Cheers and Casino Match Play

Hi

I read that if you get a classic cocktail you can get a $5 match play in the casino.

So... if I get 10 classic cocktails a day, I'll have $50 of casino match play, which is the cost of the beverage package. I'll be playing in the casino anyway, so this just stretches my casino budget farther and equates to a pretty cheap beverage package (cheaper if I win on the match plays!)

Does anyone know if you can you request minor changes to the classic cocktails and still get the match play certificate? There is a lot of liquor in some of these drinks and I think I'd fall flat on my face if I had more than one or two.

On the Sunshine we were not able to change the drink. It has to be a "Classic" Cocktail.

As an example, a Dirty Mojito would not count toward a Match Play even though a Classic Mojito would.

Can someone explain this Casino Match Play ??? I have never heard of this before. Where can I get more information??

Can someone explain this Casino Match Play ??? I have never heard of this before. Where can I get more information??

"Classic Cocktails" listed on the bar menus are "Long Island Ice Tea", "The Cruiser", "The Ultimate Margarita", "Mai Tai", "Mojito", and "Sex on the Beach".

When you purchase a "Classic Cocktail" you take the receipt (even the $0 receipt for a drink on the "Cheers drink program") to the Casino cage and they will give you a "Match Play" coupon (on the Freedom it was a card about the size of a business card) which you can then take to the tables and use to match a bet of $5, resulting in your bet being a $10 bet.

So... if I'm not to my 15 drink max, can I order classic cocktails at the end of the night and not drink them just to get the match play?

Yes, you can. :)

With this additional incentive we might go with the cheers package. Since my wife and I are in the same cabin :rolleyes: we both have to get the cheers program which means $100 per day... That's a lot.

Really been struggling with this, you can have a 1 liter bottle of your favorite libation delivered to your cabin each day for about $75 to $80.

Over a 7 day cruise we would save $20 per day or $140 and I am not sure if we could drink a liter per day between the two of us... Some days for sure but unlikely on port days.

I guess the question is whether or not the casino match is worth the extra $20 per day.

Ugg I hate having to try to think logically on vacation :cool:

Hawk

With this additional incentive we might go with the cheers package. Since my wife and I are in the same cabin :rolleyes: we both have to get the cheers program which means $100 per day... That's a lot.

 

Really been struggling with this, you can have a 1 liter bottle of your favorite libation delivered to your cabin each day for about $75 to $80.

 

Over a 7 day cruise we would save $20 per day or $140 and I am not sure if we could drink a liter per day between the two of us... Some days for sure but unlikely on port days.

 

I guess the question is whether or not the casino match is worth the extra $20 per day.

 

Ugg I hate having to try to think logically on vacation :cool:

 

Hawk

7 liters in 7 days would be some serious drinking. I do think buying bottles is a cheaper solution, but its not as convenient unless you spend most of your time in the cabin. you can't beat cheers for being out and about or on lido and grabbing a drink.

I will say that I prefer bon voyage liquor so I can make a drink the strength I prefer. A call and a mixer from the bar just doesn't do it for me. I stick to beer or wine from the bar and try to make my own drinks.

So... if I'm not to my 15 drink max, can I order classic cocktails at the end of the night and not drink them just to get the match play?

Haha. I just booked our cruise for May last night and of course I was lying in bed thinking about it. There is no way that my wife would be able to take full advantage of cheers. She would probably have a few drinks during a day and would probably like to try a few different drinks she's never had. I don't think I could drink 15 every day.

So I started thinking this same thing. Could we just get classic cocktails when we have had enough to get the match play and then possibly reduce the cost of my overall cheers program.

I may indeed partake in cheers now. Still have 5 months to decide!

"Classic Cocktails" listed on the bar menus are "Long Island Ice Tea", "The Cruiser", "The Ultimate Margarita", "Mai Tai", "Mojito", and "Sex on the Beach".

 

When you purchase a "Classic Cocktail" you take the receipt (even the $0 receipt for a drink on the "Cheers drink program") to the Casino cage and they will give you a "Match Play" coupon (on the Freedom it was a card about the size of a business card) which you can then take to the tables and use to match a bet of $5, resulting in your bet being a $10 bet.

So "match play" cannot be used on the slot machines?

Haha. I just booked our cruise for May last night and of course I was lying in bed thinking about it. There is no way that my wife would be able to take full advantage of cheers. She would probably have a few drinks during a day and would probably like to try a few different drinks she's never had. I don't think I could drink 15 every day.

 

So I started thinking this same thing. Could we just get classic cocktails when we have had enough to get the match play and then possibly reduce the cost of my overall cheers program.

 

I may indeed partake in cheers now. Still have 5 months to decide!

Well you don't have to get 15 drinks a day to get your money's worth out of Cheers. Fifteen is the maximum number of drinks you can get per day under the Cheers program.

Do they advertise this match play when you are on the ship? I never knew about it, but I usually order the classic cocktails.

So "match play" cannot be used on the slot machines?

No, it can not be used in a slot machine.

Do they advertise this match play when you are on the ship? I never knew about it, but I usually order the classic cocktails.

sometimes:

Do they advertise this match play when you are on the ship? I never knew about it, but I usually order the classic cocktails.

When we were on the Glory in November they did have advertisements and bartenders went out of their way to tell us about it the first couple of days. The only exception was the theater where we had to ask the servers for the duplicate receipt so we could get a match play.

For those that want to max out the 15 drinks by getting the match play coupon remember the 5 minute rule between drinks so you might wind up wasting time going from bar to bar (and the bars seemed to close early meaning fewer bars to hit up.) You also get really tired of Mojitos, the margaritas were over ice, the mai tai, cruiser and sex on the beach were to sweet for my tastes, and you have to watch the long island because they catch up to you :) But a nice way to recoup some costs of cheers and we got to try tons of different drinks (Surprisingly I LOVED the mango daiquiris and found a new wine for home drinking)

We did Cheers last April and did the match plays all the time (Black Jack). Turned out good for us - we never went past our first days allotment of money. That's 'free' fun, in my book.

I loved Cheers because I tried things I wouldn't have normally spent the money on. I tried different wines at dinner and had a mimosa (sp) at a brunch. And fell in love with Mojitos.

I'm sure if your at the bar as they mix the drink and you ask for it to be light on the liquor they will - and you can always not to drink it all.

With those drinks it only takes about 6 in a day to break even (figure 2 in the afternoon, 2 glasses of wine at dinner and 2 nighttime drinks)- now you add the match play for some of those and it turns out to be a good deal.

We also asked for a beer once in a while with the cap on it for back at the room, they said you could do that. We were planning on having it when we got ready for dinner or on the baloncy at night - ended up we took it ashore and enjoyed on the beach in Nassau - not sure if there are rules about that - it was there so we put it in our bag. I wouln't try to figure out how to get a case off for a port, but the 1 or 2 for each of us was just right at the time.

So I say go for it and try that beer, wine or drink you always passed on because you didn't want to spend money on something you didn't like. Your on vacation.

Just a thought on cheers and match play. Cheers gives the right to order 15 per day that come with the things for match play. There is no need to actually DRINK each and every one of them if you can't do that. You could just ask a bartender to just make a classic drink receipt for your last 5 drinks every 5 mins if 10 drinks is your daily maximum for instance.

So the match play, say I went to the roulette table, will they only match my bet, or is it money to bet with. I ask because if I can use it to bet a different number... I can put my 5 on black theirs on red, and then take all the money (unless of course 0 or 00)

So the match play, say I went to the roulette table, will they only match my bet, or is it money to bet with. I ask because if I can use it to bet a different number... I can put my 5 on black theirs on red, and then take all the money (unless of course 0 or 00)

match. that's why it's called match play.

match. that's why it's called match play.

Ok just wasn't sure for roulette, so many ways to bet.

Now let's see if you all think this will work. Wait till you have 2 match bets, and then 5 in black 5 on red, matched by carnival for 10 on each, payout of 1 to 1 so I'd walk away with 20 unless it hits 0 or 00.

Worst case wife bets red I bet black. Best odds in the house to get the free 5.00 per drink?

If that works, in theory you can make money on cheers. If you buy 15 drinks each, 2 per cabin, it's a match 150 per day. Played black and red, odds are you will keep most of it, minus the cost of cheers, you would be making at least 20 per day.

Ok just wasn't sure for roulette, so many ways to bet.

 

Now let's see if you all think this will work. Wait till you have 2 match bets, and then 5 in black 5 on red, matched by carnival for 10 on each, payout of 1 to 1 so I'd walk away with 20 unless it hits 0 or 00.

 

Worst case wife bets red I bet black. Best odds in the house to get the free 5.00 per drink?

 

If that works, in theory you can make money on cheers. If you buy 15 drinks each, 2 per cabin, it's a match 150 per day. Played black and red, odds are you will keep most of it, minus the cost of cheers, you would be making at least 20 per day.

This is absolutely brilliant.

This is absolutely brilliant.

seems like it will work from what I've been able to gather, and since I like a lot of the classic drinks, so this is going to cover at least half my cost of cheers. looks like i'll be WAAAY ahead of the game this cruise:D

pbsteve,

I agree with using 2 match plays on each spin and having them on opposite sides of the even money spots (red vs black, odd vs even, or 1-18 vs 19-36) plus $1 each on 0 or 00. So if you do $5 and a match on red, $5 and a match on black and $1 each on 0 and 00 you'll turn $12 into $15 each time if you get red or black and anytime you get 0 or 00 the $12 turns into $36, making each spin a guaranteed profit if you have 2 matches each time.

With the house advantage, each $5 match play coupon is worth about $2.40 (you win an even money bet slight less than 50% of the time). The match play coupon can be used on any even money bet in the casino. Probably the best place to use is on the pass line in craps. Even though blackjack has less of a house advantage, you don't win as many bets and make up most of the advantage through getting blackjack and doubling down and splitting. The match play will only pay at 1:1 even if you get blackjack (example: you have a $6 bet with a $5 match play - you get blackjack - payout is $9 for the $6 bet (3 to 2), and $5 for the match play (1 to 1), for a total win of $14). The "Fun 21" games or whatever they are called are probably a better bet for match plays because you will tend to win more hands due to the relaxed rules, but less overall money because of the reduced payout on blackjack.

Doing a little bit of math, your expected gain per day by purchasing the maximum amount of cocktails is 15 drinks * $2.40 (expected win per match play) = $36, thus reducing the effective cost of cheers to $57.44 - $36 = $21.44 per day, or $1.43 per cocktail, which is a savings of $8.62 per drink (price is $8.75 * 1.15 = $10.06).

Again, since is it gambling, your results will vary in the short term.

pbsteve,

 

I agree with using 2 match plays on each spin and having them on opposite sides of the even money spots (red vs black, odd vs even, or 1-18 vs 19-36) plus $1 each on 0 or 00. So if you do $5 and a match on red, $5 and a match on black and $1 each on 0 and 00 you'll turn $12 into $15 each time if you get red or black and anytime you get 0 or 00 the $12 turns into $36, making each spin a guaranteed profit if you have 2 matches each time.

My only critique to this is that the player might not be able to place only $2 inside. It's been awhile since I've sat at a roulette table, but I thought that the table minimum was required for placing bets inside. Otherwise, genius.