Casino Cruise ships collapse

Four casino cruise ships in the USA, three run by SunCruz Casinos and one run by Las Vegas Casino lines, have ceased operations.

A couple of years ago Florida was packed with ships like these who enjoyed the attentions of tens of thousands of visitors who came to play card games or tackle the slot machines but they have all fallen into financial disaster, along with a third line Sterling Cruise – the first two are seeking bankruptcy protection but the third has already ceased operation in a sea of money woes. One of the two remaining Florida-based gambling boats, Palm Beach Princess, has also just filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy.

Why has it all gone wrong? Three reasons:

There is less disposable income around so gamblers are spending less and not splurging in a single trip. People who were willing to spend disposable income on a casino ship have now decided that they’d rather take a real cruise and gamble in the casino on board, as at least they are getting sights and service along with their blackjack or poker. Land based casinos in the USA are highly competitive now, because Florida has changed the rules to allow such casinos to offer card games which were previously the preserve of the cruise ships only.

However, it’s not all bad news for Florida, even if all the casino ships go, there could still be a record cruise income for the ports along the state, because passenger cruise ships are using it more than ever before.