VillainsGin

I actually have a story regarding that and it's what happened that officially changed my paranoid behavior of people stealing my chips. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ SHORY STORY: I was at staying at bellagio in las vegas playing baccarat, had to grab my phone from the room in case my significant other needed to reach me. I came back and noticed immediately half my $100 chip stack was gone. I reported it to the dealer and within 10 minutes, I'm not kidding, they found the guy who took it and my chips were returned WITH complimentary buffet & O show tickets for the inconvenience. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ I then got the chance to talk with the security (not the security you typically see on the floor, he was from upstairs) and he told me they have the highest quality cameras some with 100x zoom and still maintains 1080p quality or 4k while zoomed maxed (some with thermal) and face recognition software that rivals the pentagon. Even if the culprit got away and they verified your chips were indeed stolen they would recoup your losses and 100% give you complimentary services or credit. He told me the #1 policy they always have to get right "is keeping the faith of the gamblers" Every since then I pray someone steals my chips so I can get my chips recouped AND free stuff from the business lol

I've always left my chips on the table when using the restroom and never even mentioned to the dealer. I think there is a reasonable time limit they would allow you to step away for restroom breaks but obviously nothing more than an hour? On busy nights they would put a transparent cover over my chips but on slower days I haven't seen them use the cover much. regardless the chips are always safe and i don't even bother to let any dealers know when i step away.

I just got of my sailing on wonder OTS and can confirm if you have chips from other ships or stamped with other ships logo they will exchange it to the generic royal caribbean chips at the cashier cage no questions asked. I had chips stamped with icon ots and harmony ots and they exchanged it for the royal caribbean general chips (universal chips) which makes it easier in case i forget to cash them again.

craps minimum on wonder ots was $5 when slower and during peak hours it was $10 minimum. If you're on any of the table before minimum is raise they will honor it until you finish your session. for me it was honored the entire day until they closed LOL i never got off aside from restroom breaks.

I actually have few hundreds' in chips i forgot to cash out on icon of the seas, they are all marked "icon of the seas" as well. I'm going to attempt smiling at the cashier first to see if they're able to exchange it for me, if not then maybe just do your method and see. Ideally they should have zero problems in the first place exchanging chips within their own organization regardless of the ships. Vegas as similar model where their chips are applicable through all their chains but not competitors.

The high limit area was extremely small and underwhelming on my inaugural cruise for Icon of the Seas, they did say they were still in the process of including more games/tables. At the time of my sailing they were waiting for a poker table they had ordered. Excited to sail back on icon in the near future regardless!

I just got off wonder of the seas and i can assure you that hairspray is definitely still allowed on the ships with zero issues. I brought this full size hairspray below for reference.

Drinks are free at vegas but not at every hotel, it's starting to get phased out due to greed. Free drinks are only provided to those actively gambling on the floor of larger casinos like bellagio, venetian/palazzo, wynn etc

It's valid and technically true during operational hours. During the closure of the casino during port days or when leaving port, I haven't seen them enforce this at all when smoking there. Perhaps I'm lucky and it's acceptable if just a few are doing it, I've usually been the only one there during closing sometimes with a few other smokers. Assuming not all the smokers swarm the casino during closing time to smoke it'll be our secret place lol

i could have sworn the same thing as well hence why i played it safe and said "not all ships have smoking but do research"

I have secret tip for smoking if you want somewhere indoors with the comfort of AC and a nice chair is the casino! It seems pretty obvious but people don't know the casino is open 24/7 even when in port and the machines are disabled the casino is still open. Which means the circulation are on for the smoking section of the casino (not all casinos have a smoking section, so you'll have to research your specific ship but most do) WHEN I use to smoke I would just go to the casino since outside in the bahamas was way too uncomfortable for me. I guess its preference but to reiterate, if your casino has a smoking section you can smoke in there regardless if the casino is "open" or not. When they casino is closed it just means there's no staff or service and the slots are disabled.

Honestly every time I get the royal up offer I just do 1 tick above the lowest offer for all the available rooms for upgrade. (assuming most people just casually do the lowest tick, I figured if I did 1 tick above the lowest it'll increase my odds of winning the upgrade) I set it and forget it just like stocks and once in a while I actually get upgraded, it's a nice surprise but otherwise I am content with the current cabin I'm in. You'll usually have all this happen months before your sailing date and they'll automatically send new travel documents for your upgraded room. *after payment goes through for the bid you've made*

Now you got me going down the rabbit hole of where these oysters are being sourced and regulated from. I just assumed the seafood would be fresh since you know, we're on a cruise ship surrounded by the ocean, I assumed it doesn't get any fresher than that. But all these inputs really helps me make a decision to see if hooked seafood is worth it or maybe try a different dining option.

definitely appreciate your experience at hooked, it's definitely conflicting since the reviews are so polarizing. i'll roll the dice this one time and fiddle with my oyster customization to see if i find the right combination for me. I had no idea you can have your oysters prepared, i assumed they just come shucked so that is really good to know!

I'll book hooked seafood and try to push for multiple entrees and appetizers. will definitely report back my results, fingers crossed they don't! see how many half dozens they would allow me to have before pushing back haha