Win-a-Cruise Lottery

[SeaCruiser_1]

Well... it's true! You don't have to be present to WIN!! We were on the March 5th sailing of the Zaandam and we were in the casino where I was the 6th qualifier for the slots tournament. We were waiting to see if I got bumped so we missed the drawing. We went up to the Lido after I took 2nd place in the finals and my husband asked a lady sitting near us who won the cruise? She said "Some guy on the 3rd deck and he wasn't there" Another lady felt sure it was our cabin number. I ran into another CC member and she suggested I try looking for a Cruise staff member in the Crow's Nest... sure thing.. he was there and indeed our entry was drawn!

 

Oh goodie!! We can plan to have all this fun again!

 

Has anyone else won the cruise and can you offer any strategies to best redeem it?

 

It's good for 7 day Caribbean. It does say not valid for holiday cruises.

 

For once I can say we came home with more than a T shirt!

 

Happy Us..

 

Sea..

[Ziggy7]

Wow! Congratulations!!! What a wonderful suprise!

Enjoy your free cruise! :)

[JaniceB]

Congratulations. How did you win the cruise and how does a slot tournament work?

Can you give us some information on the Zaandam?

[lcruiser]

Congrats!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Seacruiser1, from Jorge & Fran and the kids.

[Himself]

Congratulations and have a great cruise

[Time2sail]

Have a wonderful cruise on your free cruise:)

[stanford's girl]

Congrats and lucky you!!! Free is the best price.:D

[liv2cruise4ever]

Congrats! Cruising is great, but to cruise for free "FANTASTIC". Enjoy, let us know what you pick.:D

[ger_77]

Congratulations! Yes, winning a cruise is wonderful - we've done it twice, and highly recommend it. Let us know when and where you're going, and do enjoy every moment - they go all too fast!

 

Smooth Sailing! :) :) :)

[trubey]

OK, I did an 'advanced search' and came up with nothing.

 

How or where does one buy tickets for a cruise lottery?

I assume this is something from HAL, not the local Boy Scouts?

Is it expensive?

Can you buy more than one ticket?

Are there a fixed number of tickets sold, or is it wide open?

 

I'd LOVE a free cruise!

 

Lane

[SeaCruiser_1]

First I would like to express my gratitude to all the well wishers!!

 

To lcruiser: Jorge, Fran and the kids.. (We enjoyed meeting these CCers on the Westerdam in December)... what a delightful family! Please send our regards to everyone!

 

To JaniceB and trubey: On each sailing they offer Win-a-Cruise lottery tickets. They cost $10 for one chance and if you buy 2 you get a third chance free. We spent $20. This is open only to the passengers on your sailing. The drawing is held the last night of the cruise after the final Bingo game and the winner need not be present. Watch your daily bulletin.

 

Now on the third day of our cruise it said only 17 had been sold.. on Thursday (one day before the drawing) it said only 37 had been sold (although there is always a flurry of purchases before the actual drawing so we don't know the total) I'm sure odds for each sailing vary.

 

Winner receives a voucher for a 7 day Caribbean cruise of 2 your choice of ship. This is an inside cabin. Not valid on Holiday sailings and taxes are not included. The voucher is good for 18 months.

 

Hey!! That will work for us! By the way.. our travel agent looked into cost for upgrading to an outside cabin and it was not too bad. We are looking at the Westerdam next March.

 

JaniceB.. there were 2 slot tournaments offered on our sailing. They take 6 triple machines and change the settings somehow? You pay $20 to enter and push the buttons very fast and rack up the best qualifying score. Finals have the top 6 scores and the best final score wins $500.. I entered once and got second place.. it was fun.. Watch your bulletin.

 

It was great to win but ger77 has us beat!

 

I wish you all great sailings and good luck!

 

Sea..

[JaniceB]

Thank you for answering my question. I guess we will be buying some tickets once we board the Zaandam. The slot tournament sounds like fun.

[gwilli]

We won the cruise lottery last year while on the Maasdam (and 1/3 of the snowball BINGO !) We used it all for the 10 day Maasdam this year (with some dealings with HAL). Last year very few people bought tickets; we had 6. This year we had 15 tickets in the pool, but lots of others also bought tickets - odds were down and we didn't win again. It's all in the odds. Keep asking the front desk for the aprox. number of tickets sold. GOOD LUCK!

[meff]

Congratulations, Sea!!! Lucky, lucky you! I didn't know about this lottery, and now that I do I'm certain I'll throw 20 bucks into it. I love gambling of almost any sort!

[stanford's girl]

I'll throw a $20 in the lottery for a chance at a FREE CRUISE! Seems like my odds would be better at this than at the casino.:D

[trubey]

Considering all things -- income tax, port taxes, airfares, transfers, 'enforced' gratuities, accomodation before and after the cruise -- this free cruise would cost me a fortune!

 

Remember, '$100,000 Dream House'? Oo-o-o-o Scary!

 

Lane

[trubey]

Hey, just dawned on me --- is the 'free cruise' transferable? Could sell it on Ebay cheap!

 

Lane

[SeaCruiser_1]

The cruise is NOT transferable and that is perfectly fine with us. Before entering the drawing we were having such a wonderful time with our friends that we decided to plan another HAL Caribbean cruise next year. After checking some current prices for the cruise we have in mind we are VERY satisfied with the value of this voucher. Sure we will have other expenses but I can assure you they are a significant savings even with the flight, taxes and other expenses. It certainly was well worth our $20 investment!!

[trubey]

Glad I said, "cost ME a fortune"!

 

Here's my breakdown: it's sort of funny, actually,

 

€2000 for airfares to South Florida (if you find it cheaper, call me IMMEDIATELY!)

Hotel in Boston or NYC because the connection doesn't work, $175

$256 for port taxes

$280 for gratuity

33% for income tax, $800, by law based on the full retail price of about $2400

Plus incidentals like ship expenditures, meals, transfers, etc.

 

It just wouldn't be a wise thing for me.:D :p :)

 

Lane