HAWKEYE171 and myself visit the OCEAN JEWEL CASINO HOLY NIGHTMARES BATPOSTERS!

http://forum.therx.com/showthread.php?t=245629

What a horrific experience this was and one neither of us will ever embark on again............I can assure you!

This is the new LARGE casino vessel off the shores of ST. PETERSBERG

After calling to make reservations, we are instructed to be dockside at 6:30 at the latest to board the SHUTTLE BOAT that will take us to the majestic OCEAN JEWEL.

We leave Tampa at 5:30 and fight rush hour traffic for one hour and arrive at our destination at 6:35 and proceed to pay $5 to park.

We then have to catch a tram that takes us about a mile to the port where we will then have to catch the SHUTTLE BOAT to the casino.

After signing in, we pass through the security check and arrive in a room featuring free rice crispy bars and soda.........YIPPEE!

We then learn we will be here for ONE HOUR waiting for the SHUTTLE BOAT!

They entertain us with an episode of MASH.........and as mentioned, show their hospitality by providing us with free rice crispy bars and soda.

Finally the SHUTTLE comes and all approximently 30 of us boad the vessel.

As we head out of the port, I ask an employee how long it will take........thinking no more than 30 miniutes. I thought he was joking when he said a little over an hour!

This only gets worse..............we head out for a hour+ journey that proceeds to take us into the darkness of the night heading for the SKYLINE bridge and under it.

We are moving at a good clip, at least 55 mph and probably more..............HAWKEYE171 and myself go outside to the bow and it feels like we are on a hydoplane boat. We finally FIGHT ourselves back into the cabin as waves are crashing overboard into our bodies. After about 15 miniutes back inside, I decide to check outside again and move up the very narrow outside of the boat.

This is when I thought my life was over...........as i STRUGGLED FIERCELY to get back inside as waves of water pummeled my body and I CRAWL the last 8 feet back into the cabin!

After 65 miniutes of this, we arrive at the majestic OCEAN JEWELL to join the other I would say 100 patrons. LOL!

Now after boarding, we wait in line another 5-10 miniutes to get wristbands to let us know what shuttle we take back...........which is in only about 90 miniutes. LOL! (thank GOD as it turns out).

The boat was actually quite nice...........five floors with slots and casino table games.................and a POKERROOM and SPORTSBOOK!

They offered $2 BUD cans, which was pretty sweet.

The Card room was offering up a LIVE NO LIMIT game..............$40-300 buy in...........which was cool but decided to pass on as I was still soaked with sea water and starving.

Had a $6 dried up pork sandwich at the deli............not recommended.

We proceeded upstairs to the sportsbook and find a little mini-version Las Vegas sportsbook...............similar to the LEROYS types in Vegas.

Low and behold, there working as manager, is a former Las Vegas sportsbook manager............the one and only Perry Swanson from good old TOMS SUNSET CASINO fame in Vegas whom I am sure many of you are aware of.

Picked up a few PREMIUM DON BEST schedules(the highlight of the trip) and by this time it was time to take the dreaded shuttle back to shore...........this time completely full with all the casino employees on board.

Sweated the ROCKETS game out on my sportspager as HAWKEYE171 and myself needed them +7 as a wager...........was a winner and that helped make the ride back a little more bearable ..........as I remained inside this time for the entire journey back.

Back into port.........back on the LAND shuttle that took us back to our car and the 40 miniute drive back home.

Final conclusion..........................

The casino had no beatable slots and terrible less than 100% payback video poker.

The pokerroom, as mentioned, offered up a very nice game.

The sportsbook was nice to see, but who needs it when you have offshore online gambling.

Overall, and I am sure I can speak for HAWKEYE171 in saying this...............

Would NOT recommend this adventure to anybody.

Go fishing, see a movie, or stay home...........and enjoy life much more.

Quite frankly, this was a living NIGHTMARE.

Had a $6 dried up pork sandwich at the deli............not recommended.

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better stick with that buffet on suncruz. as long as the engine doesnt catch fire and start to sink.

Rob, I'll just have your avatar for lunch. Thanks.

Lmfao

Did you win??

Looks like you got buried by the negative remarks about casino, that is usually how it goes

If you won you would be praising the joint and saying food was excellent

jjgold said:

Did you win??

Looks like you got buried by the negative remarks about casino, that is usually how it goes

If you won you would be praising the joint and saying food was excellent

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I did not gamble one penny!

more importantly Did they have BUSCH beer??

As noted in the initial post.................

They offered $2 BUD cans, which was pretty sweet.

Fisher your Tampa Shuffle is amazing

Sounds pretty scary Mr. Fishhead. Funny what people will go through just so they can gamble. Gotta love someone who bets a $5 parlay ticket, and then has to go back a week later and cash it in.

I understand that they can have sportsbetting when they are off the shore and on the water. Presumably, because they are no longer in the country and are not subject to the laws of the land. So if someone robs or kills somebody, who prosecutes them?

thanks for the heads up, being here in tampa. I also work at the hard rock casino here, and it's an interesting read on how the competition is doing. i could go on and on about what is wrong at the hard rock, but they can on ly do what the state let's them do and they've done a lot with what little they are allowed to do. (player banked games only poker and bingo).

FISH-- shoot me an email sometime ercw@aol.com, wondering how the florida party plans are going?

GO THERE AT YOUR OWN RISK, luckily I didn't try my luck there after the D RAY game last night.





Pulling an all-nighter

Sunday, April 24, 2005
<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=150 align=left border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD>Passenger Steven Childs compared the situation to a plague.

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>A few hours of entertainment turned into an overnight challenge for hundreds of people aboard the Ocean Jewel, a Las Vegas-style casino ship anchored in the gulf off the coast of St. Pete Beach.

Those people finally headed home Sunday after what they say was an exhausting and dangerous experience.

"It looked like the plague on the ship," said passenger Steven Childs. "So many bodies were laying around on the boat, in the hallway, in the stairwell, in the stairway, and it looked so bad."

Some passengers said there was nothing to eat because the ship does not keep any food on board and it doesn't have accommodations for overnight stays.

"That ain't right what they did to us," one passenger said. "Eight hours on the floor; had to use a tablecloth for a sheet."

Others said it was unsafe, especially for those who have to take medication or are expectant mothers.

"We were transported in the conditions of the weather that should have not been permitted by the authorities or the people that own this vessel," said passenger James Evans.

Some passengers where more forgiving, however.

<TABLE cellSpacing=0 cellPadding=2 width=150 align=right border=0><TBODY><TR><TD>
</TD></TR><TR><TD>Ocean Jewel passenger Jim Sargent said the ship's web site warns that shuttles may be canceled.

</TD></TR></TBODY></TABLE>"Unfortunately, it's inconvenient, but you're on a gambling boat and it says on the web site the shuttles may be canceled at any time because of the weather," said passenger Jim Sargent. "We took a chance."

A spokesperson for the ship said the Ocean Jewel was brought in Sunday morning.

"We're just bringing the Ocean Jewel back this morning," said Director of Marketing Patty Mckee. "The seas became a little rough out there. We had seven-to-10-foot swells last night, so we opted to bring the Jewel in rather than to continue shuttling after about 11 o'clock last evening."

Another problem occurred overnight. One of the shuttles hit the John's Pass Bridge and the Coast Guard ordered the shuttle to return to port. The bridge was not damaged.

Despite many upset passengers, Ocean Jewel representatives say they haven't received many complaints and have already received calls asking when the ship will return to sea.

i was there about two weeks ago.. i left from johns pass which is only 1/2 hour voyage, the ship itself is ok.,,, except for the smell of gas and oil.... got off the ship at 3pm and the next one out at 4pm on the sat.... hit the bridge and kept going to the ocean jewell the coastguard shut the shuttle down after that.... it is nice to see two weeks later. they are still in trouble

the hard rock casino is awesome rooms are pricey, the "casino" is just a slot palace of junk machines,,, food was good at the green room.... pool and grounds were very nice

I predicted this was going to happen!!

-F-

Nice info Fish. I live just south of St. Pete and was wondering about the gambling boat. Shoot me an email @ tmoneytoo@yahoo.com, perhaps we can hit Hard Rock together.

No value at Hard rock. They even charge drinks for players. Huge take for house in poker gaems. Best value is the 25.00 evening weekend buffet, you get for 2o with slot card. As good as any in Vegas. Awesome deserts.

kyhawk said:

No value at Hard rock. They even charge drinks for players. Huge take for house in poker gaems. Best value is the 25.00 evening weekend buffet, you get for 2o with slot card. As good as any in Vegas. Awesome deserts.

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AWESOME SEAFOOD BUFFET

SIMPLY AWESOME!