Ncl slots - do any ships pay?

[VideoTech]

Originally Posted by boopsahoy

You are 100% correct! The reason people lose a lot on cruises is the payback is set lower than say Vegas or Atlantic City but if you are lucky you can still win! Last cruise I had 2 hits for $4000 on VP. Also if you play vp check out the pay tables! The .25 games have very low paying paytables compared to the dollar and .50 machines!

Yes, I'm a VP player, and I mentioned VP in my reply to the OP. But the VP pay tables on ships are generally awful (I've seen $100 machines with 8/5 JOB). Unfortunately, it's getting hard to find good VP even in land casinos, and since most player rewards systems (including NCL's CAS) only give half credit for VP bets, I've just about stopped playing VP seriously.

However, I like the game, and invested a lot of time learning how to play it well, so I can't resist playing it a bit on every cruise. Last cruise I had that lucky streak on the last night that makes you smile: I won a $2,000 jackpot on a VP machine, followed by a $2,500 on a slot machine. Nice!

[Abear2]

Well, I will be on the Gem in a couple of weeks and it sems like I may loose a whole lot of money in the casino! I stay in there pretty much most of the time and I was hoping to do the same on this ship, but I guess not! Can ya'll tell me if they have some penny machines that have a monkey that randomly pops up? I can't think of the name of the machine, but I love it! What are some of the penny machines they have, if you can help with a few. Thanks so much for your help.

[VideoTech]

Originally Posted by Abear2

Well, I will be on the Gem in a couple of weeks and it sems like I may loose a whole lot of money in the casino! I stay in there pretty much most of the time and I was hoping to do the same on this ship, but I guess not! Can ya'll tell me if they have some penny machines that have a monkey that randomly pops up? I can't think of the name of the machine, but I love it! What are some of the penny machines they have, if you can help with a few. Thanks so much for your help.

We haven't been on the Gem, but most of the NCL ships have the same variety of machines. And yes, they all have penny machines; these are the most popular machines in any casino now.

You might be talking about the "Monkey Business" machines? I think that's what it's called...random bonuses including a Monkey climbing a tree, and a race between a various animals...if so, yes, I'm sure NCL ships have those.

If you're going to be in the casino a lot, don't forget to get and use a casino card from the casino service desk. At least you might get something back for your money in the form of reward points.

[Abear2]

This will be my ninth NCL cruise, but I have never been on the Gem! Yes, I am talking about that monkey machine! LOL They had it on the Spirit and I love dit, but was hoping to find out if the Gem has it. I have been getting free cruises from Casino marketing, so yes, I do use a card! Thank you

[riddle]

If you want any chance at all at video poker with poor pay tables like on a ship you should buy a tutorial cd and practice at home over and over again.

No real money is involved but the good ones will tell you when you make an error. You pick your specific game or games and practice until you are playing as close to 100% perfect as you can.

A royal on a ship is a the same as a royal on land generally - it is the smaller payout that are lousy on the ship paytables. Anything less than a royal just keeps you playing looking for the prize at the end of the rainbow.

[Tiggertastic]

Been on 6 NCL cruises and lost everytime on the slots and the video poker

Been a great couple of hours of fun though

[wikkle jan]

Hi and sorry to go a bit off topic but do they have a craps table as my fiance and i want to learn how to play (we watched a bit in Vegas) and do they do lessons ? (before they take our money) Im a black jack girl at heart but would love to throw the dice...

[tel2]

I pretty much play only video poker, and I play at least several hours every day on cruises. We were on the Pearl in June, and I stuck to ultimate poker, which because of the multipliers has a big upside potential. I hit 2 $4000. jackpots and 1 $2000. jackpot so it was a terrific week. On the other hand, we were on the Jewel in March and played the same game for many many hours and am embarassed to say how much we lost. If you play long enough, the casino always comes out ahead. Just set a limit and stop when you hit it, and have fun!

terry

[BeneClone]

"Free Cruise" from casino marketing? Does this mean that if you play enough the cruise line gives you a boarding pass?

Sent from my SPH-M900 using Tapatalk 2

[Kaboochi]

Originally Posted by Abear2

This will be my ninth NCL cruise, but I have never been on the Gem! Yes, I am talking about that monkey machine! LOL They had it on the Spirit and I love dit, but was hoping to find out if the Gem has it. I have been getting free cruises from Casino marketing, so yes, I do use a card! Thank you

Thank you everyone for your responses. What is the monkey machine?

[bluebeachbum]

I think the monkey machine is "Banana King". It's a penny machine & it was paying off on the Dawn several weeks ago.

[Angelsea57]

Originally Posted by Kaboochi

Just off Gem and it was THE best cruise because of the staff. I would sail with them again in a heartbeat. But the casino had THE worst payouts of any I have been in. The Pearl, last year was not much better. We are on the Sun in Oct. Please someone tell me they at least let you play for awhile before taking it all back. We do not expect to pay the mortgage with the winnings but it would be nice to get a few white tickets to cash in on the last day. Please - only advice posts, no tisk tisks? Thank you

I feel your pain.
We have cruised with Royal Caribbean, Carnival and Norwegian, and they are all a rip off
as far as the casino goes. To me they do not follow any kind of regulations at sea.
So they can take your money however they want. Specially toward the end of the
cruise you have to watch it, that's when i noticed a lot of people loosing big money.

[Kaboochi]

Originally Posted by Abear2

Well, I will be on the Gem in a couple of weeks and it sems like I may loose a whole lot of money in the casino! I stay in there pretty much most of the time and I was hoping to do the same on this ship, but I guess not! Can ya'll tell me if they have some penny machines that have a monkey that randomly pops up? I can't think of the name of the machine, but I love it! What are some of the penny machines they have, if you can help with a few. Thanks so much for your help.

Check out the quick hit machines. There is a bank of 4 in the middle of the casino. Don't play those. Across from them are 4 machines, 2 on one side, 2 on the other: 7 columns I believe and three rows. I found them the last day, wish I had discovered them on day one. They were generous to me. Good luck and report back

[davesgirl51]

Originally Posted by emcelh

Also, that 85% payback is an average, some might be higher, some might be lower. I could help you find all the ones that pay lower. I'm very good at it.

lolol

[NJGem]

Originally Posted by VideoTech

All of this is complete misinformation, at least as it regards modern slot machines in casinos. The only programming that is done on slot machines is to set the denomination of the minimum bet and set the payback percentage. After that, each and every pull of the lever, or push of the bet button, is completely random and completely separate from the pull before it and the pull after it.

Excellent post. The payback percentage on cruise line slots have never been as good as the percentage on regulated, land-based casinos. The idea that cruise line casinos change the percentage mid-cruise is totally false. Most of the ships casinos have a mix of older and newer machines, but none have a server based system that would allow them to change the percentage easily. I have seen some ship casinos that place the machine in the out of service mode and I have seen where the power is turned off to the machines, but believe me that if they were changing the percentages you would notice. I never anticipate winning anything in a casino, I just use it as a form of entertainment. If I get to play for a while on their money, that is just a bonus. If you want to be a knowledgeable slot player, research "random number generator" as it pertains to slot machines. But the most important thing of all is to cruise and enjoy yourself.

[Cruisin from Utah]

Originally Posted by BeneClone

"Free Cruise" from casino marketing? Does this mean that if you play enough the cruise line gives you a boarding pass?

Sent from my SPH-M900 using Tapatalk 2

Based on your play they will provide offers for "free" cruises. All you need to pay is the taxes. My next cruise would have been 900.00 pp for the week but ended up costing 270.00 so it isn't too bad of a deal.

[mitsugirly]

I have to say that I seem to be one of the lucky slot players. I have yet to walk away from any of my NCL cruises with less money than I came there with. I have my "own" personal strategy though. I only go with a certain amount of money each time. If I ever double that money, I cash it out. Then continue to play with other money that I brought for that day to the casino.

I have won a jackpot on the Epic (at least to me it was a jackpot) on one of the machines that was progressive (won enough to cash out after hitting and walk down to the jewelry store and buy my husband a nice black diamond ring he had been eyeballing since the cruise first started.

I've been really lucky with at least doubling the money (if not more) than what I've come on the ship with. I have those certain games I play and I always do well. When I tend to deviate away from those machines and try something different...I lose money.

I'm hoping my "winning streak" will continue to our next cruise on the sky.

[VideoTech]

Originally Posted by Angelsea57

.....Specially toward the end of the
cruise you have to watch it, that's when i noticed a lot of people loosing big money.

While it's true that casinos on ships are not regulated in the same way as casinos on land, it is not true that the machines are somehow "altered" to make people lose more towards the end of the cruise.

What you're seeing at work there is a combination of the inevitable, slow nibbling at your money that is the work of the casino, and human nature: the cruise is almost over, we haven't won that big jackpot, so maybe we'll just play higher $ and hope we'll hit before the end of the cruise. It takes a disciplined gambler to stop when his or her bankroll is exhausted!

Think about it this way: What purpose would it serve the casino if it became generally known that they DID alter their machines to make you lose more at the end of your trip? Well, then everyone would stop gambling about mid-trip.

Casinos have absolutely NO need to engage in anything like changing the payback percentages from day to day or hour to hour. Believe me, they are setup to make money, and lots of it, simply from the 1% to 8% they take out of every single bet. They do that steadily, all through the cruise, and have no need of changing that on the last day or the last night.

[VideoTech]

Originally Posted by bluebeachbum

I think the monkey machine is "Banana King". It's a penny machine & it was paying off on the Dawn several weeks ago.

"Banana King" is the monkey machine I was trying to think of. You'd think I would have remembered, given the amount of money my DW put through them!!

[VideoTech]

Originally Posted by wikkle jan

Hi and sorry to go a bit off topic but do they have a craps table as my fiance and i want to learn how to play (we watched a bit in Vegas) and do they do lessons ? (before they take our money) Im a black jack girl at heart but would love to throw the dice...

Yes, all the ships have craps tables, and I think most ships have at least one "learn to gamble" session per cruise - usually in the morning when the casino is not busy.

For that matter, if you find the table not in use and the staff standing around bored, just walk up and tell them you want to learn, and have no idea what to do. I suspect they'd be more than happy to show you the basics.

If you'd like to learn more about craps before your cruise, just go on the web. One good source of information on any gambling game is Wizard of Odds.