I am NOT in favour of establishing casinos on-island. I think it would be a huge mistake and extremely costly to us in many ways.

Why are the ministers not looking at marketing to whole families not just adults? There already are casinos on the east & west U.S. coast so what would make us so special tourist will come here just to gamble.

I know WellSaid remarked on my comment above about water parks in bermuda typing about our lack of space & weather. To that there is a chain of water park resorts called the great wolf lodge. These resorts make good profits & most are about the size of Fairmount Hotel & are situated in parts of North America that have below zero weather. The trick to these resorts is most of the water park is indoors. I’m sure this can be pulled of in Bermuda if packaged with the idea of family fun in paradise. Casinos in resorts like Atlantis Bahamas are an after thought & the main attraction that there’s something for all not just those who like to gamble. I believe we will waste precious time & money focusing on casinos.

And I am sure there are other issues we can add to this list. Ever wonder why we DON’T have casinos? Or new hotels? Take a look at that list. Who wants to come here and do business under these terms? Apparently no-one.

Sure – open the ship’s casinos in port – we won’t see a dime of that income. And to tell you the truth, I don’t think the man on the street REALLY CARES if they can gamble at night or not. Of the cruise ships I’ve been on, the casino has never been that busy on the nights it was open at sea. I hardly think it’s a make or break consideration for most cruise passengers.

Being able to gamble in the exotic destination of their cruise might be more appealing – it’s nice to drink a dark and stormy / swizzle / whatever while in port, seeing a LOCAL show and having some fun at a casino/nightclub.

Maybe the on-board casinos should feature paid local entertainment as part of the deal to allow them to open.

You might want to pick-up on that idea Tony B if you see any merit in it….

Remember the cruise lines are in business to make money and they will go to the destinations that not only their customers would like to see but also where they can make the best returns on their investments. If they cant make it here, they will pull up anchor and try somewhere else.

Southampton princess – good candidate – Hamilton princess – not quite as good…

And Atlantis casino is always busy….they make bag loads of hard currency there. The water park, beaches and other activities are nice too but we’re not quite Nassau weather wise

Hey if we has an island the size of paradise island to develop….maybe?

Yes there (might) be more ships and there will be more passenger tax. The casinos on ships really aren’t that large! We have plenty of space at dockyard for a modest casino, a nice passenger oriented nightclub / bar / restaurant. Bar the locals from gambling, employ a majority bermudian workforce and give the cruise passengers something more to do than buy rum cakes tshirts an trinkets and eat lunch off ship.

We selling our souls for what is stll likely to be diminishing returns in my opinion.

We control the gaming,we control the hard offshore income. Sell it to the cruise ships and you sell your soul.

I think if you check with most cruise lines, I don’t think many are allowed to open their casinos when local choices are available (or it’s not legal).

Just thinking out loud.

Crime and Punishment – Reactive
Failing Tourism – Reactive
Failing Education – Reactive
Failing Family Values – Reactive
Failing Revenue – Reactive
Failing Employment – Reactive

Successful at Making Money by any means necessary – Proactive

Don’t confused Casinos on Cruise Ships with the Green paper, which the premier did speak out against. There is a difference.

It does not change my overall opinion of him though. don’t celebrate too much.

At the risk of of sounding like EFB, don’t strike me down by lightning, if activity is not available shoreside the ship must be permitted to give its customers what they want.

The prices have always been overinflated in Bermuda and that did not stop the housing market from being active throughout Bermuda’s recent history.

Even the PLP has embarked on a review of their own policies as Mr. Perinchief stated in the below article.

http://bermudasun.bm/main.asp?SectionID=24&SubSectionID=899&ArticleID=53250

MPs who spoke against gaming:

1.PLP Deputy Premier Paula Cox
2.PLP Wayne Furbert
3.PLP Patrice Minors
4.PLP Elvin James
5.PLP Alex Scott
6.PLP Walter Roban*
7.PLP Randy Horton
8.PLP Dale Butler
9.PLP Dame Jennifer Smith
10.PLP Michael Scott*
11.PLP Lovitta Foggo
12.PLP Ashfield DeVent
13.PLP Dennis Lister
14.UBP Opposition Leader Kim.Swan
15.UBP John Barritt
16.UBP Bob Richards
17.UBP Dr Grant Gibbons
18.UBP Patricia Gordon-Pamplin
19.UBP Louise Jackson
20.UBP Charles Swan
21.UBP Cole Simons
22.UBP Trevor Moniz
23.BDA Donte Hunt

On another note, you actually believe the limitations on foreign ownership has killed the industry? Not the overinflated prices?? LOL okaaay buddy.