Fun fact about Chelsea: the last time I gambled on anything, it was at a horse race track in Kentucky, and I wasn’t actually eighteen yet, so I just picked the horses and handed my best friend the money. I wasn’t even really into gambling. I just like horse racing. That streak came to an end however, when my Mom and I decided to check out Victory Casino Cruises, and drag Jay along for the ride.
Victory Casino Cruises do one or two five-hour cruises out of Port Canaveral a day. I booked the day cruise from 11:00 am to 4:00 pm, because I figured we had a better chance at seeing any potential wildlife in the daytime. I was honestly more interested in the cruise part than the casino part, but Mom was way more excited about the casino than I expected.
We arrived at the port around 10:30 am, and after a short wait in line to check in, we were on the ship. It was four decks in total, and the biggest boat I’ve ever been on. (Boat? Ship? I don’t know, but this thing could crush the Liberty Belle in size, and that’s the largest thing I have for comparison.)
People were already sitting at some of the slot machines even though they weren’t allowed to be active yet. I got the feeling most all of the people we were seeing were regulars, staking their claim on their favorite machines. I’m also fairly certain I was the youngest person there who wasn’t working.
We wandered around, trying to get the lay of the land, a.k.a. ship. There was a line forming at one end, and we got in line to try to get some questions answered about what to expect and how things worked. They had announced something about bingo, and that sounded fun. Next thing I knew, we were all signed up for Victory Club Player Cards, but we didn’t really know what that meant, and I had decided bingo wasn’t worth $30.
oon enough the ship had left the dock amidst the captain’s warnings about rough waters, but the casino wouldn’t be open for another half hour. Mom wanted to find a slot machine where she could bet the lowest amount possible, plus she wanted a window seat, and a lever instead of a button. Well, it took a while, but we found a row of Wheel of Fortune slot machines that met those requirements.
Never for one second had I dreamed the machines would only take cash. I figured they’d want to make it easy for people to keep spending and thought there would be a way to pay by card, but there wasn’t. There was an ATM with fairly high fees, and we decided we would just keep going until we ran out of cash. (In hindsight, this was probably for the best.)
The casino officially opened a little after 11:30 am. It didn’t take me long to understand why Mom insisted on the lever. Pulling it was WAY more fun than hitting the buttons. What I didn’t understand were the buttons on the machine were about how many lines you were betting, and it took me about three dollars before I sort of got the hang of it.
You get free drinks while you’re playing, which is awesome, but without a menu I was clueless. (Thank you, Disney, because I only know how to order Trader Sam’s drinks and they don’t exactly have those.) The waitress suggested a “Sex on the Beach” so that was what I went with.
Jay spent a whole five dollars and decided he was done for the day, and went to soak up some sun on the upper decks. Mom and I kept playing, and after they announced the first winner of the Victory Card random giveaway, we realized we were supposed to put our cards in the machines to record our playtime. Whoops. Then I figured out how to redeem the $5 in promo play we got for giving them our email addresses, except the machines we were on didn’t take the promo play. I finally figured out how to quit before you hit $0 and it printed me a voucher with my remaining money.
Our stomachs were rumbling, so we wandered downstairs to Deck One to find food. We hadn’t gotten the buffet option (partially because I thought the website said there wasn’t a buffet on that particular day) so we went looking for a register to order from. We were told to have a seat, and the waiter brought us a menu. Pricing was actually better than I expected, but then again, I’m used to theme park prices. I ordered the Club, and Mom got some sort of Italian sausage, plus we ordered some pretzels to split. Honestly, the food was pretty decent, and we left with enough money to go back to the slot machines.
We went to the upper decks to find Jay, who had fallen asleep in the sun. I woke him up and we spent about half an hour watching the waves. Mom was determined to find dolphins despite Jay insisting there wouldn’t be any. I’m happy to report he was wrong, but I wasn’t fast enough with my camera to prove it. They were too dark in color and too small to be bottle nosed dolphins, but that’s all I know.
Mom and I made our way back down to the slots level. We found a different set of machines that also started at $.25 and were by the window, even though Mom’s wouldn’t let her pull the lever. The waitress came by again, and actually remembered our drink orders from before. An idea struck, and I left Mom playing to go steal Jay’s Victory Card, figuring we shouldn’t let his $5 of free play go to waste. This time I found him at the bar, ordering a burger. He was hungry since we’d woken him up. The bartender asked if I wanted anything, and I declined until a lady behind me handed me a free drink coupon. I tried to order one of the cocktails on the board, but there was an upcharge for those. That was fine, but I left all my money with mom and Jay’s burger had wiped him out, so I ended up with another Sex on the Beach.
When I got down to the slot machines again, I found another one waiting for me that Mom had ordered. No problem! I just drank both.
I know nothing about the types of slot machines or anything like that, but I wish we had started with the second set we found. It seemed to have more options and more winning potential, and we stuck with those until they closed the casino. It was really funny actually, because Mom didn’t realize we could get our remaining credit paid out and she was upset she spent money she didn’t get to play. Once I explained it, she was fine. She got in line to take care of that, and I went back to the upper decks to find Jay awake but in the same chair he’d been napping in. Mom came to join us shortly after, and we watched the waves and the giant cruise ships as we came into port.
Victory Casino Cruise was a lot more fun than I expected. The five hours felt a little long, but that’s also because we were limited to the cash we had on hand. If we’d known and brought more, I think it would have been fine, but we also would have likely lost more money. Jay definitely enjoyed it the least, so I think Mom and I might go back by ourselves some time.
Cost: Basic Boarding is $13 per person.
Value: I had a lot of fun and want to do it again some time. Jay does not.
Duration: A FIVE HOUR CRUISE. (If you didn’t sing that, you’re doing it wrong.)
Add Ons: Well, food for one. There is a boarding and dining package that is $28. Then there’s just how much you want to spend and if you want to do more than just play slots like we did.
