2008 Halloween Poker Cruise
Posted on December 29, 2007 by Ching under Life, Travel.
Kurt’s new business venture, Getaway Easy Travel, is offering a heck of a deal on their 2008 halloween poker cruise. Even though we’ve done this particular cruise before, we would totally book now (except we have vowed not to take a trip in 2008 so we can work on the house and put it in the market during the 2008 real estate sales season).
I remember when Brian and I took this exact same cruise (only backwards, our first port was Cozumel instead of Ocho Rios) during our honeymoon in 2002, it cost us about $3200 and our room was even on the bottom with mere portholes. If you book through this specal offer, $609 per person will get you an ocean view room, your tournament buy-in, and port fees. They’ll even let you use easy pay — you can put down a reservation fee of $50 per person and then just pay in installments (this is before January 10; after January 10, the initial deposit must be $100). It truly is an unbeatable deal!
The ship sails from Galveston, Texas on Sunday, October 26, and returns to Galveston the following Sunday, November 1. Here’s a list of some of the things they’re throwing in:
- Complimentary “WPTAPL Members Party” (we didn’t get this on our honeymoon cruise)
- Cash Games
- Tournaments starting at $25 (there weren’t any poker tournaments on our cruise, only blackjack tournaments)
- $500 FreeRoll for all players (a shot to win some money with no tournament entry fee, what more can you ask for)
- Satellites to Main Event starting at $45
- Main Event Tournament $440 Buy-In
- Visiting Montego Bay, Grand Cayman, and Cozumel (these are excellent ports with lots of fun off-site excursions; trust me, we’ve done this same cruise)
- Halloween Costume Party
- Meals are included
If mom and dad weren’t planning on going home to the Philippines next year, I would totally try to talk them into going on this one. Granted, they don’t play poker… But these are some of the best cruise rates you’ll see. Even if you’re not really a poker player, you can even do the free roll. You might even win! Beginners always seem to win. Wouldn’t that be awesome? If you could go on a cruise, play a poker tournament for free, and win some money for souvenirs?
Shoot, I want to go just writing about it. Even if I’ve visited these places before. This is too good a deal to pass up. If we get our house sold by September, I’m definitely going to try talking Brian into going. We are getting on this ship! (more…)
5 Comments
Pictures from Christmas Day
Posted on December 29, 2007 by Ching under Family.
Comment on This
Dinner at Tokyo on Thurdsay
Posted on December 29, 2007 by Ching under Family, Food and Drink, Life, Reviews.
The last time we were in Derby (Christmas eve) I noticed a new resto — Tokyo Steakhouse. Brian and I both like Sumo and Kobe so we figured we would give this place a try. We managed to talk Jen into going with us. Here is her colorful account of the evening:
Arriving at Tokyo, and realizing that my sister had not made reservations, I started making a mental calculations of how long we would be waiting based on how many people were sitting and eating, how far along they were at eating, and how many people were standing around waiting for a table.
As we waited I noticed I really pissy looking hostess. She was short and thick, and had those faces you just immediately want to slap. No clue why. Then beside her, another hostess, this one super tall and super skinny, and her mannerism kinda made you feel like she’d been picked on for most of her life. I couldn’t help but watch them really, because as the people piled in at the waiting area their attitudes started really showing. The skinny one kept looking at the seating chart, looking around, looking back at the seating chart and periodically she kept putting her elbows up on the table and burrying her face in her hands. I think she was trying not to make eye contact with the patrons, now growing impatient, and all watching both of them to see who was going to be seated next and when. The pudgy one kept walking from the back of the restaurant and back to the hostess table, and she was carrying this air of importance that you could tell didn’t belong to her. I guess, Brian overheard an argument between the two of them on whether to seat people on the empty tables or wait for thsoe that actually made reservations. In the long run, skinny chick won.
When we got seated, Ching started getting really concerned about whether they served sushi or not. I’m not sure why, because she didn’t want to order sushi, but she was really concerned. And she also started jotting bits of information about the night, I think for her review. Like she would have a really hard time recollecting the night or the food if she decided to sleep before writing about it. So she sat there looking around for a sushi bar, and jotting things down on an Inspector Gadget looking notepad. And then when the hibachi chef came by, the show really started. Not because he was anything different than all the other hibachi chefs we’ve seen, but because Ching was really into interacting with him. In a fairly somber table, she was trying to out-joke the guy whose job it was to make jokes. I think this happens because she rarely drinks, and my theory is that your body has to expel weirdness and absurdity. Usually people that drink have an outlet, but with Ching you just get it randomly, whenever her body feels it has to expel these things to make more room.
Either way it was a great meal, but for my money, I still prefer Kobe’s.
I haven’t written my review for Foodies yet, but that is coming. First, I need to find my “inspector gadget-looking notepad” and get some “weirdness and absurdity” out of my system.
2 Comments
Christmas Eve Celebration
Posted on December 28, 2007 by Ching under Family.
Here are some of my favorite pictures from Christmas eve..
Comment on This
NORAD Tracks Santa 2007
Posted on December 24, 2007 by Ching under Family, Web.
I can’t wait until Logan gets here so I can show him the Santa tracker web site by NORAD. It’s pretty nifty! They’ve got a map marked with all of the places that Santa has already visited. As of the last time I checked, he was in Congo. He’s pretty fast, too. He’s already been to the Philippines and Australia and part of Europe. He should make it to the US in good time.
Brian says that NORAD has been tracking Santa since he was a little kid. I didn’t believe him until I checked their web site. They’ve got over 50 years of historical data. Amazing! Other features of the web site include video footage and the ability to track Santa in 3D via Google Earth. I bet they didn’t have this when Brian was a little boy!
Anyway, I’m really excited to show this to Logan. I think he will love it!
P.S. To speak to a NORAD Santa tracker in person, you can call 1-877-HI-NORAD or 1-877-446-6723. The call is free within the United Sates.
2 Comments
