BINGO on Carnival ships....I suggest staying away and don't play.

[bowlinmoe]

I won't go as far and say it's a "scam" because that word means different things to different people but I will say that Carnival is making an insane amount of money on BINGO. For example....

 

We just got back from an 8 day cruise on the Vista. It was a wonderful trip but I was very disappointed with BINGO. The way it works is they sell different BINGO packages that are $20, $30, or $40. The more you spend, the more BINGO cards you get. We bought the $40 package and I think the majority of the BINGO players at our session did as well because many of the sign up sheets they were handing out already had the $40 box checked (hmmmmm). Anyway, this session was a $4,000 jackpot BINGO and consisted of three games. The host, Richie Rich (who was quite entertaining), mentioned that he thought there was a good 1,000 people or so in the room. So right there....let's say on average, everyone bought a $30 BINGO package. That is $30,000 that Carnival just took in. Remember that. $30,000.

 

The first game was your standard straight line BINGO. Cool. The winner got $350. Okay. The second game was the six-pack game where you had to get six numbers grouped together like a "six-pack". The winner got $450. Okay. The final game was called "black-out" and you had to get every single number on your card checked off. What is that...like 45 numbers? Anyway, they have a rule where if so many numbers are called (I think it was forty something....definitely no more than fifty) and there is no winner, the jackpot prize if void and they go to a back-up prize. Yes, you read that right. They will not be giving out the $4,000 jackpot prize. The winner ended up winning something like $750.

 

What a rip-off, right?

 

Even if Carnival gave out the $4,000 on the last prize, they are still up $25,200 on one session of BINGO ($30k minus $350 minus $450 minus $4,000).

 

And finally, although it was fun at times and like I said, Richie Rich is an entertaining guy......the is no where close to being worth playing.

 

STAY AWAY.

 

:cool:

[Sebleo]

I agree the pay out is not high enough. But, how do you really estimate how many packages they sold? My husband and I bought 1. So, 1,000 people in the room could be 500 packages.

And an exaggerated 1000 people could really be 600 with 300 packages sold.

 

But, yeah, they should pay out more.

[riclop]

I won't go as far and say it's a "scam" because that word means different things to different people but I will say that Carnival is making an insane amount of money on BINGO. For example....

 

We just got back from an 8 day cruise on the Vista. It was a wonderful trip but I was very disappointed with BINGO. The way it works is they sell different BINGO packages that are $20, $30, or $40. The more you spend, the more BINGO cards you get. We bought the $40 package and I think the majority of the BINGO players at our session did as well because many of the sign up sheets they were handing out already had the $40 box checked (hmmmmm). Anyway, this session was a $4,000 jackpot BINGO and consisted of three games. The host, Richie Rich (who was quite entertaining), mentioned that he thought there was a good 1,000 people or so in the room. So right there....let's say on average, everyone bought a $30 BINGO package. That is $30,000 that Carnival just took in. Remember that. $30,000.

 

The first game was your standard straight line BINGO. Cool. The winner got $350. Okay. The second game was the six-pack game where you had to get six numbers grouped together like a "six-pack". The winner got $450. Okay. The final game was called "black-out" and you had to get every single number on your card checked off. What is that...like 45 numbers? Anyway, they have a rule where if so many numbers are called (I think it was forty something....definitely no more than fifty) and there is no winner, the jackpot prize if void and they go to a back-up prize. Yes, you read that right. They will not be giving out the $4,000 jackpot prize. The winner ended up winning something like $750.

 

What a rip-off, right?

 

Even if Carnival gave out the $4,000 on the last prize, they are still up $25,200 on one session of BINGO ($30k minus $350 minus $450 minus $4,000).

 

And finally, although it was fun at times and like I said, Richie Rich is an entertaining guy......the is no where close to being worth playing.

 

STAY AWAY.

 

:cool:

How long did it take you to figure that out???????????????

[kona_wahine]

I love, love, love bingo, and our first Carival cruise I couldn’t wait to play. I think after 2 times we realized what a ripoff it is. I can’t believe people actually spend that much to play. I’d rather put my $40 in a slot and have a chance.

[MeHeartCruising]

Personally, I would never waste my money on ship BINGO. However, the way they run their Big, Grand Prize is pretty typical BINGO in my area. If you win in xxx numbers or less, you get the big prize. If you win after xxx numbers, you get a smaller prize and usually the jackpot grows for next time. They charge a lot more to play, but the rules are pretty much the same.

[sgttami]

And that's why it's called gambling.....:D:D:D:D

 

I've never played bingo on Carnival but have on other lines

 

I'll stick with the casino!

[sanmarcosman]

The neighbor says that's how blackout bingo is played at the church on the corner. if there's no winner after a certain amount of numbers are called the announcer says that and says " we will continue to play until we have a winner for the consolation prize. " Sounds to me like Carnival is doing what other Bingo halls do in the states.

[Cruiseaholichal]

That naughty Carnival Corp.--- trying to make money !!

[richfret]

At least with Bingo, you lose the $40 and that's it. With the Casino, you lose $40, and then $40 more, and then an additional $40 and on and on. Also, who can prove that the pay out is any better than Bingo? Oh I know, there is always some one who will say they won a $1,000. What they don't say is that they put in $1,500.

 

On the other hand, Bingo and the Casino are a big part of cruising. If it pleases you, go for it. Otherwise you can stay home and be a $40 winner.

 

One thing I tried on my last 8 day cruise. I bought 16 five dollar, Florida scratch off tickets and another 8 three dollar tickets. Did one ticket at Breakfast, Lunch and Supper each day. Total cost was $104. I won about $65. The odds are about 1 in 4 to win with a ticket. I look at it this way, I never win any thing on the ships but I ended up with $65 in my pocket which is better then I do at Bingo or the Casino. Think I am going to do the same thing on the next cruise .......................... and play Bingo also. You didn't think I was not going to play Bingo? And me, a Bingo-holic.

[beachbum53]

Although I've never heard anything said about it, I wonder how much, if any, of the proceeds go to St. Judes?

[The4Cruisers]

I'd be shocked to see 1,000 people playing bingo at one time on a Carnival ship.

[bnorris10]

Although I've never heard anything said about it, I wonder how much, if any, of the proceeds go to St. Judes?

 

• Carnival has raised more than $13 million for St. Jude since 2010, and they have committed to raising an additional $10 million by 2021. In July 2015, Carnival Cruise Line was recognized as St. Jude Proprietary Campaign of the Year.
  

From the St Jude website

https://www.stjude.org/get-involved/other-ways/partner-with-st-jude/corporate-partners/carnival-cruise-lines.html

[MissKIA]

That’s how bingo works. It’s not exactly the best bet in the house.

[bobandsherry]

That naughty Carnival Corp.--- trying to make money !!

As shareholder I approve. [emoji3]

 

Sent from my LG-H872 using Tapatalk

[watermelonqueen99]

Bingo is a fun thing to do maybe once per cruise, and the profit they make on it helps keep our cruise fare down, so I see it as a win-win! :D

[Joebucks]

I don't know many people who ever played bingo because of the economics of it.

[SRQbeachgirl]

I have a $20 bingo limit per cruise, so that's $100 I've spent on bingo tickets over five cruises. I've won three times - first time was $250, second time was I think $40, and third was $125. So I'm up a grand total of $315. Even if I never win again, it would take 16 more cruises at $20 per cruise to outspend all my previous winnings. From my perspective, that's pretty good entertainment.

[maynovmom]

I play Bingo occasionally. The very first cruise I won $500 on my first game ever! A few years ago I won $500 again. It’s not a scam. It’s a chance. You play—you win or lose. It’s entertaining and a form of gambling. A scam is no chance of winning. I’m sure I’m still slightly ahead because I don’t play that often. Honestly I get annoyed at some of these posts where people complain about rules. They are spelled out on the blackout. If you don’t win in a certain number of tries you downgrade to another prize. Carnival is very transparent and of course looking to make money just like in the casino. But people do win in Bingo and in the casino and more often they lose.

[Harrier1961]

You have less of a chance on slots than you do on bingo

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums

[asalligo]

I was amused by something similar with bingo on our last cruise. We happened to be sitting there waiting for the show while they played one night and they kept promoting this $1000 dollar bingo jackpot. In reality the winner who had already beaten the odds in getting the bingo over the other 400 cards in the room, was presented with three boxes and got to choose one box. So in reality, they were playing bingo for a 33% chance at winning $1000. The box they chose had a $100 in it. My guess is they spent more on the cards they played that night.

[tidecat]

The neighbor says that's how blackout bingo is played at the church on the corner. if there's no winner after a certain amount of numbers are called the announcer says that and says " we will continue to play until we have a winner for the consolation prize. " Sounds to me like Carnival is doing what other Bingo halls do in the states.

 

 

Bahamas Paradise does their Bingo the same way.

 

 

Sent from my eye phone using a three legged yak FFS

[timc.jb]

Good to know. I will stay away from bingo on my upcoming vacation.

[luckybecky]

I never play bingo on land. So I wasn't sure how it worked. We played it ONE time on one of our first cruises -- the Ecstasy or maybe the Triumph? I don't recall which. But it was a sea day and we had nothing else to do so we thought we would give it a try . Waited a long time in line to buy a card. I felt really stupid when I realized our $10 buy-in got us just one single game. There were a lot of people playing. I don't know how this works... I thought the buy-in might give us a multigame card. I thought we were entering a bingo tournament or session. Or something. My bad for not knowing how it goes. After wasting a lot of time in line waiting to buy a card, our one game went quickly. A lot of time and $10 wasted for about 5 minutes of play.

 

Now we know. And although it may be a fun game, we have never played again after that first experience. We left with the feeling that WE had been played. Never again.

[Bobbysjack]

We played bingo on our first cruise. I was disappointed that the whole game, from beginning to end lasted about 30 minutes. The winners called Bingo in like five minutes for each of the three games. I felt like we never had a chance and it was a waste of our $40 each! We have never played bingo again.

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[SkyPiglet]

I've played Bingo on land many times, and my wife even more so. On land, I might pay about $35-$50 for my cards, and then throughout the night there are multiple games with different rules. For the standard games, you typically get two chances to win $50 to $100, for the "specials" you have multiple chances to win something small, say $10, and multiple chances to win around $100 (it varies). At the end, there is a jackpot game where the winner is guaranteed typically over $1000, as well as an option, additional cost progressive, where you have the chance to multiple thousands if a under a certain number is called. Even ignoring the progressive, it is very possible for multiple players to get their money back in one night. I know it falls under fairly strict regulation back in my state.

 

On the ship, you pay one buy-in, and you don't have nearly as many games, not chances to win. Not the best deal comparatively, but if you enjoy it and the fun is worth it to you, go for it. Myself, I can stretch that cost out longer in the Casino.