Want free cruises? Don’t do this in Royal Caribbean casinos
There are some ways of earning points that are far more effective than others.
On Royal Caribbean cruises, you can earn free or discounted trips based on your play in the cruise line’s onboard casinos, called Casino Royale. But the way you earn free cruises depends on how much you play, and what you play.
When it comes to earning points from slot machines and video poker, it’s straightforward: You’ll earn one point for every $5 you play on a slot machine and one point for every $10 wagered on video poker.
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Note that this doesn’t mean that you have to spend, or lose, $5 to earn a point on a slot machine. It is based on how much money you cycle through the machine; not how much you lose. For example, if you were playing a slot machine at $5 per spin and you hit the spin button 200 times, you would earn 200 points, regardless of how much money you lose (or win) in the course of those 200 spins.
With the casino’s Club Royale Instant Cruise Certificates, this makes it very easy to figure out how much you need to play to get a free cruise. There are some free cruise offers for two people available at point levels as low as 800, but the lists vary by sailing.
The point is that if you are playing a $5 per spin slot machine and have an eye on a free cruise that appears on the 1,200-point list, you know that if you complete 1,200 spins of that slot machine during your trip, you’ll have enough points to get it.
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Royal Caribbean's table games are less transparent
When it comes to playing table games, it’s much harder to figure out how many points you’ll earn. According to Royal Caribbean’s website, for table games, “earning points is based on the type of table game you are playing, your average bet, and how long you play.” In other words, it’s a formula that isn’t publicly known that is used to calculate your points.
By nearly all accounts, table games accumulate points at a far slower rate than slot machines. Many gamblers in Club Royale social media groups and on Reddit. From my experience, I typically earn 1,500 to 2,000 points total per cruise on Royal Caribbean, but when I sit down at a blackjack table, I’m lucky to get more than 10-20 points in an hour.
Don’t get me wrong. If you enjoy table games, go for it. I typically spend at least an hour on each cruise playing blackjack or craps. Just don’t expect it to have a significant impact toward earning a free cruise, unless you’re betting a lot of money per hand or roll.
It’s also worth noting that some table games, such as Texas Hold’em Poker, don’t earn any points at all. The same is true for the popular “coin pusher” machines you’ll find in most cruise ship casinos.
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Why do Royal Caribbean table games earn fewer points?
There is a good reason table games earn fewer points. In simple terms, the odds on slot machines are much more in the casino’s favor. Slot machines on cruise ships typically pay out at an 85%-90% rate, meaning that if you play $1,000 in spins on a slot machine, you should (theoretically) have $850-$900 left when you’re done.
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On the other hand, the theoretical payout on certain table games can be 97% or higher. For example, the house edge on a standard pass line bet on a craps table is about 1.4%, which implies a theoretical payback of 98.6%.
In other words, if you play table games, it will take the casino longer to win your money. At least, in theory. Since points are intended to reflect your theoretical loss, table games award points slower.
(The Arena Group will earn a commission if you book a cruise.)
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