Little River Gambling Boat

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Big M Casino Cruise I - Little River Review. One of two Big M Casino ships that depart from Little River, South Carolina, Big M Casino Ship l is a 400 passenger luxury yacht that departs from 4491 Waterfront Ave in Little River. Big M Casino Ship II can also accommodate 400 passengers and departs from 4491 Mineola Ave. The SunCruz Aquasino is a 220 foot long, 600 passenger, 5 hour gambling cruise ship based in Little River, South Carolina.The SunCruz Aquasino offered 'Cruises to Nowhere,' legally transporting passengers into international waters beyond federal and state gambling laws.

The SunCruz Aquasino is a 220 foot long, 600 passenger, 5 hour gambling cruise ship based in Little River, South Carolina. The SunCruz Aquasino offered 'Cruises to Nowhere,' legally transporting passengers into international waters beyond federal and state gambling laws. SunCruz Aquasino offers classic table games such as blackjack and craps, as well as a live poker room and slot machines.

History[edit]

SunCruz was founded by multimillionaire Konstantinos 'Gus' Boulis (who also founded the Miami Subs sandwich shop franchise). Boulis purchased eleven luxury yachts which he remodeled into casinos. These would conduct 'Cruises to Nowhere', consisting of a three-mile cruise from the Florida coast into what was then considered international waters.^[1] While in international waters, passengers could gamble on poker, blackjack and slot machines. Boulis named the fleet the SunCruz Casino line. By the time of its sale in 2000, SunCruz was earning tens of millions of dollars of profits annually, and had over 2,000 employees.

The area's two casino ships set sail twice on five-hour cruises from beautiful Little River, just a short drive north of Myrtle Beach. Regular patrons rave about the cruise out and back along scenic Little River Inlet. Enjoy the beach and local attractions during the day, and then try your gambling luck on the ocean once the sun sets. Sun Cruz Casino Ship in Little River, South Carolina is a 600 passenger ship with 375 slot machines, 22 table games poker and buffet. Wonderful casino cruise ship which creates the fun found on a major cruise ship. This will be the best $10 you ever spent.

In September 2007, SunCruz discontinued operations at Palm Beach,^[2] and service has subsequently been discontinued at Daytona and Treasure Island as well. On December 16, 2009, SunCruz Casinos was reported to be closing amid allegations that it owed $300,000 to the Canaveral Port Authority.^[3] Less than two weeks later, on December 28, parent company Ocean Casino Cruises filed Chapter 7 bankruptcy.^[4] At the time of the filing, there were approximately 300 full and part-time employees.^[5] In May 2010, SunCruz returned to Little River, South Carolina under a new name, SantaCruz Casino, and under new ownership by Casino Partners of South Carolina, LLC.^[6]

Lawsuit by Horry County[edit]

In 2011, Horry County sued the operator of SunCruz Aquasino for breach of contract, alleging that SunCruz had failed to make payments to Horry County for passenger fees received during the months of August and September 2011. Horry County was supposed to receive a fee of $7 per passenger instead, of collecting taxes based on the boat's revenue. The suit asked for $165,000 in back payments plus legal costs.^[7][8][9] Aquasino asserted they had stopped making payments due to the county not enforcing a ban on illegal gambling, which was also part of the agreement. The company's position was that it had protested the boarding fees from the beginning of their relationship with the county, stating they were onerous. Even so, they had continued to pay those fees in good faith. However, when the county did not seem to be doing enough regarding the illegal gambling, they suspended payments, entering into negotiations with the county to reach a compromise. It was during these negotiations when the county filed its lawsuit.^[10]

On July 23, 2012, Horry County Circuit Judge Benjamin Culbertson ordered SunCruz Casino to start paying the passenger boarding fees as stipulated in the agreement, but did not issue a ruling on any alleged past due amounts. On July 29, the county received a check for $20,202.^[11]

Cruz/Gambling Features and Options[edit]

SunCruz Aquasino offers players Vegas-style slots ranging from $0.02 to $25.00, including ticket-in and ticket-out machines. Blackjack, Poker, Texas Hold ’Em, Rummy, Roulette, Craps, and sports-book wagering are also offered.

See also[edit]

• SunCruz Casinos, a former casino boat company that went bankrupt in 2009.

Footnotes[edit]

1. ^New York Times retrieved Sept. 19, 2012
2. ^'Port of Palm Beach statement'.
3. ^NBC News
4. ^http://www.cfnews13.com/Business/LocalBusinessHeadlines/2009/12/29/suncruzs_parent_company_files_for_bankruptcy.html
5. ^Price, Wayne T. (11 January 2010). 'SunCruz offers apologies'. Florida Today. Melbourne, Florida: Florida Today. pp. 14A.
6. ^'New owners buy Sun Cruz, sending casino boat to SC'. Carolina Live/ WPDE-TV. Myrtle Beach, South Carolina: Carolina Live/ WPDE-TV. 4 April 2010. Retrieved 25 September 2012.
7. ^Naquin, Ryan (2011-11-16). 'Horry County sues casino boat for not paying passenger fees'. WPDE-TV. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
8. ^Naquin, Ryan (2011-11-16). 'Casino boat gets reality show, still owes county $500,000'. WPDE-TV. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
9. ^'SunCruz Casino responds to lawsuit'. WMBF-TV. 2011-11-16. Retrieved 2012-09-25.
10. ^Naquin, Ryan (2012-11-16). 'Horry County sues casino boat for not paying passenger fees'. CarolinaLive.com. Retrieved 2014-03-03.
11. ^Naquin, Ryan (2012-08-02). 'Sun Cruz Casino ordered to pay Horry County taxes'. WPDE-TV. Retrieved 2012-09-25.

This was our first trip back to the SunCruz / Aquasino since they reopened under the new company. They are sporting a new ship and we were incredibly surprised. The new ship was fabulous! It was much larger than the old ship with more deck space on top to enjoy the sail out to sea. They had a songster on deck who was very entertaining. It was a little rough in the open waters at first - but that was easily remedied by taking a seat at the Blackjack table :-). The space inside the casino was wonderful. There was room between the table games and walkways which was definitely an improvement. The air filtering was much better and I rarely even smelled the smoke. It was very clean - the restrooms were much improved and the stairways were more spacious. The dining area was very large - the food was not bad but I am sure it is difficult to feed an unknown number of people like they do. It is a buffet but it seems to only be 1 trip so get what you want the first trip. One employee said they were working on more food selections for the post gambling return.

The staff was incredibly gracious with several dealers we remembered returning from the other ship. They made exchanging our Player's Cards for the newer ones a breeze - in fact, I never left the crap table - they just exchanged my card for a new one. I was pleased to see that they had $5 and $10 Blackjack and Craps tables and they actually had 2 Roulette tables that were full all night. In fact, most of the table games were full. We never made it to the new SportsBook area but we will check it out next time. We heard and saw several people cash out after winning a Grand or better on the tables. We saw a guy win $9000.00 on a $5.00 slot. We were very happy 'breaking even' after 5 hours so it was really a fun evening.

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I believe they are making improvements every week with the ship, food and service. Some of the reviews are speaking of the now bankrupt and defunct SunCruz company and boat so you should go out on the new one and give it a try. They are still only charging $10 for the departure fees if you bring in one of the coupons available at any hotel in the area.. We had a great time and will be returning often!