Casino?

[tseitel]

Hi. Can anyone tell me how the casino works? With ships being "cashless" how do you keep track of how much you are spending? Do you set up an amount at guest service or something? Any info will be greatly appreciated. Thanks!!

 

[of the seas]

They accept cash in the casinos. You can give cash at the tables and the slot machines take bills.

 

[msmayor]

We have always used cash in the casino, and have a system we set up on every trip that works for us.

Before leaving home, we decide exactly how much we are willing to spend (meaning lose) on casino entertainment...because we really do believe its part of our entertainment and there is a 'cost' to that. The figure is for the WHOLE trip...and then we decide how many days are 'casino' days. (for example...when we went to Bermuda two years ago there were fewer 'casino' days because the ship was docked for 3 nights and the casino was closed...for our recent Freedom cruise we had seven casino days because the casino would be open every night)

Once we know how many days we'll make visits to the casino, we split the money evenly for those days and set up casino envelopes. That's our gambling money for the day...when its gone, its gone and we don't dip into any other cash.

Whatever money is left at the end of the day goes into the DONE envelope. Regardless of how much is left (more OR less than what we started with for that day) it gets put away and only comes back out at the end of the trip to pay off our on-board account.

We keep all the envelopes in the safe during the trip.

We cruised Freedom just a few weeks ago to the Western Caribbean. Seven envelopes of casino money...we finished EVERY night with money for the DONE envelope (probably 4 out of 5 nights with a little extra) and paid off the entire on-board account out of the DONE envelope with some to bring home.

May sound like a wacky system, but it works for us. We know exactly how much we are spending, keeps us from overspending and ensures we have the ability to spend time in the casino every day. Plus, we have ALWAYS had the attitude that we are in the casino to have fun, not win...and always expect to lose every dime of what we plan for the casino.

 

[bumbershoot]

Msmayor, that is a great way to enjoy gambling without worrying! Terrific ideas there.

DH comes from a family with gambling addiction running through it on his dad's side. From his mom, he has good luck and something of an ability to count cards lol along with the ability to stick to strategy without emotion. The few times he has gambled he is as careful as you. He has watched people lose huge sums of money that they actually needed, in a very short amount of time (not on the ship but in Atlantic City), and those people didn't have any fun, so he is determined to be as smart about it as possible.

 

[jenf22]

msmayor - awesome idea. We'll have to try that.

So is the casino closed when the ship is in port? Is it like a store?

 

[msmayor]

msmayor - awesome idea. We'll have to try that.

So is the casino closed when the ship is in port? Is it like a store?

Yes, with what is probably rare exception the casino is just like the shops on board and it will close while in port. The one exception I know of is that in 2014, Bermuda will allow ship casinos to open in the evening while they overnight.

On sea days, the casino is usually open during the day but often the table availability is limited, or they will just open the slots. Most of the casino action occurs in the evenings which is when we would go, after dinner. We usually didn't hit the casino until after 10-10:30pm.

In addition to the envelope system, we often limit the number of hands we play at card tables (example...10 hands of blackjack, then walk away) or spins of the roulette wheel. It helps us keep things interesting and avoids a prolonged losing streak.

If we are going to limit the number of hands, for example 10 at blackjack and we are at a $5 table, we'll get about $75 in chips. 10 are set aside as the starter bets...the other 5 are for doubling/split opportunities. Any hands we win, we take all the winning chips and they come OFF to the side so we are not tempted to stay and play those chips as well. Basically, every winning hand stays with us. That almost always ensures that if we play our 10 hands and win just a few, we still walk away with chips in our hands. Again, all designed to stretch our 'entertainment' dollars!!