Free Cruise Casino Offer

[510picker]

2 hours ago, geocruiser said:

Very sorry to read about your father-in-law.  My thoughts are with you.

 

Thank you for the kind words. 

[saltshell]

How do I get on the mailing list ? I get casino rates on HAL and Carnival, but have never received a casino offer. I feel left out ( sniff ).

[Hawaiidan]

On 1/5/2019 at 3:42 PM, VTcruisenut said:

Everything is marked HAL- no other company.  those that think the casino is run by a different company are misguided I think.  It's all the same.  Unless the casino vendor pays HAL for the marketing ploy.

Question...  you offered a free cruise  because you played in the casino right?     Without being too personal were you a  big spender at the casino ?        Too, do they expect you to play a certain amount of $$$ bets each day.   Otherwise, ,was there any requirement or minimums you had to perform to get the free cruise.      Or.....  being a past player, just get on the ship and  never ever even stop by the casino?        What is the fine print I wonder... they don't give unless they expect to get.

[DaveOKC]

2 hours ago, saltshell said:

How do I get on the mailing list ? I get casino rates on HAL and Carnival, but have never received a casino offer. I feel left out ( sniff ).

I am in the same position as you - get casino rate (or I should say my DW does) but never a casino mailer.  I am sure you have to be a higher roller than we are!  We do get casino free play mailer in our cabin mail the last morning of our cruise, which is good for free play on our next cruise.  So far we have gotten $50 or $100 in free play.

 

[msmayor]

3 hours ago, Hawaiidan said:

Question...  you offered a free cruise  because you played in the casino right?     Without being too personal were you a  big spender at the casino ?        Too, do they expect you to play a certain amount of $$$ bets each day.   Otherwise, ,was there any requirement or minimums you had to perform to get the free cruise.      Or.....  being a past player, just get on the ship and  never ever even stop by the casino?        What is the fine print I wonder... they don't give unless they expect to get.

 

My husband and I have been getting the casino rate on all our HAL cruises ever since we finished our first on the Veendam back in 2011.  We have never considered ourselves 'big' gamblers and have a pretty strict budget for the casino when we cruise.  The only slot-type machine we play is video poker (and that is limited to one $20 bill each day) and for the rest we are on the tables.  But even that, we do not spend a tremendous amount of time or money there...we're just there every night, even if it is to watch others play.

 

We also play in the Blackjack tournaments where a $20 entry gets your name on a list.  Win or lose, they now know you play. (We've won or placed in two of the tournaments we've participated in too!).

 

 

[VTcruisenut]

On 3/16/2019 at 2:04 PM, Hawaiidan said:

Question...  you offered a free cruise  because you played in the casino right?     Without being too personal were you a  big spender at the casino ?        Too, do they expect you to play a certain amount of $$$ bets each day.   Otherwise, ,was there any requirement or minimums you had to perform to get the free cruise.      Or.....  being a past player, just get on the ship and  never ever even stop by the casino?        What is the fine print I wonder... they don't give unless they expect to get.

I am not a big spender.  It's the second time I have received a Casino offer.  and just got home last week and the next day had another Casino offer!

[Jammu2]

Its hard to coordinate casino offers with other family members and/or friends who dont receive the offers. It doesn't sound like your cruise was on the list. Maybe it will work out next time.

 

Enjoy your cruise.

[DaveOKC]

11 hours ago, VTcruisenut said:

I am not a big spender.  It's the second time I have received a Casino offer.  and just got home last week and the next day had another Casino offer!

 

Lucky you!  We never get an Offer.

 

Maybe its a good thing that we do not get the offers, otherwise we would be cruising even more than now!

 

 

[Hawaiidan]

14 hours ago, VTcruisenut said:

I am not a big spender.  It's the second time I have received a Casino offer.  and just got home last week and the next day had another Casino offer!

 Good for you....your on somebody's list !!!  Amazing     Me, I dont gamble... I can deal with it.

[VTcruisenut]

We got off the Oosterdam on March 23rd and I had an email Casino offer the next day for a free cruise!  They don't always come via regular mail, but on email and you have to act immediately!  I met 3 couples on our last cruise who were sailing on the free Casino offer and 2 of them said this was their 2nd freebie!

 

[OVgirl]

Not sure what people mean when they say they don't spend much in the casino. I understand that no one really wants to share numbers. So I'll ask, will $25 a day on slot machines get one a casino offer? Any ideas?

[OVgirl]

On 1/6/2019 at 1:37 PM, mudscraper said:

Your statement that Free Casino cabins are only offered to the biggest gamblers is a surprise to me.  We get free cabin offers (including two in the last two months) and my wife plays the penny slots and limits her spending (losses) to $25.00 per day. I don't gamble at all.

 

Thanks for giving a $ amount. I always wondered what amount would get an offer.

 

[OVgirl]

 

Oops. Double post.

Edited April 2, 2019 by OVgirl

[a99cow]

My last six cruises have all been free and mostly I travel alone.  Watch my mail and email closely for offers then immediately call my cruise consultant.  They will hold the inside room for 24 hours.  So I hang up and give it some serious thought then call back the next day with my answer.  First one was 16 days through the Panama Canal for taxes + fees only.  A couple of trips to the Caribbean and two to Alaska, including one for 14 days.  There is no single supplement as long as you take the inside room.  Happy sailing!

[msmayor]

On ‎4‎/‎2‎/‎2019 at 2:26 PM, OVgirl said:

Not sure what people mean when they say they don't spend much in the casino. I understand that no one really wants to share numbers. So I'll ask, will $25 a day on slot machines get one a casino offer? Any ideas?

 

I can't say for sure if that will do it.

 

My husband and I have a pretty strict casino budget (albeit it is more than $25 a day - it is roughly $100 each per day, and we play more table games...video poker is our only slot indulgence).  When I say strict, I mean strict - we put two hundred-dollar bills in an envelop and mark the day of the cruise it will be used.  At the end of the day, whatever may be left of that $200 goes into our 'Onboard Bill' envelope and on the last night we take that to Guest Services to apply against our bill.  I can tell you that more often than not, we pay off our whole  bill and still come home with funds.

 

Anyway, that $100 each might fund 3-4 visits to the casino in a single day.  We'll put a hundred down at the blackjack table, they swipe our card, and maybe have a good dozen hands...walking away with $150.  A couple hours later, we're back in the casino putting a hundred down again (the same hundred we put down before), swipe our card and play.  Maybe now we walk away with $75 (so total $125 still available).  A third trip a little while later, another hundred down at the tables, swipe the card...and by now the casino has a record of us dropping $300 in the casino.  But it was really all the same $100.

 

It may come down to how much time you spend in the casino...because statistically the longer you stay, the better odds for the house.  

 

We also register and play in the blackjack tournaments (and have won or placed three times).  That got our name in the casino systems as well.

 

We've been getting casino rates and offers for five years, ever since our first HAL cruise finished.

 

 

[OVgirl]

@msmayor  thanks for elaborating your strategy.

[mudscraper]

We have received several casino offers including four different offers in the last six months. The last one came yesterday.  My wife plays the slots (I don't gamble) and she limits her spending to $25.00 per day.

[CrusinAgain]

From testing from 3 of us in a family (not same household) we have discovered its not the amount of money you spend in the casino...its the points that shows up on your card each time you play.  We tried different levels of points which my sister hit the magic number and got free play immediately on the cruise as well as a casino offer for freeplay for next cruise booked within 30 days.  This varied from $50 to $100 on the different ships.  This number of points is not a secret and it is 1,000 points for this entry level into the discount cabins as well as freeplay offers.  I was getting way less points and never got any offers until I reached a tad over 1000 points and now we are getting discounted cabins as well as free and the freeplays.  My husband never reached that many points but for the first time he received an offer for discounted cabins yesterday by email but never freeplay.  My sister and I play slots and if one did not get any winnings from the slots it is approximately $4 a point because we have sat there and counted the number of spins before the next point would show up on the machine we were playing taking into account the price of the slot machine.

[pattycakes4810]

31 minutes ago, CrusinAgain said:

From testing from 3 of us in a family (not same household) we have discovered its not the amount of money you spend in the casino...its the points that shows up on your card each time you play.  We tried different levels of points which my sister hit the magic number and got free play immediately on the cruise as well as a casino offer for freeplay for next cruise booked within 30 days.  This varied from $50 to $100 on the different ships.  This number of points is not a secret and it is 1,000 points for this entry level into the discount cabins as well as freeplay offers.  I was getting way less points and never got any offers until I reached a tad over 1000 points and now we are getting discounted cabins as well as free and the freeplays.  My husband never reached that many points but for the first time he received an offer for discounted cabins yesterday by email but never freeplay.  My sister and I play slots and if one did not get any winnings from the slots it is approximately $4 a point because we have sat there and counted the number of spins before the next point would show up on the machine we were playing taking into account the price of the slot machine.

 

Do all 1,000 points have to be from one cruise, or is it a cumulative effect over several cruises?  

[CrusinAgain]

43 minutes ago, pattycakes4810 said:

 

Do all 1,000 points have to be from one cruise, or is it a cumulative effect over several cruises?  

 

Yes one cruise

[VTcruisenut]

On 5/2/2019 at 3:06 PM, CrusinAgain said:

From testing from 3 of us in a family (not same household) we have discovered its not the amount of money you spend in the casino...its the points that shows up on your card each time you play.  We tried different levels of points which my sister hit the magic number and got free play immediately on the cruise as well as a casino offer for freeplay for next cruise booked within 30 days.  This varied from $50 to $100 on the different ships.  This number of points is not a secret and it is 1,000 points for this entry level into the discount cabins as well as freeplay offers.  I was getting way less points and never got any offers until I reached a tad over 1000 points and now we are getting discounted cabins as well as free and the freeplays.  My husband never reached that many points but for the first time he received an offer for discounted cabins yesterday by email but never freeplay.  My sister and I play slots and if one did not get any winnings from the slots it is approximately $4 a point because we have sat there and counted the number of spins before the next point would show up on the machine we were playing taking into account the price of the slot machine.

This makes sense to me as I did get quite a few points on our last cruise and the offers started almost immediately!

[DaveOKC]

We started getting the casino rate (and a $100 or $50 free play coupon) once we passed 1000 points on one cruise.  Of course this is easier to do on the longer cruises.

 

In our case, the casino rate savings more than offsets our gambling losses (we tract this closely).  Since the casino rate is a percent discount, naturally the higher fare you pay the more you "save", so this situation might not work for everyone.