Latest Casino Deal

[kangforpres]

Nice variety of intineraries Laminator, a circle Hawaii and a Trans-Atlantic. Are they giving you your usual Neptune Suite?

[Laminator]

2 hours ago, kangforpres said:

Nice variety of intineraries Laminator, a circle Hawaii and a Trans-Atlantic. Are they giving you your usual Neptune Suite?

Yes...but no casino cash so we won't go. 

[Laminator]

With limited capacity I am surprised they need to send casino offers on these sailings.

 

HEP2133CO_USD.pdf (hollandamerica.com)

[dockman]

So are the hal casinos paying 3 to 2 or 6 to 5 on blackjack?  6 to 5 doesn't seem a big change but it is actually a HUGE increase in the house odds if you care about the math.

 

There are a lot of factors that determine the final expected return, but in general, the house increases their edge by roughly 400% when dealing the 6:5 variant. In the 3:2 blackjack game, the house edge, for player playing perfect basic strategy, is in the ~0.5% range.  That means for every $100 wagered, they take in, on average, $0.50.

With 6:5 blackjack, that edge shoots up to almost 2%! So now you can expect to contribute upwards of $2 per $100 wagered to the house coffers.

Edited July 15, 2021 by dockman

[highscar]

When you book with a casino offer, does that show on your documents?

[DaveOKC]

7 minutes ago, dockman said:

So are the hal casinos paying 3 to 2 or 6 to 5 on blackjack?  6 to 5 doesn't seem a big change but it is actually a HUGE increase in the house odds if you care about the math.

 

There are a lot of factors that determine the final expected return, but in general, the house increases their edge by roughly 400% when dealing the 6:5 variant. In the 3:2 blackjack game, the house edge, for player playing perfect basic strategy, is in the ~0.5% range.  That means for every $100 wagered, they take in, on average, $0.50.

With 6:5 blackjack, that edge shoots up to almost 2%! So now you can expect to contribute upwards of $2 per $100 wagered to the house coffers.

Even more profitable deal for the casino is the slot play.  Could have a 20% or better profit for the casino, plus the player has no way of estimating this, unlike BJ where you can calculate it knowing the rules.

 

I think the casino keeps the table games decent to keep the spouses playing the slots!

 

[Laminator]

2 hours ago, dockman said:

So are the hal casinos paying 3 to 2 or 6 to 5 on blackjack?  6 to 5 doesn't seem a big change but it is actually a HUGE increase in the house odds if you care about the math.

 

There are a lot of factors that determine the final expected return, but in general, the house increases their edge by roughly 400% when dealing the 6:5 variant. In the 3:2 blackjack game, the house edge, for player playing perfect basic strategy, is in the ~0.5% range.  That means for every $100 wagered, they take in, on average, $0.50.

With 6:5 blackjack, that edge shoots up to almost 2%! So now you can expect to contribute upwards of $2 per $100 wagered to the house coffers.

I am getting old so my memory may not be that great by I believe the higher limit table/s pay 3 to 2 while the lower limit tables are 6 to 5. 

[Laminator]

2 hours ago, highscar said:

When you book with a casino offer, does that show on your documents?

It doesn't show on the documents that it is a casino deal that you booked. If they are giving you casino cash the email or snail mail offer you received states that you must present the offer to the casino cage. 

[highscar]

Thank you. This offer has other perks including drinks in the casino and $ to spend. 

[vswan]

This newest offer I received today seems to be a repeat of what I received in late June other than it no longer has the November sailing included - or anything in the caribbean. Although a free inside stateroom, there are still taxes/port fees/deposit and probably the most prohibitive with the European sailings, the airfare and the covid things that need to be adhered to. For me getting on any cruise includes airfare, and at this point I would prefer a balcony room and that upgrade was a significant amount with the last offer, so I would expect this to be also. In the end it's a good discount, but not enough to spur me to book another cruise at this point.

[DaveOKC]

10 minutes ago, vswan said:

This newest offer I received today seems to be a repeat of what I received in late June other than it no longer has the November sailing included - or anything in the caribbean. Although a free inside stateroom, there are still taxes/port fees/deposit and probably the most prohibitive with the European sailings, the airfare and the covid things that need to be adhered to. For me getting on any cruise includes airfare, and at this point I would prefer a balcony room and that upgrade was a significant amount with the last offer, so I would expect this to be also. In the end it's a good discount, but not enough to spur me to book another cruise at this point.

Agree - its a good deal but certainly not a great one.  While you do get a cheaper base rate, you have to accept a guarantee cabin (which I do not like).  I can book using a casino discount instead and pick my cabin - yes its a bit more, but at least I will know where my cabin is located instead of potentially getting stuck in a noisy (or other negative issues) location.  Not worth the difference to me!

[Minoushka]

I got anoffer for free OV on NA …I asked for upgrade to balcony was told 3900$ …helllo for an upgrade ..you gotta be kidding me ..this was for NA panama canal leaving from Seattle to Fll ….it looks great down California first then around 

i think my new pvp does not know her job well she never had accurate pricing 

the same cruise on vtgo is 1100$ for the balcony …I only asked for upgrade 

i need new on theball pvp …please suggest someone ..I.m not happy with mine 

can you help ?

[DaveOKC]

19 minutes ago, Minoushka said:

I got anoffer for free OV on NA …I asked for upgrade to balcony was told 3900$ …helllo for an upgrade ..you gotta be kidding me ..this was for NA panama canal leaving from Seattle to Fll ….it looks great down California first then around 

i think my new pvp does not know her job well she never had accurate pricing 

the same cruise on vtgo is 1100$ for the balcony …I only asked for upgrade 

i need new on theball pvp …please suggest someone ..I.m not happy with mine 

can you help ?

Perhaps the $3900 price you were quoted was for a specific cabin in a higher category (we have seen this before in casino offers).  If you ask for a guarantee in the higher category the price could be ALOT less.  For our Dec cruise we went from a free oceanview to a Neptune guarantee for about $1000 pp (7 day cruise).  If we wanted a specific Neptune cabin it was $3000 pp more.

 

[Minoushka]

I just asked for a balcony …I.m not sure what they gave me 

but do learn frommy mistake never get a forward cabin ..the waves hitting the hull was like a bomb going off nonstop all night in semi rough weather ..it was horrid noise madenit impossible to sleep , wind was wicked rattling of separation between balconies ….i hated it plus very very scary 

how do ships survive such a rough treatment !🤪😜😜🤪😜🤪😜

[AV8rix]

On 7/15/2021 at 10:35 AM, dockman said:

So are the hal casinos paying 3 to 2 or 6 to 5 on blackjack?  6 to 5 doesn't seem a big change but it is actually a HUGE increase in the house odds if you care about the math.

 

There are a lot of factors that determine the final expected return, but in general, the house increases their edge by roughly 400% when dealing the 6:5 variant. In the 3:2 blackjack game, the house edge, for player playing perfect basic strategy, is in the ~0.5% range.  That means for every $100 wagered, they take in, on average, $0.50.

With 6:5 blackjack, that edge shoots up to almost 2%! So now you can expect to contribute upwards of $2 per $100 wagered to the house coffers.

Sorry, didn't see this post until now.  Anyway, to answer your question, there is always one 3/2 table on every HAL ship on which I've sailed (I am a tournament player on land and will NEVER play a 6/5 table either on land or at sea).  The 3/2 table always is higher minimum and varies with time of day and with the ship.  Sometimes I've seen it $25 at all times throughout entire voyage, sometimes $15 in the daytime and then bumped to $25 after dinner.  And sometimes, on the big ships, they won't open the 3/2 table in the daytime because it is in a separate pit from the 6/5 and they don't have enough personnel to staff an extra pit boss and dealer.  On the small ships there is only one pit and the pit boss has always opened the 3/2 table for me.  However, there are only two small ships left in the fleet now so that's going to be a problem.

[dockman]

1 hour ago, Av8rix said:

Sorry, didn't see this post until now.  Anyway, to answer your question, there is always one 3/2 table on every HAL ship on which I've sailed (I am a tournament player on land and will NEVER play a 6/5 table either on land or at sea).  The 3/2 table always is higher minimum and varies with time of day and with the ship.  Sometimes I've seen it $25 at all times throughout entire voyage, sometimes $15 in the daytime and then bumped to $25 after dinner.  And sometimes, on the big ships, they won't open the 3/2 table in the daytime because it is in a separate pit from the 6/5 and they don't have enough personnel to staff an extra pit boss and dealer.  On the small ships there is only one pit and the pit boss has always opened the 3/2 table for me.  However, there are only two small ships left in the fleet now so that's going to be a problem.

thanks...not sure i want to play the $25 tables...$5 and 10 is more my style...kinda sad that casinos don't seem happy to already have great odds that they have to add a semi sneaky way to part more people from their money....even at 3/2 with players playing smart the house always will win in the long run....the average player is really not very good at basic strategy and i suspect the house odds on them is very nice for the house..of course if you are just playing for "fun" and don't mind almost certainly losing every time it may work...

[Laminator]

17 hours ago, Minoushka said:

I got anoffer for free OV on NA …I asked for upgrade to balcony was told 3900$ …helllo for an upgrade ..you gotta be kidding me ..this was for NA panama canal leaving from Seattle to Fll ….it looks great down California first then around 

i think my new pvp does not know her job well she never had accurate pricing 

the same cruise on vtgo is 1100$ for the balcony …I only asked for upgrade 

i need new on theball pvp …please suggest someone ..I.m not happy with mine 

can you help ?

I know others have more issues with this than I have but I have always only paid the difference between the price of whatever guaranty cabin I have been offered and whatever cabin I want. I get my offer, which is for a Neptune Suite guaranty and check and see what the cost of a guaranty suite is and what the cost of the actual cabin I want is. I then place a call to my PCC and it is taken care of within 2 days tops. She contacts whatever they call HAL's casino division now and always comes back with the price that is the difference between the guaranty price and the posted cabin price I want to stay in plus the tax and port fees. I pay the difference to hold the cabin immediately and then within a day or two the casino division pays HAL for what they owe and I receive a paid in full booking confirmation. So to make a long story short you should only have to pay the difference between what the guaranty cost is and what the cost you see online for the cabin you want is. 

[DaveOKC]

9 hours ago, Laminator said:

I know others have more issues with this than I have but I have always only paid the difference between the price of whatever guaranty cabin I have been offered and whatever cabin I want. I get my offer, which is for a Neptune Suite guaranty and check and see what the cost of a guaranty suite is and what the cost of the actual cabin I want is. I then place a call to my PCC and it is taken care of within 2 days tops. She contacts whatever they call HAL's casino division now and always comes back with the price that is the difference between the guaranty price and the posted cabin price I want to stay in plus the tax and port fees. I pay the difference to hold the cabin immediately and then within a day or two the casino division pays HAL for what they owe and I receive a paid in full booking confirmation. So to make a long story short you should only have to pay the difference between what the guaranty cost is and what the cost you see online for the cabin you want is. 

While that makes sense, it does not work that way on HAL's casino deals.  As you will note above, they wanted ALOT more from me to pick my Neptune cabin, far more than the normal difference.  Of course, the higher rated players may get a better deal, so one size does not fit all always.

 

 

[Laminator]

1 hour ago, DaveOKC said:

While that makes sense, it does not work that way on HAL's casino deals.  As you will note above, they wanted ALOT more from me to pick my Neptune cabin, far more than the normal difference.  Of course, the higher rated players may get a better deal, so one size does not fit all always.

 

 

I would love to go on the same cruise as you and have me call my PCC to book our cabins. I booked 4 cabins for our upcoming cruise. 3 of the 4 pax had casino offers. I had the usual Neptune suite offer and a significant amount of casino cash. My wife had a signature suite (SY) and a significant amount of casino cash. My friends from Hollands daughters had a free inside cabin offer. And their Sister and BIL are new to HAL. I upgraded our cabin from the SC guaranty to the SB aft corner wrap and paid the difference. My wife's cabin I upgraded from SY to SS and paid the difference. My friends daughters cabin I upgraded from an inside to another inside closer to where we are and paid the difference. I understand that possibly the higher rated players may get more leeway but my buddy's daughters play $100 in the casino total each cruise and they get that $100 from him. As I said above I was able to pay just the fare difference for their cabin. I simply can't figure out what HAL is doing. 

 

One Question. My PCC has to contact the casino division to get the approval for the upgrades. Do you know if your PCC contacts the casino division to ask to get your upgrade approved? 

[DaveOKC]

55 minutes ago, Laminator said:

I would love to go on the same cruise as you and have me call my PCC to book our cabins. I booked 4 cabins for our upcoming cruise. 3 of the 4 pax had casino offers. I had the usual Neptune suite offer and a significant amount of casino cash. My wife had a signature suite (SY) and a significant amount of casino cash. My friends from Hollands daughters had a free inside cabin offer. And their Sister and BIL are new to HAL. I upgraded our cabin from the SC guaranty to the SB aft corner wrap and paid the difference. My wife's cabin I upgraded from SY to SS and paid the difference. My friends daughters cabin I upgraded from an inside to another inside closer to where we are and paid the difference. I understand that possibly the higher rated players may get more leeway but my buddy's daughters play $100 in the casino total each cruise and they get that $100 from him. As I said above I was able to pay just the fare difference for their cabin. I simply can't figure out what HAL is doing. 

 

One Question. My PCC has to contact the casino division to get the approval for the upgrades. Do you know if your PCC contacts the casino division to ask to get your upgrade approved? 

I do not know if she calls the casino division to ask.  I will call her and have her try that - THANKS!.

[Laminator]

1 minute ago, DaveOKC said:

I do not know if she calls the casino division to ask.  I will call her and have her try that - THANKS!.

I hope that will work out for you. I just can't figure out what else could possibly be the difference. 

[Tampa Girl]

On 6/2/2021 at 7:21 PM, kangforpres said:

Just got this today as I'm sure many other did, it's a bit different:

 

$700 casino cash and up to 50% fares for any Greek Island cruise departing 08-15 through 09-05 of 2021.

 

The one that goes from Piraeus to Venice is very tempting but I don't think the wife can go, she got same offer but only $500 casino cash.

 

Happy Cruising, 

 

Paul

 

Try leaving without her!😀

[Laminator]

Just received this offer!

 

HAL17630_VIP_Casino_Slot_FF_12x18_072221_US_FS.pdf (hollandamerica.com)

[DaveOKC]

6 minutes ago, Laminator said:

Just received this offer!

 

HAL17630_VIP_Casino_Slot_FF_12x18_072221_US_FS.pdf (hollandamerica.com)

Free cabins?

 

[Laminator]

4 minutes ago, DaveOKC said:

Free cabins?

 

Yes...Free Neptune Suite. My wife received the same offer. No casino cash though so it's a no go for us.