We probably all know by now that the various social media networks serve up recommended content based on what we’ve been up to in the real world. Because I just got off another Brian Christopher Slots Cruise, I have been getting served a lot of content about cruises.
Mixed into the normal tips and travel videos, was a post from a creator that I wasn’t familiar with. Instead of offering up embarkation ideas or how to kickback on board, this post was designed to cause conversation around one of the standard perks in cruise casinos – comped drinks. This cruise content creator was pontificating on whether or not people with the “free drinks in casino” offer should be allowed to sit at the casino bar and enjoy their free cocktails.
For more context, if you’re not familiar with cruise ship casino bars, they are typically much smaller than what you’d find on land. There are stools to sit down directly at the bar and, depending on the specific ship, there are often a number of small tables placed around the bar to encourage people to sit back and enjoy a drink. Unlike in land-based casinos, there are not any bartop gaming stations.
Before we get into my opinion, based on the original post and the OP’s (original poster) replies, it is safe to say this person was not a fan of guests lingering at the bar. In more than one place, they talked about how the offer should only be valid if the person is actively gambling.
Now to my opinion: the OP is wrong. Unless the offer states “actively playing,” any guest that has earned the offer should be able to enjoy the offer. I normally don’t get involved in random Facebook threads but the confidence that this person had when replying to others was the invitation I needed. I couldn’t resist adding my two cents, one cent from being a player and the other from being an operator.
No matter which of the two hats I have on, it doesn’t change the fact that the offer was earned. Casino offers and comps do vary some from those we see at traditional land based casinos, but if anything, the former are actually harder to earn. If you’ve been on a cruise, you know all casino offers are iterated based off of proven previous play. Anyone that has a “free drinks in casino” offered has already demonstrated their worth and value to that particular cruise line.
It is also worth noting that I have never seen a casino offer that mandates a person must be sitting at a machine and pressing the button. It doesn’t mean they don’t exist, but if it were a true issue, the cruise lines would have stepped in years ago.
When I head out on a cruise, I always gamble in the morning. Although I get “free” drinks everywhere on the ship now, I used to get the offer for drinks exclusively in the casino. I would play my budget in the morning, and then head off to find something else to do. If I wanted a drink, even just a soda or water bottle, I would always head down to the casino bar. Why would I pay for something if I could just go down to the casino and get it for free with minimal effort? Just because I wasn’t running $20 through the machine at that moment, doesn’t mean I don’t deserve a soda for the, presumably, hundreds I lost earlier in the day.
I will light money on fire playing my favorite game, but I REFUSE to pay for a drink.
Something else that I pointed out in my own,\ short and sweet reply was casino drinks are also often viewed as a “loss leader.” A loss leader is basically an item or product that a property, or any business for that matter, knows they will lose money on but gleefully offer up anyway. The idea isn’t to make money on what is being offered, but instead to dangle the offer carrot and hope people bite. Once a person makes it on property, management can almost guarantee they will make money off of that person on that one visit.
A non-gambling example of this can be found at my husband’s favorite store: Costco. Costco is infamous for their $1.50 hot dog combo, a price that has remained the same for decades. Costco knows they make no money, and probably lose money, on each combo that is sold. However, they know that the vast majority of people that come in for the hot dog will get distracted and buy something else while there.
Taking it back to casinos, the property decision makers can bet that if they give Sally* free drinks in the casino, Sally will probably throw a few bucks in a game to see what happens.
*it is me. I am Sally.
