Jump to content

Roulette Gambler in need of cruising; help!


Dashofpepper
 Share

Recommended Posts

Hey folks!

 

I need help, advice, and pointers.

 

Background:

 

I just signed up for these forums after reading through here a bit, and thought I'd ask you guys for help. I've only cruised with NCL for the last decade, but after losing $7,000 in ~6 minutes on my first day gambling on my last cruise with ZERO comps (beyond the free drinks and mostly-free cruises I was already getting)...then spending the rest of the week-long cruise on a ship full of mostly sick people going to ports that had been hurricane ravaged, my loyalty is broken.

 

I'd been planning a Vegas trip this fall to gamble with a $10k budget - I haven't been to Vegas since I started cruising, but after extensive research, perks have disappeared, comps have shrunk, and the strip resorts are nickel and diming people - while the off-strip casinos don't have single-zero roulette / European roulette, and I won't play American roulette anymore. My wife suggested we cruise again, but just choose another cruiseline, so that brings me back to research.

 

Research Conducted:

  1. NCL has no European roulette in their fleet, so they're out.
  2. RCCL tells me they have 8 ships with European roulette in their VIP-only section - I've asked which ships so we can explore cruise options.
  3. I've e-mailed Carnival asking about fleet-wide casino options; waiting to hear back.

Problems I need Help With:

 

1. Table Stakes

 

RCCL tells me the single-zero roulette tables have a $25 minimum bet, but that the maximum bet is determined by the onboard casino manager. That's no good; All across the Vegas strip, European roulette is $25 - $20,000 for 1:1 bets, $25 - $10,000 for 2:1 bets, and $1,000 progressive. If a shipboard casino is $25 - $1,000, I wouldn't book a cruise, nor am I willing to blindly book a cruise to be able to get to the casino to ask the casino manager on the ship what the table max is.

How do I get answers?

 

 

2. VIP Section?

 

 

For those who have gambled on Royal Caribbean, what is the VIP section? Am I going to not be allowed because I don't have a play history? If I were to book a cruise, get on the cruise, then not get to gamble because the VIP section is off limits to me, I would be livid.

 

 

 

 

2. Comps

 

 

I'm concerned about starting over with a new cruise line where I have no player's card, player history, or baseline comps. I expect free drinks, priority boarding in port, and have gotten used to "mostly" free cruise offers, and haven't complained about the "Lunch with the Captain" or "Cocktail party on boarding" events - comped excursions and meals at specialty restaurants and all are nice, but at the very baseline - drinks, some sort of incentive to TAKE the cruise. Is that unrealistic? I'm not a high-stakes whale that gets comped a helicopter transit, but the idea of paying for drinks in a casino is surreal to me. my wife is going to see how much I'm drinking, be very upset, and it will mar the experience. I like free cruises because they make me feel appreciated, and that in turn builds loyalty - I just need a baseline for my expectations. Advice welcome.

 

 

3. Play Rules?

 

 

Part of what pissed me off about NCL was that they have no European Roulette wheels by default (single zero), they wouldn't cover the 00 to make it single zero, and told me that while it "can" be done, it has to be arranged with CAS pre-voyage - after which voyage, CAS told me it couldn't be done. What makes single digit roulette European are european rules: "En Prison" where even money bets are held on the board for one more spin if the wheel spins 0, or "la partage" where 50% of even money bets are returned to players on a zero spin. Things that help lessen the house edge a bit.

 

 

How do I find out if a shipboard casino has european rules or not? I can call any vegas casino and get put through to the pit boss or floor supervisor in the pit that has the roulette tables to find out what the stakes are and what kind of roulette it is - I'm hoping for a better path than "Book the cruise, get on board, find out for yourself."

 

 

 

4. Other suggestions? I'm not tied to RCCL; or even to cruises in the US - my wife would love to fly to Europe and cruise there; all of our cruises has been out of Florida, Texas, or Washington. I saw some of you guys discussing the "URCOMPED" website, but I have no cruise offers from anywhere, so I wouldn't be able to finish the second step of their sign up process.

Edited by Dashofpepper
Adding a note
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Dude you are on a cruise ship, not in Europe or Las Vegas. If you do not like the casino rules on the ships then do not play in their casinos. If you lost $7,000 in less than 6 minutes perhaps you should call (626) 960-3500.

 

That's a great welcome to the forums here, thanks!

 

Is there any chance that you can help out with any of my questions? Help me find a European / single zero wheel on a cruise ship? Like I said; RCCL says they have 8 ships with single zero wheels; trying to find out which.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

That's a great welcome to the forums here, thanks!

 

Is there any chance that you can help out with any of my questions? Help me find a European / single zero wheel on a cruise ship? Like I said; RCCL says they have 8 ships with single zero wheels; trying to find out which.

 

 

I don't know which ships have that wheel, but the email address for Casino Royale (RCCL) is clubroyale@rccl.com, perhaps they would know, and may also be able to answer your other questions. It may take 48 hours to receive a response.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I don't know which ships have that wheel, but the email address for Casino Royale (RCCL) is clubroyale@rccl.com, perhaps they would know, and may also be able to answer your other questions. It may take 48 hours to receive a response.

 

I think I did that; there's a Thomas Moore from the Club Royal group (who doesn't have a direct line) trying to find out which ships (of the supposed 8 ships) have a single zero table.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cant answer most questions. Hubby is the roulette player, but...We had an issue with NCL too. After 26 comped cruises, either thru CAS or land based casino certificates, NCL would only give us 20% off(we get that being diamond at CET)because (as per 3 different people at NCL-one in corporate) told us, " We won money on our last cruise, so we can pay for our own cruise". We made uber amount of points, but nothing mattered cuz we won!! Hubby also bets big at roulette, but they would rather have you bet smaller and stay longer at the table-- not my husband way of gambling--so he sometimes gets poor ratings. Rated at high bets, but low time. Not so on MSC. They do not hold winnings against you.

So, after those 26 cruises, we tried URCOMPED and love them. Even without a cruise certificate, just give some proof of gaming history. They will check it out for you. If not available online, call them. They will do anything they can to comp the player, before needing to establish a gaming history. We have sailed 3 times on MSC for free. No port charges, taxes, or administration fees. We are going on RC this weekend for the 1st time thru URCOMPED. Try URCOMPED they really are great, land vacations too. Tell them Tina and Jeff recommended them

Safe sailing

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Cant answer most questions. Hubby is the roulette player, but...We had an issue with NCL too. After 26 comped cruises, either thru CAS or land based casino certificates, NCL would only give us 20% off(we get that being diamond at CET)because (as per 3 different people at NCL-one in corporate) told us, " We won money on our last cruise, so we can pay for our own cruise". We made uber amount of points, but nothing mattered cuz we won!! Hubby also bets big at roulette, but they would rather have you bet smaller and stay longer at the table-- not my husband way of gambling--so he sometimes gets poor ratings. Rated at high bets, but low time. Not so on MSC. They do not hold winnings against you.

So, after those 26 cruises, we tried URCOMPED and love them. Even without a cruise certificate, just give some proof of gaming history. They will check it out for you. If not available online, call them. They will do anything they can to comp the player, before needing to establish a gaming history. We have sailed 3 times on MSC for free. No port charges, taxes, or administration fees. We are going on RC this weekend for the 1st time thru URCOMPED. Try URCOMPED they really are great, land vacations too. Tell them Tina and Jeff recommended them

Safe sailing

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Forums mobile app

 

I e-mailed URCOMPED asking if I could use them without any existing play cruise offers (2-3 days ago) but haven't heard back. I've never heard of MSC Cruiselines; going to look them up now. And I REALLY HEAR YOU on the CAS comp fiasco.

 

Casinos have the wrong metrics at work, and it caters to comp farmers. I can martingale a roulette table to make $500, then spend 8 hours flat betting that $500 to "buy" comps - which is the bet/hour comp system at work. I don't want to do that. I want to go to the casino, and win or lose. All at once. If I win, I can comp myself. If I lose, I want a "Thanks for losing $10k, here's your consolation prize."

 

So I always get screwed with comps.

 

 

*edit* And...it looks like MSC is a Europe only cruiseline. I don't want to fly to Europe to cruise; I would cruise TO Europe and back (ala Queen Mary 2) but the time commitment is massive.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What have you decided?

 

Sent from my SM-N950U using Tapatalk

 

I called or e-mail exchanged with NCL, Carnival, RCCL, Silver Seas, Celebrity, Cunard, MSC, and Azamara.

 

The only cruise lines with single zero roulette are RCCL and Cunard. Cunard cruises involve a transatlantic voyage, which I don't have time for on this next cruise. I also considered any cruiseline stopping in the Bahamas; I've gambled at Atlantis before. Ultimately, I chose RCCL. 10 of their 25 ships have single zero roulette tables. I filtered all of those ships against November departures, which give me only a couple options, and I chose the Oasis of the Seas for Nov.4-11 doing a Caribbean jaunt.

 

I got contact information from another cruise thread in here for the onboard casino manager (Amelia Holder), who exchanged some e-mails with me. The Oasis has two roulette tables; one American, one European, but the European table doesn't have La Partage or En Prison. MOST interestingly, it is low stakes. Even money min/max bets on both tables are $5 - $1000. I requested a table stakes raise (either just boosting the max, or boosting the min and max), as well as taking her advice and requesting preapproval with Club Royale, and no one would do anything since I'm not rated for play with Club Royale. That table limit is interesting because in Vegas, $5 - $1000 tables are common for American roulette with the doubled house edge, but there is not a single casino in Las Vegas with a table minimum less than $25. $100 really, but you can catch a single zero table drop their minimum to $25 during offpeak hours to pull people in.

 

I'll cruise on the Oasis on the Nov.4 cruise. For me, a $5 - $1000 table requires $2,000 to play on correctly. I'll probably bring $4k and ask if they'll double the table max to $2,000. If they won't initially, I'll dink around on it for a day and ask again unless I lose $2k.

 

Then depending on the cruise, play rating, comps, and whether I can get better answers out of Club Royale, I'll try again in the spring on another cruise. The Allure supposedly has a $25 minimum bet single zero roulette table, so I should probably reach out to their casino manager and find out what the even money min/max bet limits are.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Please sign in to comment

You will be able to leave a comment after signing in



Sign In Now
 Share

  • Forum Jump
    • Categories
      • Welcome to Cruise Critic
      • New Cruisers
      • Cruise Lines “A – O”
      • Cruise Lines “P – Z”
      • River Cruising
      • ROLL CALLS
      • Digital Photography & Cruise Technology
      • Special Interest Cruising
      • Cruise Discussion Topics
      • UK Cruising
      • Australia & New Zealand Cruisers
      • Canadian Cruisers
      • North American Homeports
      • Ports of Call
      • Cruise Conversations
×
×
  • Create New...