My husband and I like to play Blackjack and we would often play on our Carnival Cruises. I define “play” as a couple of hours here and there. We often wondered how people would get Casino offers and why we never seemed to get any.
After a little research, I think I’ve cracked the code.
Since doing the method I will outline below, I have received countless Carnival Players Club offers for free and cheap rooms. I have also received offers for Getaway and Premiere cruises. Almost all of the offers include free drinks for me while playing in the casino. A few have included drinks for me and a companion while playing in the casino. A couple have included free drinks for me and a companion anywhere on the ship.
Before I tell you about my findings, though, I must stress that this has worked for me and friends and family. I cannot guarantee it will work for you and I must stress that you should only try this if you can view this is a fun test. If you are playing for guaranteed results, this is not for you. Carnival can, and often does, change their requirements for passengers receiving casino offers.
The first thing you have to do is play slots. I’m not a huge fan of slots, but after seeing my daughter and my friend walk away with big winnings while we were on the Mardi Gras last month, I may be more of a believer.
By playing slots, the amount of time/money spent in the casino is trackable. It also lets you keep a close eye on your points. The points are the big key here.
Every time you play slots you will insert your Sail & Sign card into the machine. This enables the casino to keep track of your play activity. You will also set a pin to make sure your account is protected in case you lose your card.
I like to add cash to the machine so I can budget how much I spend. The couple of times we have used our Sail & Sign cards to play slots, the charges have racked up faster than I would like to admit. You will also be charged a 3% fee for doing this, so gambling becomes even more expensive. By bringing cash you can stay within your budget and you will save the 3% fee.
The machine you pick is up to you. I play penny slots, but bet around $5-$6 per spin depending on the machine. To win the jackpot, you have to play their “max” bet and I would never be able to get over it if I hit a grand prize but hadn’t bet the max to win. That’s just me, though and you can do you. The “plan” doesn’t change based on your bet. What will change is the time it takes you to hit the magic number. I don’t want to spend hours a day in the casino so I like to hit that magic number faster.
What’s the magic number? Read on.
The “magic number” is the number of casino points you have earned. The points are displayed every time you add your Sail & Sign card to a slot machine. Carnival pays out 1 point for every $2.50 spent.
I have found that you will begin to receive casino offers once you hit 1000 points in a single cruise.
Simple math tells you that you have to spend $2500 to get 1000 points, right? You’re probably thinking you aren’t spending $2500 to get cheap cruises. But, hold tight. That’s not right.
You get 1 point for every $2.50 that you play. On my first cruise where I tried this (beginning of 2022), I spent a total of $400 of my own money. “My own” is defined as the cash I brought on board. All of your winnings at the machine will count toward your points unless you cash out.
This is where your personal purpose of gambling comes in. I was completely focused on hitting 1000 points to see if my theory proved true. I was not interested in taking home winnings if I did not hit the 1000 points. In fact, I did not take home $1 of winnings and I left $400 in the casino. There were times during that cruise that I could have cashed out and left ahead.
Again, my whole purpose was to hit 1000 points to see what would happen. I did not cash out at all until I hit 1000 points. Once I hit the magic number, I cashed out. I think the total was around $.57.
I was absolutely thrilled that it only took $400 to hit 1000 points and I went home happy about the experiment.
About 10 days later, the offers started rolling in.
Excited, I wanted to try the theory again to see if it would hold true. My family and I cruised with a large group in March of 2022 and I, along with my husband and two friends, once again focused on the magic number of 1000 points.
We played, laughed, had fun, and lost all of our money. Not one of us left ahead. Each of us left with over 1000 points, though.
Me, my husband and my first friend spent about $800 each to get to the 1000 points. My other friend spent $320. The three of us who spent more, bet larger amounts per spin and my friend who spent $320 bet smaller amounts. The friend who bet smaller amounts spent less money, but spent twice as much time at the casino as the rest of us. We all held our breaths and went home.
The friend who spent $800 started receiving casino offers with a day of debarkation. It took my husband and other friend about 2 weeks to start getting them. I continued to receive them and my on board credit offers are much higher than everyone else’s. I can only imagine it’s because by that point, I had played in the casino twice.
We tried this again a couple weeks ago on the Mardi Gras with my daughter and my parents. My daughter has not received any casino offers even though she got to 1000 points. We think it may be because she isn’t 25 and can’t cruise alone, even though she is old enough to gamble. My parents did not get to 1000 points and have not gotten offers. They did win big and they cashed out before they spent it.
I should mention that between the cruises mentioned above, we have taken 2 others where neither I, nor my husband gambled at all and we continue to receive offers.
The quick summary of my theory is this: Get to 1000 casino points in a single cruise by playing slots and you’ll get offers.
If you try this, let me know what happens.
Thank you for the explanation! We are platinum members and though we play here and there – clearly never got to the 1000 points so never got offers. Last cruise my husband won $500 after two spins of carnivals money (the $25 platinum money) but we cashed out lololol.
We sail the Magic 10/31 and will be trying your theory out!!! We have six cruises coming up so should be very interesting.
Definitely let me know how it goes and good luck!