• Poker Dealer On Cruise Ships
• Poker Cruises Alaska
• Poker Tournaments On Cruise Ships
• Ship It Poker Cruises

Most big cruise ships tend have their own casino on board these days, where passengers can have some fun and pass the time while they’re cruising between ports. The great news is that, more recently, many of the ships have added poker tables so those of us that love poker can get some hands in on the open seas.

I’m just back from a Mediterranean cruise aboard the Norwegian Jade, a ship in the Norwegian Cruise Line fleet and so I decided to write a little bit about what you can expect if you’re going on a cruise and want to play poker, and so that you can see how it might differ from poker games that you play online.

Poker Dealer On Cruise Ships

You often find something like an “8/5” or a “7/5” machine. On cruise ships, you’ll most likely find the dreaded “6/5” machine. “6/5” video poker machines are common on cruises. Jacks or Better video poker paying back six credits for a full house and five credits for a flush have an expected return of 95.12% over the long-term. Main Differences of Cruise Ship Poker Casino Bar on Carnival Horizon. Upon entering a casino on board a cruise ship, the look and feel of the environment very much mirrors that experienced in a.

Tournaments

On my cruise, tournaments took place on all of the ‘at-sea’ days, so basically if we weren’t pulling into a port for the day, a no limit Holdem tournament would start at 12 pm. There were 2,500 aboard the ship but the tournament only got 12-15 runners on the days when I went down to the casino to check it out.

I had a chat with the friendly staff and they told me that on a good day the tournaments might get up to 25 people – pretty popular, really.

The main thing that I noticed about the tournaments was the structure, which was unbelievably awful and represented terrible value. I took a photo of the structure sheet as you can see below.

For your initial $60 you get 2,000 chips which would be poor enough if the blinds started at 25/50, but they start at 100/200! So basically the tournament is an all-in or fold from the start.

You can rebuy right at the beginning to give yourself a 4000 chip stack but in my experience, nobody did this so the tournament played 10bb deep from the start.

You’d expect that there’d be a lot of all-ins and a lot of rebuys but most of the players had very poor fundamentals and no idea about when they were pot-committed. This led to lots of big mistakes like raising pre-flop and folding to an all-in when the effective stacks were 8bb!

The rebuy period lasted an hour, which was the first two levels. You might think that 30 min levels are somewhat generous but as you can see the blinds double after the first level, and then after the break, they reduce to 15 minutes. Whoever invented this structure must have never played a poker tournament in their lives! Unbelievable.

So let’s take an example to demonstrate what I mean. Say that you took a rebuy at the start of the tournament and then took the add-on and maintained your stack for the first hour; you’d have 8000 chips going into the 400/800 level, still only 10 big blinds. Even if you managed to win a couple of all-ins before the break you’d still be in trouble!

Typically a couple of people just buy-in for one bullet and bust when they leave, while a few others rebuy and most people who are still in at the break add-on. This leads to about 100,000 chips being in play most of the time.

If you’re used to playing tournaments you’ll realise that heads-up play usually ends pretty quickly when stacks get to about 10bb which would be at the 2000/4000 level or after 2 hours of play. A tournament that lasts for two hours is pretty pathetic – I’m sure you’ll agree with me!

It gets worse, however. $20 from every buy-in, rebuy, and add-on goes to the house, so they’re taking 1/3 of the prize pool. The crazy structure and massive reg fee basically make this tournament next to unbeatable, even though it is packed with players who have no idea what they’re doing.

Cash Games

The cruise ship that I was on offered $1/$2 No Limit Holdem every night, but for whatever reason, the cruise I was on wasn’t packed with poker players and the game didn’t run at all. From talking to the casino staff the game normally starts after the main show finishes which is about 9:30 pm and runs until about 2-3 am.

Again, though, the rake is crippling. Typically in most poker rooms might be 5% up to a max of $10, but on the ship it was 10% up to $25 which is absolutely massive.

If you take an average pot size of 20bb or $40, the average rake is $4. Assuming 30 hands per hour that means that there’s $120 being taken off the table per hour by the house. This level of rake is going to be almost impossible to beat in the long run.

That’s my experience, perhaps these are different in your experiences on cruises but I thought that you may like to know about it all the same. Away from the poker, the cruise itself was fantastic and very relaxing indeed. I highly recommend it if you are looking into doing this yourself!

Practically all the major cruise lines (and many small cruise lines) operate a casino onboard their vessels. Casinos on cruise ships feature numerous slot machines and table games that include Blackjack, Roulette, Dice, and various Poker games.

The Casino on board a cruise ship offers numerous positions. Some cruise lines hire in-house for their casino jobs while others use a concessionaire for recruiting and also managing their casino.

Cruise ship jobs in the casino include Dealer, Cashier, Casino Host, Slot Technician, and supervisors. Dealers are required to have at least one year’s experience in a licensed casino and Cashiers are required to have a cashiering background in bank, casino, or other high-volume cash handling experience. The Casino Host position requires table games experience as well as excellent sales/marketing and communication skills. The minimum requirement for a Slot Technician Trainee is at least six months in an electrical / mechanical field.

Carnival Corporation Casino Division provides casino positions on all the Carnival Corporation brands. Casinos Austria Maritime is the concessionaire used by Silversea and Century Casinos looks after the cruise lines Oceania Cruises, Regent Seven Seas Cruises and a couple of others. Here is a detailed breakdown of many of the major cruise lines and how to apply for cruise ship jobs in the casino on their ships.

AIDA Cruises – Carnival Corporation Casino Division provides casino positions on AIDA Cruises as well as several other cruise lines that account for over 100 cruise ships sailing to destinations around the world. The cruise ship casino jobs that they recruit for are Dealer 2, Dealer 3, Cashier 2, Cashier 3, Slot Technician, Slot Technician Trainee, and Casino Host.

Azamara Club Cruises – Azamara Club Cruises recruits in-house for cruise ship jobs within their Casino Operations. Positions include Casino Dealer, Casino Cashier, Casino Host, Pitt Supervisor, and Slot Technician. Applicants may apply online for job vacancies on the Azamara Club Cruises employment website. Alternatively, Azamara uses authorized hiring partners to assist with their recruitment process.

Carnival Cruise Lines – Carnival Corporation Casino Division provides casino positions on Carnival Cruise Lines as well as several other cruise lines that account for over 100 cruise ships sailing to destinations around the world. The cruise ship casino jobs that they recruit for are Dealer 2, Dealer 3, Cashier 2, Cashier 3, Slot Technician, Slot Technician Trainee, and Casino Host.

Celebrity Cruises – Celebrity Cruises recruits in-house for cruise ship jobs within their Casino Operations. Positions include Casino Dealer, Casino Cashier, Casino Host, Pitt Supervisor, and Slot Technician. Applicants may apply online for job vacancies on the Celebrity Cruises employment website. Alternatively, Celebrity Cruises uses authorized hiring partners to assist with their recruitment process.

Costa Cruises – Carnival Carnival Corporation Casino Division provides casino positions on Costa Cruises as well as several other cruise lines that account for over 100 cruise ships sailing to destinations around the world. The cruise ship casino jobs that they recruit for are Dealer 2, Dealer 3, Cashier 2, Cashier 3, Slot Technician, Slot Technician Trainee, and Casino Host.

Crystal Cruises – Crystal Cruises recruits in house for their onboard casinos. Crystal Casinos is the operator of their own casinos. They recruit for the positions of Dealer, Cage Cashier, Cage Supervisor, Slot Host/Hostess, Slot Technician, Slot Supervisor, and Table Games Supervisor. Experience casino staff are encouraged to forward a CV to:

Attn: Crystal Casino Employment
Crystal Cruises
Email: casinoemployment@crystalcruises.com

Cunard Line – Carnival Corporation Casino Division provides casino positions on Cunard Line as well as several other cruise lines that account for over 100 cruise ships sailing to destinations around the world. The cruise ship casino jobs that they recruit for are Dealer 2, Dealer 3, Cashier 2, Cashier 3, Slot Technician, Slot Technician Trainee, and Casino Host.

Disney Cruise Line – Disney Cruise Line does not have casinos onboard their cruise ships.

Holland America Line – Carnival Corporation Casino Division provides casino positions on Holland America Line as well as several other cruise lines that account for over 100 cruise ships sailing to destinations around the world. The cruise ship casino jobs that they recruit for are Dealer 2, Dealer 3, Cashier 2, Cashier 3, Slot Technician, Slot Technician Trainee, and Casino Host.

Poker Cruises Alaska

Ibero Cruceros – Carnival Corporation Casino Division provides casino positions on Ibero Cruceros as well as several other cruise lines that account for over 100 cruise ships sailing to destinations around the world. The cruise ship casino jobs that they recruit for are Dealer 2, Dealer 3, Cashier 2, Cashier 3, Slot Technician, Slot Technician Trainee, and Casino Host.

Norwegian Cruise Line – Norwegian Cruise Line recruits in-house for their on board casinos. Available Shipboard Positions are listed on the employment pages of their website. They also use global hiring partners to assist with the recruitment process.

Poker Tournaments On Cruise Ships

Oceania Cruises – Century Casinos recruits, employs and operates the casinos on Oceania Cruises and a few other cruise lines. Their casinos require talented dealers, who are fluent in English or German. Contracts have a duration of six months with a couple of weeks break between contracts. A promotion to Assistant Manager or Casino Manager will be an option for suitable candidates after a couple of successful contracts. To apply, they invite all nationalities to complete and submit an online application on their website.

P&O Cruises – Carnival Corporation Casino Division provides casino positions on P&O Cruises as well as several other cruise lines that account for over 100 cruise ships sailing to destinations around the world. The cruise ship casino jobs that they recruit for are Dealer 2, Dealer 3, Cashier 2, Cashier 3, Slot Technician, Slot Technician Trainee, and Casino Host.

P&O Cruises Australia – Carnival Corporation Casino Division provides casino positions on P&O Cruises Australia as well as several other cruise lines that account for over 100 cruise ships sailing to destinations around the world. The cruise ship casino jobs that they recruit for are Dealer 2, Dealer 3, Cashier 2, Cashier 3, Slot Technician, Slot Technician Trainee, and Casino Host.

Princess Cruises – Carnival Corporation Casino Division provides casino positions on Princess Cruises as well as several other cruise lines that account for over 100 cruise ships sailing to destinations around the world. The cruise ship casino jobs that they recruit for are Dealer 2, Dealer 3, Cashier 2, Cashier 3, Slot Technician, Slot Technician Trainee, and Casino Host.

Regent Seven Seas Cruises – Century Casinos recruits, employs and operates the casinos on Regent Seven Seas Cruises and a few other cruise lines. Their casinos require talented dealers, who are fluent in English or German. Contracts have a duration of six months with a couple of weeks break between contracts. A promotion to Assistant Manager or Casino Manager will be an option for suitable candidates after a couple of successful contracts. To apply, they invite all nationalities to complete and submit an online application on their website.

Ship It Poker Cruises

Royal Caribbean International – Royal Caribbean International recruits in-house for cruise ship jobs within their Casino Operations. Positions include Casino Dealer, Casino Cashier, Casino Host, Pitt Supervisor, and Slot Technician. Applicants may apply online for job vacancies on the Royal Caribbean employment website. Alternatively, Royal Caribbean uses authorized hiring partners to assist with their recruitment process.

Seabourn – Carnival Corporation Casino Division provides casino positions on Seabourn as well as several other cruise lines that account for over 100 cruise ships sailing to destinations around the world. The cruise ship casino jobs that they recruit for are Dealer 2, Dealer 3, Cashier 2, Cashier 3, Slot Technician, Slot Technician Trainee, and Casino Host.

Silversea Cruises – Casinos Austria Maritime is the concessionaire that operates the casinos onboard the Silversea Cruises fleet of five vessels. They are always seeking experienced, mature, friendly casino professionals to fill positions onboard their luxurious ships. Interested applicants can apply by completing and submitting an online application found on the Casinos Austria Maritime website.

TUI Cruises – Century Casinos recruits, employs and operates the casinos on TUI Cruises and a few other cruise lines. Their casinos require talented dealers, who are fluent in English or German. Contracts have a duration of six months with a couple of weeks break between contracts. A promotion to Assistant Manager or Casino Manager will be an option for suitable candidates after a couple of successful contracts. To apply, they invite all nationalities to complete and submit an online application on their website.

Windstar Cruises – Century Casinos recruits, employs and operates the casinos on Windstar Cruises and a few other cruise lines. Their casinos require talented dealers, who are fluent in English or German. Contracts have a duration of six months with a couple of weeks break between contracts. A promotion to Assistant Manager or Casino Manager will be an option for suitable candidates after a couple of successful contracts. To apply, they invite all nationalities to complete and submit an online application on their website.