Carnival Radiance Casino

I just got back from a wonderful four-day cruise aboard the Carnival Radiance. The journey took us to Catalina and Ensenada over three nights. Naturally, the ship featured a casino, which I'll share my thoughts on in this newsletter.

Machines

When first-time cruisers ask me for tips, I always recommend these two essentials:

• Don’t do the excursions.
• Don’t play the slots in the casino.

Cruise ship casinos are infamous for tightening the payout settings on their slot machines as much as possible, and it’s not just them—airports in Las Vegas and Reno do the same. This practice relies on a simple concept: a captive audience. You can gauge how generous a casino might be with its traditional slots based on the configurations of their video poker and video keno options.

Video Keno

That being said, the video keno options were set at or near the lowest returns available. The only game offered was a 25-cent spot keno. Here are the potential returns based on different picks. Without a comparison point, it’s worth noting that IGT allows their video keno settings to have a return-to-player percentage (RTP) from 84% to 94% for most of their games. Clearly, the returns here are on the lower side, and if you choose to play, the best RTP you can find is 86.43% with ten picks.

Pick	Return
2	86.08%
3	84.66%
4	85.97%
5	85.79%
6	84.96%
7	85.33%
8	84.57%
9	84.25%
10	86.43%

Video Poker

The selection of video poker machines was limited, featuring Game Makers that offered games with bet sizes ranging from 25 cents to $2. The payout tables were consistent across all denominations, as detailed below.

Game	Pay Table	Return
Bonus Poker	8,5,3,1	94.18%
Double Bonus	7,5	93.11%
Jacks or Better	6,5	95.00%
Double Double Bonus	6,5	94.66%
Triple Double Bonus	7,5	94.92%
Deuces Wild	20,10,8,4,3,2,2	93.11%

Similar to video keno, the video poker situation wasn’t great. If you’re set on playing, the premier return is 95.00% when you select the 6-5 variant of Jacks or Better.

Table Games

The table game lineup was quite standard, prominently featuring titles from Galaxy Gaming. Below are the games that were offered.

Blackjack

The blackjack tables adhered to the following guidelines:

• Eight decks
• Dealer hits soft 17
• Dealer peeks for blackjack
• Double after split allowed
• Re-splitting aces not allowed
• Surrender not allowed

Blackjack pays out at 3-2 on tables with a $25 minimum bet and 6-5 on tables with a $10 minimum.

The house advantage stands at 0.66% for the $25 tables and 2.02% for the $10 tables.

Ultimate Fun 21

This variant of blackjack, inspired by Spanish 21, includes the following rules:

• Eight decks
• Dealer hits soft 17
• No kings in the deck
• A blackjack automatically wins and pays out at 3-2.
• Achieving a total of 21 points results in an automatic win, except when facing a dealer blackjack.
• Players are allowed to double down on any number of cards.
• Early surrender is permitted on the first two cards.
• The double down rescue option allows players to surrender after doubling their bet.
• Re-splitting aces allowed
• Draw to split aces allowed
• 6-7-8 and 7-7-7 pay 3-2

Initial analysis suggests that these rules confer a house edge of around 0.58%. I plan to create a dedicated page for this game shortly.

Other Games

• Craps rules allow 2x odds on bets, feature a less favorable field bet, and have 15/30 hop bets available. However, the table was open for limited hours only.
• Roulette – Double-zero
• Heads-up Hold 'em comes with a different strategy requirement, along with a significantly higher house edge compared to Ultimate Texas Hold 'Em, so be cautious.
• Three Card Prime is akin to Three Card Poker but includes additional side betting options.
• I was astonished to see Let It Ride still available on the cruise ship, as it has been declining in popularity.

General Information

Unfortunately, I didn't find a fun book in my cabin, which is something I've come to expect from NCL cruise ships. The player’s room key also doubled as a player card. When I inquired about new player incentives, I learned they reward based on previous play records.

Regrettably, drinks were not included for free. According to the Carnival website, casino players can achieve a status for complimentary drinks, but as a new player, I didn't qualify for that. A beer cost $10, while a vodka and tonic was priced at $12. Both drinks were of bar quality, matching typical bar prices.

The staff appeared well-trained, and the atmosphere was vibrant and cheerful.

I engaged in about two hours of Heads-Up Hold 'Em at a $5 ante. While it might not be the smartest wager in the casino, it provides a slower rate of play and generally offers better comps than blackjack. Excluding craps, which was mostly closed, it may have been the slowest method to lose money during table gaming.

Written by: Michael Shackleford