Jzx1103

On my $20k win I was betting $2.64 a spin, on my $13k win I was betting $3 a spin. If you go on Club Royale Facebook page,  you'll see plenty of folks posting wins of $10k or more betting under $1. 

I won both of these 3 days apart on Liberty of the Seas last July

I won both of these 3 days apart on Liberty of the Seas last July

So someone currently onboard Harmony told me my sailing next week will have 25 Pinnacle members. I'm guessing thats extremely low and this should help me.

So someone currently onboard Harmony told me my sailing next week will have 25 Pinnacle members. I'm guessing thats extremely low and this should help me.

We've sailed in JS on a few occasions and have only been refused a CK reservation once. That was on day 1 of our January cruise and we were probably late to try and reserve. All other cruises where CK was available, we had no issue getting in at the time we wanted. In fact, we usually reserve for 8:00 PM and at that time CK isn't too full anyway. Also, we definitely enjoy the extra space and double points. 

My 210 will be August on Utopia, a brand new ship at the time. Wonder if they have the crystal blocks available. 

Craps is my game of choice (just ask @Matt).  I can usually at least get to the lower comp levels even on short duration cruises without too much issue.  I'm by no means a high roller and I'm one of the most unlucky people you'll find, although I am a degenerate gambler so I spend a lot of time at the table (once again just ask @Matt).  In fact I just got off a 4 night and got to 1500 with probably about 12 hours of total table time with a starting total bet of a little over $50 (craps has multiple rolls before coming to a resolution so it's not the same as betting $50 a hand/spin at other games like blackjack/roulette).
The main thing is to make sure your betting is getting rated properly by the box man or dealer.  Craps is much harder to rate properly since there are so many different bets and the bets can go up after each roll.  In my experience it's about 50/50 whether they are rating you properly for your level of play or if you need to explain why they are underrating your level of play.  Usually they'll watch you better after a few times of asking what you're currently being rated at and will adjust accordingly if your betting pattern is fairly consistent and you have enough time at the table.  *Although this past Sept on Navigator I had to go to the casino host several times to have the eye in the sky verify and adjust my points up as the box man (and woman) refused to rate me properly even after explaining and showing them multiple times exactly what I was doing.
If you're interested in just earning points (i.e. comps) on craps there's a lot of youtube videos you can watch to show different strategies once you know the basics of how to play craps.  Personally I'll use one that is similar to this one at a  higher betting level than I normally do when I'm just chasing points for a higher comp level (like 3k, 4k or 6500) and not as concerned with trying (and usually failing) to win big.  If anyone wants to know more, feel free to message me and I can give more details/ideas as I could talk craps all day.
 

Re: the casino option
The major thing to remember is if you don't enjoy the casino, this tactic is not worth it. I utilize this tactic and have always come out ahead. Another important note is that the options may not be available during ideal times.
My last cruise on Allure in October I won 2 certs so my group could sail Alaska on Quantum. It cost me about $2k and I spent the evenings and mornings in the casino, but I had plan to do that anyway, so my time wasn't lost. The most important thing is to look at the list before you begin. Since I had goals, two rooms for Alaska, it made it easier to know that they were achievable. 
I was also lucky enough to use my 2023 annual cert on Wonder because I sail in Jan. So don't assume that Icon/Star etc. will be available just because they have been in service a year. If I recall the Icon sailings available on the list were for sailings not doing well in shoulder season and on the higher point list. 

Ashleydillo did a good job of explaining everything so I'll add the way I do things. Typically I only have enough vacation time to do 3 sailings per year (sometimes I stretch it to 4). So how I usually get my 3 free cruises would be to Gamble most on the first cruise of the new Casino year (which runs from April 1st to Mar 31st). I usually go for either 4k pts or 6500 pts on that one sailing. This year on my first cruise of the new casino year,  I was running good on slots at first and hit over 9k points on that sailing. I would say at 4k or 6.5k pts on one sailing the comp list pretty much covers almost all sailings for the next calendar year. I pick my favorite sailing which is also usually one of the more expensive sailings on the list. (This comp alone Typically cover my gambling losses or better). For the annual tier cruise, I typically choose a sailing on Spring break (because I have 2 boys ages 10 and 8 we also get my Wife to just Prime every year (never too hard imo) so I can get a 2nd room for my annual tier comp. We typically book an Oasis  Class ship during  Spring Break (its farely expensive  to book yourself but upgrades from interior to Balcony can be cheap). For our 3rd free cruise we typically pick one outta Galveston from the mail offers we get cause we live in Houston. 

Ashleydillo did a good job of explaining everything so I'll add the way I do things. Typically I only have enough vacation time to do 3 sailings per year (sometimes I stretch it to 4). So how I usually get my 3 free cruises would be to Gamble most on the first cruise of the new Casino year (which runs from April 1st to Mar 31st). I usually go for either 4k pts or 6500 pts on that one sailing. This year on my first cruise of the new casino year,  I was running good on slots at first and hit over 9k points on that sailing. I would say at 4k or 6.5k pts on one sailing the comp list pretty much covers almost all sailings for the next calendar year. I pick my favorite sailing which is also usually one of the more expensive sailings on the list. (This comp alone Typically cover my gambling losses or better). For the annual tier cruise, I typically choose a sailing on Spring break (because I have 2 boys ages 10 and 8 we also get my Wife to just Prime every year (never too hard imo) so I can get a 2nd room for my annual tier comp. We typically book an Oasis  Class ship during  Spring Break (its farely expensive  to book yourself but upgrades from interior to Balcony can be cheap). For our 3rd free cruise we typically pick one outta Galveston from the mail offers we get cause we live in Houston. 

If you earn a cruise by hitting a certain number of points on a sailing you have to choose a sailing off of their list or you can use the trade-in value on any cruise.  The annual tier cruise that you earn by hitting Prime can be any ship more than a year old and 7 nights or less and not over the holidays. There is now also an exclusion list for the tier cruise. This past year it excluded most of the Wonder sailings even though she's over a year old.
Yes.
Points are based on money played through. If you win on a spin and play those winnings it counts the same as if you put in fresh money. A $20 bet gets you 4 points on slots. The max out of pocket for Prime would be $12,500. That would happen if you didn't win a single cent on any of your spins.
One tier cruise, yes. However you can earn comped cruises based on points earned in a single sailing. Those lists change monthly and are specific to the number of nights of the sailing you are on and how many casino points you earned. Right now the comped cruises start as low as 1200 points on the sailing I am on.
If you earned 2500 points on April 1, 2024 you would get free drinks for the rest of the 2024 casino year (April 1, 2024 through March 31, 2025). You would not get your Prime tier cruise until April 2025. You would be considered Prime for all of the 2024 casino year and also for the 2025 casino year (April 1, 2025 - March 31, 2025). You are basically qualifying for Prime for the following casino year but you get the Prime perks as soon as you hit the 2500 mark. They will put a sticker on your card on that cruise you hit it and free drinks start immediately.
You also will get other cruise offers throughout the year but those aren't guaranteed.
The tier cruise and the comped cruises earned on a sailing are double occupancy. Sometimes the random cruise offers are for singles only, basically you have to pay for one person in that case. You can combine your tier offers and result in a better room.
You can also upgrade your comped room and pay the difference in price between your free room and the upgraded room.

Not true at all, if you ask anyone who is a seasoned player on Royal that plays in Casino and get comp'd cruises. You'd learn that comp'd cruises aren't hard to get at all. And you'd likely only lose 33% to 60% of what the cruises actually cost to get the free cruises. The key is you'd actually have to be willing to go on the free cruises to make it worth it. For example on my Allure cruise in last August it takes 4000 pts minimum to get Icon comp'd.  Thats $20k coin in. With slot average of 85% payback percentage thats an average of $3000 in losses (I did a bit better than the avg). But by gaining 4000 pts on that cruise not only got me the Icon (which would've already costed more than $3k to book it yourself). It also got me the annual Prime cruise, plus additional mail/email/online offers. Thats minimum 3 free cruises for an $3k loss on average. So many non gamblers have no clue what they're talking about constantly spewing BS about how us gamblers lose way morethan what the free cruises cost. Truth is if you know what you're doing and know how to manage your gambling budget. You'd definitely make out like a bandit with the comp'd cruises versus paying for the cruises outright. Especially these days with the outrageous cruise fares Royal is charging. I actually kept a record. Over the past 7 years since I started sailing all comp"d on Royal. I've sailed on 18 comp'd cruises with Royal that would've costed me $76692 had I booked it myself. My total losses in the Casino the past 7 years was $31k (and there are many other comp'd cruise offers I received but didn't use because I only have so many vacation days a year)

Yes I wouldn't recommend anyone who doesn't get any enjoyment out of gambling to do this. I told my friend the same prior to him trying out the method on our last cruise. Luckily he did enjoy the process so now he's hooked. Overall I think Club Royale created an excellent casino program for us gamblers to be able to get some amazing perks while we do something we enjoy doing anyways. I definitely couldn't stomach booking Icon Class ships on my own at current prices. 

I think Royal's pricing is outrageous but I will defend them a little here by pointing out the price discrepancy does make some sense as you are literally getting a 7 day waterpark pass included with your fare. 

This was a fascinating read for me as a non gambler. I was in the ignorant camp that assumed people lost 10k to get a 5k cruise. Seems like you have figured it out and have a great system going! Its not going to convert me to a gambler but thanks for this insight, it was informative and intriguing.

I only play in the casino at night. Usually from 10pm after the shows are over to 1am or 2am. (Trust me, I get the full cruising experience!!!) Thats another common misconception from the non gamblers is that you have to spend the entire cruise gambling to get comp'd cruises. Spinning slots goes really fast. Now table games (which I rarely play) could take much longer time. Also its never boring to someone who enjoys playing slots. So for us, not only are we getting comp'd cruises at less of a cost than paying our own. But we get to have fun doing it. Not to mention the free drinks etc... its a win...win...win scenario for all of us. (Unless you go overboard and gamble beyond your means or beyond what you need to gamble for the comp'd cruise you're aiming for. Which I'm sure is what the Casino is hoping you'd do, there are also plenty of degenerates that gamble so much they get 20k pts on a cruise even though they're already max'd out on their free cruise bookings)

This would be me.  I am not one that can operate in reasonable limits.  I am all on or all off.  Casino for me sadly is an all off.
For those with regular self control, I love to see you leveraging an enjoyment you have and doing the math to save some money and cruise more.

Then you probably shouldn't be assuming we lose more than the cost of the comp'd cruises like its fact if you don't even gamble enough onboard to get one (it only takes 1200 pts lol). As I said the real way to lose is if you don't use the comp'd cruises. My family enjoys cruising a lot. Prior to me starting to gamble on cruises I've paid for 3 cruises a year. Then when I learned how Casino Royale program actually works in 2017, I realized I've been doing it all wrong by paying for my cruises instead of getting them comp'd from the casino. Over the past 7 years my gambling losses were literally just pre-paying for my future cruises except at a much more discounted rate. Talk to other regular players in Club Royale and they will tell you the same. Yes Vegas does offer better paybacks. But nothing beats the perks you get back from gambling on a cruise ship (free cruises that costs thousands to book on your own is way better than a few free nights with some dining credits at a Vegas resort). Especially if you're a cruiser to begin with like my family. 

Not true at all, if you ask anyone who is a seasoned player on Royal that plays in Casino and get comp'd cruises. You'd learn that comp'd cruises aren't hard to get at all. And you'd likely only lose 33% to 60% of what the cruises actually cost to get the free cruises. The key is you'd actually have to be willing to go on the free cruises to make it worth it. For example on my Allure cruise in last August it takes 4000 pts minimum to get Icon comp'd.  Thats $20k coin in. With slot average of 85% payback percentage thats an average of $3000 in losses (I did a bit better than the avg). But by gaining 4000 pts on that cruise not only got me the Icon (which would've already costed more than $3k to book it yourself). It also got me the annual Prime cruise, plus additional mail/email/online offers. Thats minimum 3 free cruises for an $3k loss on average. So many non gamblers have no clue what they're talking about constantly spewing BS about how us gamblers lose way morethan what the free cruises cost. Truth is if you know what you're doing and know how to manage your gambling budget. You'd definitely make out like a bandit with the comp'd cruises versus paying for the cruises outright. Especially these days with the outrageous cruise fares Royal is charging. I actually kept a record. Over the past 7 years since I started sailing all comp"d on Royal. I've sailed on 18 comp'd cruises with Royal that would've costed me $76692 had I booked it myself. My total losses in the Casino the past 7 years was $31k (and there are many other comp'd cruise offers I received but didn't use because I only have so many vacation days a year)

Then you probably shouldn't be assuming we lose more than the cost of the comp'd cruises like its fact if you don't even gamble enough onboard to get one (it only takes 1200 pts lol). As I said the real way to lose is if you don't use the comp'd cruises. My family enjoys cruising a lot. Prior to me starting to gamble on cruises I've paid for 3 cruises a year. Then when I learned how Casino Royale program actually works in 2017, I realized I've been doing it all wrong by paying for my cruises instead of getting them comp'd from the casino. Over the past 7 years my gambling losses were literally just pre-paying for my future cruises except at a much more discounted rate. Talk to other regular players in Club Royale and they will tell you the same. Yes Vegas does offer better paybacks. But nothing beats the perks you get back from gambling on a cruise ship (free cruises that costs thousands to book on your own is way better than a few free nights with some dining credits at a Vegas resort). Especially if you're a cruiser to begin with like my family. 

Not true at all, if you ask anyone who is a seasoned player on Royal that plays in Casino and get comp'd cruises. You'd learn that comp'd cruises aren't hard to get at all. And you'd likely only lose 33% to 60% of what the cruises actually cost to get the free cruises. The key is you'd actually have to be willing to go on the free cruises to make it worth it. For example on my Allure cruise in last August it takes 4000 pts minimum to get Icon comp'd.  Thats $20k coin in. With slot average of 85% payback percentage thats an average of $3000 in losses (I did a bit better than the avg). But by gaining 4000 pts on that cruise not only got me the Icon (which would've already costed more than $3k to book it yourself). It also got me the annual Prime cruise, plus additional mail/email/online offers. Thats minimum 3 free cruises for an $3k loss on average. So many non gamblers have no clue what they're talking about constantly spewing BS about how us gamblers lose way morethan what the free cruises cost. Truth is if you know what you're doing and know how to manage your gambling budget. You'd definitely make out like a bandit with the comp'd cruises versus paying for the cruises outright. Especially these days with the outrageous cruise fares Royal is charging. I actually kept a record. Over the past 7 years since I started sailing all comp"d on Royal. I've sailed on 18 comp'd cruises with Royal that would've costed me $76692 had I booked it myself. My total losses in the Casino the past 7 years was $31k (and there are many other comp'd cruise offers I received but didn't use because I only have so many vacation days a year)

Then you probably shouldn't be assuming we lose more than the cost of the comp'd cruises like its fact if you don't even gamble enough onboard to get one (it only takes 1200 pts lol). As I said the real way to lose is if you don't use the comp'd cruises. My family enjoys cruising a lot. Prior to me starting to gamble on cruises I've paid for 3 cruises a year. Then when I learned how Casino Royale program actually works in 2017, I realized I've been doing it all wrong by paying for my cruises instead of getting them comp'd from the casino. Over the past 7 years my gambling losses were literally just pre-paying for my future cruises except at a much more discounted rate. Talk to other regular players in Club Royale and they will tell you the same. Yes Vegas does offer better paybacks. But nothing beats the perks you get back from gambling on a cruise ship (free cruises that costs thousands to book on your own is way better than a few free nights with some dining credits at a Vegas resort). Especially if you're a cruiser to begin with like my family. 

Paul Ogata must move around quite often cause we saumw him on Wonder in March, then saw him again on Allure in August. He's been our favorite comedian on cruise ships thus far though. 

I won both of these 3 days apart on Liberty of the Seas last July