HAL expanding Five Onboard Casinos

[VermeulT]

18 hours ago, JennysUncle said:

On the Signature ships there is a space between the casino and the BB King (soon to be Rolling Stone) lounge.  Originally that was the Northern Lights disco (a flop) with adjacent bar, and lately ? an art gallery / game room.  It's too bad if this will be annexed to the casino - it would have been an excellent place to add the Grand Dutch Cafe to those ships.

 

 

That would be fabulous!

[HALcruiser2001]

49 minutes ago, *Miss G* said:

 

It’s a shared space.  LCS by day; BBK by night.  Also used by the comedians.

 

 

 

On Koningsdam, in September, I noticed a new space connected to the casino.  It was the old Art Gallery but was now a non-smoking area with really crummy slots.

 

 

 

Also wondering if the mention of the slots in the Gallery Bar on the Eurodam is related to the casino cruise and not a permanent change.  They installed additional machines for a tournament but they were all removed, to my knowledge.  Does anyone have any recent experience?

 

 

The post I replied to implied LCS was target of casino upgrade.    So yeah. that would eliminate BBK.   I did not see any HAL news that implied that.

 

Any paid video games any where?  Untapped, market, they never pay out, captive audience, should be right up their alley.  I bet a small arcade would be pretty popular.

[wdw1972]

1 hour ago, *Miss G* said:

Also wondering if the mention of the slots in the Gallery Bar on the Eurodam is related to the casino cruise and not a permanent change.  They installed additional machines for a tournament but they were all removed, to my knowledge.  Does anyone have any recent experience?

 

December 2022 - Eurodam's Gallery Bar was an extension of the casino, full of slot machines.  The furniture that had been in Gallery Bar was all gone - a few of the pictures were on the wall, but not many.  It looked like a permanent change (sadly) to us, and there were no slot tournaments or other big casino groups onboard.

 

Sue/WDW1972

[Colorado Klutch]

26 minutes ago, bdd123 said:

 

The post I replied to implied LCS was target of casino upgrade.    So yeah. that would eliminate BBK.   I did not see any HAL news that implied that.

 

Any paid video games any where?  Untapped, market, they never pay out, captive audience, should be right up their alley.  I bet a small arcade would be pretty popular.

 

I doubt typical video games would be a big draw. But some high-end racing simulators would likely go over well. People pay a lot of money to use those things at private clubs 

[*Miss G*]

40 minutes ago, bdd123 said:

The post I replied to implied LCS was target of casino upgrade.    So yeah. that would eliminate BBK.   I did not see any HAL news that implied that.

 

LCS venues on the non-Pinnacle class ships are in completely different areas.  I believe that is what they were referring to, though it’s hard to tell from the post.  It would make more sense to annex those areas to the casino than the BBK/LCS (former Queen’s Lounge) venue.

[*Miss G*]

44 minutes ago, wdw1972 said:

December 2022 - Eurodam's Gallery Bar was an extension of the casino, full of slot machines.  The furniture that had been in Gallery Bar was all gone - a few of the pictures were on the wall, but not many.  It looked like a permanent change (sadly) to us, and there were no slot tournaments or other big casino groups onboard.

 

Sue/WDW1972

 

Thank you.  That is sad to hear.  The Gallery Bar is/was lovely.  A Grand Dutch Cafe would have kept it more upscale.  

[*Miss G*]

53 minutes ago, bdd123 said:

Any paid video games any where?  Untapped, market, they never pay out, captive audience, should be right up their alley.  I bet a small arcade would be pretty popular.

 

Re the above post:  Am I imagining things or did there used to be a small arcade next to the Wajang Theatre?  It was a long time ago so I might be confusing it with something else.

[mwj]

17 hours ago, kochleffel said:

 

I neither smoke nor gamble, but I know that there is a very strong association between gambling and smoking. It even affects church bingo.

Bingo!

[KAKcruiser]

Many years ago there was a video arcade next to the Wajang Theatre on some of the old S class or R class ships.  

[AFNavigator]

2 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

Thank you.  That is sad to hear.  The Gallery Bar is/was lovely.  A Grand Dutch Cafe would have kept it more upscale.  

If they are also moving the Eurodam and Nieuw Amsterdam's LCS to the World Stage--I believe that's what was stated on some of these forums lately--perhaps the LCS area and adjacent vacant Art Gallery area could be reconfigured to become a Grand Dutch Cafe.  Maybe they could reuse some of the great leather furniture from the Gallery Bar too.

I believe adding a Grand Dutch Cafe to these ships would be a huge hit.  It would be a good revenue generator, between adding an Dutch-themed bar and a for-fee premium coffee shop, and bring a Pinnacle Class feature to the Signature Class ships.

[PACD_JG]

1 minute ago, AFNavigator said:

It would be a good revenue generator, between adding an Dutch-themed bar and a for-fee premium coffee shop,

Everybody is a fan of the Grand Dutch Cafe, but is it really a revenue generator?  Most are sailing with HIA, and HAL would make the same amount of money whether there are 10 places to get a drink or 3...hence, bigger casino.

[AFNavigator]

3 hours ago, PACD_JG said:

Everybody is a fan of the Grand Dutch Cafe, but is it really a revenue generator?  Most are sailing with HIA, and HAL would make the same amount of money whether there are 10 places to get a drink or 3...hence, bigger casino.

This wouldn't impact their casino growth...that apparently has already happened.

Regarding revenue, it's true that a lot of passengers have HIA, but not all.  HIA's greatest benefit is the beverage package so those that drink little to no alcohol may find HIA isn't worth buying.  There's almost always a line at the Grand Dutch Cafe for coffee so, if not all have HIA, HAL's making money off them.

[HALcruiser2001]

13 minutes ago, AFNavigator said:

This wouldn't impact their casino growth...that apparently has already happened.

Regarding revenue, it's true that a lot of passengers have HIA, but not all.  HIA's greatest benefit is the beverage package so those that drink little to no alcohol may find HIA isn't worth buying.  There's almost always a line at the Grand Dutch Cafe for coffee so, if not all have HIA, HAL's making money off them.

Wouldn't Club Orange and Priority seating and boarding be really worth it for non suite pax?

[Sea42]

35 minutes ago, bdd123 said:

Wouldn't Club Orange and Priority seating and boarding be really worth it for non suite pax?

Speaking only for myself, no.

Priority boarding doesn't interest me at all. We always wait until afternoon to board. I'd rather spend more time at our embarkation port having lunch or whatever.

Club Orange dining sounds nice but we usually eat later and haven't had any issues with having to wait to be seated. We also enjoy specialty and room service evenings so CO dining would not be that big of draw for us.

I did purchase CO for upgrading our cabin on a previous cruise. That was definitely worth the price on that cruise.