Cruise Ship Casino Rules in Asia

Where the line sits: port waters versus international waters

The short answer to "when does the cruise casino open?" is: when the ship leaves territorial waters. A cruise ship's casino operates under the flag state of the vessel and the terms of whatever approval it holds, and any conditions attach to that approval rather than to a general rule. When the Malta Gaming Authority allowed cruise liners to run their onboard casinos while berthed in Malta and its territorial waters, it did so only with prior approval, and it attached two conditions: the casino may only operate during the time window specified in the MGA approval, and only persons listed on the passenger manifest of that particular voyage may gamble at the vessel's casino¹. Those limits are conditions of the MGA approval, not rules that apply to cruise casinos generally.

That example is useful because it shows the exception rather than the rule. In most of Asia, the default is the opposite: the casino stays closed while the ship is in port or in the country's territorial waters, and opens only once the vessel reaches international waters, usually announced over the ship's public address system. The crew closes the tables again on the way back in, often several hours before docking.

Some jurisdictions close the door entirely. In the Philippines, the casino regulatory manual for licensed land-based casinos states plainly that operating a casino on a cruise ship is prohibited, so a ship calling at Manila cannot simply open its tables in Philippine waters².

A few practical points follow from the Malta conditions. Under them, only ticketed passengers on the voyage may play, so port visitors and crew guests cannot wander in. And because the operating window is set by the MGA approval rather than by the clock, the casino's opening hours shift with the itinerary: on a sea day the tables may open by late morning, while on a port-intensive route you may get only a few evening hours. If the casino matters to you, check the itinerary before booking, because a "cruise to nowhere" that never enters another country's waters gives the casino the longest window of all.

Going ashore: the rules change at the gangway

Whatever happens on board, the moment you walk down the gangway you are under the law of the port you are in, and in Asia's two biggest cruise hubs those laws point in very different directions.

In Singapore, casino gambling exists in exactly two places: Marina Bay Sands and Resorts World Sentosa. The Casino Control Act caps the number of casinos at two, and the legalized forms of gambling are social gambling, betting with Singapore Pools, casino gambling at those two resorts, and jackpot machine rooms at private clubs³. There is no third casino, no casino district, and nothing on the ship once you are back in port.

In Hong Kong, there is no legal casino anywhere. All gambling is illegal except the forms below⁵.

So a ship sailing from Hong Kong gives you the only casino experience available on that itinerary unless you cross to Macau, where the full range of resort casinos operates under its own rules.

This is why cruise itineraries matter so much in Asia. A ship out of Singapore can offer its casino at sea and two world-class resorts ashore. A ship out of Hong Kong offers the casino at sea and, ashore, racing and football betting with the Hong Kong Jockey Club. For more on how residency changes what you can do at the tables, see our page on expats vs tourists casino access in Asia.

The levy Singaporeans and permanent residents pay at the door

Singapore charges its own people to enter the casino. A casino operator must not allow any Singapore citizen or permanent resident to enter or remain on casino premises unless the person has paid the entry levy⁴. The levy is S$150 for every consecutive period of 24 hours, or S$3,000 for a valid annual membership of the casino¹⁰. Foreign visitors pay nothing; the levy applies only to citizens and permanent residents.

The levy is deliberately steep, and it is enforced at the door with identity checks. A citizen or permanent resident who attempts to enter casino premises without paying the levy faces a fine of up to S$1,000¹¹. Certain people are exempt while acting in the course of their duties, including casino employees, police officers and officers of several government agencies¹¹.

If you are a Singaporean or permanent resident planning a cruise that calls at Singapore and includes a casino day ashore, budget the levy into the trip. One 24-hour period of entry costs S$150; if you expect to visit repeatedly over a year, the S$3,000 annual membership works out cheaper after twenty visits. For foreign passengers, entry is free, but you will still need identification, covered below.

Age limits: 18 in Hong Kong, 21 at Singapore casinos

The two ports set different bars, and neither matches the other.

In Singapore, the minimum age for entry into the casinos is 21 years old⁶. The Casino Control Act defines a minor as a person below the age of 21, and acceptable proof of age must prove a person is at least 21¹². Minors may not enter or remain, or take part in any gaming, on any casino premises, and a minor who does so commits an offense; the operator must bar them¹². There is no family exception: children and teenagers cannot accompany parents onto the gaming floor, even just to watch. If you are sailing with children and want a casino day ashore, our page on casino resorts with children explains which parts of the resorts families can use.

In Hong Kong, the legal gambling age is 18, and this applies to all legal gambling, including racing, football betting and Mark Six⁷. So an 18-year-old can bet on the horses at Sha Tin but could not enter a Singapore casino, and a 20-year-old who gambles happily at sea could be turned away at Marina Bay Sands.

One more Singapore detail: the Act also allows an application for a family exclusion order to be made by or on behalf of a person below 21 years of age, meaning a family member can move to bar a young adult from the casinos¹³. Carry a passport on any casino visit in either port; proof of age is routinely checked, and for foreign visitors the passport is also what establishes that the Singapore levy does not apply.

Betting with Singapore Pools and the Hong Kong Jockey Club

Ashore, legal betting in both ports runs through a single operator each.

Singapore Pools is Singapore's sole legal gaming operator for lottery, sports betting and horse wagering¹⁴. Its horse race betting is offered on races conducted overseas by overseas turf clubs, in totalisator format, with bets collected within Singapore and commingled with overseas totalisators on overseas races¹⁵. So even though local racing has ended, punters in Singapore can still bet on racing from around the world through the tote.

In Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Jockey Club holds the legal monopoly on racing, football betting and Mark Six. One rule worth knowing before you bet: the Club's license prohibits it from accepting credit card betting, so you cannot fund wagers on plastic¹⁶. Bring cash or use the approved funding channels. If you are heading to the track itself, our guide to going to the races as a tourist covers admission and betting at the counter.

Online gambling: not an option in either port

Do not expect to keep betting online while the ship is in port, and be careful about what you do on your phone in either city.

In Hong Kong, online casinos and online e-sports gambling platforms are neither licensed nor exempted, so betting with them is illegal. Even if a gambling website is registered overseas, betting with it from Hong Kong breaches the Gambling Ordinance, and any person betting with online platforms not offered by the Hong Kong Jockey Club breaks the law⁸. This has been explicit since the Gambling (Amendment) Bill 2000, which made betting with offshore bookmakers from Hong Kong illegal across all forms of gambling, while leaving alone transactions conducted wholly outside Hong Kong by parties wholly outside it¹⁷.

For Chinese citizens, the authorities state that gambling abroad, online gambling, and providing funds or technical support for gambling all violate the Criminal Law and the Public Security Administration Punishment Law¹⁸. That applies to mainland citizens, not to Hong Kong residents under Hong Kong's own ordinances, but it matters for any passenger holding a mainland passport on the same sailing.

In Singapore, the Gambling Control Act 2022 carries real penalties for individuals. Playing a game of chance on a prohibited or unapproved gaming machine can mean a fine of up to S$10,000 or imprisonment for up to six months, or both⁹. Being present in an unlawful gambling place carries the same maximum¹⁹. The practical takeaway for a cruise passenger is simple: the ship's casino is the regulated product, and anything on your phone while ashore is not. For the wider picture across the region, see our overview of gambling as a visitor in Asia.

Who is excluded from Singapore's casinos

Singapore runs one of the most developed exclusion systems in the world, and it applies to the two resorts a cruise passenger might visit.

Exclusions ban individuals from one or more gambling activities in Singapore: the casinos at Resorts World Sentosa and Marina Bay Sands, jackpot machine rooms at private clubs, and Singapore Pools online betting²⁰. Visit limits are a softer tool: they cap the number of visits per calendar month a person can make to the casinos²⁰.

Most exclusions are voluntary. Individuals may apply to exclude themselves from one or more of those gambling activities, and the National Council on Problem Gambling processes self-exclusion applications that block you from casinos, Singapore Pools online betting and jackpot machine rooms. A non-casino self-exclusion also covers Singapore Pools and Singapore Turf Club betting accounts and jackpot rooms of participating private clubs, and it is open to citizens, permanent residents and foreigners who are current members or account holders of those operators.

Exclusions are not only self-imposed. An excluded person must not enter casino premises, and the casino operator must bar and remove excluded persons¹². Family members of problem gamblers can also ask for exclusion orders, and the council's services cover third-party and family applications²⁰. If you are on a cruise with someone whose gambling worries you, the council's services are the route used by families in Singapore.

What the rules do not cover

Both ports carve out space that the rules leave alone, and it is worth knowing where the lines are drawn.

In Singapore, the Gambling Control Act's remote gambling provisions do not extend to conduct within a casino, or to a class licensee providing a gambling service according to a class license⁹. Similarly, the section dealing with excluded persons does not apply to gambling within any casino or to social gambling²¹. Social gambling, meaning private bets among friends with no commercial operator taking a cut, sits outside the prohibitions.

Hong Kong's equivalent carve-out is section 3 of the Gambling Ordinance, which exempts social gambling, alongside the licensed mahjong parlors and the Jockey Club's approved products⁵. So a private mahjong game for modest stakes in a Hong Kong apartment, or a friendly wager between passengers, is a different thing from the commercial gambling the ordinances target.

The distinction that matters on a cruise: gambling with a licensed operator, whether the ship's approved casino at sea or the two Singapore resorts ashore, is regulated. Private social gambling is generally tolerated. Anything run commercially without a license, on land or online, is not.

A first-timer's checklist for a cruise with a casino stop

If you are booking a sailing from Singapore or Hong Kong and the casino is part of the appeal, here is what to sort out before you go.

• Check the itinerary for sea days. The casino opens only in international waters, so port-heavy routes give you short windows and "cruise to nowhere" sailings give you the most table time¹.
• Bring your passport everywhere. You need it to board, to prove age at the casinos, and to show you are a foreign visitor exempt from Singapore's entry levy⁴.
• Budget the levy if you are a Singapore citizen or PR. S$150 per 24-hour period or S$3,000 for the year at Singapore's casinos; foreign visitors enter free¹⁰.
• Know the age bar. 21 at Singapore's casinos, 18 for legal gambling in Hong Kong⁶.
• Leave the online accounts alone while ashore. Betting with overseas-registered sites from Hong Kong is an offense, and unapproved gambling in Singapore carries fines up to S$10,000⁸.
• Do not plan on credit. The Hong Kong Jockey Club cannot accept credit card betting, and Singapore Pools does not allow betting on credit; casino table wagers are made with chips¹⁴.
• Plan around children. Minors under 21 cannot enter Singapore's casinos at all, so arrange resort activities for them elsewhere¹².
• If gambling is becoming a problem, the exclusion system is there. Self-exclusion and visit limits are free to apply for through the National Council on Problem Gambling in Singapore.

For the resorts themselves, see our guides to Resorts World Sentosa and the country pages for Singapore and Hong Kong.