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Is the next tier worth it?

Enter your cruise line and the points you've earned this program year. See how many more points the next tier takes, how much play that is, what it's likely to cost, what the tier adds and how long you have left.

Short answer

The next tier costs points, and points cost expected loss. At Royal Caribbean, 1,300 more Tier Credits for Prime is $6,500 of slot play, which at a 7% to 8% hold is an expected loss of about $455 to $520. Whether that's worth it depends on what the tier adds for you, and on whether you'd play that much anyway.

Interactive calculator

Your numbers

Every figure updates as you type. No sign-in needed, and nothing you type leaves your browser.

Your program

Use the Tier Credits shown in your Club Royale account.

The play you'd add

The days you'll be on a ship with the casino open before the program year ends. We use it to show hours a day.

Your answer

Turn on JavaScript to see your numbers. The formulas are under "How the math works" below.

Keep track of your points with year-end reminders in your free dashboard (sign-in needed).

How the math works

Points come from what you bet, not from what you win. The cost of a tier is the expected loss on the play it takes.

  1. Points needed = the next tier's threshold minus the points you've earned this program year.
  2. Coin-in needed = points needed × the line's dollars per point for that game. Club Royale's $5 a point on slots means 1,300 points is $6,500 played.
  3. Expected loss = coin-in × the house edge. For slots we show 7% to 8%: ship holds aren't published, 8% is the figure the finder and your dashboard use, and Nevada's 2025 statewide hold was about 7%. For Jacks or Better we use the exact return of the pay table you pick (all four tables if you're not sure), which assumes perfect strategy. Mistakes cost more.
  4. Hours = coin-in ÷ (bet × spins or hands per hour).
  5. Program year end = the day before the line's year starts again. Days left are counted from today, the same way your dashboard counts them.

An expected loss is a long-run average, not a price. In any one stretch of play you can lose much more or win. None of these lines publishes a formula for turning table play into points (the pit rates you on game, average bet and time), so we don't estimate it here. If the tier only pays off when you'd have played anyway, it's a bonus; if it means playing more than you planned, the expected loss is the cost. More on this in the economics of casino cruises and the math behind casino games. Video poker returns by pay table: pay-table checker.

Please play within a budget you're comfortable losing. If gambling is a problem for you or someone you know, call 1-800-GAMBLER.

Sources

  1. Slots at Sea — Opening and keeping casino accounts (tiers, thresholds, earn rates and program years, with each line's official sources)
  2. Slots at Sea — Casino rewards finder (what each tier gets; each cruise line page lists its sources)
  3. Slots at Sea — The economics of casino cruises (the 8% slot hold assumption and Nevada's 2025 hold, from UNLV Center for Gaming Research data)
  4. Slots at Sea — Jacks or Better returns by full enumeration (vp.json) (our own calculation)
Last checked October 21, 2026