Record Number of Poker Players Cruise to Alaska

Card Player Cruises hosted 400 poker players on a recent poker cruise to the beautiful state of Alaska. This is a very popular destination, which is why the trip was sold out several months before departure.

I have had the pleasure of visiting Alaska 10 times, but this was the best trip of all due to many factors. We were on a beautiful new Holland America ship, the weather was perfect, and I spent more time in each port trying new excursions.

On departure day, a welcome-aboard party was held to give the passengers a chance to meet and greet each other. Approximately half of our cruisers were repeat customers, so it was like a reunion of sorts. After dinner, the poker room opened with 16 tables of live action.

On day two, we had 121 entrants for the limit hold'em tournament. In the afternoon, I held beginners lessons and had enough novice players attend that I had to enlist the aid of Jan Fisher to teach one of the tables. They had fun, of course, and were eager to play "for real," so there was a beginners $1-$2 hold'em game that went each day of the cruise. We have special rules for this game: There is no check and raise, players are allowed to ask questions after a hand, and no experienced players are allowed in the game.

We arrived in Juneau on day three. I love the salmon bake, but decided to forego it for a whale-watching trip. The excursion company offered a money-back guarantee if we didn't spot a whale. Three minutes into the trip, we were not eligible for the refund, since we saw our first of many whales. They put on a great performance and seemed to enjoy splashing around and jumping in and out of the water for our pleasure. While we were watching the whales, other cruisers took helicopter tours to the glacier or the dog-sledding camp, or experienced gold panning, kayaking, canoeing, hiking, or a river float trip.

Day four was the best day of the trip from my viewpoint. We were able to get very close to the Hubbard Glacier because the weather was so nice and there were fewer icebergs in the water than usual. We saw lots of seals on the ice, as well as many swimming in the cold water beneath us. I was mesmerized watching the calving that took place. Calving is big chunks of ice breaking loose from an iceberg and crashing into the water to form new icebergs. The glacier was extremely active and we were able to capture some of the calving on video, which you can see by going to www.cardplayercruises.com. We even stopped the no-limit hold'em tournament for 30 minutes so that players could enjoy the glacier.

Sitka was our destination for day five, and again, the weather was perfect. In fact, many of our staff members wore shorts and sandals to town. After a great fish-and-chips lunch at a local restaurant, I did some shopping and returned to the ship to prepare for a poker seminar. Available activities included a visit to the Raptor Center and watching the Russian dancers, a sea otter and wildlife quest, a tour of the salmon hatchery, kayaking, biking, and a nature walk. We also had a group who went sport fishing, and most of them caught their legal limits.

We arrived in Ketchikan early on day six of the trip. Ketchikan is a great city in which to stroll around while shopping in the many stores and galleries. The weather was ideal for activities such as flight-seeing to the Misty Fjords, tours to the totem pole park or Saxman Village, canoeing, a Harley Davidson motorcycle trip, a waterfront cruise, snorkeling, and fishing. After leaving Ketchikan, many poker players attended Mark Tenner's Omaha eight-or-better seminar, then practiced their new skills in a tournament.

The final day of the cruise began with a no-limit hold'em tournament. All 16 tables were going, as players wanted to get in every single hand of poker possible before the cardroom closed for the farewell party and visit to Victoria. I had a wonderful time on this cruise and thank our passengers and staff for making it so enjoyable.

Card Player Cruises is a great way to combine travel and poker. We already are sold out for the November cruise to Panama, but still have a few cabins left for the Mexico cruise in December. Our 2005 cruise schedule is on our website at www.cardplayercruises.com. Don't miss the boat!

Now, let's play poker!

Editor's note: Linda Johnson is available to host poker seminars and events.