Royal Caribbean Cruise Casino - SAVE YOUR MONEY

Recently got back from my Royal Caribbean cruise. We were on Freedom of the Seas sailing out of Port Canaveral. The cruise was great, the ship was very nice, I'd highly recommend it.

Regarding the casino, I found the games pretty consistent with what was discussed here. I didn't play a ton because there was just so much other stuff to do (that and I had a very bad start at the craps table the first night).

Craps was 1x odds when I played. It was always $5 min. There was only 1 table and it was only open in the evenings. The few times we played there were only a few other players - and several times I walked through the casino I saw that it was literally empty. The last night though I went down and it was jam packed and I couldn't get a spot so I left. Every time I played the table was ICE COLD, therefore my sessions didn't last all that long.

I actually spent more time playing cards. BJ was H17, DAS, no surrender...it was either 6 or 8 deck shoe, not sure which. It was always offered at $6 (i hadn't seen $6 before, but it makes sense for 3-2 BJ payouts). I played a fair amount of this, and pretty much broke even. $10 and $25 tables were also available at times, though they weren't very popular (its true there aren't many - if any - big gamblers on ships). The gambling age was 18, so you had a lot of youngsters playing for what was likely their first time - though they were often better than the older players. I witnessed some very poor playing - but it doesn't bother me and I got a kick out of the dealer's expressions (staying on 14 v. a King, etc..)

I also played some $5 Three-Card and $5 Ultimate Texas Hold'em (fun game). Didn't win or lose much on either. Just for kicks I went by and checked paytables on a few VP machines, and found 6/4 JOB...I kid you not. Needless to say, I didn't play any of those. They also had one poker table that was right out with the other table games. It was the digital screen tables, no real cards/dealers, so I didn't play any. They had a lot of tourneys advertised in the daily newsletters, and there was always at least a few players at the table (and they were full in the evening).

As someone said, you don't go on a cruise to gamble, so I only spent probably a total of 4-5 hours over a 7 day cruise in the casino. The cold craps table helped keep the time to a minimum, and our large bar bill was also crimping my gaming budget :-)

A very good time was had, and I'd certainly recommend this ship to anyone.

This year I had the chance to go on a Carnival Cruise, which I'll contrast here versus RCL.

First of all, RCL had a much better ship, activities, food. Carnival had a better casino atmosphere and desserts. For gaming, this is what I found (I realize that gambling isn't the highest priority on a cruise, but since there was gaming, I thought it should be discussed since this is a gambling board):

Blackjack - Only 3 letters are needed. CSM. Every table was CSM. No fun.
Video Poker - JOB paid 6/5.
Craps - 2x odds, Field 2/2, Hardways 9/7.
3CP - 1/3/6/30/40 (no jackpot).
SuperFun21 was not CSM, but I don't know how to play/count it.
Roulette - 0/00.
Slots - Interesting, in that someone in our party hit for $6,200 and they indicated that they would get a W2. In the past, her jackpots at sea never required a SS#.
Poker - Machine Only. Cash Games 15% rake to $6. Ouch. Tournaments, $150 entry, paid ONE place at $750. Soft table, but BIG rake. At least no need to tip the electronic dealer after winning a pot. All cashless.
Slot Club gave out bottles of wine, strawberries and chocolate, drinks and other gifts. This is something I never saw on RCL.
They had live music every night which I thought was a nice touch to the old Vegas lounge act days. I liked it.

OK, that was my RCL/Carnival compairson. I would never choose a ship based on the casino, but I do like to gamble, and appreciate playable games. Carnival's exclusive use of CSM for BJ and W2's for slot wins would steer me away in the future.

The only similarities between a cruise ship casino and a land based casino is that the gambler should have a gaming budget which he is willing to lose. With no "competition", the ship casino can offer games that are less favorable than what you might see on land. If you expect more than that, you probably shouldn't enter the casino. Even with some dreadful VP pay tables, I did hit 2 royal flush progressives two days apart on the RCI Mariner of the Seas, so it is possible to win while at sea.

I hadn't noticed this thread before.

As luck would have it, the wife and I, as well as my brother, his wife, my mother, and an aunt and uncle, and maybe some additional people I'm not even aware of, are taking a cruise this September. And it's a Royal Caribbean cruise. With the exception of a couple gambling one-day cruises, this will be the first cruise for me and my wife. I may make a cruise report - both about the casino, and the cruise in general.

Quote: ruascott

I actually spent more time playing cards. BJ was H17, DAS, no surrender...it was either 6 or 8 deck shoe, not sure which. It was always offered at $6 (i hadn't seen $6 before, but it makes sense for 3-2 BJ payouts).

Actually, $6 does NOT make sense. It sounds like they do not have pink chips. The extra dealer actions to pay $6 bets slows the game down. The number of BJs is not high enough to make it worthwhile to bump the minimum to $6. What happens if a player bets $15?

Seems to me that, one way or another, they're gonna have to pay odd BJs, so why the $6 minimum?

If I play BJ, I might just always bet odd amounts, to piss them off....

Quote: DJTeddyBear

If I play BJ, I might just always bet odd amounts, to piss them off....

Please do it. It really ticks off the dealer if you bet $7, then $9, then $7 again, then $8, and so on. Its very comical, and they'll hate your guts.

Quote: Wizard

I've always wondered why they don't have such cruises off the coast of the major California cities. Also, why can they have them on Alaska cruises when you're obviously in Alaska waters.

Its a 12 mile territorial limit in most places and you can not transit US territorial waters during the cruise, only entry and exit.

California used to have offshore gambling boats, very large ones permanently in International Waters with Water Taxi service from the Long Beach area. There are unverified reports that a US Senator from Nevada had an interest in the offshore gambling ship off Santa Monica. It of course became a political controversy and I think those who owned slot machines in Pasadena didn't own the gambling ships, so it probably became a battle between which politicians were getting the most in bribe money. Of course in those days, everything in Los Angeles revolved around bribes.

The Big M Casino Boat in Florida is for Moss Marine which also owns one of the South Carolina gambling boats.

I believe also that for some sort of reason a cruise has to dock outside of the US at least once. Which is how the Alaska cruises always spend a short period in Victoria or other small towns on Vancouver Island. Major part of the local economy is American tourists spending 6 hours downtown Victoria and on guided tours... and the ships loading up on water, ice and other consumables.

Some stop in Vancouver as well. Amusingly the overflow dock in Vancouver pretty much backs into the original skid row (now the Lower East side) which is junkie central. The main cruise ship dock is in one of the prettiest parts of the city. I pity those who end up in the crappy part of Vancouver (and it's really crappy, I've been in some shitty areas of London, but nothing quite as extensively run down and poor and depressing as East Hastings around witching hour.

Quote: thecesspit

Amusingly the overflow dock in Vancouver pretty much backs into the original skid row (now the Lower East side) which is junkie central. The main cruise ship dock is in one of the prettiest parts of the city. I pity those who end up in the crappy part of Vancouver (and it's really crappy, I've been in some shitty areas of London, but nothing quite as extensively run down and poor and depressing as East Hastings around witching hour.

maybe we shouldnt have been so surprised at the behavior after the hockey final

One of the players in my poker league just took a cruise on RC out of Bayone NJ.

He said there was one poker table, with a live dealer, open at night only.

It was $1/$2 no limit, but the rake was 10% with a . . . $25 max!

Quote: thecesspit

I believe also that for some sort of reason a cruise has to dock outside of the US at least once. Which is how the Alaska cruises always spend a short period in Victoria or other small towns on Vancouver Island. Major part of the local economy is American tourists spending 6 hours downtown Victoria and on guided tours... and the ships loading up on water, ice and other consumables.

Some stop in Vancouver as well. Amusingly the overflow dock in Vancouver pretty much backs into the original skid row (now the Lower East side) which is junkie central. The main cruise ship dock is in one of the prettiest parts of the city. I pity those who end up in the crappy part of Vancouver (and it's really crappy, I've been in some shitty areas of London, but nothing quite as extensively run down and poor and depressing as East Hastings around witching hour.

Our Alaskan cruise did not dock anywhere other than Alaskan ports on the way from Seward to Vancouver. The casino was not open when the ship was in any port and opened an hour after leaving.