weezal

it helps to earn some points early on, front load your play if possible on the 1st day or 2. your projected play for the sailing, will appear much higher this way.

if i did not ask, i wouldn't have gotten anything. so in my scenario, yes, it does matter.

my point was that it doesn't hurt to inquire at the casino host desk. i've gotten comps just by asking, on the sailings where they didn't pro-actively come to me.

that sounds about right, for ocean view offer. you can inquire about comps, at the casino host desk. on some sailings, i've had experiences where the hosts came to me, while i'm seated in the casino. other times, i'm practically invisible, while playing similar amounts. honestly, they really don't consider what you're winning (or losing), as long as you earn those points.

i lost all of my land casino status this year (caesars diamond, mgm gold). so far, carnival offers haven't changed for the worse yet. will report back if they do drop off noticeably, though i don't think they will, since all of my play is now going toward carnival.

i never tried value plan (always got premium internet), but you might as well go with fastest, small $ difference per day

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

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.

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

no complimentary parking/transfers, nor shore excursion, that Elite offers. replaced by much bigger prizes (and hopefully more winners)

https://www.carnival.com/cruise-deals/vifp-club/past-guest-offers-FGE/terms

https://www.carnival.com/cruise-food?shipCode=FN

https://help.goccl.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/4529

the vesper

https://www.visitlongbeach.com/plan-your-trip/cruise-terminal-information/