AlanRRT

I'm not much of a slot player, especially on a cruise because with no competition, the slots are extra tight.  I was playing video poker on the Star when I held one card, hit deal, and the machine started going nuts.  I looked and realized I had a straight.  Looked again, they're all hearts!  Looked a third time, it's an ace high straight flush!  My first royal flush!  It was a nickel machine, I won $200 (side note, I have had one other royal flush, again on a nickel machine, it never happened when I'm playing quarters), took my winnings to the craps table and won another $100.  Next day I did some Christmas shopping in Puerto Vallarta.

I did an Alaska cruise on the Jewel, got on the ship with $400, did a lot of shopping in ports, and got off the ship with $400.  My wins weren't as big as many have related on here, but it's always nice to have wins.

When I was getting off my first cruise, May 2005, my wife, who has since passed on, told me two things.  "Can we do this every year?" and "I only want to go on Norwegian."  We both agreed that we liked the freestyle cruising, we didn't like having to stick to a time schedule when we were on vacation.  Since then, other cruise lines have gone with the anytime dining.  So far, I've only been on Norwegian, I did have a Princess cruise booked that I cancelled when I lost my wife.  Maybe in the future if there's an itinerary that looks interesting on another cruise line that Norwegian doesn't have I'll try it but for now I'm sticking to what I know.

1.  I book my cruises several months ahead and pay the cruise line monthly.  I think of it as an interest free loan.

2.  Some cruise lines have gift cards.  If you have a Target credit card, buy the gift cards with it and save 5%, and use them to pay for the cruise.  Do your research first though, I haven't done this on a cruise, but it saved me a couple hundred on a Disney World trip.  Just be sure to pay the credit card bill in full or the interest will eat up any savings you get.

3.  To save on airfare getting to the port, Alaska Airlines gives holders of their credit card a two for one ticket once a year.  You do have to wait two billing periods before you can use it the first time.

October 20, 2019 Mediterranean cruise on the Norwegian Epic.  It was an amazing cruise and we spent four days in Barcelona afterwards, which was also great.  But it was very close to the cruise that wasn't.  In the middle of August I picked up a virus that didn't want to go away.  Then my bride slipped and fell hard in the kitchen, she was scared that she broke something and we wouldn't be able to go on the cruise.  Fortunately, the only thing hurt was her pride.  But I was sick so long that I was checking out what the travel protection covered, and was looking into rebooking in the spring.  I don't need to explain what would keep us from going in the spring.  Fortunately, I recovered by the end of September and we were able to make the cruise.