Carnival Casino Comps

[kwokpot]

50 minutes ago, mz-s said:

The internet is a special place where every gambler always plays with less than they planned to, or hits that big jackpot that pays for the trip every cruise.

My husband and I have had a great run and with his gambling had to report on our joint taxes W2-G winnings in the 6 figures for the past consecutive 10 years. Yes, he keeps good records so we offset the winnings with gambling losses,so we never had to pay taxes on the full amount. We were challenged by the IRS for our 2022 taxes but after showing how we arrived at the reduced figure which we had to pay taxes on the IRS agreed with our methodology so that went well. 

He is vowing to drastically cut back on his gambling both on land and sea. We are on our 2nd last day of our Panorama cruise and he's only played at the casio once, and that was with the given Freeplay, so none of his own money. We played his $1,000 Freeplay together, and with me consistently hitting collect after a handful of wins he was able to keep $820 of the $1,025 given to him on this cruise.

I also came out ahead. Kept about $30 of the $25 Freeplay and then turned $50 of my own funds into $95.

 

Edited April 25 by kwokpot

[mz-s]

2 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

My husband and I have a a great run and with his gambling have had to report on our joint taxes W2-G winnings in the 6 figures for the past consecutive 10 years. Yes, he keeps good records so we offset the winnings with gambling losses,so we never had to pay taxes on the full amount. We were challenged by the IRS for our 2022 taxes but after showing how we arrived at the reduced figure which we had to pay taxes on the IRS agreed with our methodology and that went well. 

He is vowing to drastically cut back on his gambling both on land and sea. We are on our 2nd last day of our Panorama cruise and he's only played at the casi o once,and that was with the given Freeplay,so none of his own money. We played his $1,000 Freeplay together,and with me hitting collect after a handful of wins he was able to keep $820 of the $1,025 given to him on this cruise.

I also came out ahead. Kept about $30 of the $25 Freeplay and then turned $50 of my own funds into $95.

 

 

The truth of the matter is at this point you'll probably be able to sustain the casino offers you are getting simply by playing with the funplay you're receiving, and very little of your own money. All your hard work has paid off - you can cruise and gamble for free now. 

[kwokpot]

8 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

The truth of the matter is at this point you'll probably be able to sustain the casino offers you are getting simply by playing with the funplay you're receiving, and very little of your own money. All your hard work has paid off - you can cruise and gamble for free now. 

That's exactly what we are deciding to do. Carnival, Celebrity, Royal and Virgin keep sending us offers,too many for us to use. We keep getting these great offers from Resorts World Vegas for free nights, Freeplay and resort credit even though he just played one afternoon when they first opened. 

We filed for our tax extension and this is the first year where our estimated payments won't cover our liabilities, which was all due to the W2-Gs. I think it was this wakeup call where we had our family discussion and decided on how we move forward with gambling and travel. Living 60 minutes from Atlantic City doesn't make it any easier,but we're vowing to cutback on those trips too. 

Edited April 25 by kwokpot

[Elaine5715]

49 minutes ago, kwokpot said:

That's exactly what we are deciding to do. Carnival, Celebrity, Royal and Virgin keep sending us offers,too many for us to use. We keep getting these great offers from Resorts World Vegas for free nights, Freeplay and resort credit even though he just played one afternoon when they first opened. 

We filed for our tax extension and this is the first year where our estimated payments won't cover our liabilities, which was all due to the W2-Gs. I think it was this wakeup call where we had our family discussion and decided on how we move forward with gambling and travel. Living 60 minutes from Atlantic City doesn't make it any easier,but we're vowing to cutback on those trips too. 

It is your status in land casinos that keeps the offers coming. Ocean Players Club know what it takes to earn and keep that status plus onboard, you can't jump to another casino

[mz-s]

13 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

It is your status in land casinos that keeps the offers coming. Ocean Players Club know what it takes to earn and keep that status plus onboard, you can't jump to another casino

 

I will say that when my wife and I got status with Ceasars we saw our Carnival offers kick up a notch and that was almost overnight.

[weezal]

59 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

It is your status in land casinos that keeps the offers coming. Ocean Players Club know what it takes to earn and keep that status plus onboard, you can't jump to another casino

i lost all of my land casino status this year (caesars diamond, mgm gold).

so far, carnival offers haven't changed for the worse yet.

will report back if they do drop off noticeably, though i don't think they will, since all of my play is now going toward carnival.

Edited April 26 by weezal

[JGB]

My recent carnival experience, in the end of a 5 day sailing I had 12k in w2g’s and 7K in points. Not once was I greeted by a casino host much less offered an in sailing comp. At end of cruise received an ocean view room on specific sailings with only charge tax and port fees. Personally not impressed. Of course as a casino winner I am anxious to sail Carnival again but will not do so without a decent comp over, for me that would include free balcony and some free play.

jgb

[mz-s]

53 minutes ago, JGB said:

My recent carnival experience, in the end of a 5 day sailing I had 12k in w2g’s and 7K in points. Not once was I greeted by a casino host much less offered an in sailing comp. At end of cruise received an ocean view room on specific sailings with only charge tax and port fees. Personally not impressed. Of course as a casino winner I am anxious to sail Carnival again but will not do so without a decent comp over, for me that would include free balcony and some free play.

jgb

 

Surprised you didn't have an offer in your mailbox on the last evening for a bounceback. You will probably start getting better offers in the next few months. But as I've mentioned previously on this thread, nothing is guaranteed with Carnival casino offers.

[Elaine5715]

4 hours ago, JGB said:

My recent carnival experience, in the end of a 5 day sailing I had 12k in w2g’s and 7K in points. Not once was I greeted by a casino host much less offered an in sailing comp. At end of cruise received an ocean view room on specific sailings with only charge tax and port fees. Personally not impressed. Of course as a casino winner I am anxious to sail Carnival again but will not do so without a decent comp over, for me that would include free balcony and some free play.

jgb

7000 points is nothing, many players hit that by second day.  They don't comp for handpays unless you rate the big check with photo.  Many max bet players hit a ton of handpays for line hits.  

[weezal]

10 hours ago, JGB said:

My recent carnival experience, in the end of a 5 day sailing I had 12k in w2g’s and 7K in points. Not once was I greeted by a casino host much less offered an in sailing comp. At end of cruise received an ocean view room on specific sailings with only charge tax and port fees. Personally not impressed. Of course as a casino winner I am anxious to sail Carnival again but will not do so without a decent comp over, for me that would include free balcony and some free play.

jgb

that sounds about right, for ocean view offer.

you can inquire about comps, at the casino host desk.
on some sailings, i've had experiences where the hosts came to me, while i'm seated in the casino. other times, i'm practically invisible, while playing similar amounts.

honestly, they really don't consider what you're winning (or losing), as long as you earn those points.

[Elaine5715]

16 minutes ago, weezal said:

that sounds about right, for ocean view offer.

you can inquire about comps, at the casino host desk.
on some sailings, i've had experiences where the hosts came to me, while i'm seated in the casino. other times, i'm practically invisible, while playing similar amounts.

honestly, they really don't consider what you're winning (or losing), as long as you earn those points.

The computer tells hosts who to comp.  They know where you are in the casino when your card is in the machine and if they don't catch you, they will sent a letter to your room.  Asking doesn't get their attention, some hosts just have favorite guests and some are just slow.  

[weezal]

10 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

The computer tells hosts who to comp.  They know where you are in the casino when your card is in the machine and if they don't catch you, they will sent a letter to your room.  Asking doesn't get their attention, some hosts just have favorite guests and some are just slow.  

my point was that it doesn't hurt to inquire at the casino host desk.

i've gotten comps just by asking, on the sailings where they didn't pro-actively come to me.

 

[mz-s]

45 minutes ago, weezal said:

my point was that it doesn't hurt to inquire at the casino host desk.

i've gotten comps just by asking, on the sailings where they didn't pro-actively come to me.

 

 

I agree. They can't make magic happen but if you're close enough to a comp they can sometimes fudge it a little bit. It does pay to make friends.

[Elaine5715]

1 hour ago, weezal said:

my point was that it doesn't hurt to inquire at the casino host desk.

i've gotten comps just by asking, on the sailings where they didn't pro-actively come to me.

 

My points is asking doesn't matter.  If you aren't on the list, you aren't getting anything.  The hosts aren't in control.  The casino manager who is not on the floor is in charge.  

[TigerWoodsLibido]

Random to introduce myself to the board here but I'm going to be on the Valour and spend some time in their casino (my 2nd cruise, and maybe my last cuz of my failing health). Hopefully it'll be a fun time there. Definitely gonna introduce myself to the host.

[weezal]

4 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

My points is asking doesn't matter.  If you aren't on the list, you aren't getting anything.  The hosts aren't in control.  The casino manager who is not on the floor is in charge.  

if i did not ask, i wouldn't have gotten anything. so in my scenario, yes, it does matter.

[weezal]

6 minutes ago, TigerWoodsLibido said:

Random to introduce myself to the board here but I'm going to be on the Valour and spend some time in their casino (my 2nd cruise, and maybe my last cuz of my failing health). Hopefully it'll be a fun time there. Definitely gonna introduce myself to the host.

it helps to earn some points early on, front load your play if possible on the 1st day or 2.

your projected play for the sailing, will appear much higher this way.

 

[Elaine5715]

15 hours ago, weezal said:

if i did not ask, i wouldn't have gotten anything. so in my scenario, yes, it does matter.

Yes, you would have.  

[Elaine5715]

15 hours ago, weezal said:

it helps to earn some points early on, front load your play if possible on the 1st day or 2.

your projected play for the sailing, will appear much higher this way.

 

Correct. Sometimes, they use projected play since if they wait until last days, there are no dining or spa spots left.  People who start playing last sea day are SOL because most of the comps are given out.  If they run out of comps, players aren't rewarded even with thousands of points because they aren't "eligible"

[weezal]

12 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

Yes, you would have.  

I know for a fact that I wouldn’t have, because I went to talk to the casino host, on the final day of the sailing, and got some comps.

[vswan]

I am not a big gambler but enjoy going to the casino. I always set my budget ahead of time and do not spend more than I'm willing to lose - which means not much. This past year I went on both RCL and CCL. Shortly after returning I started getting offers from both. Keep in mind that I earned between 500 and 750 points total on each cruise - not a big spender. Offers were not always for free (some are free), but 30 - 40% off, some onboard credit and free drinks in the casino. Most of my offers are for 3 - 4 day which do not make a lot of sense for someone who has to purchase airfare and to combine several would mean going to the same ports over and over. In fact on the CCL cruise I hit a nice win of more than $500 and came home with more money than I put in. There seems to be no real rhyme nor reason as to why I am getting these offers. Makes sense if someone earns a lot of points they are more likely to get better offers, but 500 points and free or reduced cruises. Doesn't make sense to me.

 

When cruises were just starting after covid I got several offers from HAL and took advantage of them. Maybe that explains the CCL since they are owned by the same company, but not the RCL.

[mz-s]

2 hours ago, vswan said:

I am not a big gambler but enjoy going to the casino. I always set my budget ahead of time and do not spend more than I'm willing to lose - which means not much. This past year I went on both RCL and CCL. Shortly after returning I started getting offers from both. Keep in mind that I earned between 500 and 750 points total on each cruise - not a big spender. Offers were not always for free (some are free), but 30 - 40% off, some onboard credit and free drinks in the casino. Most of my offers are for 3 - 4 day which do not make a lot of sense for someone who has to purchase airfare and to combine several would mean going to the same ports over and over. In fact on the CCL cruise I hit a nice win of more than $500 and came home with more money than I put in. There seems to be no real rhyme nor reason as to why I am getting these offers. Makes sense if someone earns a lot of points they are more likely to get better offers, but 500 points and free or reduced cruises. Doesn't make sense to me.

 

When cruises were just starting after covid I got several offers from HAL and took advantage of them. Maybe that explains the CCL since they are owned by the same company, but not the RCL.

 

Knowing you're a consistent gambler, even if you don't spend a ton, is worth something to them. If they have empty cabins close to sailing, they'd rather give those cabins away to someone they know will spend money in the casino.

[Elaine5715]

On 4/27/2024 at 11:34 AM, weezal said:

I know for a fact that I wouldn’t have, because I went to talk to the casino host, on the final day of the sailing, and got some comps.

I have gotten final comps at the last night dinner.

[weezal]

19 minutes ago, Elaine5715 said:

I have gotten final comps at the last night dinner.

i'm often not at the MDR at night, and why would i be, if i can get a specialty dinner comp

[lazydayz]

I always visit the host on the last day.  While all the specialty dinners might be gone, I might get some wine or $$$ for Cherry on Top.  The Celebration host asked me if I had grandkids, then how many. Told him three so he gave me $150 to spend on the grands.  What a fun shopping spree.