NOT LOST AT SEA

Yes, we’ve been gone for a week, vacationing on a cruise out of New Orleans.  It was strange to be out of computer/cell phone range – but I enjoyed the break from technology!   Of course there was Internet access on the ship – but I figured I didn’t have such important information to convey to anyone that I needed to pay their arm-and-a-leg fees.  My frugal soul really suffers pain on a cruise these days.  Back when we took our first cruise 28 years ago, the price we paid up front  included most everything we needed .  I didn’t have a computer then so I don’t know about Internet access fees.  There were no specialty restaurants  or juice bars or snacks that had extra charges .  I guess there have always been shops and art auctions but we were never interested in them.  We never drank alcohol so that was never an extra expense.  After we found out that soft drinks were extra on that first cruise, we have taken our own on the next 15 cruises.   We always buy at least one photo per cruise for our travel scrapbook; this time for $13, up just “a bit” from the $6 one we thought was expensive on that first trip.

I don’t mind paying for something that gives us good value.  We do shore excursions, mostly independent ones we negotiate for on the pier but if that isn’t possible then we will do one offered by the ship even when it is overpriced.  We had already been to a  couple of ports where we stopped this cruise, but Belize was a new one for us so we enjoyed a city tour there that included an airboat ride through marshes teaming with wildlife.

And like on our first cruise – and every cruise since then – our main entertainment was blackjack.  Actually we don’t mind that good video poker  is not an option.  We enjoy a vacation away from that once in awhile.  Although blackjack  on this ship had decent rules, it was not an advantage play.  However, it  is the rare occasion when we enjoy purely recreational gambling.  We were with friends and it was fun to all sit  together at one table and chat and laugh as we played.   If we lost, that came out of our “vacation expense account.”   And if we got lucky and won – which happened this time – that was just a fun bonus.

I appreciate the input you all gave this last week on the subject of what makes video poker fun for you personally.  Several people mentioned that it helps keep your brain sharp and you like that as well as the challenge.  Those are the most important things to us too.  I always say that Multi-Strike may be the best defense against Alzheimer’s there is – if you don’t go crazy first!

Keep your comments coming!