JW and Jerome's Adventure on The Norwegian Escape

[keeponcruising]

Hi JW, glad you are back. Your stories do not disappoint.

[cruiseguys2009]

Casino Continued, Part 2 of 3

 

After all these years of gambling and playing the slots, on land or at sea, I have come to know that there are several distinct personalities that, no matter where I am, yep, these folks are there too. See if you may fit into one of these categories:

 

The First Timer: These are those wonderful newlyweds "Oh Honey, lets just put $20 in a machine, we might win?" Yeah, and you know what? They usually do, and then Hubby becomes addicted to gambling. "I can do it again!" He thinks. If New Mrs is smart, she cashes out and off to shopping she goes, leaving the Hubby dutifully following behind like a little puppy dog. (Especially if they are a little Ginger Furry Puppy Dog like a couple I recently met.) Or, the Hubby starts trolling a Craps Table or a Roulette Table, observing the action, all the while thinking to himself, "I can play this!" "I'll be rich!" "Oh Geez, look at that!" "If I had been playing right now, I woulda won!" Yep, The First Timer.

 

The Die Hard: This is the gal with the perfectly coiffed Blue, Various Shade of Blonde, or Lucy Red, Marge Simpson hair, seated at a machine, with a cigarette hanging out of her mouth, Long Island Iced Tea in her hand, playing minimum bet, over and over and over again, and racks up points for sitting, and dagnabit, wouldn't you know it, gets bonus after bonus after bonus on minimum bets and walks away an hour later from the machine with $400 on a $10 buy in.

 

The Fixture: Much like the Die Hard, but more severe. The hair is not done up, they are a chain smoker, but not a big drinker. They have planted themselves, at what is to become, "Their Machine" (and don't you dare be caught playing it because they will haunt you, yell at you or intimidate you until you move yo' ass! Gawd Help You!). These gals sit on their same machine for hours and hours and hours, every single day and a whole bunch of the time, have the patience to wait it out and usually win a nice jackpot, or at least their money back and walk away Even-Steven. These are the steady point builders the Casino counts on, Very low maintenance but high sit time and medium high play. Move yo' ass!

 

The Early Bird: Just like the folks who line up at restaurant for the Senior Special at 5:30 pm, these are the same folks you'll see as you pass by the Casino on your way to breakfast in the morning. You will usually also hear the "Ding, Ding, Ding, Ding" of a slot machine paying out. I always think to myself "What the heck are these folks doing at 7:30 in the morning?" But, then again, what do I know? All the lost winnings from the night before may be ripe for the picking early in the day.

 

The Lucky Mary: These gals are the never ending constant in a Casino. These are also known as The Slot Biddies. They have Gold Fingers. It never ceases to amaze me, and on every ship, and in every land Casino, there is always one to go around. And the worst part is, all they do is let everyone know how much they won out of this machine, or how much they took out of that machine. "Blah, Blah Blah" "I won a thousand on this machine your playing just an hour ago!" And they win, and win, and win some more. I say, what Luck! I have watched them sit down at a machine and two seconds later, "Bing, Bing, Bing, Bing, Bing" another $1,000 bucks. Geez. "Get the heck out of here!"

The Stalker: This is kind of like Lucky Mary, but more intense. The Stalker has usually been lucky on a certain machine, and for whatever reason, they had to go Tinkle, or they had to eat dinner, or they were playing another machine, but nonetheless, I have sat down and started playing the machine they used to be on and called it their own because they once spent time on it, Geez, like a bad recurring dream. Then out of the corner of my eye I notice them going back and forth, back and forth, pacing furiously, staring at me, then getting antsy that I am playing "their" machine and I may hit a jackpot and it's "Their" money. Heaven forbid that I win on "Their" machine. They stand behind me, huffing and puffing with gigantic sighs. It behooves me to try to understand why they hover behind me, thinking that as soon as I lose all my money, I will get up. But no. Auntie JW is a crazy Queen. Just to piss them off, I put in more money, and more money. This just happened on The Escape and I loved every minute of it. I tortured the couple way past midnight and would simply not get up from the machine. It was fun, fun, fun and I am a big stinker. Oh, and I won $300 too.

The Drunkie: That would be me. More often than not, at 1 o'clock in the morning, I have imbibed my fair share of Grey Goose Martini's, for the very fact that I forget them as I leave one machine and go to another. Jazz simply brings me a new one, which I end up also leaving behind unfinished as I continue my Slot Journey of Exploration. On the last sailing, it was so funny, they almost ran out of Martini glasses. I just said, they are all over the place, and yep, they were. So The Drunkie (ME) puts money in, presses the button, usually not knowing or understanding what I may be betting........and I am mesmerized and just enjoying the bright lights of the intoxicating slot machine.............whoops there's a bonus..........now what do I do?

______________________________________

This scenario happened to me on The Norwegian Dawn in 2009, at 3 o'clock in the morning, when I had no idea that I had won a substantial jackpot because I was completely imbibed. The machine had just mysteriously shut down and I thought I had broken it. I was furiously pushing the buttons over and over. Tap, tap, tap. Then all of the sudden one of the nice Indonesian Bar Servers appeared saying "Oh Misser YayWubbleYou, You win Yakpot" he was so excited. He could not pronounce the "J" or "D" in JayDoubleYou with his accent, and it came out YayWubbleYou, loved it! They had to wake the Casino Manager for my IRS forms to be filled out correctly and for me to be "Officially" paid out, because it was THAT large. I had to call Jerome, waking him up, so he could bring me my Drivers License to complete the transaction. I was sooooo imbibed, really, really imbibed. When the phone rang in the cabin, and I told Jerome, I am sure slurring every word, that I needed him to come to the Casino immediately with my Drivers License, with his response to me being, in no uncertain terms, screaming at me, was"JW WHAT THE F*** DID YOU DO?" No faith. No faith in me at all. Just because I am called Trouble, Jerome has no faith in me. Needless to say, he came down with my drivers license and figured out that I won a huuuuge jackpot and then had the nerve to take all the money from me except a measly $200 and go back to the room locking everything in the safe. I was not allowed to touch any of it for the rest of the cruise. Meany. Oh, I did stay in the casino a little while longer, or at least until my $200 held out.

_________________________________________

 

To continue with the definition: While the ship is barely moving, The Drunkie is the one swaying. Don't believe me? Come sit by me sometime early in the morning while everyone else is sleeping and help me to press the buttons. It used to be a joke, but seriously, I once wore a card around my neck placed in my lanyard that said "If found Swaying, Slurring, Babbling, Drooling or Incoherent, Please return to Cabin such-n-such." It came in handy only once. That is another story.

 

The Tour Guide: This is the gal, what I would normally call a Busy Body, or some others would say a noseysominabisch. This is the person that counts a person's winnings, then tells everyone what Me, in particular, has won, so it gets all over the ship, and she ends up giving tours in the Casino to anonymous bystanders, pointing out me, The Lucky Lucy. Because of her, I was constantly mobbed and had inquiring minds and some folks just wanted to touch me. Well that part wasn't so bad, if the Hubby was kind of cute, touch away! But I digress. (Oh here we go, Jerome is going to now go and call me a slut again). I learned about The Tour Guide, first hand, on The Escape. I will refer to her as BBTG for Busy Body Tour Guide upcoming in my conclusion of "The Casino".

 

and finally.....

 

One Lucky Lucy Sominabisch: Or in my case, One lucky Queenomabisch! This is the, once or twice a cruise, a real Jackpot winner. There are the $1,000, $2,000, $2,500 winners, lots of them on every sailing. But the big boys, the progressive jackpots, the big bonus. They come around once in a while. Yep, I was a Lucky Lucy Queenomabisch. More on that later.

 

What??????????? Come On JW.......................................!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Edited July 29, 2016 by cruiseguys2009

[ourfamilylovescruising]

Thank you for such a fun read!! cant wait to hear about all your adventures.:D

[youngestof9]

such a fun read. Can't wait to see you in the M6 secret hallway :)

[cruiseguys2009]

such a fun read. Can't wait to see you in the M6 secret hallway :)

 

 

Oh that's right, you are on our August 20th sailing, part 2 of The JW and Jerome Adventures, 6 weeks apart!

[Lupush]

Great review so far, JW. My wife and I are also on the August 20th sailing. Really looking forward to it!

[mabones]

Love your review! We had Adrian on the Epic in 2013. I wanted to take him home with me.

[cruiseguys2009]

and so it continues..........................did ya'all Tinkle yet..................please do...............it's gonna slay you when I drop the next chapter. I still Tee Tee when I read it over and over again..................:D

[cruiseguys2009]

And.....................Congratulations Frank Del Rio on becoming CEO of Norwegian Cruise Lines.

.

 

Edited July 31, 2016 by cruiseguys2009

[cruiseguys2009]

And the Best Looking President and Chief Operating Officer of any Cruise Line is Andy Stewart, Norwegian Cruise Lines.............

 

Yes he is..............see....................

 

 

[17cruisesnsl]

Can't wait for your next Casino installment!

 

I have the same reaction to Stalkers, be they on land or at sea. One of the advantages on land is in most Atlantic City casinos, if you are a rated player, you can have the machine shut down for a specific time period while you go to dinner, etc. I'm sure you can imagine the stalkers reactions - I've actually come back from dinner or a show and found them sitting at the machine waiting for "time to be up" so they can "have their machine back."

 

The others that drive me to a headache are the Rookies, they play minimum as a group, usually on the penny machines, and shriek like they won the Mega Millions jackpot whenever they hit 5 cents.

 

Curious - were you always known as JW, or did that come with your Marriott career?

[got4boys]

Thank you for making me laugh today...love the ATM where it spits out the money...

[cruiseguys2009]

And the Best Looking President and Chief Operating Officer of any Cruise Line is Andy Stewart, Norwegian Cruise Lines.............

 

Yes he is..............see....................

 

 

 

 

 

 

See if this picture works,

 

 

 

[cruiseguys2009]

Can't wait for your next Casino installment!

 

I have the same reaction to Stalkers, be they on land or at sea. One of the advantages on land is in most Atlantic City casinos, if you are a rated player, you can have the machine shut down for a specific time period while you go to dinner, etc. I'm sure you can imagine the stalkers reactions - I've actually come back from dinner or a show and found them sitting at the machine waiting for "time to be up" so they can "have their machine back."

 

The others that drive me to a headache are the Rookies, they play minimum as a group, usually on the penny machines, and shriek like they won the Mega Millions jackpot whenever they hit 5 cents.

 

Curious - were you always known as JW, or did that come with your Marriott career?

 

 

I have always been known, since a kid, as JW, and all of my family's first names begin with the letter "J". It was a coincidence that I went to work for Marriott, and even though "JW" is now a trademarked Brand for Marriott I have express permission "from the top" to use my initials professionally at work.

 

I won a National Presidential Award for Guest Service a decade ago, and since then, I am the only person in Marriott, approved personally by a letter from Bill Marriott, stating that I can use my initials and be known by "JW", Professionally at Marriott International. So everywhere I go, whether at work or on a cruise, and I introduce myself as "JW", inadvertently, the remark will almost always be "As in Marriott?" And I can, with great esteem, I can honestly say, "Yes, Yes it is!"

 

[17cruisesnsl]

Thank you for your reply - it's wonderful when someone has such enthusiasm for and pride in their workplace.

 

What a great photo and honor! Marriott is a wonderful brand and many in my industry, healthcare, have implemented best practices learned from consultants at Marriott's Ritz Carlton Leadership Center Healthcare Advisory practice

 

Looking forward to your next travel chapter!

[KAYKAY121]

I am so excited to go on this cruise now. I have a couple of questions for you! BTW, celebrating 25 years of marriage in Dec and considering the cruise you are in for NYE because I think I could just watch you and be entertained all week! 😜

1. Attire- how casual is ok at night. We are new to NCL

2. On a Harrah's certificate, I have been told you get upgraded and I have been told you don't. Both by CAS employees. Do you know?

[cruiseguys2009]

I am so excited to go on this cruise now. I have a couple of questions for you! BTW, celebrating 25 years of marriage in Dec and considering the cruise you are in for NYE because I think I could just watch you and be entertained all week! ��

1. Attire- how casual is ok at night. We are new to NCL

2. On a Harrah's certificate, I have been told you get upgraded and I have been told you don't. Both by CAS employees. Do you know?

 

 

At night on NCL, Jerome and I wear long pants and Tommy Bahama shirts, comfortable dress shoes with, of course, matching colorful socks. On the one or two dressier evening occasions, we usually wear very dressy long sleeve shirts and sometimes ties, jackets, as requested, in La Cuchina especially. However we have seen shorts, flip flops and plenty of toe nail fungus at these restaurants too.

 

IN OUR OPINON, JEROME AND I, We are part of the long held "Country Club" belief that a True Gentleman always has a pair of Chinos, collared shirt and dress shoes in his locker at the Golf Club so as to gain Proper Admittance with the utmost respect into the dining room after 6 PM. No shorts for us after 6, my mother taught me well. My Gawd, my Mother would roll over in her grave if I were caught in any dining room with Shorts and Flip Flops On! Aghast, I would Tinkle right there! Yet, I truly get disappointed seeing what should be respectable men and women wearing Flip Flops (sadly needing Jublia to cure their nasty toe nail fungus) and see-through shorts showing all their business and polka dot undies at dinner in a what is supposed to be, a formal restaurant. There are "Proper Dress" recommendations for Le Bistro and Cagney's.

 

So, what ever floats your boat is acceptable at dinner, you are at a resort like a Marriott, what are they gonna do? Throw you overboard? I should say not. However, that being said, I did notice that the properly dressed people got much better "Seat" locations in and around the restaurants, verses the un-dressed folks. It is painfully obvious that the shorts and flip flop group are seated outside the restaurant, paying the full price but getting a very, how can I say, "Public experience" or admonition, which I "gayly" laugh at. Once you are on board, you will see for yourself.

 

I really could care less what the person next to me has on, because I am not interested in them at all, just interested in my life partner Jerome. We are dressed accordingly and properly and that is all that matters. Funny thing though. We always seem to have so much attention paid to us because we are dressed. Just sayin'.

 

Jerome and I respect "Proper Dress" requests from the various restaurants at home. We have a succinct un-entitled feeling while on a ship and we really, really like to bathe again before dinner, rather than to be in the same beach attire as we were at 2 o'clock that very afternoon smelling of Gawd knows what tropical fragrance we picked up along the way before we go logrolling off to dinner with our pit hairs hanging out. Oh was I too graphic? Truthful? Every hostess at the restaurants know this to be true. So sorry, must be the Martini-Truth Serium. "Being Comfortable" has it's limits at times.

 

 

2. Harrah's Certificates, everyone starts at an Inside Cabin to begin with, regardless, because your land play vs. sea play is so differently accumulated. However, that being said, if your land play is equal to a "Lucky" Sea Player, then you would receive an Outside Cabin. If you have received a Balcony, good for you. You get the perks that come along with that Balcony. CAS would upgrade you prior to embarkation only if there are available cabins, based on expected play. Now, one other thing. You can call the NCL Upsell Department and request an upgrade to a higher level, but you will pay for it, accordingly.

 

I would keep the complimentary cabin I received what ever the location, and use the money saved from upgrading to put in the slot machines or use on excursions. The trick is to go from "Lucky" to "Hot" to "Golden", and the expiration is March 31, 2017 to do it in.

 

Have fun and see you on the ship!

 

JW

Edited August 2, 2016 by cruiseguys2009

[CruisinHarvey]

Just a point of clarification Cagney's does not require the more formal dress, as Le Bistro, and on the Escape, Bayamo. I've been in my shorts and sandals in Cagney's the past 3 times we've been on the Escape.

 

Both my DW and I worked for a Ross Perot organization for a number years. At one point they revised the dress code to allow tassels on your dress shoes. I pay no attention to what someone wears. Dress codes are subject change.

 

That's the beauty of NCL. You can wear what you want. One of the primary reasons we cruise them. If I wanted to be more dressy, just about every other line is more formal than NCL in the dining venues.

[KAYKAY121]

Thank you so much for the detailed advice! It is exactly what I was looking for. Looking forward to part three of your casino experience.....

[cruiseguys2009]

Just a point of clarification Cagney's does not require the more formal dress, as Le Bistro, and on the Escape, Bayamo. I've been in my shorts and sandals in Cagney's the past 3 times we've been on the Escape.

 

Both my DW and I worked for a Ross Perot organization for a number years. At one point they revised the dress code to allow tassels on your dress shoes. I pay no attention to what someone wears. Dress codes are subject change.

 

That's the beauty of NCL. You can wear what you want. One of the primary reasons we cruise them. If I wanted to be more dressy, just about every other line is more formal than NCL in the dining venues.

 

 

How nice and refreshing for you.

 

I am so sorry, but my experience at Bayamo, because you brought it up, it is a restaurant completely out in the open, in a very public space, with an active Mojito Bar right in the middle of it. The restaurant is considerably more than casual. Most of the Guests sat outside on The Waterfront in the very same outfits they wore to the beach earlier in the day, with the interior space being uncomfortable, dark and almost empty.

 

On our Escape experience, we dress how we want to dress, and that apparently goes for you too. We certainly did see the degree of casualness you speak of. Good for you for changing attitudes on what your proper respectful attire is. I simply have a different, more discerning attitude and this is my story, not yours. I enjoy dressing for dinner, apparently you do not. Good for you and there are plenty of options for you on NCL.

 

On our sailing, Cagney's was exclusively nice and most folks acted as if they were at a Country Club, making it a special evening dining out and did dress appropriately despite what your opinion of appropriate is. I am truly sorry that a special evening to you is, as you say, shorts and sandals (glorified flip flops), not wanting to take the time to be romantic and feel special for a shining moment, but just to eat a steak and be done with it. Thank you for your magnanimous and invaluable insight to your opinion of what you wear on your cruise. My valuable insight is very different and despite what you think Ross Perot might say, he is categorically correct in my opinion, just like the company I have dedicated my life too, consistency and class is known only by substance, presentation and manners.

Edited August 3, 2016 by cruiseguys2009

[KAYKAY121]

How nice and refreshing for you.

 

I am so sorry, but my experience at Bayamo, because you brought it up, it is a restaurant completely out in the open, in a very public space, with an active Mojito Bar right in the middle of it. The restaurant is considerably more than casual. Most of the Guests sat outside on The Waterfront in the very same outfits they wore to the beach earlier in the day, with the interior space being uncomfortable, dark and almost empty.

 

On our Escape experience, we dress how we want to dress, and that apparently goes for you too. We certainly did see the degree of casualness you speak of. Good for you for changing attitudes on what your proper respectful attire is. I simply have a different, more discerning attitude and this is my story, not yours. I enjoy dressing for dinner, apparently you do not. Good for you and there are plenty of options for you on NCL.

 

On our sailing, Cagney's was exclusively nice and most folks acted as if they were at a Country Club, making it a special evening dining out and did dress appropriately despite what your opinion of appropriate is. I am truly sorry that a special evening to you is, as you say, shorts and sandals (glorified flip flops), not wanting to take the time to be romantic and feel special for a shining moment, but just to eat a steak and be done with it. Thank you for your magnanimous and invaluable insight to your opinion of what you wear on your cruise. My valuable insight is very different and despite what you think Ross Perot might say, he is categorically correct in my opinion, just like the company I have dedicated my life too, consistency and class is known only by substance, presentation and manners.

We will not be the flip flop and shorts at night people. I also don't have a problem with how others choose to dress BUT it always better to be over dressed than under dressed. My question was prompted by another comment that a jacket (sport coat even) was over dressed on these cruises. We will make our evenings in the finer restaurants special and be dressed for those occasions.

 

I am over appreciative of your opinion and your detailed descriptions. He wears MOST of what was described when we go out at night anyway (colored socks aren't his thing). You so helped me dress my DH.

[disneygirl]

So enjoying all the insight. I do have a question though as I do dabble in the Casino, I will be cruising for my 5th time on the Lovely Norwegian Gem.

Just love the ship, hoping to also like the refurbishment it has gone through also.

 

We have a first time couple coming with us and they are young but old souls and looking forward to seeing them enjoy everything a cruise has to offer.

 

In regards to the Casino, We usually go there each night sometimes during the afternoon on Sea Days. Is it worth it to get the card you speak of from the Casino Host? I do enjoy cruising and a little gambling thrown in for fun is totally worth it.

 

I do apologize if you did go over these details already, as I am enjoying all of it.

Thank you for taking the time and I look forward to more of your fabulous Vacation!

[cruiseguys2009]

Real Warning about joining "OTHER" On-Line Groups

 

Okay, here is a real warning about what has happened to both Jerome and myself as well as others recently when we were on The Escape because we were part of another roll call group on the "Other" site not mentioned for good reasons.

 

Even though it was "A Closed Group" and one must be approved to join, on the initial page itself, it lists all the people in the closed group. Any hacker can assume a false identity of any of those persons listed. It happened to me and others on our journey.

 

Jerome and I were on our second day out at sea and I had my cell phone on airplane mode so I had no internet data connection.

 

Apparently, someone took my photos from my main page, both the inset pic and the main photo and duplicated it, slightly changing the way my name was spelled, putting a space between the J and W of my name and creating a new page.

 

Then, from my real page, and I have almost 500 friends, contacted every single friend to "Re-Friend" them, as if I had mistakenly deleted them.

 

Over 60 of my friends did respond, and before they knew it, had an flash instant message from supposedly "Me" and the Ghost page telling them that I had an emergency on board the Norwegian Escape and Jerome and I needed money to be evacuated from the ship as we had no funds. The message went on that we supposedly needed $10,000 to be Medivac'd by helicopter off the ship. They instructed our friends to call a specific phone number, The "NCL Emergency Line" and give their credit cards over the phone. When they called (What turned out to be a throwaway cell phone number) they answered very professionally NCL, etc.

 

Two people fell for the scam and actually gave credit card numbers and were consequently defrauded and one other was instructed to go and get a Green Dot prepaid Visa from Walmart and call that card number in.

 

All the while, Jerome and I were safe, drinking Martini's and having a blast. When we got to St Thomas the next morning and I turned my cell phone back on to normal, as we are technically in the USA again so normal cell phone usage can continue, my phone blew up with over a hundred worried and frantic calls, text messages and emails. Our families were distraught thinking the worst.

 

On our "Real" page were messages of panic and despair. It was a nightmare to say the least, when we should have been enjoying our vacation, we had to spend time resolving this issue.

 

I actually did see the Ghost Page that was recreated on me and the funny thing, it would have fooled me at first, but after further investigation, I would have found it odd that someone would re-friend me, but when I looked at the timeline, there was no posts, no pics and no friends. Big red flag.

 

That is why overall, Cruise Critic is beyond safe and secure, and no one can take my identity and try to extort funds in creative ways. The beauty of Cruise Critic is that "We" are all like-minded individuals, just anticipating our wonderful upcoming cruise adventures. We are also interested in making a few new, life long friends, once on-board the ship, without the guise of giving all our personal information away to the Universe (well everyone but me, I am too well known!).

 

So please be careful on those other sites and use your noggin! If it's going to happen, trust me, it will happen to me ("Trouble") first!

[LrgPizza]

Wow! That sucks!

 

People need to be sure their security settings on Facebook don't allow strangers to access their friends lists. That's another step that can help.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

[cruiseguys2009]

Wow! That sucks!

 

People need to be sure their security settings on Facebook don't allow strangers to access their friends lists. That's another step that can help.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Forums mobile app

 

 

Do me a quick favor, go back in and delete the "Company" name so the post will be allowed. If anyone should respond to my post in this issue, please do not use other platform company names. That is not allowed on Cruise Critic.

Edited August 4, 2016 by cruiseguys2009