For my fellow Casino "frequent flyers" - Connie

[Bead Pirate]

On Connie now having a great time (less than 500 guests on here).

 

Casino is open and fun however I would advise bringing a few extra masks with you. Sip and cover is strictly enforced in the casino (no sitting with a drink in front of you without a mask). Does not make the tables any less fun but I find that the cloth mask gets quite damp from breathing in and out so I frequently change to a "drier" one through the evening.

 

Machines are paying off jackpots like crazy on sea days (saw a $53K hit yesterday)...

 

I will check back occasionally if you have any questions...

[bobandgloria]

What ship are you on?

[jelayne]

Connie= Constellation 

[WonderMan3]

6 hours ago, Bead Pirate said:

On Connie now having a great time (less than 500 guests on here).

 

Casino is open and fun however I would advise bringing a few extra masks with you. Sip and cover is strictly enforced in the casino (no sitting with a drink in front of you without a mask). Does not make the tables any less fun but I find that the cloth mask gets quite damp from breathing in and out so I frequently change to a "drier" one through the evening.

 

Machines are paying off jackpots like crazy on sea days (saw a $53K hit yesterday)...

 

I will check back occasionally if you have any questions...

Are you able to post some photos of the casino and share them? I’m just curious what slots they have. Maybe you could list some? At your convenience of course. Will be on Connie next year for about a month so hoping they have some games that I like to play. Thanks.

[Bead Pirate]

Mainly older slots in the casino (probably 75%) with the usual tournament bank (bust the balloons during play). About 25% of the slots are more "modern" games and a few video poker machines scattered around.

 

It is a bit different with so few people on board. The casino manager was talking with me and mentioned that they cannot get enough participation for slot tourneys, cash games, etc.

 

I will try and get some pics but this ship will likely be dry docked before your visit and may get some updated games. 

[WonderMan3]

28 minutes ago, Bead Pirate said:

Mainly older slots in the casino (probably 75%) with the usual tournament bank (bust the balloons during play). About 25% of the slots are more "modern" games and a few video poker machines scattered around.

 

It is a bit different with so few people on board. The casino manager was talking with me and mentioned that they cannot get enough participation for slot tourneys, cash games, etc.

 

I will try and get some pics but this ship will likely be dry docked before your visit and may get some updated games. 

Oh, did you hear from staff onboard that they will be having another dry dock? They just had one a few months ago from what I understand.  Another cruiser here posted recently that some ship updates may happen this year but will not be done in a dry dock but rather while the ship is active. I did notice two ranges of dates for the ship missing on Celebrity’s website so did wonder of perhaps another dry dock was possible to get the Revolution updates done. Curious to know what you’ve been hearing onboard. Knowing that they have some of the older slots is actually good news as they tend to be my favorites compared to newer games.

[Rickster]

2 hours ago, Bead Pirate said:

Mainly older slots in the casino (probably 75%) with the usual tournament bank (bust the balloons during play). About 25% of the slots are more "modern" games and a few video poker machines scattered around.

 

It is a bit different with so few people on board. The casino manager was talking with me and mentioned that they cannot get enough participation for slot tourneys, cash games, etc.

 

I will try and get some pics but this ship will likely be dry docked before your visit and may get some updated games. 

Do they have any “Top Dollar” slot machines?  Sailing in a couple weeks.  Thanks.

[Jim_Iain]

This may be a bit off topic but you high rollers may be able to give me some ideas.    We had a problem with OBC from our agent on a B2B and as a concession Celebrity give us the OBC on 2 future cruises of $1,000 per cruise, but unfortunately will be Non-Refundable.  

 

Even though I was a day trader (which I guess is a a gambler) but have not even hit Pearl level yet. 

 

On two upcoming cruises I now have about $2,000 Non-Refundable OBC.   Is it possible to cash out for chips and sell them at a discount to someone who enjoys gambling?   Just curious.   Otherwise if inventory of Apple product has been refreshed I may buy some IPad Pros and resell on EBay.

 

Traveling in RS cuts down ability to spend on dining , laundry etc etc. 

[Bead Pirate]

15 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

This may be a bit off topic but you high rollers may be able to give me some ideas.    We had a problem with OBC from our agent on a B2B and as a concession Celebrity give us the OBC on 2 future cruises of $1,000 per cruise, but unfortunately will be Non-Refundable.  

 

Even though I was a day trader (which I guess is a a gambler) but have not even hit Pearl level yet. 

 

On two upcoming cruises I now have about $2,000 Non-Refundable OBC.   Is it possible to cash out for chips and sell them at a discount to someone who enjoys gambling?   Just curious.   Otherwise if inventory of Apple product has been refreshed I may buy some IPad Pros and resell on EBay.

 

Traveling in RS cuts down ability to spend on dining , laundry etc etc. 

Jim, I see your posts often and appreciate your participation on the boards. The only way to "harvest" this money in the casino is with promo chips (you bet with the special chip and when you win they pay you with regular chips) at the table games, dice or roulette wheel. They keep an eye on who is betting these chips (even to the point of not letting my wife play mine). A tray of red ($5) would be $500 while a tray of green ($25) would be $1,250. At a game like 3 card poker or Texas hold-em you could play these chips away in about 45 minutes time and expect a conversion rate of around 60%.

 

So for each $1,000 in promotional chips played you should be cashing around $600 in real chips...

[Bead Pirate]

46 minutes ago, Rickster said:

Do they have any “Top Dollar” slot machines?  Sailing in a couple weeks.  Thanks.

As I recall that is the one with the various bills in a row and when you bonus in all 5 columns they screen expands (if that is the one you are thinking of). They do not have it on the Connie but Royal has it on The Oasis out of PC.

[Bead Pirate]

24 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

This may be a bit off topic but you high rollers may be able to give me some ideas.    We had a problem with OBC from our agent on a B2B and as a concession Celebrity give us the OBC on 2 future cruises of $1,000 per cruise, but unfortunately will be Non-Refundable.  

 

Even though I was a day trader (which I guess is a a gambler) but have not even hit Pearl level yet. 

 

On two upcoming cruises I now have about $2,000 Non-Refundable OBC.   Is it possible to cash out for chips and sell them at a discount to someone who enjoys gambling?   Just curious.   Otherwise if inventory of Apple product has been refreshed I may buy some IPad Pros and resell on EBay.

 

Traveling in RS cuts down ability to spend on dining , laundry etc etc. 

Jim, Day Trading and Shorting are surely forms of gambling 🙂

 

[Jim_Iain]

1 minute ago, Bead Pirate said:

Jim, I see your posts often and appreciate your participation on the boards. The only way to "harvest" this money in the casino is with promo chips (you bet with the special chip and when you win they pay you with regular chips) at the table games, dice or roulette wheel. They keep an eye on who is betting these chips (even to the point of not letting my wife play mine). A tray of red ($5) would be $500 while a tray of green ($25) would be $1,250. At a game like 3 card poker or Texas hold-em you could play these chips away in about 45 minutes time and expect a conversion rate of around 60%.

 

So for each $1,000 in promotional chips played you should be cashing around $600 in real chips...

Thanks.   I appreciate your response.   I am terribly unlucky at gambling and don't even play the penny slots.   I may have to watch some videos on Texas hold-em and 3 card poker as I have no idea what either is.    Someone told me my highest odds were at the crap table, which I know nothing about either.

 

I guess trying to flog them is definitely a no-no.  I didn't realize they watch them so closely.    

 

One of our last cruises with large OBCs we booked a number of Private Journey tours  which may also be an option.

[Rickster]

6 hours ago, Bead Pirate said:

As I recall that is the one with the various bills in a row and when you bonus in all 5 columns they screen expands (if that is the one you are thinking of). They do not have it on the Connie but Royal has it on The Oasis out of PC.

Looks like this

[WonderMan3]

6 hours ago, Bead Pirate said:

Jim, I see your posts often and appreciate your participation on the boards. The only way to "harvest" this money in the casino is with promo chips (you bet with the special chip and when you win they pay you with regular chips) at the table games, dice or roulette wheel. They keep an eye on who is betting these chips (even to the point of not letting my wife play mine). A tray of red ($5) would be $500 while a tray of green ($25) would be $1,250. At a game like 3 card poker or Texas hold-em you could play these chips away in about 45 minutes time and expect a conversion rate of around 60%.

 

So for each $1,000 in promotional chips played you should be cashing around $600 in real chips...

You can also take the credit as a free play for the slots and you get to keep any winnings as you play down the free play amount.

[Jim_Iain]

2 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

You can also take the credit as a free play for the slots and you get to keep any winnings as you play down the free play amount.

Yikes... I tell you i'm not lucky.    I've played the $5.00 free slot credits and haven't even won the $1. I need to qualify for Pearl.   Iain one once and "Re-Invested" his winning and hit Pearl. 

 

This comes from a guy who use to have a partner that was a professional gambler, but that's a story over a drink when I eventually get to buy you a drink.

[WonderMan3]

39 minutes ago, Jim_Iain said:

Yikes... I tell you i'm not lucky.    I've played the $5.00 free slot credits and haven't even won the $1. I need to qualify for Pearl.   Iain one once and "Re-Invested" his winning and hit Pearl. 

 

This comes from a guy who use to have a partner that was a professional gambler, but that's a story over a drink when I eventually get to buy you a drink.

We are following your travel model and doing our first back to back to back next year on Constellation. (32 nights! And surprisingly it was an easy sell with the hubby.) So perhaps that will happen sometime. 😄

[Bead Pirate]

Rebooked on Connie for the 3/7 departure, going to sail as much as we can while the passenger count is this low. Service is unbelievable and pricing for special events/dining is at 35% to 50% off.

 

VC Champagne dinner this evening in Qusine tonight.

 

St Maarten today with casino open at 2 PM while we are still here in Port!

[weregoingcruising]

If all else fails use for gratuities. You will receive mucho love going this route.

[spiritkat090909]

If the OBC is on your ship account, all you need do is download the amount you want to play to a machine, play for a while and cash out. Take the voucher to cage and exchange for cash. Maybe divide the amount between machines and days. Or if you want to try the table games, they charge a 3 or 5% fee (can't remember which, its waived for upper tier blue chip club).  I don't think the machines are charged the fee.

[Jim_Iain]

12 hours ago, WonderMan3 said:

We are following your travel model and doing our first back to back to back next year on Constellation. (32 nights! And surprisingly it was an easy sell with the hubby.) So perhaps that will happen sometime. 😄

It's all in the Sales approach.   We hadn't plan on cruising last September but found we had to use our Free Zenith cruise by the end of they year.   Once we got our head wrapped around it we grew much more comfortable.     After our first post covid cruise we felt so confident we booked our B2B coastal.

 

No regrets.  Being upgraded to a RS on one cruise and the PH on the second sure helped my sales approach. 

[WonderMan3]

6 hours ago, Jim_Iain said:

It's all in the Sales approach.   We hadn't plan on cruising last September but found we had to use our Free Zenith cruise by the end of they year.   Once we got our head wrapped around it we grew much more comfortable.     After our first post covid cruise we felt so confident we booked our B2B coastal.

 

No regrets.  Being upgraded to a RS on one cruise and the PH on the second sure helped my sales approach. 

Ah, so you got some nice bonuses there. We are saving through Blue Chip but it's still pushing the budget for 32 nights in RS for one cruise and PH on the next two. This will be a bit of a make-up vacation though since we had 3 cruises cancelled and moved 2 cruises all due to Covid. It will be our first time sailing since Jan 2019 plus making up for our 25th anniversary cruise that got cancelled last year and hubby's 60th birthday celebration that got cancelled last month and me turning 50 next year. So it'll be a big 'ol celebration!

[JFO23]

Bead Pirate, can you tell me what time your sailing was able to enter the terminal and check in? I received an email today telling me my check in time was from10:30-2:30. From what I had read earlier, the cruise terminal was not even opening in the past until 11:30-12:00. I was already checked in with an arrival time and when I checked that arrival time on the app it was no longer there! Trying to figure out what’s up.