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Royal Caribbean is testing a mobile digital lottery game aboard Utopia of the Seas, allowing passengers to buy scratch-off tickets through the cruise operator’s mobile app as cruise lines expand their onboard gaming offerings.
The pilot is currently available only on Utopia of the Seas, with Royal Caribbean expected to introduce the game on additional ships in the coming months. Digital scratch-off tickets range in price from $2 to $20 and offer a top jackpot of $100,000.
Winnings of $2,000 or less are automatically credited to a passenger’s onboard account. For larger prizes, passengers must visit the Casino Royale cashier to complete tax paperwork before receiving their winnings.
The digital lottery replaces Paradise Lotto, a lottery-style game that Royal Caribbean offered before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The move follows Carnival, which launched Carnival Millions in February. The interactive lottery game pools participating ships for a daily $1 million drawing.
Cruise lines have increasingly incorporated digital gaming into their offerings, although full-scale iGaming remains challenging because of connectivity and latency constraints at sea.
BetMGM tested mobile sports betting and online casino gaming with Carnival in 2022 across more than 50 ships, but the operation was later terminated. Satellite internet delays created problems for sports betting, which depends on real-time data and live odds, while passengers showed limited interest in online casino games and generally preferred the physical casinos onboard.
Internet connectivity has improved on some cruise ships with satellite services such as Starlink, but reliability and speed remain considerations for real-time online gambling.
Cruise ship casinos can operate once vessels enter international waters, with the cruise industry subject to standards referenced by the Cruise Lines International Association.
Royal Caribbean’s pilot represents a more limited approach to mobile gaming, allowing passengers to access lottery-style products through the cruise app without extending the operator’s full physical casino offering into online gambling.