For (casino) players, Carnival has been upping their game of late!

[bumorgan]

Here it is... waiting to be unleashed on the Breeze earlier this year:

 

 

We had already "burned" through about half the jar by whatever night this was! :D

 

Tom

 

 

Tom, when was the last time you had your heart checked?:D I used to laugh at what Carnival offered me after spending over 40 hours and $2600 in the casino. The casino host came over intruduced herself and gave me a players club hat and T shirt with a letter for 20% off my next cruise within 6 months. Unfortunately I had used up my vacation time for the year.Last April I took my first RCL cruise and hit several hand payout jackpots and put it all back in plus $1700. The casino host came over the last evening and invited me to join their casino club. Gave me a polo shirt and 10 free drink tickets which I gratefully accepted. A month later they offered me $500 off my next cruise if booked within a year. I already have a comp casino cruise with NCL including the free drinks based on my land play. Maybe I can squeeze a trip in next July. Oh the problems.:D I am glad to hear Carnival is loosening up on the perks as their ships are so convenient

to NYC.

 

Dan

 

PS: your killing me with those steak photos as I haven't had dinner yet.

Edited August 28, 2013 by bumorgan

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Tom, when was the last time you had your heart checked?:D I used to laugh at what Carnival offered me after spending over 40 hours and $2600 in the casino. The casino host came over intruduced herself and gave me a players club hat and T shirt with a letter for 20% off my next cruise within 6 months. Unfortunately I had used up my vacation time for the year.Last April I took my first RCL cruise and hit several hand payout jackpots and put it all back in plus $1700. The casino host came over the last evening and invited me to join their casino club. Gave me a polo shirt and 10 free drink tickets which I gratefully accepted. A month later they offered me $500 off my next cruise if booked within a year. I already have a comp casino cruise with NCL including the free drinks based on my land play. Maybe I can squeeze a trip in next July. Oh the problems.:D I am glad to hear Carnival is loosening up on the perks as their ships are so convenient

to NYC.

 

Dan

 

PS: your killing me with those steak photos as I haven't had dinner yet.

 

Just finished up dinner - hit Beef-o-Brady's on the way home for a nice rare burger and fries. If I'm simply to believe my cholesterol numbers, all is good - plus I make it to the gym 3 days/wk. Perhaps I have genetics on my side... fried Chicken from Publix was last night...

 

Then again, one day I just might not wake up! :eek:

 

Tom

[CruisingSoon88]

Not nosey, curious !!! lol I wasn't offered anything, nada, nothing probably because I already have a cruise booked... I did, however, mention to Marti that we are considering cancelling the Sunshine and booking either the Breeze or Victory for a b2b as its cheaper for us, no airfare and she did tell me to call her back if we were going to do that but didnt mention why...

 

The only thing she told me is that there would be cash waiting for me at the Casino Cage but nothing else was mentioned... I would definitely call, and let me know if they offer you anything different with the same code... Good luck

 

I just couldn't stand it so I went ahead and called. Like you, I was disappointed. They only offered cash. It was actually half of what I got on my last cruise:mad:. I said so why did you give me this letter with this special code when you would have given me this same amount anyway? Cherie(sp?) didn't really have an answer. It is frustrating that they give me half of the cash when I earned 3 times the amount of points on this last cruise. I said so you're going to give me half the cash because I played 3 times as much???

 

I am not a high roller by any means, but at least show some consistency even with the same passenger with their perks. She told me that they never give anything more than a "small" cash offer and that my larger amount from the last cruise was not from the players club, but from marketing. She said that the players club never gives discounts on cruises, only marketing does that:rolleyes:

 

Why bother sending the letter if I would have gotten the same thing by calling before we sailed? It could have saved at least a tree limb. LOL

[winddawn]

Just finished up dinner - hit Beef-o-Brady's on the way home for a nice rare burger and fries. If I'm simply to believe my cholesterol numbers, all is good - plus I make it to the gym 3 days/wk. Perhaps I have genetics on my side... fried Chicken from Publix was last night...

 

Then again, one day I just might not wake up! :eek:

 

Tom

Hahaha! Sounds like Cheryl is due back from her girlfriend cruise any day now!

 

Publix does have great chicken! LOL.

[JaniceB]

Just booked a return trip on the Freedom (another Premier sailing) for Nov. 16 !!

 

If we can come close to the fun we had this last time, I'm sure we'll enjoy ourselves! :)

 

Tom

 

Wow, you do like Horseradish:eek:

 

Heading out on the Dream on the 16th but I would cancel for the Freedom Premier sailing.

 

Hope you enjoy it as much as the last one.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Wow, you do like Horseradish:eek:

 

Heading out on the Dream on the 16th but I would cancel for the Freedom Premier sailing.

 

Hope you enjoy it as much as the last one.

 

You can probably also surmise that we enjoy (in the steakhouse) the Yukon Gold mashed potatoes w/"wasabi"... and get extra wasabi on the side. I probably enjoyed that (at least a small portion) on 6 of the 8 nights!

 

Thanks - I'm sure we'll have a good time. Enjoy your Dream sailing!!

 

Tom

[caseymorgan]

I think I did recieve one a year ago for a 3 to 5 day but I think my DW tossed it out because we could not go during the times stated. Side bar comment on a few posts I hear over and over again about smoking in the casino. It does not bother me at all maybe they should physically seperate a smoking and non smoking. I would love to smoke a big fat Cigar!! when I am playing cards. I bet the smoking casino will have a lot more people in it.

 

The Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas both have smoking and non-smoking casinos in them. Of course they are the world's largest ships by RCCL.

[cbsc29730]

Hi Tom,

I am going on my cruise on 9/6/13. Leaving from Charleston, S.C. to the Bahamas. Have you been on this Ship? I've been on a few & i like to cruise & gamble to, but have not been that lucky at it & don't ever get any special deals for playing. Please tell me the plan as i would love to have as much fun as you do. Also i want to go to Atlantis while in Nassau if you have any information for me.

You can send me a message if you don't want to post on Cruise Critic.

I need all the help i can get. Thanks a Billion:)

[mikel24m]

Hi Tom,

I am going on my cruise on 9/6/13. Leaving from Charleston, S.C. to the Bahamas. Have you been on this Ship? I've been on a few & i like to cruise & gamble to, but have not been that lucky at it & don't ever get any special deals for playing. Please tell me the plan as i would love to have as much fun as you do. Also i want to go to Atlantis while in Nassau if you have any information for me.

You can send me a message if you don't want to post on Cruise Critic.

I need all the help i can get. Thanks a Billion:)

 

Im not Tom but I gamble a little bit ;)

 

Those big pretty casinos are not built because we win , we borrow some and give it back at some point

 

When we went to Atlantis we won some and the best part of the day was the water park although it was expensive I recommend it

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

Im not Tom but I gamble a little bit ;)

 

Those big pretty casinos are not built because we win , we borrow some and give it back at some point

 

When we went to Atlantis we won some and the best part of the day was the water park although it was expensive I recommend it

 

Agreed. To keep it FUN, I suggest only playing up to the point you're willing to donate in the name of entertainment. Beyond that it is most definitely not fun!!

 

We've been on the Fantasy and several other ships in that class. They're nice ships - I'm sure you'll have a good time!

 

Tom

[MIZZ_K]

Congratulations on your jackpot! What kind of machine were you playing?

 

It was one of the slots where you could play either .25,.50 or $1.00, I put in $20 and started off playing .25 at max bet, when I got down to $9.00 I decided to switch to $1.00 playing max bet, on my second pull I hit the jackpot, I was so glad I switched to $1.00.

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

OK... so I feel compelled to post something not at all related to cruising, though it does have to do with some of the discussion previously on this thread.

 

As has been pointed out, I do like a good prime grade steak. Before we left on the 8/10/13 Freedom sailing I was strolling by the meat counter at Publix (as I often do, because you never know what will catch your eye). What did I spy but several packs of boneless ribeyes that I could not pass up. The Publix we shop at carries prime grade beef as well as choice (which all their stores carry), so when I noticed that they had some very attractive steaks in their regular counter marked as CHOICE, but looking suspiciously like PRIME, I loaded up every one I could find (6 packs to be precise). If this had occurred during a sale, these would have been something like $7.99/lb. This was not a sale, but even at $13.49 a pound, I was not leaving the store without them! Their Prime grade is usually somewhere in the $20-30/lb range.

 

OK.. time to pre-heat the grill!! :D (any ready the horseradish)

 

 

 

Tom

[JustCruiseMe]

We have a country store butcher shop here that has T-bones this week for 3.99lb..now I am not a foodie but I do love steak (with horseradish, had wasabi on sushi today) and they are pretty good. Unfortunately right now trying to watch my cholesterol.

Edited August 30, 2013 by JustCruiseMe

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

We have a country store butcher shop here that has T-bones this week for 3.99lb..now I am not a foodie but I do love steak (with horseradish, had wasabi on sushi today) and they are pretty good. Unfortunately right now trying to watch my cholesterol.

 

$3.99 is a steal! :)

 

Tom

[detroitlions]

The Allure of the Seas and Oasis of the Seas both have smoking and non-smoking casinos in them. Of course they are the world's largest ships by RCCL.

Because I have been on a roll gambleing I light a small stogie and foget its ileagal.

[detroitlions]

Congratulations on your jackpot! What kind of machine were you playing?

I think $500 is the most I won on a slot on the ship. But I did hit big the first time I went to vegas and this one will stick with me till I die. When the MGM Emerald had a special event I think they expanded the casino or something they had a area of slots that they had roped off with special prizes on top of your winnings. These were progressive dollar slots that had the Gold lion as the big winner. I hit on the 3rd or 4th pull 3 gold lions the progressive pot was at 2.7 million dollars. Everone around me went nuts exept me I was going to have a heart atack. The lights went off all the money dumped out of the machine. They pulled me aside I waited for 10 minutes and the told me the machine was malfunctioning and gave me $700 and a giaint lion with dinner tickets how upset was I. I cried for about a hour and got my adult bevereges flowing...

[Tom-n-Cheryl]

I think $500 is the most I won on a slot on the ship. But I did hit big the first time I went to vegas and this one will stick with me till I die. When the MGM Emerald had a special event I think they expanded the casino or something they had a area of slots that they had roped off with special prizes on top of your winnings. These were progressive dollar slots that had the Gold lion as the big winner. I hit on the 3rd or 4th pull 3 gold lions the progressive pot was at 2.7 million dollars. Everone around me went nuts exept me I was going to have a heart atack. The lights went off all the money dumped out of the machine. They pulled me aside I waited for 10 minutes and the told me the machine was malfunctioning and gave me $700 and a giaint lion with dinner tickets how upset was I. I cried for about a hour and got my adult bevereges flowing...

 

It's amazing how often I hear the "machine was malfunctioning" story surrounding (BIG) slot wins. What a sleazy "out" by the management...

 

Tom

[Davey Wavey]

Not nosey, curious !!! lol I wasn't offered anything, nada, nothing probably because I already have a cruise booked... I did, however, mention to Marti that we are considering cancelling the Sunshine and booking either the Breeze or Victory for a b2b as its cheaper for us, no airfare and she did tell me to call her back if we were going to do that but didnt mention why...

 

The only thing she told me is that there would be cash waiting for me at the Casino Cage but nothing else was mentioned... I would definitely call, and let me know if they offer you anything different with the same code... Good luck

 

At the end of our last cruise, we got the BBC code letter on the last night. The letter actually stated something like "we see you are already booked for a cruise...please call us and mention code BBC to see what amenities you will receive." Before I could do that, there was a postcard waiting on home with the premier cruise PC4 code that applied to the cruise we had already booked for November. I called about the BBC thing and they told me to call back in a few days as they hadn't received the records from my last cruise. Knowing the premier cruise thing books up fast, I switched my booking to PC4 then called about the BBC thing later. That wouldn't tell me what a BBC code offers and just kept telling me the amenities we received from the PC4 code. I called a few times to ask. I even asked about booking a cruise BEFORE that November sailing using the BBC code and they still never said what I would get. SOMEONE needs to find out what's in that code!

[misstopgun]

BBC = Bounce Back Cruise (which really means that they already knew I had another cruise booked)... Should mean BullBadCrap as I played more on this past 6 day cruise than I did on my 8 day back in January and was offered less.. :(

 

So, not that I care, but this "improvement" doesnt seem to be or work for everyone ... I will tell you that I played more on tables this past week than I did on the machines.. I am usually just a machine player..(although I did get the 1500 Drinks On Us card by day 3)... I'm thinking that they are not giving much for table games...

It's always been that way. We almost never play slots and aren't high rollers but usually put down a minimum of 15 per hand because we play primarily 3 card poker. We do play 4-5 hour a day though so still go through as much money in the long run as most high rollers who play a bit and get up and leave.

 

The past few cruises we have gotten casino cash, fruit and wine baskets, and bottled water. I have always called ahead of the cruise though to see if we qualify for anything. Before I learned to do that, we never received anything. On the past two we qualified for the Drinks on us cards day two and three of our cruises.

 

This upcoming cruise we are getting casino cash, ($450 between the two of us) and drinks on us cards to start with no qualifying. They said the baskets, wine etc. are now at the discretion of the casino host.

 

By reading this thread it is obvious things are changing a bit but as before, no rhyme, reason, or consistency.

 

No big deal, we had the same casino habits before we knew there were perks to be had. It is just part of our cruise experience. A free cruise here and there would be welcomed though. It isn't as though we wouldn't reinvest the money saved on the cruise in the casino.

[ryanpatricksmom]

At the end of our last cruise, we got the BBC code letter on the last night. The letter actually stated something like "we see you are already booked for a cruise...please call us and mention code BBC to see what amenities you will receive." Before I could do that, there was a postcard waiting on home with the premier cruise PC4 code that applied to the cruise we had already booked for November. I called about the BBC thing and they told me to call back in a few days as they hadn't received the records from my last cruise. Knowing the premier cruise thing books up fast, I switched my booking to PC4 then called about the BBC thing later. That wouldn't tell me what a BBC code offers and just kept telling me the amenities we received from the PC4 code. I called a few times to ask. I even asked about booking a cruise BEFORE that November sailing using the BBC code and they still never said what I would get. SOMEONE needs to find out what's in that code!

 

I'm pretty sure that it stands for Bounce Back Cash. Our last cruise DH got the BBC letter because our next cruise (free) is booked in his name. He did call, and basically they just told him how much casino cash that he'd be getting. I got the regular Bounce Back offer letter, but decided to wait because DH usually gets the free cruise and I still only get 50% off. Any other amenities seem to be driven by the Casino Host. I did receive the free premium cruise offer a few weeks after returning home, but unfortunately I can't use it on the dates offered. We'll likely get the Bounce Back free offer on our next cruise, and then we'll book again.

[jeff4la]

I noticed that many recommend calling to check on available perks before leaving on a cruise. Does anyone have the number to call? I looked through different threads but couldnt seem to find it.....thanks!

 

Sent from my SCH-I905 using Forums mobile app

[caseymorgan]

888-672-2582

[jeff4la]

888-672-2582

 

Thank you very much! Fingers crossed when I call!

 

Sent from my SCH-I905 using Forums mobile app

[jakeT]

how much do you have to paly to get comps on carnival and NCL

[Truckracer13]

It varies. You get faster comps on Carnival if you play slots and video poker. You can also earn free drinks for your cruise once you accumulate 1500 points. Make sure you put your sign-n-sail card in the machine while you play to earn the points. I don't know about NCL, I haven't sailed with them in 10 years.