Hi Gang:
Hedy and I are back from our seven-night Caribbean cruise aboard Royal
Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas and all we can say about the world's largest,
most luxurious cruise ship is WOW!!
It is everything it is advertised to be ... and more! We've been on many
cruise ships but this one of far and away the best we've ever been aboard.
Since these are gambling forums, however, I thought I'd comment about the
onboard casino which is called Casino Royale. It is quite spacious and
comfortable with a good array of slots, video poker machines and table games. It
also has a poker room with three electronic tables which can host Texas
Hold 'Em tournaments or cash games. Also, half of the casino (one whole side)
is non-smoking.
We didn't expect much in the way of playable video poker so we were
surprised when we found a number of multi-line machines that offered 9/6 DB in
triple, five and 10-play. They were multi-denom games but strangely only
offered quarters, dollars, and five dollar options. There was no fifty-cent
option. The machines had blue Superstar Poker faceplates and were all
slant-tops.
The other pay tables were pathetic (7/5 DDB and 6/5 JOB) but DB was not
too bad, especially for a cruise ship. There also were a number of
single-line machines with progressive royals but the pay tables were bad.
Hedy and I played some everyday and earned over 2,000 points each,
qualifying us for inclusion in the cruise line's Club Royale players' club. This
will earn us future cash back from this cruise and other offers in the
future, which can include free cruises. Our instant cash back from this cruise
was $105 ... $65 from Hedy's play and $40 from mine.
We also were able to collect $225 cash back from our Mediterranean cruise
last October aboard the Celebrity ship Equinox. Celebrity has its own
onboard players' club called the Blue Chip Club but since Celebrity is owned by
Royal Caribbean they allow some crossover in the two clubs.
Other perks from being a member of the onboard players' clubs is that you
get free drinks in the casino (including liquor), the 3% fee is waived if
you take money from the casino on your onboard account and the host in the
casino can comp you for dinner in the ship's specialty restaurants that
charge an extra fee.
The really good news is that we got lucky playing mostly the 9/6 DB
triple-line. Hedy hit a royal the second night for $1,000 and the following night
I was dealt a king-high straight flush and four nines, plus I hit aces
twice. Hedy also hit aces a number of times for $200, then on the fifth night
she hit aces with a kicker in DDB for $500. We wound up the trip taking home
close to $1,000 more than we came onboard with, so it turned out to be a
very pleasurable trip in more ways than one.
After this experience we fully expect to cruise again on the Oasis or its
sister ship, The Allure of the Seas, which is being built now and will be
coming out in December.
If you enjoy cruising, we encourage you to give the Oasis a try. You won't
be disappointed.
Regards,
CoachVee & Hedy
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