose to split my Prime run over two cruises to get two free instant rewards cruises plus the annual Prime free cruise.  

 

In summary for ~ $1,600 I earned Prime with free drinks in the casino for the rest of that year and all of the following year and I booked three cruises which cost me port fees, taxes and a balcony upgrade.  Those three cruises would have cost $5,800 to book on the website as a solo Pinnacle.

 

I have been lucky.  The $1,600 Prime cost is probably below what most folks invest.  The following years will not always be so lucky.  Consequently my average to maintain Prime will likely go up.  However if I continue to spread my gambling across multiple cruises I will continue to earn multiple free instant reward cruises as well as the annual Prime free cruise.

 

In 2019 it wasn't that hard to find balcony deals on short Florida sailings for $200-$300.  Back in those days the Prime math was different.   Those days are over.  With the high cost of cruising in modern times the Prime math works for me.

 

I room charge and let my gambling be charged to my credit card.  This nets me 2% cash back through my credit card.  I pay off my card monthly so I am not financing my gambling, it floats on my credit card for a month with no cost to me.  Sure that $1,600 only netted me $32 in cash back rewards but $32 is $32 and it costs me nothing.  

 

Gambling will never be profitable or revenue positive on it's own.  For someone who loves to cruise and since I live in Florida it's a means to be reduce the cost to cruise.  Free drinks at the casino bar is actually a pretty great perk too.  This have proven to be more valuable than I originally thought.

 

Another item to be aware is that the low level instant rewards are mostly interior or oceanview.  I am okay with that for a free cruise.  If you must have a balcony or suite the math is different.   Instant rewards are better when earned on a short cruise, you can view the list at the URLs already posted above.

[little britain]

@twangster thanks so much for clear explanation of how you did it.. and most importantly how much $$ you had to invest! 
 

The lack of cruises from England would be an additional factor, as the flight/hotel costs etc would need to be added which would be a minimum of $1000! I checked the list for 1200 … not a single European one 😕

[nelblu]

50 minutes ago, twangster said:

Another item to be aware is that the low level instant rewards are mostly interior or oceanview.  I am okay with that for a free cruise.  If you must have a balcony or suite the math is different.   Instant rewards are better when earned on a short cruise, you can view the list at the URLs already posted above.

You also get discounted upgrades.  For instance, I was able to convert 2 offers on Utopia a 3 and a 4 niter.  Got the interior room free for myself and paid a minimal amount for the 2nd Pax (my son).  Went back a few weeks later and asked the Casino desk what it would cost me to upgrade to a balcony cabin and he told me $67 and $103 respectively.  In essence the entire 7 nights cost me less than $1K (excl. T&F).  Conversely, the airfare was more than the cruise fare.🤪

 

Ps.  What I find unusual is that the T&F for the 3 niter is higher than the 4 niter.

 

Also, keep in mind of the other Casino benefits of drinks and discounted Zoom.

[maketime4cruisin]

19 hours ago, SplashOfWater said:

The list for July if you are on a 6+ night sailing is:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/casino/offers/2407C.pdf

 

The list for July if you are on a 3-5 night sailing is:

https://www.royalcaribbean.com/content/dam/royal/resources/pdf/casino/offers/2407A.pdf

 

You can see from the PDF name that the first four digits are the YYMM. The letter at the end designates whether the lists apply to instant rewards earned on a 6+ night ("C") cruise or a 3-5 night ("A") cruise. 

i called trying to use these offer codes and they wouldn't as it wasn't on my account directly

[SplashOfWater]

13 minutes ago, maketime4cruisin said:

i called trying to use these offer codes and they wouldn't as it wasn't on my account directly

That is correct. You have to earn one of these offers on a July cruise before your can book one of the listed cruises.

[maketime4cruisin]

2 minutes ago, SplashOfWater said:

That is correct. You have to earn one of these offers on a July cruise before your can book one of the listed cruises.

Ah ok. i have a cruise in august so when i get off i can use one of the offers on the ship for the month of august?

[SplashOfWater]

2 minutes ago, maketime4cruisin said:

Ah ok. i have a cruise in august so when i get off i can use one of the offers on the ship for the month of august?

Yes, based on the points you earn on that cruise .