Having the same name as my favorite James Bond novel, the Casino Royale on the Royal Caribbean Harmony of the Seas provides Slots and a limited amount of table games for those cruisers who like to gamble (or just curious on how things work).
It has the main area (over 18,000 square feet), divided into a smoking-allowed and non-smoking section (though there are no barriers so it is smoky in both areas). However, there is a dedicated (very small) non-smoking casino with a few tables and slots. It does have 456 slot machines and 27 gaming tables, making it one of the biggest floating casinos out there.
I learned more about the casino rewards/loyalty program while on the ship. One uses their cruise card as their casino card, tapping it on a machine to signify play. The vast majority of people gambling were playing slots. The slot machine does allow a transfer of funds (up to $5000 a day) from your onboard account (which one settles at the end of the cruise) to the machine being played. Payout is still handled via the cashier, using the typical slips of printed paper that come out of every machine at cash out time.
Points are attained by gambling, amount determined by length and amount. One gets 1 point for every $10 bet over a 1 hour period for table games (like blackjack). A lot faster (and accurate way) is to get 1 point for every $5 wagered on the slot machines. Once you reach 2,500 points for a calendar year (April 1 - March 31), one is considered Prime (there are two more levels above this). This gives free cruise offers, along with free drinks at the casino (up to the discretion of the bartenders, and no more than 2 every 10 minutes) and the ability to transfer money from your shipboard account for no fee (standard members have to pay 5% fee to transfer money for table games). The other thing that is kept track is how many points attained during the cruise. There is a published list of future cruise offers, based on the points attained starting at 400 points. These offers come directly from the casino. But the RC marketing department also uses these member lists to provide various offers throughout the year as well. I gambled more on this ship more than before, so curious what sort of offers will come. read more