For the first time in what feels like forever, my husband was finally able to join me on a vacation.
My vacations typically look like a roof top room at Plaza Hotel & Casino, but with my husband in tow, we decided to trade in the neon views of Fremont Street for something with more of a tropical flair.
Planning for this trip was a little abnormal. Usually, I book my trips well in advance, I am already booked for Rudies Weekend 2027, but with this most recent trip, my husband called me and said he wanted to travel when he had time off in three weeks. This meant I needed to find something easy, relatively close, and of course, budget friendly.
Thankfully, we live in the greater Houston area which means we are roughly two hours away from the Galveston cruise port. Instantly, my mind went to my favorite Carnival Cruise Line ship, The Jubilee. I have a strong history with the ship, I attended its dedication ceremony before its inaugural sailing and joined Brian on a Brian Christopher Slots Cruise onboard last April.
While I am not outright calling my husband a diva, I knew the ship would be up to snuff and pass his tests. It’s an Excel class ship, after all. I hopped online and checked out my personalized Carnival casino offers and the stars aligned. There was a Jubilee sailing for the exact week my husband had off and I had an offer.
The only “bad” news about this last minute trip was the fact that it was actually my second cruise in a month. This meant I had to rely on offers to make this work within our budget and you know I wasn’t going to sacrifice comfort or the ability to play in the casino.
Back to good news. In addition to being able to take advantage of a “free*” cruise for two, my booking offer included $200 in free play. My goal was to try and convert that free play into my gambling budget for the week.
Casino offers are iterated on a number of factors, some we know, some we do not. A big part of the equation that we do know, is it includes past play. “Free” cruises are really earned through demonstrated past playing patterns and your play report.
Now, we enter the reality of the trip. When it was time to see if I could actually make that happen, let’s just say that didn’t go according to plan. I played like I normally do, something that Brian has talked about before. He is a proponent of spending your free play like you would typically gamble. Instead of truly swinging for the fences and increasing my bet, I stuck to my usual formula. I like to play dollar denomination, lowest bet possible typically around $5. Despite sticking to my tried and true method, it was a swing and a miss.
After exhausting my free play, I went back to my cabin and saved my actual budget for the next day. On day two of the voyage, I woke up to what I call a “casino challenge” letter tucked into my door. Chances are, you’ve been issued one of these letters if you’ve cruised and gambled in the past. Basically, the letter will challenge you to hit a specific number of points by a specific day of your voyage.
For my seven day cruise, the magic point threshold that I was encouraged to meet was 6,000 points by the end of day four to unlock a $200 free play offer. Never one to back down, I accepted the casino’s challenge letter and my husband and I started thinking up a plan. My husband was issued an offer letter too but we knew we couldn’t capture 6,000 points on both cards. We strategically decided to concentrate all play on my card until we hit the 6,000 point mark.
As soon as I hit 6,003 points, a promo screen took over the area of the slot cabinet that I was playing that typically just displays your funds and points. Unlike most “earn and get” free play offers, Carnival designed their challenge letters as a “pick a present” game.
At first I was confused about what was happening. All I could think was “why am I picking a box when I know what I am going to get?” Although I work in the casino industry, I still get nervous something nefarious is happening in odd situations like this.
Normally, when asked to pick something, I am under the assumption there are different things to be won – presumably in this situation, I would think there were different free play amounts up for grabs. I picked my box, and was shown the $200 my offer letter promised. I do find it very curious the cruise line I am presented with as a picking bonus when in fact, it was a predetermined prize. I am not the biggest fan of that promotion execution style, mainly because it adds an extra layer of stress and disappointment to the otherwise happy situation.
The first time I “won” the challenge letter was on my last Brian Christopher Slots Cruise on the Carnival Celebration. They had issued the same challenge and it was something I unlocked with plenty of time to spare. This isn’t always the case – I highly recommend playing within your normal casino budget and advise against chasing this bonus offer. The amount of points it takes to get to whatever number is up for grabs for you is far higher than what they will offer you. I treat this added bonus as something extra on top if I just so happen to unlock it. There have been plenty of times I just threw the offer away.
An expected bonus perk of this last minute trip is more of a double edged sword. When I booked this cruise, I was unaware it was actually an “Elite” casino sailing. I am fortunate to be invited to this program on Carnival but because we booked so late, I missed all the extra perks. The extra perks are pretty sweet in my opinion, for invited players the cruise line will offer things like free drinks everywhere on the ship, free wifi, airport transfers, and even a commemorative name magnet for your cruise door.
While these are all things I would enjoy, the biggest thing we missed out on was the free play. I can’t speak to what everyone was offered but my typical Elite offers range from $800 free play all the way to an astonishing $2,500. I have not booked any of these cruises yet, but they are certainly on my radar just for the free play alone.
Now about that bonus perk I mentioned above, the perk was saving my budget because the casino was so dang crowded nearly the entire trip. Yes, I am trying to put a positive spin on not being able to elbow into a machine after 7:00PM every single day of the trip. I had been joking with my husband the whole time that this trip actually saved us money because I don’t want to do an Elite cruise in the future after all.
While that sounds a tad dramatic, I feel like true gamblers understand. I go on vacations to do what I love and spend time with those I love. My absolute favorite way to gamble is during off times. I do not want to be crowded or have someone’s bad vibes oozing over into my area. And don’t get me started on people that abuse the machines! This past cruise had a HIGH concentration of button slappers and I can confidently say one man in particular rapid fired every single spin.
I much prefer the Brian Christopher Slot Cruises. I know we average hosting hundreds of guests at a time but getting on a machine is never a problem. There is more than enough space for our BC crew to gather and have fun while also testing our luck. I think the other big difference is the attitude. BC cruisers are typically there for the community and to catch up with friends while gambling. The Elite gamblers, however, seem solely focused on betting and claiming their machines.
In closing, to each their own. Spend your vacation as you wish and enjoy it! Make sure to always check for offers, no matter the cruise line, and make sure you are aware of any bonus free play up for grabs. Remember to be cautious about chasing challenge letters and share your wins!
