- Back in the Saddle Again!
- South Pacific Here We Come! (Post #1)
- 26 Miles Across the Sea (Post #2)
- Getting our sea legs (Post #3)
- Tuxedo Junction – Gala Night (Post #4)
- Lady Luck Pays a Visit (Post #5)
- Thunder in the Pacific (Post #6)
- Meet and Greet (Post #7)
- Pineapple Maze in Hawaii? (Post #8)
- Hike to the top of Diamond Head (Post #9)
- Maui – Whale Watching or Waiting? (Post #10)
- Fire and Falls on the Big Island (Post #11)
- Kona Food Walk (Post #12)
- Six Days at Sea (Post #13)
- Raiatea – Swimming with the sharks (Post #14)
- Raiatea Highlights (Post #15)
- Bora Bora – Snail Rolls? (Post #16)
- Bora Bora – Fish, Food, and Fire: Patrick’s Tour (Post #17)
- Moorea – Tahiti Food Tour (Post #18)
- Tahiti – Marché Papeete (Post #19)
- Fakarava – South Pacific Snorkeling (Post #20)
- Hapatoni, Tahuata (Post #21)
- Pinnacle Gala (Post #22)
- Nuku Hiva – (Post #23)
Pete enjoying a relaxing day in The Retreat
The weather is still chilly, with a lot of wind, making sitting out on the open decks not very attractive.
My morning routine is hanging out in the Crows Nest until about 9 AM when the Casino Cage opens and the sign-up for the Texas Hold’em game is available.
On my earlier cruise, there wasn’t any Texas Hold’em tournaments and I was told that they were no longer being offered. However, it must have been COVID related as the Zuiderdam is offering 2 tournaments a day for $60 each game. There are 8 spots at the automatic poker table. The house cut is $10 a person leaving $400 for the grand prize to be divided with a 70/30 split between first and second.
While having a live dealer with real cards is fun, the games are different since the blinds for live dealer games started at 100/200 and increase every 10 minutes. With these rules, the games rarely last one hour. On this table, the blinds start at 25/50 and increase every 15 minutes and the games usually go on for two hours.
The real enjoyment of the game is the interaction with the other players and we have a good group who are all interested in having fun as well as being good players. The value of Texas Hold’em is great in this casino as you’d be hard-pressed to only risk $60 for 2 hours of gambling while playing any other game.
Yesterday was my first tournament and I lost. Lady Luck paid a visit today and I finished first and won the grand prize of $280.
While I am playing cards, Judy is in the Ocean Bar chatting with the knitters and crocheters. There are about ½ dozen women who gather there every sea day at about 10:30 AM.
After our knitting and card games, we head up to The Retreat to relax and have lunch.
The Retreat is an area on Deck 10 that offers an exclusive area for enjoying the sun and fresh air. There are two dedicated attendants who will get you food or beverage from anywhere on the ship. The Retreat Cabanas are available for an entire voyage or for single days. The price for this voyage was about $1,400 for the 35 days. The daily rate for sea days is about $85 and shore days about $55. I am not 100% sure of those prices, but on many cruises, the Cabanas sell out and there are no daily Cabanas available.
We had some great burgers from the Dive Inn and Cobb Salads from the Lido. The Retreat services end at 5 PM.
Tonight’s show was scheduled to be “Off the Charts”, a combination show featuring the Dueling Piano players, some of the StepOne dancers, and the singer from BB King. During the 7:30 show, one of the dancers stumbled when the deck moved and she turned her ankle – she is fine – and was seen walking normally the next day without any bandaging, but the ship canceled the second show due to the deck motion not getting any better.
