New casino cruise set to sail from Canaveral | floridatoday.com | FLORIDA TODAY
New casino cruise set to sail
from Canaveral
BY PATRICK PETERSON ? FLORIDA TODAY ?
September 25, 2010
Victory Casino Cruises will begin twice-daily, five-
hour cruises from Port Canaveral in January, the
company announced Friday, two months later than
the November start Victory was citing as recently as
this month.
While it is known the company will sail out of Cruise
Terminal 2 at the port, other details ? in particular
any information about the vessel Victory will use --
remain scarce. Officials had previously said they
expect the ship to have room for 1,200 passengers,
making it similar in size to SunCruz Casinos'
Surfside Princess, the last gambling ship to operate
at the port before it stopped sailing in December
amid financial issues, knocking about 300 people
out of work.
SunCruz filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection
soon after it stopped operating.
"We are in vessel negotiations," Victory spokesman
Eric Rahn said Friday. "We need more time. This is
going to be a long-term project, and we're not
going to rush into it."
Rahn would not identify the vessel under
consideration, offering a "no comment" when asked
whether the company was negotiating to re-launch
one of the SunCruz vessels now in bankruptcy.
The company also said Friday it planned to hire 300
people -- it was unclear how many were full-time
jobs -- and will hold a job fair in late October to
review applications for a variety of positions, from
casino workers to marine crew to security and sales
staff. Within "the next few weeks," according to a
news release, Victory will launch a website that
allows for online applications.
Canaveral Port Authority officials approved a
tentative agreement with Victory in July that required
$300,000 in advance payments and a $250,000
security deposit once the ship begins sailing. The
group made a $100,000 deposit on Aug. 31. That
followed a $50,000 payment in July.
The company has notified the port of the delay but
has not outlined any other major problems,
New casino cruise set to sail
from Canaveral
BY PATRICK PETERSON ? FLORIDA TODAY ?
September 25, 2010
Victory Casino Cruises will begin twice-daily, five-
hour cruises from Port Canaveral in January, the
company announced Friday, two months later than
the November start Victory was citing as recently as
this month.
While it is known the company will sail out of Cruise
Terminal 2 at the port, other details ? in particular
any information about the vessel Victory will use --
remain scarce. Officials had previously said they
expect the ship to have room for 1,200 passengers,
making it similar in size to SunCruz Casinos'
Surfside Princess, the last gambling ship to operate
at the port before it stopped sailing in December
amid financial issues, knocking about 300 people
out of work.
SunCruz filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection
soon after it stopped operating.
"We are in vessel negotiations," Victory spokesman
Eric Rahn said Friday. "We need more time. This is
going to be a long-term project, and we're not
going to rush into it."
Rahn would not identify the vessel under
consideration, offering a "no comment" when asked
whether the company was negotiating to re-launch
one of the SunCruz vessels now in bankruptcy.
The company also said Friday it planned to hire 300
people -- it was unclear how many were full-time
jobs -- and will hold a job fair in late October to
review applications for a variety of positions, from
casino workers to marine crew to security and sales
staff. Within "the next few weeks," according to a
news release, Victory will launch a website that
allows for online applications.
Canaveral Port Authority officials approved a
tentative agreement with Victory in July that required
$300,000 in advance payments and a $250,000
security deposit once the ship begins sailing. The
group made a $100,000 deposit on Aug. 31. That
followed a $50,000 payment in July.
The company has notified the port of the delay but
has not outlined any other major problems,