I found out a little more about Carnival's One Club. You accumulate
cashback on your cruise - let's call it cruise A. You don't get it until you cruise
again on Carnival - let's call it cruise B. It apparently doesn't matter on
cruise B whether it is a cruise you paid for or "won" from a casino.
However, if on cruise A, you won it from a casino and you are part of a
"casino group" - such as happens on Venetian-sponsored Carnival cruises, or
Harrah's sponsored Carnival Cruises - you can't get your cashback until you go
again on another cruise sponsored by that casino. So if you go with Harrah's
from New Orleans on a "casino group" cruise and earn cashback, and then buy a
cruise B, you can't get your cashback. If eventually you take cruise C -
another Harrah's "casino group" cruise - you get your cashback from trip A
(sponsored by Harrah's) and cruise B (you paid) on Cruise C.
On top of this confusion - on Harrah's cruises you are limited to earning
$500 in cashback - anything beyond this you can't get. I don't think the
Venetian cruises have a limit.
Las Vegas Hilton also sponsors cruises on Carnival and they probably have
these limitations.
If you win a cruise certificate good on any cruise from several ports - you
may be able to get cashback which can be cashed in at the next cruise B.
(Apparently this is the case on my cruise which was a certificate from winning
at the Palms which I upgraded to a different cruise -- in any case the Palms
cruise certificate didn't seem to be part of a "casino group").
It looks like the cashback is issued as cash to your onboard account -
though this is a little unclear. Presumably it can be used to pay for shore
excursions, incidentals, or for casino gambling, and at the end any excess is
credited to your charge card or issued back as a check. Apparently the cashback
can be larger than the cost of your cruise.
Also you may be able to get it on any cruise the main cruise company owns -
Princess and other companies are owned by the same company that owns Carnival.
But the bottom line is you can't get your cashback until you cruise again.
And if you go on a casino-group-type cruise you probably can't get cashback
until you go on another cruise sponsored by the same casino.
The way around some of this confusion may be to play on a spouse's card.
Misscraps won the cruise from the Venetian, but partner with her is just a
guest, so play on his card??? This also is one way around the Harrah's limit of
$500 cashback.
Of course machines on most ships have BAD paytables. Smart people won't
play them. I get bored easily and might. Fortunately last time I had very
good luck and got 2 royals. On previous cruise on Carnival I hit one royal, was
too sick with a bad cold to play again. On another with Norweigan I had
zero luck and lost a whole bunch of $.
Bottom line - if you want to play onboard - usually Blackjack is the best
bet.
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