SunCruz Casinos was one of many cruise lines that offered "cruises to nowhere," legally transporting passengers into

international waters The terms international waters or transboundary waters apply where any of the following types of bodies of water (or their drainage basins) transcend international boundaries: oceans, large marine ecosystems, enclosed or semi-enclosed regiona ...

beyond the reach of federal and state gambling laws. Four ships operated out of four ports including

Jacksonville Jacksonville is a city located on the Atlantic coast of northeast Florida, the most populous city proper in the state and is the List of United States cities by area, largest city by area in the contiguous United States as of 2020. It is the co ...

(''SunCruz VII''),

Key Largo Key Largo ( es, Cayo Largo) is an island in the upper Florida Keys archipelago and is the largest section of the keys, at long. It is one of the northernmost of the Florida Keys in Monroe County, and the northernmost of the keys connected b ...

(''SunCruz I''),

Myrtle Beach Myrtle Beach is a resort city on the east coast of the United States in Horry County, South Carolina. It is located in the center of a long and continuous stretch of beach known as "The Grand Strand" in the northeastern part of the state. Its ...

(''SunCruz VIII''), and

Port Canaveral Port Canaveral is a cruise, cargo, and naval port in Brevard County, Florida, United States. It is one of the busiest cruise ports in the world with 4.5 million cruise passengers passing through during 2016. Over 5.4 million tonnes of bulk car ...

(''SunCruz XII''). On December 16, 2009, SunCruz Casinos was reported to be closing amid reports of owing $300,000 to the Canaveral Port Authority. Parent company Ocean Casino Cruises filed

Chapter 7 bankruptcy Chapter 7 of Title 11 of the United States Code (Bankruptcy Code) governs the process of liquidation under the bankruptcy laws of the United States, in contrast to Chapters 11 and 13, which govern the process of ''reorganization'' of a debtor. ...

December 28. At the time of the filing of bankruptcy, there were about 300 full-time and part-time employees.

History

In 1994

Gus Boulis Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis (Greek language, Greek: Κωνσταντίνος Μπούλης; April 6, 1949 – February 6, 2001) was an entrepreneur, land developer, casino operator, and restaurateur of Greeks, Greek descent, who was murdered in 200 ...

, already a multi-millionaire by founding the

Miami Subs Miami Grill, formerly Miami Subs Grill, is a privately held restaurant chain, based in the US state of Florida. The chain has approximately 30 locations, the majority of which are in Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach County Florida. The compan ...

sandwich shop franchise, bought a number of luxury yachts. He remodeled the yachts as casinos, and began to operate his "cruises to nowhere," sailing three miles from the

Florida Florida is a state located in the Southeastern region of the United States. Florida is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the northwest by Alabama, to the north by Georgia, to the east by the Bahamas and Atlantic Ocean, and to ...

coast into what was then considered international waters. There, out on the sea, passengers would gamble on

poker Poker is a family of comparing card games in which players wager over which hand is best according to that specific game's rules. It is played worldwide, however in some places the rules may vary. While the earliest known form of the game w ...

blackjack Blackjack (formerly Black Jack and Vingt-Un) is a casino banking game. The most widely played casino banking game in the world, it uses decks of 52 cards and descends from a global family of casino banking games known as Twenty-One. This fami ...

and

slot machine A slot machine (American English), fruit machine (British English) or poker machine (Australian English and New Zealand English) is a gambling machine that creates a game of chance for its customers. Slot machines are also known pejoratively a ...

s. Boulis called his fleet of 11 ships the SunCruz Casino line. By the time he sold the company in 2000, SunCruz Casinos was earning tens of millions of dollars in annual profits, and employed over 2,000 people. In September 2007, SunCruz discontinued operation at Palm Beach. Service was subsequently discontinued at Daytona and Treasure Island.

Investigation

In the 2000s, lobbyists such as

Jack Abramoff Jack Allan Abramoff (; born February 28, 1959) is an American lobbyist, businessman, film producer, writer, and convicted felon. He was at the center of an extensive corruption investigation led by Earl Devaney that resulted in his conviction a ...

became involved illegally with the sale of the line. Boulis was murdered in 2001.

Footnotes

{{DEFAULTSORT:Suncruz Casinos Defunct cruise lines Gambling companies established in 1994 Gambling companies disestablished in 2009 Defunct gambling companies Companies that have filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy 1994 establishments in Florida

History

Investigation

See also

Footnotes