$4,500 for a free drink?!! No thanks!

[thunderbaycruiser]

Just back from the Carnival Freedom! Had a great cruise, inspite of the Casino.

 

Now, my friend and I could have just been spectacularly unlucky this cruise, but neither one of us has EVER gone through money so fast as we did on this last cruise. It was so completely NOT fun, many days on our 8 day cruise we completely avoided the casino. On our 6 previous cruises, we were in the casino for hours each day (I should mention we play slots, not tables).

 

Also on our previous cruises, we were offered some free drinks and recognized by name by the casino host within a couple of days. With the new "1500 points and drinks are on us", this was completely non-existent. And when I once tried my luck at dollar Wheel of Fortune ($3 a spin), I clued into the fact that I earned a single point for every $3 of play.

 

$4,500 for free drinks to start? The joke's on us! Sure maybe this is possible if you are winning some, credits are up and down, and you do not actually spend $4,500. However, after spending close to $2,000 between the two of us in the casino, I was the only one to even break 1000 points - I got $10 for that. Again, this is do-able if you win a little while you play. Did not happen on any day this cruise.

 

Worst casino experience in our life - and we have frequented A LOT of casinos. Including the casinos on our 6 previous cruises with Carnival.

 

*end rant* :rolleyes:

[okgirl]

I typically take around $1000 to spend in the casino, maybe a little less, but it really does bite when the casino is really tight.

 

I was on the Conquest for a 7 day on 10/28.....I had my 1500 points and the free drink card by the end of day 2 and over the course of the week accumulated over 4000 points..........and got off the ship with some money.

 

The very next week I was on a 5 day on the Triumph and still spent about $800 but didn't get to 1500 points until the last night of the cruise and never busted 2000 points......I've never seen slots that tight on any other cruise.......no fun at all.........

 

The rule of thumb is suppose to be 1 point for every $2.50 coin in, so if they are not paying off, then those points don't rack up very fast.

[rybreadsmomshubby]

I'm really not much of a gambler now...but I have been.

 

I can only assume that Carnival feels they generate enough casino revenue without bothering too much with actively encouraging casino players to come...and stay. Personally, I think a few free (and strong) drinks is a small price to pay to get the drunks in the casino and giving me all their money. :D

[thunderbaycruiser]

Well, thats good to know it can vary like that from cruise to cruise. (Not good that the machines were so tight for you on that second cruise though!)

 

I guess it could just be luck - don't really see them tightening / loosening machines on the fly - but it was our first "joyless" experience in a Carnival Casino.

 

Won't stop us from booking our next Carnival cruise, but we certainly will not plan on spending much time in Carnival ship casinos in the future.

[crewsweeper]

Perhaps you should try to find the passenger currrently on the Freedom who is spinning the Wheel of Fortune and try to wrangle some of the $$$$$ he/she is winning, after all you "paid" for them.:D

[thunderbaycruiser]

Perhaps you should try to find the passenger currrently on the Freedom who is spinning the Wheel of Fortune and try to wrangle some of the $$$$$ he/she is winning, after all you "paid" for them.:D

 

LOL! I didn't spend much on that machine (mostly play quarters and pennies)... but it was an eye opener watching one point accumulate for each $3 spin!

[T. Advisor King]

Just back from the Carnival Freedom! Had a great cruise, inspite of the Casino.

 

...

 

Also on our previous cruises, we were offered some free drinks and recognized by name by the casino host within a couple of days. With the new "1500 points and drinks are on us", this was completely non-existent. And when I once tried my luck at dollar Wheel of Fortune ($3 a spin), I clued into the fact that I earned a single point for every $3 of play.

 

$4,500 for free drinks to start? The joke's on us! Sure maybe this is possible if you are winning some, credits are up and down, and you do not actually spend $4,500. However, after spending close to $2,000 between the two of us in the casino, I was the only one to even break 1000 points - I got $10 for that. Again, this is do-able if you win a little while you play. Did not happen on any day this cruise.

 

...

 

I wouldn't consider myself a non-gambler because I'll bet with friends on sports (usually for beer) and I've burned through $20 in slot machines (usually in 12 minutes or less) a half dozen times. But I don't think I've ever gambled more than $20 in one day and didn't gamble a nickel during three days in Vegas last weekend (and have never stopped in the casino in all my cruises, except once to get quarters for the laundry).

 

With that as background, can you explain what the situation in the casino "should" be? I don't really follow the issue and I don't understand the points thing, but I'm curious about how the whole thing works and I'd like to understand your complaint.

[thunderbaycruiser]

...can you explain what the situation in the casino "should" be? I don't really follow the issue and I don't understand the points thing, but I'm curious about how the whole thing works and I'd like to understand your complaint.

 

The situation in any Casino is that it should feel fun and entertaining. Add to that the slight "chance" of winning big, the occasional decent win (say $100 here and there, allowing you to play a little longer), and recognition by the Casino Host when it looks like you will be one of their "regulars" - and you have the experience we have had in 6 previous Carnival casinos. This atmosphere attracts us to casinos and keeps us going back. Its also a good money maker for the casino - I am under no delusion that slot gambling is a money maker for me. But its usually entertaining and fun!

 

When its not fun - like on this cruise - you are feeding $20 bill after $20 bill - winning next to nothing - and it starts to feel like a complete rip off. I know gambling is in the end a rip off, but usually you can have hours of entertaining "chances" at winning. One day, we took $100 each to play and we were done in minutes. Having gambled in casinos for years, this is just unusual. End result - the casino on the Carnival Freedom was not fun and we stayed away most days. This is also unusual for us on Carnival.

 

Earning points in the casino is not new. You put your Sail and Sign card in the machine and it tracks your gambling. And you earn points just like you can earn Frequent Flyer points with an airline. This is how they track how much you gamble, and we have always received freebies on our next cruise to entice us back to the casino once on board (as we did at the beginning of this cruise). However, this is the first cruise where it was spelled out that you needed 1,500 points to be comp'd a free drink. And with how lousy the payouts were on this ship's slot machines - there wasn't a hope in hell we would get a free drink. First cruise with Carnival where we did not receive a free drink or have much "fun" in the casino. I want to add here, we are not people who suffer from the "entitlement" epidemic that seems to be going around these days. I am not stomping my feet "no free drink, no free drink.... waaaaaaah" - I am simply observing a change from every one of our previous cruises... it was just the "wow-factor" before - it was great customer service getting a free drink like that... I was blown away with how generous they were to us in the casinos before... this time, the casino in no way "wowed" us. Now, free drinks is purely a numbers game. That does not feel like great customer service.

 

Its not a huge complaint or a reason for us to stop cruising Carnival. It was just disappointing and so very different from our previous experiences in Carnival casinos. Also, when we calculated it would take $4,500 of gambling for a free drink, it was a shocker.

[big_duck]

I'm really not much of a gambler now...but I have been.

 

I can only assume that Carnival feels they generate enough casino revenue without bothering too much with actively encouraging casino players to come...and stay. Personally, I think a few free (and strong) drinks is a small price to pay to get the drunks in the casino and giving me all their money. :D

 

It's not like you walk to the Casino next door.

[iTouch]

The situation in any Casino is that it should feel fun and entertaining. Add to that the slight "chance" of winning big, the occasional decent win (say $100 here and there, allowing you to play a little longer), and recognition by the Casino Host when it looks like you will be one of their "regulars" - and you have the experience we have had in 6 previous Carnival casinos. This atmosphere attracts us to casinos and keeps us going back. Its also a good money maker for the casino - I am under no delusion that slot gambling is a money maker for me. But its usually entertaining and fun!

 

When its not fun - like on this cruise - you are feeding $20 bill after $20 bill - winning next to nothing - and it starts to feel like a complete rip off. I know gambling is in the end a rip off, but usually you can have hours of entertaining "chances" at winning. One day, we took $100 each to play and we were done in minutes. Having gambled in casinos for years, this is just unusual. End result - the casino on the Carnival Freedom was not fun and we stayed away most days. This is also unusual for us on Carnival.

 

Earning points in the casino is not new. You put your Sail and Sign card in the machine and it tracks your gambling. And you earn points just like you can earn Frequent Flyer points with an airline. This is how they track how much you gamble, and we have always received freebies on our next cruise to entice us back to the casino once on board (as we did at the beginning of this cruise). However, this is the first cruise where it was spelled out that you needed 1,500 points to be comp'd a free drink. And with how lousy the payouts were on this ship's slot machines - there wasn't a hope in hell we would get a free drink. First cruise with Carnival where we did not receive a free drink or have much "fun" in the casino. I want to add here, we are not people who suffer from the "entitlement" epidemic that seems to be going around these days. I am not stomping my feet "no free drink, no free drink.... waaaaaaah" - I am simply observing a change from every one of our previous cruises... it was just the "wow-factor" before - great customer service getting a free drink like that... this time, the casino in no way "wowed" us.

 

Its not a huge complaint or a reason for us to stop cruising Carnival. It was just disappointing and so very different from our previous experiences in Carnival casinos. Also, when we calculated it would take $4,500 of gambling for a free drink, it was a shocker.

 

It sounds like you just had a stroke of bad luck......it wouldn't have taken me $1,000 to figure that one out. Ship happens.

[golfadj]

Hard enough for me to gamble semi intelligently without drinking. Throw in free drinks and do not think I should be gambling.

[thunderbaycruiser]

Hard enough for me to gamble semi intelligently without drinking. Throw in free drinks and do not think I should be gambling.

 

LOL! Well, we never had a LOT of free drinks. Don't want to be drunk when I gamble either! Was just a different atmosphere in the Casino than previously experienced.

[thunderbaycruiser]

It sounds like you just had a stroke of bad luck......it wouldn't have taken me $1,000 to figure that one out. Ship happens.

 

To me a stroke of bad luck is one day flying through $100 and not being able to spend much time in the casino that day. So we would go back, not expecting the same experience day after day. Thats not a stroke of bad luck - thats a negative casino atmosphere and machines that are WAY too tight.

 

But thanks for your terse comment. Here, have some more kool-aid.

[okgirl]

Well, thats good to know it can vary like that from cruise to cruise. (Not good that the machines were so tight for you on that second cruise though!)

 

I guess it could just be luck - don't really see them tightening / loosening machines on the fly - but it was our first "joyless" experience in a Carnival Casino.

 

Won't stop us from booking our next Carnival cruise, but we certainly will not plan on spending much time in Carnival ship casinos in the future.

 

That 2nd cruise was our 24th on Carnival and that has never happened before......on the 1st cruise they were paying so well that by Tuesday morning I played on my winnings all day and evening and on Thursday I did the same.........

 

It sounds like you just had a stroke of bad luck......it wouldn't have taken me $1,000 to figure that one out. Ship happens.

 

It doesn't take me $1,000 to figure it out........I bring that money along expecting that I'm going to lose it, it's just my form of entertainment. I'm going to gamble until I win big or I lose my seed money.....it's just a matter of how much time I get to spend in the casino vs. the lobby bar...when my daily allotment is gone it's gone, I vacate the area........

 

But occasionally I've had really good cruises, in 2008 on 3 different cruises I won a total of $5500, so people do win........I've been on a ship where the mega cash was won.....$96,000+.......just wish it had been my $3 in the machine..........

[iTouch]

To me a stroke of bad luck is one day flying through $100 and not being able to spend much time in the casino that day. So we would go back, not expecting the same experience day after day. Thats not a stroke of bad luck - thats a negative casino atmosphere and machines that are WAY too tight.

 

But thanks for your terse comment. Here, have some more kool-aid.

 

Excuse me:confused: You were the loser:rolleyes:

[iTouch]

That 2nd cruise was our 24th on Carnival and that has never happened before......on the 1st cruise they were paying so well that by Tuesday morning I played on my winnings all day and evening and on Thursday I did the same.........

 

 

 

It doesn't take me $1,000 to figure it out........I bring that money along expecting that I'm going to lose it, it's just my form of entertainment. I'm going to gamble until I win big or I lose my seed money.....it's just a matter of how much time I get to spend in the casino vs. the lobby bar...when my daily allotment is gone it's gone, I vacate the area........

 

But occasionally I've had really good cruises, in 2008 on 3 different cruises I won a total of $5500, so people do win........I've been on a ship where the mega cash was won.....$96,000+.......just wish it had been my $3 in the machine..........

 

I bring a grand too.......yes I am a gambleholic:D But I know my luck and if I am not winning I won't sit there and feed the machines and blow my whole grand and then complain about how lousy the casino was.......I always have more than 3500 points at the end of our cruise.....always get free drinks.

[thunderbaycruiser]

Excuse me:confused: You were the loser:rolleyes:

 

Mean-spirited much? Started this thread to discuss my experience with the new "1,500 points = free drinks program", not to get jumped on.... I will simply ignore further posts like this - as we so often need to do these days on these boards.

[Blurgh]

I played alot on my cruise (including some time on the bonus day sailing up the bay)... and I only got around 500-600 points. Yes, I am *that* cheap. lol.

 

BTW, I think the actual coin in you have to spend is $3,750 so if you were hellbent on trying to do this the best bet is probably some nickel/penny machine that allows you to spend exactly that amount.

[thunderbaycruiser]

I bring a grand too.......yes I am a gambleholic:D But I know my luck and if I am not winning I won't sit there and feed the machines and blow my whole grand and then complain about how lousy the casino was.......I always have more than 3500 points at the end of our cruise.....always get free drinks.

 

Did not do this. You are mis-representing what I have written. Try again.

[iTouch]

Mean-spirited much? Started this thread to discuss my experience with the new "1,500 points = free drinks program", not to get jumped on.... I will simply ignore further posts like this - as we so often need to do these days on these boards.

 

Excuse me:confused: I could be wrong but you offered me the kool aid:confused: All I was saying was that it sounds like you had a stroke of bad luck......I have experienced it too, on the ships and Vegas.... like I said ship happens....

[iTouch]

Did not do this. You are mis-representing what I have written. Try again.

 

Didn't do what?

[thunderbaycruiser]

Excuse me:confused: I could be wrong but you offered me the kool aid:confused: All I was saying was that it sounds like you had a stroke of bad luck......I have experienced it too, on the ships and Vegas.... like I said ship happens....

 

 

Saying "ship happens" equates to "pfft, whatever... I completely reject your complaint".... then followed by "you were the loser". How is that not mean spirited?

 

Excuse me for wanting to relate an experience on a recent cruise that was completely different (and a disappointment) from all previous Carnival cruises. Typically, doing so here equates to kool-aid drinkers jumping all over the post with "never happened, no, not on MY Carnival - they can do no wrong".

 

Also, what I did not do was sit down and dump $1,000 in one shot, win nothing and complain about it (as you so eloquently summed up earlier). It was $100 at a time... over an 8 day cruise... multiple times. YES, we walked away when we were unlucky. YES, we came back again to try again. And NO, I have never been in a casino where the quick loss of $100 happened again and again and again, day after day after day.

[iTouch]

Saying "ship happens" equates to "pfft, whatever... I completely reject your complaint".... then followed by "you were the loser". How is that not mean spirited?

 

Excuse me for wanting to relate an experience on a recent cruise that was completely different (and a disappointment) from all previous Carnival cruises. Typically, doing so here equates to kool-aid drinkers jumping all over the post with "never happened, no, not on MY Carnival - they can do no wrong".

 

Also, what I did not do was sit down and dump $1,000 in one shot, win nothing and complain about it (as you so eloquently summed up earlier). It was $100 at a time... over an 8 day cruise... multiple times. YES, we walked away when we were unlucky. YES, we came back again to try again. And NO, I have never been in a casino where the quick loss of $100 happened again and again and again, day after day after day.

 

Dude I said ship happens to me too:rolleyes: I have had bad luck too which I believe I mentioned. YOU called me a kool aid drinker which was followed by my reply that you were a loser which in fact you were on this cruise.......perhaps you need to read from the beginning to end before you start taking things out of context.

I never said you dumped a grand in one shot.......I said It wouldn't take me a grand to figure out my luck was gone nor would I continue feeding the machines. There's been times I have been in Vegas going from casino to casino winning nada......I chaulk it up to a stroke of bad luck....

[LynneL]

The situation in any Casino is that it should feel fun and entertaining. Add to that the slight "chance" of winning big, the occasional decent win (say $100 here and there, allowing you to play a little longer), and recognition by the Casino Host when it looks like you will be one of their "regulars" - and you have the experience we have had in 6 previous Carnival casinos. This atmosphere attracts us to casinos and keeps us going back. Its also a good money maker for the casino - I am under no delusion that slot gambling is a money maker for me. But its usually entertaining and fun!

 

When its not fun - like on this cruise - you are feeding $20 bill after $20 bill - winning next to nothing - and it starts to feel like a complete rip off. I know gambling is in the end a rip off, but usually you can have hours of entertaining "chances" at winning. Also, when we calculated it would take $4,500 of gambling for a free drink, it was a shocker....

 

Personally, I found your posts to be informative & articulate. I am an "almost" non-gambler. If I sit down & lose $25. - $30. I'm done. My husband really enjoys gambling. I've found it hard to understand why someone would drop $800. - $1000. over the course of a week long cruise. However, in reading your post I get it. Not saying I'll do it - lol - but I understand now how he can call it entertainment.

 

For the poster who claims she is a "gambleholic" and would have walked away when not winning and spent no more if she felt the machines were tight...you're not a "gambleholic." People who love to gamble have 2 views..."The machine is hot!" when they're winning...."The machine is due!" when not - lol. No one who loves to gamble walks.

[iTouch]

For the poster who claims she is a "gambleholic" and would have walked away when not winning and spent no more if she felt the machines were tight...you're not a "gambleholic." People who love to gamble have 2 views..."The machine is hot!" when they're winning...."The machine is due!" when not - lol. No one who loves to gamble walks.

 

And 3........know when to walk away.....

 

I love to gamble.......but I'm not stupid;) And I have not paid for a room in Vegas in 10 years......which we visit 4 times a year.....if that says anything.