Casino Promotions

[Thrak]

16 hours ago, MarinerBoy said:

If you are struggling to cover your costs and not winning consistently at a casino (which has better odds by the way than land based casinos for reasons i can get into later if desired) then may i suggest investing into some books or articles on casino strategy.

 

I'm sure I've read in several places that cruise line casino slots offer worse payouts than land based casinos.

[pms4104]

16 hours ago, MarinerBoy said:

Well I go on FREE cruises comped by the casino. I haven't had to pay for a cruise since a few years back.

 

See the real pros and expert cruisers don't pay for things like "run of the mill tourist" oh no, we get VIP service from the casino and get our cruises, drinks and credits COMPED.

 

I spend my time in the casino grinding away making money, cruising is how I pass time and casino is how I pay the bills.

Does anyone really think Princess' casino operation comps anything, or everything, to consistent winners?  

 

That would be a really crappy business model!

[MarinerBoy]

7 minutes ago, pms4104 said:

Does anyone really think Princess' casino operation comps anything, or everything, to consistent winners?  

 

That would be a really crappy business model!

Casinos reward you for "churned money" or playthrough. I am sure you heard of credit card "churners" right?

 

Well what is less talked about are the "casino churners", a small but knowledgeable group of people who are using MS "manufactured spending" techniques in the casino to generate high play through to qualify for points.

 

I myself am one of these people, I am fortunate to be able to be a prime member at the YourComped club and have been sailing free around the world on major cruise lines all compliments of the Casino.

 

Matter of fact, I am going on a 12 day Hawaii cruise in December with Princess, all paid for by Princess. The casino doesn't discriminate between legitimate players and those who churn play through dollars, they aren't that sophisticated, so my free bonuses and comps keep coming.

 

I consider my self one of the cleverest and most successful cruisers on the planet thank you very much.

[skynight]

1 hour ago, Thrak said:

 

I'm sure I've read in several places that cruise line casino slots offer worse payouts than land based casinos.

In the U.S. it depends on the State. Some States have laws that require certain minimum payouts and laws vary. Cruise ships are not subject to any payout laws and can set payouts at whatever they like. If I was to guess cruise ship payouts are probably in the 80% range, meaning the casino retains 20% of the gross over time. The low amount machines like the 1 cent slots, usually have a higher casino house advantage then the $1 machines. Table games offer the player a higher chance to win. Craps for example has a 1 1/2% house advantage on pass line bets, meaning that for every $100 wagered the house retains $1.50. The house percentage increases with the center table as well as place/lay bets. This is why minimum bets are higher. Casinos are all about turning money. The more they turn the more they make.

[c-boy]

2 hours ago, MarinerBoy said:

Casinos reward you for "churned money" or playthrough. I am sure you heard of credit card "churners" right?

 

Well what is less talked about are the "casino churners", a small but knowledgeable group of people who are using MS "manufactured spending" techniques in the casino to generate high play through to qualify for points.

 

I myself am one of these people, I am fortunate to be able to be a prime member at the YourComped club and have been sailing free around the world on major cruise lines all compliments of the Casino.

 

Matter of fact, I am going on a 12 day Hawaii cruise in December with Princess, all paid for by Princess. The casino doesn't discriminate between legitimate players and those who churn play through dollars, they aren't that sophisticated, so my free bonuses and comps keep coming.

 

I consider my self one of the cleverest and most successful cruisers on the planet thank you very much.

Congrats on the 12 dayer. I'll assume your a card player.  I am under the impression that Konami's SYNCROS uses biometric player tracking, you know anything about that ? 

[MarinerBoy]

5 hours ago, c-boy said:

Congrats on the 12 dayer. I'll assume your a card player.  I am under the impression that Konami's SYNCROS uses biometric player tracking, you know anything about that ? 

 

You are getting far ahead of your self, SYNCROS is widely used by land based properties, cruiseships are not yet clients of this casino management tool. For optimum money churn you should always always be playing tables.

 

It helps of course that I know 90% of the casino pit bosses personally by now after years of comp sailing, they polish up my playthrough rates in exchange I bring them customers, friends and promote the casino while I am walking around the ship.

 

See true power lies with the pit boss because they decide and they keep track of who played how much and for how long, its a rudimentary archaic system that allows for personal exploitation you see.

 

If I put down $1000 on craps but only play $50 on passline for an hour, its not uncommon for the playthrough to be recorded at 300 or 400% higher by the pit boss then I actually played because I know them and we got each other's back and casinos on ships have 0 way to verify individual level table games unless something is clearly off but I fly under the radar. Remember who you talking to, a legend in the casino comp community.

[c-boy]

 

 I'm sorry, I forgot what we were talking about. 

[Ronnieslady]

10 hours ago, MarinerBoy said:

Casinos reward you for "churned money" or playthrough. I am sure you heard of credit card "churners" right?

 

Well what is less talked about are the "casino churners", a small but knowledgeable group of people who are using MS "manufactured spending" techniques in the casino to generate high play through to qualify for points.

 

I myself am one of these people, I am fortunate to be able to be a prime member at the YourComped club and have been sailing free around the world on major cruise lines all compliments of the Casino.

 

Matter of fact, I am going on a 12 day Hawaii cruise in December with Princess, all paid for by Princess. The casino doesn't discriminate between legitimate players and those who churn play through dollars, they aren't that sophisticated, so my free bonuses and comps keep coming.

 

I consider my self one of the cleverest and most successful cruisers on the planet thank you very much.

Are you sure that’s on Princess???

[caribill]

11 hours ago, Thrak said:

 

I'm sure I've read in several places that cruise line casino slots offer worse payouts than land based casinos.

 

Of course.

 

In Vegas, if you do not like the odds in one casino, you can easily go to another.

 

On a ship, that would be a long swim.

[nbsjcruiser]

On 6/2/2021 at 9:05 PM, Daniel A said:

I have never before received a casino offer but I got my first one yesterday.  How can I determine if the casino offer is better than an existing booking?  My T/A doesn't handle casino offers.

Yeah, no doubt your TA doesn't. Its approximately 35% cheaper than whatever the going rate is. I used to work for a travel agency part time - getting ready to retire looking for something to keep me busy. Anyway, I knew about these casino offers and mentioned it in one of our team meetings. You'd think I asked the owner to sacrifice her first born on an altar. She steadfastly refused to use them for any clients but was fine if one of the TAs used it. I quit within a week of that. As I explained in an email to her - if you purchased a car from a salesman and tomorrow you found out that he could have saved you 35% but didn't tell you, how would you feel? 

 

Saying your TA doesn't handle it means they won't. This is your TA looking at his/her commission and knowing that they wont make as much. To honor the casino offer its as easy as this - they log on to Sabre and in the code for discounts they type "Casino" - that's it. No more to it than that. The fact that they refuse to do that should be a warning sign with great big red lights.

 

I'm telling you now - RUN as fast as you can because that TA has their own best interests at heart - not yours.

[Jadn13]

On 6/2/2021 at 8:05 PM, Daniel A said:

I have never before received a casino offer but I got my first one yesterday.  How can I determine if the casino offer is better than an existing booking?  My T/A doesn't handle casino offers.

You can call the Princess Casino Team and they can tell you what the offer is exactly and if it includes any extras. 

[CrankyOldGuy]

41 minutes ago, nbsjcruiser said:

I'm telling you now - RUN as fast as you can because that TA has their own best interests at heart - not yours.

 

Of course they do, just like all commission based salespeople which is what a TA is.  A TA is no different than a car salesman or a real estate agent; the more they can get you to pay the more they will earn.  Unless they are friends or family, I can't see why they would reduce their commission to save you money. 

All I've ever gotten from using a travel agent are up-sell attempts and overpriced insurance package offers with dire warnings of how the [much cheaper] Princess insurance won't cover everything.  

[mina]

A few things to think about when considering a casino offer for a free cruise:  if the offer is for an inside, you need to pay for the upgrade to a balcony, if you want one and sometimes the princess plus is not included.  Your 200 deposit is non refundable if you have to cancel.  You do get it back as obc on the cruise. In addition, you pay for the cruise in full at the time of purchase.  For airfare through princess, you have to call the casino dept and book through them as well if it is a free cabin offer.  If you add it online yourself, it cancels your entire cruise, a known system issue. For us, I had to pay in full for business airfare to Europe upfront as they claim any booking has to have everything paid in full upfront, even the flexible air.    The air is still flexible air, but you can not change it online if the price goes down, you need to call them again.   Honestly, I will never do a free cabin again thru them as the upfront payments and hassle of trying to call to reprice and rebook my air just is not worth it. They are collecting interest off of about 7k of my $$ for almost a year before we even sail.   I will stick to the 35% reduced casino rate so I do not have to pay in full upfront or go through the hassle. 

[nbsjcruiser]

34 minutes ago, CrankyOldGuy said:

 

Of course they do, just like all commission based salespeople which is what a TA is.  A TA is no different than a car salesman or a real estate agent; the more they can get you to pay the more they will earn.  Unless they are friends or family, I can't see why they would reduce their commission to save you money. 

All I've ever gotten from using a travel agent are up-sell attempts and overpriced insurance package offers with dire warnings of how the [much cheaper] Princess insurance won't cover everything.  

and phone calls not returned - dont forget that. The last time we used a TA (many years ago) we lost a series of price drops because of phone calls not returned. 

[Steelers36]

37 minutes ago, CrankyOldGuy said:

 

Of course they do, just like all commission based salespeople which is what a TA is.  A TA is no different than a car salesman or a real estate agent; the more they can get you to pay the more they will earn.  Unless they are friends or family, I can't see why they would reduce their commission to save you money. 

All I've ever gotten from using a travel agent are up-sell attempts and overpriced insurance package offers with dire warnings of how the [much cheaper] Princess insurance won't cover everything.  

 

2 minutes ago, nbsjcruiser said:

and phone calls not returned - don't forget that. The last time we used a TA (many years ago) we lost a series of price drops because of phone calls not returned. 

IDK if a TA earns anything on a comp'd - or nearly comp'd - cabin, so if not, I can understand why they might direct a person to Princess casino dept.  OTOH, if you were a regular LT customer, I don't see why they wouldn't help out at least. 

 

As far as both of your comments on servicing, we have enjoyed very generous cash discounts off the cruise fare from US agencies (12% - 15% off commissionable fare).  Sure, some may send an email with a link to an insurance provider, but never has it been pushed at me.  Neither have I been pushed into booking a higher cabin category.  Service response has been as good as expected - otherwise, I would move on.  Saving money is nice, but it you cannot get something done that needs to be done, then that has a cost as well.  I have had these agencies do re-fares without issue or charges.  I don't expect them to handle air reservations as they earn nothing from that and I am quite capable of handling all my own travel arrangements.

 

Sorry, you both have had poor experiences.  I persisted until finding a good combination of both reliable and personable service and a very good discount.

[nbsjcruiser]

1 minute ago, Steelers36 said:

 

IDK if a TA earns anything on a comp'd - or nearly comp'd - cabin, so if not, I can understand why they might direct a person to Princess casino dept.  OTOH, if you were a regular LT customer, I don't see why they wouldn't help out at least. 

 

As far as both of your comments on servicing, we have enjoyed very generous cash discounts off the cruise fare from US agencies (12% - 15% off commissionable fare).  Sure, some may send an email with a link to an insurance provider, but never has it been pushed at me.  Neither have I been pushed into booking a higher cabin category.  Service response has been as good as expected - otherwise, I would move on.  Saving money is nice, but it you cannot get something done that needs to be done, then that has a cost as well.  I have had these agencies do re-fares without issue or charges.  I don't expect them to handle air reservations as they earn nothing from that and I am quite capable of handling all my own travel arrangements.

 

Sorry, you both have had poor experiences.  I persisted until finding a good combination of both reliable and personable service and a very good discount.

Like you, I make my own air arrangements and I now make my own cruise arrangements. I know if there's a price drop I'm going to get it with a quick phone call to a 1888 number. I'm not going to sit and wait for a call that never comes or comes too latee. 

[muggo11]

Check out the small print!  In addition to the points noted above, the amount you are getting for casino cash and whether gratuities are included are factors. 
 

my TA has been great about booking these offers but more recently I just do them myself as so many have been cancelled, I hate for the TA to do all the work for minimal commissions. 
 

also, now that you have been offered a casino promotion, before you book ANY Princess cruise, ask your TA to see if there is a 35% casino discount available. Also check any cruises you have already booked.  I have been pleasantly surprised many, many times!  The casino discount status can change so ask again before making payments.  
 

On the negative side, only SOME cabins and cabin classes may be available for the casino discount. I have passed on the discount when the location of my cabin mattered more to me than the discount. 

[azbirdmom]

1 hour ago, mina said:

For airfare through princess, you have to call the casino dept and book through them as well if it is a free cabin offer.  If you add it online yourself, it cancels your entire cruise, a known system issue.

 

I learned that lesson the hard way.  The day flights became available for our upcoming (maybe) Antarctica cruise, I found awesome business class EZAir fares.  But when I tried to reserve air the Personalizer behaved like I was modeling airfares after a cruise search.  So I called the regular Princess number and they went to the air department who "fixed" something so that I could book it online.  Throughout the conversation I was telling them that the air was associated with a free cruise from the casino.  I made the air reservation, paying in full immediately. I didn't think anything more about it until I checked my email the next morning and found the cancellation notice from Princess.  I called the casino number as soon as they opened and they said that it cancelled because the person who "fixed" our reservation did didn't take into account that the casino department still needed to pay, and because the cruise wasn't paid in full the booking was automatically cancelled.  Fortunately they were able to restore everything including the flights at the price that I paid, even though the fares had gone up over $1k overnight.  That was the first "free" cruise that I booked and I have one other one.  You had bet that I will call the casino number to book air for that cruise.

[Sunset329]

We booked a cruise with a casino offer. The cruise is in February of 2022. We are suppose to receive casino credit when we play in the casino. The casino credit does not appear when I review our credits on the Princess site for this cruise. Is there any way I can check for the casino credit? Do I call Princess to check the casino credit? 

[mina]

5 minutes ago, Sunset329 said:

We booked a cruise with a casino offer. The cruise is in February of 2022. We are suppose to receive casino credit when we play in the casino. The casino credit does not appear when I review our credits on the Princess site for this cruise. Is there any way I can check for the casino credit? Do I call Princess to check the casino credit? 

Mine usually shows in the Trip summary under OBC section as casino freeplay. Access this by clicking on check in and then on the Trip Summary document.    You can also go to your profile and look under FCCs and it should show your offer and which booking it was applied to.   It does not show on the payment section where normal OBC shows.  

Edited July 6, 2021 by mina

[CineGraphic]

3 hours ago, CrankyOldGuy said:

Unless they are friends or family, I can't see why they would reduce their commission to save you money. 

If a TA refused to book my casino rate of 35% off of an inside, I’d go elsewhere. The TA is obviously stupid enough to think that no commission is better than commission on a reduced fare. We have 7 bookings between now and the end of 2022, all at a casino rate. My TA is happy to have our repeat business and all of the referrals I send his way, even if my bookings are all 35% off.

[dog]

Ours shows up in the Travel Summary that can be printed out now. It is only listed under one of our names. This is in the Personalizer on website 

[memoak]

Some casino offers are just for free cabins but no casino cash - other are reduced fare plus casino cash and some have both.  If you are getting free play it should show in you travel summary

[memoak]

Every cruise we take has some kind of discount as a casino player.  Some times free play sometimes not but always something.  If you are not getting some discount on all cruises then you may not be on the casino groups books and a steady player.  You can always call and see if you have anything coming ?

[Steelers36]

4 hours ago, azbirdmom said:

 

I learned that lesson the hard way.  The day flights became available for our upcoming (maybe) Antarctica cruise, I found awesome business class EZAir fares.  But when I tried to reserve air the Personalizer behaved like I was modeling airfares after a cruise search.  So I called the regular Princess number and they went to the air department who "fixed" something so that I could book it online.  Throughout the conversation I was telling them that the air was associated with a free cruise from the casino.  I made the air reservation, paying in full immediately. I didn't think anything more about it until I checked my email the next morning and found the cancellation notice from Princess.  I called the casino number as soon as they opened and they said that it cancelled because the person who "fixed" our reservation did didn't take into account that the casino department still needed to pay, and because the cruise wasn't paid in full the booking was automatically cancelled.  Fortunately they were able to restore everything including the flights at the price that I paid, even though the fares had gone up over $1k overnight.  That was the first "free" cruise that I booked and I have one other one.  You had bet that I will call the casino number to book air for that cruise.

Very good info and appreciated reading it even though I doubt I will ever receive a casino offer.