Casino Royale Prime Status

[RCIFanatic]

4 hours ago, DoomSlayer said:

That screen does not show any payouts from bonuses or external jackpots and looks like it is a linked machine.  Assuming that, and the progressive jackpot is decent, actual RTP will probably be 94-96%.  Also, there is a statistical flaw in the machine as RTP is calculated using 300 million spins, and based on the coin in, it is nowhere close to that number.  RTP is based on the law of large numbers, meaning an extremely huge sample size.  This is an example of a slot I would not play because the progressive can cause high volatility and does not provide a good number of little wins.

This makes more sense. Thanks for the clarification. I thought I saw the hand paid jackpots and thought that included all of the payouts. It would make sense that someone hasn’t won the progressive payout yet with such a small sample size which would create that huge volatility you were talking about.

 

4 hours ago, DoomSlayer said:

Gambling laws of the Bahamas regulate the games on the ship.  The Bahamas require an RTP of at least 75%, which is lower than Vegas, which requires at least 85%.  However, if the RTP is too low, people will not enjoy playing and the casino knows this.  Vegas casino slots are usually set around 96 - 97% RTP for penny slots because they want the players to have a good experience and because there is competition from neighboring casinos.  Cruise lines have a captive audience as it is a long swim to go to another casino with better odds.  But at the same time, they know that if they set the RTP too low, players will simply not play because they won't see many wins.  Most cruise ship casinos set their RTP for penny slots around 94-96%.  This keeps the players happy and entertained while giving them a decent profit.  However, slots are not for everyone.  I would not throw money at them for points unless you enjoy playing them.  I enjoy sitting next to my wife and just talking while playing.  The slots give us something to do, similar to kids visiting the arcade, while we spend time together.  And it gives us some time to be silly and do funny dancing when we win a little and the music plays.

And you said generally the higher the denomination, the higher the RTP? Yeah, I don’t remember the last time I played a slot machine. I feel like I would be lost with all of the different features lol. But it’s just good to know that if I need that extra point boost to get to the next tier or whatever I need, then I can jump on the slots with a small expected loss.

[DoomSlayer]

27 minutes ago, RCIFanatic said:

And you said generally the higher the denomination, the higher the RTP? Yeah, I don’t remember the last time I played a slot machine. I feel like I would be lost with all of the different features lol. But it’s just good to know that if I need that extra point boost to get to the next tier or whatever I need, then I can jump on the slots with a small expected loss.

That is typically the case, but you probably won't play enough to truly notice in a single session.  But if you are going 5x bet on a 1cent machine, might as well do the 1x bet at a 5cent denomination to get a little bit better RTP.

[Pattycruise]

5 hours ago, DoomSlayer said:

I would be happy to, but it looks like the quote was written in invisible ink.  What part specifically?

tend to play Aristocrat games like Buffalo and Miss Kitty as they tend to have a lot more small payouts hit and I can sit there for hours playing without seeing huge swings in my bankroll.  I really like Buffalo Gold Collection and spend a lot of time on it playing 2cent or 5cent denominations.  I will play it on the Wonder 4 tower if I can't find a standalone game available, although it does have a fixed PAR table at 1cent and can't be adjusted.
 

@DoomSlayer sorry, above is the portion I did not understand -“the einder4 fixed PAR table at 1 cent and can’t be adjusted.”

in layman terms please.  How is this good, bad, indifferent?

 I enjoy the wonder 4 with the Uncle Sam or leprechaun, they crack me up and seem to have a decent random bonus with the wilds etc.  

 

[SnoozeD122]

On 3/28/2023 at 1:18 PM, DoomSlayer said:

I just did it on my last trip in March, did it last December, did it last September... (I could keep going).  All on slots.  Broke even last September, won a hand pay that more than paid for the trip in December, and lost about $400 in March.  My wife and I are happy with free balconies, so to each their own I guess on that topic.  Our next comped trip is on Allure in May to Honduras.  I have another one in October on Voyager.  I should get my voucher in a couple of weeks and will use it in December, and I expect to get a comp for a summer trip on my May cruise.  Yes you cycle through money and get a multiplier -- the key there is to look for less volatile slots to play, stay away from pennies (PAR table changes with higher denominations), and play all features.

There was a couple sitting next to me on Adventure last month in the casino.  They must have had a huge bankroll because they were playing max bets and went from nothing to signature status in one sitting.  I am sure the floor staff was a little annoyed because with bets so big, they were constantly getting hand pays.  They were not US citizens, so they did not have the tax consequences with the hand pays.  I am not sure how much they won or lost, but it was funny watching them squirm when they were losing and dancing when they were winning.

@DoomSlayer I’ve been reading all of your replies on this thread a friend directed me to. I’m about to embark on my journey on trying to add casino benefits for future cruises while on my journey to get to Diamond by the end of 2023. I appreciate all the information you have provided - especially for someone like me who is new to this.  When you say stay away from the Pennies - are you saying not to play the 1c machines? And please excuse my naïveté, but what is a ‘play all machine’.  I googled and didn’t find an answer to that… maybe my key words are not adequate.

My last cruise last month I played a penny machine and was mostly doing the minimum 50c bet. Occasionally I bet $1 or $1.50 but mostly .50c. This was before I really understood the desire to earn points. I didn’t put a lot of money in, I wasn’t planning on gambling and I left with a whopping $75 in my pocket ahead. $75 I didn’t have, so not nothing and I was happy  But in my mind now, that seemed like the smart way to go, (low risk and hopefully longer play) but maybe I’m thinking about it incorrectly. My machine focus until coming here to this thread,  was to find the lower jackpot machines $4K/$5K range. My thought process was to chase Prime with a set bankroll on my next cruise - 6 days, I’m going solo, so thought it would be a good time to try it out. 

So do you personally have a rule of thumb in regard to sitting at a machine and moving if it’s not paying out? Like do you have a fiscal plan of staying vs moving? Example you sit at a machine and have put 10% of your entire bankroll for your cruise in a machine and you’ve hit nada  ( I know probably not realistic, but for argument sake) would you say time to move or do you sit it out. Do you break up your bankroll into amounts per day, or you’re not as regimented as that?  Is it worth playing during those different offerings they have like “hot seat” I believe one is called, or does that not matter in any way shape or form. 

I would love any ‘words of wisdom’, good or bad. Thank you for your time!

 

 

 

[DoomSlayer]

3 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

tend to play Aristocrat games like Buffalo and Miss Kitty as they tend to have a lot more small payouts hit and I can sit there for hours playing without seeing huge swings in my bankroll.  I really like Buffalo Gold Collection and spend a lot of time on it playing 2cent or 5cent denominations.  I will play it on the Wonder 4 tower if I can't find a standalone game available, although it does have a fixed PAR table at 1cent and can't be adjusted.
 

@DoomSlayer sorry, above is the portion I did not understand -“the einder4 fixed PAR table at 1 cent and can’t be adjusted.”

in layman terms please.  How is this good, bad, indifferent?

 I enjoy the wonder 4 with the Uncle Sam or leprechaun, they crack me up and seem to have a decent random bonus with the wilds etc.  

 

I have not seen wonder 4 tower in the ship casino where you can change the denomination from 1cent to 2 or 5cents.  You can only increase your bet amount.  On the stand-alone Buffalo game for example, you can touch the 1cent symbol and change it to 2cent, 5cent, 10cent, etc.  The main reason to change the denomination is to switch to a PAR table that has a slightly better return to player (odds).  But wonder 4 tower is still fun even though you can't change the denomination. I enjoy Leprechaun on it too, especially when he takes a full dive into the pot of gold.

So to sum it up, I do prefer stand alone Buffalo for example, because I can change to 5cent denominations and play a single bet of all lines for $3.  But if one is not available, I will play the wonder 4 tower at 1cent and do either the $2.40 or $4.80 bet.

I hope that is what you were looking for.

[DoomSlayer]

56 minutes ago, SnoozeD122 said:

@DoomSlayer I’ve been reading all of your replies on this thread a friend directed me to. I’m about to embark on my journey on trying to add casino benefits for future cruises while on my journey to get to Diamond by the end of 2023. I appreciate all the information you have provided - especially for someone like me who is new to this.  When you say stay away from the Pennies - are you saying not to play the 1c machines? And please excuse my naïveté, but what is a ‘play all machine’.  I googled and didn’t find an answer to that… maybe my key words are not adequate.

My last cruise last month I played a penny machine and was mostly doing the minimum 50c bet. Occasionally I bet $1 or $1.50 but mostly .50c. This was before I really understood the desire to earn points. I didn’t put a lot of money in, I wasn’t planning on gambling and I left with a whopping $75 in my pocket ahead. $75 I didn’t have, so not nothing and I was happy  But in my mind now, that seemed like the smart way to go, (low risk and hopefully longer play) but maybe I’m thinking about it incorrectly. My machine focus until coming here to this thread,  was to find the lower jackpot machines $4K/$5K range. My thought process was to chase Prime with a set bankroll on my next cruise - 6 days, I’m going solo, so thought it would be a good time to try it out. 

So do you personally have a rule of thumb in regard to sitting at a machine and moving if it’s not paying out? Like do you have a fiscal plan of staying vs moving? Example you sit at a machine and have put 10% of your entire bankroll for your cruise in a machine and you’ve hit nada  ( I know probably not realistic, but for argument sake) would you say time to move or do you sit it out. Do you break up your bankroll into amounts per day, or you’re not as regimented as that?  Is it worth playing during those different offerings they have like “hot seat” I believe one is called, or does that not matter in any way shape or form. 

I would love any ‘words of wisdom’, good or bad. Thank you for your time!

 

 

 

By pennies, I do mean 1cent machines.  I do try to play at least 5cent machines because they are typically set with a slightly higher return to player.  I do still play 1cent machines sometimes but is usually not my preference.  I usually bet $3 to $5 per spin, so instead of doing it at 1cent, I sent the machine to a 5cent denomination if it supports it.

I have spent too much time as a developer, and even did some development work for a gaming company in Vegas, so I do not believe in hot machines vs cold machines or moving to another machine if I don't get a hit on the first few spins.  Each spin is a new independent event and has no memory of the previous or prior spins.  You have the same chance of spinning a jackpot or bonus on each spin.   There are a lot of superstitions people have about slot machines, that I typically shrug off and don't try to argue with people about them because they are often convinced that their beliefs are true.  But the reality is, your fate is set as soon as you hit the button, it does not matter if you wait for the animations to finish or hit the button again to stop the reals -- the spin will be the same.  If I do hit an unusually high line pay on a spin or a jackpot, I do usually cash out that ticket and put that money aside.  I save it to tip the steward and dining room staff at the end of the cruise, or just take it home and put it back in the bank.

The topic I have been addressing is about getting casino tier points to get to prime status as cheaply as possible.  This is not about trying to win jackpots or even coming out ahead in the casino.  At the end of the day, they casino will take your money over time if you play long enough.  There is no avoiding this fact.  But if we can get something in return for the money they take, like free cruises, then it becomes worthwhile as many times you will be able to pick these perks up at a lesser cost than if you bought them outright.  Prime is usually achievable with a smaller size bankroll, although you still stand a chance of losing your bankroll.  I personally would not go after signature or master status, because those tiers require you to put a lot of money at risk.

[AshleyDillo]

On 3/28/2023 at 10:15 PM, RCIFanatic said:

Thank you! Good to know. To squeeze some extra value, can I ask the host to convert at the beginning of the last night and then once again close to the end of the night to redeem the points accumulated from the last night of the cruise?

Yes..once you accumulate enough more points for free play you can ask them to convert it and give you your free play.

[SnoozeD122]

12 hours ago, DoomSlayer said:

By pennies, I do mean 1cent machines.  I do try to play at least 5cent machines because they are typically set with a slightly higher return to player.  I do still play 1cent machines sometimes but is usually not my preference.  I usually bet $3 to $5 per spin, so instead of doing it at 1cent, I sent the machine to a 5cent denomination if it supports it.

I have spent too much time as a developer, and even did some development work for a gaming company in Vegas, so I do not believe in hot machines vs cold machines or moving to another machine if I don't get a hit on the first few spins.  Each spin is a new independent event and has no memory of the previous or prior spins.  You have the same chance of spinning a jackpot or bonus on each spin.   There are a lot of superstitions people have about slot machines, that I typically shrug off and don't try to argue with people about them because they are often convinced that their beliefs are true.  But the reality is, your fate is set as soon as you hit the button, it does not matter if you wait for the animations to finish or hit the button again to stop the reals -- the spin will be the same.  If I do hit an unusually high line pay on a spin or a jackpot, I do usually cash out that ticket and put that money aside.  I save it to tip the steward and dining room staff at the end of the cruise, or just take it home and put it back in the bank.

The topic I have been addressing is about getting casino tier points to get to prime status as cheaply as possible.  This is not about trying to win jackpots or even coming out ahead in the casino.  At the end of the day, they casino will take your money over time if you play long enough.  There is no avoiding this fact.  But if we can get something in return for the money they take, like free cruises, then it becomes worthwhile as many times you will be able to pick these perks up at a lesser cost than if you bought them outright.  Prime is usually achievable with a smaller size bankroll, although you still stand a chance of losing your bankroll.  I personally would not go after signature or master status, because those tiers require you to put a lot of money at risk.

Thank you so much for your reply! I definitely don’t have it in my mind that I’m going to come home loaded. Or even a winner. I have a bankroll that I’m willing to spend to achieve my goal… and hopefully that happens with that amount. I’ve also decided that if I can’t hit an X amount of points by certain number of $’s (half my bank roll)  - that I will just stop there as I feel I wouldn’t achieve the goal going further and no sense in giving them the remaining amount.  I don’t know if that is a wise plan, or a dumb plan.  Even though I know I try to still achieve that on a later sailing, so I’ll still end up spending that amount at some point.  As you stated, the goal is to reach prime as inexpensively as possible, I have no desire to hit other tier levels. I just want the added benefits of comped/discounted cruises to achieve the next status level even faster, (as I would probably do those solo since hubby hasn’t retired yet and that gets to that goal faster) and the drinks is also I nice add, even when we do become diamond.  I appreciate your time and willingness to help all of us out! 

[billdauterive]

15 hours ago, DoomSlayer said:

At the end of the day, they casino will take your money over time if you play long enough.  There is no avoiding this fact.  But if we can get something in return for the money they take, like free cruises, then it becomes worthwhile as many times you will be able to pick these perks up at a lesser cost than if you bought them outright.

Great post!  I wish more people understood this simple fact.  Gambling is about entertainment, not beating the casino or making money.  I've only ever had one cruise where I ended up with more money from the casino than I came in with, but I almost always at least have a good time.  (Sidenote: Now that I think about it @Matt was at the craps table with me a lot the one trip I was up.  Maybe I need to make sure I'm on the next group cruise and mortgage my house when he's at the table...)

[tonyfsu21]

3 hours ago, billdauterive said:

Great post!  I wish more people understood this simple fact.  Gambling is about entertainment, not beating the casino or making money.  I've only ever had one cruise where I ended up with more money from the casino than I came in with, but I almost always at least have a good time.  (Sidenote: Now that I think about it @Matt was at the craps table with me a lot the one trip I was up.  Maybe I need to make sure I'm on the next group cruise and mortgage my house when he's at the table...)

I would consider it first being entertainment and second making money. It all boils down to luck and personally my lifetime tally I am ahead (at the moment) due to some large hand pays. I agree it’s pointless to beat the casino because that’s just not going to happen. 

[DoomSlayer]

37 minutes ago, tonyfsu21 said:

I would consider it first being entertainment and second making money. It all boils down to luck and personally my lifetime tally I am ahead (at the moment) due to some large hand pays. I agree it’s pointless to beat the casino because that’s just not going to happen. 

I think we pretty much agree on entertainment first!  Why spend time doing something you don't enjoy, after all, time has some value to you.

[FireFishII]

Thank you to everyone who provided their inputs and feedback.  I always wanted to play a little bit (yes, I will have a set amount of money I am willing to pay) but did not want to blow thru the amount in 5 minutes.  I feel that on my next cruise I may be able to last longer than 5 minutes and have a good time.  I enjoy playing the slots. I am not interested in casino status or free cruises. 

The biggest takeaway from this discussion is the denomination vs the amount bet.  I was one of those people who had it backwards.  I also thought the branded machines would be better.  WOOH!  2 lessons learned. 

[deButler]

My wife and I just completed a 12 night TA where our goal was to make Prime status during the one trip due to Club Royale end of year coming on Mar 31. We had earned only 300 points on our first trip back on RC since COVID in Jan so we needed to get the remaining 2200 points on this sailing. We brought a $1500 bankroll with the plan to split time between my time at the Craps Table and then playing slots with my wife. We knew the slots would bring us a higher amount of points but at a higher cost per point. I tracked our Casino spend vs. Points earned each day (through Slot totals and Casino Host updates) and figured our $/pt. to achieve Prime. Below is my high level notes as I also tracked at each slot machine $/pt to see which we should ultimately focus on. 

We started out exceptionally strong the first night on slots by working our $6 free play into a +$200 and earning 204 points. (+.98/pt)

Second day we earned 127 pts in 2 hrs of craps play with a $75 loss, and 112 pts on slots with a $150 loss. (- $.94/pt)

Third day got us 50 pts on Craps in 1 hour with a -$100 cost, and 142 pts on Slots with -$150 in cost. (- $1.30/pt). 

Day 4 brought us a couple of nice Slot payouts in the $200 - $400+ range and a +$24 on the craps table so our cost was significantly reduced. Slots got us 270 pts while 1 hr of Craps earned 50 pts.  (+$.78/pt)

Fifth day got us 310 Slot points at a cost of -$136 and 34pts on the Craps table while winning $84. This provided our largest single day point total of 346 points at an avg cost of $.15/pt.   (-$.15/pt)

Sixth day we earned another 295 slot pts at a cost of $200 and 46 pts at the Craps table while breaking even for the night. Total for the day 332 pts at a -$200.   (-$.60/pt)

Seventh day we started “chasing points” and only played Slots which ultimately cost us a more significant part of our bankroll. We only earned 288 pts and costing us $350.   (-$1.22/pt)

On Day 8, as we neared the goal, our drive to succeed got stronger and the chase ultimately cost us our highest amount -$285 for only 133 Slot pts. Craps at least brought in +$45 and earned us 27pts. (-$1.57/pt).

At a the start of Day 9 we were down to needing only 111 total points to make Prime and had 4 more days so we decided to go back to our previously patient strategy and it paid off. We earned 130 pts while winning $80 in Slot play so we MADE PRIME and celebrated our accomplishment with a free drink thanks to our new Prime Sticker. (+$.62/pt)

The next 3 days we only casually played each night for the Snowball and Jackpot raffles but managed to add some back to our bank roll to take back home with us. 
 

Total outlay from our original bankroll came to right at $850 but (coulda, shoulda, woulda) been in the $500-$650 range had we stuck to our original strategy. Our total cost per point broke down to 349 Craps Table Pts at -$100 cost (-$.29/pt) and 1817 Slot points at a cost of -$750 (-$.41/pt).

We enjoyed the time we spent in the casino and met lots other fantastic folks trying to accomplish the same thing as us. We are all planning future comp trips already from our new found Casino status for next year.

[DoomSlayer]

21 minutes ago, deButler said:

Total outlay from our original bankroll came to right at $850 but (coulda, shoulda, woulda) been in the $500-$650 range had we stuck to our original strategy. Our total cost per point broke down to 349 Craps Table Pts at -$100 cost (-$.29/pt) and 1817 Slot points at a cost of -$750 (-$.41/pt).

We enjoyed the time we spent in the casino and met lots other fantastic folks trying to accomplish the same thing as us. We are all planning future comp trips already from our new found Casino status for next year.

You should have received an onboard voucher for a cruise after getting 2200 pts.  Just curious what the offers were and if you feel they were worth the effort for you?

[deButler]

19 minutes ago, DoomSlayer said:

You should have received an onboard voucher for a cruise after getting 2200 pts.  Just curious what the offers were and if you feel they were worth the effort for you?

We did get our onboard voucher and there are 8 pages of available trips. We tried to book our preferred trip (10 night ABC repo trip) but it was already “sold out” for comps with only GTY cabins available so we booked the Open Cruise Deposit with Next Cruise and plan to get booked on one of the available sailings as soon as we get back home next week. We are currently still traveling in Europe post disembarkation.

We did miss out on a couple of shows but felt the time put in to achieving Prime would pay off for us in the next 12 months. We are still waiting for our ClubRoyale status to update to Prime so we can start taking advantage of the mailed trips as well. 

[RCLblue10]

Is there a chart or table that shows the number of slot machines and table games for each ship?  I thought I saw one somewhere but I lost the link.  I sailed on Harmony in Jan. and then in May after the non-smoking casino was added.  I am not sure if the non-smoking casino is going to be successful but they are at least trying it out.

[RCLblue10]

For Bermuda cruises when the ship is there overnight - is the casino open?

 

[Traveler]

12 hours ago, RCLblue10 said:

Is there a chart or table that shows the number of slot machines and table games for each ship?  I thought I saw one somewhere but I lost the link.  I sailed on Harmony in Jan. and then in May after the non-smoking casino was added.  I am not sure if the non-smoking casino is going to be successful but they are at least trying it out.

Yes, you can use this link for the information:

https://www.clubroyaleoffers.com/Ships.asp