Alaska Cruise Video Poker

[FloridaPhil]

I learned something interesting on this trip. I have Dancer's Video Poker for Winners loaded on my laptop.   When I got on the ship I set up the one coin cruise deuces pay schedule into the program before I played for real to see the differences in strategy.  Deuces is a weird program. It doesn't take much of difference in the pay schedule or coins to change the strategy.  The big changes were taking one of two pair and keeping a pair over a flush draw.  There were a couple of other small changes also.  I think I got my $50 bucks worth on that trip.  I expected Dancer to jump out of the laptop and scream at me "Stop playing this terrible game and go back to your room you idiot", but it didn't happen. 
 

[cook1947]

Phil, where did you sail from? I would really like to try the Alaska cruise, but if there is alot of movement, I probably wouldn't. Which ports did you go into? Would you do it again..sounds like you would. Glad you had a fun trip!
Also, did you have to dress for dinner if you wanted to eat in the main dining room? (aka suits for the guys, dresses for the ladies, or vice versa if so preferred) I hated being on the beach all day, then dressing up for dinner, especially when the showers were the size of a small closet.

[BOOPSAHOY]

Cook 1947 if you take a Norwegian Cruise Line cruise they have frestyle dining. You only dress up if you want to!

[cook1947]

That is the way to go for sure. My brother took a Norwegian cruise and was invited to eat at the Captains table 2 times during the cruise. Of course we have a very norwegian last name so I think that might have helped. He loved it. Bring me Lefse 3 times a day, and I am a happy camper. (lefse is a burrito but made with potatoes).OMG, my brain is wandering again. Sorry.

[FloridaPhil]

The trip we took was through Princess Cruise Lines. We flew from Orlando to Minneapolis then Fairbanks and back on Delta. It was 8 days on land and 7 days at sea. The land portion started in Fairbanks. From there we went to Denali, the Mt. McKinley lodge then traveled south by glass roofed train to Whittier where we got on the ship. On land we stayed at Princess Lodges and they were great.  The ship was the Coral Princess.  The first night on the ship they had formal night where everyone dressed up.  My wife is into those things, so I had to put on a suit and go with it. We could have ate the buffet and avoided that (not).  The rest of the time I wore jeans and a nice shirt.  I can't say enough about Princess. Everything was done to perfection and we had zero complaints.  The land staff was mostly college students that I'm sure were handpicked.  The ship staff was also very professional and efficient.  We wanted to do this trip before we got too old to remember it... 

[cook1947]

Sounds wonderful Phil. So glad you had such a memorable trip. Ours was a Royal Caribbean, 7 days , Martinique, Barbados, Antigua, St. Marttin and then back to the Virgin Islands. We left from Puerto Rico so it was quite a long trip home to LA. Dress up every night for dinner, and for 2 California beach kids that was tough. I don't think I would do that cruise again, thats why I was wondering about Alaska. Fascinates me. Did you see any whales or seals, etc. Thank you again for the info.

[davidearl]

I learned something interesting on this trip. I have Dancer's Video Poker for Winners loaded on my laptop.   When I got on the ship I set up the one coin cruise deuces pay schedule into the program before I played for real to see the differences in strategy.  Deuces is a weird program. It doesn't take much of difference in the pay schedule or coins to change the strategy.  The big changes were taking one of two pair and keeping a pair over a flush draw.  There were a couple of other small changes also.  I think I got my $50 bucks worth on that trip.  I expected Dancer to jump out of the laptop and scream at me "Stop playing this terrible game and go back to your room you idiot", but it didn't happen. 
 


     Dancer didn't jump out of your laptop 'cause you posted under Recreational Play.
 
     Great report, they should have weighed you before and after you boarded the ship, and charged by the pound! I think they would like to do that to me when I go blueberry picking........
 
 
 
 
     Dave

[FloridaPhil]

We did see some animals on our trip.  In order to see the land animals you need to book separate expeditions along the way.  On our tour of Denali we saw a couple of moose, one with two babies. We also saw some mountain sheep and a lot of birds.  We took the train up to White Pass (very cool) and on the way saw a mother bear with a tiny baby.  It was very cute.   On the ship, you see a lot of whales, seals and sea otters.  They don't come close to the cruise ship, so if you want to see them up close you can book a separate small boat tour.  There is no end to the things you can do and see, it only depends on how much money you want to spend.  Two weeks is a long trip for us, but we enjoyed every minute of it. 

[Vman96]

The big changes were taking one of two pair and keeping a pair over a flush draw. 

If the full house is worth 4 for 1, keep two pair over a pair. If it's 3 for 1 or worse, just keep one pair.

If the flush is worth 3 for 1, keep the four flush over a pair. If the flush is worth 2 for 1, keep the pair.    

[FloridaPhil]

If I have a choice, I play deuces. It's much more fun than Jacks or DDB.  I get more 4Ace quads when I'm playing Deuces than at any other time.