What is a Good Price?

[MicCanberra]

We met a couple on a P&O cruise that had a free cruise 10 night South Pacific, it was due to casino play. The hinted that it was upwards of $5000  gambled per cruise. Not so free IMO.

[ceeceeDee]

3 minutes ago, MicCanberra said:

We met a couple on a P&O cruise that had a free cruise 10 night South Pacific, it was due to casino play. The hinted that it was upwards of $5000  gambled per cruise. Not so free IMO.

Obviously they could afford to 'lose' $5000 per cruise. Frankly, I'd rather spend that sort of money on multiple cruises rather than hope to 'beat the house' in the casino. But then again, I'm not a gambler so can't really see the attraction.

[Cruisers47]

Hi

 

on a Carnival cruise a few years ago my daughter bought drinks in the Casino and then got offered very good deals, better than us who got nothing.   As I had booked the cruise and it had my email address the offer came to me but I could not use it only my daughter who could not afford it at that time.

 

recently on a RC cruise we were at a table with a couple of US ladies.   They said they always spent money in the Casino, only a few dollars each night.   They said they kept a note of how much they spent and got offers all the time.   Yes they would have taxes etc to pay but they often took it up.    While on that cruise they showed us a cruise offer from Carnival, $100 pp.   it was for about 16 days I think.   Americans know all the tricks.   We got refunded two excursions amount, because they were cancelled and had been bought with OBC  and we did not know what to spend it on.  Spent a small amount on rubbish but they told us to got to the casino and just spent a few dollars.   We won a few extra dollars so went and got the winnings, including our excursions money back.   Have kept the US dollars for our next Hawaiian cruise.

Eileen

[Blackduck59]

There was a thread on the HAL board where the OP started off by saying how much he didn't like his "comped" 28 day Panama Canal transit (Seattle to Fort Lauderdale). He hadn't been on for 5 minutes when he post that the food was "dog food". This of course resulted in some hefty return fire. It didn't help that it was this person's 3rd post on CC.

At one point he was going to get off in San Diego until the $788.00 US fine for violating the PVSA was mentioned. He was still pretty bold for a while until details were explained, then suddenly very quiet.

So for some a free cruise is a burden.

Edited October 18, 2023 by Blackduck59

[arxcards]

1 hour ago, ceeceeDee said:

On our last cruise we were talking to a couple who scored a free room for a 7 day cruise via the players' club. I don't think that particular cruise was undersold as it appeared to be 'sold out' around a month or six weeks prior to sailing. Either way, a free room is pretty impressive.🙂

The house always wins.

[ceeceeDee]

Just now, arxcards said:

The house always wins.

House must have won big, because from memory that particular couple scored a free suite.

[Hogbay]

Carnival  during covid gave you au$900 obc and FCC if they  cancelled . I bet 6 time that the Australian  Government would continue  lockdown. Neve been on Splendor  before. Still winning 😁two people syd to Singapore...

[arxcards]

12 minutes ago, ceeceeDee said:

House must have won big, because from memory that particular couple scored a free suite.

 

39 minutes ago, Blackduck59 said:

There was a thread on the HAL board where the OP started off by saying how much he didn't like his "comped" 28 day Panama Canal transit (Seattle to Fort Lauderdale). He hadn't been on for 5 minutes when he post that the food was "dog food". This of course resulted in some hefty return fire. It didn't help that it was this person's 3rd post on CC.

At one point he was going to get off in San Diego until the $788.00 US fine for violating the PVSA was mentioned. He was still pretty bold for a while until details were explained, then suddenly very quiet.

So for some a free cruise is a burden.

WOOF 🤣

[Blackduck59]

The thread I was referring to is "First HAL cruise, not impressed" The opening post set the tone and several blunt replies were deleted including mine. It has faded to page 2 on the HAL board.

[arxcards]

15 minutes ago, ceeceeDee said:

House must have won big, because from memory that particular couple scored a free suite.

 

They are happy to tell you how cheap the cruise is, and not so happy to tell you what the stakes are when they use. Many that have worked out how to do it at a minimum level are just maintaining enough status to keep the offers coming. They may have played big to get those offers in the first place.

 

And then comes that day when rules go out the window and they start to chase a win. It is a numbers game, and that is how they get their numbers.

[MicCanberra]

Most people will tell you when they win but are silent when they lose, this goes for more than just gambling.

[MMDown Under]

7 hours ago, shireboi said:

 

A 'good deal' IMO depends on what you will get on your cruise - if its a cruise only, a packaged deal etc, where it goes etc. If $100 per night is having the basics (food, buffet, free drinks) then it's a reasonable deal.  If you then taken into consideration that you are on a 'holiday' and you would need to pay for drinks, maybe wifi or just to use some of the gym equipment (eg bikes) - then is your cruise just too 'basic' ??

 

Just grabbed a packaged deal for Virgin's Resilient Lady in March where if I was to include (and reduced the cost) to the added drink deal ($1400+) my cruise, accomm, flight works out to be $150/ day - with all of those added 'extras' that other ships charge for.  To me this is a great deal (better would be doing this ship on the Athens to Freemantle 'deal' for Oct24 (that a few are advertising for $9999 - but I don't have anyone to that with 😞 ) 

 

Compared to a hotel city stay where you are sometimes getting slugged $200++ for just a room per night.

 

I recently spent five nights at a basic three star hotel in Sydney.  Each night was a different price, but Saturday night was $300 per night, with no room service!!  

[arxcards]

5 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

The thread I was referring to is "First HAL cruise, not impressed" The opening post set the tone and several blunt replies were deleted including mine. It has faded to page 2 on the HAL board.

I just put some popcorn into the microwave, and heading for the Panama Canal.

[arxcards]

6 hours ago, Blackduck59 said:

There was a thread on the HAL board where the OP started off by saying how much he didn't like his "comped" 28 day Panama Canal transit (Seattle to Fort Lauderdale). He hadn't been on for 5 minutes when he post that the food was "dog food". This of course resulted in some hefty return fire. It didn't help that it was this person's 3rd post on CC.

At one point he was going to get off in San Diego until the $788.00 US fine for violating the PVSA was mentioned. He was still pretty bold for a while until details were explained, then suddenly very quiet.

So for some a free cruise is a burden.

Thanks.

That story was so chumpy, you could carve it.

 

 

[Zetta83]

The lowest I got post covid was a 8 nights P&O inside for 4 pax in June (school holidays for QLD and not NSW). That was 44 per night per pax. Factoring in flights (points+ taxes), uber, parking, hotel, it came to 65 per night per person.

 

For my next is a princess. Factoring in flights (points+ taxes), uber, parking, hotel is 84 per night per person. Also got 300 OBC, room cat upgrade and 2 speciality dining.

 

This is all booked earlier this year.

[Zetta83]

As for the casino topic, I play between 50-200 each cruise for leisure but have never received anything. 

I believe I am classified as the waste of time customer, spending min and purchasing the cheapest cabin who barely spends any money outside of inclusions. 

[arxcards]

1 minute ago, Zetta83 said:

As for the casino topic, I play between 50-200 each cruise for leisure but have never received anything. 

I believe I am classified as the waste of time customer, spending min and purchasing the cheapest cabin who barely spends any money outside of inclusions. 

Going by Carnival, from scratch you needed to turnover around $4000 just to score free drinks for the rest of the cruise, and if you cruised often enough you could carry the points over for a certain length of time. To get into VIP free cruise territory, you need to be turning over somewhere near $20,000 of activity during a single or regularly repeated cruises. Somewhere in between for an invite to short undersold cruises.

 

We spend in several areas of the ship, including our choice of cabin. It is casino dollars that tweak their interest, and we don't go there.

[OzKiwiJJ]

So far the best deal we've got is the Virgin cruise next year bought with points as the points effectively didn't cost us anything as we would have bought the groceries regardless. 😊😊😊

[Zetta83]

6 minutes ago, arxcards said:

Going by Carnival, from scratch you needed to turnover around $4000 just to score free drinks for the rest of the cruise, and if you cruised often enough you could carry the points over for a certain length of time. To get into VIP free cruise territory, you need to be turning over somewhere near $20,000 of activity during a single or regularly repeated cruises. Somewhere in between for an invite to short undersold cruises.

 

We spend in several areas of the ship, including our choice of cabin. It is casino dollars that tweak their interest, and we don't go there.

Wonderful. If I really want to go down the free cruise route, it will definitely be with RC. At least you know how many points = how much FP or room type on what sailing. Carnival ones depend on a bunch of factors including the other cruiser's potential hourly losses compared to yours.

[Zetta83]

11 minutes ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

So far the best deal we've got is the Virgin cruise next year bought with points as the points effectively didn't cost us anything as we would have bought the groceries regardless. 😊😊😊

Yes. Great deal. Wanted to do it, but I got kids 😑

[Hogbay]

2 hours ago, arxcards said:

Going by Carnival, from scratch you needed to turnover around $4000 just to score free drinks for the rest of the cruise, and if you cruised often enough you could carry the points over for a certain length of time. To get into VIP free cruise territory, you need to be turning over somewhere near $20,000 of activity during a single or regularly repeated cruises. Somewhere in between for an invite to short undersold cruises.

 

We spend in several areas of the ship, including our choice of cabin. It is casino dollars that tweak their interest, and we don't go there.

Wow they are Big numbers. You need 1500 points for 15 free drinks . $:20k for a port tax a fees cruise? Never had anything carry over ? .

[arxcards]

6 hours ago, Hogbay said:

Wow they are Big numbers. You need 1500 points for 15 free drinks . $:20k for a port tax a fees cruise? Never had anything carry over ? .

Not so much about carry over, but they will soon forget you if you don't come back and do it again.

[MicCanberra]

Nothing is truely free.

[Zetta83]

10 hours ago, Hogbay said:

Wow they are Big numbers. You need 1500 points for 15 free drinks . $:20k for a port tax a fees cruise? Never had anything carry over ? .

The carry over is for RC. If you achieve 2500 pts in a year starting 1 April, you get PRIME status for the rest of the year + the following year till 31 March.

 

This gives you 1 free cruise + free drinks in the casino. Along the way, if you get 1200pts in a single sail, you get limited interior for 2 + tax if you book at Next cruise. 

 

How much is 2500 pts? 1 pt = $5USD in slots. So $12.5k USD if you played slots and not win a single pull. I cannot account for luck and do not know the payback percentages of cruises. 

[NSWP]

2 hours ago, MicCanberra said:

Nothing is truely free.

Totally agree Mic, you have paid for it hidden in your fare somewhere.