🛳️ Cruise Casino - Can you win?

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Tips: 19

1. Of course you CAN win. That’s the psychological thrill of playing. May the odds be ever in your favor!

2. Cruise Katniss, the odds are never in your favor. You can win a game, for a day, or even a trip. But can you win consistently, over the long term? Fuggedaboudit. That’s the definition of a game of chance. This is a business. The cruise lines set the rules (machine win rate, game rules). But do have fun!

3. You CAN win a cruise. There are benefits. The cruise lines have sexy rewards programs. But of course you’re paying for it That’s entertainment!

4. But even the cruise award isn’t free. You still have to pay taxes and port fees, typically $200-400.

5. Free drinks, yay! Yep, the casino floor is the one place where you can get free drinks - when you’re playing- even if you don’t have a drink package.

6. And no casino drink tip auto charge!!! The casino floor is also the one place where the ship typically does not automatically charge a tip for a drink.

7. Bring lots of singles. Even though the drink is free and there is no automatic gratuity, you want your cocktail server to give you great service, don’t you? It’s customary to tip $1-2 per drink.

8. Cruise win odds are worse than Vegas. In Las Vegas the percentage of money from slot machines that goes to the casino is known as the "house edge" or "hold percentage". The Return to Player (RTP) percentage is 90-95% with the higher RTP being the ones closer to the doors. The cruise casino RTP is 85%.

9. We know what you can do to earn a cruise. Most cruise lines make it a mystery. Plus the reward programs always vary with new player bonuses, special promotions, program changes, etc. Royal Caribbean doesn’t make it a secret. With them you earn an interior room at the lowest member tier with 2,500 points. Your cruise line may be different. But it’s a good place to start.

10. Each game credits you differently. On Royal slots earn 1 point for a $5 bet. Video poker earns 1 point for a $10 bet. Table games earn 10 points on an average $10 wager over an hour. Some machines and games may not earn credits. So check with the dealer or casino staff.

11. You need to spend $12,500 to win that free cruise. Again, this is just Royal and their published program. I’ve read that slots are the most efficient way to earn casino rewards. So let’s stick with them. 2,500 $5 slots bets will get you the 2,500 points for the trip. That math was easy! Make sure your credit card (or cards, or debit cards) have that amount available.

12. You’ll lose $1,875 for that free cruise. That average is based on the slot win rate of 85%, which means you lose 15% of the time.

13. Easy come, fast go. If you gamble for fun, have a set amount each day or trip that you can lose. A rule of thumb is to never bet more than 1% of your bankroll. If your limit is $500, don’t bet more than $5 per spin. Use this handy calculator to see how long your bankroll will last. Using the limit above, you can play about 700 times on average. If you’re a steady player, that will last for about an hour and a half. That’s expensive fun. So you might want to take it easy and make it last, pardner. Take your time. Enjoy the occasional wins. Get a few drinks. Take a bathroom break or two. Check out the musical group playing next door in the atrium. Chat with your wife (if you want to), talk to your neighbors, flirt with the cocktail server.

14. Find the slots with the highest bet. Our goal here is to win that free cruise, damnit! So we’re going to be serious about gameplay and not get distracted. Cruise ships generally have $0.01 to $10 slots. Some cruises may have higher denominations. Since rewards are based on bet amount, the higher bet machines allow you to reach our point and bet target faster. Plus some machines pay out more for higher bets.

15. It doesn’t take that long to earn the cruise. Let us assume you’re at the $10 slots and average 6 seconds per play. You’ll make 600 bets per hour. Let’s give you 10 minutes off every hour for a break. So we’ll round it down to 500 plays/hour. That results in you betting $5,000 and losing an average $750 an hour. It will take just 2.5 hours to reach $12,500 in bets, a modest investment in time for the cruise.

16. Free cruise winner! Congratulations. You spent just a few hours and received your cruise award. The average last minute Caribbean cruise price for 2 adults in an interior cabin on a 4 night sailing is $1,250. Let’s be generous and say their offer is for a $1,750 sailing. Taxes and port fees are about $250, which you have to pay. So the net casino comp is worth $1,500.

17. The “free” cruise isn’t worth it. You invested 2.5 hours (or likely much more) and $1,900 in gambling losses to receive a $1,500 cruise credit. Not a good value proposition. Hopefully the fun was worth it.

18. Still a loser. One more thing. You're playing with “house money”. Your cruise credit is worth $0 if you don’t sail again. It forces you to cruise and on that line. Meanwhile the cruise line essentially holds your money. Plus they always have inventory they can give you. On the free cruise they still make money on you as 50% of their revenues doesn’t come from the cabin (drinks, Internet, excursions, etc.) Then you can repeat the cycle again.

19. Happy gambler, happy cruise line. The cruise lines make even more money on those who play other games, the casual players who don’t qualify for rewards, and those that gamble much more. It’s a good business for them. They’re even starting to schedule cruises primarily for their gamblers. This is why cruise lines get 11% of their revenues from the casino and dedicate much of a ship entire floor to it!