Bingo Game Pays Off for Azamara Cruise Passenger With $50K Room Upgrade

Pays to Play 

Rivera and Talcott are on a 20-day . They will reside in their Club World Owner s Suite the entire time. According to the Azamara website, such a guestroom for a 20-day voyage can cost as much as $50K for two cruisers.

Azamara is an upscale cruise line founded in 2007 by Royal Caribbean to diversify its fleet and operations. Royal Caribbean sold Azamara and its four ships to New York private equity firm Sycamore Partners during the COVID-19 pandemic. Each of Azamara s four vessels Journey, Quest, Pursuit, and Onward are registered in Malta.

Bingo is played most days at sea on an Azamara cruise, with the cruise offering an array of prizes. Rivera told that they paid $450 for nine bingo cards each. They said only about 30 people were playing, so they bet big on winning the suite upgrade.

For several years, Azamara has also run a Summer Bingo promotion for travel agents. The game tasks travel agents to book several cruises for clients for a chance at winning a free cruise for two.

Unlike most leading cruise lines, Azamara doesn t offer . The ships instead offer a card room where games like bridge can be played casually.

The Cruise Lines International Association (CLIA) said in April that 2023 was the industry s best year ever in terms of passenger volume. The trade association said 31.7 million people took a cruise, a 7% increase from 2019 and a new annual high.

2024 is expected to be the year when the global cruise industry exceeds more than 300 ships in operation. Between this year through 2028, CLIA members are expected to set sail on 35 new vessels.

A CLIA survey of 2023 cruise passengers found that nearly three in four cruise travelers said a travel advisor convinced them to embark on a cruise.