How much gambling is required to receive casino offers?

[jayhawk66]

I see occasional comments from others who have received free or heavily discounted cruise offers. If you have received such offers how much do you think is necessary to spend in the casino and is slots only sufficient ?

Edited June 15, 2021 by jayhawk66
Wording correction

[Mosaic]

It is a big variable....

[sfaaa]

More than the 'free' cruise.

[PigsCanFly]

We usually get a discount from the casino folks.  I just received my first free ocean view offer.

I play table games and occasional slots.  My wife and son play less of each, but we all play.

None of our play is high $, but, at least for me, I am at the table most of the time it is open.  So time played seems to be a bigger factor than $ .

 

[kazu]

Long ago, someone who always gets deals told me it’s a combination of $ and time.  It seems the dollars aren’t as important as much as the time.  Mind you if you are spending any time there, the odds are you will be spending some $$ 😉 

 

To go in and slam a bunch of money in within 15 minutes and never return will do you no good.  You need to spend time there.  For me, it’s the only time I gamble and part of my entertainment on sea days especially (and budgeted).  I guess I do enough to qualify for the discount and the odd free cruise offer (but never to itineraries we want).

 

I’m quite happy with the discount though and the cruise itinerary I do want - if I ever get on a cruise 😉 

[Laminator]

19 minutes ago, sfaaa said:

More than the 'free' cruise.

That is not correct.

[DaveOKC]

How much you need to gamble to get a free cruise offer is a difficult question.  First of all, it seems to depend on how well the cruiseline is selling out its cruises.  That is one reason you are seeing more people reporting getting these free cruises, especially last year when cruising was looking so bleak (thats when we got our first "free cruise" offer).

 

Second, like in most casinos, you get rewarded more for "coin in" than based on what you won or lost.  The casinos know that if you play long enough they will eventually get your money.  Slot players tend to get better casino offers and discounts, since the casino has a greater "hold" on them (greater % return).

 

Is it a worthwhile deal?  We think so.  We never have lost enough in the casino in a given cruise to cover the casino discount (5-30%) we generally get, so we consider ourselves to be ahead of the game.  Of course, the higher priced cabins generate a greater $ discount than the lower priced ones,  so this tilts in our favor.  I know this all seems to be too good to be true, but it does work IF you control your gambling (set a budget and stay within it) and play on machines that pay smaller jackpots than on ones that have large jackpots (since you get to play longer on a given budget and gain more points with the casino).

 

One more thing, it may take a few cruises before you get on the casino's "radar".  Having a cruise where you do a lot of playing helps in this.  Once you start getting the offers and discounts, you seem to stay on the list.

 

 

[echoshipmate]

My theory, and no one knows for sure, but I believe there is a casino data base, similar to a credit reporting agency, that measures play at land based casinos as well as cruise ship play and the cruise lines use that info to determine what types of casino offers you get, if any. So much about us is kept in various data bases, just a matter of pulling it.  

Doug

[AV8rix]

42 minutes ago, echoshipmate said:

My theory, and no one knows for sure, but I believe there is a casino data base, similar to a credit reporting agency, that measures play at land based casinos as well as cruise ship play and the cruise lines use that info to determine what types of casino offers you get, if any. So much about us is kept in various data bases, just a matter of pulling it.  

Doug

You are correct.  It is called "rating".

 

However, IMO, CCLs Ocean Players Club is much more opaque in their rating tiering  than either NCLs Casinos at Sea or RCIs Casino Royale.

 

I've never sailed with either NCL or RCI but I have looked at their respective casino subsidiaries web sites and they are fairly up front about their rating expectations/requirements for their various tier levels. Again, JMO.

[Laminator]

54 minutes ago, echoshipmate said:

My theory, and no one knows for sure, but I believe there is a casino data base, similar to a credit reporting agency, that measures play at land based casinos as well as cruise ship play and the cruise lines use that info to determine what types of casino offers you get, if any. So much about us is kept in various data bases, just a matter of pulling it.  

Doug

There is no way casinos are going to share their customers info with other casinos. Some land based casinos are in bed with certain cruise lines. If you play enough at a land based casino you will be offered a free cruise from that casino on whatever cruise line they are in bed with. 
On land based casinos and I am quite sure most cruise lines they use a process called theoretical to rate their players. For simplification purposes it rates your time and amount of play. It is much easier to rate the slot play.

 

For table play they look at your time and average bet. On the ships you have to make sure the table bosses notice if you raise your bet. If you start at $5 and raise it to $10 or $15 they may not notice as the table bosses are being pulled in many different directions on the cruise ships.

[kazu]

1 hour ago, echoshipmate said:

My theory, and no one knows for sure, but I believe there is a casino data base, similar to a credit reporting agency, that measures play at land based casinos as well as cruise ship play and the cruise lines use that info to determine what types of casino offers you get, if any. So much about us is kept in various data bases, just a matter of pulling it.  

Doug

 

 

Well, if that is true, I have no idea why I get casino discounts or casino offers.  We don’t go to casinos.

 

The only time I go to a casino is on the ship.  And yet, somehow I still get a discount and some offers now and then.  Go figure.

[atexsix]

44 minutes ago, kazu said:

 

 

Well, if that is true, I have no idea why I get casino discounts or casino offers.  We don’t go to casinos.

 

The only time I go to a casino is on the ship.  And yet, somehow I still get a discount and some offers now and then.  Go figure.

 

We always get these too and we're hardly ever in the casino.  

[madera1]

My 99 year old mom has received a free inside cruise offer and others. She has been on 2 cruises with me and played slots most days for about -30 min. She probably put in $10-20 per day

[SusieKIslandGirl]

I've wondered if getting a casino offer has anything to do with who you book your cruise with. We use that big box store and while I spend a fair amount of time in the casino playing video poker I have never received a casino offer.

[leerathje]

My story is:

1st cruise Koningsdam Jan 2019. I budgeted $100. for the cruise. I played pretty much every day, 10 - 15 mins a day. I won, I lost, I won almost $300!  I'm pretty sure by the time the cruise was over I was up $30. on my $100, and pocketed the $300.

2nd Cruise Oosterdam Mar 2020. Same $100. budget. I probably ended up $40. down on the $100.

I started getting casino offers late last summer. Any free rooms were insides, but easy to upgrade. Some cruises were discounted instead. Also, anywhere from $50 - $100 casino free play.Booked a verandah gty at 30% off for 11 day Caribbean w/the old Have It All, for around $2200 CAD.

And $75. free casino play.   But we also booked during View and Verandah, and invited my dad and friend to come with us. They upgraded their free inside from our booking to a verandah gty for under $1,000. 

I have been to Vegas once 10 years ago, and only occasionally play at our local casino, but it is govt. owned. 

 

BUT, you also need to make sure you opt in for spam. I made sure I'm opted in from my HAL login page.

 

L.

 

[kazu]

7 hours ago, SusieKIslandGirl said:

I've wondered if getting a casino offer has anything to do with who you book your cruise with. We use that big box store and while I spend a fair amount of time in the casino playing video poker I have never received a casino offer.

 

Now that’s an interesting thought.  I don’t book with big box and benefit from my casino play.  Maybe the casino offers fairy is related to the upsell / upgrade fairy who also works in mysterious ways 😉 

[DaveOKC]

9 hours ago, SusieKIslandGirl said:

I've wondered if getting a casino offer has anything to do with who you book your cruise with. We use that big box store and while I spend a fair amount of time in the casino playing video poker I have never received a casino offer.

From what others have said, booking with big box still generates the discount, but the free cabin offers come directly from the casino, so I am not sure about those.

 

I think the reason you never get a casino offer is that you are playing video poker rather than slots (VP generally is less profitable to the casino).  I play VP as well and my wife slots.  She gets the casino deals but I never have.

[KirkNC]

18 hours ago, kazu said:

Long ago, someone who always gets deals told me it’s a combination of $ and time.  It seems the dollars aren’t as important as much as the time.  Mind you if you are spending any time there, the odds are you will be spending some $$ 😉 

 

To go in and slam a bunch of money in within 15 minutes and never return will do you no good.  You need to spend time there.  For me, it’s the only time I gamble and part of my entertainment on sea days especially (and budgeted).  I guess I do enough to qualify for the discount and the odd free cruise offer (but never to itineraries we want).

 

I’m quite happy with the discount though and the cruise itinerary I do want - if I ever get on a cruise 😉 

I agree, we have received casino discounts in the past and I am not dropping lots of $$$.  I have been known to spend time however.

[Laminator]

I use a PCC when booking all my casino cruises. I am offered a free neptune suite. I never wait for them to assign me the suite as I want a corner aft. So I call my PCC right away and start the process. I wind up paying some extra which is the difference between the SC and SB category. I know for fact in my case my PCC has to contact the casino dept to have them pay for my cabin. It's 2 to 3 days later that my booking confirmation shows paid in full. The process may be easier for the PCC then a big box store.

 

Edited June 16, 2021 by Laminator

[Roz]

I've received some small discounts for playing bingo on a regular basis.

[sansterre]

🤔 Confused......I've played a few slots on some cruises.  No one has ever asked for my name or room number so how could they possibly know how long you spend in the Casino? 

[drowelf]

15 hours ago, kazu said:

 

 

Well, if that is true, I have no idea why I get casino discounts or casino offers.  We don’t go to casinos.

 

The only time I go to a casino is on the ship.  And yet, somehow I still get a discount and some offers now and then.  Go figure.

We've gotten the Casino Discount on our cruises for many years now. We occasionally get the free, (or almost free) Casino offers a few times over the years. Only taken them up once. Most time either the itinerary or schedule do not appeal to us. 

 

 Our spend in the casino is not that much. We budget an amount for each of us. The actual amount is based on the number of sea days, voyage length and random factors. I play table games and the DW is a slot gal. I doubt that we have ever dropped more than $1000 on cruise gambling and its often much less. Hey I've even walked off the ship with a positive balance on in our gambling fund a couple of times. 

 

So why we get these offers is a mystery to me. But I'll take that casino discount, its added up to a bit of change over the years. 

 

[Laminator]

7 minutes ago, sansterre said:

🤔 Confused......I've played a few slots on some cruises.  No one has ever asked for my name or room number so how could they possibly know how long you spend in the Casino? 

You are supposed to put your room card in the slot on the slot machine. 

[drowelf]

7 minutes ago, sansterre said:

🤔 Confused......I've played a few slots on some cruises.  No one has ever asked for my name or room number so how could they possibly know how long you spend in the Casino? 

On all the slot machines I've seen on cruises you have to use your insert your room key card to use the bank function, as some I've seen will take cash, none actually dispense the cash, its all electronic. When I play table games, I give the dealer my room key and the pit boss records it on their ledger and tracks my play. 

[sansterre]

Hmmmmm, I don't recall using my room key.  It's been awhile.....