Free sailings for gambling? What to know about cruise casino rewards programs.
On Jorge Martinez’s first cruise, he won a second sailing before he even disembarked.
Martinez got a last-minute invite to join a prepaid Carnival Cruise Line trip to Alaska in 2023 when his friend's partner couldn't make it. The 38-year-old New Mexico resident just had to pay for his plane ticket.
Once on board, Martinez – who has enjoyed gambling for most of his adult life – headed to the casino, where he won more than $1,000 in cash. “I did get lucky on that cruise,” he said.
He continued to play with that money and earned a complimentary sailing through the Carnival Players Club. After he got home, other deals followed. “Even before I left on that (second) cruise, the offers just kept rolling in,” he said.
Cruise line casino rewards programs can give travelers discounts, onboard perks and even free fares – in addition to paying out any wins. But they may not always be worth the money and time passengers have to invest to win. Here’s what to know.
What are cruise casino rewards programs?
Casino rewards programs allow cruise passengers to earn points for playing onboard table games like blackjack, roulette and slots.
Though each line “does it a little bit differently,” most offer travelers rewards at the end of their sailing based on the number of points they’ve accrued, according to Jordan Taylor, who runs the YouTube channel JJ Cruise with his husband, Jared Dailey.
The pair, who also work as travel agents, have taken more than 30 comp cruises through Royal Caribbean International and Celebrity Cruises’ casino programs. The redeemable points typically reset at the end of a cruise.
Passengers also earn status by playing, which gives them access to different tiers of perks (though that is separate from cruise lines’ other loyalty programs).
Travelers will need to present their stateroom key card or a separate player’s card – provided when they sign up – to earn points by placing bets with cash or by charging them to their onboard account, though guests may be charged fees for the latter. There is no cost to join the programs.
Generally, players get one “redeemable point and tier credit” per $5 bet at reel slots and $10 at video poker as an industry standard, travelers site The Points Guy reported. Those rates can differ, though. Redeemable points can be used for comp cruises and other extras like credit to your onboard bill, though the specifics vary by cruise line, while tier credits go toward status (with comp cruises among its potential perks as well).
The earnings rates for table games depend on what guests are playing, how long they play and other factors – and they can be confusing even for experienced gamblers.
“We have been playing in these casinos for years, and we've never figured out the table formula ourselves,” Taylor said. Travelers can make educated guesses, Dailey said, but "there is no exact point per time formula available for guests."
Players can track their points progress, however, by checking their balance with the casino host after finishing a session. Participants will earn points each time they play as long as they insert or tap their card at machines and present them to the dealer ahead of table games, Dailey said.
"The only way you would not earn a point is if your total bet value is less than one point," he said.
As on land, any monetary winnings in casinos at sea are ultimately up to chance (though points will accumulate based on their set earnings rates regardless).
“You could end up and hit jackpots and get $1,500, $3,000, whatever, or you could have only gotten your four points because you got four spins in, and you know, you're done, and so you need to add more money,” Dailey said. "And so it really can go either way.”
What perks do casino rewards programs offer?
In addition to comp cruises, perks include discounts on fares, free drinks and invitations to exclusive events.
Each cruise line has its own system for distributing rewards. Norwegian Cruise Line’s Casinos at Sea program, for example, has four tiers based on points earned in an evaluation period:
Pearl at 4,000 points
Sapphire at 15,000 points
Ruby at 35,000 points
Elite at 100,000 points
Pearl perks include water packages – a 12-pack on cruises 10 nights or less, and 24-pack for 11 nights or more – $75 in onboard credit and more, according to Norwegian’s website. Elite status in the casino program, on the other hand, comes with the same perks as Pearl and other preceding levels, plus exclusive benefits like $1,000 in onboard credit and a $500 shore excursion credit.
The evaluation period runs from April 1 through March 31 for the following year, and other select benefits are offered on sister brands Oceania Cruises and Regent Seven Seas Cruises.
Martinez plans to take an Elite Cruise with Carnival – offered through its Carnival Players Club – from Tokyo to Singapore next year. The offer covers the fare for the recipient and one guest, but they must still pay taxes, fees and deposits. The deposits are refunded as an onboard credit.
Those bookings also come with waived charges for room service; free Wi-Fi and drinks; complimentary parking or local airport pickup and drop-off and more, the line said on its website. Martinez paid about $400 for two people for the two-week itinerary. “They give you a lot with the Elite,” he said.
He typically spends $100 to $200 of his own money at the casino over the course of a cruise.
Are cruise casino rewards programs worth it?
That depends. Martinez argued that it’s not worth the money unless you already enjoy gambling. “But if you're already a gambler, you're going to do it regardless, whether you're on a cruise ship or in Vegas or in Louisiana or something,” he said.
Taylor also noted that the comp cruises may not fit every traveler’s schedule since there tend to be more options at off-peak times. Retirees or others with flexible schedules may find them more advantageous than parents working around school schedules.
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Still, Taylor said, in his experience cruise casino rewards programs “are way more valuable” than those on land.
“You might gamble the same in Vegas that you gamble on a cruise ship, and in Vegas they're going to give you a three-night stay at one of their hotel properties,” he said. “And here you might get a seven-night Caribbean cruise, which I think is a lot better of a perk for spending money with a certain institution.”
For Martinez, who generally prefers land-based travel, the casino perks are the main draw of vacations at sea: “I would never cruise if it wasn't for the comps.”
Nathan Diller is a consumer travel reporter for USA TODAY based in Nashville. You can reach him at ndiller@usatoday.com.
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How to win a free cruise in an onboard casino
