The Ghost of the Blue Horizon: Inside the Rise and Fall of a Casino Cruise Ship

_{The abandoned Casino Ship cuts a sad picture. (Image: RangerRickTV)}

Once a glittering hub of slot machines, roulette wheels, and late-night blackjack, the Blue Horizon Casino Cruise now sits abandoned in a Florida boat graveyard, a silent reminder of a once-thriving era of casino cruises. It now resembles something more like a ship from Pirates of the Caribbean than any Royal Caribbean cruise ship.

Launched from the Port of Palm Beach, the Blue Horizon offered passengers the thrill of table games that weren’t yet legal in Florida casinos, such as craps and roulette. For a time, it was a unique entertainment option, five-hour voyages into international waters, free-flowing drinks, and the chance to hit the jackpot. But behind the bright lights, the ship’s journey was anything but smooth.

A Troubled Voyage

From its early days, the Blue Horizon was plagued with maintenance failures and costly delays. In 2014, its engines failed, forcing the company to spend around $2 million on replacements. Despite the massive investment, operators cycled in and out of bankruptcy.

Photos and video taken by RangerRickTVncapture its eerie beauty, from sunlit, rusting exteriors to deserted gaming floors and a vacant captain’s helm, preserving the last traces of a bygone heyday.

One can only imagine what this floating casino looked like when it was full to its 600-passenger capacity.

“The port engine failed shortly after, then two new MTU 4000 series engines were installed,” recalled one former engineer. 

“The boat returned to Palm Beach, but the new venture went bankrupt shortly after.”

Regulation Changes: The Final Blow

For years, casino ships thrived by offering games unavailable on land. That changed in 2016, when Florida signed a gambling compact allowing casinos to host the same table games.

“Apparently Blue Horizon Casino Cruises stopped operating in 2016 because of a new Florida gambling agreement,” one former passenger explained. 

“Land-based casinos were finally able to offer craps and roulette. This was something only ships like Blue Horizon could do before.”

Suddenly, the ship’s unique selling point evaporated. With easier and more reliable options onshore, demand plummeted. The Blue Horizon never recovered.

Nostalgia for a Bygone Era

For many, the abandoned ship is more than rusting steel, it’s a piece of personal history.

“This was the old SunCruz Casino Boat I worked on in Hollywood, Florida, back in 2002,” one former crew member shared. “She was called the Swath. We had so many good memories onboard. It’s sad to see her in this state.”

Another commenter, who sailed during the ship’s Palm Beach years, remembered:

“People would get trashed and gamble. Not my thing, but I went with my company and we had fun. Seeing her like this is bittersweet.”

Others recall the nostalgic details, purple casino chairs, wrapped dice, and token-based slot machines, relics of an era before digital gaming dominance.

A Symbol of Change in Gambling

Not quite in Davey Jones’ locker the casino cruise ship attracts the curious and ghost hunters although technically it is private property.  Today, explorers like RangerRickTV sneak aboard and find untouched gaming tables, dormant slot machines, and dark corridors where jackpots once rang out. Locals say the ship is still quietly maintained, bilge pumps keep her afloat, and the engines show signs of recent upkeep, but her gambling days are long gone.

Take a tour of the ghost casino ship:

A Playground for Explorers

Though off-limits, the Blue Horizon has become a magnet for urban explorers, ghost hunters, and photographers.

UK-based photographer Ben Stevens is one of them. Known for documenting abandoned spaces around the world, from hospitals to ghost towns, he captured the ship’s eerie remains.

“The casino ship had been on my radar for about a year,” Stevens said.

“What was incredible was that the chips were still there, thousands of pounds’ worth. The blackjack tables, fruit machines, and safes all intact. It was just docked up and left.”

For Stevens, the appeal lies in imagining the past life of these spaces.

“You can picture the fanfare, the machines ringing, the people drinking and gambling. Then, just silence. That’s the beauty of it, it’s like walking through a forgotten museum.”

Stevens shares his finds on TikTok and Instagram, selling prints for £5. He admits it’s more passion than profit:

“I don’t do it for the money; I do it because I enjoy it. People tell me they’d never dare to go into these places, so they live the experience through my photos.”

Abandoned Casino Ship now a Freeze Frame of Glory Days

The story of the Blue Horizon is ultimately one of transition in the gambling industry. Casino cruises thrived in a regulatory gap, but once that gap closed, they couldn’t compete with land-based convenience.

For former employees and passengers, the Blue Horizon remains a powerful symbol, not just of what was lost, but of a unique chapter in casino history where the sea itself was the casino floor.