Testing casino points for a cruise offer on my last cruise

[Eli_6]

I think that the very first time your cruise or play in the casino on a cruise, you can get offers without spending much at all--as in, maybe $20.  But I think that to continue to qualify for them, you have to spend more.  I also think that when they were requiring the shot, some people were getting offers who might not have otherwise gotten them.  I got offers during this time and have not recently. May also have to do with how many cruises you have booked.

[carsastic]

I haven’t cruised carnival in years, we have moved on  ( the last one was a canceled Cuba cruise ). I like to gamble , but never did much when cruising  .I did get some nice / OK offers from the player club ?nothing to really get excited about.
We do go to Vegas a couple / three times a year. 
I think CCL must buy lists from the MGM group. It started about 8 months ago … I’m always getting very attractive  offers now, I’m hoping to use one at a yet to be decided in family trip that’s being set up.

in my opinion your better off gambling Vegas .. 

[Elaine5715]

6 hours ago, asalligo said:

Many people ask how may points it takes to get a casino offer and often on this board people have claimed that it does not take much play to get one so I tested it on my cruise in April. I played 30 minutes each day on my seven day cruise making sure to spend no less than $20 each day and spend at least 30 minutes playing every day.

 

This resulted in 407 points at the casino and so far after a little over two weeks home, no offers at all. It appears to me that points accumulated at about 1 point for every $2.50 wagered. I will update if an offer comes in at a later date, but I suspect the points have to be much higher than what I achieved which would mean more time in the casino than I am personally willing to spend on a cruise. 

Points mean nothing for future offers.  Casino offers are targeted market demographics so the bigger internet present you have connected to your Carnival.com email, the wider the net.  Adding your land casino cards to the Ocean Players FunMatch site gives you a boost.  You also need to opt in for marketing offers everywhere Carnival asks including during online check in.  

[Elaine5715]

3 minutes ago, carsastic said:

I haven’t cruised carnival in years, we have moved on  ( the last one was a canceled Cuba cruise ). I like to gamble , but never did much when cruising  .I did get some nice / OK offers from the player club ?nothing to really get excited about.
We do go to Vegas a couple / three times a year. 
I think CCL must buy lists from the MGM group. It started about 8 months ago … I’m always getting very attractive  offers now, I’m hoping to use one at a yet to be decided in family trip that’s being set up.

in my opinion your better off gambling Vegas .. 

Yes, they do and the closer they get to the sports betting opening, the more they will be marketing to MGM Rewards members.  They get bettors onboard, they don't need to worry about gamblers switching casinos.  

[asalligo]

3 hours ago, BrotherCraig said:

How do you know how many points?  I have been on many cruises gambling and never once kept track of points.  I usually only budget $1K for gambling - never slots.  I never have received any deals.  Thanks.

Your points appear in the hub in your casino account. I attached a short video. 

[bowlinmoe]

Not worth playing for a free cruise. In the long run, your losses will exceed the cost of the free cruise.

[EllieinNJ]

I will be going on my second Carnival cruise in a few weeks.  Did not play in the casino the first cruise.  Plan to play now.  Do you have to get a player's card or do you use the sign and sail card?

[x lindsay x]

14 minutes ago, EllieinNJ said:

I will be going on my second Carnival cruise in a few weeks.  Did not play in the casino the first cruise.  Plan to play now.  Do you have to get a player's card or do you use the sign and sail card?

You use your sail and sign card. 

[audcc77]

6 hours ago, 1kaper said:

I went to the casino once when I was home but did not enjoy it.  It was not nearly as much fun losing money.

I’m with ya, sister.  
 

We went to the biggest casino in NY for just a few hours last week and played slots. Just passing through as a one time thing.  
 

Not near as much fun since I knew my losses were not accumulating as points.

[Elaine5715]

8 hours ago, asalligo said:

My test was mainly because so many people on the boards have been saying that offers would be coming in without much money or time spent in the casino without quantifying the amount of time or money.

 

Unfortunately, I think that many people who gamble often think that they spent only a short time and amount in the casino and people asking the question would consider the time and money spent to get an offer to be rather high and unreasonable. 

 

I hope that I am in the next round of offers, we shall see. 

 

 

People seem to minimize what they spend "I only spent $20 the entire cruise and the casino host refunded my cruise fare and packed my clothes after buying me 14 steak dinners" or exaggerate "I spent $5000 and got nothing". 

Even $1000 spend onboard is really small potatoes .  There is a reason you can charge up to $5000 a day in the casino and people do hit that limits.     

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

8 hours ago, evandbob said:

...

We play the same amount on Celebrity and have accepted at least 10 free week long mid deck mid ship balcony cabins on their latest ships like Edge and Apex.  Sadly, those offers have now disappeared, but we were quite happy when they were available !!

 

Celebrity used to send out periodic offers to me for free balcony cabins, and I could get 60% off (top) suites - so that's what we did. Now, for the last 8-10 months, it's crickets.... nothing at all.

 

I guess they're keeping their ships full enough that they don't feel the need to lure me back!
 

Tom

 

 

[jerseygirlinAZ]

My husband and I gamble for a pretty long time and with a good deal of money when we cruise ... me on the slots and him a combo of slots and table games.  We took three cruises last year and never got an offer ... until after the last cruise.  I think that's because they saw we had nothing else scheduled and wanted us to come back.  (Of course, this is just a guess.)  We got offered an interior room with drinks on us.

 

We used that offer to book a five-day Christmas cruise to Cabo last December.  Again, spent a good deal of time and money in the casino.  Got an offer once we arrived home for an interior with drinks on us.  Used that to book our 10-day Alaska cruise (though we upgraded to an ocean view).

 

I'm going to try to stay out of the casino a bit on this next cruise, but know I will still play.  We enjoy it and have fun.  If we get an offer, great.  If not, oh well.  

[Calnev1]

2 hours ago, jerseygirlinAZ said:

My husband and I gamble for a pretty long time and with a good deal of money when we cruise ... me on the slots and him a combo of slots and table games.  We took three cruises last year and never got an offer ... until after the last cruise.  I think that's because they saw we had nothing else scheduled and wanted us to come back.  (Of course, this is just a guess.)  We got offered an interior room with drinks on us.

I think you are on to something.  If the cruise line knows you will pay full price . . . why should they offer you a casino deal??    There are folks on the Carnival forum who complain that they are extremely loyal but are never offered any deals.  Yeah, its best to show that you are NOT loyal and make them entice you to get on the ship!

[jerseygirlinAZ]

1 hour ago, Calnev1 said:

I think you are on to something.  If the cruise line knows you will pay full price . . . why should they offer you a casino deal??    There are folks on the Carnival forum who complain that they are extremely loyal but are never offered any deals.  Yeah, its best to show that you are NOT loyal and make them entice you to get on the ship!

 

Indeed!  Why offer something when people are already willing to buy?  We won't book another cruise until after this one, just to see what happens.  

[Elaine5715]

10 hours ago, Calnev1 said:

I think you are on to something.  If the cruise line knows you will pay full price . . . why should they offer you a casino deal??    There are folks on the Carnival forum who complain that they are extremely loyal but are never offered any deals.  Yeah, its best to show that you are NOT loyal and make them entice you to get on the ship!

 

9 hours ago, jerseygirlinAZ said:

 

Indeed!  Why offer something when people are already willing to buy?  We won't book another cruise until after this one, just to see what happens.  

Nope, I always have 2-3 cruises booked and I get casino related offers constantly.  Those who "never" get an offer have most likely opted out of receiving offers or aren't looking in the right place.  My newbie friends who did spend only $20 a day on a five day cruise  (her daughter who HATES casinos held the pocketbook) in the casino is getting casino offers. 

[1kaper]

10 hours ago, Calnev1 said:

I think you are on to something.  If the cruise line knows you will pay full price . . . why should they offer you a casino deal??    There are folks on the Carnival forum who complain that they are extremely loyal but are never offered any deals.  Yeah, its best to show that you are NOT loyal and make them entice you to get on the ship!

 

The thing is, I do believe the casino is separate from Carnival.  Now the casino may be trying to entice them back because they aren't booked, but it isn't Carnival itself. 

[Calnev1]

22 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

 

Nope, I always have 2-3 cruises booked and I get casino related offers constantly.  Those who "never" get an offer have most likely opted out of receiving offers or aren't looking in the right place.  My newbie friends who did spend only $20 a day on a five day cruise  (her daughter who HATES casinos held the pocketbook) in the casino is getting casino offers. 

Are your "2-3"  currently booked cruises booked on casino deals?  Or at they booked at full price?  

Edited May 3, 2023 by Calnev1

[Elaine5715]

3 minutes ago, Calnev1 said:

Are your "2-3"  currently booked cruises booked on casino deals?  Or at they booked at full price?  

Casino deals.  I haven't booked rack rate since my first cruise.  

[Calnev1]

19 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

Casino deals.  I haven't booked rack rate since my first cruise.  

Let me clarify then.  I think people who have booked future cruises at full rate or close to full rate are less likely to get good casino deals.   That is, Carnival knows these people will sail them regardless, so why should they offer them particularly good  deals.  Of course, I could be wrong.  But it seems to make business sense to me.

[EngIceDave]

Every casino algo is always ~

 

avg wager x bets per hour x avg hours played per day

 

Never chase comps

Time you play is important because time is on the casino's side.

 

You come into a casino and drop $1000 on a roulette number or in 10-minutes on a high limit slot and walk away, playing no more, they do not want you. You're not "a player."

 

Land casinos, especially in Vegas, the key is time. They want your time. 4 hours a day will get you about everything comped.

 

Because time is on the casino's side

[hard_eight]

18 hours ago, asalligo said:

Your points appear in the hub in your casino account. I attached a short video. 

Looks like my last cruise, only slot points though I spent hours at BJ and Craps daily. Will see if that has changed in August.

22 minutes ago, Calnev1 said:

Let me clarify then.  I think people who have booked future cruises at full rate or close to full rate are less likely to get good casino deals.   That is, Carnival knows these people will sail them regardless, so why should they offer them particularly good  deals.  Of course, I could be wrong.  But it seems to make business sense to me.

I've got two on the books and a plethora of offers.

[dallasdan]

I found the hub app didn't always update my points everyday.  I only played table games.  I have 3 future cruises booked on casino deals and my last 4 cruises were all on casino deals.  I have found that I spend twice the amount of time in the casino and probably spend twice the amount of out of pocket money than my DW who only plays slots to get the same offers as her.  

[Elaine5715]

37 minutes ago, Calnev1 said:

Let me clarify then.  I think people who have booked future cruises at full rate or close to full rate are less likely to get good casino deals.   That is, Carnival knows these people will sail them regardless, so why should they offer them particularly good  deals.  Of course, I could be wrong.  But it seems to make business sense to me.

Nope, how you booked makes no difference on whether you get casino deals.  It isn't Carnival sending out casino deals. It is Ocean Players Club, a separate entity.  The casino dept isn't marketing to cruisers, they are marketing to gamblers.  Different demographic with some overlap.  The casino marketing dept also doesn't care what you spent last cruise onboard, they want to know what you can spend next cruise.   Land casinos send out free room offers to get you in their casino.  Ocean Players Club knows if they can get you onboard, gamblers are going to gamble and they aren't hopping to the next door casino when their luck runs out.  The casino marketing dept also doesn't know how much you paid for your non casino offer room, they don't care.  The casino market dept also knows how tempting offers are with free drinks in the casino, free CHEERS, deposits back as onboard credit, freeplay and room type.  I prefer higher freeplay with an interior vs lower freeplay and a balcony.  I will also take free CHEERS over a suite,  I am also not a top level (ECHO) player aka Carnival Whale, more a minnow.  I also have consistently booked 2-3 cruises a year for 18 years so "they" know.  Many gambling cruisers are cruising monthly and their offers never stop.  

If one wants casino offers, you need to cast your net out, increase your internet presence where the casino dept is fishing, sign for for emails at Ocean Players Club, join all the land casinos especially MGM.  It isn't random, they know who they are looking for and the people who wisely limit their personal information on the world wide web are less likely to be found.

[Colorado Beach Bum]

1 hour ago, Elaine5715 said:

Nope, how you booked makes no difference on whether you get casino deals.  It isn't Carnival sending out casino deals. It is Ocean Players Club, a separate entity.  The casino dept isn't marketing to cruisers, they are marketing to gamblers.  Different demographic with some overlap.  The casino marketing dept also doesn't care what you spent last cruise onboard, they want to know what you can spend next cruise.   Land casinos send out free room offers to get you in their casino.  Ocean Players Club knows if they can get you onboard, gamblers are going to gamble and they aren't hopping to the next door casino when their luck runs out.  The casino marketing dept also doesn't know how much you paid for your non casino offer room, they don't care.  The casino market dept also knows how tempting offers are with free drinks in the casino, free CHEERS, deposits back as onboard credit, freeplay and room type.  I prefer higher freeplay with an interior vs lower freeplay and a balcony.  I will also take free CHEERS over a suite,  I am also not a top level (ECHO) player aka Carnival Whale, more a minnow.  I also have consistently booked 2-3 cruises a year for 18 years so "they" know.  Many gambling cruisers are cruising monthly and their offers never stop.  

If one wants casino offers, you need to cast your net out, increase your internet presence where the casino dept is fishing, sign for for emails at Ocean Players Club, join all the land casinos especially MGM.  It isn't random, they know who they are looking for and the people who wisely limit their personal information on the world wide web are less likely to be found.

I agree with most of this except needing to put yourself out there on the www.  I do have players cards at multiple land based casinos but other than that, zero social media presence.  And I get more casino offers than I can take up to free suite with DOE and fun play. 

[BrotherCraig]

21 hours ago, asalligo said:

Your points appear in the hub in your casino account. I attached a short video. 

 

Thank you.