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Free drinks in the Casino

BETSY DOLL

By BETSY DOLL,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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BETSY DOLL

BETSY DOLL

Posted
Posted

FYI, from my recent 5 day on the Freedom- they did everything possible to avoid giving Casino players any drinks. There were 2 waiters for the entire Casino. They needed at least 6-8. I finally complained to the Casino manager who snapped his fingers at a bar waiter. I got the drink after an hour wait and tipped him $5.

every night was the same gig, no service. I don’t think you can go to the Casino bar as you have to be playing.

Last night at the roulette table we challenged the waiter with $5 tips if he came back every 5 minutes. He did!!!

I happily paid the tip and we had great service! Next time I will start off with the big money tips!!!

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KristiK

KristiK

Posted
Posted

Same thing from my Pride cruise last week. Only 1 or 2 wait staff max for whole casino. Some slot areas never saw a waiter walk by for hours. And the bartender confirmed that the Drinks on Us was only free from a waiter...had to pay if from the bar directly.

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Mic101680

Mic101680

Posted
Posted

I just did a B2B on the Paradise and think I saw waitstaff in the casino maybe 2 or 3 times in 9 days. Granted, I don't spend hours and hours at a time in there, but still, it would have been annoying if I had the casino drink package and had to hunt them down to use it.

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BETSY DOLL

BETSY DOLL

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It’s really annoying that I get this offer but cannot use it due to short staffing!

the next time I will get with the Casino manager from day one. 
I’m a Platinum guest working towards Diamond. I still support Carnival but don’t give me perks that are useless! Thanks 

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Cinnamon2

Cinnamon2

Posted
Posted

I only do the roulette table and went up to the bar and said I was heading the table and can I please have my "included" drink.  The bartender gave me my drink but hinted that he would do it just this time.  During the week I was able to get my drink at the bar before sitting down 3 or 4 more times, no problem.  I always feared that I would go through my self-disciplined money at the table before my drink was delivered if I ordered from wait staff.  

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mz-s

mz-s

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, Cinnamon2 said:

I only do the roulette table and went up to the bar and said I was heading the table and can I please have my "included" drink.  The bartender gave me my drink but hinted that he would do it just this time.  During the week I was able to get my drink at the bar before sitting down 3 or 4 more times, no problem.  I always feared that I would go through my self-disciplined money at the table before my drink was delivered if I ordered from wait staff.  

 

Why do you think "actively playing" doesn't apply to you? The entire point of the program is for you to spend more money playing while they're getting your drink.

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Elaine5715

Elaine5715

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, EngIceDave said:

A smile, being nice and a healthy cash tip early on will help with improved service.

Funny how when I look around I see little of that and worse when people order a drink and change machines.  Servers look and look for people who barely glance at them, only sign their name and continue playing.

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icft

icft

Posted
Posted

Post-covid getting drinks from the servers was darn good, until about December 2022 (we cruise about once a month in the fall, winter and early spring months). Since then service has been terrible.

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samiam0403

samiam0403

Posted
Posted

That's crazy, OP - they had to have been seriously understaffed for some reason. Even on my terribly over-crowded 3-day cruise in September, I had casino drink servers tripping over each other to get me drinks. I tip $1 per drink. I couldn't walk through the packed casino without at least 2 of them offering to bring me a drink immediately, and most times they would just bring me a drink as soon as they saw me. Then again, maybe that's just a commentary on how much time I spend in the casino and we shouldn't examine that too closely. 🤣

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audcc77

audcc77

Posted
Posted

I had trouble on the MG in December. There seemed to be only 1 person on each side of the casino.  
 

What made it more difficult is the fact that I only play 1 slot machine and it’s not in the middle.  Half the time, I had to get up, leaving my card in the machine, tip my chair, and go chase down someone.  

 

I don’t do cheers and I tip every time so I agree that there’s just not enough staff. 
 

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EngIceDave "Live from...." Rare

EngIceDave

Posted
Posted
8 hours ago, Elaine5715 said:

Funny how when I look around I see little of that and worse when people order a drink and change machines.  Servers look and look for people who barely glance at them, only sign their name and continue playing.

Never abandon your waitress.....never

 

If you move, you watch for her/him and and grab 'em, let them know you move.

 

7 hours ago, karlmonday said:

I don't tip a lot, $2 to $3 a drink but it gets me in trouble in the casino as sometimes I have 3 drinks in front of me due to the wait staff trying to get those tips.

That's generous.

I usually start with $5 and go down to $1-$2 after that.

 

What bugs me and people don't think about, your burning a few dollars every minute and you can't drop a dollar or two to the waitress?

***** Bro?

 

I have seen folks in high limit rooms playing $5 and $10+ slots only tip a dollar or nothing at all...think about how sh!++y that looks.

 

Tip well, be nice, smile and even make conversation. Ask them how their day has been. 

See how much service improves

 

Anyone remember The Golden Rule?

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Anyislandwilldo

Anyislandwilldo

Posted
Posted
20 hours ago, ultrafighter said:

My last cruise had a smoke-free casino annex, and I had pretty good luck in there with being able to flag down a server and get drinks in a more timely manner.

Same thing here.  I went to the smoke-free annex and there is hardly anyone there playing slots.  Had no problem getting service.

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Cinnamon2

Cinnamon2

Posted
Posted (edited)
14 hours ago, mz-s said:

 

Why do you think "actively playing" doesn't apply to you? The entire point of the program is for you to spend more money playing while they're getting your drink.

I carried my drink to the table and actively played every time.....if I had waited for wait staff, I might have been finished playing before my drink was delivered.  No guilt feelings here . . . . I probably purchased at least $800 in chips and drank about 5 "free" drinks in the casino all week.

Edited by Cinnamon2
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Elaine5715

Elaine5715

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, EngIceDave said:

Never abandon your waitress.....never

 

If you move, you watch for her/him and and grab 'em, let them know you move.

 

That's generous.

I usually start with $5 and go down to $1-$2 after that.

 

What bugs me and people don't think about, your burning a few dollars every minute and you can't drop a dollar or two to the waitress?

***** Bro?

 

I have seen folks in high limit rooms playing $5 and $10+ slots only tip a dollar or nothing at all...think about how sh!++y that looks.

 

Tip well, be nice, smile and even make conversation. Ask them how their day has been. 

See how much service improves

 

Anyone remember The Golden Rule?

Exactly.  If I move machines, it is within sight of the machine I ordered at and I am turned around watching for the server who I can identify by name if needed.   

I agree about the burning...I see it at all casinos,  People feed a $100 into the machine and put out a $1 for a drink.

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knagl

knagl

Posted
Posted

Drink service on the Spirit in December of 2022 was a little hit or miss at times, but mostly good. I tipped $2 cash on every drink, and a couple of times had a server stop me as I was randomly walking through the casino just to see if I wanted a drink.

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mistyinca

mistyinca

Posted
Posted

This will be my first time on a cruise with the free drinks in the casino offer. Can someone please tell me if there are only certain drinks you can get with this offer, or is it anything that is offered at the casino bar? Thanks so much!

 

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mz-s

mz-s

Posted
Posted
4 minutes ago, mistyinca said:

This will be my first time on a cruise with the free drinks in the casino offer. Can someone please tell me if there are only certain drinks you can get with this offer, or is it anything that is offered at the casino bar? Thanks so much!

 

 

Anything at the casino bar, including sodas etc.

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BlerkOne "Live from...." Rare

BlerkOne

Posted
Posted

I often find it cheaper to go buy my own drinks. On my recent cruise, I overheard someone complaining about a lack of service and I was obligated to point out that many servers were busy handing out free drinks at the P/D parties that were going on 

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