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.
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.
More Quantum-class ships – the second-largest class in Royal Caribbean’s fleet – will be based in Singapore over the next five years under the new partnership. An international cruise ship with a casino on board would under most circumstances only be allowed to operate such a facility when in international waters, not while in harbour. Monarch of the Seas to host Ante Up Poker Cruise. Monarch of the Seas will stop in the Bahamas and passengers may also participate in tournaments at the Crystal Palace Casino. The tournament Ante Up Poker Tour $ 125 will be held on Thursday 1st September. And the ship will reach Port Canaveral Friday, September 2. The next and final Ante Up Poker Cruise will then take place in December.
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.
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....
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.
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.
Quantum Of The Seas Casino Poker Game
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.
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
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!
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.
Quantum Of The Seas Casino Poker Room
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.Quantum Of The Seas Wikipedia
How do you have a successful poker cruise without chips or poker tables?
You’d better be creative and able to think on your feet!
I am a stickler for details. I make lists for my to do lists! I admit to being a control freak, but some things are beyond my control. This story starts many, many months ago when Card Player Cruises signed a contract to host a poker cruise on Royal Caribbean’s newest cruise ship, the Quantum of the Seas. This was to be an 11-night cruise leaving out of Bayonne, New Jersey in February, 2015.
Normally, we send a truck with our own poker tables, mass quantities of poker chips, equipment like cashiers’ cages and dealer tray cabinets, and lots of miscellaneous supplies. It costs almost $10,000 to send a truck from Las Vegas to New Jersey by the time we pay the driver, fuel costs, travel expenses, loading and unloading, etc. Because our passenger count was lower than usual due to the price and length of the cruise, we decided it would be cost efficient to buy new poker tables in New Jersey and ask the cruise ship to loan us chips to use in the poker room. We bought the tables and had them delivered to a company (recommended by the cruise line) that was licensed to make cruise ship deliveries. We had our cruise representative arrange to have RCCL loan us 70 racks of chips in various colors.
Now, back to the control freak part… Jan Fisher and I always board the ship and cruise on the sailing just prior to the poker cruise trip. That way, we can meet with the casino manager, our group coordinator, the food and beverage manager, hotel director, housekeeping manager, and other department heads to ensure that everything is “ready” for our group. On the second day of the cruise, we met with the Quantum’s casino manager Allan Ennis-Jarvis to confirm that the 70 racks of chips we had ordered were available. He said that corporate had arranged to have the chips brought from the Oasis of the Seas to the Quantum during our St. Thomas port when both ships would be there at the same time. As soon as we left St. Thomas and the casino opened, we were eager to take delivery of the chips. That was when we got bad news… the Oasis had only brought 29 racks of chips… and they were all the same color! Allan Ennis-Jarvis, the casino manager, was very apologetic of course. We asked if we could buy chips from the Quantum’s casino, but they could only sell us two racks since their supply was short too.
What to do now? Luckily we were going to dock in St. Maarten the next day. Card Player Cruises and Card Player Poker Tour are hosting a 10-day tournament at the Sonesta Maho in St. Maarten in April so Jan and I had just spent a week there checking out the hotel and its Casino Royale. During that trip, we had met Jurgen Bailom, VP Operations for the Maho Group, and Jack Schultz, casino manager. We emailed them asking if we could borrow 50 racks of chips in various colors for our poker cruise. We were ecstatic when we got a reply within 10 minutes saying that we could borrow as many chips as we needed. They even arranged to bring the chips to a casino close to the cruise terminal so we didn’t have to go too far to get them. Now, that’s service! Jan and I must have been quite a sight as we boarded the ship lugging suitcases full of poker chips! First crisis averted thanks to the kindness and professionalism of Mr. Bailom and Mr. Schultz.
Quantum poker cruise Jan and I relaxed and enjoyed the rest of the cruise. The Quantum of the Seas is amazing…it has every amenity and activity you can think of… indoor skydiving, rock climbing walls, bumper cars, clown training, trapeze, a concert hall, a pod that takes passengers 300 feet above the ship, a Broadway theater, many dining venues, and lots more. We were able to set up dining reservations nightly for our group and arrange for our parties as well as finalize all other logistics. We were ready for the poker cruise!
On the turnaround day in Bayonne, there was a snow storm that slowed down loading of the ship’s supplies. I had a crew ready to set up the poker tables, but the tables weren’t there by noon as promised. Every hour, Jan or I went to our coordinator in a nervous panic asking where the tables were. She kept assuring us that our truck was in line on the dock and that the ship would not leave until the tables were on board. She promised… she guaranteed it. Guess what? The ship left without our tables. Jan and I got the bad news at 5:45 in the middle of our welcome aboard party. Hiding the nausea that was creeping inside us, we sent the group to dinner and told them the poker room would open at 7:30.
Quantum Of The Seas Wiki
We ran to the poker room and the hotel director, casino manager, and someone from the ship’s carpentry shop were waiting for us. We asked for banquet tables, lots of duct tape, 24 beach towels to use as padding, and material to cover the “poker tables.” I couldn’t have been more impressed with the ship’s executives and our dealers Shawn Lytle and Jenna Phillips. They took off their jackets, got down on the floor, and went to work building us tables. Within an hour, we had tables that were good enough to use, but the ship personnel said they would have “real” tables made for us within 24 hours. Our players came back from dinner and the games began promptly at 7:30. True to their promise, the ship’s machine shop delivered better versions the next day and the cruise was a big success.
Sometimes it takes a village. Thank you Maho Group and RCCL for helping us prevent would could have been a real disaster! Of course, I probably aged 5 years from the stress.:)
Quantum Of The Seas Deck Plans
Linda Johnson
Card Player Cruises