LIVE Labor Day on the Mardi Gras (8/31/24 - 9/8/24)

[canes20]

3 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

 

Okay. As a mostly non gambler who has actually tried but can’t get into it, I just want to ask because my mom was a slot player back in the day who did Vegas and local casinos and bus trips to Tunica. She was always getting comps and gifts. Just regular hotel rooms and buffets, nothing approaching high roller quality accommodation, but quite a lot of modest level comps nonetheless. 
 

I never understood the math. The house always holds the advantage, statistically, or else they wouldn’t have the funds for the comps. Or for the machines and tables and dealers and the real estate they all occupy. 
 

At 4k, I can simply buy the vacation I wanted anyway and then spend the vacation enjoying the, well, vacation. Sitting in the casino more than an hour actually feels like work to me. And when I lose my daily $100 gambling budget I am absolutely done for the day. And if I go the other way up to say $300, I actually cash out, put away the winnings, go back and gamble with the original budget only, and when I inevitably lose that, I don’t touch the $200 bounty from ten minutes ago. 
 

So economically what is the advantage to the hard core gambler that I am missing / missing out on?

[luvcruzing]

13 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

So economically what is the advantage to the hard core gambler that I am missing / missing out on?

Economically there is no advantage - it’s the dopamine that a gambler experiences during a big win or even just participating in their favorite activity.

[KmomChicago]

36 minutes ago, luvcruzing said:

Economically there is no advantage - it’s the dopamine that a gambler experiences during a big win or even just participating in their favorite activity.

I guess, simply doesn’t compute to my little stupid pea brain that does exactly the opposite, sends me unpleasant stress hormones, warns me this all makes no sense and directs me towards almost any other activity. 

[Knights on the Beach]

2 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

I guess, simply doesn’t compute to my little stupid pea brain that does exactly the opposite, sends me unpleasant stress hormones, warns me this all makes no sense and directs me towards almost any other activity. 

 

I understand what you're saying. We don't typically gamble beyond the $25 we used to get for being platinum and half the time we'd forget to even do that. Spending time in the casino while on a cruise has just never really appealed to us. We've tried it here and there but very sporadically and never more than a few minutes. So yeah, we've probably missed out on a lot of great casino offers over the years but we're perfectly content paying for our cruises (and Cheers/specialty dining) and knowing exactly what that amount will be. From reading this review (and others), it seems we're coming out ahead.

[luvcruzing]

 

23 minutes ago, KmomChicago said:

I guess, simply doesn’t compute to my little stupid pea brain that does exactly the opposite, sends me unpleasant stress hormones, warns me this all makes no sense and directs me towards almost any other activity. 

It’s the same dopamine that you most likely experience in your volunteer work with cats, which I can only assume Karma would not.

[Hogladyrider]

2 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

I guess, simply doesn’t compute to my little stupid pea brain that does exactly the opposite, sends me unpleasant stress hormones, warns me this all makes no sense and directs me towards almost any other activity. 

Right there with you @KmomChicago.   I prefer my "high" from being out in the fresh air in the wilderness.....not in a Casino for sure.

[KarmaCruisers]

Th gambling for me isn’t about winning or losing; it’s about the social aspect of interacting with others.

the majority of people on a cruise ship either go to the bar or to the pool…I go to the casino. It’s a “safe space” for me, as it’s a “familiar” area where I feel comfortable enough to converse with others. I am working on this though; on my next couple cruises I’m going with family; so I’ll have people to converse with. But my Christmas cruise, I’m actually going to challenge myself to not speak with a single individual for the entire 7 day cruise. (Obviously other than the required service worker interactions; ie: ordering food)

I’m also going to challenge myself to this in daily life; to only speak very minimally upon being spoken to.

[Colorado Beach Bum]

13 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

 

Okay. As a mostly non gambler who has actually tried but can’t get into it, I just want to ask because my mom was a slot player back in the day who did Vegas and local casinos and bus trips to Tunica. She was always getting comps and gifts. Just regular hotel rooms and buffets, nothing approaching high roller quality accommodation, but quite a lot of modest level comps nonetheless. 
 

I never understood the math. The house always holds the advantage, statistically, or else they wouldn’t have the funds for the comps. Or for the machines and tables and dealers and the real estate they all occupy. 
 

At 4k, I can simply buy the vacation I wanted anyway and then spend the vacation enjoying the, well, vacation. Sitting in the casino more than an hour actually feels like work to me. And when I lose my daily $100 gambling budget I am absolutely done for the day. And if I go the other way up to say $300, I actually cash out, put away the winnings, go back and gamble with the original budget only, and when I inevitably lose that, I don’t touch the $200 bounty from ten minutes ago. 
 

So economically what is the advantage to the hard core gambler that I am missing / missing out on?

Everyone has their form of entertainment or relaxing that they enjoy. Casinos fit the bill for some just like relaxing by the pool does for others.  Choices are a good thing.  

[JLC0912]

52 minutes ago, ZoeyVictoria said:

If you have learned all of those things, I think you qualify as an experienced cruiser. There are a few more tricks that you will gradually learn from other cruisers here on CC. I have been on 102 cruises and still learn new things.  My problem/issue/disappointment is that we may be paying lower prices now compared to new cruisers, but still much higher than our previous cruises.  I get no pleasure from paying less than some others might, but I hate paying more every time I book a cruise. I don’t blame the cruise lines for taking advantage of the increased demand up to a point, but I think they are going too far and becoming greedy. I just paid $102 for a 12-pack of bottled water and wifi for one device for a 4-night cruise 🙄. Water that was $4.95 in 2022 is now $14.95 plus a delivery fee of $2.69. Ridiculous!  I can spare the extra $13, but I hate the feeling of being taken advantage of.  I use off-site parking in PC that is less than terminal parking plus every fifth stay is free, but every time I park there it is higher than the previous time. Again, I pay less than a lot of cruisers, but still pay more than I used to. None of this has caused me to book fewer cruises, but I am still disappointed by it. 

I get that.  All sorts of travel have a very high demand now because the larger proportion of those who have retired.  The cruise lines see the high demand and they are really taking advantage of it.  We love cruising on RC, but I think they are getting too greedy and the higher prices have been accompanied by overworked cruise ship workers (i.e. lower service) and also lower food quality. Even though I prefer cruise vacations over land vacations, if the other cruise lines go in the same direction as RC with their pricing, we will likely do land vacations instead.

However, since we are recently retired, I understand the mindset of new cruisers.  When I worked a lot, I had little time for bargain hunting.  I ceased buying clothes on sale and spent minimal time planning our vacations.  We paid the higher price, but we were OK with that as our time was better spent raising a family and on our careers.  Now that we are retired, we spend more time researching and end up paying lower prices.

[KmomChicago]

5 hours ago, Colorado Beach Bum said:

Everyone has their form of entertainment or relaxing that they enjoy. Casinos fit the bill for some just like relaxing by the pool does for others.  Choices are a good thing.  

Yes I understand that and I am not trying to be disrespectful or disparaging. There are plenty of pastimes that are not my interests. 
 

I actually do understand the idea of, for example, low stakes slots as similar to video games. If you enjoy the game itself, I understand that concept. We spent money at the arcade and got solid entertainment value. Same for show tickets or sports. If it’s great entertainment for the investment, understandable. 

 

 I was really thinking on the practical level of the $$ out and $$ in. I see so many cruisers sailing free or nearly so and struggle with FOMO as I pay my hard earned money for advertised fares.
 

However, after a certain point I can’t tolerate the risk and loss, even with generous comps. It’s literally terrifying, I don’t have any other word, to imagine playing over the thousand dollar level. 
 

I guess I am trying to grasp are they playing and taking risks solely to earn “free” cruises or do they love the game with its high risk, win or lose is totally fine, and the comps are just a bonus? 
 

Sounds like it’s a good game for others but not me, I think I get that.

[Colorado Beach Bum]

3 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

I guess I am trying to grasp are they playing and taking risks solely to earn “free” cruises or do they love the game with its high risk, win or lose is totally fine, and the comps are just a bonus? 

Everyone has their own risk tolerance in what they are willing to lose.  For us it’s our choice of entertainment and the comps helps offset that expense.  We’d still gamble without comps but I’m sure it would be less and probably in more locations vs going back to place that offers us the comps. 

[vswan]

5 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

I was really thinking on the practical level of the $$ out and $$ in. I see so many cruisers sailing free or nearly so and struggle with FOMO as I pay my hard earned money for advertised fares.
 

However, after a certain point I can’t tolerate the risk and loss, even with generous comps. It’s literally terrifying, I don’t have any other word, to imagine playing over the thousand dollar level. 
 

I guess I am trying to grasp are they playing and taking risks solely to earn “free” cruises or do they love the game with its high risk, win or lose is totally fine, and the comps are just a bonus? 

If you have never had a family member or friend with an addiction it will make no sense. I like to go to the casino, but I budget $20 per day plus a few extras - generally about $250 for a 7 day cruise. Once that's gone it's gone. No going to the ATM to get out more funds - but for someone with an addiction it's different. (On my last cruise I came home with more money than I started with and have been receiving discounted cruise offers which surprised me).

 

Think of the person who has been convicted 4 times for drunk driving. They obviously know that there are consequences for their behaviors, but go out drinking and driving anyway. The next time they may cause a bad accident with fatalities, but they do it anyway. Doesn't make sense to me and I'm sure they didn't set out to harm themselves or others.

[tonit964]

6 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

Yes I understand that and I am not trying to be disrespectful or disparaging. There are plenty of pastimes that are not my interests. 
 

I actually do understand the idea of, for example, low stakes slots as similar to video games. If you enjoy the game itself, I understand that concept. We spent money at the arcade and got solid entertainment value. Same for show tickets or sports. If it’s great entertainment for the investment, understandable. 

 

 I was really thinking on the practical level of the $$ out and $$ in. I see so many cruisers sailing free or nearly so and struggle with FOMO as I pay my hard earned money for advertised fares.
 

However, after a certain point I can’t tolerate the risk and loss, even with generous comps. It’s literally terrifying, I don’t have any other word, to imagine playing over the thousand dollar level. 
 

I guess I am trying to grasp are they playing and taking risks solely to earn “free” cruises or do they love the game with its high risk, win or lose is totally fine, and the comps are just a bonus? 
 

Sounds like it’s a good game for others but not me, I think I get that.

I completely understand what you’re saying. I’m not a gambler at all but my ex-.husband was and he got all the cruise comps and Vegas comps but because I’m not a gambler, he was able to explain it away when I asked him how he’s getting all these comps.

 

The day came where we lost everything. I found out our house was in foreclosure by a stranger at the door asking to speak to him. 
 

I know many people gamble responsibly but many others do not. If it affects any part of your life, it’s a problem. 
 

@KarmaCruisers I wish you all the best in your health journey. Try not to be in such a rush to meet a gal, take some time for yourself. 😊

[KarmaCruisers]

28 minutes ago, tonit964 said:

 

@KarmaCruisers I wish you all the best in your health journey. Try not to be in such a rush to meet a gal, take some time for yourself. 😊

Thanks! I am currently in no rush at all, as I have nothing to offer a gal.

[KarmaCruisers]

7 hours ago, KmomChicago said:

Yes I understand that and I am not trying to be disrespectful or disparaging. There are plenty of pastimes that are not my interests. 
 

I actually do understand the idea of, for example, low stakes slots as similar to video games. If you enjoy the game itself, I understand that concept. We spent money at the arcade and got solid entertainment value. Same for show tickets or sports. If it’s great entertainment for the investment, understandable. 

 

 I was really thinking on the practical level of the $$ out and $$ in. I see so many cruisers sailing free or nearly so and struggle with FOMO as I pay my hard earned money for advertised fares.
 

However, after a certain point I can’t tolerate the risk and loss, even with generous comps. It’s literally terrifying, I don’t have any other word, to imagine playing over the thousand dollar level. 
 

I guess I am trying to grasp are they playing and taking risks solely to earn “free” cruises or do they love the game with its high risk, win or lose is totally fine, and the comps are just a bonus? 
 

Sounds like it’s a good game for others but not me, I think I get that.

Do you have a 401k or any investment account?

Thats a WAY bigger gamble than anything I ever do…having hundreds of thousands tied up in something that could absolutely drop to ZERO any day.

What I do; is honestly play for the value of what I’m getting. Yes, a lot of the time I “lose control”; but if you think about it; if you were to pay cash for this 8-day cruise on a balcony with the cheers package…I’d imagine it’d probably be close to $3000? 
So it only cost me an extra thousand, and I basically gambled the entire time.

Plus that extra $1000 it cost me; is going to get me more free cruises.

You just have to look at it as layaway plan for cruising.

For instance; on my februrary princess cruise I lost $11,000..BUT I “earned” three penthouse suite cruises (at the cost of $12k a POP) plus other free cruises after that..so that was definitely a good investment.

You have to remember, outside of the casino I’ve made some very smart financial choices; and I TRY to apply that same sense to “gambling”

[xkritter]

6 hours ago, KarmaCruisers said:

None taken; and this is my last thread on CC.

I’m actually amazed the mileage this is getting. I’m honestly curious if I posted about having 15 drinks daily for 8 days straight, how different the population of CC would view me…

interesting how drinking literal poison is more social acceptable than someone spending disposable income.

Please keep posting...I am looking forward to your Princess review.

[KarmaCruisers]

28 minutes ago, xkritter said:

Please keep posting...I am looking forward to your Princess review.

Too much drama in the LBC

[scubadavedl]

I love your reviews and hope you will still post on here .If you are happy with what you are doing that is all that matters.

[Knights on the Beach]

13 hours ago, KarmaCruisers said:

Too much drama in the LBC

 

Legally Binding Contract? Long Beach California? Little Black Cat? So many options! 🤷‍♀️😂

[canes20]

13 hours ago, KarmaCruisers said:

Too much drama in the LBC

[xkritter]

Maybe Live Blogging Community????