Anyone play Blackjack on Cruiseliners

**Jack Jackson** · 09-10-2017, 01:01 AM

A friend of mine just got back from a cruise vacation and told me they were offering 2 deck blackjack with very liberal rules on-board..Just wonderin if anybody has played blackjack on any cruise ships or not? and what the exp. was like?

**Stealth** · 09-10-2017, 04:32 AM

Yes and very skeptical. No double deck in my experience. CSM's.

**davethebuilder** · 09-10-2017, 05:29 AM

Agree, six decks with liberal Vegas rules dealt from CSM's. Any green action and above was watched closely.

**ellenc** · 09-10-2017, 05:30 AM

Could you ask your friend which cruiseliner?

**blueman** · 09-10-2017, 08:16 PM

Best ive seen was 8D H17 with 1 deck penetration. Ive seen 6D but it had 2 deck pen

**Jack Jackson** · 09-10-2017, 08:36 PM

Originally Posted by ellenc

Could you ask your friend which cruiseliner?

Ya, i will ask him the next time i see him at work..Im from illinois, so i know he at least had to travel some distance away to visit a cruise ship..Hes a ploppy, but i do trust his word, although his info may be inaccurate..Anyway, i wouldnt be surprised if there are some hidden gems to be found on these cruise liners.Worth the thought anyway....

**jimmybond007** · 09-11-2017, 07:52 AM

In my limited cruise experience you will find the worst conditions you could ever dream of on a cruise. Crappy pen if you can even find a shoe dealt game. Slow, crowded and the absolute worst video poker pay tables you could ever imagine. Low ceilings and poor ventilation makes them almost unbearable to even be in with all the smoke.

**Gronbog** · 09-11-2017, 08:34 AM

I've found some of my best games ever on cruise ships. The opportunities were always dealer-dependent as is the case so often everywhere else.

**MJGolf** · 09-11-2017, 09:21 AM

Originally Posted by jimmybond007

In my limited cruise experience you will find the worst conditions you could ever dream of on a cruise. Crappy pen if you can even find a shoe dealt game. Slow, crowded and the absolute worst video poker pay tables you could ever imagine. Low ceilings and poor ventilation makes them almost unbearable to even be in with all the smoke.

Originally Posted by Gronbog

I've found some of my best games ever on cruise ships. The opportunities were always dealer-dependent as is the case so often everywhere else.

As cruise experience has varied and occurs so infrequently in relation to playing BJ, I believe BOTH of these gentlemen can be right, though what I first experienced seems totally different than last experience. Apparently the cruise ships may have used to operate their own games years and years ago and now, "contract out" the service OR use one of the name casino operators to "manage". That makes a BIG difference on playable games v. ones that don't seem to be really worthwhile other than as a "pasttime" while traveling.

**vagabond** · 09-11-2017, 09:22 AM

I just posted conditions that I've seen on three Carnival cruises. Never seen any DD games, though. All the staff have likely moved on to different ships by now, but you'll start to recognize the same dealers within the company.

**Gronbog** · 09-11-2017, 09:47 AM

Originally Posted by MJGolf

As cruise experience has varied and occurs so infrequently in relation to playing BJ, I believe BOTH of these gentlemen can be right

To be fair, I probably should have also stated that I have also been on cruise ships that were unplayable.

**Frank Galvin** · 09-11-2017, 10:41 AM

Always worried that floor person would figure out how I was tracking card groupings and varying my bets. Next thing you know, Cruise director would be on the ship intercom, "and remember folks, at 2 o'clock, napkin folding in the disco, folk singing in the promenade lounge, and get front row seats poolside to watch Frank Galvin walk the starboard plank, due to his cheating at the casino at blackjack. He was winning. We can't have that!"

My wife and I no longer go on cruise ships, but I found the best (?) available playing conditions on the Norwegian Epic, followed by the Holland America Zuiderdam. Did not care for casinos on Princess, Royal Carribean, Carnival or other lines' ships.

Disney does not offer casino entertainment. Can't allow gambling onboard, or they would be hypocritical in Florida while opposing all gambling venues, whether casinos, poker or bingo halls, jai lai, and slot parlors.

**Renzey** · 09-12-2017, 11:06 AM

Originally Posted by jimmybond007

Low ceilings and poor ventilation makes them almost unbearable to even be in with all the smoke.

When Norwegian's Escape came out a couple of years ago, they were supposed to make the main casino non-smoking, since it was wide open to the center of the ship. There was a smaller casino down the hall in which you would be able to smoke. After the first cruise or two, they flip-flopped the arrangement.

Five or six years earlier, they tried smoking and non-smoking days in the casino on one of their newer ships. That didn't last either.