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When it comes to cruising, playing in the ship’s casino is one of the most popular activities. In fact, in the late evening, it can be the busiest spot on the entire cruise ship. In many ways, the casinos on a cruise are very similar to what you’ll find on land, just on a smaller scale. If you’re someone who loves gaming, then you’ll feel right at home in a cruise casino.
That said, there are still a number of things you should know before playing on a cruise ship. From just interesting facts about shipboard gaming to how you might not be getting the best deal when you place your bet. There are a number of casino secrets to know before you put your money down.
If you’re wondering if there will be a casino on your ship, you can rest assured there almost always will be. Mass market lines like Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and like, always have casinos on the ship.
But there are a few exceptions. Norwegian Cruise Lines’ Pride of America a U.S. flagship that sails Hawaii is one of the few ships from a mass-market cruise line without a casino. As well as Disney Cruise Lines doesn’t have casinos on their ships. Outside of these cases, if you’re sailing on a modern cruise liner, then come ready to play.
You’ll find the casinos located in the middle of the ship, typically, near the most highly trafficked areas. So, if your ship has a main promenade that goes through it, the casino will be right near it. This is a strategic move made by the cruise lines. Putting the casino easily accessible means it’s easier for players to find and play.
In general, the gaming floor is small by the standards of land-based casinos. On many ships, you’ll usually find closed-in areas with relatively low ceilings since the decks above and below limit the ceiling height. The low ceilings and the maze of games give the casinos a cozy feel.
Still, the casino will be among the largest rooms on the cruise ship outside of dining rooms and theaters. Some ships, most notably the newest ships in Norwegian’s fleet, have more open casinos. On those ships, the casino floor opens up to the rest of the ship giving it a much brighter feel.
As for atmosphere, within seconds of walking into a cruise ship casino, you’ll forget that you’re on a ship. Given the casino size and number of passengers, evenings can get crowded. That means the casino will feel high energy with lots of people cheering, noise from the slot machines and generally a fun atmosphere.
On land, in a place like Las Vegas, casinos are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Whether you want to play with your morning coffee or with an evening cocktail, you can. On a cruise, however, it is a bit different. In international waters anything goes in when casino playing is allowed.
So, days at sea or after the ship has left port, you’re free to play. In port, however, it is a different story. Here, the casino is closed. It’s not physically closed. You can still walk through it but there won’t be any dealers and the machines are disabled. It’s a ghost town. But as soon as the ship gets out back to sea, then it is back to playing.
Now, everyone knows that the odds are always in the house’s favor when it comes to playing. That’s especially true on a cruise. For example, the gold standard for video poker is a 9-6 machine. One that pays 9 credits for a full house and 6 credits for a flush. This gives an expected payout to the player of about 99.5% if proper strategy is used over the long term. On ships, you’ll often find 6-5 machines, meaning they offer a 94.9% payback.
For blackjack, you often find tables that pay 6 to 5 on blackjack instead of the normal 3 to 2. If you play a higher limit table, then you might still find those 3 to 2 payouts. Craps will have odds bets but they will be restricted somewhat. The best you can hope for is 3x 4x 5x. But we’ve seen some ships with even lower bets available.
They also usually have the big 6 and 8 bets at tables that have a higher house advantage. So, go to the casino and have fun. But if your plan is to get the best payouts then you are often better off with land-based casinos.
If you’re a low stakes gambler, then you might feel right at home on a cruise ship. Minimums across games are low, making it affordable for any level of player to enjoy themselves. Of course, there are penny slots as you’ll find in any casino, along with higher stakes machines, if you feel so inclined.
On table games, you’ll usually find minimums starting at $5 for many games. This makes sense considering the potential customer base on a cruise. With only a few thousand people on the ship compared to the millions of people that live within a drive of a regular casino, the cruise needs to be sure to appeal to the most people possible. That said, we have seen table games starting to creep up with $10 minimums instead of $5.
Every traditional game is available on a cruise but there are also some unusual games that you don’t see anywhere else. You like playing slots, you’re covered. What about blackjack or craps or roulette, they have them all. Despite the small size of cruise ship casinos compared to those on land, they offer a wide variety of games. For instance, while you won’t find table after table of blackjack, there will be a few and usually one craps table. There’s also roulette and often other specialty games like WPT Heads Up Hold’em. Texas Hold’em poker is also popular with tournaments and play throughout the cruise.
What’s a little surprising is that there are several games you won’t find ever on land that are on a cruise. One is similar to a skill crane where you use a joystick to move a key to push down stacks of dollar bills. There are also coin pusher machines exactly like you find in an arcade but instead of tokens, they use quarters. You can try your luck to push quitters over the edge along with wads of cash that are also in these machines.
Many cruise lines are also now offering their own scratch-off tickets available for purchase. As well, as big lotto style drawings with jackpots worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. In other words, you aren’t going to get bored with what’s available to play.
If there is a casino game you’ve always wanted to play but have been too intimidated to pull up a chair, then a cruise is perfect for you. Not only is it less intimidating than a regular casino, but they even offer classes on table games for beginning players. You can come and learn how to play, free of charge, so that when it’s time to play for real money, you aren’t as intimidated.
In addition, the vibe at a cruise casino is simply more friendly. Remember that the dealers want to make sure you have an enjoyable time in your cruise and your other passengers are typically in a good mood and not hardcore gamblers. In addition, the stakes are typically low so there’s usually not a ton of money at stake.
Are you younger and want to play? While there are some exceptions, majority of places in the United States, including Las Vegas, require you to be 21 years old to play in a casino. On a cruise, the minimum age to gamble is normally 18 years old. If you’ve ever wanted to try your luck but haven’t been old enough to head to Las Vegas, a cruise ship might be your best bet.
Players clubs are at any casino including those at sea. By inserting your room key card into a slot machine or giving it to the dealer at a table, your play is tracked just like a casino on land. Depending on how much you play, you can earn some impressive rewards. One that a lot of people enjoy is getting free drinks.
Unlike regular casinos, cruise casinos generally don’t offer free drinks just for playing. But earn status with the cruise line through playing, you can get your drinks while you play as well as invites to special tournaments, future cruises, upgraded status on the ship and more.
Of course, the pandemic has turned life upside down and cruising has been among the hardest hit industries. While cruises were suspended for months, they are now slowly returning. Even so it’s sure that the casino experience is going to look and feel different than it did before the pandemic, just like in Las Vegas.
You can expect that social distancing and sanitation will be two big changes to the cruise ship casino. Certain slot machines will either be removed or disabled to allow more distance between players. As well plexiglass between stations and blackjack tables and fewer spots at the crafts table are almost certain.
Hopefully we will get back to normal life sooner rather than later. But until then, expect changes to keep passengers safer in the casino. hope you have enjoyed this and until next time. Happy sailing!
CruisesforSingles.net is dedicated to providing quality information on the subject of Cruises for Singles and in particular various other cruise ideas for customers and merchants online.
Cruises for Singles
When it comes to cruising, playing in the ship’s casino is one of the most popular activities. In fact, in the late evening, it can be the busiest spot on the entire cruise ship. In many ways, the casinos on a cruise are very similar to what you’ll find on land, just on a smaller scale. If you’re someone who loves gaming, then you’ll feel right at home in a cruise casino.
That said, there are still a number of things you should know before playing on a cruise ship. From just interesting facts about shipboard gaming to how you might not be getting the best deal when you place your bet. There are a number of casino secrets to know before you put your money down.
If you’re wondering if there will be a casino on your ship, you can rest assured there almost always will be. Mass market lines like Carnival, Royal Caribbean, Norwegian and like, always have casinos on the ship.
But there are a few exceptions. Norwegian Cruise Lines’ Pride of America a U.S. flagship that sails Hawaii is one of the few ships from a mass-market cruise line without a casino. As well as Disney Cruise Lines doesn’t have casinos on their ships. Outside of these cases, if you’re sailing on a modern cruise liner, then come ready to play.
You’ll find the casinos located in the middle of the ship, typically, near the most highly trafficked areas. So, if your ship has a main promenade that goes through it, the casino will be right near it. This is a strategic move made by the cruise lines. Putting the casino easily accessible means it’s easier for players to find and play.
In general, the gaming floor is small by the standards of land-based casinos. On many ships, you’ll usually find closed-in areas with relatively low ceilings since the decks above and below limit the ceiling height. The low ceilings and the maze of games give the casinos a cozy feel.
Still, the casino will be among the largest rooms on the cruise ship outside of dining rooms and theaters. Some ships, most notably the newest ships in Norwegian’s fleet, have more open casinos. On those ships, the casino floor opens up to the rest of the ship giving it a much brighter feel.
As for atmosphere, within seconds of walking into a cruise ship casino, you’ll forget that you’re on a ship. Given the casino size and number of passengers, evenings can get crowded. That means the casino will feel high energy with lots of people cheering, noise from the slot machines and generally a fun atmosphere.
On land, in a place like Las Vegas, casinos are open 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Whether you want to play with your morning coffee or with an evening cocktail, you can. On a cruise, however, it is a bit different. In international waters anything goes in when casino playing is allowed.
So, days at sea or after the ship has left port, you’re free to play. In port, however, it is a different story. Here, the casino is closed. It’s not physically closed. You can still walk through it but there won’t be any dealers and the machines are disabled. It’s a ghost town. But as soon as the ship gets out back to sea, then it is back to playing.
Now, everyone knows that the odds are always in the house’s favor when it comes to playing. That’s especially true on a cruise. For example, the gold standard for video poker is a 9-6 machine. One that pays 9 credits for a full house and 6 credits for a flush. This gives an expected payout to the player of about 99.5% if proper strategy is used over the long term. On ships, you’ll often find 6-5 machines, meaning they offer a 94.9% payback.
For blackjack, you often find tables that pay 6 to 5 on blackjack instead of the normal 3 to 2. If you play a higher limit table, then you might still find those 3 to 2 payouts. Craps will have odds bets but they will be restricted somewhat. The best you can hope for is 3x 4x 5x. But we’ve seen some ships with even lower bets available.
They also usually have the big 6 and 8 bets at tables that have a higher house advantage. So, go to the casino and have fun. But if your plan is to get the best payouts then you are often better off with land-based casinos.
If you’re a low stakes gambler, then you might feel right at home on a cruise ship. Minimums across games are low, making it affordable for any level of player to enjoy themselves. Of course, there are penny slots as you’ll find in any casino, along with higher stakes machines, if you feel so inclined.
On table games, you’ll usually find minimums starting at $5 for many games. This makes sense considering the potential customer base on a cruise. With only a few thousand people on the ship compared to the millions of people that live within a drive of a regular casino, the cruise needs to be sure to appeal to the most people possible. That said, we have seen table games starting to creep up with $10 minimums instead of $5.
Every traditional game is available on a cruise but there are also some unusual games that you don’t see anywhere else. You like playing slots, you’re covered. What about blackjack or craps or roulette, they have them all. Despite the small size of cruise ship casinos compared to those on land, they offer a wide variety of games. For instance, while you won’t find table after table of blackjack, there will be a few and usually one craps table. There’s also roulette and often other specialty games like WPT Heads Up Hold’em. Texas Hold’em poker is also popular with tournaments and play throughout the cruise.
What’s a little surprising is that there are several games you won’t find ever on land that are on a cruise. One is similar to a skill crane where you use a joystick to move a key to push down stacks of dollar bills. There are also coin pusher machines exactly like you find in an arcade but instead of tokens, they use quarters. You can try your luck to push quitters over the edge along with wads of cash that are also in these machines.
Many cruise lines are also now offering their own scratch-off tickets available for purchase. As well, as big lotto style drawings with jackpots worth hundreds of thousands of dollars. In other words, you aren’t going to get bored with what’s available to play.
If there is a casino game you’ve always wanted to play but have been too intimidated to pull up a chair, then a cruise is perfect for you. Not only is it less intimidating than a regular casino, but they even offer classes on table games for beginning players. You can come and learn how to play, free of charge, so that when it’s time to play for real money, you aren’t as intimidated.
In addition, the vibe at a cruise casino is simply more friendly. Remember that the dealers want to make sure you have an enjoyable time in your cruise and your other passengers are typically in a good mood and not hardcore gamblers. In addition, the stakes are typically low so there’s usually not a ton of money at stake.
Are you younger and want to play? While there are some exceptions, majority of places in the United States, including Las Vegas, require you to be 21 years old to play in a casino. On a cruise, the minimum age to gamble is normally 18 years old. If you’ve ever wanted to try your luck but haven’t been old enough to head to Las Vegas, a cruise ship might be your best bet.
Players clubs are at any casino including those at sea. By inserting your room key card into a slot machine or giving it to the dealer at a table, your play is tracked just like a casino on land. Depending on how much you play, you can earn some impressive rewards. One that a lot of people enjoy is getting free drinks.
Unlike regular casinos, cruise casinos generally don’t offer free drinks just for playing. But earn status with the cruise line through playing, you can get your drinks while you play as well as invites to special tournaments, future cruises, upgraded status on the ship and more.
Of course, the pandemic has turned life upside down and cruising has been among the hardest hit industries. While cruises were suspended for months, they are now slowly returning. Even so it’s sure that the casino experience is going to look and feel different than it did before the pandemic, just like in Las Vegas.
You can expect that social distancing and sanitation will be two big changes to the cruise ship casino. Certain slot machines will either be removed or disabled to allow more distance between players. As well plexiglass between stations and blackjack tables and fewer spots at the crafts table are almost certain.
Hopefully we will get back to normal life sooner rather than later. But until then, expect changes to keep passengers safer in the casino. hope you have enjoyed this and until next time. Happy sailing!
CruisesforSingles.net is dedicated to providing quality information on the subject of Cruises for Singles and in particular various other cruise ideas for customers and merchants online.
Cruises for Singles
CruisesforSingles.net is dedicated to providing quality information on the subject of Cruises for Singles and in particular various other cruise ideas for customers and merchants online.
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