Casino etc on the Amsterdam

[calisota]

Hi all,

 

I recently finished a six month contract as a casino cashier aboard the Caribbean Princess. A few days ago I was emailed with my next contract details and it turns out that I am going to the Amsterdam, boarding on the 11th of December. That means that I will be doing a 10 day and then a 14 day Caribbean cruise followed by the Round the World and then a few weeks in Alaska.

 

As soon as I got the email I started searching these boards for details and comments about the casino aboard the Amsterdam. I'm not sure if it's because no one goes in there or because it is so bad that it's blocked from everyones memory but there seems to be very little said about it.

 

Is anyone able to give me an idea of their impressions of the casino and/or any other details of the ship that may be of interest to someone about to start work on board?

 

 

If no one goes in there I may have a very quiet six months. :( At least there seems to be a window, according to the 3D view on the HAL website, which is a step up from the Caribbean Princess.

 

Greg

[jtl513]

I don't remember much about the Amsterdam casino ... but I don't recall seeing a window in any HAL casino.

 

Edit: Okay, you're right: the virtual tour of the casino shows at least four windows!! I guess they don't stand out at night! :)

(Other than my DW stopping briefly at a slot machine once in a while, we don't patronize them.)

[calisota]

Edit: Okay, you're right: the virtual tour of the casino shows at least four windows!! I guess they don't stand out at night! :)

(Other than my DW stopping briefly at a slot machine once in a while, we don't patronize them.)

 

Whew, you had me worried. The windows are something I'm looking forward to, especially in some of the ports like Venice and everywhere in Alaska.

 

Greg

[gizmo]

The casino on the Amsertdam is fine. Yes, there are windows, sorry, but you will not be able to look out the windows from the cashier's booth.

 

The Amsterdam is a beautiful ship. Don't miss Stephen Card's paintings in all the stair wells. If you always use the elevator you will miss most of them.

 

Enjoy the world cruise !

[calisota]

The casino on the Amsertdam is fine. Yes, there are windows, sorry, but you will not be able to look out the windows from the cashier's booth.

 

Do you think people would mind having to fetch me from my seat in front of the windows every time they wanted to do a transaction? :D

 

Greg

[gizmo]

Do you think people would mind having to fetch me from my seat in front of the windows every time they wanted to do a transaction? :D

 

Greg

 

LOL :D :D

[kakalina]

Amsterdam casino is one of our favorites. It seem a little more roomy than the others. It also has some really good slots. There is a Garfield the Cat machine that asks trivia questions, it is so much fun.

There are windows aplenty and as someone else mentioned Stephens paintings.

You are soooo lucky to be going on the world cruise.

[scottydawg]

I'll be on the 14 day that departs on December 21st so I'll hopefully be cashing chips in from you, not taking more out ;)

[Bluebobway]

i'll be on the dec 11th sailing, and had asked about the casino myself...somewhere i got the impression that it was very small but was relieved when kakalina posted otherwise...thanks kakalina

 

calisota..hope to meet you on your first post with HAL~

 

Blue

[alsas]

Youwill love the casino great windows, at night they close the drapes but during the day the views are wonderful. We will be on for the whole world cruise Jan 4th. and love the casino and the ship. Look forward to meeting you on the 4th. Jan. Our friend is on the ship as we speak.He has been on since Sept.20th. and will be on till end of the World. Safe sailing Alsas

[AWED23]

I think you will find the "Action" much slower and relaxed on the Amsterdam vis a vis any Princess or Carnival ship. The longer the cruise the slower the action and also many more sea days. sea days mean longer hours for the casino crew as you are aware...Crew quarters aboard are a bit superior and as part of the Casino staff you will enjoy full Lido privilages...There is a nice crew bar and disco. Your fellow casino staff most likely will be from Bratislavia, Ukraine, Czek and Slovakia....Good luck and following seas.:D

[calisota]

Thanks everyone for all the replies, some very reassuring things, especially about the crew quarters (thanks for that AWED23) .

 

I figured that the action would be a little slower on the world cruise. If you're going to be on board for that long then hitting the casino every night has got to get monotonous and expensive after a while apart from all the other things that are on offer. I'm assuming that there will only be myself and a head cashier on board making the sea days really long so I wonder if I'll be allowed a stool rather than having to stand for 12 or more hours like on the last ship.

 

I'll be the tall, panicked looking cashier so when you say hello remember to speak slowly so I can understand the American accents. :D

 

Greg

[RuthC]

You got yourself a nice tour of duty, Greg. Hope you find time to enjoy it in your off hours.

Good luck to you.

[calisota]

You got yourself a nice tour of duty, Greg. Hope you find time to enjoy it in your off hours.

Good luck to you.

 

I hope I get off hours. :eek:

 

Greg

[rochelle_s]

Greg,

 

Spent some time reading your whole blog. Will look forward to buying and reading the book. You are an excellent writer! Wish I was going on a world cruise. Will have to keep checking back to your blog every now and then to read the updates. Hope you have an amazing time!

[calisota]

Thanks for the wonderfully encouraging words Rochelle. :o

 

I'll certainly be keeping up the blog when I hit the Amsterdam and I hope to be able to have enough free time to do some work on all the photos I have from the last contract, as well as all the ones I will undoubtedly be taking on this one. I'll be trying to get them up on the web site if I can. I never really got any shots of the ship last time and as I've been showing them to friends and family here I've begun to realise that it's almost as important as the ports in the overall story.

 

Greg

[HAPPY RETIREES]

Thanks for the wonderfully encouraging words Rochelle. :o

 

I'll certainly be keeping up the blog when I hit the Amsterdam and I hope to be able to have enough free time to do some work on all the photos I have from the last contract, as well as all the ones I will undoubtedly be taking on this one. I'll be trying to get them up on the web site if I can. I never really got any shots of the ship last time and as I've been showing them to friends and family here I've begun to realise that it's almost as important as the ports in the overall story.

 

Greg

Where abouts in NZ. I have a brother in the Mount. look forward to meeting you on the 4th. Graham

[btobey]

Hi Greg! Before you go to Alaska, you'll be doing a Panama Canal re-positioning cruise, right? That is the one that we will be on--hope to see you! :)

[calisota]

Where abouts in NZ. I have a brother in the Mount. look forward to meeting you on the 4th. Graham

 

This is a little embarrassing but I have to admit that I actually live in Australia. I may be a Kiwi through and through and a rabid All Black supporter (with the tattoos to prove it) but I've been living here for about 25 years. I still say that I'm a New Zealander if anyone asks, rather than an Australian...despite living on the Gold Coast. Originally I was from Whitianga in New Zealand.

 

The rtw means that I get to visit with friends and family in 2 countries!

 

Hi Greg! Before you go to Alaska, you'll be doing a Panama Canal re-positioning cruise, right? That is the one that we will be on--hope to see you! :)

 

As long as nothing happens to me in an exotic port or they decide to send me to another ship I will be there. That's the one starting April 24?

 

Greg

[rochelle_s]

Greg,

 

Your blog doesn't say how you decided and ended up working on a cruise ship. Care to tell that story?

[calisota]

Greg,

 

Your blog doesn't say how you decided and ended up working on a cruise ship. Care to tell that story?

 

I hadn't really thought of that. Since the blog is just the emails that I sent to a list of family and friends I guess I didn't have to explain why I was there; they already knew.

 

So...

 

I found myself at the age of 42, single and with a job that I didn't really like. I had a house (with a mortgage, but nothing too scary) and all the toys I could want but life was really just a matter of going to work, coming home and watching TV, going to sleep, going back to work. The women I was dating were more interested, at that age, in someone they could settle down with rather than travel with and I have always loved to travel, albeit to the slightly more unusual places. My heroes being people like Michael Palin, Anthony Bourdain and Ewan McGregor & Charlie Boorman, I looked at these guys and realised that they are doing (and getting paid to do) what they love. There had to be a way for me to do that as well.

 

I worked in a bank for over 6 years before getting a job in a casino and staying there for about 17 years so, after sitting down and trying to figure out something I could do that would allow me to travel and get paid for it, I decided that cruise ship casinos were the way to go. At the interview they kept stressing what a massive change in lifestyle it would be for me, just how much older than everyone else I would be (I was literally twice as old as my cabinmate on my last contract) and almost seemed to be trying to talk me out of it.

 

One of the quotes I try to live by is "I would rather die regretting the things I have done than the things I have not" so I've climbed inside the Great Pyramid at Giza, kayaked the Zambezi river, trekked the Himalayas and drunk fresh snakes blood in China before eating the rest of the snake. I want to walk on every continent, have a coffee in a street side cafe in Paris, climb to Machu Picchu, eat dog, have people be interested in my stories...the list goes on. Ultimately I want to experience things and appreciate them.

 

I don't know how much longer I'll do this cruise ship thing but I can now always look back and say that I did it and here's the things that I did, which is why the blog is so important. Most people take the cruise job one contract at a time and I'll probably do the same, I already have ideas for kayaking the Nile from Aswan to Cairo and turning it into a documentary or book as well as driving (or motorbiking) around the US and visiting the "real" small town United States that is so iconic but unknown to the rest of the world. That would make a cool book as well.

 

Ultimately I want to have real adventures and hopefully this is the start of the adventure that is the rest of my life.

 

Greg

[rochelle_s]

Greg,

 

Thanks for sharing your 'history'. It seems to me you have had many wonderful experiences in your past and endless possibilities in the future. Luckily for you that you will be transfering to a ship doing a world cruise...so many more adventures ahead. when will you have time to write all your books?? Or are you saving that for retirement?

[calisota]

Retire? I hope that I never retire from travelling and given the cruise ship wages I may not be able to afford to anyway. :D

 

I wrote 50,000 words on my last contract and I hope to double that for this next one.

 

Greg

[NoNoNanette]

Hi Greg!

 

I'll be boarding the Amsterdam for the first time on the 11th, as well. I'll stop by your cage and say hello!

 

Good luck in your new venture, honey! :)

[calisota]

I'll be boarding the Amsterdam for the first time on the 11th, as well. I'll stop by your cage and say hello!

 

Wow, that's an active roll call you have going there. Are you all going to be wearing the same t-shirt like I saw people doing on Princess or is that not the done thing on HAL? :)

 

Is there really a topless deck on the Amsterdam and, if there is, what's the average age of the people hanging out there (pun intended)?

 

Greg