At one time, gamblers could take day casino cruises in Galveston, Texas, but these types of cruises no longer exist. They have been replaced by longer Caribbean cruises on ocean liners that have casinos for travelers as well as other amenities. Cruising from Galveston is a more economical option when compared to cruises available from many other ports in the United States. Carnival Cruise Lines and Royal Caribbean Cruise Lines offer several options for cruises featuring gambling opportunities.

Long before the online gambling revolution and even before the boost of tribal casinos, a casino cruise was the only legal way to gamble in the US besides Las Vegas and Atlantic City casinos. Nowadays, gambling on a riverboat casino is only one of the many options that the recreational gambler faces when he feels like shooting dice. Since gambling is illegal in Texas, the games can't commence until boats reach federal waters, typically 9 or 10 miles from shore. A host of international cruise lines, including Royal Caribbean.

Carnival Ecstasy

The Crystal Palace Casino aboard the Carnival Ecstasy offers a full range of gambling options including card games, craps, blackjack, roulette, slots and more. Carnival offers a variety of cruise lengths from three to five days on the Ecstasy in the western Caribbean. Ports along the route include Cozumel, Mexico and Progreso, Yucatan, Mexico. In addition to gambling while at sea, cruisers also enjoy a wireless Internet café, a swimming pool, a water park, an adults-only outdoor area, lounges, nightclubs and duty-free shops. Dining options include choices between several formal and casual restaurants. The ship also offers a kids program called Camp Carnival where kids ages two to 11 have their own space with a variety of fun activities.

Carnival Conquest

Gambling Boat Out Of Galveston Texas

The Carnival Conquest leaves from Galveston for seven-day western Caribbean cruises. Destinations on this trip include Montego Bay, Jamaica; Grand Cayman, Cayman Islands, and Cozumel, Mexico. The Conquest casino features the same games you would find at any Las Vegas casino. All Carnival cruise ship casinos offer the Carnival Players Club in which your free membership gives you access to special casino promotions and tournaments. While on board the Conquest, guests can take a chance on MegaCash, the world’s largest cruise ship jackpot. The Conquest also features several dining options, pools, a spa and activities for children.

Royal Caribbean Voyager of the Sea

Royal Caribbean’s Voyager of the Sea offers both seven and 14-night cruises from Galveston. Depending on the dates of the trip, the seven-night Western Caribbean cruise includes stops in Roatan, Honduras; Costa Maya, Mexico; George Town, Grand Cayman; Falmouth, Jamaica; Belize City, Belize, and Cozumel, Mexico. The 14-night cruises are transatlantic trips with stops in Nassau, Bahamas; Ponta Deglada, Azores; Malaga, Spain; Cartagena, Spain; Funchal, Portugal; Santa Cruz, Canary Islands; and Barcelona, Spain. The Casino Royale on all Voyager class ships in the Royal Caribbean line features card tables, roulette wheels, slot machines and more. In addition to gambling, the Voyager of the Sea offers several specialty restaurants, onboard ice-skating, pubs and lounges, a youth and teen program and more.

About the Author

Jeff Jones has been a writer since 1995 after a career in corporate marketing. His writing covers a range of business topics including marketing, corporate culture and human resources. More recently, he has written on topics of spirituality and life in the church. He has a degree in journalism/marketing from Texas A&M University and a master's in Christian education from Perkins School of Theology.

It wasn’t the most auspicious start for the Jacks or Better Casino boat.On April 15, only a week after its very first jaunt, the 155-foot yacht—which, conditions permitting, takes daily trips out of Galveston and into federal waters, where gambling is legal—scraped against a marker, causing an estimated $40,000 in cosmetic damage and knocking the ship out of commission for weeks.

We took a ride on the Jacks on May 5, the day it resumed operations. Captain Dave Kendrick, who’s been a licensed captain since 1997, gave us a tour of the bridge, the room from which he steers the ship.

“I was the captain during the accident,” he said, addressing the incident in his matter-of-fact manner. “It’s the first time that has ever happened in my career. We were coming in at 11:20 p.m., and I lost sight and confused the markers. When I figured out what was happening, it was too late…. There’s no good excuse for it, but things happen, and I’m thankful nobody got hurt.”

The incident certainly didn’t deter 60 passengers from paying $15 a pop to board the sleek vessel the day we went out. They resembled your typical casino crowd, which is to say most were Baby Boomers or older, many were wearing Crocs, and more smoked cigarettes than didn’t.

We wandered up to the top deck of the boat from the bridge. It was a beautiful, sunny day. The ship glided past shrimp boats casting their nets and container ships heading to port. Seagulls and pelicans followed in our wake, hoping to catch an early lunch.

Although it was a beautiful scene, few were taking it in. Instead, they were inside, having already claimed their seats on the mostly windowless gambling floors, ready to play.

Many people are traveling to Louisiana to gamble. Why not keep that money in Texas?

Each trip the Jacks takes out into the Gulf of Mexico lasts seven hours—an hour and a half each nine-mile trip into federal waters, plus four hours of gambling—and the best days to go out, particularly for the seasickness-prone, are when the water’s nice and calm. The ship offers two floors of colorful Vegas-style slot machines and card tables where up to 150 passengers can play games like blackjack, craps, roulette and baccarat (pending Coast Guard approval, the capacity could jump to 300).

“I’m excited to try this,” one woman also enjoying the view, Kim Walden, told us. Walden owns a beach home in Galveston and, she confessed, loves gambling. She and her husband not only frequent commercial cruise lines (which all have casinos), but regularly travel to Louisiana, Arkansas and Texas’s Native American reservations. She was excited, she said, to try something closer to home. “It’s nice that finally we have something practically in our backyard.”

Largely due to antiquated Bible Belt politics, gambling in Texas is illegal, with the exceptions of the lottery, horse and greyhound racing, reservation casinos, and casino boats like the Jacks or Better, which offer single-day gambling trips without having to meet the old requirement of first calling on a foreign port. These boats have served towns along the state’s coast, including Galveston, ever since being legalized in 1989, but before the Jacks’ arrival, the Oleander City had done without for a couple of years.

Galveston Texas Gambling Boat

We wandered inside, and, finally, the moment arrived. The captain announced we were in federal waters and that tables were open. Immediately, a symphony of dings, pings and slot-machine tunes filled the air.

As we watched the action, we thought of a point Henry had made while we chatted inside the bridge. “Many people are traveling to Louisiana to gamble,” he’d said. “Why not keep that money in Texas?”

Gambling Boat In Texas