Caribbean Casino Cruises

Pretty much everyone knows what a cruise is, even if you haven’t been on one. What you might not realise is the fact that there are different specialist cruises that are aimed at people who like certain types of things, such as the Disney Cruises for fans of Mickey Mouse and friends. If you are someone who likes casinos and the Caribbean, you might well fancy spending some time on a Caribbean casino cruise. Here is what you need to know:

Common Routes

As you might imagine, there are certain routes that cruise ships tend to stick to in the Caribbean. There are numerous reasons for this, not the least of which is the fact that not all of the islands in the Caribbean have ports, nor the infrastructure to be able to cope with thousands of people arriving all at once. Whilst it is not exactly unheard of for a cruise ship to depart from Southampton and head to the Caribbean, known as a ‘no-fly’ cruise, most of the time you will take a flight from an airport out to a destination that makes it easier to embark on your cruise. One of the most common ones involves flying to Barbados to begin your cruise.

Eastern Caribbean

It is also possible to head out to the United States of America before beginning your cruise of the Caribbean, which is particularly common if you’re taking on the Eastern Caribbean. You could leave from Florida or Puerto Rico, for example, as well as Boston, Manhattan, Brooklyn, New Jersey, Baltimore, Virginia or South Carolina. The good news is that you don’t need to worry about which port you will be sailing from, given the fact that this information is made clear when you make your booking. What you need to do is work out where you would like to end up sailing to once you’ve actually arrived in the Caribbean.

Eastern Caribbean cruises tend to take in the US Virgin Islands, St. Martin, the British Virgin Islands, the aforementioned Puerto Rico and Grand Turk. If you get one of the smaller ships, you might also find yourself stopping at the likes of St. Barts, Antigua, Anguilla, Les Saintes and Dominica. Even quieter islands such as Virgin Gorda can be visited on the right ship. The key here is to work out which islands you’d like to visit whilst you’re in the Caribbean, then look to see which of the many cruise lines call there as part of their itinerary. This may, of course, involve seeing which islands have casinos that you can head to whilst you’re there.

Western Caribbean

If you have ever been to the Caribbean, it is likely that you’ve already got your favourite area to head to on a cruise ship. For many, that might well be the Western Caribbean, with its selection of areas most people will have heard of. Most ships will embark from places like Miami, Fort Lauderdale, Port Canaveral, Tampa, New Orleans, Galveston or Houston in the United States of America. One of the main places that those cruises head to is Mexico’s Yucatán Peninsula, which can result in you calling at the likes of Cozumel and the Mayan ruins at Tulum. You can even do a day trip to Chichen Itza, although casinos are limited there.

Other stops on the cruise will take in Honduras, Belize and Grand Cayman, as well as Jamaica. One of the things to bear in mind here is that the bigger ports can see thousands of people there at the same time. It is not out of the realms of the possible for as many as 10,000 cruise passengers to arrive into Cozumel on a single day, so if you aren’t someone that likes a busy environment, then that might not be for you. If you’re doing the cruise purely to head to various island casinos, however, then you’re likely to be okay. Whilst there will definitely be some other people on the ship doing the same thing, most won’t be.

Southern Caribbean

If the idea of flying into the United States doesn’t appeal, for whatever reason, then you might want to think about going to the Southern Caribbean instead. That is because the cruises that take in that part of the world will often head off on their journeys from Barbados, St. Martin or Puerto Rico, avoiding the US-based ports altogether. That obviously makes it significantly more convenient for American passengers, given that the Southern Caribbean takes in islands that are popular with those that have decided to get away from the States for a nice holiday. The cruises hitting this part of the Caribbean are often longer than elsewhere.

Southern Caribbean cruises are often said to hit the ‘ABC’ islands, thanks to the fact that they will sail to Aruba, Bonaire and Curaçao. The journey isn’t limited to those three places, however, with St. Lucia, Grenada and Barbados also on the list. You can also find some cruises that will head to some parts of Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, like Bequia and Mayreau. Again, the best thing that you can do if you want to make the right choice of cruise for you is to check out both where they sail to and what is on offer on those islands, given the fact that not all of them will have casinos, which might make them a wasted trip for you.

Casino Islands to Aim For

Now that you know which routes are likely to take you to specific islands, it is worth a quick mention of the best islands to aim for if a casino stop is all you’re interested in. We aren’t going to labour the point here, though, instead getting right down to it:

• Aruba
• The Bahamas
• Puerto Rico
• Dominican Republic
• St. Martin
• Curacao
• St. Kitts & Nevis
• Antigua & Barbuda
• Antilles
• Bonaire
• Jamaica
• US Virgin Islands
• Turks & Caicos
• Punta Cana
• Barbados
• Guadalupe
• Haiti
• Martinique
• Saint Lucia
• Saint Vincent & the Grenadines
• Trinidad & Tobago

Onboard Casinos

Whilst a casino cruise is ideal in the Caribbean because of the islands that it is likely to take in and the fact that they will have casinos on land for you to spend some time in, there are numerous people out there that want to be able to place a bet whenever they feel like it. If that is the category that you fit into, you are doubtless going to want to ensure that the ship that you opt to sail on offers guests an onboard casino. As with the ships themselves, not all onboard casinos are created equal. It is worth noting that some cruise lines have casinos on every ship that they run, but others will only have a casino on the bigger ships in their line.

The truth is that the vast majority of large ships will have a casino, whilst plenty of the smaller ones will also boast one. Something worth making note of is the fact that the aforementioned Disney Cruise Line doesn’t have a casino on any of its ships, which isn’t all that surprising when you consider the fact that it is largely aimed at the family market. Viking is another cruise operator that has chosen to forgo the ability to have casinos on its ships, whilst many expedition ships also won’t have one. The Pride of America, which is a Norwegian Cruise Line ship, doesn’t offer a casino either, so is one to avoid.

Games

The likelihood is that if you are on a cruise ship that has a casino, it will have slot machines. These are the easiest things for casinos to maintain, so there will often be several on offer, even if the casino itself is quite small. Most onboard casinos will also have at least one table game on offer, with the larger ones promising several. That means that you can expect to take part in blackjack games or even roulette, with the poker games that have become popular in recent times also available on board. Most Caribbean Royal ships have dealer-dealt games available, as do a lot of ships that belong to the Norwegian Cruise Line.

Hours

In terms of when you can visit the onboard casino, the answer is that they will mostly be open at night and when you’re at sea. Some countries allow cruise ships to open their casinos when they’re in port, but it will depend entirely on the country’s gambling laws. Casinos are also occasionally open in the day, but most cruise operators know that the majority of people want to do something else during the day time and close them accordingly. The minimum age you need to be to head to the casino is 18, but some lines increase that to 21. Unlike in cities such as Las Vegas, you’re not going to get free drinks whilst you gamble either.

Loyalty Schemes, Casino Comps & Free Cruises

If you have ever spent any time in a casino on land, one of the things you will no doubt have noticed that they generally offer are loyalty schemes. These are designed to get you to spend most of your time placing your bets in the same casino chain, rather than heading off to one of their competitors. There is a similar thing at play on cruise ships, which is usually a separate entity than the loyalty program offered on the cruise itself. That is to say, if you’ve been told that you will benefit from sailing with the same cruise line every time you are at sea, that is different to any scheme looking to persuade you to place bets in the casino.

Loyalty Points

Instead, the more money that you bet, the more loyalty points you will rack up. The idea behind this is to get you to spend enough money to mean that you will be able to get some free drinks, for example, or other such benefits. You might be able to get onboard spending money that you can put towards an outing, say, or even spend enough to be given a ‘free’ cruise as a reward. Each cruise line will have its own loyalty scheme, which will work in a different way to the others. That includes whether you’ll be able to transfer any points earned off the ship and onto the next one that you sail on, so it is worth researching that.

Rewards Schemes

There are some cruise lines that have rewards schemes that are available on all of their ships, but that see the points that you’ve earned expire at the end of the cruise. This is important to remember if you have a decent amount of points, given the fact that you will have to redeem them before you disembark. You don’t want to be in a situation whereby you have a wealth of different points but lose them all because you didn’t realise that they don’t carry over. Which cruise line offers the best scheme will depend on what you want to get out of it, so make sure to read the small print before you book your casino cruise trip.

Limited Stakes

One thing that is worth bearing in mind is the fact that most cruise ships will not have high stakes tables, instead allowing the amount of high stakes customers on board to dictate whether or not the pit boss will allow a game to be arranged. Generally speaking, though, table games will be limited stakes. You can definitely keep your eye out for if there will be some form of tournament on board the cruise ship that you’re sailing on, which will usually require a buy-in and will often be well advertised. You will usually be playing for money, but some cruise lines offer the winner a free cruise, sometimes to take place in a tournament final.