Leisure World Gambling Cruise
The MV Leisure World Cruise operates primarily as a casino for passengers, but I find that it is fun for non-gamblers too, because there were other interesting activities to do. Picture courtesy of Justin Lee. The World's Best Cruise Lines 2020. Travel + Leisure may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Most are regulars who have been frequenting the ship’s predecessor, MV Leisure World, which had operated off Singapore since 2000 and was the only one of three casino ships to remain afloat after the opening of the IRs. Yet many of these gamblers do not think they are addicts.
| History | |
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| Builder: | AG Weser Shipyards |
| Launched: | June 26, 1969 |
| Completed: | December 10, 1970 |
| In service: | January 3, 1970 |
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| Status: | In service as of Nov 2013 |
| General characteristics | |
| Tonnage: | 16,254 gross register tons (GRT) |
| Length: | 528 feet |
| Beam: | 74 feet |
| Speed: | 16 knots |
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| Crew: | 250 |
| Notes: | [1] |
The Leisure World was delivered on December 10, 1969 as Skyward for cruise services along with her sister, the Starward.[2]Skyward and Starward were the first purpose-built ships of Norwegian Cruise Line. During a cruise in 1973 many passengers became ill due to infected water. In 1979 a boiler room fire broke out on board the Skyward, and consequently her engines had to be stopped and her passengers transferred to the Starward. She was operated by her original owners until 1991, when the Skyward was purchased by Johnson Sembawang Shipmanagement in Nassau to become the Shangri-la World.[3]Shangri-la World operated cruises out of Singapore. After going through several name changes in the 1990s, the now renamed Leisure World was rebuilt and renovated in Jacksonville, Florida and sold to Queenstown Investments in 1995. In 2000 she was sold to New Century Cruise Line, who operate her as a casino/entertainment ship out of Penang. As a casino ship, she was one of at least three casino ships (Long Jie(formerly Omar), Royale Star) operating off Batam. Following the opening of the two legal land casinos in Singapore, ship casinos' business suffered badly. As a result, all the casino ships closed down except for MV Leisure World. In 2014, a new casino ship (Ocean Grand) emerged to compete with Leisure World. Unfortunately, she closed down about six months later despite advertisements in 'The New Paper' (a Singapore tabloid). Since then, business has picked up at Leisure World.
On board features[edit]
On board Leisure World there is a karaoke lounge, miniature golf course,[4]sauna, arcade, gift shop,[5]fitness center and hair salon.[6]
Leisure World Casino Cruise Singapore
References[edit]
Leisure World Gambling Cruise
- ^Leisure World Statistics
- ^Skyward
- ^SKYWARD (1969) (in swedish)
- ^'Features 1'. Archived from the original on 2010-09-28. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
- ^'Features 2'. Archived from the original on 2010-09-29. Retrieved 2010-09-18.
- ^'Features 3'. Archived from the original on 2010-09-28. Retrieved 2010-09-18.