Newbie at Cruise Casino's.....Questions

I am a slot player in AC.....Borgata is my casino of choice.....first time cruising on a ship with a casino (usually do Disney) Is the basic procedure on board pretty much the same as what I am used to IE: obtaining a player card to establish play, earning comps,free drinks etc. I am on the Adventure of the Seas (RCCL) nice casino? I am looking forward to it but want to feel comfortable.....thanks for help in advance!

I can't answer for RCCL specifically, but I can't imagine that it's that much different than the lines I've been on (see signature)....and I'm a big slot player on all of my cruises.

The casino will monitor your play by means of you inserting your sail & sign card, which is also your room key, into the machine before you begin play. (like the card you most likely use at the Borgata). You do not have to take cash from this card, nor do you have to credit your winnings back to this card...but you MAY do so if you wish. I, personally, bring cash with me for gambling purposes...I never gamble on my sail & sign card.

As to comps, drinks, et al...if you're a regular & play the larger denominations the casino host will send over a drink perhaps once or twice a night...but not all of your drinks are on the house. This is a little perk I get regularly. On one of our cruises, it was either the Miracle or one of the Legend cruises...the casino host sent a bottle of wine to the dining room.

But that's been it...no spa treatments or anything else (for me anyway!). Enjoy your cruise & welcome to Cruise Critic!

You have to spend ALOT to "earn" free drinks or other comps on a ship...it's not quite like AC and it's NOTHING like Vegas!

Thanks to you both.....I will need to play just for the fun of it....I am always tracking my player points.....I can now really appreciate all the comps I get on land....suppose I am spoiled......need to go get spoiled again this weekend!

NCL does give much better comps After aquiring a certain number of points you will get free drinks in the casino. You also get money off your final bill if you accumulate certain number of points Best deal is you may qualify for comped cruise. I'm a slot player and play $2-3 /pull so you dont need to be a big gambler

I play a lot of slots on RCL and never got anything. I don't drink but they never offered.

On RCI you have to be invited to join their casino program called cub royale. Make sure you always have your seapass inserted into the machine. If your play is high you will get a casino royale VIP card and you will get free drinks in the casino. On my first RCI cruise the casino manager came to me on the second night and invited me to join. After that depending on your play, club royale has slot tournaments on about 10 cruises a year, if you qualify you get a comped cabin(just pay taxes and port charges and caino picks up the gratuities) and an entry into the tournament. The most people that have been in a tournament whren I played was 20, so odds are pretty good compared to slot tournaments in Atlantic City. I am seven stars at Harrahs. For instance my husband and I are going on the Freedom of the Seas in July. We were given a category E1 for a total of 474.00 for the both of us for a 1 week cruise. Plus you also get cash back in the casino on your next trip or you can use it to pay for the port charges and taxes. Not a bad deal!!:)

NCL does give much better comps After aquiring a certain number of points you will get free drinks in the casino. You also get money off your final bill if you accumulate certain number of points Best deal is you may qualify for comped cruise. I'm a slot player and play $2-3 /pull so you dont need to be a big gambler

Negn is right about NCL - have sailed CCL, RCL, Celebrity and NCL, never even got a free drink until NCL. If you want comps, go with Norweigian.

I did not know this about other cruise lines. We have only cruised on NCL and booked through Harrahs Entertainment (they are affiliated). When we got to our room, there were players cards with an attached card for free drinks while playing. We really took advantage of this....we just tipped just like we would in Vegas.

It is sounding a bit more promising......I am a black card holder at the Borgata....but not sure I will do enough damage to earn a free cruise....what are typical hours the casinos are open....sun up to sun down, 24 hrs or just at sea?

If I were you I would aproach the casino staff on day one and ask fot them to keep an eye on you. Things migjht happen quicker. The casinos are only open when you are not in port.

I just sailed RCCL a couple of weeks ago. For the slots, you don't have to sign up for anything. You just insert you Sea Pass card into the machine like you would your player's card at a land based casino. The slot is not marked very well on most machines - I had to really search for it in the dim corners of the casino. Your total points and points earned on the machine you are currently playing are shown on a small display. We asked the cashier when we started to earn rewards - the first chance you can convert points is at 250 pts which is worth $5. You earn 1 point for every $5 played. We were in the casino quite a bit and I barely broke 200 pts, but we didn't know about the program until our 2nd day in the casino. It's free and you don't have to fill out any paperwork to accumulate points.

For our Eastern Carribean sailing, the casino was only open while we were at sea. It opened 15-30 minutes after we left the ports and the Compass said the closing time was "late" but never gave an exact time. On sea days slots opened at 9am and tables opened at noon. Remember to cash in your points and slot tickets before the day you get off the boat - the casino isn't open the morning you leave.

Good luck.

Thanks melmar02....great information that I can deffinitely use!

For our Eastern Carribean sailing, the casino was only open while we were at sea. It opened 15-30 minutes after we left the ports and the Compass said the closing time was "late" but never gave an exact time. On sea days slots opened at 9am and tables opened at noon. Remember to cash in your points and slot tickets before the day you get off the boat - the casino isn't open the morning you leave.

 

Good luck.

The times a casino is allowed to be open is a matter of negotiation between the cruise line and the country (or state) they are sailing in or out of. Some states and countries will not allow a casino to be open unless the ship is in international waters. Others (like the Bahamas) are more liberal to try to get ships to stay in port longer.

When a ship is at sea, the casino theoretically could be open 24 hours. How late it actually stays open usually depends on the actual business that night. They'll keep it open as long as they think there's sufficient business to justify their costs.

When a ship is at sea, the casino theoretically could be open 24 hours. How late it actually stays open usually depends on the actual business that night. They'll keep it open as long as they think there's sufficient business to justify their costs.

On the Coral Princess, they advertised 24 hour slots when the ship was at sea. Since we're not slot players, I can't give any furthr details.