Originally Posted by
BedWetterBettor
Perhaps I should elaborate on this some more...
The Casino loses NOTHING by offering Cruise certs. In many cases, they OWN the cruise liner or at least the Casino inside offering gaming and make their Revenue back that way.
Port Fees are Paid by the Passenger, but are usually a low amount of under $200 per family.
And you can have a long lapse in play and they will still send the offer to folks who have a decent play history and higher tier status, like the aforementioned relative of mine that asked me to swipe his card for both offers and play with their card to avoid negating future offers.
In fact I see many old frogs in Scooters parked at the Kiosk of Free Cruise Offer day with up to 10 player cards, swiping and redeeming the offer for family & friends. It obviously holds up the line(s) but it's a great +EV play if you roll with circles who do this for gifts, Promotional offers, Free Play and Room Offers.
Ballys and CET properties practically BEG you to come down on Free Cruise day to the point they will offer you a "Second Chance" offer if you don't show up the first time! So they're not hurting at all and they want to give out as many as they can to get people gambling, eating, drinking and most importantly TIPPING on these ships!
*New Video from Squirtstopher atop the Space Needle*
Just Chrissy yapping about nonsense and nothing worth seeing. Of course numerous other tourists look annoyed to be in the angry midget's recordings, wonder if he got their permission to film or did they say "FUCK YOU!?!"
And where are all those Winning Slot Videos from Mr. $100 in and Win EVERY SINGLE DAY??? Seems like he's gone from Jackpots to Shitpots in less than 6 months... again! #Billy Goat Life Baby!
I can give you more details on this, because I used to take a lot of these cruises in the 2010s.
The "free cruises" are a marketing partnership. The casino does not pay the cruise line, and the cruise line does not pay the casino. It's basically a way to get the land casino's losing gamblers onboard, where it's assumed a fair number of them will shoot off in the onboard casino.
There is no play requirement onboard. You can completely stay out of the casino, and nobody will care, nor will it affect your status or comps on land.
The "port fees" thing is a semi-scam. The land casino tells you that you're responsible for "port charges, fees, and taxes", and you assume it's just charges the cruise line has to pay at the ports which are passed onto the customer.
In reality, the port fees and taxes are fairly minimal, but the cruise line tacks on a $200 or so (per person) "admin fee", just because they can. So the cruise is never free. It's actually $200 plus port charges & taxes. Still a great deal, but not free.
You are also expected to pay a $15 or so per person per day "gratuity" which is automatically added to your account. These tend to be difficult to opt out of. In fact, some lines like NCL make you do it by mail when you're back home. These aren't real gratuities, and in fact are pocketed by the cruise line. Another industry semi-scam.
Cruising requires a lot of expertise and experience regarding how to get value, not waste money, and get the most out of your experience. Chrissy is a moron and a fake rich guy, so no doubt he will fuck it all up, AAAAAAAAND lose his ass in the onboard casino.