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Free, or very heavily discounted, Carnival cruises

sofmall

By sofmall,
in Carnival Cruise Lines

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resetjet

resetjet

Posted
Posted
19 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

If you only use your FreePlay and OBC ($1250.00) in the casino, then yes this one was "free".  After all, casinos are built on winners..oh, wait..that doesn't sound right.  

You are 100% correct.  They are HOPEFULLY discounted cruises. If you dont keep gambling your offers will dry up.  However, I have had some free ones.  Every once is a long while you have a lucky cruise and win enough to cover it.  

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def0715

def0715

Posted
Posted (edited)

Thanks. Had a lot of points for me (more than ever) and have gotten them in the past. Was surprised.

 

Has anyone received one of these after an Australia sailing? We got off the Splendor out of Sydney a few weeks ago.

 

Were the offers left in your cabin?

Edited by def0715
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resetjet

resetjet

Posted
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25 minutes ago, my kids mama said:

That is pretty cool that it's posted everywhere.  Let's say you had a free ocean view but wanted a balcony. Can you pay a little bit more to upgrade?

 

There are two ways to do that.  Its not that hard to get a balcony without paying extra.  But if you can only get something lower, you can pay the difference upon booking.  Or what I recommend is doing the royal up, upgrade bid.  I have scored up to an owners suite on oasis.  You just place a bid for up to two categories from what you booked.  If your bid is accepted, your good.  You do not get to pick the actual location though, only the category if you go this route.

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my kids mama

my kids mama

Posted
Posted
30 minutes ago, resetjet said:

There are two ways to do that.  Its not that hard to get a balcony without paying extra.  But if you can only get something lower, you can pay the difference upon booking.  Or what I recommend is doing the royal up, upgrade bid.  I have scored up to an owners suite on oasis.  You just place a bid for up to two categories from what you booked.  If your bid is accepted, your good.  You do not get to pick the actual location though, only the category if you go this route.

That is interesting.  I have never cruised Royal, I wonder how my offers would compare on them vs Carnival.  Carnival just keeps me coming back because of the good deals.  I am not opposed to tying other lines at all.  

 

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resetjet

resetjet

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, my kids mama said:

That is interesting.  I have never cruised Royal, I wonder how my offers would compare on them vs Carnival.  Carnival just keeps me coming back because of the good deals.  I am not opposed to tying other lines at all.  

 

I suggest you book an affordable cabin with the intention of hitting hard in the casino.  The casino year starts april 1 somas soon as you amass 2500 points you will be prime,  get free drinks and olenty of offers.  You should have no problem getting a free cruise based on the table i posted as well.  I would try to do a quantum or oasis class because the entertainment is really good and the casinos are large.

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StephPS79

StephPS79

Posted
Posted
28 minutes ago, my kids mama said:

That is interesting.  I have never cruised Royal, I wonder how my offers would compare on them vs Carnival.  Carnival just keeps me coming back because of the good deals.  I am not opposed to tying other lines at all.  

 

 

We cruise both, whichever one is giving us a free room!  I'll say, it's far easier to book Carnival casino offers that Royal.  You can book Carnival on the website just like any other booking.  Royal you have to book through a casino rep.  Also, Royal's "select sailings" are far more limited than Carnival.

 

One other thing I'll mention, the free drinks in the casino is better on Royal, you can order at the bar and don't have to wait for an attendant.

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my kids mama

my kids mama

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, resetjet said:

I suggest you book an affordable cabin with the intention of hitting hard in the casino.  The casino year starts april 1 somas soon as you amass 2500 points you will be prime,  get free drinks and olenty of offers.  You should have no problem getting a free cruise based on the table i posted as well.  I would try to do a quantum or oasis class because the entertainment is really good and the casinos are large.

Ok! But first I have to get through the 3 cruises that I have booked on Carnival.  Man, this owning my own business thing is really messing up my cruising schedule.  I can't get away as much as I would like. 

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resetjet

resetjet

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, StephPS79 said:

 

We cruise both, whichever one is giving us a free room!  I'll say, it's far easier to book Carnival casino offers that Royal.  You can book Carnival on the website just like any other booking.  Royal you have to book through a casino rep.  Also, Royal's "select sailings" are far more limited than Carnival.

 

One other thing I'll mention, the free drinks in the casino is better on Royal, you can order at the bar and don't have to wait for an attendant.

I like to book with an agent.  On royal you just call and book with the casino,  on carnival,  i still call because i often get a better situation.  On the last one she said, let me see if i can get you an outside and she did.  As far as selection, on royal i get my any cruise 7 fay each year(except if ship is less then 1 year old),   my monthly offers and usually a hundred cruises to choose from if i get 800 points or more on a cruise.  Plus i can combine offers with wife.  2 insides = 1 balcony or dollars off any cruise which is also combinable.  So i feel there is substantially more opportunity.

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LasseKjus

LasseKjus

Posted
Posted (edited)

Coming out of Covid pause, about 8ish months after the restart, I was getting all kinds of offers for Carnival, with the best being $4 (not including taxes) per person for an inside state room for a 10-day Australian cruise in October. I did book a 5-day cruise over Thanksgiving 2021 for $25 per person, not including taxes.

I did book 9-day Norwegian itinerary for this summer which includes a $500 OBC, which is a casino rate. I'm not a huge gambler. I usually lose about $250 per cruise, but often that includes some winnings that I give back.

Edited by LasseKjus
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1kaper Great Review Rare

1kaper

Posted
Posted
On 2/22/2023 at 2:16 PM, EngIceDave said:

 

It's a matter of perspective. I play (gamble) for fun with little expectation of winning. I hope I win, I pray I'll win to every God I can think of in order to win, but it's all in fun.

 

So we look at it this way....how much is a 7 day balcony cabin for two? That's what I play (+/-).

So it pays for the cruise and I get entertained with it. I don't mind, I didn't plan to win.

 


This is where I am. 
We have money budgeted for each night.  I play what I win or sometimes I spend it on something.  I bought myself some nice foundation on board with a little jackpot win. 

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abby1257

abby1257

Posted
Posted
On 2/22/2023 at 1:29 PM, Elaine5715 said:

If you only use your FreePlay and OBC ($1250.00) in the casino, then yes this one was "free".  After all, casinos are built on winners..oh, wait..that doesn't sound right.  

HMMM....Last time I checked...the last few cruises I was handed CASH from the Casino cage....so spend it where I wish

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Paelos

Paelos

Posted
Posted

Just got my first casino offer after playing for about 5 hours in the casino and getting about 650 points, I'm mostly a video poker player so it takes me longer. I ended up losing about $200, and the offer I got was 40% off the casino rate and drinks on us while in the casino on my next cruise. Booking an interior on the Liberty in October as an example would be about $500 with the taxes and fees included, plus the drinks for a 3 day weekend cruise.

 

Given that I can split the cost with a friend, I can essentially cruise for $250 for the weekend, and he gets a good deal.

 

Taking into account this is probably a savings of about $100 over normal rates, and then the added drinks, if I drink more than 10 drinks on the cruise for free, it's essentially even. (Not counting what I lose the next time, but then who knows, more offers I guess).

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hapytobehr

hapytobehr

Posted
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On 2/22/2023 at 2:42 PM, def0715 said:

Thanks. Had a lot of points for me (more than ever) and have gotten them in the past. Was surprised.

 

Has anyone received one of these after an Australia sailing? We got off the Splendor out of Sydney a few weeks ago.

 

Were the offers left in your cabin?

They no longer leave the offers in your cabin.  They show up in your offers on the website as others have shown as Cruise, Play, Repeat

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def0715

def0715

Posted
Posted (edited)

Thanks. 25,000 points (and considerable losing) and nothing in my offers on the website. 
 

I’ve received them in the past in my cabin and/or online. It’s been almost two weeks, so I’m going to guess I’m just not getting one.

 

I have other offers but no Cruise, Play, Repeat.

Edited by def0715
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EngIceDave "Live from...." Rare

EngIceDave

Posted
Posted
12 minutes ago, def0715 said:

Thanks. 25,000 points (and considerable losing) and nothing in my offers on the website. 
 

I received them in the past in my cabin and/or online. It’s been almost two weeks, so I’m going to guess I’m just not getting one.

Call and ask for a casino host, explain your points and so on and see what they say. If anything, might put you on their radar.

 

 

51 minutes ago, hapytobehr said:

They no longer leave the offers in your cabin.  They show up in your offers on the website as others have shown as Cruise, Play, Repeat

 

On Celebration a few weeks ago they left a Casino Offer flyer in our cabin on the final night, and it was insulting.

I get better offers online.

 

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def0715

def0715

Posted
Posted (edited)

Are there actual hosts one can call? You’d think I haven’t been on 39 Carnival sailings. 🤣 Thank you.

 

(I do have other casino offers. Was just a bit surprised not to have gotten this one.) 

Edited by def0715
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