Casino Q&A

[skatermegs]

I am doing my research for our cruise in June, and I am trying to figure out what to budget for entertainment. This cruise is a surprise for my mom, so I want to make sure she has plenty of play money to enjoy. The problem is-she loves slot machines and bingo, and I have yet to set foot into the casino onboard! I would much rather be relaxing with a book somewhere! So, could someone give me an idea what the slot machines cost and what the bingo costs onboard? we will be sailing on Independence in June. Also, is the Bingo electronic or punch cards?

Thank you so much!!!!!

Megan

[mattpro]

Casino

 

They have one cent and nickel slots along with larger denominations.

 

For $20 you can get a lot of "action" on the penny slots.

 

Bingo

 

Though not a bingo player myself, I've heard it costs over $60 per session and a lot of folks just play on the last day when they have to disburse the jackpot.

 

I've also heard that it was electronic. Not sure if the "manual" version is still in play.

 

I'm sure that there are more knowledgeable folks on this board that will reply to you.

 

Just remember - it's all entertainment - so don't go crazy - it's not like the slots in Vegas where they return 98-99% to the player - it is closer to 85% on cruise ships - which means the house will "win" $15 of every $100 "gambled".

 

So, for the amount to budget for a 7 day cruise (bingo & slots ), I would say about $300 would give you enough money for daily action.

[dancinman66]

Bingo is about 30 per game set

Machines vary from 1cent through to 1dollar

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[pinkrosesdeb]

You do need to be careful on those "penny" slots though. You can bet $5 or more per pull if you have the settings wrong. Just check to see how much you are actually betting before you pull. My brother in law didn't understand why his $20 went so fast until we checked his bet, he played something like 50 lines at $.10 per line!

[Maybaybie10]

Casino

 

 

Just remember - it's all entertainment - so don't go crazy - it's not like the slots in Vegas where they return 98-99% to the player - it is closer to 85% on cruise ships - which means the house will "win" $15 of every $100 "gambled".

 

So, for the amount to budget for a 7 day cruise (bingo & slots ), I would say about $300 would give you enough money for daily action.

 

I found the casino slots to be very 'tight' on our last cruise. I usually play $20 and get to play for awhile....going up and down for an hour or two. On our last cruise, my $20 lasted all of 3 minutes...everytime I played. My Mom had a different experience and kept winning and winning. I budget $100/day for sea days and much less for port days- but then again, that casino calls my name much more than it should...:rolleyes:

[robin13]

I was on IOS this past April and spent a lot of time in the casino. Unfortunately, I didn't win and found it very frustrating how tight the machines were. You do have to be careful to make sure that you are only playing the amount that you want as there were a few times I hit the wrong button and ended up playing $5.00 a spin. I still had a good time and I did budget about $100 a day for gambling. I didn't lose it all as I am the type that knows when to stop.

 

As for Bingo I only played the last day and that was around $30 for the punch cards. They do have the electronic cards but those cost $55 and I didn't want to spend that much on Bingo. I should have as almost all of the winners won with that stupid machine.

 

Hope your Mom has better luck than I did but the main thing is that I still had fun and I know that she will also.

[PompeySailor]

Bingo

$55 for machine

$35 for punch cards

You can get one or the other or both.

Most of the winners, actually all of the winners on our last cruise won on the machines!

My Mum actually won using a machine.. It does it all for you:)

 

Casino is subjective dependent on your budget

But as stated penny slots all the way up to $5 a spin.

 

Good luck

Happy Days!

[boscobeans]

I am doing my research for our cruise in June, and I am trying to figure out what to budget for entertainment. This cruise is a surprise for my mom, so I want to make sure she has plenty of play money to enjoy. The problem is-she loves slot machines and bingo, and I have yet to set foot into the casino onboard! I would much rather be relaxing with a book somewhere! So, could someone give me an idea what the slot machines cost and what the bingo costs onboard? we will be sailing on Independence in June. Also, is the Bingo electronic or punch cards?

Thank you so much!!!!!

Megan

 

If she has played slots before as you stated she would know her own limits. Have a conversation over coffee one day and without pulling the cat out of the bag bring up the subject of casinos and slot machines, ( " I saw something about casinos on TV last night. Wow! They look like they could be fun. Are they very expensive?" )

 

See if you can worm the information from her.

 

bosco

[skatermegs]

Thanks guys, every little bit of information helps!

It seems crazy to even offer the physical Bingo cards if nobody wins that way-but I don't understand why you'd want to play a game that a machine does the whole thing for you? Isn't it supposed to be fun to actually play the game?

Bosco-that is a good idea. The hard part is we live in Washington, so the Tribal casinos are everywhere, and they are definitely a lot looser then it sounds like the ones on the ships are. We have several within 15 minutes of us, and I know she can easily go play and spend several hours on just $20. I wasn't sure if the slot machines on the ships were different-it definitely sounds like they are!

So, is it best to bring rolls of coins or actual bills? (Basically, I have never set foot in a casino, and I like it that way!)

[PompeySailor]

The majority of the slots on the ships these days are all Bills

The odd 1 or 2 quarter machine but few and far between.

$20s will be fine

All machines take 1$ through $100.

 

Best of luck

Happy Days!

[Life is Good Cruising]

I find the slot machines are kind of tight on ships as compared to casinos on land so $20 can sometimes go real fast in those machines. Your Mom may need more money to gamble with than what she is used to bringing to the land casinos.

Edited September 19, 2014 by Life is Good Cruising

[Drama(mine) Queen]

I think there is some confusion about ‘penny’ and ‘nickel’ slot machines. The MINIMUM bet on these machines can be as high as 50 cents a ‘pull’ (depends on machine). Don’t expect to bring a roll of pennies and play all night unless you’re VERY lucky (BTY – slots only accept $$ bills and vouchers).

 

Good luck!

[skatermegs]

You guys are great! So excuse one more question: If I pre-order onboard credits and have them loaded to our account, can she use those in the Casino or should I just bring her cash?

[Spurschick]

You guys are great! So excuse one more question: If I pre-order onboard credits and have them loaded to our account, can she use those in the Casino or should I just bring her cash?

 

Take the cash.

If you draw the cash at the casino there will be a fee applied so you won't end up with the whole credit you applied.

[SnakeBitten]

Also, check your roll call and find out if a slot pull event is organized on your cruise. SB

[garycarla]

What do slots machines cost?

 

Some folks can go into the casino with $5 and do just fine.

 

Some folks can go into the casino with $100 and play till it is gone.

 

Some folks need a few thousand a night.

 

Hard to say what your Mom will do.