OldSeaDog1969

17 minutes ago, Tree_skier said:

Thanks, I was thinking about trying. For some reason I thought the buy in was much higher.  

You were probably thinking about the poker tournament which is $100.

21 hours ago, Tree_skier said:

A little off topic but... How does the Black Jack tournament work.  What is the buy in. What kind of prizes are there for winners?

The buy in is $25 & you play 7 hands in a round & try to accumulate as many chips as possible. They have multiple rounds & the top 7 players with the highest chip totals play off in the final for the cash prize. 

10 hours ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

I can't speak for others but I've been posting about it b/c I gave up counting decades ago.

 

That said, nothing has been posted here that isn't common knowledge to the BJ community and the casinos don't care about it enough to go chasing down posters from a cruise forum using anonymous handles.

Plus its not illegal

It's easier to spot a card counter by his/her betting patterns. Flat betting the minimum at the start of the shoe & then increasing if the count is favorable. The betting range will generally be a 10-20 point spread of the table minimum. 

On 11/12/2023 at 9:39 AM, marvelous35 said:

Basic card counting is pretty simple.  I suspect most people could master it with a little practice.  This is plus one for every 10, J, Q, K, and A played.  Minus one for every 2-6 played.  So you can gauge how favorable the deck is.  This can change the odds slightly, possibly in your favor, but you are not going to get rich.  I doubt casinos are concerned about this.

 

I have a friend who was seriously into card counting.  I don't know the details, but different cards are treated differently and then how you play the hand changes based on cards remaining.  I suspect this can swing the odds much more in your favor.  To me, this sound exhausting and makes the game no longer a fun diversion.  It is work to make money this way.  By the way, he was pretty sucessfully playing blackjack and he did have concerns about being barred from casinos.

You are right the practice is fairly simple but to master is not. You need a lot of patience, a sound mind [not everyone has that] & a large bankroll to account for the swings that any variable might produce. By variables I mean players believe that just because they have a favorable count they will automatically win the next hand. That is most definitely not the case.

On 11/10/2023 at 4:23 PM, LittleJoefromKokomo said:

They have single deck BlackJack on the Enchantment but they offer the lousy 6/5 , don't know how that would affect the profits if compared to the normal 3/2 odds on Blackjack. 

By having Blackjacks pay 6:5 instead of 3:2 the house edge is increased by 1.39%. That may not sound like a lot but it is actually massive. 

They can cut the deck in half negating any chance of card counting, limit you to the table minimum, no mid shoe entry or just tell you you can't play Blackjack. 

1 minute ago, firefly333 said:

Maybe people are like me and assumed it was closed when it looked deserted. 

Very possible as there is a lot going on these days. Some guests still don't know that the Casino is open for slots from 8am in & noon for tables in CocoCay. Believe it or not some crew don't know either. LOL

10 minutes ago, firefly333 said:

Been there many many times and casino isnt open in the port.

The Casino on Royal Caribbean ships have a license to open in Roatan, Dt Maarten & Bermuda.

On 10/11/2023 at 2:08 PM, woods1967 said:

Is anyone familiar if there is still a cigar shop in Aruba near the cruise port that sells authentic Cuban cigars?

 

Thank you

Yes but extortionate prices since the pandemic. 

28 minutes ago, sgttami said:

It never was.  Is this new?

There are zero ports in Canada where the Casino can open. I know this for a fact.

1 hour ago, sgttami said:

The casino will be open!

 

You're incorrect. The casino will be closed when docked in St John.

9 hours ago, Buckeye_Siggy said:

Hypothetically, lets say that you use your sign and sail card on a Carnival cruise and win $25,000 playing blackjack over the course of the cruise.

Instead of walking off the ship with the stacks of cash and having to transport it home (airport, flights, baggage)  -  would they be able to stroke you a check at the end of the cruise for the amount instead of paying you cash? Anyone ever ask to get payment by check?   and if so, will they write you the check at the cage or do you have to wait to be mailed a check (could take weeks).  any experience would be appreciated. 

Royal Caribbean does not do checks however they can wire money to an account. This can only be for the money you won & not your bankroll.

59 minutes ago, OCSC Mike said:

 

They have added additional channels/packages for Playmakers. There's more there than what we have experienced on cabin tv over the years.

Yeah if a ship has Playmakers they usually have multiple ESPN channels which sometimes includes the College games specifically plus sometimes 2 Channel 24 channels. With no Playmakers some ships have less options.

14 hours ago, Liljo22 said:

I think it depends on what channel the games are on.  I doubt they are getting TBS and TNT on the ship.  ABC and ESPN are more likely.  

Most Royal ships have ESPN, ESPN International & Sport 24. You can check the schedules by going on line.

8 hours ago, George C said:

Definitely stands on all 17 

Incorrect. All tables on Royal Caribbean hit soft 17.

1 hour ago, mek said:

My guess is the people who won't vaccinate are the same ones who in the past generally haven't bought insurance. 

Well with COVID I can tell you that the cruise lines won't be messing around. If they have to disembark a passenger they will. They recently did this with some crew members on the Odyssey of the Seas. Some of the costs associated like an evacuation can cost upwards of $50,000. Personally i think if you're not vaccinated for whatever reason & you cruise without insurance you're going to be hit with a massive bill if you get COVID.

I understand that some people are reluctant to have the vaccine in order to cruise for whatever reason they have. However cruising without the vaccination will surely increase the cost of travel insurance to astronomical prices. Agree or disagree?

On 11/10/2020 at 3:02 PM, Knicks1130 said:

I am cruising next year with NCL CAS... Would I get more perks/ treated better if I send $5/10k front money or open up casino credit?

 

I would think I Hosts would see that and want to service me better

Comps with Royal Caribbean are based solely on play & has nothing to do with front money or set up credit.

16 hours ago, BigRoger said:

Just hard to say right now.... would like to be a yes... but... imponderables right now:

- speed of vaccination roll out for over 40

- cost of flights when certain will be vaccinated

- what happening with anthem

- what happening with harmony

- what happening with Rhapsody

- what happening with MSC

- what happening with NCL...

It’s a long list that we need to have at least an educated guess about before we can jump....

 

 

 

Harmony is headed to Cadiz for a dry dock.

Without cut backs & changes even to the C&A program the company will go under. Some guests will just have to accept this.

14 hours ago, chengkp75 said:

It's been a while since I looked at a cruise ship set of "articles" (crew contract), and much has changed in the last few years, but I believe that based on the MLC 2006 convention, that if the ship owner lays up the ship, the crew gets paid for the duration of their contract anyway.

Under MLC if the cruise line does not give written notification of cutting short a crew member's contract i month in advance then they are required to pay 1 month's salary.

The gym will get a complete makeover with new equipment & flooring.

6 minutes ago, OldSeaDog1969 said:

To open at 7:00 pm the ship will had to go to CocoCay as per local regulations. However sometimes the port agent will get the ship an exemption but it will always be 7:00 pm.

This is part of the reason that the Casino cannot open in CocoCay any more. The ship used to tender, now it docks so the regulations are different.

On 1/19/2020 at 9:37 PM, Mrsaldog said:

Hubby loves old school arcade games.  Any one know what kind of games they have in the arcade?  Any pinball? We are debating buying some arcade credits before we go.  

No pinball machines on any RCCL ships. They offer are a range of arcade video games, prize redemption games & also air hockey.