Cruise Ship Casino

Gambling is one of the many forms of entertainment you will find on board. Altho, you can use your card (for a fee) the casino is one place on board where cash is used. The casino on board will have many of your favorite games available, such as craps, poker, blackjack, roulette, and plenty of slot machines. Gaming lessons are often offered on many of the games, usually prior to the casino opening for the day. Games like craps and roulette, will have similar if not exactly the same odds as on land, however you will find many variations of the card games. Slot machines on board while modern have not kept up with land based casinos, and many will still accept coins (for some people this is a plus especially if you don't like the new paper based systems in Vegas and other land based casinos) along with paper money.

Tournaments are a fun way to interact with the casino. For a small entry fee, black jack, and slot tournaments are held a number of times during the cruise for cash and prises. A lot of ships now have Texas holdem rooms (electronic tables) now, with both casino sponsored tournaments and the ability for passengers to form their own games as well.

I suggest getting to know the casino host and staff if you plan on spending a lot of time in the casino. Try to email them ahead of time to see what kind of "players club" is offered and if your favorite game or machine is on board. Carnival has made it easy to contact their casino staff through their OPC web site. You never know what could be waiting for you.

There are some other things to mention about on board casinos. For one, unlike in Vegas, the drinks are "usually" not free. I use the word usually, because I have heard of high rollers getting a free drink or two, but this is not the norm. The are will be small compared to a land based casino and if there are a lot of gamblers on board, finding your favorite machine or table can be difficult at times. Also, as with most casinos, this will be a smoking area.