Casino Offers Now Fun Play Not Casino Cash-What is it?

[Djptcp]

I just noticed that my Premier, Getaway, and Dealer's Choice casino offers say Fun Play, not Casino Cash. What is Fun Play and how is it different from Casino Cash where I received my amount in cash the first day in the casino?

[wannagonow123]

They load funds onto your S/S card . When you go into your balance at a machine, you have a choice of cash/ or promotional cash. 

 

You cannot "cash out" casino cash. It must be played. You can cash out winnings off it. What we do is hit the dollar machines, calculate the number of spins it will take to use up the casino cash. ( Pretend they give you $100- if you play $2 a spin, you will play 50 spins). After the 50 spins, cash out whatever funds you have left. That remaining amout is what you can actually get $$$$$s for. 

 

Be advised, you do not collect points while using casino cash.

[Djptcp]

I don't like this at all, especially not earning points on the fun play money. I think it will certainly affect the number of points I usually earn on a cruise which will probably affect my future offers. Our next cruise is in 3 days and the next one is in January, both on the Paradise.  The Paradise casino has been very good to me on our 5 past cruises on it in the last 12 months - I hope it continues so I cash out some winnings with the fun play!

[RWolver672]

11 hours ago, wannagonow123 said:

They load funds onto your S/S card . When you go into your balance at a machine, you have a choice of cash/ or promotional cash. 

 

You cannot "cash out" casino cash. It must be played. You can cash out winnings off it. What we do is hit the dollar machines, calculate the number of spins it will take to use up the casino cash. ( Pretend they give you $100- if you play $2 a spin, you will play 50 spins). After the 50 spins, cash out whatever funds you have left. That remaining amout is what you can actually get $$$$$s for. 

 

Be advised, you do not collect points while using casino cash.

 

Most of the land based casinos do the same thing.  

[Djptcp]

I was used to this at the Harrah's casino in Biloxi that we used to frequent, but my fun play coupons there were  much less than what I'll receive on my Carnival cruises. I just need to change my mind set and go with the flow. Thanks for your explanations.

[evandbob]

At one time, a discounted casino fare and casino cash gave me a good reason to book another Carnival cruise.

 

My offers have steadily been diluted, to the point that they are hardly an incentive for me to continue booking Carnival.  I have an Ultra in November, my first, and then a premier in February, which will be my 40th Carnival cruise.  If I cannot get a decent  casino offer after these  I will continue to book other cruise lines.

 

I already have an 11 day Southern Celebrity, a 15 day NCL TA and an 11 day NCL Panama booked. There are so many choices between new ship builds and exotic and extended itineraries on other brands, that my only reason to book another Carnival Caribbean cruise would be a worthwhile casino enticement.

 

It was fun while it lasted Carnival.

[crookedhalo]

When we were on Pride in September the funds were not loaded onto DH's card as expected, but were given to him in the form of special chips (looked different that the standard chips), so not sure how/if you could use in slots. He used for table play.

[DallasGuy75219]

1 hour ago, crookedhalo said:

When we were on Pride in September the funds were not loaded onto DH's card as expected, but were given to him in the form of special chips (looked different that the standard chips), so not sure how/if you could use in slots. He used for table play.

If you play tables, they pay Fun Play with Fun Chips.  If you play slots, they load your Fun Play to a promotional bank on your S&S card that is separate from your casino cash bank. 

 

If you choose Fun Chips with your Fun Play, they can't be used for slot play.

[LowDime]

I am cruising on my first cruise in Janurary and hoping to be able to kill some time early in the mornings, I am always up super early and the rest of my group is not so much, I will be on the Fascination so hopefully the casino will be nice to me. 

[crookedhalo]

1 hour ago, DallasGuy75219 said:

If you play tables, they pay Fun Play with Fun Chips.  If you play slots, they load your Fun Play to a promotional bank on your S&S card that is separate from your casino cash bank. 

 

If you choose Fun Chips with your Fun Play, they can't be used for slot play.

No choice was given on Pride, so chips it was, even though he was rated on his slot play from last trip.

[sc4125]

3 hours ago, evandbob said:

At one time, a discounted casino fare and casino cash gave me a good reason to book another Carnival cruise.

 

My offers have steadily been diluted, to the point that they are hardly an incentive for me to continue booking Carnival.  I have an Ultra in November, my first, and then a premier in February, which will be my 40th Carnival cruise.  If I cannot get a decent  casino offer after these  I will continue to book other cruise lines.

 

I already have an 11 day Southern Celebrity, a 15 day NCL TA and an 11 day NCL Panama booked. There are so many choices between new ship builds and exotic and extended itineraries on other brands, that my only reason to book another Carnival Caribbean cruise would be a worthwhile casino enticement.

 

It was fun while it lasted Carnival.

 

I have to agree with you in reference to the offers being diluted.  We just got off our first Ultra cruise on Saturday.  For the first time the $500 "casino cash" was actually free play loaded onto my S&S card.  That wasn't a deal breaker for me - I knew I would be spending more than that during the cruise.  I didn't pay attention as to whether I was earning points ( as an earlier poster stated), but I could swear I was - it was the only $$ I was playing on the first night & I definitely had earned points that night.  My sister & I both got the "Bounce Back" offer, but after looking at what was available - it was no where near the $100 for interior and $100 Onboard Credit that it's listed as.  The only 4 day I saw out of Pt. Canaveral in March was more like $300/person for an interior.  I guess the good old days of great deals are gone.

 

I enjoyed some things about the Ultra over a Premier (the guaranteed prize win for example - I won the new Galaxy cell phone & it was the one thing I really wanted to win); however, it was BY FAR the most crowded casino I have ever been in.  I've done quite a few Premier cruises & they are always more crowded than normal, but this was CRAZY CROWDED!!  I don't know if it's because they only do a limited number of Ultra cruises or what, but I was certainly not a big fan of the crowds.  I spoke to a whole bunch of people in the casino that were saying the same thing - way too many people.  They seemed to have more give away promotions (I was lucky enough to be called to play Dodge The Bull & won $550), but you couldn't get anywhere near the gaming "area" because people were standing 4-5 deep all the way around the wheel or whatever they were playing.  I can't believe that this wouldn't be considered a fire hazard.  If your name was called, it was like parting the ocean to try to get through - total chaos!

 

I hope that your Ultra in November is not so crowded.  Please come back and let us know.  I'm trying to decide if I'd ever book another Ultra or not.