Cruise Line: Royal Caribbean -
Ante Up Poker Cruises
Ship's Name: Enchantment of the Seas
Date of Cruise: 2/9 - 2/13/2015
Number of tables: 4
Live or e-table: Live
Games: NL Texas Hold 'Em, Horse, Sit 'n Go's, MTT's, (they'd spread anything that had enough interest)
Blinds: $1/3 was all I played, but I believe there were bigger games at certain times, per interest.
Buy-in structure: $100 min/$300 max
Rake structure: 10% up to maximum of $6. If/when tables got short handed, the rake would be cut to as low as $1 upon request.
How often did the game run: daily/nightly
Review: This was my first ever cruise and I enjoyed it thoroughly. It started out with a Welcome party on the first evening with free drinks, horderves, and live music. We received our lanyards which gave us exclusive access to the private poker room. It was a really nice way to start off the cruise. The party was immediately followed by dinner in the dining room, and there were a number of tables reserved specifically for the Ante Up party. It was really nice to be able to dine with the group as well - I feel this went a long way in creating the friendly atmosphere that carried over into the poker room.
That's not to say everything was perfect, however. There were a number of guys on the cruise with us who got pretty rowdy after several hours of drinking, so the first night in the card room had a little drama, but nothing that wasn't able to be handled by the floor staff. The following nights were much calmer in that regard.
There were two MTT's scheduled for the trip: a $20+10 unlimited rebuy (for the first hour) on Tuesday morning (10 minute blinds, $20 add-on after the rebuy period) and the
$100+10 main event (20 minute blinds). I played and cashed both tournaments - the first one ICM chopped with 6 remaining when I was the short stack, and the ME chopped even with 6 remaining when I was 4th in chips. One of the greatest things to me about the ME is that it is an official tournament for the
Ante Up Poker Tour, which is a partner with the
GPI - so cashing in the tournament gives you player of the year points. I'm not sure if other branded poker cruises offer this, but I found it to be a nice perk.
The cash games were super friendly and just plain fun. There was a fair share of tough players and softer competition, alike. The poker room staff were allowed to play in the games with their own money, (no house money is ever gambled by the staff). I've heard some people have issues with that, but I enjoyed playing with them a lot.
Speaking of the staff, our dealers were awesome. Everyone raved about how great they were and they seemed to legitimately be having as much fun as the rest of us.
One of my favorite parts of the cruise was the Hold Em Strategy Roundtable, led by Scott Long, which took place before the main event. It gave us a chance to understand each other better from a poker perspective and hear some great stories from each of our backgrounds. We got to discuss particular issues that each of us were having with our games and get advice from all around the table. We also discussed other issues in poker, much like we do here on the forums, dealing with topics like stats, software, and the current legal landscape.
All in all, I highly recommend
Ante Up Poker Cruises to anyone who wants a nice vacation, but doesn't want to leave the grind behind.