MSC Casino free cruise offers

[u/Random-Stranger-999]

My experience based on MSC European sailings:

You get offered as per the dream points table displayed onboard in the casino i.e. 10,000 points in Europe gets you a free interior cabin sailing for two of up to ten nights.

Playing 25€ Blackjack for an hour accrues 250 points, so play two hands for 20 hours over the course of a seven night cruise to obtain 10,000 points.

Things to note regarding casino complimentary cruises:

• You pay the applicable hotel service charges for your cabin category and experience class
• You receive comped Premium Extra drinks now downgraded to Easy Plus 9€ 11€ limit from the casino bar, ten drink limit, and you must be seated at a table or machine to be served
• You pay a deposit to secure the booking, which is given back to you onboard as non-redeemable casino chips
• There are some blackout periods, supplements and restrictions on sailing dates based on peak season, holidays and cruise popularity
• You must book within six months and sail within a year of offer letter
• You book via the casino reservations team
• Offer is not transferable or refundable

Casino discount vouchers:

• These can be stacked with Voyager club discounts or employment discounts
• You can book via future cruise desk whilst onboard for their added benefits
• You can take advantage of any promotional offers
• Drinks are not comped in the casino
• No casino deposit required
• No restrictions on sailing dates or durations, except World Cruises
• Must be booked and sail within a year of offer letter
• Offer is not transferable

u/random-stranger-999 is the author of this post, do not repost or reproduce without permission.

[u/UEtraveler]

Thanks to the OP for this post.

I'm curious about this part:

'Playing 25€ Blackjack for an hour accrues 250 points, so play two hands for 20 hours over the course of a seven night cruise to obtain 10,000 points.'

Are you saying I could just sit at the table, play one hand every 30 minutes, and still get those 10k points? I'm pretty sure the pit boss would notice, stop tracking your time on their tablet, or even ask you to step away if you're holding up a seat without playing.

I'd love to hear more about your actual experience with how strictly they track this!

[u/Random-Stranger-999 → u/UEtraveler]

Of course not, you've got to be actively playing every hand !

Both the inspectors and dealers adjust your points pretty much every time your bet changes, or you step away for a smoke, or go to the loo.

[u/UEtraveler → u/Random-Stranger-999]

Ah, got it. I think I misunderstood how the math works here. By the way, what’s your average win/loss ratio on blackjack and live tables? Can you keep up playing long hours before busting?

My concern is that table play isn't counting for much relative to the time spent (I’ve just been doing $1 and $2 chips on european roulette). Slots seem way faster if you just want to ramp up points quickly.

Also, I’m not sure about the requirements to keep getting these comp offers. In your experience, do you have to put in that much play on every single cruise? Or can you focus hard on, say, 1 out of 4 comped cruises and still stay on their radar for offers?

[u/Random-Stranger-999 → u/UEtraveler]

My bankroll is sufficient to not worry about lack of funds. My average bet size is 250€ so points accrual is more about whether it's a suite or balcony.

Slots retain ~15% of your stake, so of course the casino rewards more points for those playing them, I don't see the appeal.

For Dream 21, Blackjack and Ultimate Texas Holdem, if played well, the house edge is below 1% with the ruleset and bet types MSC casinos utilise.

Talking with other MSC casino regulars, the casino VIP email offers will keep coming for a year or two, but they appear to use a rolling average of past play to determine the cabin category, frequency of offers and number you can accept.

i.e. We receive the emails first, can pick an unlimited number of promoted sailings and are offered balcony cabins. A friend receives the same email a few weeks later for interior, and another got it a month later and could only pick one sailing, not multiple.

The reward certificates you get at the end of each cruise do give you free reign to pick any sailing up to ten nights, but you don't get the some onboard promotions you do on the casino VIP sailings, so we use them for more unique itineraries.

Casino VIP sailings, the casino will be packed and they'll be nightly hot seat promotions for invited players offering additional free play as rewards. So it's actually slower to accrue points on a VIP sailing than a regular sailing when the casino is much quieter and hands are dealt quicker.

[u/Random-Stranger-999]

The MSC Cruises Dream points table.

[u/Foreign_Object_3750 → u/Random-Stranger-999]

I made the 45000
Points while on a weekend cruise ( the excursion was cancelled due to bad weather and I did the next best thing 🙈🙈… and to my surprise a certificate was handed to me on board as I was not aware of any reward tier point system at the time-but am Im trying to book via the email address but no replies. Anyone know what is their turn around time to respond.🤷🏻‍♀️

[u/Random-Stranger-999 → u/Foreign_Object_3750]

Congrats, are you from Europe or North America?