Carnival Cruise Line has cracked down on a lido deck activity that has caused a stir among passengers.
It’s not uncommon to find a group of cruise passengers playing a game of cards out on the pool deck. It can be a game of Uno, cribbage, and even poker.
But when money starts changing hands as a result, the lines start to get a little blurred.
Cruise lines are required to follow federal laws when sailing out of and operating from U.S. ports.
And when vessels are docked in foreign ports they must also abide by those local laws as well. This is why casinos are often closed when a ship is docked in port.
Carnival’s Brand Ambassador John Heald made guests aware of a regulation that does not allow gambling to take place outside of the casino on the ship.
In a Facebook post on his page, Heald informed readers of a situation on Carnival Luminosa in which some guests were gambling with large amounts of money on the lido deck.
“Yesterday I was informed that the group leader had been arranging a card game played on Lido each day where quite large amounts of money were changing hands. This was reported to me and as brand ambassador it was my duty to report that to the Ship,” Heald stated.
*Update: It was first reported that the group was playing a card game on the lido deck. Now, it has been learned that it was a game of LCR (Left-Right-Center), a popular dice game. LCR is not usually associated with gambling, but as it is a game of chance the group was betting on the outcomes of the 3-dice game.
It is not unusual to see cruise guests playing card games outside of the casino. These are usually friendly matches in which large sums of money are not exchanged.
Heald reminded guests that any form of gambling outside of the casino is not allowed on any Carnival ships.
“The group lead leader has kindly been asked to stop doing this and since this has happened, I have received a lot of disgruntled posts let’s say referring to me as a ‘snitch’ and some other choice words,” Heald added.
A few comments showed disdain for the announcement, claiming that the cruise line was more concerned with profits inside the casino.
To this claim Heald stated that he was only the messenger, making sure guests were aware of the current guidelines of the ship, stating,
