Vegas of the Sea?
 

What cruise ships have the best onboard casinos? I could care less about the slots, but am more interested in table games like texas hold'em poker, blackjack, and craps. Are the house advantage (rake) and minimum bets typically consistant with what you see in Vegas?

All cruise ship casinos "suck". On Carnival and Royal Carribean you're looking at single odds crap tables, blackjack tables with 5-6 decks (on constant shuffle machines), and double zero roulette. The closest you'll find a full pay video poker machine to a cruise ship is Vegas. Drop $500 (or more) and with luck you may get the pit boss to comp you a drink.

I gamble on cruise ships for "fun" not to make money or beat the house.

Crystal, they are run by Caesar's Palace people.

As for the odds, I don't know if they follow the same law as Vegas, they have to have certain pay out. Sorry.

BTW, I've never seen a vegas style poker card room on a ship (unless you're on the WPT/Party Poker cruise!)

For poker you have to take a special cruise. Try www.cardplayercruises.com

QL

^ ^
You are a captive audience on the ship and they know it. While you may see a winner now and then, the odds are you are just making a donation to the cruiseline.

On the Radiance of the Seas casino (December 2003), it was 6-deck blackjack with hand shuffling. They also offered single-deck blackjack (can't remember if they paid-out 3:2 or 6:5).

I was on the Grand Pricess in Dec and they added a Texas Hold'em room/area in the Casino.

Royal Caribbean
 

I went on a cruise with Royal Caribbean, I thought that the casino was pretty good. They gave me $1 drinks, and I did pretty well at the roulette wheel. I didn't do so hot playing video poker, but all in all it was a good atmosphere and a good time! Hope that helps...