Growing up, as soon as my parents had a little extra money to start taking vacations involving airplanes, we became a cruising family. We’d start off by trading farmtown New England for various tropical Caribbean ports, eventually making our way to Europe and beyond.
Of course, when I first started cruising with my parents, I wasn’t old enough to gamble. I was, however, old enough to load up the various coin pushers in the casino hoping for a big win. As funny as it may sound, I do credit those coin pushers for nurturing my affinity towards gambling.
Nowadays, I am more than old enough to swing for the fences in the onboard casinos, and let’s be honest, the floating casinos are far more appealing to me than the ports.
Just a few weeks ago I took my first Princess cruise. Although things got off to a rocky start with the casino’s opening being delayed because of an itinerary change, I was able to snag a seat and officially start my vacation on day two.
You see, vacation looks different for everyone. For people like my mom, it looks like a good book, watching some K-dramas, and relaxing in a cabana by the pool. For my dad, things somehow look even more relaxed with a fully charged phone battery for “Toonblast” and plenty of naps. As for me, my vacation looks like daytime gambling punctuated by trips to the bar for a crisp Diet Coke.
While I have been fortunate to take many cruise voyages, up until this recent trip, I had yet to score a jackpot while underway. I had always heard the myth that it is harder to win on cruise ships, and I was quickly becoming a believer based on my own gambling outcomes.
Like on land, I typically bet anywhere from $2.50 up to $5 or $6. Of course, I do get sucked into some of my more favorite, expensive titles like Wheel of Fortune sitting at $7 or $10. On land, that bet can usually land me some delectable wins and the occasional jackpot. Even after taking an Alaskan cruise a few years ago with some slot creators, I had yet to capture a waterbound jackpot.
Thankfully, my luck changed, and I can now report that jackpots do exist on the seven seas! Perhaps it was beginner’s luck since this was my first Princess cruise or I was just due for some karma returning, either way, I am both shocked and elated to share that I scored THREE jackpots on my four night cruise. All of my taxable wins came thanks to bets $6 or under, although I didn’t take any money home, these jackpots allowed me to keep playing throughout the trip without worrying too much about my budget.
I’ve said it before, and I will say it again- for me, I like the act of gambling. Of course, winning handpays is incredibly exciting but unless it is a ton of money, chances are, it is going right back into the machine and I am 100% at peace with that.
Read on below for the specifics of my wins on Lock it Link Night Life, Buffalo Gold Wheel of Reward, and Jewel of The Dragon. Let us know in the comments what your biggest cruise ship win has been!
Lock It Link Night Life
$5 bet, hold and spin $2,625 bonus win
My first handpay of this trip truly felt like someone threw me a life ring- I was down B-A-D. Despite sticking to my typical bet size, both on land and sea, I had magically blown through nearly all of my budget for the entire trip by the second day of the casino being open. I was gearing up to return back to my stateroom with my tail tucked between my legs until I locked eyes with Lock It Link Night Life. In my time of borderline desperation, it was like seeing an old friend from across the room. I walked across the floor and comfortably slid into the empty seat to start testing out my customary $5 bet on ten cents. Within just a few spins, I landed hearts at the bottom of reels one and two. Without even having time to cross my fingers for the third heart, I saw the “Major” lock into place. Just like that, I was back in the game! After the hold and spins ran out, I walked away with a $2,625 win.
Buffalo Gold Wheel of Reward
$3.75 bet, $1,220 free spin win
On this cruise I was fortunate to hit the seven seas with not only my parents but my husband. My parents aren’t gamblers but my husband, Nathan, has been known to test his luck on slots or video poker (VP) if the craps table is unavailable. On this visit, the table was closed so he had picked out a VP machine by a window. I chose one of the Buffalo options nearby so we could talk and root each other on. On my second to last spin, I nabbed three coins on Buffalo Gold Wheel of Reward. Surprisingly, that routine trigger turned into my first ever Buffalo theme hand pay! My big win didn’t come courtesy of the enticing wheels at the top of the screen, instead, it was because I collected a whole heck of a lot of Buffalo heads. I was too excited to remember to look at the total number of heads collected, mostly because we had drawn a crowd and people were asking questions. I do know that I collected enough of them to turn three of the picture symbols into more buffalo. After my spins, including two retriggers, I was left with a cool $1,220 win on $3.75.
Jewel of The Dragon
$6 bet, hold and spin win of $1,325
Towards the end of the cruise the bill breaker/redemption machine had run out of cash. This meant that in order to cash out, you had to go to the cashier cage. Unfortunately, the cage is very tiny on ships and more often than not, this leads to long lines. I tend to get bored very easily, shocking I know, which led me to play one of the games that flanked the long line. I was drawn to Jewel of The Dragon because of the $1,000 Major and the memory of a nice win in the past. I told myself I would play $100, either give it to the game or double up. Within my first batch of spins, I was elated to see the Major, Mini, and four other diamonds dropped into position. The total hold and spin bonus win was $1,325 on a $6 bet. This win made me even, up a little to give out extra tips, for the trip and I promptly ran away from the casino.
