BINGO questions

[MaryJPixie]

Hello had a few questions about BINGO on the ships.....

1. I read somewhere that the game cards are electronic.......is this accurate?

2. Are all the prizes cash or other stuff too?

Any other info would be appreciated.........

TIA

 

[ladyandthetramp2]

The last time I was on the ship there was 2 options for BINGO the regualr paper punch cards and the electronic devises.
The electronic ones were so easy you just sat back and watched the computer!
The prizes are mostly cash, however they usually have a game for spa prizes and one for jewlery.

 

[sue]

The last time I was on the ship there was 2 options for BINGO the regualr paper punch cards and the electronic devises.
The electronic ones were so easy you just sat back and watched the computer!
The prizes are mostly cash, however they usually have a game for spa prizes and one for jewlery.

Same for us the last time we sailed in 2009. Bingo can get pretty expensive.

 

[Eeyore'sthebest]

Cash prizes but put on your stateroom account. They don't hand out cash. Of course I've never won the big snowball jackpot so I have no idea how that one works. I keep trying though.

Cards as previously described above.

 

[over50visits]

The last time I was on the ship there was 2 options for BINGO the regualr paper punch cards and the electronic devises.
The electronic ones were so easy you just sat back and watched the computer!
The prizes are mostly cash, however they usually have a game for spa prizes and one for jewlery.

I haven't played bingo for so many years, but I would consider the electronic cards a disadvantage. Basically bingo is a lottery, they just cloak it in a lot of overhead (calling numbers). So, the fun is in being there, hearing the number, marking or punching your card, etc. Seems to me just watching an electronic card would be about the same as dropping off your money and coming back later to see if you won.

Maybe the staff is entertaining; if so, I would just go and watch them and not pay a lot of money to watch an electronic screen.

I got turned off to DCL bingo when they made an announcement implying they had given out a big prize on the previous cruise. Turns out they did not, and if you listened to their announcement carefully they said the grand prize was such-and-such, not that someone had actually won it. But they clearly were trying to imply they had given out the prize, and by extension that they would give out a big prize on our cruise. Seemed a little disingenuous to me, so I kind of classified bingo with the art "auctions" they used to have.

Lots of wonderful activities all over the ship, whatever floats your boat!

 

[algae]

As far as I understand, bingo is a lottery. The jackpot size depends on the number of people playing. More people = larger prize. Not sure what you consider a large prize, but I've been on some sailings where the final prize by the last day was over $6,000 (it was shared between 2 winners.) That would be a bummer if it was only OBC... Needless to say, I never won.

The electronic is easier if you buy a lot of cards. They don't really wait for you, so if you bought a lot of cards, it can be tough to check them all before they move on to the next number.

Aside from the cash, there were door prizes given away in between games. They know your name and stateroom when you buy the cards, so they randomly pick one for spa credits and DCL swag.

We don't do bingo anymore. We realized that the amount of time and money we spent (lost) on bingo could've gotten a lot of stuff from the shops or spent enjoying the ship. So, no more for us.

 

[MaryJPixie]

I had another question, when do you purchase the cards? How much are they?

I am still on the fence about Bingo.....I mean, everyone pays their cruise in full BEFORE they cruise so putting any winnings on my onboard account would kind of take the fun out of it......I don't know, unless I bought a ton of alcoholic drinks or did like alot of spa treatments and the BBB for my DD a few times plus souveniers.LOL

 

[mrp4352]

The prizes are cash applied to your account. But if you have funds left over at the end of your cruise, you'll get the cash. On my Mom's first cruise, between Bingo winnings and the DVC door prize (she won $300 there), she actually came home with money even after all the stuff she bought on board.

I don't remember the pricing exactly, but it does get more expensive as the cruise goes on. Mostly because the snowball gets bigger so more people will play. We enjoy playing - the cast members make it fun! We just know that will be part of our on-board spending budget when we go.

 

[dlf246]

As a math whiz, I once did the math, and the payout over the week is some tiny fraction ? 5-10%. I still go and look at it like paying for a movie (expensive one!!). (I have to mention that when we cruised radisson, we were stunned when the payout was much larger and there were only a few dozen players...)

 

[jvelasco]

I played bingo on the Dream at the end of March. I purchased the electronic game package for $50, I think, which also came with paper cards. There were four bingo games played. I won three of them, splitting the pot twice. They handed me a ticket each time listing the amount won, and I had the choice of leaving it as a credit on our account or cashing it in. I didn't push my luck the rest of the cruise and kept a low profile

 

[aymekae]

My DH loved playing Bingo. Seriously, one of the highlights of his trip. I don't gamble, ever, so it seemed like a big waste of money to me. We played every session, which I think was 1-2 times per day, with 4 Bingo cards per session, where the jackpot is progressive so where the first card might award $75, by the last, it might award $250. They have different packages of cards to purchase, and most of them were a combination of punching your own paper sheets and monitoring the electronic device, so you end up with a ton of cards and chances to win, but then, so does everyone else. I think we spent about $50 or $60 per session. The last session is more expensive because the jackpot is higher, but if you played at least 2 sessions that week, you get a small discount.

We won Bingo 3 times, but always had to split the pot with others who won on the exact same number. I think we spent around $350 and won $150. We also won 2 random goodie bags, including an adorable plush Mickey in holiday/peppermint PJ's, a holiday ornament, a Santa hat with Minnie ears/bow, DCL journals, and DCL key chains (we cruised last December). The staff was entertaining in an extremely cheesy sort of way, and while I argue that we didn't have $200 worth of fun during all those sessions, my DH would disagree. (As an aside, I would never have let him spend all that on Bingo, except we got $500 in OBC from signing up with DVC on the same cruise. I would have preferred a massage or a pedicure at least, but alas.)

Hope that info helps!

 

[sissy_ib]

I had another question, when do you purchase the cards? How much are they?

I am still on the fence about Bingo.....I mean, everyone pays their cruise in full BEFORE they cruise so putting any winnings on my onboard account would kind of take the fun out of it......I don't know, unless I bought a ton of alcoholic drinks or did like alot of spa treatments and the BBB for my DD a few times plus souveniers.LOL

Cash prizes are put on your account but you can go cash out at GS. I won 5 times in the 6 rounds we played. We left it all on the account and it payed for other things we charged.

Prices for Bingo! As of the January 28th Magic sailing
A sheet of 3 paper cards was $30.
A sheet of 3 paper cards and the electronic machine was $50
A sheet of 3 paper cards and an electronic machine that had more cards was $60
A family pack with two sets of paper cards and 2 electronic machines was $70. The family pack had the same number of cards over all as the $60 pack.

I played the $60 pack every time.

The final game is the guaranteed jackpot and the cards cost almost double! If you have played three other games there is a discount for the final game.

I LOVED playing bingo, probably because I keep winning! I will count on losing next time and put a few rounds bingo in my budget.

 

[traveln4fun]

We usually play bingo in Vegas and the price is about the same, but this is for 13 games and usually takes 1 hr. How many games do they play on the boat per session?

 

[aymekae]

They only play 4 cards per session, and I believe they spend the first 15-20 minutes doing card sales, then the remaining 40-45 minutes playing, though sometimes it goes over.

 

[sissy_ib]

We usually play bingo in Vegas and the price is about the same, but this is for 13 games and usually takes 1 hr. How many games do they play on the boat per session?

They really drag it out on the ship. It is scheduled for 45 minutes for 4 games and several times it went longer.

 

[Princess Row]

They also have multiple raffles during each bingo session. Usually about 4 items per game. I have won a sweatshirt, pins, jewlery, and otehr various items! You buy a card and your name automatically gets entered!!
They are nice items too!!