Princess Casino Newby

[20165]

Hi, We are new to the casino on cruise ships, but would like to get started and i think Princess will be our line of choice going forward. We have been on 30+ cruises over the years, but have had kids for the most part and no time for casinos let alone free casino cruises even if they did offer them. Fast forward to now and we are empty nesters and looking to cruise/gamble more.

So, how do we get started on Princess?  We will most likely only play slots or video poker and i understand i need to drop a couple $1k in, but i dont understand how that is tracked. Do we scan our medallions at each slot machine we play?  When we have gambled in the past, we would just put cash in the machines and know thats probably not the way to do it, or at least not if we want our gameplay tracked.

Any info is greatly appreciated.

thanks

 

[Janthere]

Yes scan your medallion every time you sit down at a new machine. The VP machine sill track your play for you. You can use cash or withdraw money to play against your onboard account but depending on your status with the cruise line and or the type of room you’re in you may get charged a convenience fee to do so. You May also  want to look into matching any existing land offers to your cruise line to see if you can get a comped cruise to start. 

[20165]

27 minutes ago, Janthere said:

Yes scan your medallion every time you sit down at a new machine. The VP machine sill track your play for you. You can use cash or withdraw money to play against your onboard account but depending on your status with the cruise line and or the type of room you’re in you may get charged a convenience fee to do so. You May also  want to look into matching any existing land offers to your cruise line to see if you can get a comped cruise to start. 

Thank you, great info.  Is there anything special i need to do ahead of time to my onboard account to get access to funds?  I remember trying to scan our room cards on a celebrity cruise last year and we could never get it to give us access to any money for the machines.    Full disclosure, we had no idea what we were doing and there may have been some cocktails involved, but if there is something we need to do to fund our onboard account on princess in a couple of weeks, i would like to make sure we have the cash in hand if thats what they want rather then the credit cards we have on file.

We are on Enchanted April 20th  in a S5 suite for reference.

thanks

 

[roxievegas]

Going to the casino and using the machines are easy - we do not play table games, so someone else will have to advise you

 

You sit at a machine, place your medallion next to the box and the screen will ask for your birthdate.  You then can put cash in the machine or enter the amount of money that you want to start off with.  It will charge that amount to your cabin.  Sample:  $500.  you now play the machine, the machine will keep track of your play amount and award you points.  After playing $100 you want to move, you hit cash out and WAIT for the machine to say that you are signed out and the left over money is back in your bank.   You go to the next machine and it will ask how much you want to play  -  you have $400 in your bank so you ask for $100 and you start playing again.  You never get cash out of the machine, nor a ticket.  Everything is tied into your medallion.

 

Always wait for the machine to verify that the money has gone back to your bank before you leave the machine.

[20165]

14 hours ago, roxievegas said:

Going to the casino and using the machines are easy - we do not play table games, so someone else will have to advise you

 

You sit at a machine, place your medallion next to the box and the screen will ask for your birthdate.  You then can put cash in the machine or enter the amount of money that you want to start off with.  It will charge that amount to your cabin.  Sample:  $500.  you now play the machine, the machine will keep track of your play amount and award you points.  After playing $100 you want to move, you hit cash out and WAIT for the machine to say that you are signed out and the left over money is back in your bank.   You go to the next machine and it will ask how much you want to play  -  you have $400 in your bank so you ask for $100 and you start playing again.  You never get cash out of the machine, nor a ticket.  Everything is tied into your medallion.

 

Always wait for the machine to verify that the money has gone back to your bank before you leave the machine.

Thank you and sounds very straight forward.  We also dont play table games so i think we are set.

Also, i read that you have to bet a min. of $3 per spin to get a point.  Does that sound accurate or has that been your experience?  

Thanks again

[tompeter]

7 minutes ago, 20165 said:

Thank you and sounds very straight forward.  We also dont play table games so i think we are set.

Also, i read that you have to bet a min. of $3 per spin to get a point.  Does that sound accurate or has that been your experience?  

Thanks again

No, that is not correct. It may be spending $3 equals one point, but it will accumulate, ie 4x .75 spins equals one point. 2x $1.50 equals one point, etc.

[memoak]

3 hours ago, 20165 said:

Thank you and sounds very straight forward.  We also dont play table games so i think we are set.

Also, i read that you have to bet a min. of $3 per spin to get a point.  Does that sound accurate or has that been your experience?  

Thanks again

We bet anywhere from $1.87 to $3.00 per spin depending on the machine. We play several hours a day and usually end up with either free inside or free balconies with free play. One note if you sit inactive at a machine for more than a few minutes it will cash you out. Actually pretty handy if you forget to log out 

[Sprocket]

Be sure to cash out at the cashier’s cage before it closes when your cruise is ending.  Once it closes that day/evening you will not be able to and depending on amount will have to wait for a check.

$2.50 = 1 point on slots.  $5 = 1 point on video poker machines

 

Unlike some cruise lines there is no fee to charge to your room and it is easy to keep track of your folio on the app.  If you wish to pay down your balance it’s  easy to do so at Guest Services.

 

As mentioned above when you sign out wait for the machine to log you out completely.  Saw first hand how someone’s money ended up in another player’s account.  Fortunately it was her husband’s but it took considerable time to sort out.

 

 

 

 

[Globaler]

There are a couple of odd things like how they calculate points on a back to back.  If you do play as you say, you will most likely get a bounce back offer on the last night of your cruise.  The formula is not transparent but “memoak” gave you a good proxy.  For table games you can give your medallion to the dealer and they can get you money on your account. You should try a few - 3card poker is really easy.  Standard play says unless you have a Q, 6, 4 or better in your hand you should fold.  

[Globaler]

I have now consolidated all my gambling funds to cruising and away from land casinos.  The offers have been better than what I was getting in Vegas.  Will see how long that lasts but for now it’s great - booked through 2025.

[spunks]

If you want to gain perks through points in the casino, avoid Princess like the plague. There is not ONE employee of Princess that can tell you what the points are for. Unlike other lines, Princess has no schedule of tier level that show perks.

 

I have gotten free cruise offers, but they may as well be assigned by lot for all the explanation they give you. I have over 600 nights on Princess and have sworn off of them.

Don't believe me?...go ahead and get the run around from the pot boss to the host to the casino manager to the princess casino site when you ask what the points mean as far as comps....

Doug

[memoak]

11 hours ago, spunks said:

If you want to gain perks through points in the casino, avoid Princess like the plague. There is not ONE employee of Princess that can tell you what the points are for. Unlike other lines, Princess has no schedule of tier level that show perks.

 

I have gotten free cruise offers, but they may as well be assigned by lot for all the explanation they give you. I have over 600 nights on Princess and have sworn off of them.

Don't believe me?...go ahead and get the run around from the pot boss to the host to the casino manager to the princess casino site when you ask what the points mean as far as comps....

Doug

You do know that the casino employees are not Princess employees the same way spa employees and future cruise salespeople are not Princess employees 

[spunks]

11 hours ago, memoak said:

You do know that the casino employees are not Princess employees the same way spa employees and future cruise salespeople are not Princess employees 

Ok...you have a better group to ask about casino questions?

[memoak]

Just now, spunks said:

Ok...you have a better group to ask about casino questions?

Just saying that they run the actual casino a computer spits out offers and they really having nothing to do with that. Also deals change not just with points but with overall ships booking. Now that ships are sailing full we are no longer seeing $1,000 free play offers even though our play is consistent 

[spunks]

And yet Rccl tells you at every stage what your points mean and what the levels are. For example...at 2500 points for the year you get unlimited drinks on the casino, plus they have a sheet posted the show what offers you will get for every level of points.