Alaska Cruise-When is the casino open?

[lostone65]

I have searched this forum and the internet, and I can't find recent actual cruisers who can tell me when the casino is open on an Alaska cruise, there is a lot of guessing but not actual firsthand knowledge.  My husband and cruise yearly and even though we live an hour and half from the Seattle cruise terminal we have yet to sail to Alaska but we are looking to book this summer on the Bliss to Alaska.  Is the casino open on an Alaska cruise like it is on a Caribbean or Mexican Riveria cruise, open shortly after leaving each port and closed while in port of course?  I would love to hear from recent Alaska cruisers who are casino cruisers as things change over the years as we noticed on our recent (just disembarked Sunday) cruise from NOLA where the casino opened as soon as we pushed away from the dock in NOLA and every post stop there was no 3/12 mile wait for international waters rule.  Thanks!

[MoCruiseFan]

The casino is open when the ship is in international waters.  On overnight ports it is open in the evening only, usually about 4:00 or later is the opening time those days..

[ChiefMateJRK]

32 minutes ago, MoCruiseFan said:

On overnight ports it is open in the evening only

Overnight ports on an AK cruise?   What are those?

[BirdTravels]

56 minutes ago, lostone65 said:

I have searched this forum and the internet, and I can't find recent actual cruisers who can tell me when the casino is open on an Alaska cruise, there is a lot of guessing but not actual firsthand knowledge.  My husband and cruise yearly and even though we live an hour and half from the Seattle cruise terminal we have yet to sail to Alaska but we are looking to book this summer on the Bliss to Alaska.  Is the casino open on an Alaska cruise like it is on a Caribbean or Mexican Riveria cruise, open shortly after leaving each port and closed while in port of course?  I would love to hear from recent Alaska cruisers who are casino cruisers as things change over the years as we noticed on our recent (just disembarked Sunday) cruise from NOLA where the casino opened as soon as we pushed away from the dock in NOLA and every post stop there was no 3/12 mile wait for international waters rule.  Thanks!

Yes. The casino is open.

 

On departure from Seattle, the casino won't open until you are out of Washington State and Canadian waters. So, it will open between 8:30 pm and 9:00 pm.

 

During the cruise, the casino will be open shortly after leaving each port.

 

On return, the casino is normally closed on the last day as you approach and enter Canadian and Washington State waters for arrival in Victoria. 

[lostone65]

22 minutes ago, BirdTravels said:

Yes. The casino is open.

 

On departure from Seattle, the casino won't open until you are out of Washington State and Canadian waters. So, it will open between 8:30 pm and 9:00 pm.

 

During the cruise, the casino will be open shortly after leaving each port.

 

On return, the casino is normally closed on the last day as you approach and enter Canadian and Washington State waters for arrival in Victoria. 

Thanks so much, great to hear the casino will operate mostly as normal!  4-5 hours seems pretty fast to get out of Washington and Canadian waters from my experience on our boat in the Sound.   Have you been on an Alaska cruise recently?  Any tips for side of the ship to book our stateroom?  Looking forward to cruising without having to travel for the first time but hard to give up a week of our precious PNW summer which is why we haven't cruised Alaska before!

[YVRteacher]

Are you cruising out of Seattle, Vancouver or Seward?  Is there a specific port you’re wondering about or more general casino hours? I have dailies and can look up the times.

On the Encore this past summer, we left Seattle at 5:30pm and the casino opened at 8:30pm.

[BirdTravels]

1 minute ago, lostone65 said:

Thanks so much, great to hear the casino will operate mostly as normal!  4-5 hours seems pretty fast to get out of Washington and Canadian waters from my experience on our boat in the Sound.   Have you been on an Alaska cruise recently?  Any tips for side of the ship to book our stateroom?  Looking forward to cruising without having to travel for the first time but hard to give up a week of our precious PNW summer which is why we haven't cruised Alaska before!

If you are cruising later in the season to the Dawes glacier, it is better to be on the port side. It is actually better to be out on deck from the time you leave Juneau until you get to the glacier, but if you're in your room for  while, the port side will have more views. Other than that, you are far out to sea moving from/to Seattle to Alaska and once in the fjords, either side is o.k. 

 

We normally spend a lot of time out on our balcony in the evening watching for sea life (whales, dolphin, etc.). 

 

I am attaching three links below so you can see some of the Dailies. These are my live posts from Alaska cruises: 2021 Encore to Alaska (no Canadian stop due to COVID restrictions); 2019 Joy to Alaska; 2018 Bliss to Alaska. In 2022, we sailed to Alaska on RCL (oops). 

 

 

 

 

[SomewhereGirl]

If your sailing includes Glacier Bay, the casino is closed while in Glacier Bay.

[lostone65]

On 12/15/2022 at 9:47 PM, YVRteacher said:

Are you cruising out of Seattle, Vancouver or Seward?  Is there a specific port you’re wondering about or more general casino hours? I have dailies and can look up the times.

On the Encore this past summer, we left Seattle at 5:30pm and the casino opened at 8:30pm.

We will cruise out of Seattle, looking to for the times the casino is open throughout the cruise as I have received conflicting information from multiple people.  Thanks so much!

[lostone65]

On 12/15/2022 at 9:57 PM, BirdTravels said:

If you are cruising later in the season to the Dawes glacier, it is better to be on the port side. It is actually better to be out on deck from the time you leave Juneau until you get to the glacier, but if you're in your room for  while, the port side will have more views. Other than that, you are far out to sea moving from/to Seattle to Alaska and once in the fjords, either side is o.k. 

 

We normally spend a lot of time out on our balcony in the evening watching for sea life (whales, dolphin, etc.). 

 

I am attaching three links below so you can see some of the Dailies. These are my live posts from Alaska cruises: 2021 Encore to Alaska (no Canadian stop due to COVID restrictions); 2019 Joy to Alaska; 2018 Bliss to Alaska. In 2022, we sailed to Alaska on RCL (oops). 

 

 

 

 

This is great thank you! We plan to sail on the Bliss and I will look for a port side cabin.