Silverscreencruiser

First we lost the once a week gala buffet, and then we lost the nightly 11:30 lido buffet, when they changed the late night buffet offerings to burgers, dogs and such. Before retiring, we used to head for the pizza stand, and then get lured by the hot buffet foods. I wish they'd come back.

I've been cruising for nine years on Carnival and the only buffets they've had in that time was a burger/hot dog/fries buffet most nights, the Mexican buffet (with deck party) one night, and the gala buffet that they discontinued about five years ago.

The gala buffet looked great (we have some nice photo opp shots from those buffets), and there were plenty of exotic dishes, but most of it was an enormous waste of food. I'd see plate after plate thrown away with almost a full plate of food left because people would put one of everything on their plates, take two bites, and decide they didn't want any more. As far as I'm concerned they're now saving a lot of money instead of wasting it on expensive exotic food that took a good bit of preparation but no one wanted to eat.

About three years ago, they discontinued the burger buffet for a much lighter serving of mostly cookies, cheese and fruits. (I'm sure that wasn't very popular either.) That was only on one cruise and the burgers were back the next year.

The menu looks very limited and sounds terrible. I'm glad it won't be on our upcoming January cruise. After 25 or so cruises with CCL, I too think we will be taking our cruise dollars elsewhere. There have been far too many changes (for the worse) over the past few years, while the things that really need to change, such as entertainment, remain stale.

Perhaps I'm not looking at the same menu everyone else is. I looked at the Cozumel menu posted above and found six appetizer choices, plus a hot soup and a "rare find" (you could also argue that the Greek salad side was an appetizer), ten main dishes, and five (or six, depending on how you count the Greek salad) side dishes. You may or may not like the choices available, but I wouldn't call that "limited."

For the record, I like a lot of the soups that apparently won't be on the Liberty when I sail (like the pumpkin, mango, and cherry), but if I had to guess, I would guess that they checked carefully on what people were and were not ordering before deciding what to discontinue, and on all the cruises I've been on, I can't recall anyone other than myself at the table trying one of those "exotic" soups.

I've been disappointed at some of what's disappeared in the nine years we've been cruising, but the menus I have seen actually bring back better cuts of steak some nights that the "flatiron" steak which has been the exclusive choice the last few years, so that's a big improvement for me (so is moving the rib night away from formal night).

What the player in front of you does can affect your chances of winning a hand. However, it all evens out in the long run. For every stupid thing they do that hurts you, they do another stupid thing that helps you.

If everyone played perfectly, casinos would not be offering blackjack under the current rules. On cruise ships, the house edge is about .5% if the dealer stands on a soft 17 and .7% if the dealer hits. Casinos don't want to offer games that offer that low an edge so they would tighten the rules... restrict doubling down for example.

Fortunately for the good players, you get a lot of novices making rookie mistakes and that increases the house edge on the table as a whole. Depending on what these players do, the house edge against them can go up to 5% or more. And if you have a table with six players, five of whom are giving the house 5% and one of them .5%, that's an overall edge of 4.25%. The casino can live with that.

People who dine at this Michelin star restaurant don't care about tablecloths.

Amen to that. I can't ever recall leaving a restaurant and thinking, "that food was lousy, the service was mediocre, but they sure did have nice tablecloths."

I am assuming that Texas Hold 'Em Poker Pro is just a video poker machine? Is this correct?

You play against human opponents all sitting around a big table, but the cards are dealt electronically and the computer rakes in the house cut and keeps track of your winnings or losings. You deposit money or cash out on your S&S card.

You just hit the right button in front of you to bet, check, or fold. Your cards are "dealt" on the screen in front of you, and it behooves you to shield them from the person next to you who might otherwise peek at them, same as with an actual deck of cards. The common cards are dealt in the screen in the middle of the table. After the hand is over the computer determines who wins the hand and awards the winnings to that person.

Successful card counting reverses the small advantage the house normally has and gives the player a small advantage. Over time, players can earn a profit. It does not guarantee that players will win a large number of hands in a row so that they can win millions in minutes.

TV shows and movies that show players coming into a "hot" shoe and cleaning up on a consistent basis are fantasy. The reality of watching card counters consistently is the same reality as watching the casino dealer, boring.

Basic Carnival Rules:

Dealer hits soft 17.

Double down on any two cards; soft doubling allowed; double after splits permitted (except aces).

Can resplit any pair except aces up to four hands. Only one card allowed on split aces.

Blackjack pays 3-2.

Insurance on all hands pays 2-1.

No surrender.

Island Marketing is the booking/marketing agent for tours given by other companies, many of whom you can book with directly (although it's often a bigger hassle to do that). In that sense, Island Marketing functions like your cruise line does when you book a cruise through them. The deposit you pay Island Marketing is their commission. The tour company itself gets whatever you pay them when you arrive.

The quality of Island Marketing tours is going to vary depending on the quality of the company that actually offers the tour. Some are better than others, so it helps to read reviews here or similar review sites about a specific tour and make up your mind. I do think that Island Marketing provides some degree of quality control. At the very least, you won't get ripped off by someone who isn't there when you show up.

The odds at craps with X2 odds is virtually the same as at blackjack if the dealer stands on a soft 17 as happens on cruise ships now.

There are two differences:

1) First, it's a lot easier to learn how to bet properly at craps than it is to play basic strategy.

2) Second, you are actually betting a lot more money at the craps table to get those odds. If it's a $5 minimum table, most hands you will bet only $5 a hand at blackjack (there's some splitting and doubling). On the other hand, at the craps table, with a $5 minimum, unless you win or lose on the comeout roll, you're betting $15 a hand. A bad stretch can wipe you out a lot quicker that way (or you can win a lot more if there's hot dice).

If I had to guess, I'd guess that Carnival felt (perhaps in response to negative comment cards) that the time spent shuffling the cards by hand would be a turnoff for many of the casual gamblers on the cruise. People who gamble on cruise ships are not the same people who go to Vegas or Atlantic City to gamble; they are on the cruise to have fun and may wander into the casino to try it out.

For someone like that, sitting at a table and watching the dealer shuffle a bunch of cards while nothing is happening might just be an excuse for them to walk away from the table and never come back.

We will be in Cozumel on the Glory this Monday. Are these new rates in effect then or is it only after Sept. 1; if I can get the new rate package, I'd be interested in a stop there?