Mrs Q played through her $ 600 in freeplay ( 500 for booking the cruise, and another 100 in one of the Premier drawings ), but then hit a HAND PAY RF on a 10 cent denom game with a 3X multiplier. Woot woot. I was playing FUN 21 and they make a big deal about having your cell phone out, even though they use a CSM, so I ignored her texts and didn't go over to her machine to get a picture. She probably has one.
I have played a little Bonus Poker VP but mostly FUN 21. One evening, a gentleman came over to our table and played up to $ 2000 per hand. He had approval from the casino to double the posted per hand limit of $ 1000. Seemed like a nice enough guy.
For the trip right now, I am up $ 225. Well, better than being down that much !
Mrs Q also won a drawing at the Premier cocktail reception for $ 100 at the on-board candy store. We don't want $ 100 of candy and also didn't want to buy a bunch of beach towels that they had there, so we asked and the casino host and he let us go to the Steakhouse instead. The service there last night was TERRIBLE ( it took 1 full hour to get our first appetizer ) and the staff up there was curt and just not pleasant.
- Not Exactly what I was hoping for, but I the NEXT BEST THING I guess.
Other Pix from Skagway
The weather forecast was lousy so we didn't reserve E-bikes, and then it turned out to be OK afterall. So we walked around, bought some postcards to send back home, had a bowl of Caribou chili, and then stumbled onto a reasonably priced bus tour. Our driver/guide Marissa was excellent, constantly sharing stories and history on a 2.5 hour tour.
Misc
We had ESPN and ESPN2 on our little TV in the Cabin when we started the cruise, but we don't have it now. ;-(
If she doesn't, tell her she is welcome to borrow mine!Quote: JohnnyQGambling Update
Mrs Q played through her $ 600 in freeplay ( 500 for booking the cruise, and another 100 in one of the Premier drawings ), but then hit a HAND PAY RF on a 10 cent denom game with a 3X multiplier. Woot woot. I was playing FUN 21 and they make a big deal about having your cell phone out, even though they use a CSM, so I ignored her texts and didn't go over to her machine to get a picture. She probably has one.
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This was from my cruise last month on the Carnival Elation.
Quote: PokerGrinder
Sadly they only do this port stop to appease the law that they have to stop in another country if they go to international waters. That’s why the Hawaii cruise stops in a small Mexico town before going back to LA.
Interesting, I did not know that.
Quote: DRichQuote: PokerGrinder
Sadly they only do this port stop to appease the law that they have to stop in another country if they go to international waters. That’s why the Hawaii cruise stops in a small Mexico town before going back to LA.
Interesting, I did not know that.
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I didn’t either before the Alaskan cruise. I asked why it was so short and this was the answer I was given. Although why not just give customers a proper port stop if we are there anyways. We arrived in the afternoon but stayed in open waters for hours.
Our 2nd outing to the Steak house was much, much better.Quote: PokerGrinderThat’s disappointing to hear about the steakhouse as I’d say the thing that makes carnival standout from other cruises is their service. I find them to be more attentive than other cruise lines.
We asked and the casino comp'd us for that again ( Mrs Q had played a good amount of VP and I had a decent amount of playing time at the $ 20 FUN 21 table ).
It was surprising to me that the Steak house was mostly empty on the last night of the cruise at 7 pm. I had the 9 oz Filet Mignon and Mrs Q had the twin lobster tails.
That got straightened out after a bit.Quote: JohnnyQWe had ESPN and ESPN2 on our little TV in the Cabin when we started the cruise, but we don't have it now.
The cabin TV sports programming was actually pretty good on the cruise. We also had FOX Sports College football, US Open Tennis coverage, the NFL on Sunday, and Monday Night Football. I HOPE the same is true on the upcoming 30 day trip to Australia.
Right now, we are just hanging out in Seattle for a couple of days between cruises.
We walked to a theater today and used our Movie Passes to see Barbie ( Mission Impossible had already come and gone ). The regular price was $ 15 per ticket for a weekday early show ( yikes ). The theater was nice enuff but not as nice as the one we have back home.
I finished this 7 night cruise up around $ 500 thanks to some good sessions at FUN 21. So, thanks to this forum for bringing that game to my attention and also to the WIZ for creating the strategy table on WoO !
Mrs Q did even better than me on this cruise ( which is unusual, BUT I am NOT complaining ! ). She had one hand pay early on and then hit for another $ 700 or so on Ultimate X. And she was up on FUN 21 overall as well ( she played a couple of times, sitting next to me so I could help her with the strategy ). One night she lost a bunch of hands to start out ( like down a couple hundred if I recall correctly ) but we continued to play until she finally clawed her way back into positive territory. Needless to say, we were there for a while.
I usually did new buy-ins most days at the tables, and whatever winnings I had from the night before stayed in the cabin safe. One of the first things we did today was walk to a branch of our bank out here and deposit 42 one hundred dollar bills. Not all of that was profit, of course. But still a nice feeling ( and relief ) to have it safely back in our bank.
Quote: PokerGrinderNice job on the wins. Free cruises plus winning is the cherry on top. I’ve ran very well on my 4 cruises this year with one medium win, two big wins and one small loss. I’m up just over 20k on the year on cruises. Guaranteed not to give it back this year as I have no more planned lol.
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What do you play on the cruises?
I was on a Royal Caribbean ship last week. Lost $725 on slots, but hit exactly 1500 pts ($7500 coin in) to get another “free” cruise on an Oasis-class ship in April.
Congrats but i think the entire $4200 amount was probably reported to the IRS by the bank because it's a large deposit.Quote: JohnnyQOne of the first things we did today was walk to a branch of our bank out here and deposit 42 one hundred dollar bills. Not all of that was profit, of course. But still a nice feeling ( and relief ) to have it safely back in our bank.
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Yes, it's under the mandatory $10k filing threshold but some banks have a lower threshold, like $4k.
Or am i confusing this with another form banks send to the federal govt?
Nice!Quote: PokerGrinderNice job on the wins. Free cruises plus winning is the cherry on top. I’ve ran very well on my 4 cruises this year with one medium win, two big wins and one small loss. I’m up just over 20k on the year on cruises.
Guaranteed not to give it back this year as I have no more planned lol.
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In 2022, I cruised like 6 times. I made a profit in all but 1 cruise.
The loss happened on the last cruise of the year and it wiped out all the profit from the other cruises plus a little more. :(
Oof 100x that really sucks. Should have skipped that last cruise lol.
But I have finally reached platinum status and am excited to have the free laundry service now. IF we take any other long cruises in the future, we can bring less clothes, which ( hopefully ! ) means not having to lug Mrs Q's 50 lb suitcase around.
Their website:
Earn VIFP points just lounging by the pool. Each day you cruise is another VIFP point earned, so whether you like long cruises or spontaneous getaways, every one is totally worth it.
With Celebrity, 1 free laundry when you make Elite, 2 free laundry when you make Elite plus.Quote: JohnnyQIt actually isn't too expensive to have a small bag of laundry done on the ship. Some Carnival ships even have self-serve machines.
But I have finally reached platinum status and am excited to have the free laundry service now. IF we take any other long cruises in the future, we can bring less clothes, which ( hopefully ! ) means not having to lug Mrs Q's 50 lb suitcase around.
Their website:
Earn VIFP points just lounging by the pool. Each day you cruise is another VIFP point earned, so whether you like long cruises or spontaneous getaways, every one is totally worth it.
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2 free laundry's are great for 12+ day cruises.
NCL is free laundry at Platinum.
no 2nd bag when your Loyalty level goes up but for every 6 days of cruise is an additional laundry day.
12 day cruise = 2 laundry days
18day cruise (ie: panama canal) = 3 laundry days
For both celebrity and ncl, it doesnt matter when you take the laundry days. It doesnt have to be x days part
My next cruise is in Australia in February and I still won’t be platinum but because it’s an Elite offer I’m going on I get temporary platinum status for the whole cruise. So free laundry!!!!
Woot woot !Quote: PokerGrinderbut because it’s an Elite offer I’m going on I get temporary platinum status for the whole cruise. So free laundry!!!!
The bank might generate an SAR, but there are 10's of millions of these reports. Nobody will ever look at it unless you commit some other crime. It will never be reported to the IRS. The bank will not generate a CTR for this small amount.Quote: 100xOddsCongrats but i think the entire $4200 amount was probably reported to the IRS by the bank because it's a large deposit.Quote: JohnnyQOne of the first things we did today was walk to a branch of our bank out here and deposit 42 one hundred dollar bills. Not all of that was profit, of course. But still a nice feeling ( and relief ) to have it safely back in our bank.
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Yes, it's under the mandatory $10k filing threshold but some banks have a lower threshold, like $4k.
Or am i confusing this with another form banks send to the federal govt?
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Quote: PokerGrinderI’m only 56 cruise days or so with carnival so I don’t get free laundry. I have gotten lucky that a lady I met on my Norway cruise sent my laundry in for me on that cruise and my Iceland one and the Alaska one we were comped a laundry order because they lost half my friends clothes during boarding.
My next cruise is in Australia in February and I still won’t be platinum but because it’s an Elite offer I’m going on I get temporary platinum status for the whole cruise. So free laundry!!!!
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I’ve very intrigued to see how much better the elite offers are. I’ve done premium but never used an ultra offer cause my premium offers are better than my ultra. This elite offer randomly came and it comes with some cool stuff. Airport pick up and drop off, bottle of alcohol and soft drinks in room, free shore excursion, high end gifts in the rooms etc. I was told by a casino host on my previous cruise that while the free gifts for premium cruises are like tote bags, hats etc the ones for elite are electronics like portable battery packs. She said once they even did an iPhone but that seems insane.
.....and get some fairly reasonable Seatgeek tix to the Seattle Mariners game.
We were right behind the visiting dugout about even with 3rd base, in the sixth row overall. Actually, because the dugout extends into the stands a little bit, we were in the 3rd row at that point. It was a nice afternoon for a game with a 1:10 pm start time.
I think hotdogs inside the stadium were $ 12 just by themselves. Water was $ 6. The shade didn't reach our seats on the 3rd baseline until late in the game.
I treated myself to a couple 12 oz cans of beer inside the ballpark and they were $ 6 each, which is sortof reasonable.
Tip for games, I always book seats higher up (like row 20 or so) so I get the shade and also a better view of the field.
Quote: JohnnyQ
I treated myself to a couple 12 oz cans of beer inside the ballpark and they were $ 6 each, which is sortof reasonable.
Wow, that is shocking. The last baseball game I went to the beers were $16 but they were the bigger can.
Every so often, life serves up a pleasant surprise. But as usual, it is all relative. I would not be crazy about $ 6 for a can of beer anywhere else. I thought the $ 6 combo for a large hotdog, chips, and a coke OUTSIDE the park was great.
Pokegrinder may have planted the idea of going to the game deep in my subcouncious, but it was reinforced when the 2 gents we had breakfast with on the last day of the cruise said they were going to a game.
And then the fact that the Seattle LINK rail had a station 1 block from our hotel, and the cheap-ish seats on Seatgeek, $ 5.50 for a roundtrip to/from the stadium per person, and finally "approval" from Mrs Q, all SEALED the DEAL.
We are going to get an UBER to the ship in a couple of hours.
;-(
We were looking forward to stopping in Alaska again. Oh well. We've been there plenty of times.
Well, wish us good luck ( positive variance ? ) then !Quote: ams288I’m picky when it comes to Carnival ships, I don’t think I could survive ~9 sea days in a row on Luminosa.
We are on-board.
The casino looked nice. Spacious, really nice chairs.
Quote: JohnnyQWell, wish us good luck ( positive variance ? ) then !Quote: ams288I’m picky when it comes to Carnival ships, I don’t think I could survive ~9 sea days in a row on Luminosa.
We are on-board.
The casino looked nice. Spacious, really nice chairs.
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Good luck!
I’m sure you will enjoy it. I just enjoy the mega ships more.
Quote: ams288
Good luck!
I’m sure you will enjoy it. I just enjoy the mega ships more.
I am the opposite. Give me a small ship.
We will be pulling out shortly and I will lose our I-phone hotspot in a bit, so will try to post a couple of pix (sometime) and then comment more tomorrow, which is also a shore day somewhere.
International Dateline:
And I’m down about 500.
I am getting “http response code! = 200” when I try to post a picture. Hmmmmmm…..
I guess I will turn phone off and then back on.
Lunch in Otaru < ! >
is that how you fix code 200?Quote: JohnnyQYes sir, 7x royal, woot woot.
I am getting “http response code! = 200” when I try to post a picture. Hmmmmmm…..
I guess I will turn phone off and then back on.
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Quote: 100xOddsis that how you fix code 200?Quote: JohnnyQYes sir, 7x royal, woot woot.
I am getting “http response code! = 200” when I try to post a picture. Hmmmmmm…..
I guess I will turn phone off and then back on.
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I usually resize the image.
A) there were so many days at sea in a row
B) my impression is that a lot of people got a deep discount offer from the casino and decided - “what the heck, let’s go”
There was an excellent view of the harbor.
Tomorrow is at sea, and then we will be in TOKYO.
It was an OK tour, about 4.5 hours and $ 100 pp (which is actually reasonable for something booked thru the ship) but a lot of the time was driving in the bus. We could at least see some of the other sights of Tokyo.
We don’t have to be back on the ship until 9:30, so no casino tonight for me. It probably can’t open any earlier than 10:30 pm, and maybe a lot later. And besides, I don’t think we are even to the halfway point of this cruise yet.
Sure, Godzilla maybe, but not this either:
We do have FOX college football coverage again sortof, the signal comes and goes on the cabin TV. (Spoke too quickly, the signal for that has been lost now).