Watch your money in Brilliance casino

[blabbaboo]

Just got back from 2/4 - 2/14 Panama canal cruise, only problem was the casino. Twice I had chips picked up by the craps table staff when there was no dice roll. 1st time the man muttered something like 'that's a bet', when I asked what he was doing, and since it was only $2 and I didn't want to stop the game for something I didn't understand, I let it go. 2nd time on another night, the croupier just picked up a $5 chip from the pass line and put it on his stack before the roll. I told him that was my chip, and he just put it back without a word of apology or anything. I won the next roll, picked up my chips, and left the table even. I didn't see the point of complaining to the pit boss, as with cameras everywhere, they are obviously aware of the employees' cheating, and do nothing about it. My brother also had a push hand at the blackjack table, and the dealer took his bet. He got it back after protesting, but he also witnessed another attempt at paying low on a blackjack. I've been to casinos in Vegas and other cruises, and, not to sound like just sour grapes, but these dealers were getting WAY too many face cards and tens up at the blackjack tables. I heard many other people observing this as well, with comments such as, ' It's ridiculous, how can you play against that?'. I know it's not going to change anything, but I just want to warn people going on the Brilliance of the Seas about the casino. I've seen bad hands dealt before, but I've never seen outright cheating until this cruise. Very disappointing, and it doesn't do much for the atmosphere of fun you usually get on a ship. I expect to lose when gambling, and I can still enjoy myself, but this was not enjoyable.

[joeyancho]

Casino = Black Hole

[hmstins]

I sympathize with your experience, and it just reinforces that we need to hold on to our money/chips carefully in such an environment.

 

In support of the cruise staff, most do not have near the training or experience of those dealers/staff you find in Vegas. Many dealers I have met onboard are young, just learning and make mistakes, but are easily corrected. I have never had a problem getting them to fix the mistake. As many times as not, they have overpaid me! About them getting 10's all the time -- that seems pretty normal to me!

 

Margie

[ddean52]

Just got back from 2/4 - 2/14 Panama canal cruise, only problem was the casino. Twice I had chips picked up by the craps table staff when there was no dice roll. 1st time the man muttered something like 'that's a bet', when I asked what he was doing, and since it was only $2 and I didn't want to stop the game for something I didn't understand, I let it go. 2nd time on another night, the croupier just picked up a $5 chip from the pass line and put it on his stack before the roll. I told him that was my chip, and he just put it back without a word of apology or anything. I won the next roll, picked up my chips, and left the table even. I didn't see the point of complaining to the pit boss, as with cameras everywhere, they are obviously aware of the employees' cheating, and do nothing about it. My brother also had a push hand at the blackjack table, and the dealer took his bet. He got it back after protesting, but he also witnessed another attempt at paying low on a blackjack. I've been to casinos in Vegas and other cruises, and, not to sound like just sour grapes, but these dealers were getting WAY too many face cards and tens up at the blackjack tables. I heard many other people observing this as well, with comments such as, ' It's ridiculous, how can you play against that?'. I know it's not going to change anything, but I just want to warn people going on the Brilliance of the Seas about the casino. I've seen bad hands dealt before, but I've never seen outright cheating until this cruise. Very disappointing, and it doesn't do much for the atmosphere of fun you usually get on a ship. I expect to lose when gambling, and I can still enjoy myself, but this was not enjoyable.

 

blab, would love to read a review of your cruise since we do the same cruise in april:D

dean & alice

[msolberg]

I'm sure it wasn't stealing, they were just mistakes. A casino doesn't need to steal to make money. In fact a casino just needs you to have fun and stay to make money, so doing something like stealing would actually cost them.

 

Dealers make mistakes, they are human. Dealers make mistakes both in the house and the players favor, although many people don't point the mistakes out in their favor. All you need to do is point out their mistake and it's easily corrected. The reason the dealer replaced you bet without word is probably because they aren't suppose to make mistakes. He'd rather it be corrected and unnoticed. Dealers that make too many mistakes aren't dealers for very long. An average dealer probably is making less than one mistake a week.

 

Most of the dealers I've met onboard actually come from land based casinos all over the world. I don't know how many (if any) are trained by the cruise lines.

 

I'm a former dealer and currently work in a casino now.

 

I do play when I cruise, but not to get rich. My best advice is play for fun and an amount you're willing to lose. For me I set a gambling budget, based on the number of days. I expect to lose it. On occassion I've come out even at the end of the cruise. To me this is like winning because I wasn't expecting to have that money by the end of vacation. If I come out ahead, then woo hoo, I've paid for part of my next cruise.

 

Mark

[blabbaboo]

ddean52: As for the cruise, it was the best of the 4 I've been on. The ship, staff, food, and itinerary were all great. In my situation (3 children, 1, 4, and 9 years), our 8:30 dinner seating was unsuitable, and after a couple attempts, we opted for the Windjammer for most meals. Except for being a buffet, which I didn't mind, I found the Windjammer to be far superior to the dining room in atmosphere and food selection. I really dislike the stuffiness and formality of the dining room (fawning over my children just seems to be fishing for tips), and the buffet offers virtually the same menu but a much greater variety. In addition to a wide choice of international dishes, soups, and desserts, a made to order pasta station was available every night, and a Mongolian stir fry on the last night.

The staff was wonderful, unfortunately we had some real problems communicating, for example asking where the conference room was and being cheerfully shown to the rack of passenger photographs; or ordering the same drink at 4 different bars and receiving 4 different drinks. That's not a complaint, it's just part of the adventure of being on a cruise ship.

If you're doing the same itinerary, I'll fill you in on our experiences. In Aruba, we rented a car, and saw the California Lighthouse, natural bridge, Ayo rock formations, etc. Nice time overall, but a guided tour isn't a bad idea as there are almost no road signs, and maps aren't much good either. It's very easy to get lost, but it's a small island and you can find your way back eventually. Carlos and Charlie's is a fun place to stop before going back to the ship, a little raucous, but good food and drinks.

In Panama, we took a trip to the Gamboa Preserve, and rode small boats on Lake Gatun. It was an interesting trip, but I might try the 2 ocean train or aerial tram if I went again.

Costa Rica was very pretty in the countryside, but Puerto Limon was depressingly poor and run down. We took a privately hired excursion to Cahuita National Forest, and saw sloths, monkeys, etc. Beautiful country, very bad roads.

In Grand Cayman, we also arranged our own excursion on Soto's Cruises to Stingray City, with a snorkeling stop at the coral gardens. The trip was really nice, unfortunately the water was a little rough for snorkeling. One bummer on the island, we were there on Saturday, and apparently everything closes at 4:00, so we were unable to get the liquor and rumcakes we wanted to take with us. My wife watched the shopping show on the ship about Grand Cayman, and we didn't hear anywhere that the shops all closed so early, so shop early to avoid disappointment. All in all, we were lucky to get onshore at all because of rough seas making the tender landings difficult. It will probably be calmer when you go.

Enjoy your trip, and post any questions you still have, I'll answer them if I can.

 

msolberg: I do make allowances for mistakes, but picking up a chip from the pass line when nothing has happened to warrant it? It was stealing, plain and simple. I'm also aware that casinos don't need to cheat to make massive profits, that's why I was so surprised. And I always figure I'll lose most of what I bet, but the law of averages says you can't lose every time, unless something's crooked. I'm not over-reacting about this, just giving future cruisers a fair warning that this particular casino has some bad elements to watch for.