Free cruises

[tvo7]

A friend told me that he gets random free cruise offers while on platinum  status on Carnival.  He does state that it is not due to his gambling, it is based on his travels.

He just has to pay for the taxes.

 

If you are on Diamond Status with Royal Carribean, do they occassionaly send free cruise offers?

 

[footzz]

While it could happen, and the answer to your question it's not an unequivocal 'no,' you're more likely to come face to face with a Velociraptor while walking your dog.

[ReneeFLL]

You don’t get a free cruise until you become Pinnacle. People who get “free” cruises thru the casino have paid for them thru their losses. 

[colesc15]

8 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

You don’t get a free cruise until you become Pinnacle. People who get “free” cruises thru the casino have paid for them thru their losses. 

Has nothing to do with losses. I've gotten comped cruises many times from the casino after a winning trip. All related to the money cycled through machines and time spent in the casino. 

[Vera/Lee]

35 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

You don’t get a free cruise until you become Pinnacle. People who get “free” cruises thru the casino have paid for them thru their losses. 

At least my losses get a free cruise;)

[PhillyFan33579]

32 minutes ago, ReneeFLL said:

You don’t get a free cruise until you become Pinnacle. People who get “free” cruises thru the casino have paid for them thru their losses. 

Free cruises thru the casino are not based on losses. During a cruise, free cruises are earned by how many points you accumulate. For example, $5 equals one point on slot machines. It doesn’t matter how much you win or lose. There are also frequent free cruise offers you receive via mail or email, which I don’t know what criteria they use. All I know is I get them almost monthly. 

[firefly333]

1 hour ago, tvo7 said:

A friend told me that he gets random free cruise offers while on platinum  status on Carnival.  He does state that it is not due to his gambling, it is based on his travels.

He just has to pay for the taxes.

 

If you are on Diamond Status with Royal Carribean, do they occassionaly send free cruise offers?

 

Dont believe everything you hear. I'd bet he gets those cruises thru gambling. Even if it's on land. Or a credit card from carnival he gets points on. You dont get offered free random cruises because you travel and no other reason. I've cruised with carnival 20 years and never offered a free cruise. Carnival isnt offering random cruises for no reason just that he travels. It's just saying he doesnt know the link to why he is offered a free cruise. 

[Tatka]

1 hour ago, colesc15 said:

Has nothing to do with losses. I've gotten comped cruises many times from the casino after a winning trip. All related to the money cycled through machines and time spent in the casino. 

 

If statistical you "cycle" lots of money/spend much time in the casino statistical you are bound to lose.

 

Edited July 23, 2023 by Tatka

[colesc15]

7 minutes ago, Tatka said:

 

If statistical you "cycle" lots of money/spend much time in the casino statistical you is bound to lose.

 

That's how casinos work, thanks for the tip.

[Tatka]

Yes. This is why free cruises is a bit deceptive description.

[Ashland]

3 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

You don’t get a free cruise until you become Pinnacle. People who get “free” cruises thru the casino have paid for them thru their losses. 

Pinnacle "free cruise" I thought it was only a one time credit of approx $1500?

 

Finally almost there !!

[firefly333]

2 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Pinnacle "free cruise" I thought it was only a one time credit of approx $1500?

 

Finally almost there !!

I think you get one every so many pts after you hit pinnacle. 

[Ourusualbeach]

11 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Pinnacle "free cruise" I thought it was only a one time credit of approx $1500?

 

Finally almost there !!

Amy 7 day Caribbesn on a ship more than a year old in a valcony regardless of price or a $2400 credit towards a different cruise. Then every 350 points after that.  At 1400 points it's a JS. 

[Anton]

55 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Pinnacle "free cruise" I thought it was only a one time credit of approx $1500?

 

Finally almost there !!

No.  A 7 night Caribbean cruise in a balcony cabin regardless of the current price as long as it isn't in one of the blackout periods and the ship is over one year in service.  If the Wonder was $10,000 for a balcony cabin and it was not during a black out date, I can use a pinnacle certificate to book it.  700 and 1050 points are balcony.  1400 points and every 350 after that is a Junior Suite.  To use the certificate for a longer cruise (they are quite strict about the 7 night thing) the cash value is $2400 for 700 and 1050 points, and then it bumps up to $3200 at 1400 points.

[grandgeezer]

4 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

You don’t get a free cruise until you become Pinnacle. People who get “free” cruises thru the casino have paid for them thru their losses. 

I can’t comment on RCL, but I can on it’s sister line Celebrity. Post pandemic I have been offered free cruises, through the casino, four times. The last time we sailed with them is October 2019. The time before that was December 2016. We were never a fan of cruise ship casinos so I’m guessing we haven’t dropped any money there in the last 10-12 years. 

Any other theories?

[ReneeFLL]

2 hours ago, Ashland said:

Pinnacle "free cruise" I thought it was only a one time credit of approx $1500?

 

Finally almost there !!

I’m not really sure exactly how it works. 😁 We made pinnacle in February so I do need to look into it.

[Ashland]

3 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

Amy 7 day Caribbesn on a ship more than a year old in a valcony regardless of price or a $2400 credit towards a different cruise. Then every 350 points after that.  At 1400 points it's a JS. 

Thanks...So doesn't look like it will benefit us very much as we do GS and up.

[Ourusualbeach]

2 minutes ago, Ashland said:

Thanks...So doesn't look like it will benefit us very much as we do GS and up.

You can apply the $2400 to a GS. 

[ReneeFLL]

5 hours ago, colesc15 said:

Has nothing to do with losses. I've gotten comped cruises many times from the casino after a winning trip. All related to the money cycled through machines and time spent in the casino. 

 

5 hours ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Free cruises thru the casino are not based on losses. During a cruise, free cruises are earned by how many points you accumulate. For example, $5 equals one point on slot machines. It doesn’t matter how much you win or lose. There are also frequent free cruise offers you receive via mail or email, which I don’t know what criteria they use. All I know is I get them almost monthly. 

How much have you lost versus the free cruises that you took and the price they were worth? I’m guessing 99% of people have lost more that what it would have cost to to pay outright. In the end for Royal it is based on people’s losses. They aren’t going to keep giving away free cruises if they aren’t making money off of people. Royal doesn’t play that way.

[PhillyFan33579]

1 minute ago, ReneeFLL said:

 

How much have you lost versus the free cruises that you took and the price they were worth? I’m guessing 99% of people have lost more that what it would have cost to to pay outright. In the end for Royal it is based on people’s losses. They aren’t going to keep giving away free cruises if they aren’t making money off of people. Royal doesn’t play that way.

Last year I went on 7 free casino cruises and lost $950 in various casinos over the year. 
 

This year I have 17 free casino cruises booked/already cruised, not to mention several offers I didn’t use for various reasons. So far this year I have lost $3200 in casinos this year. That number is likely to go up on future cruises, but at  the moment I think losing $4150 for 24 free cruises in two years is a pretty good return on investment. 

[ReneeFLL]

31 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

Last year I went on 7 free casino cruises and lost $950 in various casinos over the year. 
 

This year I have 17 free casino cruises booked/already cruised, not to mention several offers I didn’t use for various reasons. So far this year I have lost $3200 in casinos this year. That number is likely to go up on future cruises, but at  the moment I think losing $4150 for 24 free cruises in two years is a pretty good return on investment. 

Wow, I stand corrected. Maybe I need to start gambling. Is this typical for most gamblers or are you one of the few exceptions?

[Biker19]

2 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Is this typical for most gamblers or are you one of the few exceptions?

Do you think RCI can make money giving away that to every gambler?

[colesc15]

8 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

Wow, I stand corrected. Maybe I need to start gambling. Is this typical for most gamblers or are you one of the few exceptions?

Casinos will always win. On land, holds are usually around 89%, on ships likely 93% or so. I've had good winning cruises and losing. But, offers don't care what you win or lose. They care about the money you're willing to circulate through the machines because they know in the end, the casino will win. I win/lose the same in the casino now as I did before the casino reward program so the way I see it, I would have played in the casino regardless, but as a reward, I'm not having to pay for gambling plus a cruise fare. 

 

Losing $5k-10k on a comped cruise is better than losing $5k-10k plus paying for the cruise. 

Edited July 24, 2023 by colesc15

[orville99]

11 hours ago, ReneeFLL said:

I’m not really sure exactly how it works. 😁 We made pinnacle in February so I do need to look into it.

Call the D+ number and ask to speak with the Pinnacle desk. You should have received a certificate in the package that they sent with your pinnacle pins, etc. You only have a year to apply the certificate, so if you haven't received your Pinnacle package yet (ours took a few months to arrive - if I remember correctly), they will have a record of it on their system, and can apply it to whichever cruise you want.

 

BTW, we used our last one to book a balcony on Wonder (just got off yesterday) because it was worth over $5,000 on that cruise.

[island lady]

7 hours ago, Biker19 said:

Do you think RCI can make money giving away that to every gambler?

 

Money?  Nah...don't you know that casinos are a non-profit organization?  😄