Industry Transportation Products Cruises Founder Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis Number of employees 1,000 | Defunct 2009 Ceased operations 2009 Founded 1994 Parent organization Vessel Casinos, Inc. | |
Former type Private (Owned by Ocean Casino Cruises) Area served Florida, Myrtle Beach, SC Key people Robert Weisberg, Chairman & CEO | ||
SunCruz Casinos was one of many cruise lines that offered "cruises to nowhere," legally transporting passengers into international waters beyond the reach of federal and state gambling laws.
Contents
Four ships operated out of four ports including Jacksonville (SunCruz VII), Key Largo (SunCruz I), Myrtle Beach (SunCruz VIII), and Port Canaveral (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 December 28.
At the time of the filing of bankruptcy, there were about 300 full-time and part-time employees.
History
In 1994 Konstantinos "Gus" Boulis, already a multi-millionaire by founding the Miami Subs 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 coast into what was then considered international waters. There, out on the sea, passengers would gamble on poker, blackjack and slot machines. 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 has subsequently been discontinued at Daytona and Treasure Island.
Investigation
In the 2000s, lobbyists such as Jack Abramoff became involved illegally with the sale of the line. Boulis was murdered in 2001.