Casino Royale - Turning Entertainment $$$ Into Free Cruises

It was only a year ago (10/31/24) when I accomplished my goal of turning my casino play into vacations with Royal Caribbean (RC).  Prior to that cruise, I had been on just a couple of ships with my sister Pam, where we did enjoy playing roulette a few nights.  With a minimal amount of points earned, I felt there had to be a smarter way to play and get rewarded.  After weeks of research and studying, I set out to try to never pay full price for a cruise vacation again.

It was also on that ship a year ago, that I earned the "instant certificate" for this Explorer of the Seas' 13 night transatlantic cruise from Lisbon to Florida.

When I (and others) say they've earned a "comped cruise" . . . there are a few nuances to be aware of.  Of course, nothing is really "free" as you must still pay the port fees and taxes for any cruise awarded by RC.  Additionally, the lower level awards are often for just 1 guest, requiring you to pay a discounted fare for the second person in your cabin, even if you are planning to go alone (aka "solo").  This fine print has caught several people off guard, because the certificate states you've been awarded "a cruise for one" but if you don't read everything, the price you will pay when booking will be significantly more than the port fees & taxes for 1 person

I don't know why it is, but not all casino play is considered equal when it comes to how your play is rewarded with points.  Table games like blackjack, roulette, 3-card poker and craps accrue at a very much reduced rate for the amount of time and money you must play versus how slot play is rewarded.  I generally prefer table games, but sadly this fact along with the ridiculously high table minimums on the ships make penny slots like this bank of Dancing Drums my go to game for grinding and earning points.

Before I even get on a ship now, I take a look at the list of cruise choices for that month's instant certificates.  With this knowledge in advance, it is possible to set a point goal and budget for the cruise you hope to earn.  Realistically, it is said you should expect to lose $1 for every point needed for an instant certificate.  This also takes into account recycling your winnings back through, hence the concept of grinding for points.

For this trip, I had my sights set on a 15 night transpacific cruise from Los Angeles to Tokyo. At 3,000 point award level that made my projected budget $3,000 . . . which is a little less than what an ocean view cabin for 2 people would cost to book directly with Royal Caribbean (and after factoring in the free play and on board credit that comes when you book through their Next Cruise program).

Again, if you consider the money played/spent/lost as an entertainment expense, it is easy to justify gambling to earn a comped cruise.  During this cruise, I lost just over $2,000 in the casino, so I was very happy with how things went. especially since some added play on the final day of the trip got me to the 4,000 point certificate level and gave me an extra $250 in free play with my instant certificate AND I had a nice profit for that day of roughly $700.  In other words, I went from a $2,700 loss for a $3,000 certificate + $250 in free play to a 4,000 point certificate + $500 in free play at a net loss of $2,000.  That's a WIN in my book!

Here are photos of my largest single wins (spins) on the Dancing Drums.  The bonus is activated when you get at least 3 drums or wild symbols on the first 3 reels.  Get a drum or wild on the 4th and 5th, and the bonus is increased.  Both of these were 3 reel bonus triggers . . . and fetched around $700 each on small bets (just $1.76/spin).  This is by far my favorite slot machine because of the bonus feature with good potential for high payouts.  These are "high volatility" machines as compared to the old fashioned 1 arm bandits like Double Diamond, which you may find from time to time in a cruise ship's casino.  It is their volatility that provides the potential for large payouts, but also result in huge financial swings between winning and losing overall.  For sure, not for the faint of heart!

Another feature of RC's Casino Royale program are the casino player tiers.  All players start out the casino year (April 1st through March 31st) at the Choice level.  Once you reach 2,500 points in the casino year, you become Prime.  You can do this in a single cruise (like I did back in 2024) or over multiple cruises in the casino year.  Once you are Prime, at the start of the next casino year you will automatically receive a free cruise for 2 in an interior cabin which may be redeemed for any 7 night (or less) cruise offered by Royal Caribbean but subject to blackout dates and casino inventory.  Pam & I are using our April 2025 annual Prime award to cruise back-to-back this coming February/March out of Miami.  Since the award is for 2, we will cruise on mine the first week and on hers the second.  With port fees and taxes, the 2 cruise, 14 day vacation cost us right at $500 each.

There are additional tier levels for the casino's high rollers . . . Signature at 25,000 points and Masters at a whopping 100,000 points.  For those levels, the annual award is for a better cabin.  Signature tier receives a balcony for 2, while the Masters receive a grand suite for 2 . . . plus several other exclusive benefits and events.

For me and my interests, I enjoy the free beverages (alcohol as well as soft drinks) from the casino, any time the casino is open.  You don't have to be playing to drink free, so this is a wonderful option to paying the outrageous price for the unlimited beverage package.

If you are lucky enough to get 2,500 points on a single cruise, most of the ships will deliver a bottle of wine to your cabin the day after you reach this point threshold.  Affectionately referred to as "the bottle of shame" (because of how much money was probably lost to be gifted a $10-$20 bottle of wine), earlier this year a lovely casino hostess told me truly they are "bottles gifted in love" and suggested I never call it a bottle of shame again.  The next day, in spite of only reaching around 1,500 points so far, a bottle showed up in our cabin.  On our transatlantic cruise from Portugal I got to 2,500 points after about a week, and this bottle appeared the next afternoon. 

The other way RC casino players can cruise at a significantly discounted price is through the marketing offers sent out by Casino Royale.  This is an offer I received in early October.  With Pam & I already planning to do a couple of comped cruises out of Tampa in December, we were able to add this freebie before our existing trip.  We selected a 4 night balcony out of Ft. Lauderdale, which also came with some nice VIP perks for both of us.  I estimate the total retail value of this short cruise to be around $1,800.  Our port fees & taxes were just $128/person, so as you can see, quite the deal!

I am afraid our mailman and my husband may think I have a serious gambling problem as I have been receiving 2-3 of these mailings A WEEK, for the past several months.  Most of them have not been for a time that was convenient for me, especially since getting to the ports in Florida, Galveston or Los Angeles isn't easy or cheap.  But when you're able to stack offers and instant certificates for multiple cruises like we are doing in December . . . why not?  We'll have to see how things play out now that Pam has also retired and isn't tied to how much PTO she has available to go on cruises.

DISCLAIMER:  This post is not intended to be a complete primer on Royal Caribbean's Casino Royale program.  Additionally, it must be noted that current programs and procedures are always subject to change, so this information may or may not be reliable in the future.  I strongly encourage anyone interested in casino gambling and earning cruise rewards to do their own homework to understand as best as possible the rules of the game before setting off trying to cash in on comped cruises with any cruise line.