Hi Gang:
Hedy and I recently returned from our seven-day free cruise from Harrah's NO
aboard the Grandeur of the Seas and had a great time, even though the gambling
bottom line was not a good one. Misscraps' report on the trip was quite
comprehensive and accurate, so I thought I would comment a little more in-depth on
the gambling side.
We stayed one night at Harrah's new tower prior to the cruise and thought the
mini-suite we got was very nice, although it was not very ornate, as
Misscraps described. It was your basic three-room suite (living room, bedroom and
bathroom) with flat-screen TV's in the LV and BR. We thought the bathroom was
particularly nice, with a huge bathtub (no jacuzzi), roomy shower stall and double
vanity. It was very well lit, too, which is one of our per peeves about a lot
of the bathrooms we get.
One unique thing we liked about it was an electronic panel next to the door
inside. One button illuminated a red do-not-disturb light on a similar panel
outside the door. A second button illuminated a green make-up-room light. The
outside panel also had a doorbell. This eliminated the annoying card you have to
hang on your door ... you know, the "privacy please" or "do not disturb"
placard. We find that many times people (kids) take these off your door during the
day or night so they do no good whatsoever.
As far as the gambling goes at Harrah's, we did find one triple-play
slant-top machine with 9/6 JOB in quarters. It was near the railing next to the poker
room. It was only 9/6 in quarters. The other denominations were 8/6, I
believe, although they could have been 8/5. We also found 9/6 JOB quarters on two
Multi-Strike machines on the wall near the poker room. We didn't have too much
luck on any of the VP plays although I did get dealt a king-high straight flush
in hearts on triple-play while playing 9/7 DB. I was very tempted to throw
away the nine, but kept it after some deliberation!
On the ship, the VP paytables were pathetic ... 7/5 DB, 6/5 DDB etc. The one
bank of machines we played was near the entrance to the casino and it had a
progressive royal on all games. We chased the royal for four or five days until
it was hit at $1900-plus. Thankfully, it was hit by one of the Harrah's group,
Karen from Chicago, a buddy of ours that we had met on a previous trip to NO.
Hedy did get dealt aces on DDB for $200 (she got a nine on the draw) and got
aces with a kicker (she held one ace) for $500. She also was dealt 3's with a
kicker for $200. I got very few quads for the trip and never got a bonus quad.
The best play on the ship was an electronic blackjack machine that had all
the good rules (3-2 payoff for BJ, dealer must hit soft 17 and a surrender
option). I made my best hit on this machine on the last night when I put in $100
and cashed out $735 about an hour later. I also won $150 a few nights earlier
playing $5-$10 Texas Hold 'Em on the one table they offered. I also reached the
final table in the Harrah's-sponsored blackjack tournament the second day, but
got eliminated early.
All in all, it was a wonderful trip and the first time we had ever cruised
during a holiday period. The Christmas decorations on the ship were beautiful
and made it feel like a very special occasion. We also felt special in that Hedy
and I were the top cruisers aboard (it was our 25th RRCL cruise together) so
we got to have dinner with the captain and we were presented with a bottle of
champagne at the repeaters' cocktail party. It was also nice traveling with
Misscraps and Ron, Siona and her mom Florence and some other folks from the VP
world who are members of VPFree and the other lists to which we contribute
reports etc. We also made some new friends during the trip and found the
atmosphere onboard and in the three ports we visited to be friendly and festive.
We will be at Harrah's AC over New Year's this weekend and then we will be in
Vegas Jan. 4-16, staying at three different properties ... Caesars, Bellagio
and South Point. If you're in town, look us up.
Regards,
CoachVee (Tom V) & Hedy
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