What's Up With Bingo On Cruise Ships?

[00:00:04] It's not a game, it's a ranch thing. Hello, and welcome to The Broke Bingo Addict. This is a podcast that ventures through the wild and crazy world of bingo. This is much more than your grandmother's bingo. My name's Shari, and welcome to this week's episode, which as always is for entertainment purposes only. Hello, and welcome to this week's episode of The Broke Bingo Addict.

[00:00:32] There's a couple of things I want to talk about this week. The first thing I want to talk about is a recent cruise that I just got back from. Yay! Big fan of cruising. But surprisingly, one of the things that I'm not a big fan about on cruising are the bingo games they play. I mean, that's really kind of a very popular thing that goes on on cruise ships if you've never been. And they have games, I guess, typically when you're sailing.

[00:00:59] They don't usually do it when you're in port because obviously people are leaving and going around and doing the tourist thing. But when you're having a sea day, as they call it, they typically have bingo games. I traveled on the Princess. We did a seven-day cruise down to Mexico going to Cabo St. Lucas, Puerto Vallarta, and Mazatlan. Not in that order. But anyway, so when we were having sea days, they would have games. They would have games two times a day.

[00:01:26] I think the first game would start at 11 p.m., and they'd have a second game that started at 3 p.m. And like I said, these games are super popular. In fact, we always make a point of going down to whatever the room is where they're holding the bingo game. We make a big point of getting there pretty early because there tends to be a long line of people trying to buy these items.

[00:01:48] And I have to say, over the years that I've been cruising, and I've been cruising for a long time, a very long time, the price of these games have absolutely gone up. Getting to a point that I feel is really out of control. I'm sorry. It's just out of control. I think when I first started playing bingo, you would pay like $20. I'm not swearing to it, but I think it was like $20, and you would get like a six-pack of paper, and they would play four games.

[00:02:17] I think that's pretty consistent. It still really is only four games. But that was it. You'd pay your $20, you'd get your little dauber for like a dollar or whatever, or you could use a pencil, and you'd play your four games, and you had a chance of winning, you know, a respectable amount of money. And that's what it would be. It'd be like $200 or $300 that you would win. It wasn't the same amount for each game. I think it was increasing through game one, two, three, and four. So game four, you would win the most amount of money. And there would always be like a bonus ball or a cash ball, whatever you want to call it.

[00:02:46] They would have that if you won on that number, that you would get a certain amount of money added to whatever it was that that pot was for that game. And then ultimately, at the end of the cruise, at the end of the seven days, they would have that final game. And if the jackpot wasn't won, which also had increased throughout the length of the tour, if it hadn't been won, then that would be a must-go item on the last bingo game of that cruise.

[00:03:13] And let me tell you, that sucker would be back. Anyone who even wasn't playing bingo throughout the week kind of knew that that was going to happen, and they'd all be there trying to get that must-go jackpot. So that was all well and good. I had no problem with that. Would have a good time. Won a couple of times. My brother-in-law won one time. My sisters won. And so it was something that we always like to do. Being the little bingo freak that I am, absolutely everybody knew that we were going to play bingo.

[00:03:38] But as I said, over the years, it's absolutely, in my own opinion, gotten out of control. So like I said, we just played on this last cruise. And so here's what it is now. The minimum for, I think it was for a three-on strip, okay? A three-on strip, as I was called, was like $29, okay? Something like that for just one simple three-on strip. Then if you wanted a six-pack, a six-pack was $39.

[00:04:09] $39 for one six-pack, okay? And then it went from there because now what they have is they have the addition of computers, all right? Not a big fan of computers. I don't care where I am. And they know if you've heard me talk about Texas or anything else, I am not a big fan of computers because it really messes up the playing field. In fact, everybody on that cruise ship this time when I went, anybody who won any of the games,

[00:04:38] again, only four per event, was playing on a computer. And those computers, I think, were starting like at $69. I should have written it down. I should have kept the paperwork to see what it is. I didn't keep it to see how many cards you were getting for that. But I know there was other ones that were like $96, $96, four games, people. Can I reiterate this? Four freaking games. And there are people out there doing that. And I'm sure some of them won.

[00:05:07] But like I said, for a lot of those games, it was like $200, $300. So you're not even really getting that much back from your buy-in. And yeah, I'm sorry. I just thought that was absolutely insane to the point where I was happy not to play bingo. So before, whenever we were on a cruise, I played bingo every time I had the opportunity. But this time, surprisingly, I was like, yeah, I'm good. I'll wait to that last event that they have where it's going to be the big cash out for the person who gets the jackpot.

[00:05:37] And that's about it. Because otherwise, I just don't see the bang for your buck. Other than I get it, a lot of people don't ever play bingo. So they have no idea. It's no big deal. They're on vacation. They're having a good time. And they just want to enjoy themselves. And if they can win a little extra money, it's fine. And they don't mind paying that much because they don't do it all the time. But sadly, I know what an average buy-in is. I know what an average payout is. I know what the max is for the amount of money some people can get.

[00:06:03] So for me to sit there and play four games, have I said that a few times? Four games! Okay? I'm not paying $100 to play four lousy games. I didn't like paying the $40 or the $39 just for the six-pack for four lousy games. But anyway, like I said, for me, that's an issue. I'm really not a big fan of that. I get it if other people want to do it.

[00:06:27] The people, again, who were paying the extra money for the computers absolutely were the ones who won every single time. But yeah. Yeah. And surprisingly, I saw people who were not only playing on the computers, they were also having a six-pack or even a three-pack. I mean, I'm just trying to add that up in my head, how much money they were paying for that. So I guess I'm a little bit on the cheap side. It just, the payout, I was like, I'll wait till I get back on land and spend a lot less money to win a lot more.

[00:06:54] But anyway, that's my little take on what's going on in the cruising industry. Surprisingly, what I would like to do sometime, and I've never done, is I would absolutely love to take one of the cruises that they have out there. You know, they have the bingo cruises, which I think are usually sponsored by either Royal Caribbean or Carnival Cruise absolutely has one every year. I think it's either in October or November. Yeah, just double-checking. Carnival has their cruise that they're going to have in November.

[00:07:22] November, like I said, it's going to be November 1st through November 9th. I love this. This is my birthday month. I'm the 7th of 2025. And they're going to, let's see, they're going to Aruba, Bonaire, I think I'm saying that right, B-O-N-A-I-R-E, and the Celebration Key. So there's that one. But you know what happened while I was looking to see about that to confirm it? I found out that there's another one that's actually leaving out of Los Angeles. I love it, okay? This is also going to be in November.

[00:07:53] And it's being hosted by Norwegian, okay? So the Norwegian Cruise Lines, or NCL, as some people call it. So that's cool. That's actually the trip that I just did. It's leaving on November 2nd out of Los Angeles. And it's going to do the Mexican Riviera, okay? So that's going to be, like I said, what I did. It's going to do Puerto Vallarta, Mazatlan, and Cabo-Saint-Lucas. But again, this is my birthday week. I wish I'd have known about this earlier. I might have to think about doing it. I have never done one of these cruises, but it seems like it's a lot of fun. I mean, it's combining the two things I like most.

[00:08:22] And I got to imagine that the buy-ins and all that stuff is a lot better than the events that they have for the tourists. So that's kind of cool. If you guys want to find out about that, again, you can just Google Bingo Cruises. And that information will come up for both of those particular items. I know Bingo Bugle tends to sponsor that one on Carnival Cruise every year. So that's out there. Definitely something that's on my bucket list, okay? So that's my rant about that.

[00:08:45] That's all I wanted to say is, you know, you do have an attitude when you're somebody who plays bingo all the time versus for people who are just playing for the fun of it. So that said, I want to go on to something else, which is, is there such a thing as bingo burnout? Okay, I've been wondering about this a lot lately. I've noticed certain things.

[00:09:07] You know, when I was starting out to get into this kind of world of playing different places, originally when I started playing in Southern California, once I got my groove on, I used to just play at this place that was across the street from my house. And I'm sure many of you, if you have listened to my podcast, have heard me talk about Buckingham Bingo. That was literally just minutes away from my home, like right across the street. I could walk there, but because I got out so late, I would drive there. But when COVID happened, obviously a lot of places closed down.

[00:09:36] But for whatever reason, Buckingham Bingo was struggling anyway, well before COVID came along. So what happened was, like everybody else, they closed down. But unlike 90% of everybody else, they never opened again, which has just sucked on so many levels. But the one kind of cool thing about it is that it made me branch out. And I go to play bingo at so many other different places. I've played at the Bingo Club. I've played out in Pasadena. I play at Cry Help. I play at St. Joseph's.

[00:10:05] I mean, I played a lot of different places. And it also introduced me to a lot of people playing on TikTok, which is, you know, amazing how well that's made me branched out into meeting other people. I've gone up to Sacramento or, excuse me, I've gone up to Stockton. I've gone to Texas. I'm looking forward this year to going out to Pennsylvania, playing for their little event that they have out there. But what I noticed is that recently, you know, I've met a lot of people. There are people that I saw on TikTok all the time, you know, all the time.

[00:10:34] Tanya, who's also known as Confessions of a Bingo Addict. I saw her all the time. Cash of I Am Cash Official. You know, Mama Guam. There are just so many people that I would see all the time on TikTok or even playing at some of the locations that I played at. The list is, you know, pretty extensive of the amount of people that I've started seeing and hanging out with and, you know, and having nice relationships with. But recently, it's hit me that I just don't see a lot of those same people either on TikTok or in person.

[00:11:02] You know, on TikTok specifically, I used to see Tanya, you know, also known as Confessions of a Bingo Addict, all the time. I used to see Cash all the time. I used to see Kiki, you know, Kiki who has the two million followers, you know. I used to see her all the time. And now I just see her very sporadically. And also my other Kiki, Kiki Marie, I used to see all the time. Again, I don't see as much. Also, not only less on TikTok, but I see her less personally. We used to play at a lot of the same places, and I would run into her all the time and see her there.

[00:11:33] There was a guy that I loved. His name is Matt. I don't know if you've seen Matt, but I would love to go see Matt. We would play at St. Joseph, and I would go see him because he's a big guy, and he would give me a bear hug. And he's like, oh, that's good. It's so good. I would love his bear hugs, you know. I've seen him a few times recently, and he says the reason that he hasn't been playing is largely due to his work schedule, and he hasn't had the opportunity. But I really miss him. It was great to see him every week.

[00:12:00] But there's also several other people, you know, also on TikTok. I used to see AJ a lot, and recently I've seen AJ, but he's talking about books. He's an avid reader, and he does a wonderful job talking about books that he thinks are really good and wants to recommend to people. So I see him doing that, but I don't see him doing bingo so much anymore. And a lot of these people, like I said, used to be live all the time.

[00:12:24] So I don't know if what the situation is, is that's a combination of TikTok just being kind of a pain in the butt for people who are playing bingo, because I know people would go on there, and they would get bananaed within, like, two minutes of going live. They would get called out, and they'd have to stop, and then they'd go over to YouTube. So I don't know if a lot of it is the fact that these people are shifting and going over to YouTube, and I'm not really on YouTube yet. I don't know what that is. That's kind of like a mental block for me personally, trying to get over it hopefully sometime soon.

[00:12:52] Okay, that said, I'm going to have to check it out. I just don't know if that's one of the reasons that I'm not seeing these people so much, or is there really such a thing as bingo burnout? I mean, bingo is expensive. It can start racking up money, and you can finally say, you know what, I need to start saving my money for something else or finding a cheaper hobby to do. One of the things I'm going to start looking into is finding a cheaper hobby, because if you're not winning, it can get kind of expensive. But it is such a great community. You do have so much fun.

[00:13:19] It is such a nice way to get out and meet people and have a good time. But I'm just wondering if people sit there and say, I've got to stop doing this and do something else. So I am wondering, is it just me? Is it just that I'm seeing this, or is there really such a thing as bingo burnout? But that said, what is also interesting is when you see an influx of new people, when you see people who are coming in and starting to really enjoy it.

[00:13:46] And one of the people I have to say that I have seen that I just get a kick out of watching all the time is Pinky96. I don't know if you've seen Pinky. And for some reason, I'm not sure. I should check the rules. It looks like she's got under 1,000 followers. But yet, she goes live a lot. So I don't know if TikTok has changed the rules. As you recall, you had to have at least 1,000 followers to go live. So I don't know if there was some kind of thing or whatever. Honestly, I haven't checked into it. But I do like to watch her sometimes when she's going live.

[00:14:15] And I like her TikToks. She'll come on and she'll say, this is her page where we talk all things bingo. And she'll answer questions that people might have. And yeah, I just really get a kick out of her. I think she has a really cute personality. And I wish her well. I want to see her build up her audience and just get really, really big. Because I think she's got a nice, genuine personality and loves bingo like the rest of us and stuff. So there are other people, too, that I see out there that I really enjoy. How do I say it?

[00:14:43] All dabbed up or all dobbed up, however you want to say, that I really enjoy watching them. And there are a few other people, like I said, that are getting out there and making a lot of TikToks and looking like they're having fun, enjoying the game. But either way, it really is interesting to see how much the bingo community is evolving and changing. You know, the people who you see all the time, the people who are stepping back, the people who are moving in and everything. But regardless, I'm still enjoying it.

[00:15:12] I hope that you're still enjoying it if you're out there playing. I hope that I'll get to see some of you someplace and she'll come up and say hello and let me know what you think about it. And that we won't get too much bingo burnout. Anyway, that said, for me, bingo, the big thing I'm going to do, FYI, is I'm going to go back to someplace I haven't played in a long time. I'm taking my mom to Morongo, which is in Southern California, if you're not aware.

[00:15:36] And that's one of the first places when I moved out here, before I knew about the place that was across the street from my house that I went to all the time. One of the first places I found out that you could play bingo was Morongo out in Cabazon. That's what they call it, Cabazon. They have a big mall outlet there, too. And they have bingo. And I haven't played there in ages. What's interesting is when I played there before, they're really very limited on pool tabs, which is, if you know, in Southern California, across the nation, pool tabs are the thing.

[00:16:05] You know, pool tab, pool tab, pool tab. Got to play pool tabs. And the last time I played there, which, again, has been a few years, I think they had like one basic little simple little pool tab that they played that you could win like machines for or something, whatever it was. It was just the one. They didn't have the amount of pool tabs or really any pool tabs that you have in other bingo halls. So it'll be really interesting to go back there after all this time and see how this place has changed and stuff. So I'm really looking forward to it. And hopefully, we'll have a nice one. Taking my mom there for her birthday.

[00:16:34] And hopefully, she'll play with me so we can have a good time. Anyway, I will definitely let you know how that goes. In the meantime, thank you so much for listening to this week's episode of The Broke Bingo Addict. I hope you enjoyed it. And I hope you'll come back to listen to the next one. Thanks so much. Bye. Bye. Bye. Bye.