There is no shortage of controversial issues when it comes to casino gambling, and that’s especially true on cruise ships.
For example, smoking has been outlawed or severely restricted in many land-based casinos. Or, in Las Vegas, where smoking is generally allowed in casinos, there are very high ceilings and top-of-the-line ventilation systems to keep the smokiness to a minimum.
On the other hand, cruise ship casinos generally still allow smoking only in relatively confined areas.
Related: Carnival Cruise Line takes strong stand on smoking
Many passengers feel that cruise lines should completely ban indoor smoking, but several major lines, including Carnival and Royal Caribbean, have been resistant to doing so, as every time they’ve tested going smoke-free, gambling revenue drops.
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That is just one example. Others include whether to tip the slot attendant after receiving a hand-pay jackpot or not, and whether drinks should be free for active casino players at all times.
A woman is seen playing a slot machine in a Macau casino.
Image source: Shutterstock
Can you save your seat at a Carnival Cruise casino?
Another controversial casino topic is whether you should be allowed to get up from your slot machine and save your seat.
This is also an issue in land-based casinos, but with thousands of gaming machines in many cases, it tends to be less of a problem. However, in cruise ship casinos, where there are only one or two of each game in some cases, attempting to reserve a popular game can be a source of passenger disagreement.
Carnival Cruise Line’s Brand Ambassador John Heald, recently took to his popular Facebook page to gauge cruisers’ opinions on the matter. He ran a poll, which received about 49,000 votes in just two hours, and there were three options related to the saving of slot machines, specifically when it comes to leaving a note on the machine when taking a restroom break:
“It should not be allowed for people to leave a note on a slot machine that says ‘back in five minutes, toilet break,’ They should be removed by the crew.”“I think it is fine to leave a note that says you’re going on a toilet break on the slot machine, providing you all (are) back in a few minutes and not too long.”“I don’t play the slot machine, so I really don’t have a horse in this particular race John.”
Excluding those respondents who chose the third option (non-gamblers), more people chose the “it should not be allowed” option by a margin of more than three-to-one. In other words, the vast majority of Carnival gamblers don’t think you should be allowed to leave a note to save a slot machine, even for a few minutes.
What would you do?
This isn’t a completely surprising result. Carnival casinos aren’t enormous relative to land-based casino standards and tend to get rather busy at certain times of the day. For example, the Carnival Celebration mega-ship has over 180 slot machines and is one of the larger casinos at sea, but for context, Caesars Palace in Las Vegas has nearly 1,500 gaming machines and is one of dozens of casinos within walking distance of one another.
More Carnival casino news:
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It’s also worth noting that while nothing official says passengers must honor a note left on a slot machine, moving the note and playing on that machine can certainly be a source of trouble between gamblers. So, it’s not surprising that many believe that some sort of official policy would be helpful.
To be sure, leaving a note is only one way to save your seat. As a personal example, if I need a restroom break, I’ll usually send my wife a text message and ask her to come sit in my seat for a few minutes. In some cases, slot attendants and casino hosts might even hold the machine themselves for a few minutes, especially for a frequent gambler.
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