Onboard gambling: what law applies in a cruise ship casino miles out to sea? Cruises The Guardian
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Cruise lines boast âresponsible gaming conductâ policies but in international waters, away from the laws of the land, some say itâs a case of âanything goesâ
Casinos â complete with gaming tables and poker machines â are common on large, mainstream cruise ships and some smaller luxury cruises. Norwegian Cruise Lines ships feature a total of 4,800 slot machines, while Royal Caribbeanâs Allure of the Seas has a casino of more than 1,600m2.
The popularity of onboard casinos is in part down to their links with travellersâ loyalty accounts, offering points that can be used to pay for food, drinks and future cruises.
On Tuesday it was announced that P&O Cruises would be shut down in early 2025 and two of its three ships integrated into its sister line Carnival.
The Royal Caribbean cruise ship Allure of the Seas has a casino of more than 1,600 m2. Photograph: Andrew Matthews/PA But while it operates, P&Oâs casino users become members of its Players Club, in which the âmore points you earn, the more benefits you getâ, the companyâs website states.
Alex Russell, an associate professor in the experimental gambling research lab at Central Queensland University, says casino membership programs on land are not uncommon, and also offer loyalty points that can then be used to make purchases.
Within 12 nautical miles of land, ships are generally governed by the laws of that country or state. Outside that limit they generally come under the laws of the nation in which they are registered.
âNot only are you covered by the law of the flag, but youâre governed by the law of your nationality, which you carry around to some extent,â says Tim Stephens, professor of international law at Sydney Law School.
Like all P&O Cruises Australia ships, the Pacific Adventure sails under a British flag. However, the UK Gambling Act contains a provision that means the Gambling Commission, the UKâs gambling regulator, does not have any remit over a vesselâs gambling operations if journeying to international waters. Operators need to be licensed by the commission only if the customer, not the operator, is in the UK.
On cruises in international waters, offences in the UK or other jurisdictions â such as venues giving a line of credit to a gambler or offering free alcoholic drinks as a way to induce gambling â are not recognised.
To avoid any potential conflict between the law of the flag and local laws, cruise ships open casinos and duty-free shops only when they are outside territorial waters.
Beyond 12nm, âanything goes, as far as gambling is concernedâ, says Stephens.
The freedom from local laws has long been a huge selling point for cruises, says David Beirman, adjunct fellow in tourism and management at the University of Technology Sydney.
The liners of the 1920s and 1930s, including the Queen Elizabeth and Queen Mary, all had casinos â and offered a way to get around alcohol prohibition in the US.
âIt was part of the glitz and the glamour of what was, at least for the first-class passengers, a very glamorous industry. And because theyâre cruising in international waters, they are not bound to any one countryâs attitudes to gambling,â Beirman says.
A spokesperson for P&O Cruises Australia, which is owned by Carnival, said the company âhas responsible gaming conduct policies on all P&O ships and they take those policies seriouslyâ.
The companyâs website says that includes giving guests information and resources âto help them make informed choices about how they gambleâ and âinitiatives such as responsible gambling education for our teams as well as self-help materials and a self-exclusion program for our guestsâ.
The spokesperson said it was inappropriate to comment on Dixonâs death while a coronial inquiry was under way, and the company was cooperating fully with the investigation.
P&O is a member of the industry body Cruise Lines International Association, which has its own gambling policy based on rules of play in Nevada, New Jersey and England, its website states.
Those rules include communicating table minimum and maximum betting limits, play by adults only, regular inspections and audits, and obligatory surveillance.
Russell says responsible conduct of gambling codes are hard to enforce even on land, while relying on a gambler to self-exclude is mired in problems.
âA crushing blowâ: what happens if your cruise changes to have too much sea and not enough sight-seeing?Read more âWe know that intervention usually doesnât happen and itâs not necessarily a failing of the staff,â he says. âItâs really hard to tell when someone is getting out of control. You donât know how much someone has in their bank account, so itâs very hard for staff to step in.â
5:26How cruise ships became a catastrophe for the planet â videoCarol Bennett, the chief executive of the Alliance for Gambling Reform, says the comorbidities associated with alcohol and gambling may be heightened on cruises because of passengersâ isolation from support and services â making safeguards doubly essential.
âQuestions need to be answered about these arrangements. Whoâs taking responsibility and what does that look like? Whoâs safeguarding the people who go on these cruises?â
John Kavanagh of Pacific Maritime Lawyers says: âââPragmatically, the flag state has responsibility for investigating issues with that ship wherever it is, but the further away that ship is from home, the logistics of that make it very difficult.â
At sea, there is a long and strong tradition of the shipmasterâs absolute authority.
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