My experience with earning the MSC Casino Dept 30% discount

[psmarkle]

Disclaimer: this post is only based on my personal observations from earning the 30% Casino discount on my past 2 MSC cruises; it's not official MSC guidance or whatever!

 

OK, we've sailed the MSC Seaside twice and had a third cruise booked until...well, covid-agedden which disrupted everyone's lives, sadly. And we just sailed the Seashore in April, and booking the Meraviglia in Nov using the 30% discount from the Casino. We're not big fish players to earn a free cruise, although I have sat at the tables with those who have earned them (or maybe "pre-paid" for the "free" cruise with their playing! 😬).

 

The big question up front:  I bring $1,500 cash onboard with me as our casino budget...and have yet to even come close to using it all.  DW and DSIL play the penny slots on roughly $200 for the week each. They play together all night after the shows until the casino kicks them out at 4:30/5:00am! As they come back to the room, I'm usually getting up to have coffee in the YC Topsail Lounge and then wait outside the fitness center doors eagerly waiting for them to open at 6am...yes, I am one of THOSE people! I have issues, I know....

 

So, back to the lucrative Casino 30% discount. Prior to discovering the cost and service advantages of MSC's Yacht Club, we were big NCL Haven sailors, using casino free inside room offers to pay the difference to upgrade to the Haven.  I say this, because I stumbled across MSC YC while comparing cruise prices, and our first Seaside YC cruise was around $3,000 cheaper than the comparable NCL sailing...say what?! 😲 And this was before we had earned a 30% discount.

 

So, we have our usual cruise routine of dinner, catch the show(s), then DW and DSIL "go to work" on the penny slots in the Casino while Dad (Me) and DD hang out, head to comedy shows/white dance parties/etc, then I drop her off at the cabin around 11/11:30 (she's 16, btw, so no child services calls, please!). She then orders YC room service pizza which is different than regular room service pizza...yum-o! and watches a movie before dozing off. I'll get to the Casino around midnight and check in on DW and DSIL to see if I need to take out a home equity loan yet, then head over to the 3-card poker table to buy in.  I play 3-card poker as MSC ships do not have my preferred game of choice, Craps. Craps is a predominately American market game and MSC is an Italian-based cruise line catering more to Europeans. So I learned 3-card poker, instead.  My first buy-in is $500. Just slide the cash and your room card over to the dealer and they then log you in and start tracking your play.  With slots, you put your room card in the machine and it automatically starts tracking DW and DSIL's play.

 

My average bet is $10 on the Ante and $15 on the Play spot. There is also the "pairs plus" bet that would be an additional $10, but I learned a good lesson from the Pit Boss this last cruise about not playing that bet. On our first MSC Seaside cruise, a Casino hostess found my DW and DSIL on the second night of playing and had them fill out a casino rewards registration. MY DW later told me that she filled out mine as well since the Hostess had it readily available.

 

Then, on the last night of the cruise, our Butler placed the 30% "Willie Wonka Golden Tickets" on all 3 of our beds! They are actually letters in envelopes, but you get the idea of the excitement we felt when we saw them! This is consistent with our last 2 cruises on MSC, on about the second night, the Hostess comes finds you based on where you're logged in, has you fill out the registration, and assuming you play every night like we do, then the magical envelopes show up on the last night on your pillow so you fall asleep dreaming of 30% future cruises! One key caveat, the discount is only valid from 9 months from the month you sailed, so it forces you into 2 cruises'ish a year if you're chasing this offer...oh darn, throw me in that brier patch! Oh yeah, the Casino Dept also sends you a box of Venchi chocolates to your room for free, sweet!

 

So, MSC awards X# of points based on your time and level of play. The key number is to hit 1,200 points in their system to trigger the 30% threshold. I cannot tell you how many bets DW and DSIL make per hour, but they are playing penny slots. For this past April's cruise, I played from 11pm-1/1:30am betting $25 on the Ante and $25 Play bets, no Pairs Plus this cruise as I l studied my statistics. The Pit Boss and I chatted about that. In his broken English he said betting Pairs Plus made it about 70 to 30% in the house's favor, but just betting the Ante and Play bets made it almost 50/50. Smart playing he said! Based on my stated play, I hit my 1,200 points on my fourth night. Finished the cruise $100 ahead AND got the coveted 30% discount letter that is worth $2-3K when booking 4 people in the YC!

 

Also, I have found MSC's Casino Reps to be SOOOOOO much better and knowledgeable that their regular customer service reps. No long hold times, but they're only avail M-F, 9-6pm EST at 1-844-MSC-PLAY.

 

Again, this is just my experience, but glad to answer any questions y'all may have.  Out of 43 cruises so far, I have found MSC's Casino Dept to be the best. I'm glad to answer any questions...fire away!

 

Edited May 29, 2022 by psmarkle

[no1talks]

Thanks again for the information. There are aspects to this process which have me quite curious. For example...

Is each discount voucher good for a cruising couple or must each adult occupant earn a discount?
Does the casino award the discount during short cruises, assuming the same 1200 point benchmark is hit?
Is there a maximum value for the 30% or a limit on cruise length?
Can the discount be applied to a cruise that consists of B2B segments booked as one?

It seems to me, absent any limitations in the T&Cs, a couple could save a tidy sum on a long and more expensive cruise among MSC's offerings. They need only pop onto a 3-day excursion nine months earlier and ring up those 1200 points with acceptable risk of coming out behind, assuming an average mix of wins/losses.

Obviously, if both need the award, the risk-reward equation is quite different.
 

[kidless]

On a 4 day cruise playing mostly blackjack my friend won the golden ticket at 900 points. That was back in February. 

[1kaper]

So I am assuming that you don't get offers after the cruise like you do on other lines?
I'm sure I hit 1200 points on my cruise.  

 

Does anyone remember what the points were that you had to hit to get free stuff? I know that like $5 was 3000 point which I didn't hit.  I thought I was just under 1500 (which would have gotten me something small if I recall correctly)

[1kaper]

1 hour ago, kidless said:

On a 4 day cruise playing mostly blackjack my friend won the golden ticket at 900 points. That was back in February. 

 

Blackjack takes sooooo much longer to get the points.  I go between BJ and slots.  I keep an eye on my points.  Someone explained it to me it is because they are the best odds (still in favour of the house).  

 

[JAGR]

Thanks for a good summary.  Have to admit I did a double take when you talked about sailing with your DW, SIL, and DD.  When you said DD was 16, I had to think about how old the SIL was!  At least old enough to gamble!  😉

[psmarkle]

11 hours ago, no1talks said:

Thanks again for the information. There are aspects to this process which have me quite curious. For example...

Is each discount voucher good for a cruising couple or must each adult occupant earn a discount?
Does the casino award the discount during short cruises, assuming the same 1200 point benchmark is hit?
Is there a maximum value for the 30% or a limit on cruise length?
Can the discount be applied to a cruise that consists of B2B segments booked as one?

It seems to me, absent any limitations in the T&Cs, a couple could save a tidy sum on a long and more expensive cruise among MSC's offerings. They need only pop onto a 3-day excursion nine months earlier and ring up those 1200 points with acceptable risk of coming out behind, assuming an average mix of wins/losses.

Obviously, if both need the award, the risk-reward equation is quite different.
 

I can provide some answers, but not all as I have not tried it on a b2b.

 

The voucher is good for the cabin occupied by the awardee. So, it's 30% the total cruise fare (taxes & port charges are separate) for the cabin. We sail in a group of 4 most times and it's applied to the cabin.

 

Have not run into a max value, personally booking a YC1 or a YC9 Cabin. Have not tried this on an Owner's/Royal Suite in the YC...we ain't at that level yet! 🤑 For our past April cruise, the fare was around $9,500, but came out $6,700 with taxes/port charges in that total.

 

Have only done 7-day cruises on MSC, so can't speak authoritatively on a short cruise, but I'm going to assume you can earn it with enough playing time?

 

Again, you only need 1 voucher per cabin, not per person.  This is a very generous discount AND it can be stacked with your Voyager's Club 5% discount (but not the 10% Military discount, sadly 😕).

 

We have saved quite a tidy sum on our past 2 cruises and our upcoming cruise with this discount. As I told my wife, even if I lose $1K (I've come out positive on each cruise so far, but the odds are ever in the house's favor), we save $2.5-3K on every cruise, so it takes money to save money, am I right! 🤣

 

The biggest thing I noticed with my stated play this past cruise on 3-card poker was I never deviated more than +/- $500 the whole cruise playing just the Ante and Play bets which the Pit Boss said was close to 50/50. On the other 2 cruises where I played "more recreational," I did have some nights with bigger downs (but still under $1K), and then stayed lucky and hit bigger ups (the second cruise almost paid for itself!). So, I now view this as a statistical exercise in getting closest to the best odds in order to save a larger sum next cruise with the plan of not losing more than $1K (again, I've been lucky to finish positive each cruise), but also realistically probably not winning a huge sum either...I'm very OK with that! Thank you MSC Casino Department!!!

[psmarkle]

7 minutes ago, JAGR said:

Thanks for a good summary.  Have to admit I did a double take when you talked about sailing with your DW, SIL, and DD.  When you said DD was 16, I had to think about how old the SIL was!  At least old enough to gamble!  😉

JAGR, DSIL is actually 1 year older than me, and I'm fortunate to consider her 1 of my 4-5 best friends!  We really get along and laugh a lot! 2 more years to full retirement and full-time cruising for me!

Edited May 30, 2022 by psmarkle

[Sinbadssailors]

I only play slots.

 

On the Meraviglia in September someone came to my seat on the last night and had me fill out the form and sign for the 30% voucher.

 

We got one free cruise offer in the intervening months. Ended up booking the Seashore 14-day online and then called the casino number to tell them.

 

We sailed last month. I handed in the voucher my 1st night in the casino, and collected the $75 cash that came with it. The host said I needed 2000 points for the voucher for the 14-day/B2B, which wasn't too difficult in the end.

 

About 10 days after we returned, my credit card was refunded the promised 30%.

 

 

[JAGR]

4 minutes ago, psmarkle said:

JAGR, DSIL is actually 1 year older than me, and I'm fortunate to consider her 1 of my 4-5 best friends!  We really get along and laugh a lot! 2 more years to full retirement and full-time cruising for me!

Sorry, Lol!  I was reading it as Son-in-Law!  You and I are in the same "boat" on time left at work!  Happy Cruising!

[psmarkle]

1 hour ago, 1kaper said:

So I am assuming that you don't get offers after the cruise like you do on other lines?
I'm sure I hit 1200 points on my cruise.  

 

Does anyone remember what the points were that you had to hit to get free stuff? I know that like $5 was 3000 point which I didn't hit.  I thought I was just under 1500 (which would have gotten me something small if I recall correctly)

Only speaking of my personal experience, have not received any after-cruise offers from MSC.  With NCL, based on my play at the craps table, I regularly received free cruise offers in the mail throughout the year.  We would then pay to upgrade to the Haven.  Our savings with that process was an average of $1,500-$1,700 per cruise.  So, IMO, booking the Yacht Club with MSC Casino's 30% provide us with about 2X the savings as our past NCL offers, hence why we changed. We still luv NCL, but luv our $$ more! LOL 🥰

[psmarkle]

1 minute ago, JAGR said:

Sorry, Lol!  I was reading it as Son-in-Law!  You and I are in the same "boat" on time left at work!  Happy Cruising!

OMG, that's funny, not funny!! 🤣 Yes, Dear-Sister-In-Law, NOT son-in-law (oh Lord, help me!).

[psmarkle]

23 hours ago, psmarkle said:

Only speaking of my personal experience, have not received any after-cruise offers from MSC.  With NCL, based on my play at the craps table, I regularly received free cruise offers in the mail throughout the year.  We would then pay to upgrade to the Haven.  Our savings with that process was an average of $1,500-$1,700 per cruise.  So, IMO, booking the Yacht Club with MSC Casino's 30% provide us with about 2X the savings as our past NCL offers, hence why we changed. We still luv NCL, but luv our $$ more! LOL 🥰

Wow! No sooner did I type this response yesterday, then I just got a Free Cruise offer in my e-mail today from the Casino Dept!  It's for summer sailings of the Divina, 7-, 4-, or 3-day options. So I guess I do get after-cruise offers now 🙂

[no1talks]

24 minutes ago, psmarkle said:

"I just got a Free Cruise offer in my e-mail today..."

Free cruise e-mails are up, it would seem. I have seen some posts on the Carnival board regarding unexpected freebies.

 

I guess cruise lines are hoping to get the rooms occupied at a slight loss, in hopes of profitable onboard spending.

[Paphillyguy]

We earned a free room via the casino on our last cruise.  We booked that for a 10 night cruise in October.  I am amazed at the upgrade fee to go from an inside to YC deluxe suite.  It was very reasonable.  It is a fixed fee for 7 - 10 night cruises.  Must better than NCL upgrade charges.   Plus MSC does not charge the admin fee and taxes and port fee like NCL does.  I imagine that might change soon but right now it is very generous.  

[Stockjock]

When you speak of "points" does 1 point = 1 dollar gambled?

[1kaper]

7 hours ago, Stockjock said:

When you speak of "points" does 1 point = 1 dollar gambled?

 

I think I read somewhere that is was more like $3 but I'm not sure and am on my way out so I can't google.  I'll check later.  But someone on another cruise forum explained that it isn't all the same.  For example, slots usually give something like the $1=1 point.   But at table games it isn't the same.  I noticed playing Blackjack, I was playing more money, playing longer but wasn't getting points as quickly as on the slot machine.  That is because the odds are better on Blackjack.  So it may be different for table games. 

[1kaper]

Found it. 
 

“

(4:47- 7:59) Similar to other cruise casinos, you use your room key, or cruise card when playing in order to track and accumulate points. MSC's average is $3.00= 1 point across-the-board. So on the slots, three dollars of coin-in, gives you one point.

If you earn 1200 points or more on a seven-day cruise, then you will automatically receive a voucher for thirty percent off a cruise, for your next cruise”

 

https://urcomped.com/blog/ampdetails/1350877/msc-voyagers-club-casino-program

[blueskadoo]

On 5/31/2022 at 10:35 AM, psmarkle said:

Wow! No sooner did I type this response yesterday, then I just got a Free Cruise offer in my e-mail today from the Casino Dept!  It's for summer sailings of the Divina, 7-, 4-, or 3-day options. So I guess I do get after-cruise offers now 🙂

We love Divina and would love to get a free cruise on her. We too have recently earned 30% coupons, but we have never seen an email. What address did it come from? I’d cry if it was stuck in a spam filter and found too late. Thanks! 

[xcell]

I think the point system also differ at different times of day, more points when people do not play as much.

 

My friend wonthe golden ticket twice.

 

We calculated, if the average YC room cost (for 3) $6K (as an example), so long as he gets the golden ticket before losing $1800, he broken even...LOL (so far he has come out ahead each time).

[psmarkle]

On 6/2/2022 at 4:55 PM, blueskadoo said:

We love Divina and would love to get a free cruise on her. We too have recently earned 30% coupons, but we have never seen an email. What address did it come from? I’d cry if it was stuck in a spam filter and found too late. Thanks! 

Here ya' go!

 

MSC Cruises Casino <msccasino@msccruisesusa.com>

[psmarkle]

On 6/5/2022 at 11:30 AM, xcell said:

I think the point system also differ at different times of day, more points when people do not play as much.

 

My friend wonthe golden ticket twice.

 

We calculated, if the average YC room cost (for 3) $6K (as an example), so long as he gets the golden ticket before losing $1800, he broken even...LOL (so far he has come out ahead each time).

I agree!  We normally sail 4 people in a YC1 or YC9. Before 30% discount, it prices at around $9K (our cruises are tied to the school calendar which means peak seasons), give or take, depending on which cruise/time of year, but that's pretty much our average.  Our last 2 MSC cruises after the 30% discount and the 5% Voyagers discount, then add taxes/port fees, were right around $6,700 for the first one and $6,500'ish for this last one in April.

 

So, from my point view, I could lose up to $3K and "break even!"  However, from my wife's point of view, the Captain would be blaring the "Man overboard" alarm as she shoved me over! 🤣

Edited June 6, 2022 by psmarkle

[KyleClark]

As far as the 9 month to use rule goes, I got the 30% discount last November.  I had my travel agent call MSC and they let me apply the certificate to a new reservation for this November.  So there seems to be some flexibility....

[psmarkle]

23 hours ago, KyleClark said:

As far as the 9 month to use rule goes, I got the 30% discount last November.  I had my travel agent call MSC and they let me apply the certificate to a new reservation for this November.  So there seems to be some flexibility....

That is awesome! Ours were extended due to Covid (is that still a thing...seems to evaporated from the headline news), but have not yet pressed to test on trying for a year out.

[dktbird03]

We never knew until this year that it made sense to enroll in the casino point system but after trying it out in April, my husband secured a free night certificate in April 2022 for an inside cabin for two up to a 10 night cruise, which was valid for 12 months. This was our first experience with the MSC Casino benefits and I was a bit skeptical when I contacted the MSC Casino reservation team. We only cruise in the Yacht Club and have an 11-year old child so need to cruise during peak season. I expected the voucher to be worthless but was positively surprised when I was offered a 7-night Caribbean cruise on the new ship Seascape during Easter 2023 in a Yacht Club Deluxe cabin for all three of us for $3000 - more than $4000 savings vs. the listing price at the time. It was a no brainer to confirm!

We have since cruised twice and enrolled in the casino program - the second time we did not make the points so no free cruise or certificate but a bottle of perfume and premium chocolates nonetheless. The third time we secured a 30% voucher valid for 9 months which we have yet to use - plus a bottle of perfume. 

We also received two e-mail offers (April and July) of a free balcony cabin cruise for two in the Mediterranean (we live in Europe) with the only condition of spending $400 onboard. Sadly we could not take advantage but are very impressed with the offers. Considering that a bit of casino fun is part of the cruise experience, it is really incredible what it can lead to. MSC certainly seems to be very generous in what benefits are offered.