Carnival Citi

Carnival Citi Casino Overview 

I liked a lot of what I saw off the bat from Carnival Citi sweepstakes casino. First, there’s the fact that video poker is even offered at all. As someone who naturally gravitates to video poker in a brick-and-mortar casino, I always look for it when I play at a social casino, and I’m usually disappointed. The fact that it’s offered here at all, and there are many options available, such as Jacks or Better, Deuces Wild and Bonus Poker was great to see.

The support is also top-notch, as I got a response back in less than an hour from the e-mail team. Given that Carnival Citi has a live chat feature, I was expecting this to take a little longer than it did. But I got an almost immediate response that answered my question and provided a link back to where I could get more information.

Outside of video poker and keno, the game library does need some work. I did enjoy being able to gamble on solitaire, which is rather unique, but there aren’t any games from some of the biggest names in online casino gaming. You won’t find providers like Pragmatic Play, NetEnt and other big names here. All games come from either GMW, Habanero or KA Gaming.

That’s not necessarily bad, as I found a few enjoyable slot titles, such as Lionfish Treasure and Witch’s Triple Brew. But it does mean that you’ll have to play around with the site to find the games you like, because the game you most recognize isn’t likely to show up here. However, one bad thing is that several games are locked behind a paywall. Unless you pay $24.99 to gain VIP status, you won’t be able to play video poker, keno or several of the slot titles. That’s a major drawback to playing here.

💰 Bonuses & Promotions Available

Before we get into the quality of Carnival Citi’s welcome bonus, we need to address its Sweepstakes Coins ratio. Unlike some other social casinos, Carnival Citi does not operate on a 1 to 1 ratio for Sweepstakes Coins to USD. It instead goes 1,000 to 1, so 1,000 SC is really worth $1. For the sake of simplicity, we’ll refer to SC with a ratio of 1 to 1.

The no-deposit bonus was very generous, as I quickly was presented with 1 Sweepstakes Coin and 5 million Gold Coins simply for signing up. Once I was officially signed up at Carnival Citi, I was given a code that was automatically filled in for me on the site. All I had to do was hit the button and I had another 10 million Gold Coins and 5 free Sweepstakes Coins in my account. This was one of the easiest no deposit bonuses I’ve claimed, and it’s a highly generous offer.

The welcome bonus for your first deposit was also outstanding. I was able to get another 3 million GC and 17.5 free SC with my $4.99 coin purchase. Given that Sweepstakes Coins are what you really want, this is a very generous welcome offer. A 250% rate over the standard rate for Sweepstakes Coins is simply unmatched anywhere else. This bonus rate for free coins is a stand out area where Carnival Citi shines.

However, there is a major drawback to the generous offer for the welcome bonus: the fact that you can’t claim a daily login bonus until you’ve played through all of your Sweepstakes Coins. When I tried to get my second daily login bonus, I was given a message that I could not because I was still playing through my promotional Sweepstakes Coins. You’ve got to completely play through any promotional coins before you can get more.

The other big issue is the VIP program. Anyone can pay to join it, but if you don’t pay the $24.99 minimum, you’ll have roughly half of the games at Carnival Citi locked and unavailable to play. If you try to play one of these games, you’ll be directed to the deposit screen and asked to choose a VIP package. It really isn’t a great look for a social casino; spending any money is supposed to be optional to get the full experience. Spending money should enhance your experience via gifts, not become a requirement for you to get the most out of the sweepstakes casino.

Coin Package Assessment

After correcting ratios to bring things more in line with competitors, Carnival Citi still offers one of the most generous welcome bonuses of any social casino. 

When you make your first deposit, you’re getting 2.5 times what you’re spending in Sweepstakes Coins. Most casinos don’t get anywhere near that generous on the first deposit, and some won’t even offer a bonus at all. If you’re planning to spend any money at all at Carnival Citi, this is a bonus to take advantage.

Once you’ve made your first deposit, future deposits will switch to an almost 1,000 SC to $1 ratio. The math doesn’t quite work because Carnival Citi knocks one cent off your purchase to bring it to $4.99 instead of $5, for example. The smallest amount you can spend is $2.99, but that only gets you 300,000 Gold Coins and no Sweepstakes Coins. The lowest amount you can spend for Sweepstakes Coins is $4.99, but for your first non-welcome bonus purchase, I’d recommend going up to $24.99. That’s because spending at this level unlocks VIP status and lets you play any game that Carnival Citi offers. After buying one $24.99 package, these games are unlocked for good, so you can switch to $4.99 deposits moving forward.

Once again, we’ve converted the unusually large 1,000 SC = $1 on Carnival Citi to a much simpler 1 SC = $1 ratio for the sake of this review. 

Carnival Citi Payments & Redemption Review

Payments are easily among the best things about Carnival Citi social casino. There are plenty of methods available for you to make payments and redeem your winnings, including all major credit and debit cards as well as PayPal and Venmo. Most social casinos don’t offer anywhere near this amount of redemption options, so if you prefer to use new-school payment methods, this social casino is a great fit. 

I had no issues with getting payments through for my first deposit. I didn’t have to check with my bank at all or verify anything; I simply provided my card information and clicked through to get my Gold Coins and Sweepstakes Coins in my account. The process was complete in less than 10 minutes.

The playthrough requirement is reasonable, as you only have to play through your Sweepstakes Coins once before redeeming them. The required balance is 100 SC, and that’s a high level to require, but not exorbitant. Once you do ask to redeem, you’ll usually get your winnings within 48 hours, and usually closer to 24. 

I had to provide my driver’s license and a selfie to confirm my identity. This is part of Know Your Customer requirements and common practice at most social casinos. However, there’s one issue here: redemptions are only processed through Trustly. That can be a major drawback to more casual players, as you will have to familiarize yourself with another platform to claim real prizes.

Casino Game Selection & Playing Experience

I’ve included positives and negatives in my review of the games available as your access to the game library determines how enjoyable your time at Carnival Citi will be.

On the positive side of the ledger, having some unique games means that all types of players will be able to find something they like here. I always enjoyed playing solitaire growing up, and Carnival Citi allows me to play it for SC. If you beat the game, you earn the jackpot; otherwise, you get SC for however many cards you successfully place.

Some of the slots I tried out were also a lot of fun. Cleopatra The Golden Scarab isn’t the same thing as the famous Cleopatra game that you’ll see at other casinos, but it’s still fun to play. It includes several scatter symbols that trigger the bonus games, and it’s a well-designed slot with medium volatility. I didn’t hit the bonus, but I pulled in a few decent wins while playing.

If you play for long enough, you’ll be able to earn entries into the lucky draws sweepstakes for Sweepstakes Coins. For every 10 SC you play, you earn an entry into the sweepstakes. Draws are conducted for daily, weekly and monthly SC prizes. The more you play, the better your chances are.

And now for the negatives. The biggest issue I have with Carnival Citi is that several of the games are locked behind a paywall.

In order to access video poker or keno, you have to spend money and unlock the VIP tier. That costs a minimum of $24.99, which kind of defeats the point of a social casino. It’s not that $24.99 is an exorbitant price, but the game library already isn’t very large to begin with. To cut the game library in half before a person has deposited any money really defeats a lot of the point of a social casino. While I enjoyed seeing video poker as an option, the fact that I had to pay to play it really turned me off from the idea. There aren’t a lot of options for playing video poker at social casinos, but if I’ve got to pay to play, I’m far more likely to just wait until I can play at a brick-and-mortar casino instead.

Another issue I found with Carnival Citi is that there’s no ability to save your favorite games to a certain spot like you’ll find at some other social casinos. With a smaller game library, this isn’t as big of a deal as it could be, but it’s still a real annoyance. If there’s a game that you really like to play, you’ve got to remember it so that you can use the search feature. Otherwise, you’ll have to scroll through a menu that is cumbersome and difficult to get through. The search feature does mitigate the issue somewhat, but the menu still does detract from the overall experience. It’s not easy to scroll through the list of titles, and you have to make sure the game you want isn’t behind a VIP paywall.

One other detail that needs to be mentioned is the lack of table games. While I mostly play slots, hitting the roulette wheel occasionally for a few spins would be nice so this is a let down.

There’s a decent amount of games here, but the experience needs some work before it can be considered on par with some competitors.

Player Reports

TrustScore	4.6
Reddit Opinion
App Store Rating	N/A
Google Play Rating	N/A
AskGamblers Resolved Complaints	N/A

Trustpilot TrustScore

Carnival Citi’s score was a robust 4.6, with over 80% of its 2,447 reviews earning five stars. The biggest pros that customers talk about include the daily lucky draws and the speed of its redemption process. There weren’t any issues on AskGamblers, which could be because the site is still fairly new or because the site isn’t available on the App Store or Google Play. The company usually does not respond to negative reviews, only answering to 4% of such comments.

Reddit Analysis

Most users seem to be cautiously optimistic, and their feelings depend on whether they’ve had a good or bad experience with redemption. If they’ve had a positive experience, their feelings toward Carnival Citi are seen in a positive light overall; if they feel like things are delayed, they’re far less likely to have warm feelings about it.

Cute_Mud9203 said they had no issues while redeeming over a thousand dollars worth of SC and got the amount in their account the next day.

Marcielove said they had a similar experience while cashing 150 in SC, and their friend also got their payment quickly.

📱 Mobile Apps & Play

There isn’t a mobile app available for iOS or Android, making the browser the only option that you have for playing on the go. I didn’t have any problems getting on the site and playing on my mobile device. I was able to try out games such as Jester’s Fortunes and Atlantis on my mobile browser with no issues.

Here’s a situation where the search feature is an absolute must. If you didn’t have it, you’d be trying to scroll on a tiny screen and look for the game you like. Here, you can just search the title and make your decisions.

Carnival Citi Security & Safety Check

You aren’t going to find all the newest security features here, such as two-factor authentication, but you will find a legit social casino that has a secure website and offers responsible gaming. 

Based on the Know Your Customer (KYC) standard, you’ll need complete identification before you can redeem any winnings. This is a positive, as it ensures only legal site visitors who are of age are able to play.

Customer Support Experience

The customer support experience couldn’t have been better. I was able to get a response almost right away through the e-mail system, despite the live chat being available as an option. When I opted for e-mail, I expected someone to respond to me within about 24 hours. I got someone to answer my question and provide me with more information in just two hours.

Phone service and live chat are also available, so you have plenty of ways to get assistance at Carnival Citi Social Casino if needed.

👇 Other Sites Like Carnival Citi Compared

Here’s a look at how Carnival Citi compares to alternative sweepstakes casinos.

	Carnival Citi	Chumba Casino	Wow Vegas	Fortune Coins	McLuck Casino
Availability	48 US States and Canada, but only 37 allow SC	47 US States & Canada	45 US States & Canada	47 US States & Canada	40 US States & Canada
# of Games	200+	200+	900+	300+	700+
Free Sign-up Bonus	17.5 SC	2 SC	5 SC	1.4 SC	2.5 SC
Free Daily Log-in Bonus	1 SC	1 SC	0	.50 SC	.20 SC
Payment Options	Visa, Mastercard, Trustly, Amex, Discover, Apple Pay, Venmo, PayPal	Trustly, Visa, Mastercard	Trustly, Visa, Mastercard, Skrill	Trustly, Visa, Mastercard, Skrill, Paysafe Card	Visa, Mastercard
Minimum Redemption	100 SC	100 SC	100 SC	100 SC	75 SC
Support	Email, phone, FAQ, live chat	Email, FAQ	Email, FAQ	Email, phone, FAQ	Email, phone, FAQ
Learn More		Chumba Casino Review	Wow Vegas Review	Fortune Coins Review	McLuck Casino Review

Final Verdict

Overall, there are several good things about Carnival Citi social casino. The game library is diverse, as you’re able to play keno, solitaire and video poker. But of those three, only solitaire is available to you without spending real money. If you’re willing to spend at least $24.99, this isn’t a big deal, but for players who want to enjoy social casino games without spending any money, your game library is essentially going to be cut in half for as long as you play here. There’s no chance to ever earn VIP status; you have to buy it to get it.

But some drawbacks cannot be overlooked. The biggest issue is probably the fact that less than 80% of states allow you to win anything from playing games. You can still have fun with Carnival Citi in 11 states, but you cannot win anything no matter how much you play in these locations, which limits its viability in these locations.

That said, the games that are available are fun and are designed for this site, so they pop off the page pretty well and function seamlessly. You’re given a very generous welcome bonus, as you can start off with a new player bonus of 250% on your first purchase. The reasonable playthrough requirements mean that you can easily get through your stash of Sweepstakes Coins and set yourself up for redemption.

The Lucky Draws feature is also a nice addition. Being able to earn entries into a casino-wide drawing to win SC simply by playing the games is a great way to reward loyalty. If you’re playing regularly, you’ll likely find yourself in the drawing to win a large prize at least a couple times a month.

Finally, the responsive support is top-notch. Getting a reply in less than four hours is always appreciated, and the many support options ensure anyone can get the help they need. If Carnival Citi can build on the things it does well and make its gaming library more accessible to everyone, it can become a top option for a lot of people to try out.

Author: Dan Angell

Dan graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia and began his career in traditional sports media covering college basketball. He transitioned to online media in 2016. With the rise of sports betting following Murphy v. NCAA, Dan shifted into sports gambling writing and now covers all forms of gambling, including sweepstakes casinos and slots.

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