Are there casinos on any Azamara ships?

[Georgia_Peaches]

Before covid I think they were phasing them out so just wondering if they are all gone.

[lenoirm]

No casino on any of the four Azamara ships.

 

[Georgia_Peaches]

5 minutes ago, lenoirm said:

No casino on any of the four Azamara ships.

 

Thank you.  But there used to be, right?  Or am I think of another line?

[lenoirm]

The casinos were doing poorly ,the croupiers were replaced by video robots at some point.

Those videos were very annoying, every time you would go through the casino the video kinky lady would ask the play with her.

It is one of those memories of Azamara that make us laugh , even years later!

[Mackdogmolly]

The casinos were replaced by the Den (piano bar)

[uktog]

15 hours ago, lenoirm said:

The casinos were doing poorly ,the croupiers were replaced by video robots at some point.

Those videos were very annoying, every time you would go through the casino the video kinky lady would ask the play with her.

It is one of those memories of Azamara that make us laugh , even years later!

It was the finger gestures calling him over that caught my husband's roving eye 🙂

 

[dabear]

if the casinos offered reasonable odds & payouts they would have been successful. We miss the casinos & found another piano bar to be boring. 

[excitedofharpenden]

31 minutes ago, dabear said:

if the casinos offered reasonable odds & payouts they would have been successful. We miss the casinos & found another piano bar to be boring. 

It really doesn't have anything to do with offering reasonable odds. It was just that with so many port days and late departures that is part of the Azamara way, the casino stayed closed for a lot of the time. And in my view it was a complete waste of space that has been transformed probably the most on the ships. 

 

Phil 

[dabear]

We agree to disagree. How come evening entertainment shows and later dancing have good crowds. On the other very tight slot machines, one to one odds in craps & 6 to5 for black jack will make any player  not be too interested in playing in the casino. We've been on A ships before & after the casinos have been removed and the replacement bar wasn't very busy & somewhat boring.

[federalexpress]

52 minutes ago, dabear said:

We agree to disagree. How come evening entertainment shows and later dancing have good crowds. On the other very tight slot machines, one to one odds in craps & 6 to5 for black jack will make any player  not be too interested in playing in the casino. We've been on A ships before & after the casinos have been removed and the replacement bar wasn't very busy & somewhat boring.

 

Everyone to their own. I would avoid a ship with a casino. That might partly be because as a Brit, we just don't have that culture. Luckily for you, there is a pretty big selection of cruise ships that do, the vast majority of them, if that is a deal breaker for you.

[lisiamc]

1 hour ago, dabear said:

We agree to disagree. How come evening entertainment shows and later dancing have good crowds. On the other very tight slot machines, one to one odds in craps & 6 to5 for black jack will make any player  not be too interested in playing in the casino. We've been on A ships before & after the casinos have been removed and the replacement bar wasn't very busy & somewhat boring.

They can’t open the casino in port, and when the ship sails, there’s some distance the ship is supposed to be from the port before it’s ok to open the shops and the casino. With Azamara staying overnight in some ports, and quite late in others, it cuts way down on the time the casino could be open. I much a prefer a ship without a casino anyway.

[Georgia_Peaches]

I really appreciate the itineraries offered by Azamara. Couple that with great service (so I’ve heard) and an upscale feel, im sure this line doesn’t disappoint. However, a casino is a must for us so sadly, Azamara will not be in our future. Thank you all for chiming in!  

[Host Jazzbeau]

33 minutes ago, Georgia_Peaches said:

I really appreciate the itineraries offered by Azamara. Couple that with great service (so I’ve heard) and an upscale feel, im sure this line doesn’t disappoint. However, a casino is a must for us so sadly, Azamara will not be in our future. Thank you all for chiming in!  

I follow four cruise lines with great itineraries and an upscale feel:  Azamara, Noble Caledonia, Ponant, and Windstar.  None have casinos.  Sorry for you, but not sorry because I get to use the space that otherwise would be reserved for something I wouldn't ever use.  Maybe you would like Oceania, which has many similarities to Azamara except two:  boring itineraries, and they have casinos.

[Georgia_Peaches]

2 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Maybe you would like Oceania, which has many similarities to Azamara except two:  boring itineraries, and they have casinos.

Yes, we have looked into Oceania. Agree their itineraries are lack luster. 

[Georgia_Peaches]

3 hours ago, lisiamc said:

They can’t open the casino in port, and when the ship sails, there’s some distance the ship is supposed to be from the port before it’s ok to open the shops and the casino.

Very good point. Makes a lot of sense. 

[uktog]

10 hours ago, dabear said:

We agree to disagree. How come evening entertainment shows and later dancing have good crowds. On the other very tight slot machines, one to one odds in craps & 6 to5 for black jack will make any player  not be too interested in playing in the casino. We've been on A ships before & after the casinos have been removed and the replacement bar wasn't very busy & somewhat boring.

Have you been in The Den/Spirits on ships recently (the area that replaced the casino)?  The entertainers in there really are now drawing in the crowds - in fact you could not get a seat post show on Onward as Vassi did her slots.  They are also doing late night sets in there some nights with the cruise director or the jazz band.  By the time they wind up, people are ready to call it a night.  

We find people call it a night not due to "age" but due to the activities they have scheduled for the next day and as many cruise for the destination they either need to recover from an extensive days touring or build up their strength for an early start the next day.

 

I for one am very happy there is no casino.  I would not avoid a ship with a casino although is a casino was impinging on limited social space that would be a red flag.

[hamrag]

7 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

....Maybe you would like Oceania, which has many similarities to Azamara except two:  boring itineraries, and they have casinos.

Interestingly, our recent 7 night cruise on Oceania was Bermuda from NYC. On the outward sea days we noticed the casino to be virtually empty anytime we passed. As some have said, in port it closes anyway so for 4 days it was completely useless. On the return sea days it was virtually empty also, so there seems little point in retaining said area for the handful of passengers who use it.

 

Having sailed both lines, I think Az have called this particular space correctly, and banished the casino.  

[Host Jazzbeau]

7 hours ago, hamrag said:

Interestingly, our recent 7 night cruise on Oceania was Bermuda from NYC. On the outward sea days we noticed the casino to be virtually empty anytime we passed. As some have said, in port it closes anyway so for 4 days it was completely useless. On the return sea days it was virtually empty also, so there seems little point in retaining said area for the handful of passengers who use it.

 

Having sailed both lines, I think Az have called this particular space correctly, and banished the casino.  

Oceania probably can't, because they have larger (and presumably profitable) casinos on their O-class and A-class ships.  So they keep the R-class casinos even though they lose money, because people expect them.  I agree, AZ got it right.

[dabear]

Wow, I am surprised that some of these posters are suggesting that I try another line with a casino if it's a deal breaker. Where did I ever say that !. We happen to like small ships with good itineraries & have taken a number of cruises with A, Oceania, Regent, etc. All I said was that we would prefer a casino as opposed to the replacement  den. On our last A cruise to SE Asia in November, 2019 the den was quiet & almost empty. In other words boring. There are other places on the ship for piano bar music or just a quiet space. Again, imho we prefer a casino,  Okay!.

[marinaro44]

4 hours ago, dabear said:

Wow, I am surprised that some of these posters are suggesting that I try another line with a casino if it's a deal breaker. Where did I ever say that !. 

That's why that posting clearly said "IF."

 

Posting 12, on the other hand, made clear it was a deal-breaker.

Edited December 23, 2022 by marinaro44

[federalexpress]

4 hours ago, dabear said:

Wow, I am surprised that some of these posters are suggesting that I try another line with a casino if it's a deal breaker. Where did I ever say that !. We happen to like small ships with good itineraries & have taken a number of cruises with A, Oceania, Regent, etc. All I said was that we would prefer a casino as opposed to the replacement  den. On our last A cruise to SE Asia in November, 2019 the den was quiet & almost empty. In other words boring. There are other places on the ship for piano bar music or just a quiet space. Again, imho we prefer a casino,  Okay!.

 

Since I think I'm the poster you're referring to, I should reply. I apologise if you are offended, that wasn't my intention. The forum is one to exchange opinions and of course they can differ. I actively dislike casinos for reasons I won't bore you with here but of course many must like them since as I said, they are on most cruise lines, and I presume that is for a good reason. I wasn't suggesting you try another cruise line in quite the way you position it. Only if you wanted to because this was very important to you, which it might have been. Clearly you don't which is fine and maybe we come across each other in future. In which case, I can offer you a game of bridge instead of the machines and roulette wheels? 

[Host Jazzbeau]

Another thread just reminded me:  in addition to the piano bar, Azamara has used the former Casino space to put in a special Travel Guide Library with every travel book I am aware of – every series, every country of the world!  This was on Journey, so I can't speak to all the ships.  It is right near the Shore Excursions Desk, on a series of low bookshelves that most people [speaking personally] miss.  Another great use of a space that I used to avoid...

[marinaro44]

11 hours ago, Host Jazzbeau said:

Another thread just reminded me:  in addition to the piano bar, Azamara has used the former Casino space to put in a special Travel Guide Library with every travel book I am aware of – every series, every country of the world!  This was on Journey, so I can't speak to all the ships.  It is right near the Shore Excursions Desk, on a series of low bookshelves that most people [speaking personally] miss.  Another great use of a space that I used to avoid...

It's also on Onward and Quest.  Haven't been on Pursuit lately.

[Laganlady02]

33 minutes ago, marinaro44 said:

It's also on Onward and Quest.  Haven't been on Pursuit lately.

It is also on Pursuit, has been since Pursuit first sailed.

Edited December 23, 2022 by Laganlady02

[dabear]

Apology accepted. People can & often do disagree on opinions. I also found the Travel Guide Library to be a plus. At this time of the year ( & always) let's all enjoy peace & each other.