As I sat on my balcony trying on the Rock of Gibraltar within the distance, I could not imagine I might paid simply $72 per night time for me and my husband to take a 14-night transatlantic cruise.
Like many different passengers I talked to throughout the crossing, I might booked my low cost cruise via a Carnival Gamers Membership provide. My particular provide gave me a «free» balcony room, $50 of on line casino credit score and complimentary drinks whereas enjoying within the on line casino.
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However not like many passengers who booked Carnival Gamers Membership provides, I hadn’t gambled my strategy to a cruise. As a substitute, I might used a series of standing matches to get on line casino standing and join a Carnival Enjoyable Match. Then, I obsessively checked the Enjoyable Match cruise provides till I discovered one I could not resist.
Learn on to learn the way I did it and how one can, too.
How I acquired on line casino standing with out playing
To get a Carnival Enjoyable Match, I wanted to submit proof of standing in one other on line casino’s gamers membership or loyalty program.
I’ve Caesars Rewards Diamond standing, however I do not imagine I’ve ever gambled at a Caesars on line casino — though I’ve earned reward credit on lodge stays, purchasing and eating in Las Vegas. The reality is my exercise with Caesars is way too restricted to have earned Diamond standing with this system. As a substitute, I’ve Caesars Diamond standing by way of a match from Wyndham Rewards Diamond standing.
You may earn Wyndham Diamond standing via the tip of the subsequent calendar 12 months when you stick with Wyndham for at the very least 40 qualifying nights in a calendar 12 months. Nevertheless, the Wyndham Rewards Earner® Enterprise Card provides computerized Wyndham Diamond standing for so long as you have got the cardboard.
I initially held Wyndham Diamond standing via a sequence of standing matches which might be not accessible, however after utilizing my Wyndham standing for the Carnival Enjoyable Match, my standing expired. Now, I maintain Diamond standing as a Wyndham Enterprise cardholder.
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The data for the Wyndham Rewards Earner Enterprise Card has been collected independently by The Factors Man. The cardboard particulars on this web page haven’t been reviewed or offered by the cardboard issuer.
Caesars now requires you to «have earned Tier Standing along with your present loyalty program to ensure that your standing to be matched.» However Diamond standing from holding the Wyndham Enterprise card counts as an earned standing to match to Caesars Rewards.
To summarize, I acquired Wyndham Diamond standing by way of a no-longer-available standing match — however you’ll be able to nonetheless get it by holding the Wyndham Enterprise card. Then, I matched this standing to Caesars Rewards on-line. In earlier years, it has taken just a few weeks for my match to undergo, however this 12 months, it took a few month.
Leveraging standing matches
With Caesars Diamond standing in hand, it was time to request a Carnival Enjoyable Match within the hopes of scoring a free or low cost cruise.
You may register for the Carnival Gamers Membership Enjoyable Match program if you’re 21 or older and a authorized resident of one of many 50 U.S. states or Washington, D.C. When you accomplish that, you will not get elite standing, however you would possibly get discounted cruise provides. Even when you already are a member of Carnival Cruise Line’s VIFP Membership loyalty program, you’ll be able to nonetheless register for a Enjoyable Match.
To register, you may must enter your VIFP Membership quantity and electronic mail; if you do not have a VIFP account, you’ll be able to create one. Both means, verify the field for «I want to obtain emails for particular provides and/or info from Carnival» to get provides in your inbox.
I submitted proof of my Caesars Rewards Diamond standing by taking images of either side of my bodily Caesars Diamond card I might picked up in Las Vegas. If I had extra on line casino statuses, I might have uploaded greater than only one and may need gotten higher provides. You will probably get higher provides when you go that route and submit proof of standing with different on line casino loyalty packages.
Associated: Learn how to earn free cruises and perks with on line casino loyalty packages on land and at sea
Carnival Enjoyable Match provides
When you register for a Carnival Gamers Membership Enjoyable Match, you would possibly see provides by way of electronic mail inside per week. Nevertheless, some vacationers have reported registering for Enjoyable Match and solely receiving discounted cruise provides. You would possibly undergo all the hassle of standing matching and nonetheless not get any provides for a «free» cruise.
After I wrote this story, the Carnival Enjoyable Match web site stated vacationers who register will get «drinks included + upgrades + $50 to spend within the on line casino.» It’s best to get at the very least whichever provide is presently on the Enjoyable Match registration web page.
In any other case, there are not any guidelines or official steering relating to the varieties of Enjoyable Match provides you would possibly obtain or how lengthy you would possibly obtain provides. Every give you let expire may very well be the final give you see. When you e book a Enjoyable Match provide, the move of provides into your electronic mail inbox will probably finish … at the very least, till you have gone in your cruise and Carnival has assessed your stage of play in its onboard on line casino.
I began getting Enjoyable Match emails in my inbox inside per week of registering in January 2022. Till I booked a Enjoyable Match provide in March 2023, I acquired one to 4 emails with Enjoyable Match provides per week.
Some Enjoyable Match provides have been for cruises beginning at $55 per particular person, per day (plus taxes, charges and gratuities), primarily based on double occupancy. With these provides, I might have gotten complimentary drinks within the on line casino and bonus money from Carnival primarily based on what number of factors I accrued within the on line casino throughout my cruise. For reference, you may earn 1 level for each $2.50 you wager via slot machines.
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EMAIL FROM CARNIVAL CRUISE LINE
Different provides included a «free» cruise with complimentary drinks within the on line casino and a $50 FunPlay credit score. Some provides even included balcony rooms, though these have been extra restricted than ocean-view rooms, which in flip have been extra restricted than windowless inside rooms.
A «free» cruise, thoughts you, is not actually free. You will nonetheless must pay a deposit (which you may get again in onboard credit), plus taxes, charges and gratuities.
After some time, I forgot concerning the Enjoyable Match provides, as they acquired hidden within the Promotions tab of my inbox. However as soon as I rediscovered them in late 2022, I checked my cruise provides every day.
You would possibly discover a whole lot of provides while you click on via to see the eligible cruises for a selected provide. Most are normally for cruises to the Caribbean, the Bahamas or Mexico in inside cabins. You may filter by cruise vacation spot, departure port, size of cruise and sail date.
You may choose an ocean-view room, balcony or suite in the event that they’re accessible for the crusing, however you’ll typically must pay extra to improve to those room varieties.
Carnival is just not within the enterprise of gifting away free cruises if it believes it might promote them for extra. The most effective Enjoyable Match offers will probably be on shoulder-season sailings, last-minute cruises and different itineraries which might be unlikely to promote out. Do not look forward to finding a «free» provide on a well-liked Christmas cruise or a summer season cruise on the road’s latest ship.
With this understanding, my husband and I made a decision that if we have been going to just accept a Enjoyable Match provide, we needed a «free» balcony cabin on a transatlantic, transpacific or Panama Canal full transit cruise. We had excessive hopes and have been prepared to danger not reserving a proposal for the possibility to e book certainly one of these prolonged cruises with a balcony.
After just a few months of every day checks, we noticed a Enjoyable Match «free» cruise provide for an April 2024 transatlantic cruise from Barcelona to Port Canaveral (close to Orlando) in a balcony cabin. This provide completely match our standards — a balcony cabin on a transatlantic cruise — so we booked it with a $200 deposit earlier than it disappeared. In any case, months of looking had taught me that provides can go away shortly.
As you’ll be able to see, our «free» cruise wasn’t free. However even after the $391 in taxes and charges and $406 in pay as you go gratuities, we acquired an incredible deal on our transatlantic voyage. It value simply $36 per particular person, per night time — and that included meals within the ship’s a number of complimentary eating places, onboard leisure and transportation throughout the Atlantic.
Plus, about six months earlier than our cruise, a Chase Supply appeared for Carnival that allow us get some money again whereas paying for the rest of our cruise value.
Was it price it?
The Carnival Enjoyable Match was price it for me. I loved our prolonged cruise on Carnival Glory and would definitely e book one other on line casino provide. It takes endurance and stubbornness to attend for the proper provide that may by no means come, however I used to be blissful we waited to make use of my Enjoyable Match provide for a balcony cabin on a 14-night transatlantic cruise.
As soon as on board, I felt no strain to gamble regardless of cruising on a on line casino provide. You possibly can theoretically by no means go to the cruise ship on line casino whereas crusing on a Enjoyable Match cruise. However since my husband and I had complimentary drinks when enjoying within the on line casino as a part of our Enjoyable Match provide, we did spend a while at Carnival Glory’s Camel Membership On line casino. I caught to 1-cent slots, ended up about even and loved just a few exhausting seltzers most evenings.
My restricted on line casino play was sufficient. I’ve now began getting new «free» inside cabin cruise provides from Carnival Gamers Membership and am contemplating reserving one other cruise if I discover the appropriate provide. Panama Canal, right here we come!
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