Carnival Cruise Line and Bally’s Corporation will allow Bally’s Rewards members to claim exclusive cruise benefits when they board Carnival ships that will only be available to them.

Bally’s Rewards on Casino Cruises

The partnership launched on Thursday, and it covers three tiers of the Bally’s Rewards program specifically Legend, SuperStar, and Star, as it seeks to create a unique onboard experience that ties back into the casino partner, and thus builds strong synergies and opportunities for both businesses.

The new perks will include complimentary cruises, various discounts, and special events that will be hosted exclusively for Bally’s Rewards members for the time being, although how big these events would be remains to be seen.

Commenting on this opportunity, Carnival Corporation’s SVP of global casino operations, Marty Goldman, said that the company was fully committed to its proprietary Carnival Players Club, which together with Bally’s partnership, would reach new heights.

“We have plenty of fun to go around across our fleet, so we’re excited to bring Bally’s on board with us and look forward to growing this unique partnership,” Goldman added.

The partnership was naturally hailed by Bally’s SVP of gaming Mike Donovan who said that the collaboration essentially ties together two industry leaders, allowing them to offer customers Bally’s gaming experience and the unmatched hospitality and entertainment treatment they will find at Carnival Cruise Line.

This collaboration brings together two industry leaders, combining the excitement of Bally’s gaming experience with the unparalleled entertainment and hospitality of Carnival Cruise Line. Together, we will create unforgettable experiences for our guests, both on land and at sea.

Bally’s SVP of gaming Mike Donovan

In the meantime, players looking to accumulate points and inch up the loyalty pecking order may do so across 17 nationwide casino resorts that will help you stack up your points at any of the properties so long as you are a member.

Casino Gaming on the High Seas

More cruise companies are also toying with the idea of adding gaming floors as part of their offers, with cruise casinos making a return and attracting casual travelers as well as dedicated gamblers who have stepped onboard to spend their time on the high seas specifically playing games of chance.

Princess Cruises announced in December that the company is rolling out its largest casino to date onboard one of its vessels. More news about casino floors setting up shop on cruise ships is forthcoming.

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An Australian man has taken his own life after accumulating debts in a cruise ship’s casino, Daily Mail reported. Safer gambling experts believe that Dixon’s suicide could have been prevented if the ship provider had provided adequate duty of care.

Shane Dixon, 50, jumped to his death as the ship approached Sydney. A father of three children, the man racked up a debt of AUD 4,000 in the shipboard casino. His family believes that the stress caused by the debt has led him to take his own life.

In an interview with Daily Mail Australia, Scott Dixon, Shane’s brother, said that the deceased man must have panicked.

His brain was probably going 100 miles an hour. He probably thought, “s***, I’ve done it again, I can’t afford it and I can’t ask mum for more money.“

Scott Dixon

Scott and the two men’s mother were aboard the Pacific Adventure together. The ship is owned and operated by P&O Australia, which was hosting an Elvis-themed cruise. Everything had been going well before Shane entered the shipboard casino.

Scott explained that his brother had been struggling financially for a while. The man had also been dealing with a broken marriage and the passing of their father and third brother. Scott believes that the casino might have incentivized Shane to play, taking advantage of his vulnerabilities.

The Casino Failed to Protect the Player

Australia’s Alliance for Gambling Reform weighed in on the matter. Carol Bennett, CEO of the organization, believes that Pacific Adventure has failed to provide Shane with sufficient duty of care. Bennett said that the fact that Pacific Adventure allowed something like that to happen is “really concerning.”

The rules that might apply on land no longer seem to apply and yet you would expect this cruise line would have some kind of duty of care to ensure that people are not plied with inducements, promotions and advertisements that are pushing them to gamble to extremely harmful levels.

Carol Bennett, CEO, Alliance for Gambling Reform

Since cruise ships operate casinos in international waters, they can bypass regional regulations and requirements. To make matters worse, some such ships’ gambling can be charged to their room bill, making it easier to overspend.

Bennett said that cruise ships should adopt at least some basic harm prevention measures, such as loss limits. If they don’t then governments would really need to address the matter, Bennett added.

The Alliance for Gambling Reform CEO added that problem gambling is a huge issue in Australia and is affecting millions of families.  

VIP Member Says P&O Cruises’ Casinos Are Predatory

An anonymous high-roller who is a member of P&O Cruises’ VIP casino program, tipped Daily Mail off that the cruise company uses “predatory” strategies to promote its gambling products. While the player said that he always plans his spending carefully, he added that many players, especially vulnerable ones, will not.

They are essentially offshore casinos that come and pick people up from shore and take them out to international waters to gamble. If you don’t have the means to pay and you have an issue, there is no one to stop you so you can rack up a large amount of debt.

P&O high-roller

A P&O spokesperson told Daily Mail Australia that the company prefers to refrain from commenting on this tragic event while a coroner’s investigation is carried out. The representative, however, reassured the news outlet that her company’s casinos have Responsible Conduct of Gaming Policies in place across all ships and take them very seriously. The spokesperson concluded that her team would cooperate with the investigation.

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The famous American cruise line owned by Carnival Corporation, Princess Cruises, announced that it is preparing to launch its largest-ever casino at Sun Princess, its newest and most magnificent cruise ship ever. The company revealed Tuesday that its new cruise ship is expected to set sail next year in February. Currently, Sun Princess is under construction at the Fincantieri shipyard in Italy. Aboard the ship will be Princess Cruises’ new casino, offering high 10′ ceilings and a wide range of live table games and slot machines.

The casino will take approximately 9,000 square feet, making it 50% larger than Princess Cruises’ casinos at its Royal Class ships. Moreover, the Princess Casino will feature 30% more machines as well, promising to deliver exceptional experiences for people on vacation who want to participate in gambling activities.

The new casino will be located on Sun Princess’ eight deck, positioned next to the ship’s bustling Piazza. Promising world-class gaming comfort and entertainment, the casino offers some gaming slots that are “infused into the Piazza,” granting guests an easy way to engage in casino gambling.

Overall, the Princess Casino onboard Sun Princess is expected to offer 227 of the most popular video poker and slot games. Further gaming amenities are going to include 13 live tables, as well as a designated “Buffalo Zone,” offering exceptional hits from Aristocrat, the leading provider of casino games. Guests onboard Sun Princess can expect new linked blackjack and poker table progressives that will have mouth-watering top prizes.

For high-rollers, the casino will offer a high-limit slot area along with high-end seating. According to Princess Cruises, its guests can expect new “gaming experiences and celebrations through an interactive audio-visual experience throughout the casino.”

The Luxurious Cruise Ship Promises to Offer Supreme Holiday Experiences

Overall, Sun Princess will offer accommodation for 4,300 guests. Besides the casino, the cruise ship will offer other exciting entertainment and fine dining options. The luxurious ship will have the most balconies and sun decks out of any Princess Cruises ship so far, offering guests exceptional views of the crystal-clear waters of the Caribbean and Mediterranean.

“Casino lovers, high rollers or simply those wanting to try a hand during their vacation will be stunned by the new Princess Casino onboard Sun Princess.“

John Padgett, president of Princess Cruises

John Padgett, Princess Cruises’ president, spoke about the unique experiences Princess Casino will offer not only for high rollers but also for guests who want to try their luck. He said that the company is delighted to deliver new casino experiences for its guests. Finally, Padgett spoke about the exciting entertainment and world-class options that are going to be available at Princess Cruises’ newest cruise ship.

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At the start of August, 18 months after its collapse, the Crystal Cruises line was brought back to life with the much-anticipated debut of its first pair of renovated ships. 

Parent company A&K Travel Group, which acquired Crystal Serenity and Crystal Symphony along with a few assets in 2022, also spoke about their plans to build four additional cruise ships. Two of the ships would be designed for expedition purposes while the other two would be used for ocean exploration.

Now, the line that is mostly popular in the US for the time being, has also expressed its plans to restore the two casinos that were an integral part of two of the largest cruise ships belonging to operator Crystal Cruises by Q3 2024.

Active Talks with a Concessionaire 

A Crystal spokeswoman clarified that the management of the line was currently involved in conversations with a concessionaire regarding the way they could bring back the two casinos that were removed from the two ships during refurbishment.

A&K Travel Group’s chief executive officer, Cristina Levis, spoke about the space occupied by the casinos which was, in their opinion, “too big”. Using a survey of the original line’s past guests, Crystal’s new management tried to establish the best course of action for the massive space left vacant by the removal of the casinos from the two cruise liners that were auctioned off on June 7, 2022. 

According to the results of the survey, only 5% of them would refuse to sail on a cruise ship that does not have a functioning casino. The findings were presented to travel advisors during Serenity’s inaugural sail that took place on July 31 from Marseille for a Mediterranean cruise.

In response, travel advisors spoke about the importance of a casino on board for many of their guests, thus convincing CEO Levis to rethink the new line’s strategy and start looking for solutions.

Symphony’s shakedown cruise that sailed on September 1 from Athens via the Mediterranean, Northern Europe, Canada, New England, Alaska, the Caribbean, the Middle East, Asia, Australia, and New Zealand. 

Levis took the opportunity to express her new plans to address the issue of the missing casinos on the two ships while also mentioning the existence of a potential location for the two gambling spaces. The new location would not take up as much space as the previous casinos. 

The Casinos, Currently Replaced with Lounges

At the moment, the original casino spaces on the ships were replaced with lounge spaces, with further management plans of turning them into show kitchens where cooking demonstrations would take place. 

Previously owned by Genting Hong Kong, Crystal Cruises escaped bankruptcy and liquidation last year. Its comeback in 2023 under the new ownership of Heritage Group via A&K Travel Group Ltd. and the management of VShips Leisure is expected to usher in a new era of “Exceptional Suites, Exceptional Service, Exceptional Dining, and Exceptional Experiences.”

In March, Crystal and Signature Travel Network inked an agreement that would turn the latter into the cruise line’s pioneer strategic sales and marketing supplier.

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