Ordinary Gweilo

I notice that Star Cruises have a new ship, and Paul over at The Valley has also commented on it:

It sure does look very sleek. But don’t fool yourself, this ship hasn’t been designed to maximise the comfort of guests but more to maximise the size of the on board casino.

Once the ship is in international waters the horn sounds and the casino doors fly open. After this you’ll be lucky see anyone else on board – they’re all in the casino. The ship that Aquarius replaced, the SuperStar Leo, had reasonable rooms and a very small casino. Not really suitable for the local market who’d prefer a giant casino and bunk beds.

I have actually been one of the Star Cruises ships for a ‘journey to nowhere’, and it was a fascinating experience. 

• You have to leave Hong Kong territorial waters so that the casino can open, which means that you have to go through the immigration formalities – they collect your passport when you embark, and then you have to queue to pick it up before you disembark. 
• However, they don’t actually go anywhere – just far enough out into the open seas for gambling to be legal.
• The cruise includes meals, but (unless you pay extra) that means a fixed menu served in a huge dining room.  Not a very enticing prospect.
• Yes, the cabins are small (and if you want a tiny balcony you have to pay extra).
• When the boat has left Hong Kong waters, the casino opened, and that was clearly the main attraction for many of the passengers.  It certainly appeared that many people spent all night in there, emerging to have their breakfast only when the casino closed.

So Paul has it exactly right that this is all about gambling and not much else.  These days, I’d have thought that Macau would be a far more attractive place to go if that’s what you want.