In other words, if the ship is registered to a country where gambling is illegal then it’s likely that it’s also going to be illegal whilst on board. In simple terms, the gambling laws in place whilst a cruise ship is at sea are those of the country that the ship is registered with. Maritime law is a complicated one to look at, given many of the rules and regulations offered by it were drawn up hundreds of years ago. If you’re on a cruise ship and feel as though you’ve been screwed out of some winnings, who is it that you can turn to to make a complaint? If you win, do you need to pay tax on your winnings? Is there a body or organisation that controls gambling when it’s done on a cruise ship? When it comes to the governance of all things at sea, maritime law rules the roost, but things change when you get within a certain distance of dry land.
The ships are only allowed to open these areas once they are in international waters, which begs a lot of questions when it comes to regulation.
Some of the bigger ships have dedicated casino sections, whilst others will offer guests the ability to play some table games or even use slot machines. Anyone that has ever been on a cruise will doubtless have come across an area of the ship where they were able to gamble.
