Casinos on Azamara

[dabear]

We're cruising on A next fall on the Quest. I read somewhere that A is replacing the casinos on their ships for public space since they are not  utilized enough. Is this true?

[Grandma Cruising]

Yes, there is no casino on Pursuit and they are being removed on the other two ships.

[laurieb]

Yay!  They really are a waste of space on most itineraries since there are so few days not in port 

[mnocket]

I'm just off the Journey.  There's still a casino, but they have replaced tables/live dealers with machines.  I'm a blackjack player and much prefer live dealers, but the machine wasn't too bad.  I like the social aspect of playing blackjack and you still have this since up to five players play against the electronic dealer.  As for the future, I have no idea when Azamara plans to completely remove the casino.  I was on a TA so there were lots of sea days and the casino was well used at night, but I can understand that AZ favors port intensive cruises where casinos are underutilized.  I'll miss them.

[hubofhockey]

On a small ship like Azamara, already a bit shot in the entertainment area, it's too bad they are taking away an activity that some passengers enjoy.  If I were board, I'd play some blackjack, but I'm not sure I trust machines and electronic dealers.  They can't be regulated at sea.  

 

What exactly is the Den used for?  I'd hate to think they are using space just to sell cruise ship "art" or something else that doesn't involve real entertainment.

[Grandma Cruising]

The Den is a bar area which has live music at some times of the evening. No art sold there, that’s in a shop area near the Mosaic coffee bar.

[dabear]

From what I've read,the casino on the Quest will be removed next spring. Too bad as dw and I enjoy an occasional chance at the casino. As far as replacing live dealers with machines, I was on Celebrity for a Baltic cruise last summer and initially was reluctant to play Texas holdum with an electric machine dealer, after a while I found it acceptable with 9 live players. To me, I don't gamble too seriously on a cruise & view it as  just another form of entertainment.

Edited November 14, 2018 by dabear

[bbqoug]

We enjoy playing the machines in the casino after leaving the evening show.

Hopefully the casino will still be intact on Journey next April for our cruise.

[mnocket]

21 hours ago, hubofhockey said:

On a small ship like Azamara, already a bit shot in the entertainment area, it's too bad they are taking away an activity that some passengers enjoy.  If I were board, I'd play some blackjack, but I'm not sure I trust machines and electronic dealers.  They can't be regulated at sea.  

 

What exactly is the Den used for?  I'd hate to think they are using space just to sell cruise ship "art" or something else that doesn't involve real entertainment.

I agree, but here's the thing.....  when playing the blackjack machine during my recent cruise on Journey I along with many of the other players questioned that the machine was playing "straight".  There were some suspicious trends like the dealer almost always having 21 if it showed an ace and no one bought insurance.  However, when all was said and done I walked away from the cruise in better shape from playing blackjack (i.e. lost less) than other cruises with live dealers.  So subjectively many felt that the machine was rigged, but my objective results were that I didn't fare any worse than I typically do with live dealers.  Who knows.

[NC&KY]

7 hours ago, dabear said:

From what I've read,the casino on the Quest will be removed next spring. 

Bonnie, can you confirm if this schedule is correct?

[Riocca]

On 11/13/2018 at 8:18 PM, hubofhockey said:

On a small ship like Azamara, already a bit shot in the entertainment area, it's too bad they are taking away an activity that some passengers enjoy.  If I were board, I'd play some blackjack, but I'm not sure I trust machines and electronic dealers.  They can't be regulated at sea.  

 

What exactly is the Den used for?  I'd hate to think they are using space just to sell cruise ship "art" or something else that doesn't involve real entertainment.

On Pursuit in The Den the end where the casino was (although as Adonia P&O had already removed the casino) the Shorex and Future Cruise desks are located. Although to be clear Shorex are where the cashier was located and Future Cruise in a new office formed from a store cupboard. There are some high tables and chairs which during the day are supposed to form part of the Afar area ( one of Azamara’s travel partners) where you can research current and future destinations, in the evening they are part of the Spirits bar area. In reality when we were onboard they were used for the trivia quizzes and people who wanted to read or use laptops/tablets etc.

Problem for Azamara is that except for a few cruises a year most are so port intensive the casino is rarely open. We were on Journey in 2017 b2b for 20 days with only one Sea day, there were so many late nights and overnights that I doubt if the casino was open for more than 12 hours in 20 days! 

 

 

 

 

Edited November 15, 2018 by Riocca

[marycruz]

17 hours ago, NC&KY said:

Bonnie, can you confirm if this schedule is correct?

 

I would like to know when this is happening also, especially on Journey.

[marycruz]

On ‎11‎/‎15‎/‎2018 at 11:14 AM, marycruz said:

 

I would like to know when this is happening also, especially on Journey.

 

How do we get this back to the first page?

[Grandma Cruising]

1 hour ago, marycruz said:

 

How do we get this back to the first page?

If you want to ask Bonnie about the timetable for Casino removal on Quest & Journey, it might be a good idea to start a new thread with her name in it.