B-i-n-g-o

[sunshineminnie]

Getting ready to sail on the Grand THIS WEEKEND! Woo Hoo! Trying to fingure my budget.

 

I would love to play a little BiNGO (it reminds me of my Grandma!:D )

 

Do you know how much it costs? How often is it offered? Do we find the info in the Princess Patters?

 

Thanks in advance!

[franksandy]

1 set of tickets for all 5 games $10

Value Pack (3 sets of tickets for all 5 games) $20

Value Pack (3 single tickets for the Snowball Jackpot game) $10

 

I found this....I'm planing on playing a few times anyway.

 

Sandy

[Toto2Kansas]

Also, the pay offs are very small compared to what they used to be. Bingo seems to have worse odds then the casino anymore, unfortunately! :(

[Casshew]

Bingo is quite fun though, the CD calling the #'s is fun and there are lots of jokes and laughter... especially when people call BINGO and don't really have it.. they make them do the chicken dance. lol

[CruiseLiz]

Bingo is great. SOMEONE has to win for each game, so the odds are not too bad.

Get the 3 cards for $20, for whatever reason (I know it doesn't make sense) I rarely see people win w/ a single card.

 

On my last cruise I won bingo twice and on the one before that I won AND my mother won too.

 

Have fun!

[claudiaj]

We usually sail RCCL and the Bingo is like $35.00--but the payoff it much higher. Everytime we sail I play Bingo once a day and have always won at least once on a cruise-which usually pays for by Bingo. I never play at home and I usually never win anything.

One cruise-luck was really with me-I won a bottle of champaign on the sail aways, I won at Bingo and I won a beautiful 14K bracelet at the shopping talk. I have a very large wrist so of coarse it did not fit-however I knew where it came from in St. Thomas so when we docked there I went directly to the store-and they exchanged it for a larger bracelet-at no charge. I almost felt guilty.

Claudia

[jrw]

Also, the pay offs are very small compared to what they used to be. Bingo seems to have worse odds then the casino anymore, unfortunately! :(

 

Toto is 100% correct. The payoffs are lousy when compared with the cost & # of players. We felt it was a huge rip-off & a huge profit-padding venture. Would not do it again.

 

As for the post about there having to be a winner every day, yes...a very small amount. The big jackpot (something like $1500-$2000) did not go until the last day, so only one person got lucky. Oh, and many times there are several who have to split that day's prize. A $100 or $200 prize split among 3 people is not a huge payout.

 

This is how it was just a couple weeks ago on the Crown.

[sueandkent]

For some of us it's just fun. Who cares about the payouts, it's entertaining. Winning is good but having fun is good too. I never play bingo at home but I love to go on the cruise ship.

[Casshew]

I agree, it's just a fun thing to do for an hour, I really don't expect to win anything! It would be nice, but it's definately not the point of me going.

[Hlitner]

When we started cruising (we are talking in the stone age) BINGO was a fun ship activity where almost all the money was returned to the passengers and they also gave away lots of gifts (free bottles of wine, hats, shirts, etc). Than we entered the era of "maximizing on-board revenue" where everything is run for profit. On Bingo, the ships skim off lots of money (50% is not unusual). In the casinos, we can only guess about the slot settings, but the slot players (not me) say the machines are always very tight (stick to Black Jack and Craps where the odds are known). And than we have the Art Auctions which generated so much profit for Princess (and other cruise lines) that some of the lines ended their contracts with the art companies (such as Park West) so they did not have to share the profits. Its the same with things like good coffee, ice cream, some pastries, water (cruise ship water is safer than anything in a bottle but they would prefer to sell you bottles), charges for alternative dining, wine mark-ups in excess of 600%, charges for port shuttles (used to be free), ridiculous prices for many shore excursions, etc etc. These charges really do add-up and drove me to buy stock in both major cruise companies. We figured it might be a good idea to share in these profits!

 

Hank

[JLC@SD]

Its the same with things like good coffee, ice cream, some pastries, water (cruise ship water is safer than anything in a bottle but they would prefer to sell you bottles), charges for alternative dining, wine mark-ups in excess of 600%, charges for port shuttles (used to be free), ridiculous prices for many shore excursions, etc etc. These charges really do add-up and drove me to buy stock in both major cruise companies. We figured it might be a good idea to share in these profits!

Hank

 

I agree.......with the profit I have made from RCL stock...........we have been able to buy lots of.......good coffee, ice cream, some pastries, water, alternative dining, wine, port shuttles and shore excursions, etc etc.........:)

[chasetf]

...........The big jackpot (something like $1500-$2000) did not go until the last day, so only one person got lucky....

The first... and last time I played bingo.... I asked our CD what happens if someone wins the jackpot in the middle of the cruise :confused: Do you restart from the original amount, pickup from where the jackpot was won, or just cancel the rest of the games. :confused: :confused:

 

He looked at me with a smile and said....... We never have to worry about it...... because it has never happened.

So those Snowball games with the increasing jackpots.... the odds are astronomical in the early games such that they never have a winner. :eek: And even the last game.... They have to go we past the number of picks to get a winner.:rolleyes:

...........Oh, and many times there are several who have to split that day's prize. A $100 or $200 prize split among 3 people is not a huge payout. This is how it was just a couple weeks ago on the Crown.

Yeah.... means you have to win just to pay for your cards. :eek:

[jrw]

The first... and last time I played bingo.... I asked our CD what happens if someone wins the jackpot in the middle of the cruise :confused: Do you restart from the original amount, pickup from where the jackpot was won, or just cancel the rest of the games. :confused: :confused:

 

He looked at me with a smile and said....... We never have to worry about it...... because it has never happened.

 

So those Snowball games with the increasing jackpots.... the odds are astronomical in the early games such that they never have a winner. :eek: And even the last game.... They have to go we past the number of picks to get a winner.:rolleyes:

 

Yeah.... means you have to win just to pay for your cards. :eek:

 

EXACTLY. Hubby played once (I just helped scan the cards for the called numbers) and we'd never do it again. If others want to spend that charge to have fun, go for it...won't find us there! We can go play trivia or other games for free, have more fun doing so, and have decent odds of winning those luggage tags! LOL Kidding there, could care less about the luggage tags or other cheapie prizes...but at least it is free fun and we get to meet lots of great people!

[CruiseLiz]

Well, as I said before, it is probably just dumb luck, but I've had success on my past few cruises and made a profit on my bingo spend. I don't play at home either, that would be an expensive habit!

 

No doubt the cruise line is making a bundle depending on how many people play, but if I can make $120 from $20, then I still feel good! :D

 

Also, just a little tip, generally the first game of the cruise isn't as crowded, so your odds are better (and yes, the jackpot is smaller, but still $120 for $20 is a bargain)

[hightownCO]

My cruise history is pretty short but have read on cruisecritic how the per person cost for cruising has not increased so much over the past. Maybe one reason why is because of the development of other 'profit centers' for the cruise lines such as bingo, spa and casinos. More take for the cruise line to offset rising costs and keep the basic fare down.

 

That's fine with me. I'll take the reasonable pricing on my cruise.

[wizard-of-roz]

On our Golden, September 29th cruise to the MR....I won $175 playing Bingo....I thought it was going to be a time filler (I'm not much of a gambler) and I plopped down $20 and won the next to last game......couldn't believe it...but, it was so much fun....

We definetly will play again on our November 24th cruise.