What are the MTT buyin/guarantee like during the cruise?

thanks

Well, first... I have not been on one. However, I was at a poker series and bumped into one of the ladies that runs them and talked for a while. They sound pretty cool. One of the best things about a poker cruise is the reduced rake from normal cruises.

Cardplayer Cruises: rake is 10% up to a maximum of $5.
The most recent NCL cruise I took: rake is 10% up to a maximum of $25. Hated seeing a green chip drop after an all in

There is at least one MTT tourney each sea day and buyins are generally in the $100-200 range with no guarantees that I am aware of.

If you go to the cardplayercruises website you can find a link to Linda Johnson's email and perhaps ask her any specific questions you have.

One other thing... I have been suprised at the quality of competition at the poker tables on cruise ships. It is much better than I would have expected.

I am not sure about MGM's new alliance with Royal Carribbean, but if you are Total Rewards and book through Casinos at Sea for a Norweigan cruise, you get a drink card for free drinks in the casino which saves a LOT of cash if you drink much. Not sure if it makes up for the $25 rake cap though.

If the iteneraries were compatible for me, I would definitely check one out. Follow up with a report if you go.

kewl, thanks for the info.

I hope MTTs at cardplayer cruise get decent # of entries. If I do end up going, I will def. leave feedback afterwards.

Hi Guys and thanks for your inquiry about Card Player Cruises....

Our entire schedule may be found at cardplayercruises.com
We have anywhere from 5-8 cruises a year. We still have 4 this year including back to back to the Caribbean, New Zealand and Australia, and the Panama Canal. All of the prices may be found on our site but most start at about $100 a day per person, based on double occupancy. Our rake is $1 on the button then an additional $4 up to 10%. Never more than $5 per pot. The casino on the ship often has a cardroom. Our customers may try it out but they never stay. Their customers may not play in our cardroom as we're a private "event" and you must book with us to use our cardroom. We need to know how many (approx) games we'll have so we don't book more than we can accommodate. We have a tournament each sea day at 930 and again a survivor type event about 3pm. We get a different number of entries based on the attendance of the cruise.... anywhere from 40/50 on the smaller cruises to 150 or more on the larger ones. I invite any of you to write to me at Jan at cardplayercruises.com or click on the link on our site and I'll be pleased to answer your other questions. I'm sorry I didn't get to this sooner. I have been traveling and also playing the WSOP so haven't been lurking too much. Please don't hesitate to post here but also email me so I'm sure not to miss any of the comments or questions. I can promise you a good time in a fun and no abuse cardroom.
thanks for asking,
Jan Fisher
Partner, Card Player Cruises

PM w Questions sent.

Jan,

It's weird, I've emailed and called, and no response. Yet I still see postings for new cruise events.

Has anyone else been on a card player cruise? As a cruise lover, I play typically in the private card room with a bunch of the other ship passengers and i would think that not allowing them to "join in" on the fun kills the action.

Hence, I envision tons of OMC and dealers playing offshift.

What about the WPT Cruise? Aside from an old negative review, does anybody have a review or rake information of the 2012-2014 WPT cruises or Royal Caribbean's Independence of the Seas ship?

bump

Been on only one Card Player Cruise (in spring 2014 on Serenade of the Seas) but thoroughly loved it.

Cruises are awesome all by themselves, especially if your idea of vacation is the temporary absolution of responsibility. All you have to do is pack. Once you're aboard the ship all of the food and entertainment is within a short walk, and even at the ports there are taxis or buses that take you directly to offshore activities. I could talk about cruising all day, I love it that much. Disclaimer: I've only ever cruised on Royal Caribbean - Serenade, Liberty and Majesty of the Seas. Liberty is the best of the 3 ships but they're all awesome.

Now when you take a Card Player Cruise, it's essentially a normal cruise with the following bonuses added:
- a welcome reception party
- a goodbye party
- lectures and seminars from Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher
- poker pretty much all day every day except when the ship is docked in port - cash games and tournaments

The dealers were friendly and professional, I thought everything ran really smooth.

Really, the only drawback is that on *my* cruise, there were very few true fish. Most of the people had at least some clue how to play.

I'm doing Card Player Cruises again in April 2017, this time aboard Liberty of the Seas.

I've been on 3 Card Player Cruises, the most recent one this past August on Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas. It was a Baltic Sea cruise originating in Copenhagen, Denmark and with ports of call in Tallinn, Estonia / St. Petersburg, Russia / Helsinki, Finland. We were supposed to stop in Stockholm, Sweden but due to bad weather we got an extra day in Russia.

Card Player Cruises does a first class job from in every aspect.

The poker room is staffed with great, knowledgeable, professional floor people and dealers and games ranged from 1/2 & 2/5 NL Hold Em / 3-6 Limit Hold Em and 4-8 & 6/12 O8. You can basically put an interest list together for any game and if there is enough people who want to get it going CPC will arrange. Even when games became short handed cruise organizers Jan Fisher and Linda Johnson would join in. Because we were in port almost every day, our poker room was typically available in the evening, but it opens promptly after the first sitting for dinner and closes when everyone calls it a night. When out to sea, the room opens in the morning and runs all day/night typically closing for dinner time then reopening promptly after the first seating for dinner.

Besides a well run card room, CPC typically has a HUGE spread on food brought into the room so you'll definitely never go hungry.

The players were extremely cordial. By the end of the cruise we all became a very close knit group eating together, taking shore excursions and sharing stories. I cannot say enough about the wonderful camaraderie.

Lastly, you can do as much as you want or as little. There is never any pressure on a cruise to "have to" do anything. Great for rest and relaxation, visiting new sights, eating a TON of awesome food and playing poker. I booked an aft room on the Serenade of the Seas and for me it was the best location on the ship. Huge balcony and extremely quiet and private.

Already looking forward to my next Card Player Cruise.

I am platinum crown and anchor member at Royal Caribean tbus I am getting great offers from Royal Caribean.
Do I have to buy from Card Player Cruises in order to play in that poker room?
What about AnteUp poker cruises?

I believe so.

Any discounts get through Royal should be available when you book with Card Player Cruises. Just give them a call.

You definitely have to book through Card Player Cruises to get to play in the poker room. That's not a question.

stumbras, if you've cruised so much that you're a platinum member, I'm jealous!!! What I wouldn't give to have that many opportunities...

...having said that, for a given RC cruise, the price on CPC for the same cruise will usually be different. It's actually usually higher, but I miraculously got one that was LOWER on CPC than on the RC website (I'm sure I was just lucky). As far as discounts you could normally get through RC, you can certainly give CPC a call (never hurts to ask) and see if they can honor those, but between you and me, I wouldn't get your hopes up.

Just my two cents.

Edit: I hadn't heard of AnteUp poker cruises until you mentioned it just now. I know the WPT does cruises as well. I have only ever done poker cruises on CPC, so I personally cannot compare.