None of the cocktail pins I've played (3) play all that great (and I even own a Vegas but it sees more use as a cocktail table than a pinball machine in the gameroom.)

Probably the most interesting cocktails are Rotation VIII and Spectra IV. Spoke to a guy who restored a R8 who said it was bizarre to restore because it uses a combination of 8080 and Z80 technology. Said it was an ok play but the rotating playfield was really cool.

Of all the cocktails Spectra IV looks the coolest and it might be the one I could convince my wife to put in the living room...nah probably not.

viperrwk

Ron has these games upstairs at his 'barn' in Normalville PA.. great times on these games.
ffej

I've got a C.Cruise. There was a dude near me with 10 or so Cruises and NM's in a barn. I bought 2 Cruises (one looked better, one worked) and cobbled together one good one. It's super cheezy but unique and fun!

I have both the Night Moves and Caribbean Cruise. I stumbled onto the Night Moves and brought it home to flip it but fell in love. Great sounds and light show with some medium challenge but not extremely so. I liked it so much it sent me on a pursuit to find the Caribbean Cruse.

Not the greatest games in the world for everybody but it really trips my trigger to casually sit with a drink and play both.

All Gottlieb parts and designed by John Trudeau is what sets these two cocktail games apart from the rest.

Kim

There is one for sale in Michigan asking $700. I was looking for one but just bought another pin. Have to pass this time.

detroit.craigslist.org link

Hello fellow cocktail pin owners. I bought a Night Moves 2 weeks ago and am looking for a digital copy of the manual. I have dug around a handful of Websites and FTPs without success so far. At the moment my machine is set to 50¢ play, I'd like to change the settings to free play. I plan to put it out at a local gaming event this weekend and would prefer it not require coining up.

Thanks and fun to be in the cool International Concepts owners club.

Bottom Line Up Front – Caribbean Cruise is a niche machine that has replay value. It draws your attention due to its uniqueness, but holds your attention because it has really good play. I highly recommend it.

I started looking for a Caribbean Cruise several years ago when I read that it is the best of the cocktail pinballs. Night Moves, also by Gottlieb for International Concepts, I read is almost as good and also very good. The rest of the cocktails suck. Or so I hear.

After four years of looking I bought Caribbean Cruise having never played it. To be honest, I’d never seen one in person. After all, only 377 were made (I bought #102). Some portion of those made were trashed because they did not make money. The rest were stored because they did not make money. If you can find the latter, which I did, you have a very good buy.

I read that Gottlieb System 3 machines are “bullet proof.” Judging by the fact that all I had to do was replace some fuses in a machine that had been in storage for over a decade and now works perfectly, I believe it. Add some polish and LEDs and it is truly beautiful.

Play… No pinball machine is worth a darn if isn’t a fun play. Caribbean Cruise is fun! Surprisingly, it actually plays almost like a full-sized pinball, and I mean that as a compliment. It is very, very close to a good, full-size table. It has a good, fairly in-depth rule set, four flippers each with their own shot, no frustrating “drain-o” shots (which I think it really important and also difficult to design), decent multi-ball, and excellent sound & art. Don’t get me wrong – cocktail pinball is a niche. But this machine is a niche machine that has replay value. It draws your attention due to its uniqueness, but holds your attention because it is a good pin.
I like that you can adjust what I’ll call the game’s mission difficulties. You can adjust whether or not the following reset after each ball, or remain from ball to ball: Bonus Multiplier, Spinner Lane working towards Special (or Extra Ball, as described below), and CRUISE drop targets working towards Extra Ball. For home use, I prefer to set them to remain from ball to ball. It adds to the “Mission” aspect of the game and it’s the missions make this pin fun. There truly is a shot for each flipper, and good shots make good play.

I also like that you can not only set it for Free Play, but also adjust the game settings so that Special awards an Extra Ball and not an already free “free” game. That surprised me (although maybe it shouldn’t have) for an 80’s machine.
You can customize the Attract Message. “Hoppy’s Basement” is mine. Actually, there is no apostrophe, which kind of bothers me, but you get the point.

[Randomly placed informational note… To enter Game Adjustments mode, hold the left flipper while pressing the Test button.]

I do have some complaints…

I’m not sure my first complaint is really a complaint. I’ll let you decide. The way to score a lot of points is to maximize your Outhole Bonus. You do this two ways. First, get a lot of extra balls by spelling CRUISE with the drop targets or by advancing the Spinner Lane to Special. More balls equals more Outhole Bonuses. Second, increase the Bonus Multiplier and advance the CRUISE drop targets. Basically, 100,000 x Bonus Multiplier x CRUISE letters = Outhole Bonus. In a high scoring game, I’d estimate you earn over 75% of your score through Outhole Bonuses. It doesn’t detract from game play, it just doesn’t feel right.

“Skeet Mode,” which you enter by hitting the five SKEET targets, could be totally awesome!!! But it’s a dud. Basically, after hitting each letter you enter “Skeet Mode” where each letter in the SKEET targets light in sequence. For each letter you hit that is lit you get 1 million points. This could be really fun. The problem, however, is that the rest of the game is “off” during Skeet Mode, meaning you can’t advance CRUISE or the Spinner Lane towards Special. It’s just not worth the risk to score 1 million points with a SKEET hit so I frequently catch the ball and wait for Skeet Mode to end. I wish I could increase the value of a Skeet hit to, say, 5 or 10 million. Then it might be worth the risk of draining the ball. Skeet Mode could be utterly fantastic! Unfortunately, it’s just not worth the risk of losing your ball.

It rolls over at 100 million. Really?!?! 100 million?!?! Urgh!!!

Overall, Caribbean Cruise is an eye-magnet that holds your attention. It is unique and fun. I highly, highly recommend this machine as a first and only pinball machine (as it is for me), or as a niche machine to accent your collection. Enjoy!!!

Post Script… I highly recommend you watch the following videos if you’re interested in a cocktail pin. The first two are about Caribbean Cruise. The second two are about Night Moves, the similar cocktail by Gottlieb for International Concepts. All four videos are by TNT Amusements. I have no affiliation with them other than I think they have good, entertaining and informational videos about machines.

On a Caribbean Cruise machine you have to hold the left flipper button while pressing the test button.