Thread: Beware the casino

We just returned from two weeks on the Eurodam. Things have changed since we were there two years ago. While I enjoyed the convenience of using my cruise card in the slots, it made it more difficult to keep track of what I was spending. Also the penny machines had been obviously altered. Most had the minimum bet buttons disconnected and covered and the maximum line play button as well. A move no doubt to favor the casino's profits.

My suggestion: charge the amount you want to spend for the day or week to your card then cash it out at the cashier's. When you are putting bills in the machine, you pay more attention to how much is going in--and if any comes out, well then you are very lucky.

After our cruise last year on the Pearl, I decided that I will not be spending my time in the casino. As much as I love playing the slots, it started not being fun watching myself (and others) get a .50 win for every $20 that we put in. I know the cruise has to make money, and I'm ok with that, but the machines are so much in their favor that it isn't even fun to play. It was so bad that I actually sent them comments when they emailed me post cruise. They did take the time to send me a personal letter as my comments were specifically addressed, but beyond saying that they felt like what they did was inline with what other cruise companies do, I doubt much has changed. It's an easy change for us though....we will just become part of the pool and lounge area instead of throwing our money away. I may play a little, but it will be a very set amount and once it's gone that will be it.

I did some research and found that the casinos at sea do not have any regulators like the state-regulated casinos on land. I guess they can do what they want.

I don't tend to be lucky in casinos so it's easy for me to avoid them on the ship. They always seemed too smoky for me anyway (except for on the Paradise when it was a non-smoking ship -- I did spend time in that casino).

Thank you for taking the time to post and that is very good advice indeed, wandering writer. Hubby and I lost quite a bit in the slots on our cruise and it seemed to go EXTREMELY QUICKLY. Like 100x more quickly than Vegas or anyplace else that we have ever played (and we go to the Hard Rock casinon here in Florida several times a year).

I know hubby loves playing slots, but I think that I will try to steer him clear of them on our upcoming cruise. We are not poor losers, we expect to lose and think of giving them our cash as our 'entertainment fee.' However, losing it in like 5 minutes is not much 'entertainment' for us.

I alodon'tparticularly care for paying for slots with my cruise card, and it's sdomething I simply don'tdo.

I seem to remember that itwas several years ago when Royal Caribbean started letting you accumulate 'points' on your card when you played the slots. You'd put your card in, but still play with cash, and after spending certain amounts, you accumulated enough amounts to get certain freebies. (The more points, the nicer the freebie)

In retrospect, sure seems like this could have been a pre-cinditioning move to get people "ready" for the use of cards as gambling currency, either intentionally or unintentionally. Maybe I'm just seeing shadows where there aren't any, though.

I haven't spent much time (ormoney) in RCL casinos in the past couple of years, so don't really have current info.

I quite enjoy walking through the casino on a ship, very rarely do I see anyone win. Never tempted, but always remember a saying on a TV program "Vegas was built by losers"

We used to play the slots onboard and considered it "entertainment" because we played the funny game nickel slots...not expecting to win, but just for the fun of it. We had a predetermined amount that we were willing to lose and when we reached that mark we would quit for the evening. We used to be able to play for a couple of hours before our $20 was gone but lately it has been gone in less than 15 minutes! Many a night we would come away with more money than we started with...our rule was to cash out when the money was doubled, or play till it was gone.

No More! We just walk through and watch folks putting more and more money into those machines, never to see it again.

I can't understand why the various cruise lines would shoot themselves in the foot, because if we are saying we aren't going to waste our money, certainly there are others who don't post who feel the same way.

We quit playing bingo on NCL.....it used to be so much fun, but they try to get you to buy these electronic machines even though they still have the traditional cards and then they rob you to play. IMHO, I would prefer to play the traditional way!

We seriously are going to be doing some other things this next cruise that mean more than just throwing money into the wind!

Originally Posted by islandgirlejfan

I can't understand why the various cruise lines would shoot themselves in the foot, because if we are saying we aren't going to waste our money, certainly there are others who don't post who feel the same way.

We quit playing bingo on NCL.....it used to be so much fun, but they try to get you to buy these electronic machines even though they still have the traditional cards and then they rob you to play. IMHO, I would prefer to play the traditional way!

We seriously are going to be doing some other things this next cruise that mean more than just throwing money into the wind!

Don't get me started on the Bingo!
You used to get a fair pot, but now the cruiseline keeps the majority of the sales receipts.
No more Bingo for us, either.