Trip Report – RCL Cruise on “Mariner of the Seas”
December 24th, 2021 at 4:57:27 PM
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I have been getting good casino cruise deals from Carnival and I took one to Alaska earlier this year, summarized here:
https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/off-topic/other-casinos/36351-trip-report-alaska-cruise-august-2021/
So when Mrs Q got an offer via e-mail from Royal Caribbean, we decided to do it ! I think the cruise part was free, just pay the standard taxes and port fees and gratuities, which you are going to have to do anyway. We upgraded to a balcony instead of an interior cabin. I don’t remember exactly how much that was, but it was reasonable (and worth it).
We just got back and then flew from Tampa to Vegas.
RCL Covid Protocols:
a) Submit proof of vaccination
b) Provide Negative Covid Test Results taken with-in 2 days of embarkation
- Fortunately, tests were super easy to schedule where we live
c) Wear a Bracelet showing who was vaccinated (most everyone, I think)
d) Sit at your own dinner table when possible
e) Wear masks inside, there was pretty good compliance with this but not 100 %
Our itinerary included Cozumel and their private island, Coco Cay, but that was canceled due to high winds when we arrived there.
“Casino Royale”:
The casino was similar to others I have seen on cruise ships, lots of slot machines, some table games, and several banks of mediocre paytable Video Poker. The highest I recognized was 8-5 Jacks or Better at the $ 5 Denom, so I usually played Bonus Poker (9-6-4-3-1-1-so a little over 96 %) instead at the $ 0.50 and $ 1.00 denoms.
JoB was 6-5 and 7-5 at $ 0.25 depending on which machine you chose. I have been on cruises where there are only a couple of decent VP machines and those are popular. But this time around, I saw very few others playing VP.
Blackjack was 3-2 at the $ 15 level that I played at (split up to 4 times, DDAS, and I’m not sure about resplitting Aces). The dealers were young and personable.
A woman I spoke with mentioned to me that they were offering a free cruise certificate ( limited dates ) if you earned 800 points. I was already over 500, so I decided to try and get up to 800.
Slots: $ 5 per point
VP: $ 10 per point.
So, not too hard to get to. In fact, normally you have to earn 2500 points just to get free drinks while playing in the casino ! The cruise deal wasn’t publicized much, so IF I had known about it earlier I would have had my wife play on my card earlier.
I talked with one of the casino hosts on duty, and confirmed the details. He printed out my certificate for me later that day when I finally got up to 800. Unfortunately, some of the cruises listed on the certificate are already “maxed-out” for this offer, and it has to be used by the end of June. So far I haven’t found anything that works with my wife’s schedule but I will look at it again, and rather than throw it away, I would probably take a cruise without her since we already have 2 casino cruises scheduled for 2022 that we will both be on.
Bottom-line:
I didn’t hit any 4oaK’s on my the last several hundred dollars it took to get enough points for the Cruise Certificate, so I ended up down ~ $ 125 for the trip. A good Blackjack session on the last day helped with that result.
Mrs Q doesn’t keep as detailed records as I do, but she ended up down about $ 300. Or possibly a bit more.
Food:
The formal dining hall was very nice with an open atrium 3 levels tall. The service was excellent, but my first meal was a thinly sliced pork chop that had been thoroughly dried out. I was about to ask for something else but Mrs Q tasted it (she prefers things medium to well done anyway) and said it was OK, so we switched and I ended up with her salmon. Fortunately, the rest of the meals were pretty good and on other nights I orders steak, lasagna, and lamb – which was particularly good.
Entertainment:
RCL had the most consistent high quality shows that I have seen on a cruise ship for a long time. There is a big show in the theater every night, one early and one late.
A big bonus was the Ice Skating show held in the afternoon. It was very entertaining and it was a relatively small venue so the seats were all very good.
https://wizardofvegas.com/forum/off-topic/other-casinos/36351-trip-report-alaska-cruise-august-2021/
So when Mrs Q got an offer via e-mail from Royal Caribbean, we decided to do it ! I think the cruise part was free, just pay the standard taxes and port fees and gratuities, which you are going to have to do anyway. We upgraded to a balcony instead of an interior cabin. I don’t remember exactly how much that was, but it was reasonable (and worth it).
We just got back and then flew from Tampa to Vegas.
RCL Covid Protocols:
a) Submit proof of vaccination
b) Provide Negative Covid Test Results taken with-in 2 days of embarkation
- Fortunately, tests were super easy to schedule where we live
c) Wear a Bracelet showing who was vaccinated (most everyone, I think)
d) Sit at your own dinner table when possible
e) Wear masks inside, there was pretty good compliance with this but not 100 %
Our itinerary included Cozumel and their private island, Coco Cay, but that was canceled due to high winds when we arrived there.
“Casino Royale”:
The casino was similar to others I have seen on cruise ships, lots of slot machines, some table games, and several banks of mediocre paytable Video Poker. The highest I recognized was 8-5 Jacks or Better at the $ 5 Denom, so I usually played Bonus Poker (9-6-4-3-1-1-so a little over 96 %) instead at the $ 0.50 and $ 1.00 denoms.
JoB was 6-5 and 7-5 at $ 0.25 depending on which machine you chose. I have been on cruises where there are only a couple of decent VP machines and those are popular. But this time around, I saw very few others playing VP.
Blackjack was 3-2 at the $ 15 level that I played at (split up to 4 times, DDAS, and I’m not sure about resplitting Aces). The dealers were young and personable.
A woman I spoke with mentioned to me that they were offering a free cruise certificate ( limited dates ) if you earned 800 points. I was already over 500, so I decided to try and get up to 800.
Slots: $ 5 per point
VP: $ 10 per point.
So, not too hard to get to. In fact, normally you have to earn 2500 points just to get free drinks while playing in the casino ! The cruise deal wasn’t publicized much, so IF I had known about it earlier I would have had my wife play on my card earlier.
I talked with one of the casino hosts on duty, and confirmed the details. He printed out my certificate for me later that day when I finally got up to 800. Unfortunately, some of the cruises listed on the certificate are already “maxed-out” for this offer, and it has to be used by the end of June. So far I haven’t found anything that works with my wife’s schedule but I will look at it again, and rather than throw it away, I would probably take a cruise without her since we already have 2 casino cruises scheduled for 2022 that we will both be on.
Bottom-line:
I didn’t hit any 4oaK’s on my the last several hundred dollars it took to get enough points for the Cruise Certificate, so I ended up down ~ $ 125 for the trip. A good Blackjack session on the last day helped with that result.
Mrs Q doesn’t keep as detailed records as I do, but she ended up down about $ 300. Or possibly a bit more.
Food:
The formal dining hall was very nice with an open atrium 3 levels tall. The service was excellent, but my first meal was a thinly sliced pork chop that had been thoroughly dried out. I was about to ask for something else but Mrs Q tasted it (she prefers things medium to well done anyway) and said it was OK, so we switched and I ended up with her salmon. Fortunately, the rest of the meals were pretty good and on other nights I orders steak, lasagna, and lamb – which was particularly good.
Entertainment:
RCL had the most consistent high quality shows that I have seen on a cruise ship for a long time. There is a big show in the theater every night, one early and one late.
A big bonus was the Ice Skating show held in the afternoon. It was very entertaining and it was a relatively small venue so the seats were all very good.
There's emptiness behind their eyes
There's dust in all their hearts
They just want to steal us all and take us all apart
