KarmaCruisers

Do you have a 401k or any investment account? Thats a WAY bigger gamble than anything I ever do…having hundreds of thousands tied up in something that could absolutely drop to ZERO any day. What I do; is honestly play for the value of what I’m getting. Yes, a lot of the time I “lose control”; but if you think about it; if you were to pay cash for this 8-day cruise on a balcony with the cheers package…I’d imagine it’d probably be close to $3000? So it only cost me an extra thousand, and I basically gambled the entire time. Plus that extra $1000 it cost me; is going to get me more free cruises. You just have to look at it as layaway plan for cruising. For instance; on my februrary princess cruise I lost $11,000..BUT I “earned” three penthouse suite cruises (at the cost of $12k a POP) plus other free cruises after that..so that was definitely a good investment. You have to remember, outside of the casino I’ve made some very smart financial choices; and I TRY to apply that same sense to “gambling”

Thanks! I am currently in no rush at all, as I have nothing to offer a gal.

Th gambling for me isn’t about winning or losing; it’s about the social aspect of interacting with others. the majority of people on a cruise ship either go to the bar or to the pool…I go to the casino. It’s a “safe space” for me, as it’s a “familiar” area where I feel comfortable enough to converse with others. I am working on this though; on my next couple cruises I’m going with family; so I’ll have people to converse with. But my Christmas cruise, I’m actually going to challenge myself to not speak with a single individual for the entire 7 day cruise. (Obviously other than the required service worker interactions; ie: ordering food) I’m also going to challenge myself to this in daily life; to only speak very minimally upon being spoken to.

Home safe and sound. thanks to those of you who followed along.

Thanks. Yeah, the gambling problem is probably a larger problem for most people. But I mean..it’s only a problem if it affects your life right? Would a $22k loss affect my life? Probably not, no…but it would suck more than a $4k loss, for sure.

Just touched down safely in OAK; now just go make the 90 minute drive home; and do it all again in 13 days haha

Ohh believe me I’ve taken trips to places without casinos. Also, I don’t consider anything a “vacation”..because what am I taking a vacation from. (My daily life has no stress in it, as is carefree) But believe me, my future plans include no gambling (bad things happen when you cross divine intervention)

I guess so; maybe I was mixing up the “greatest generation” with “boomers”. and a lot of people I know are actually retiring at 50…but we’re all finance nerds. (Sans me; I am..but I’ve got a gambling addiction)

Loaded up now on a hella old 737, and heading for OAK.

Made it safely to St. Louis (never been here before) always wanted to visit the Gateway to the West..man it sure looks small from the air!

And I ate every night at a specialty restaurant, basically. (And they wanted to comp more but they unfortunately had nothing to offer me that I wanted) EDIT: I bought $16,000 worth of gift cards for the cost of $13,912. (After point redemptions) so, yes; a $4000 pure loss

I’m actually glad things played out the way they did; because I can only define an $18k comeback as divine intervention. (Never in my 20 years of gambling have I come back THAT far) So like I said..a deal is a deal..and that’s one person you don’t want to break a deal with…

A shirt to some, socks to others. Losing the $22k, would have been bad…but…at the end of the day.. it’s only money

Wow! just boarded SWA flight to St Louis (Connector). This is a Boeing 737-MAX8…and I REALLY like the seating! Very comfortable for economy. This must be the first 737-MAX8 I’ve flown on..but the seats seem “wider” than normal (mostly I fly Airbus)…I think it’s because this window seat is all the way to the wall, where usually there’s a good 4” gap between the armrest and the wall; so it seems they’ve made the most with the room they had. (Smart)

Thanks..but I’ve realized I don’t want to be with someone who isn’t healthy (it’s important as we get older) and no healthy person wants to be with someone who is obese/overweight.

It got really muddy, as I went through more, charging against my room. I’m bringing home $14,000 but I charged I think $4000 against my credit card (0% interest for six months on carnival purchases; so no worries there) I did talk to casino employees, and found out some things. Apparently the Mardi Gras technology stack is severely lacking; so continually throughout the cruise, the link between machines and the database was down (ie: you couldn’t charge money to your room) So I talked to a casino employee who looked “techy”, because my card was “locked”. Reason being; the only way table players were able To get money is by “charging” at a slot machine then cashing it out and buying into the tables. The employee apologized for the system and said the trick is; when you do that to play exactly ONE spin, And cash out and go to the tables. (He actually told me “This is a trick to get around paying the 3% fee at the tables”) He said the system will “lock” your card if it sees you “charge” twice, with ZERO play between “charge” and “cashout”…so, that’s good info to know. So to “wash” the gift cards, you could play exactly one 50c hand of video poker per $1000 gift card; and have no problems at all.

This is totally a tangent but I don’t think it’s the birth rate..as that is clearly not low in the WORLD as a whole (and the ships are staffed with non USA workers) It’s the fact the covid showed everyone that they can run businesses with MUCH leas employees..if everyone started putting a hurt on businesses who didn’t hire enough employees to actually do the job, businesses would begin employing more people and the economy could grow..although the “rich wouldn’t get richer”..but after a certain point, money doesn’t matter.

Wait a minute..boomers have to have LONG been retired? Hell I’m 42 and I’m a late Gen X/Early Millenial and I’m going to retire soon!

And they have a FIREHOUSE SUBS! YAY! We don’t have those anywhere in the west; so every time I’m out east I have to get my fix!

Man MCO is sure a pretty airport!

I 100% agree. A blue cruiser or a Diamond cruiser is going to pay the same price. (Casino players excluded)…carnival simply doesn’t give discounts for repeat customers.

The fights never bother me, as I’m not around them. On the other hand, these same people are elsewhere on the ship being ignorant. (And clogging up stairways when I’m trying to go up and down them)

Thanks, I will. I’m sure he’s upset that Dad was gone so long.

Thank you! Looking forward to getting back to a healthy weight and being someone a gal wants to date

Thank you! I’ll be posting in the princess cruise forum in two weeks for my Norway cruise. hopefully once the swelling goes down this week, I didn’t gain weight this week.