If you have the means and control, one of the best deals in cruising right now is through Royal Caribbean's casino program.
Ever since I discovered how lucrative the offers can be to essentially earn free cruises by doing the thing I'd already be doing in the ship's casino, I've been taking advantage of offers coming through Casino Royale.
My luck in the casino is up and down over the course of the year, and your results may differ from mine. Please gamble responsibly.
Just like a land casino, Royal Caribbean's casino operation is big business. They offer complimentary cruises if you gamble enough to reach certain point thresholds.
You really don't need to be a big gambler in order to benefit, and a recent change the casino program made just saved me more than any jackpot I've ever won from a slot machine.
The basics of a casino comp
There are a few ways to get a "free cruise" by gambling in Royal Caribbean's casino, but I'm going to focus on the annual free cruise you get from reaching the Prime level within the casino loyalty program.
Just like Crown and Anchor Society, Royal Caribbean's casino has its own loyalty program. However, it differs in that your status is based on how many points you earn over the course of one year.
You'll earn 1 point for every $5 wagered on a slot machine, and if you get to 2,500 points in a gaming year, you'll get the choice of a free interior room on a cruise up to seven nights in length.
The beauty of this free cruise offer is you can earn it over the course of a year. You might earn 500 points on one sailing, 1000 on another, and so on. You can earn it in one sailing or over multiple, and then stop and enjoy that perk later.
Plus, as a Prime member you get free drinks in the casino.
The catch with this annual cruise offer is it's only available to book the following year, and you must use and sail it within that year. Plus, there's an exclusion list.
Each year certain dates and ships are excluded, because they're too in demand. This means no holiday cruises and no sailings on brand new ships.
Star of the Seas, Royal Caribbean's next new ship was, as expected, on the exclusion list.
A change in the exclusion list
As I contemplated which cruise to use my free sailing offer, Royal Caribbean made a change.
Royal Caribbean message board users shared suddenly there were Star of the Seas and Icon of the Seas sailings showing up as available after previously being excluded.
"In case anyone has not booked their annual, Star is no longer excluded and there are open dates in January-March!" wrote Chart.
A brand new ship like Star of the Seas would command a premium price, and I looked into if I could take advantage of it.
Almost $9,000 in savings
I was already booked for a 7-night spring break cruise on Star of the Seas with my family in connecting ocean balcony cabins.
I booked it when the ship opened up bookings, and got two rooms for my family. Splitting up and getting two rooms instead of one is one of my favorite cruise hacks.
The price for each room was $7095.08, including taxes, fees, port expenses, and gratuities. That's a total of $14,190.16 for both cabins.
I alerted my MEI-Travel agent to what I had seen online and asked her if we could cancel what I had booked and re-book it with my casino certificate.
She found the reports were true, and I would be able to use my certificate for one room and my wife's certificate for the other room.
We'd get the interior cabin for "free", and the cost to upgrade to connecting ocean view balcony would be $2338.34 + gratuities per room. With fees and gratuities, it came out to $2597.34 per cabin.
After some work with the cruise line, my travel agent was able to get me rebooked with the casino offer, plus the difference in upgrading the cabin back up to an ocean balcony.
I went from a $14,190.16 bill to a $5,194.68 bill, saving me $8,995.48.
Big savings, but it's still gambling
I wanted to share my experience as an example of how lucrative Royal Caribbean's casino program can be, provided you're willing to play responsibly.
To be fair, I don't have an accurate accounting of my losses in the 2024-2025 casino year to properly evaluate how much money I lost to get my 2,500 points and reach Prime status.
Of course, I also enjoyed other benefits of being a Prime member, such as complimentary drinks in the casino throughout that time and even this year too.
Gambling is addictive and inherently risky, but if you can play smart, you could net some big savings well beyond the casino floor.
