As I sat on the balcony overlooking the Rock of Gibraltar in the distance, I couldn’t believe that I was only paying $72 per night for my husband and I to go on a 14-night transatlantic cruise.
Like many other passengers I spoke to during the crossing, I booked my cheap trip through the Carnival Players Club offer. My particular offer gave me a “free” balcony room, $50 in casino credits, and a free drink while playing in the casino.
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But unlike many passengers who booked Carnival Players Club deals, I didn’t gamble my way to a cruise. Instead, I used a series of status matches to get casino status and sign up for the Festival Fun Match. Then I kept checking travel deals on Fun Match until I found one I couldn’t resist.
Read on to learn how I did it and how you can do it too.
How do I get casino status without gambling
To get a Festival Fun Match, I need to submit proof of eligibility in a players club or other casino’s loyalty program.
I have Caesars Rewards Diamond status, but I don’t believe I’ve ever gambled at a Caesars casino – although I have earned bonus credits for hotel stays, shopping, and dining in Las Vegas. The truth is that my activity with Caesars was too limited to achieve Diamond status with the program. Instead, I have Caesars Diamond status via match from Wyndham Rewards Diamond status.
You can Win the Wyndham Diamond title through the end of the next calendar year if you stay at Wyndham for at least 40 qualifying nights in a calendar year. However, the Wyndham Rewards Earner® Business Card automatically provides Wyndham Diamond status as long as you have the card.
Initially, I held Wyndham Diamond status through a series of status matches that are no longer available, but after using my Wyndham status for a Festival Fun Match, my status expired. Currently, I hold Diamond status as a Wyndham Business cardholder.
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Caesars now requires that you “have achieved Level Status with your existing loyalty program for your status to be matched.” But Diamond status while holding a Wyndham Business Card counts as earned status to match Caesars Rewards.
Long story short, I got Wyndham Diamond status through a status that is no longer available — but you can still get it by holding a Wyndham Business Card. I then match this status to Caesars Rewards online. In previous years, my match took a few weeks to happen, but this year, it took about a month.
Take advantage of status matches
With Caesars Diamond status in hand, it’s time to claim a Festival Fun Match in hopes of scoring a free or cheap cruise.
You can register for the Carnival Players Club Fun Match program if you are 21 years of age or older and a legal resident of one of the 50 U.S. states or Washington, DC. By doing so, you won’t receive elite status but may receive discounted cruise offers. Even if you are already a member of Carnival Cruise Line’s VIFP Club loyalty programYou can still register for Fun Match.
To register, you need to enter your VIFP Club number and email; If you don’t have a VIFP account yet, you can create one. Either way, check the “I want to receive emails about special offers and/or information from the Festival” box to receive the offers in your inbox.
I submitted proof of my Caesars Rewards Diamond status by taking a photo of both sides of a physical Caesars Diamond card that I picked up in Las Vegas. If I have more casino statuses, I can upload more than one status and can get better offers. You’ll likely get a better deal if you go that route and submit proof of status with the casino’s other loyalty programs.
Related: How to Earn Free Travel and Perks with Land and Cruise Casino Loyalty Programs
Fun festival match offer
Once you sign up for Carnival Players Club Fun Match, you can expect to see offers via email within a week. However, some travelers have reported signing up for Fun Match and only receiving travel discounts. You may have tried your best to match status and still not receive any offers for “free” cruises.
As I wrote this story, the Carnival Fun Match website said visitors who sign up will receive “drinks included + upgrade + $50 to spend in the casino.” You will receive at least any offer currently available on the Fun Match sign-up page.
Otherwise, there are no official rules or guidelines regarding the types of Fun Match offers you can get or how long you can get them. Each offer you allow to expire may be the last offer you see. Once you book your Fun Match offer, the flow of offers into your email inbox will likely end… at least until you’ve gone on a cruise and Carnival has assessed your level of play in the casino on the train.
I started receiving Fun Match emails in my inbox within a week of signing up in January 2022. Until I booked the Fun Match offer in March 2023, I received from one to four emails about Fun Match offers per week.
Some Fun Match deals on cruises start at $55 per person, per day (plus taxes, fees and gratuities), based on double occupancy. With these offers, I can get free drinks in the casino and bonuses from the Festival based on the points I accumulate in the casino during my trip. For reference, you will earn 1 point for every $2.50 you bet through the slot machine.
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EMAIL FROM THE CARNIVAL GREAT LINE
Other incentives include a “free” cruise with free drinks in the casino and a $50 FunPlay credit. Some deals even include rooms with balconies, although these are more limited than ocean-view rooms, which in turn are more limited than interior rooms without windows.
Mind you, a “free” cruise isn’t actually free. You’ll still need to pay a deposit (which you’ll get back as onboard credit), plus taxes, fees and gratuities.
After a while, I forgot about the Fun Match offers because they were hidden in the Promotions tab in my inbox. But when I rediscovered them at the end of 2022, I checked my travel deals every day.
You can find hundreds of deals when you click through to see the cruises that qualify for a particular deal. Most often for cruises to the Caribbean, the Bahamas or Mexico in an inside cabin. You can filter by cruise destination, departure port, cruise time and departure date.
You can choose a room, balcony or suite with an ocean view if available for the cruise, but you’ll usually have to pay more to upgrade to these room types.
Carnival is not in the business of giving away free cruises if it believes it can sell them for a higher price. The best Fun Match deals will likely be on in-season sailings, last-minute cruises, and other itineraries that are unlikely to sell out. Don’t expect to find a “free” deal on a popular Christmas cruise or a summer cruise on the line’s newest ship.
With this understanding, my husband and I decided that if we were to accept Fun Match’s offer, we wanted a “free” balcony cabin on a balcony cabin. transatlantictranspacific or Full transit itinerary on the Panama Canal. We had high hopes and were willing to risk not booking the deal in advance for the chance to book one of these extended balcony cruises.
After several months of daily checking, we noticed Fun Match’s “free” travel offer for an April 2024 transatlantic cruise from Barcelona to Port Canaveral (near Orlando) in a balcony cabin . This offer fit our criteria perfectly — a cabin with a balcony on a transatlantic cruise — so we put down a $200 deposit before it was gone. After all, months of searching have taught me that offers can disappear quickly.
As you can see, our “free” trip was not free at all. But even after subtracting $391 in taxes and fees and a $406 upfront bonus, we still got a lot out of our transatlantic voyage. It costs just $36 per person, per night – and includes meals at the ship’s many complimentary restaurants, onboard entertainment, and transatlantic transportation.
Also, about six months before our cruise, a Pursue incentives showed up for the Carnival which allowed us to get some cash back while paying off the rest of our travel expenses.
It’s worth it?
The Carnival fun match is worth it for me. I enjoyed our extended journey on glorious festival and will definitely book another casino offer. It takes patience and stubbornness to wait for the perfect offer that may never come, but I’m glad we waited to use my Fun Match offer for a balcony cabin on our trip. 14-night transatlantic cruise.
Once on board, I didn’t feel pressured to gamble even though I was following the casino’s offer. Theoretically you could never visit cruise ship casino while sailing on the Fun Match yacht. But since my husband and I got free drinks while playing in the casino as part of the Fun Match offer, we spent some time at Carnival Glory’s Camel Club Casino. I stick with 1-coin slots, end up at even, and enjoy a few hard-flips most evenings.
My limited casino play is enough. I’ve now started receiving new “free” cabin cruise deals from Carnival Players Club and am considering booking another cruise if I find the right deal. Panama Canal, here we come!
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