The Corpus Christie area will soon see at least one new casino cruise ship, and possibly two. The 155 foot long ship that will be known as The Aransas Queen was docked at the Tarpon Shores Bait and Beers Stand, (located on the road between Aransas Pass and  the Port Aransas Ferry) on January 6th.

The small red, black, and white boat currently bears the insignia of “Jacks or Better” and reportedly comes from  Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. The vessel should be fully refurbished and available to set out to international waters sometime in March.

According to news reports the company planning the voyages has several properties in Nevada. We’ll update the The Aransas Queen Casino Profile as more information becomes available.

Visitors can expect to see at least a dozen tables games including roulette, craps, and blackjack along with 200 slot machines and a sports book.  A buffet and a la carte menu are in the works for the new casino cruise.

As gambling is not legal in Texas,  the ship will travel twice per day, six days a week into international waters before casino games will become available. The gulf waters are known to be less than calm at times so many experienced cruise gamblers have wondered aloud about how smooth the ride will be in such a small vessel.

Another ship is expected to be making a maiden voyage in January. Formerly to be dubbed Golden Nugget, the Viva Texas  Cruises, Inc. ship is now to be christened The Pride of Texas. If all goes as currently planned, the Pride of Texas will make its maiden voyage from the Corpus Christi Marina for an 11 hour round trip starting at 11am on January 25th. According to the web page future voyages will be twice per day out of Aransas Pass, Monday – Saturday (11am-5pm & 6pm-12 midnight) with only Sunday cruises leaving from Corpus Christi.