In the popular imagination it’s the high-end casinos that play home to these glamorous games, but while they do host some of the greats at venues like The Bellagio in Las Vegas or The Venetian in Macau, one sometimes overlooked place to play a hand or two of Texas Hold ‘Em is on a boat – both the luxury yachts and palatial cruise ships. I will never book with Royal Caribbean, this is just poor customer service.While we all love the idea of a slightly seedy basement poker game being played by crusty old men chomping on cigars, drinking beers and chewing the fat, the games that really capture the imagination are the ones with the glitz and the glamour – the sort of game where you wouldn’t be surprised to see Daniel Craig rock up in a tux. Instead, they processed the payment and I will pay over $200 for the privilege of using their fantastic 24hr hold policy. All they have to do is not confirm and process the payment and it will automatically drop off the Visa. I told them I did not want a refund and I then went through 3-4 different Royal Caribbean booking agents and customer resolution personnel (over a 3 day period), begging them not to refund the payment but to 'not process' the original transaction (it is held for 3 days by your credit card company, so this is easily doable). They told me they would refund my payment. I called back within 8hrs of the original booking when I found out I could not make the cruise work for us.

I was told that they would need the full payment upfront but I had 24hrs to cancel the payment.

I wanted to hold the cruise for 24hrs because there was only one set of side by side rooms available for my kids and my husband and I. Because it is in US funds, you will pay a service fee on your Canadian Visa which you will not get back with a refund (mine is 2.5%, which works out to over $200 on a $8000 cruise package). I will be stuck with hundreds of dollars in service charges because they actually process and then 'refund' the payment they hold for you, instead of cancelling the transaction. I just wanted to share my recent experience with Royal Caribbean and their 24hr hold policy.

Texas holdem royal caribbean cruises