Planning to Gamble on Your Next Cruise? 3 Mistakes to Avoid

Most cruise ships have casinos on board, and they are typically a prominent feature somewhere near the ship's atrium or lobby. Not only do cruise ships pride themselves on offering many different entertainment options on board, but casinos can be a massive revenue center for cruise lines, so they want people to stop and play on their way to dinner or to the theater.

Gambling on a cruise can be a fun way to spend some of your time at sea. But there are some mistakes people make that could either take away from the enjoyment or cause you to miss out on valuable perks for players.

1. Not getting credit for your play

As an avid cruiser and someone who enjoys gambling on them (and getting the best deals possible on my trip), one of the biggest mistakes I see people make is not inserting their player's card when gambling at a slot machine or giving it to the dealer when buying chips at a table. (Note: On most major cruise lines, your room key doubles as your casino player's card.)

If you are using your onboard account for gambling funds, you'll need to insert your card anyway. But even if you're putting cash from your bank account into a machine, it's important to use your card too. This way, the casino will track your play, and can offer you perks based on it, both on the current sailing and on future cruises. For example, most cruise lines have some sort of points system to track play and will give players free drinks in the casino for the rest of the trip after a certain total is reached.

Plus, you may receive offers in the mail afterwards, such as free drinks from day one on your next trip, higher amounts of onboard credit, and even completely free cruises that make your next trip friendlier to your personal finances. But none of this will happen if you simply put cash in the machine and your play isn't tracked.

It's a common misconception that casino offers are reserved for people who spend hours each day in the casino and spend thousands of dollars. In fact, you might be surprised at how a seemingly small amount of play can result in valuable offers.

As a personal example, while I tend to spend a significant amount of time in the casino, my wife typically joins me once during the trip and will play with $100 or $200 until it runs out. She receives offers such as $500 in onboard credit for her next cruise and has even been offered a free cruise in an interior room on certain off-peak sailings.

2. Realizing most cruise ship casinos still allow indoor smoking

If you're a regular at a land-based casino, you may not have to deal with that intense smoky smell that casinos were known for a couple decades ago. Many areas have banned smoking entirely in indoor spaces, some casinos have small smoking areas, and even in places where smoking in casinos is common (like in Las Vegas), the gaming spaces are massive and extremely well-ventilated.

Many people who haven't gambled on cruises before are shocked to find out that indoor smoking in cruise casinos is still the industry standard. And compared with Las Vegas casinos, cruise ship casinos are rather small and tend to not be quite as ventilated. In simple terms, expect that a cruise ship's main casino space will be quite smoky.

However, there are usually non-smoking areas, although they might not be clearly marked. For example, one common layout is that the casino is divided by a walkway that runs through it, with smoking allowed on one side only. Some ships (especially newer or larger ones) have a separate non-smoking casino space. It might be on another deck or in an out-of-the-way place, so be sure to ask the casino host on board.

3. Expecting to win

As a final thought, keep in mind that casinos are designed to gradually take your money over time. The odds are always in the house's favor, and slot machine payout percentages on cruise ships tend to be a little worse than you can find in land-based casinos. You may get lucky and end up ahead, but it's wise to think of casino gaming as part of your entertainment budget on your cruise.

If you keep these tips in mind and approach gambling on a cruise correctly, the money you spend could end up coming with some nice perks.