So this is our (my wife and I) 4th cruise with Royal Caribbean in 18 months. We were on Allure, Explorer, Serenade and most recently Oasis. I love the larger ships. People who say that large ships are too busy make no sense to me. Cruises are busy by nature. It's a vacation, have fun. I'm also a frequent visitor of Las Vegas. My wife and I go 3 to 5 times a year, we love the food, the environment and we love to play craps. So, a cruise is a bonus for us, we get to sail around and play craps while heading to the next destination. Well, until this cruise. We know the odds on a cruise aren't as good as they are in Vegas, no problem, we get it. However, it seems that Royal has instituted some new, more stringent rules at the craps table.

When we walked up to the table the first thing the Stick Man said was "the dice must hit the back of the table". That's a rule everywhere, mostly designed to keep "professional dice throwers" from getting the momentum of the dice to die when they hit the table, thereby increasing the odds. I can say for certain, someone who is looking to run a scam at a craps table would go to Vegas, not on a cruise. In Vegas you can play craps at hundreds of tables, on a ship you have one or two tables max. Occasionally, in Vegas, if the dice don't hit the back of the table they'll warn you and let you keep throwing. If one of the dice hits no one says a thing. Not on Royal. Now if both dice don't touch, "No Roll!" they yell. That kills the momentum and fun at a table. So my wife and I decided to make a concerted effort to make sure both dice hit the back, they way we throw dice is almost a light lob. Next thing I hear is "Too High!" No Roll!". Wait...what? Now it's too high? I thought he was kidding. I've never heard that in Vegas and I've seen some people toss dice like they were playing slow pitch softball. So I ask this Stick Man (a different one from the first time). He tells me the throw can't be above eye level. Who's eye level? He's 5'6" at best, I'm a touch over 6'2". I'm told it's his eye level. Now I have to focus on his eye level and make sure they hit the back of wall. Forget it. We gave up and played Blackjack the rest of the cruise.

I can only assume someone took Royal for some money and they decided to enforce these rules. They should take a lesson from Vegas as Vegas has much looser rules and they didn't build those billion dollar casinos because they lose. Read more