Quote:
Originally Posted by jeffthx
I've never seen a live dealer, however, for poker on a cruise ship. Some people have reported bringing on their own chips and cards and having their own home game on the ship (finding a semi-private spot on the ship). I like poker, but that seems like more trouble than it's worth when I'm on vacation. plus, I believe it's strongly discouraged by the ship staff, since they'd rather have you playing on their own tables.
I just returned home from a two-week transatlantic cruise from Barcelona to New Orleans on RCL's Voyager of the Seas and their casino had a live dealer. However, since the rake was 10% with a $15 max, all the regulars got together after a few days and held our own rakeless games every afternoon in the cardroom. We all "bought" chips in the casino and then just took them upstairs to our own game. The ship's staff never said a word to any of us throughout the cruise. (Even so, I still occasionally played in the casino in the evenings because the play of the other casual players was bad enough to offset the horrific rake.)
Interestingly, I was on Voyager's sister ship, Mariner of the Seas, for a 30-day cruise around South America earlier this year and that casino
did have an electronic table in lieu of a live dealer. Coincidentally, many of us started our own game in their cardroom to avoid the rake as well, although we played with cash rather than chips. (And the rake on the Mariner was "only" $10 max as opposed to Voyager's $15.)
I took a Holland America transatlantic cruise this past April/May and that ship had one electronic table in the casino. Since the max rake on that cruise was only $6, no private games were played.
I will be flying to Rome next week to take a two-week transatlantic cruise to Ft. Lauderdale on Celebrity's Equinox and will report back what the poker situation is on that line.
As is evident from the above, I cruise quite a bit on various lines and can confirm that poker tables on cruiseships have the softest tables you will ever come across in your life. It is impossible to overstate how bad the players are. Many have never played and just want to experience what they've seen on ESPN. Not only do they not know what they're doing, they don't even care about losing their money. They are just there for entertainment.
Last edited by MMOB; 11-15-2011 at 10:14 PM.