One way that the cruise lines reward guests who spend a lot of time in the onboard casinos is with free cruises. Afterall, the more cruisers play and spend, the more the cruise line profits – and it’s really a smart business decision to get casino players back on board as soon as possible.
But when these winners do not show up for their free cruise on embarkation day, it’s at a detriment to the cruise lines – as there is no time to replace the “no shows” with paying passengers.
In order to dissuade guests from being “no shows,” Royal Caribbean – and Celebrity Cruises, which is owned by Royal Caribbean Group – are putting a new policy in place where free cruise winners will still have to pay a deposit to sail.