January Cruise

[BillyJoe]

Well, my cruise with my niece from Denver on the NCL Pearl to the Caribbean is now in the books. We had a wonderful time, and some peaceful seas. The weather was comfortable, albeit a little humid. The ports of call were interesting, and of course, filled with shopping. My niece found a beautiful Gucci watch that made her eyes light up, so, of course, I had to buy it for her.

The casino was a lot of fun. NCL, however, has changed their player card system to mimic Caesars' Reward Card, with everything driven on points earned. As a result, the casino hosts now have less discretion with regard to comps. I played enough, though, to have all my ship-board expenses comped by the casino, which was nice.
No pics, since they do not allow cameras in the casino (and my cell phone stayed locked in the room safe), but I had several nice VP hands, including two AWAKs on 9/5 TDB $1, two TTF/Kckr on $2 9/5 TDB single line, and quite a few quads. I stayed away from slots, but did well on the table games, especially Ultimate Texas Hold'Em. I also played in their week-long Texas Hold'Em tournament, qualified for the final table, and finished 4th overall.
Quite a few lovely Romanian dealers in the casino.  And, of course, looking for my niece in the sunbathing areas on board ship was always a treat.    
 
Off to Biloxi later this week for a few days. I hope the weather is warm enough to play some golf.  

[Tedlark]

  Congrats Billyjoe, it sounds like you had a very enjoyable trip. Too bad they didn't allow scenic pictures to be taken around the pool/sunbathing area. Polish up your clubs as it should be warm enough to smack that little white ball around in Biloxi.

[DaBurglar]

Billyjoe, tell us more about the poker tournament you finished 4th in......how large was the field and what was the prize pool and what did the places pay?   I find it interesting that a cruise ship had such an event....I would think the last thing people would want to do on a boat cruising warm ports of call would be to sit and play cards!   But its cool, and if I were on the ship I would play, since I am already sitting down 80% of the time anyway!

[BillyJoe]

Billyjoe, tell us more about the poker tournament you finished 4th in......how large was the field and what was the prize pool and what did the places pay?   I find it interesting that a cruise ship had such an event....I would think the last thing people would want to do on a boat cruising warm ports of call would be to sit and play cards!   But its cool, and if I were on the ship I would play, since I am already sitting down 80% of the time anyway!
Depending on the day, they had one or two qualifying events. You had to win a qualifying event to get to the final table on the last night. I think the buyin was$60, with re-buys available (I never do rebuys). Pot is then split down to 5 places. There were 8 at the final table. The rebuys help increase the overall pot. I got $285, I think, for 4th.

[Lucky Larry]

Sounds like a really nice trip billyjoe. Love hearing the stories.

[Minn. Fatz]

[QUOTE=DaBurglar]

Billyjoe, tell us more about the poker tournament you finished 4th in......how large was the field and what was the prize pool and what did the places pay?   I find it interesting that a cruise ship had such an event....I would think the last thing people would want to do on a boat cruising warm ports of call would be to sit and play cards!   But its cool, and if I were on the ship I would play, since I am already sitting down 80% of the time anyway!
Depending on the day, they had one or two qualifying events. You had to win a qualifying event to get to the final table on the last night. I think the buyin was$60, with re-buys available (I never do rebuys). Pot is then split down to 5 places. There were 8 at the final table. The rebuys help increase the overall pot. I got $285, I think, for 4th. [/QUOTE]

Thanks for the info billyjoe, Mrs. Minn. and I are getting ready for a cruise on the Dawn next month.

Were there prizes for the Hold 'Em qualifying events or just for the final?

[BillyJoe]

[QUOTE=billyjoe] [QUOTE=DaBurglar]

Billyjoe, tell us more about the poker tournament you finished 4th in......how large was the field and what was the prize pool and what did the places pay?   I find it interesting that a cruise ship had such an event....I would think the last thing people would want to do on a boat cruising warm ports of call would be to sit and play cards!   But its cool, and if I were on the ship I would play, since I am already sitting down 80% of the time anyway!
Depending on the day, they had one or two qualifying events. You had to win a qualifying event to get to the final table on the last night. I think the buyin was$60, with re-buys available (I never do rebuys). Pot is then split down to 5 places. There were 8 at the final table. The rebuys help increase the overall pot. I got $285, I think, for 4th. [/QUOTE]

Thanks for the info billyjoe, Mrs. Minn. and I are getting ready for a cruise on the Dawn next month.

Were there prizes for the Hold 'Em qualifying events or just for the final?[/QUOTE]
On the particular cruise that I was on, you had to make the final table to have a shot at a prize. I know they used to give a t-shirt if you won a qualifier, but they didn't on this one.

[Minn. Fatz]

Sounds like it might be worth a shot or two if it's like 8 max, thanks. Guess I'll pack my own T-shirt; I have one that says "Dead $" on the front and "Ante up or shut up" on the back.