Card Player Curises

rbenuck4 · #1 03-04-2004, 02:16 PM

So my grandfather took the whole family on a cruise on the new Queen Mary 2 for the past couple of weeks. It was a wonderful trip, stopping in St. Thomas, Salvador de Bahia, and Rio (during Carnaval). The one problem was that there was not a single person my age on the ship. I am 22, and I didn't meet one person within five years of me. As luck would have it, I was on the elevator and noticed a guy's shirt said "card player cruises" on it, and I asked him what the deal was, and it turns out I was on a card player cruise. SCORE!!! I'm gonna have something to do on this huge ship after all. I literally went sprinting over to the room where it was being held. Apparently since this was the "exotic" cruise of the year, there were fewer people on it (about 150 signed up through them). Apparently usually there are a lot more people on them.

They had 8 tables though usually 4 or 5 tables were being used at once. They spread 2-4, 4-8, 10-20, 20-40, and 4-8 Omaha hi low. I had the time of my life playing 2-4 and 4-8 the entire time. The people I was playing with were the nicest folks in th world. Everyone was there to have fun, so no one was getting mad, making rude comments, yelling at dealers, etc...

To top it all off, I got the opportunity to chat with and play poker with Linda Johnson and Mark Tenner. I made friends with the dealers and the players and got to hear some incredible poker stories. I bought Mark's new book on Omaha Hi Low a day after playing that same game with him. What a thrill! Linda came to the disco with the dealers and I after hours one time and was buying us drinks and dancing with everyone.

They had some tournaments as well. Since I was on a short budget, I only played in one of them (100 + 25) buy in No limit. Half the players had never played No limit in their lives, and the other half were VERY decent players. Unforutnately, my table was 9 good players. The saying in rounders that if you can't spot the sucker within a half hour at the table, than you are the sucker. Well it took my about two hands to realize I was the sucker. Oh well, I ended up busting out on a coin flip in about 25th out of 40, when I put the guy on a small pair and went all in over the top with K10 suited, and he called with his fives. I thought he would've laid em down, but at least I made the right read.

When all was said and done, including the 125 I blew on the tourny, I was up about 40 bucks for the entire trip. All in all, it was a great experience and I'm really glad I got to meet all those people on the ship. If any of you ever get a chance to take a card palyer cruise, jump on that chance. They really know how to have a good time.

Howard Burroughs · #2 03-04-2004, 10:59 PM

I enjoyed reading your trip report. Sounds like you had a blast playing poker at sea. Thanks for posting.

Best

Howard

PokerFish · #3 03-05-2004, 01:11 AM

Hi Russ,
I am sure that you are who wrote this post, if not I apologize for not knowing. Thanks for the great post and it was indeed a pleasure traveling with you. It was great to have such a young and enthusiastic player drop in. Unlike other cruise lines, Cunard did not forbid us to allow drop ins, and since we were able to accomodate them without inconveniencing our CPC customers, we were happy to welcome walk-ins into the cardroom. We really enjoyed hanging out with you. Thanks for the kind words and glad you had such a good time, we certainly did!
Best,
Jan Fisher
http://cardplayercruises.com/

CrackerZack · #4 03-05-2004, 08:27 AM

Not sure if you're hear very often Jan, but in case I have a few questions. Do most of the boats forbid walk-ins? If I were on a cruise and found out they had a poker room, that would probably be the best surprise I could have received. Also, where are the poker rooms on the boats usually? I've been a 3 cruises and could never figure out where they'd put it.

Thanks,
Zack

PokerFish · #5 03-05-2004, 02:03 PM

Hi,
Good questions. No ships have poker rooms. Only when CPC goes on a special event cruise can you play in a Card Player Cruises poker room. We do about 6 per year. We do not allow walk-ins for several reasons. The ship forbids it, for one, but the main reason is that we very carefully try to make a cardroom big enough and staffed well enough for the customers we know are coming. If we booked 300 and took 20 tables to accomodate them, then 300 from the ship wanted to play, all of those who gave us their business would be on waiting lists all of the time. So, if you would like to cruise with us, that's great. Check out my link below and see our website, then give our office a call. I know you would enjoy the cruise and poker aspect of it. Email me for more info at Jan@cardplayercruises.com. I look forward to meeting and cruising with you.
Best,

Jan Fisher
http://cardplayercruises.com/