Carnival Celebration hosted the largest ever $1 million casino slot tournament aboard Carnival Cruise Line during the ship’s most recent sailing, awarding impressive prizes to the top 100 players, including grand prize of $500,000. More than 1,600 players participated in the event, and two additional competitions are already planned for 2024 and again in 2025.
Largest Casino Slot Tournament in Carnival History
A total of 1,691 guests aboard the October 29, 2023 departure of Carnival Celebration set casino history as part of the largest ever slot tournament the cruise line has hosted. The $1M Slot Tournament is a popular event for novice slot players and experienced casino guests alike, particularly with amazing prizes awarded.
The top 100 players in the tournament were awarded prizes, and a $500,000 grand prize was presented to the winner, Rhonda Anderson, on Thursday evening, November 2, 2023. The second place winner, Courtney Paschal, was awarded $150,000, while third place winner, Robert Blevins, earned $50,000.
“Carnival has a history as an industry leader with our casinos and our $1M Slot Tournament not only exemplifies that, but it celebrates it,” said Jonathan Lask, Carnival’s vice president of CRM and performance marketing.
“Our onboard casinos bring fun and excitement to our Carnival Players Club members on all our ships, and this week has been a great way to bring many of those valued guests together and amplify the enthusiasm.”
Slot tournaments are a fast-paced, intense competition for guests to rack up the most points or totals, depending on how the competition is organized.
For this record-breaking competition, Carnival Celebration was sailing a 7-night Western Caribbean itinerary that departed Miami, Florida on Sunday, October 29. The ship visited Cozumel and Costa Maya in Mexico as well as Roatan, Honduras during the cruise, along with three days at sea for guests to enjoy not only the casino, but all the other features of the Excel-class ship.
Carnival Celebration is currently the largest ship in the Carnival fleet at 182,521 gross tons, and can welcome 5,282 guests aboard at double occupancy. Also onboard are 1,700 international crew members to ensure everyone feels like a winner – whether they enter the slot tournaments or not.
More Competitions Coming in 2024 and 2025
With the great success of this most recent tournament, Carnival Cruise Line is already planning two $1M Slot Tournaments for 2024 on the cruise line’s other Excel-class ships – the upcoming Carnival Jubilee as well as the first of the Excel-class, Mardi Gras.
The tournament aboard Carnival Jubilee will be during the ship’s May 18, 2024 sailing from Galveston, Texas, a 7-night cruise visiting Roatan, Costa Maya, and Cozumel.
The second $1M Slot Tournament of the year will be aboard Mardi Gras on the ship’s November 2, 2024 sailing from Port Canaveral, Florida. That voyage is a 7-night Eastern Caribbean cruise that will visit Nassau, Amber Cove, and Grand Turk.
Another pair of $1M Slot Tournaments will also be held in 2025, this time aboard Carnival Celebration and Carnival Jubilee. The first will be the May 17, 2025 departure of Carnival Celebration, an 8-night Southern Caribbean itinerary from Miami, Florida with visits to Bonaire, Aruba, and Curacao.
The second of the 2025 tournaments is planned aboard Carnival Jubilee‘s November 1, 2025 sailing, a 7-night Western Caribbean cruise to Roatan, Costa Maya, and Cozumel.
At this time, no large-scale slot tournaments have been announced for other ships in the Carnival fleet, though smaller, individual tournaments are held on many cruises.
For card players, blackjack tournaments are currently planned for Carnival Panorama (May 4, 2024); Carnival Dream (September 7, 2024); and Carnival Magic (October 19, 2024). For each of those events, prizes will total $50,000.
