Carnival Casino Comps

[jm2341]

Hello=

Sailing on the Carnival Venezia 04/26/2024 on a freebie casino comp and I have not been on a Carnival ship for over 15 years. The freebie is based on other cruise lines and land based casinos. My wife and I primarily sail freebie casino comps on RCCL, MSC & Celebrity. 

I'd sincerely appreciate any pointers as to how the Carnival casino comp system works and how much play is required to earn a cruise playing primarily slots. Thanks Joe The Villages, Florida

[mz-s]

Unlike most other cruise lines and land-based casinos, Carnival does not have a published schedule of comps.

 

The only comp that Carnival advertises is you must accumulate I think 1500 points to get free drinks while playing. But you may already have that immediately depending upon the rate code you booked.

 

Any comps above that - free steakhouse meals, free balcony cabins, etc., are at the discretion of the casino hosts. There is no formula. Anything that people may respond with is just speculation.

Edited April 24 by mz-s

[MayorDrafty]

3 hours ago, mz-s said:

Any comps above that - free steakhouse meals, free balcony cabins, etc., are at the discretion of the casino hosts. 

This was exactly my experience on Spirit in February.  I was "casino buddies" with another passenger I didn't know, and we consistently had the same number of points at the same time.  I saw the hosts walk up to her one day and ask how the bottle of wine was at dinner the previous night, and then offer to send her and her husband to the steakhouse.  I later approached the host to ask if they could send me to the steakhouse (all by myself so it would have cost them less) and they looked in the system and said no.

[jm2341]

Thank you mz-s & MayorDrafty for your replies.

With RCCL & Celebrity, when a player reaches a certain number of points, cruises are offered for free (excluding taxes and fee's) and the more points accumulated, the better the cabin and cruise experience. Dou you know if Carnival operates the same? Thanks 

[weezal]

28 minutes ago, jm2341 said:

Thank you mz-s & MayorDrafty for your replies.

With RCCL & Celebrity, when a player reaches a certain number of points, cruises are offered for free (excluding taxes and fee's) and the more points accumulated, the better the cabin and cruise experience. Dou you know if Carnival operates the same? Thanks 

anecdotally yes, but no published benefits based on casino points earned.

carnival does offer these casino specific sailings, such as premier, ultra, elite:

https://www.carnival.com/casino/carnival-players-club/cruises

[kwokpot]

Carnival's casino program isn't transparent but once you're part of it benefits are actually very good. Whatsmore the casinos are fun, always with the newest slots. One major drawback and a potential deal breaker is the amount of smoke that goes on at the casinos on all Carnival ships, even their newest ones. It honestly is the worst of all the mainstream cruiselines. Celebrity is the best with this since there's no smoking in their casinos, but their casinos aren't half as fun as any on Carnival. 

What other questions do you have? I'm on a Carnival ship right now, the Panorama, on a casino comp in a balcony. My husband, who's the gambler in the family, got $1,000 Freeplay, and both of us have free drinks EVERYWHERE on the ship. 

Unlike Royal, Celebrity, NCL, and the new Virgin program that just rolled out, Carnival's casino program doesn't have visible tiers for passengers to play to. Obviously you're ranked internally but you have no idea what that is and no one can tell you what you're ranking is. You can check your casino offers right on Carnival's website under your loyalty program profile.

I can answer any questions you have regarding casino comped cruises,and comparisons between the mainstream cruiselines you mentioned.

 

Edited April 25 by kwokpot

[kwokpot]

Here's a link for more info on Carnival's Casino program.

https://www.carnival.com/casino/carnival-players-club

[jm2341]

13 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Carnival's casino program isn't transparent but once you're part of it benefits are actually very good. Whatsmore the casinos are fun, always with the newest slots. One major drawback and a potential deal breaker is the amount of smoke that goes on at the casinos on all Carnival ships, even their newest ones. It honestly is the worst of all the mainstream cruiselines. Celebrity is the best with this since there's no smoking in their casinos, but their casinos aren't half as fun as any on Carnival. 

What other questions do you have? I'm on a Carnival ship right now, the Panorama, on a casino comp in a balcony. My husband, who's the gambler in the family, got $1,000 Freeplay, and both of us have free drinks EVERYWHERE on the ship. 

Unlike Royal, Celebrity, NCL, and the new Virgin program that just rolled out, Carnival's casino program doesn't have visible tiers for passengers to play to. Obviously you're ranked internally but you have no idea what that is and no one can tell you what you're ranking is. You can check your casino offers right on Carnival's website under your loyalty program profile.

I can answer any questions you have regarding casino comped cruises,and comparisons between the mainstream cruiselines you mentioned.

 

@kwokpot

 

Thank you sir and I hope your having fun and at least breaking even.

If I play thru 10K (total in and out), will that be sufficient for a freebie and how does Carnival inform you of your potential casino freebie cruise? Do they send an email a few days or a few months after earning the casino points? Will it display on the Carnival site? I only ask as my Carnival freebie was by a phone call by Carnival. Thanks and have fun

[kwokpot]

5 minutes ago, jm2341 said:

Do they send an email a few days or a few months after earning the casino points? Will it display on the Carnival site? I only ask as my Carnival freebie was by a phone call by Carnival.

It will probably be a few months but they notify you via emails, postcards,and as I said on their regular website under your profile and offers section. Here's a photo of two postcards we received.

[kwokpot]

19 minutes ago, jm2341 said:

If I play thru 10K (total in and out), will that be sufficient for a freebie a

Yes most definitely if that's your whole cruise gambling budget. You'll get subsequent offers for totally comped cruises. You'll also qualify for at least a free specialty dinner for two with a bottle wine on your first cruise. As with other cruiselines, don't be bashful about speaking to the casino host during the cruise and asking about what comps your entitled to based on your current play. The hosts are all very nice and they will say , no you you need to play a little more, or say,yes I can give you a dinner for two with wine,where would you like to go?

Just to be clear, just with other cruiselines the slot machines will track your accumulated points and in fact the info is on the phone app. The only thing that is clear is if your comped cruise offer doesn't specify free drinks in the casino or everywhere on the ship,you'll need to earn 1,500 points to get free drinks while playing in the casino. All other complementaries aren't spelled out.

[weezal]

48 minutes ago, jm2341 said:

If I play thru 10K (total in and out), will that be sufficient for a freebie

that is about 4000 points (at $2.5/pt), which is not much, depending on the length of your cruise. if you earn avg of 1000 pt per day, you'll get casino offers after the sailing, and comps by inquiring at the casino host desk while onboard.

[kwokpot]

10 minutes ago, weezal said:

that is about 4000 points (at $2.5/pt), which is not much, depending on the length of your cruise. if you earn avg of 1000 pt per day, you'll get casino offers after the sailing, and comps by inquiring at the casino host desk while onboard.

Your math is off. According to my husband, in Feb. on a 7 day Celebration cruise he spent about $6K and he earned 4,371 points. He wasn't particularly lucky on that cruise.  Normally he wins multiple jackpots garnering multiple W2-Gs but on that cruise he only had one jackpot.

Edited April 25 by kwokpot

[weezal]

2 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

Your math is off. According to my husband, in Feb. on a 7 day Celebration cruise he spent about $6K and he earned 4,371 points. He wasn't particularly lucky on that cruise. 

I’m only going by earning on slots, which is 1 point for $2.5 coin in

[hurricane0226]

2 minutes ago, weezal said:

I’m only going by earning on slots, which is 1 point for $2.5 coin in

Just off the Horizon this past Sunday, spent about 3k, and earned 5500 points on slots,

received a ocean view room offer, and doue.

[MayorDrafty]

On my Feb cruise on Spirit, I ended up with about 6800 points, which is the equivalent of running roughly $17k through the machines.  I took $3k to gamble with and came home with every penny of it (thanks to the one low-volatility machine in the casino).  I received a bounce-back offer the last night of the cruise for a free outside cabin, and my current online offer is a free interior on limited sailings next summer only.  

[icft]

The first answer you got from mz-s is, in my opinion, the best answer.

 

Our experience, be it long ago, was that Carnival didn't pay attention to one cruise unless you racked up an amazing pile of points. We got no offers after our first three cruises in one year; with only medium betting on our part. After that first year of cruising we were steadily inundated with offers. 

 

Even today, racking up 15,000 points on a cruise does not result in immediately better offers, but if we have a good year then the following year we get much better offers even if we don't cruise on Carnival or gamble much that year. We have mostly switched to NCL but still get great offers from Carnival. I expect those will get smaller going forward (since we are mainly NCL now) but for the time being we are still riding the wave of last year.

 

I find the talk of Carnival not being as transparent as other cruise lines interesting. Our experience is only Carnival and NCL. On Carnival you don't call them, they send you offers. On NCL they have "tier levels" based on points earned during the year (and your level at the end of the year is your beginning level for the next year). They have schedules of benefits for each level, but those are only for things like priority boarding, free water, onboard credit, free or discounted internet and the like. As far as free or discounted cruises you have to call the casino operation, tell them what cruise you are interested in and ask what they can offer you. We were pleasantly surprised that after our first cruise when I called them about a cruise they offered a comped balcony, other than taxes/port fees, gratuities and the usual you have to pay on "free cruises." Strangely, they also have an administrative fee the casino operation charges that is $20 per day per person in the cabin.

 

Having to call NCL casino operations to find out what kind of deal they can offer on a cruise seems to me to be less transparent than Carnival straight out telling you their offers.

 

All that is just our experience. Since covid folks have said they have gotten offers even though they don't gamble. Like mz-s said, any answer you get is just speculation.

Edited April 25 by icft

[kwokpot]

11 minutes ago, icft said:

Strangely, they also have an administrative fee the casino operation charges that is $20 per day per person in the cabin.

This stupid administration fee is what made us abandon NCL's casino at Sea. When people say Carnival Players Club isn't transparent it's referring to the lack of how a casino player ranks and what benefits comes with established tiers. As a gambler you know full well EVERY GAMBLING PROGRAM, whether land based or cruiseline, has player tiers which ranks you within the casino player program and tells you the benefits that you are due from those tiers. A regular gambler also knows those player club tiers aren't an indicator of the types of complementaries you'll receive. That's based on your ADT of your most recent visits. 

[DallasGuy75219]

2 hours ago, icft said:

Since covid folks have said they have gotten offers even though they don't gamble.

That was primarily right after the restart when ships were sailing nowhere close to full and the cruise lines were doing anything they could to get any warm body onboard.  

 

Now that demand is at or above pre-COVID levels you don't hear non-gamblers say they're getting casino offers (at least the better offers like comped cruises).

[mz-s]

Do not think "if I gamble $10k away this cruise I'll get a free suite and a trip to the steakhouse"

 

That is not guaranteed.

 

It is possible that you'll go on this free cruise due to your land-based status match, spend $10k gambling, and not get a single offer. And you'll have nobody to appeal to because Carnival never publishes how many points or how much gambling it takes to get comps. It's all up to their hosts.

[noshoobie]

18 hours ago, jm2341 said:

Hello=

Sailing on the Carnival Venezia 04/26/2024 on a freebie casino comp and I have not been on a Carnival ship for over 15 years. The freebie is based on other cruise lines and land based casinos. My wife and I primarily sail freebie casino comps on RCCL, MSC & Celebrity. 

I'd sincerely appreciate any pointers as to how the Carnival casino comp system works and how much play is required to earn a cruise playing primarily slots. Thanks Joe The Villages, Florida

This was our experience on the Venezia in September 2023. We sailed on a casino comp inside cabin with free drinks in the casino.  Brought $1200 with us to gamble and came home with $200 and don't remember how many points we accumulated.  About a month after sailing we started getting offers for the same offer (inside cabin with drinks in the casino) for selected cruises. I still get weekly emails for offers. We recently booked a Mexican Riviera for 2025 and hope to do a Southern Carribbean this fall. Enjoy your cruise! We really liked the Venezia. 

[noshoobie]

12 hours ago, kwokpot said:

drawback and a potential deal breaker is the amount of smoke that goes on at the casinos on all Carnival ships, even their newest ones. It honestly is the worst of all the mainstream cruiselines. Celebrity is the best with this since there's no smoking in their casinos, but their casinos aren't half as fun as any on Carnival. 

You got that right!! We had a lot of fun in the Venezia casino but had to buy a $12 bottle of Visine in the gift shop because the smoke was so bad.

[Elaine5715]

Onboard comps are impacted both by the comps you already received on your booking offer and other players on your specific cruise.  If there are "ECHO" players onboard (Carnival's version of whales), they do suck up most of the comps as well as when there is a casino sailing on board (Premier/Ultra/Elite).  There will be signage in the casino is that is happening.  The only time "points" mean anything towards future offers is a "bounce back" offer received at the end of your cruise.  Your overall onboard spending and method of payment can impact future offers.  You also need to be sure you have opted in every time Carnival asks if you want to receive promotional offers including during online check in and on your profile.  Slot points are objective but table points are subjective. Slot machines don't care if you are rude, snap your fingers or don't tip.  Table dealers/pit bosses do.

[The Critical Cruiser]

We have (4) cruises booked this year on Carnival, mainly because of their casino offers.  Between the “Free Play” money, on board credits and free drinks for both of us everywhere, it’s kind of hard not to cruise with them.  What everyone else has said about the lack of transparency regarding their points system is true, which really doesn’t make sense, but as long as we’re still getting decent offers, we’ll continue to cruise with them.

[Elaine5715]

3 hours ago, The Critical Cruiser said:

We have (4) cruises booked this year on Carnival, mainly because of their casino offers.  Between the “Free Play” money, on board credits and free drinks for both of us everywhere, it’s kind of hard not to cruise with them.  What everyone else has said about the lack of transparency regarding their points system is true, which really doesn’t make sense, but as long as we’re still getting decent offers, we’ll continue to cruise with them.

Their unwillingness to publish reward tiers encourages players to spend " a little more" because they "will get" offers.  When comps or offers don't materialize, they accept that they didn't spend enough and every social media group tells them that.  Next trip, they spend more.  If they said at 5000 points you get a free interior, people would stop at 5001 points.  It is quite genius especially since those who splash their comps online lie about how much they spent.  

[mz-s]

The internet is a special place where every gambler always plays with less than they planned to, or hits that big jackpot that pays for the trip every cruise.