Emerald-regal princess - trip report - feb 2016

[Dicenator]

EMERALD & REGAL PRINCESS - TRIP REPORT - FEB. 2016

 

This trip was 3 cruises consecutively. First was the Emerald Princess departing on Jan. 23 and going Western Caribbean followed on Jan. 30 by the same ship doing a Eastern Caribbean itinerary. The third leg was the Regal Princess, the lines newest and largest ship, doing a Western itinerary. Following is a listing of the islands we visited; Princess cays (private island in the bahamas) 3 times, Cayman Islands, twice, Cozumel, twice, Mahogany Bay, Roatan, St. Martin, St. Thomas, Grand Turk, and Costa Maya.

 

The most memorable stops for us were Cayman Islands where we went to stingray city and were petting and touching stingrays and St. Martin where we went to Orient beach. The water here was warm enough to just walk right in. Costa Maya was a new port for us and we weren't overly impressed. Outside of the dock area the town itself was very poor and reminded us of Punta Cana once you left the resort area.

 

For most of the trip the weather was fine with a lot of sun but most days the winds were high 20 mph plus. Typical for a cruise you had to be out at the pool in a lounger by 8:30 AM or they were all gone. There were quite a few days where for the first hour of so I had to cover up with the towel. With a temperature of 68 and a 20 mph breeze it could feel cold.

 

Food was delicious for both ships for all 3 weeks and the service in the dining rooms was quick and efficient. Our head waiter for the first 2 weeks was Piano from Thailand and the third week was Felix from the Philippines. We wrote up acknowledgement forms for both of them at the end of the week. About 4 out of the 21 nights we had dinner in the buffet and it was amazing. The food was good and the choices were incredible.

 

The highlight with the evening entertainment for us was a takeoff on the tv show "the voice". Actual passengers competed for the first place trophy. A friend of ours, Dave, one of Eva's poker buddies competed and came in 3rd. All of the 7 singers were good. You had to be in the theater at least 20 minutes before show time every evening to even get a seat.

 

There were very few children for the first 2 weeks. In fact, I think that the average age for the passengers had to be 70 plus, maybe closer to 75. I started referring to all these old timers as "grumpy cats" to my wife. The average was maybe 10 years younger on the Regal Princess the third week.

 

On the Regal the Piazza was spectacular and this was the heart and soul of the ship. It covered decks 5, 6 and 7. All the shopping was there, restaurants and bars, customer service, internet cafe and casino were right there or adjoining. There was also entertainment there every evening.

 

NOW FOR SOME CRAPS TALK:

 

Princess is part of Carnival cruise lines and I expected the dice change policy that I had discussions with the VP of casino operations in December to be implemented. So on day #1 I sought out the casino manager to question whether or not their had been a change in policy. The casino manager wasn't available so I talked to the assistant manager. He was not aware of any change in policy. I finally met the casino manger a few days later, a woman named Jess, and she was not aware of any dice change policy either. Jess was wonderful and everybody, dealers and customers all held her in high regard. This is what I finally found out. On the first day of the month they start with 6 brand new sets of dice (5 in a foil wrapper). They use a new set for each of the first 6 days of the cruise and then start reusing previously used sets of dice.

 

So my first day on the cruise, Jan. 23, the set of dice in play had been used already on 3 separate days of play. They were worn with no sharp corners but I wouldn't call them marbles. From the 23rd through the 31st, the first 9 nights of my 14 nights on the Emerald Princess all I saw was worn dice which would not have been in play in a land based casino. Starting on Feb. 1st though the 5th all I saw was new dice. Now this caused problems for me. After 9 days of adjusting my throwing for worn dice, the change to the new dice caused me to have to make quite an adjustment to my throwing which in my opinion I never accomplished successfully.

 

In my first cruise on the Emerald Princess in November, 2009, I rated the craps table as the best I had ever played on. At that time it had a felt layout, today it is micro fiber. On a 1 to 10 scale I would rate the bounce characteristic now as an 8, playable but not fantastic.

 

On this ship the craps table was never open during the day on at sea days. On most of the evenings it never opened until 9 PM and then with only a stickman and one dealer. My feeling is that on only 3 out of 14 nights was the table fully open. The table was supposed to open at 8 PM on a day when the ship was in port and it did occasionally but not every time. There were 5 or 6 regular craps players including myself and the only time I could really play was when the table first opened. I might be able to get in 3 hands before it was too crowded at the half open table for me to enjoy playing. Another issue for me is that when my throwing isn't working I can sometimes get back on track by switching to the other side of the table and using my other hand. I couldn't do this on this ship because most of the time only half the table was open.

 

HERE ARE MY THROWING RESULTS: 99% OF MY HANDS WERE UNDERHAND

 

DAY #1 JAN 23

 

8 THROWS

7 THROWS 1 POINT

12 THROWS 1 CO WIN

10 THROWS 1 POINT

 

DAY #2 JAN 24

 

5 THROWS 1 POINT

 

DAY #3 JAN 25

 

7 THROWS 1 POINT

10 THROWS 1 POINT 2 CO WINS

12 THROWS 1 POINT

21 THROWS 3 POINTS 2 CO WINS

8 THROWS 1 CO WIN

 

DAY #4 JAN 26

 

12 THROWS 1 CO WIN

8 THROWS

10 THROWS

16 THROWS 4 POINTS 1 CO WIN

11 THROWS 1 POINT

7 THROWS

 

DAY #5 JAN 27

 

14 THROWS 1 POINT 3 CO WINS

6 THROWS

17 THROWS 2 POINTS

 

DAY #6 JAN 28

 

8 THROWS 1 POINT 2 CO WINS

4 THROWS

6 THROWS 1 CO WIN

7 THROWS

12 THROWS 2 POINTS 1 CO WIN

10 THROWS 1 POINT 3 CO WINS

9 THROWS 3 CO WINS

 

DAY #7 JAN 29

 

4 THROWS

18 THROWS 2 POINTS 2 CO WINS

6 THROWS 1 POINT

16 THROWS 2 POINTS 1 CO WIN

 

DAY #8 JAN 30

 

7 THROWS 1 POINT

4 THROWS 1 CO WIN

8 THROWS

 

DAY #9 JAN 31 NO PLAY LESSON FOR NEWBIES - 1/2 TABLE OPEN

 

DAY #10 FEB 1 FIRST NIGHT WITH NEW DICE

 

PSO

10 THROWS 1 POINT

4 THROWS 2 CO WINS

8 THROWS

 

DAY #11 FEB 2

 

8 THROWS 1 CO WIN

6 THROWS 1 POINT 1 CO WIN

23 THROWS 5 POINTS 2 CO WINS

6 THROWS 1 POINT 1 CO WIN

18 THROWS 3 POINTS

25 THROWS 3 POINTS 2 CO WINS

 

 

DAY #12 FEB 3

 

6 THROWS 2 CO WINS

 

DAY #13 FEB 4

 

17 THROWS 1 CO WIN

8 THROWS 1 POINT 1 CO WIN

12 THROWS 1 POINT 1 CO WIN

6 THROWS

7 THROWS 1 POINT

 

DAY #14 FEB 5

 

15 THROWS 2 POINTS

15 THROWS 1 POINT

 

To summarize in the 14 days I played a total of 51 hands. I made 47 points for an average of .92 points per hand. In addition I made 38 come out wins for a average of .745 per hand. Considering the playing conditions were negative for me I consider my performance to be ok. In the 2 weeks my net win was only $175.

 

 

REGAL PRINCESS

 

The craps table on this ship had a micro fiber layout and was very bouncy. Dice were bouncing off the table all week long. I would rate the bounce on this table as a 5 on a 1 to 10 scale. On day one I talked to the assistant casino manager about any dice change policy revisions since December. He was not aware of any change but he told me that on this ship they start each month with 15 new sets of dice. After the first 15 days they start reusing them. So any set of dice will only be used for 2 days which in my opinion is equivalent to a shift's use in a land based casino. I was OK with this.

 

HERE ARE THE THROWING RESULTS:

 

DAY #1 FEB 7

 

8 THROWS 2 CO WINS

11 THROWS 1 POINT 4 CO WINS

10 THROWS 3 POINTS

 

DAY #2 FEB 8

 

7 THROWS 1 POINT

 

DAY #3 FEB 9

 

4 THROWS 2 CO WINS

14 THROWS 1 CO WIN

5 THROWS 2 CO WINS

5 THROWS 1 POINT

 

 

DAY 4 FEB 10

 

4 THROWS 1 CO WIN

 

DAY 5 FEB 11

 

4 THROWS 1 CO WIN

 

DAY 6 FEB 12

 

7 THROWS 2 CO WINS

10 THROWS 1 POINT 1 CO WIN

 

There were 5 or 6 regular players all buying in with $400 to $500 every night right after the table opened. So they weren't going anywhere else fast. I won't play with that many players at the table. One night they were gone by 9:30 and I was able to buy in again and I thought the dice were a little bit better having been broken in slightly.

 

My throwing performance was absolutely horrible in my opinion. For the entire week I only played 12 hands. I've been on other cruises where I played this many in one day. I only made 7 points with 16 come out wins. I had a $300 loss on this cruise.

 

I played the electronic poker pro one evening for 10 minutes and won $100. My wife said take the money and run which I did. She won $350 at the poker pro one evening and was up a little for the week.

 

So what can I conclude after this craps playing adventure. First, I certainly don't perform too well with worn dice. Secondly, brand new dice aren't the best either. In my opinion new dice after at least 2 hours of play are the best, just enough to break the sharp corners. What would I do different when booking a cruise on any Carnival owned ship in the future. First, I will never book a cruise for the end of the month because all you will see is worn out dice. I guess the second week of the month would be a good bet. A big factor here is how many new sets of dice are put into play at the beginning of each month. On the Regal Princess with 15 sets in play for the month you can probably go anytime during the month. On any other ship I would recommend getting in touch with the casino dept. for Carnival to try to find out how many sets of new dice are put into play for the month on the particular ship you are interested in. In my mind it seems that there is no consistency in this factor from ship to ship.

 

 

DICENATOR

[tompeter]

Great report, as always. Thanks for taking the time.

[LaCal]

Thanks for your review and good to know bout the new dice on the 1st of each month

[Casino Player]

[/size][/color] HHHHHEEEEELLLLLLLLLLOOOOO Dicenator: Thank you for taking the time to tell about your adventures on these ships and in the casinos. Playing on microfiber can be very challenging. Love to play craps. How did you like the Princess ship? Was the food good? The other lines owned by the Carnival Corporation are not owned by Carnival Cruise Line which is one of the six lines owned by the Carnival Corporation.

Edited February 18, 2016 by Casino Player

[Grandpaul]

One of my favorite things to do is to go to Sting Ray City in Grand Cayman. Just did it last month. Still a thrill.