(Think of the admin fees like resort fees in Las Vegas, incredibly annoying surprise charges, but, thankfully, only one cruise line charges them regularly with their cruise certificates.) In fact, in the increasingly competitive market of cruise lines competing for casinos to hold their certificate events, often times the casinos will get PAID to put on the certificate events.Ĭommissions to the casino usually come as a percentage of the gambling revenue from players that redeem the free cruise certificate and/or the annoying “admin fees” that appear when booking the free cruise and can add hundreds of dollars onto a “free” cruise. Contrary to what many players believe, the casino does not have to buy or pay a portion of the cruises that they give away to the players.

The second, and more unique, reason casinos love these events is that they are FREE for the casino. The first and most obvious appeal of cruise certificate events to the casino is that they draw players in! “Want a free cruise? Great! Come on in and stay with us for two nights to pick up your certificate.” … and hopefully lose a few grand while you are here! Whether it is a slots or blackjack tournament with a guaranteed prize pool or a known musical act, the casino is usually stuck ponying up tens of thousands of dollars to put on an event that is actually attractive to comp-level guests.

Most of the events that casinos put on to draw in players are expensive to pull off. How cruise certificate events benefit the casino:

encouraging players to take a vacation somewhere else!) may seem odd, but it’s actually a common practice that benefits both the land-based casino handing out the certificates and the cruise lines giving away the cruises. At first glance, a land-based casino handing out certificates for free cruises (i.e. Many gamblers nowadays are introduced to cruising via free cruise certificates given to them by the land-based casinos they play at.

Graton casino calendar