My gamble with Groupon was similar to some of the others, an unpleasant lesson learned. If you love gambling for hours on end then the Groupon and the cruise was worth it. If you thought you would get a nice evening, good food, and good entertainment, you probably should have stayed off the boat.The food was as many described, most likely frozen. In fact my salad even tasted suspiciously like it had some unknown past. Just....yuck dont do it. Eat before you get on!!!! The only thing that was edible was the hot dog they served randomly towards the end. And make sure you do eat before, because the 6 hour boat ride drags on with an empty stomach. My friends and I were exhausted and starved as well as plain bored at the end.If you don't gamble, don't do it!! That is the main form of entertainment. The music is eh, and the dancing space is also where they serve the food, its cramped and it leaves a bad taste in your mouth. Some of the people who got trashed seemed to enjoy it though.
The tables and slots were like most casinos so there's not much to complain about.Drinks were redeeming, but will also cost you. I had a Blue Hawaiian that was tasty but I mostly filled up on free coffee and soda to stay awake. The waiters and the bar tender tend to look for a tip when you order them so be prepared with some singles.All around it was so long it made me dislike it more and more. The boat was nice enough and the staff was okay- pretty friendly for the most part. Maybe they could consider cutting the time down and providing food that doesn't make you cringe. Its a nice concept but not well executed.Chalk up the ticket price to a gambling loss, pretend you missed the boat and hang out in Freeport. Or if you want a good horror story and a nap, go for it take the Casino Cruise.Opus Casino Cruise Lines.....casino, cruise, then there's the approaching storm and off it goes. The rocking of the ship for 7 hours didn't bother much due to constant consumption of drinks.
I did enjoy the experience and the great customer service just not the crowd and/or the food.On the Nautical Mile casino boats were a popular pastime for a large number of people. The convenient location made them an excellent alternativeto the traditional gambling locations in Las Vegas, Atlantic City, and Foxwoods/Mohegan Sun in CT.Unfortunately, the businesses providing this service have closed up and the boats no longer operate.Gambling on the Nautical Mile started back in 1998 right around the time Freeport begin reconstruction on Woodcleft Avenue.At that time the town was divided on the idea of gambling in Freeport, but the casino boats brought a welcome increase in revenue to thesurrounding businesses and operated successfully through the summer of 2011.In August, 2011 the last operator shut down after it was sold.In spite of being the only gambling option on Long Island the Nautical Mile casino boats have had a very shaky history. I'm kind of amazed that inover a decade's time these businesses have not been able to get their act together and thrive.
Especially given the relatively high profit margins(upwards of 18%) that casinos typically enjoy.The recession might have had something to do with the failure of these businesses, but after so many years in business you'd think that a casinoboat would be equipped to weather any storm, economic or otherwise.At one time there were 2 casino boats operating simultaneously on the Nautical Mile, one run by Freeport Casino Cruises and another run by MajestyFreeport Casino Cruises closed up leaving Majesty Casino a monopoly on the Nautical Mile gambling boat business. In spite of their monopolyposition Majesty Casino eventually closed and was replaced by Opus Casino Cruise Lines which was sold and then closed in 2011 after only 1 year ofAll of the Nautical Mile casino boats followed a similar pattern of operation. Pay $35-$50 for a ticket, board the boat, cruise for 40 minutes orso while enjoying food, drinks, music and dancing then, once past the 3 mile limit, the tables open for gambling.
5 to 7 hours later the boat returnsThe typical offerings were: Slots, blackjack, Three-card poker, Texas Hold 'Em, craps, roulette, bingo, mini-baccarat, etc...All of the reviews I read over the past 5 years or so indicate that the Nautical Mile casino boats all started off offering a quality experiencewhich gradually degraded over time. Customers became more and more unhappy until finally each company closed up. Interestingly, none of thecomplaints I heard were about the gambling experience or the staff. In fact, many people said that in spite of the overall bad experience the casinostaff and crew of the boat were very nice.All that's left of Opus is this sign in a parking lot.Regarding Opus for example, in 2010 reviewers on Yelp and Yahoo were saying that the food and service were very good. By summer of 2011 bad foodwas at the top of the list of complaints along with the boat smelled bad, the dance floor was too small, the music was bad, it was way too cold on
