Its first voyage from St. Petersburg reveals rough spots. Onboard, gamblers are swept up in games.
By MATTHEW WAITE
Published October 23, 2004
[Times photo: Lara Cerri]
The Ocean Jewel leaves the Port of St. Petersburg as Lola Lee, from left, Robert Hinton, Randy Gibbs and Johnny Lee, watch on Friday. Lola Lee said, "I might get on someday...might get a chance to win some money." That sentiment is what investors count on.
ON THE GULF OF MEXICO - The closer to international waters the Ocean Jewel of St. Petersburg got, the higher the tension rose on the gaming table floor.
Pit bosses at the craps table counted chips, checked them against casino paperwork, signed off on the amounts and broke out brand-new dice from the box. Boxes of playing cards, wrapped in plastic, were opened and set up on the blackjack tables.
The first sign that gambling had started on the startup voyage of the St. Petersburg-based casino boat was when the slot machines awoke from their eerie silence. About 7:40 p.m. Friday, the noise boxes came to life, and some of the 1,200 passengers started plunking money into them.
The Ocean Jewel's first trip into international waters wasn't without its hitches, but for investors and executives at Titan Cruise Lines, it was joy mixed with relief.
"It's not a jumping high five, because none of us can jump anymore, but it's a high five," said John Manner, an investor and member of Titan's board of directors.
Months of delays, glitches in permits and homeland security screenings, countless added features and ideas and four hurricanes put off the Ocean Jewel's first trip. With the boat in port, the company only saw money going out, not coming in. Hurricanes alone cost the company $2.8-million, including money for wages, lost equipment and fuel costs, chief financial officer Paul Barbour said.
As the area's newest casino boat slowly churned toward the gulf, Barbour and Manner were optimistic. Their 450-foot boat has blackjack, poker, craps, slots, restaurants, clubs and live entertainment, and the Tampa Bay area has strong job and population growth to supply customers.
"The market is here," Barbour said. "We just have to listen to our customers. It's all about service, it's all about fun. People will keep coming back."
Within a week to 10 days, executives plan to offer hourly shuttle boats from the Port of St. Petersburg to ferry passengers to the ship in international waters. Passengers pay a $10 boarding charge and have gambling choices ranging from nickel slot machines to blackjack tables with a $50 minimum.
Friday's trip had all the glitches that come with a first voyage.
Because the speedier, smaller shuttles aren't operating yet, the first week's cruises will last eight hours and hundreds of passengers will board at once. Long lines formed at the ticket windows Friday night until managers scrapped the boarding fee and let people on to get under way on time.
Minutes after the boat left port, a water leak soaked the carpet outside a men's room near the area where bets on sports are made. A couple of escalators quit working midcruise, but resumed operation later. Some areas were better air-conditioned than others. Later in the evening, the ATMs malfunctioned.
All expected, Manner said, and all will be fixed and improved in the coming months.
Even with a full house, there were slots open, and it didn't take long to get into a blackjack game.
The chief question for casino executives is, will people come back?
At the craps tables, Brian Mangan, 30, of Tampa said he was surprised by the ship, the features and the atmosphere. Asked what might draw him back, his answer came as a roar of lucky gamblers at a craps table celebrated a win.
It's the action, the excitement, he said. Amounts equal to mortgage payments were getting cashed out for chips on the craps table. A thousand here, changing $2,500 for the man in the black shirt, another thousand over here.
"You get kind of swept up in it quickly," Mangan said. "It's fun to watch other people play with their money."
Stan Gornicki, 68, of Largo already has a list of people he'll be taking back. Friends and their wives, neighbors, family. He's mostly on board to play the slots. Having been to other casinos, he knows slots by the game, and was surprised to find a handful on board he had never seen before.
But one game you won't catch him playing is blackjack. He'll play with his friends, but not on the boat.
"Poker on the boat? They got a lot of players here," he said. "Good players. Smarter than I am."
