It is hard to believe that the 2006 poker-cruising season is nearly over. With only one Card Player Cruises poker trip left this calendar year, in December, I have to keep pinching myself to see if it's all truly real. Our December event is to Mexico, and will be our largest non-charter cruise of all time! With more than 600 guests and a cardroom of 30 poker tables, there will be plenty of games and limits for everyone. I can't wait to tell you early next year about that one. But for now, allow me to report on the Caribbean trip that we just enjoyed. It was a small group compared to many of our cruises. Limited by the logistics of the ship, we book only as many players as we think we can accommodate in the cardroom. Using the dining room annex as a cardroom (do you think Carnival Cruise Lines ever foresaw poker tables in its exclusive dining room when it was built?), we were limited to nine poker tables, and away we sailed from the New York pier.
This was only the second time that CPC has sailed from the New York City port. While the experience is a grand one, the pier is very difficult for many of our cruisers, as well as our staff, equipment, and transportation needs. This might have been the last of the New York cruises for us, but in no way was it a goodbye to Broadway! I was fortunate to go a few days early and enjoy the lights and excitement of one of my favorite cities. I went to the theater twice before the cruise, seeing both
Avenue Q and
The Drowsy Chaperone (which recently won five
Tony Awards), and after the cruise, I snagged a ticket to see
Wicked. Wow, the talent was amazing. I also experienced some sobering moments, as evidenced by my visit to Ground Zero. I went there with Linda Johnson, my father, Peter, and fellow poker player (and wife of tournament specialist Julian Studley) Jane Studley. This was a particularly sobering visit, as the Studleys were personally affected by the tragic events of Sept. 11, 2001, having a business on about the 86th floor. They lost two employees that day. Among all of the tourists at the site that day, I thought it was an especially personal experience having Jane as our escort and there to answer questions of a very personal nature. Today, the site is being prepared for monuments and another high-rise building. From such sad moments, great ones can be born.
The cruise itself stopped at only three ports, which made for lots of poker action during the eight-day adventure. We visited San Juan, Puerto Rico, on our first landing, arriving in midafternoon and leaving around midnight. Having been there on several previous visits, I didn't even get off the ship. Those who did told of wonderful dinners, shopping, and torrential rain. I think I made the right choice. I slept in, went to the gym, had a massage, and watched two movies in my cabin! Our second port of call was St. Thomas, Virgin Islands, and the weather was glorious. As we usually do, we cabbed it to Coki Beach - adjacent to Coral World, a museum of the sea - a lovely shore with beautiful snorkeling and lots of umbrella drinks served at your beach chair. Life is good! Many of our cruisers spent the day in search of shopping bargains (they tell me it is a shopping mecca, but that has never been my gig) and fine dining. It was a fine kick-back sort of day. Our third and final stop was my favorite. It was Tortola, a place I'd never been before. I buddied up with one of our customers and previous dive buddy Dick Grier, as well as CPC staff members Tom Taylor (my favorite dive buddy of all time) and John Buchanan. While the waves were rough on John on his first open-water dive since being certified, the rest of us dove from the ship, and enjoyed two splendid dives to the site of the wreck where the movie
The Deep, starring Nick Nolte and Jacqueline Bisset, was filmed in the '70s. The dives were wonderful, with visibility approaching 80 feet at times. Give me poker and scuba diving and I am in either nirvana or a Zen state.
Of course, what would the cruise have been without poker? We had only the nine previously mentioned tables, but that gave us ample space for games of $1-$2 and $2-$5 no-limit hold'em, $2-$4, $4-$8, and $10-$20 limit hold'em, $4-$8 and either $10-$20 or $20-$40 Omaha eight-or-better, and often, $15-$30 hold'em. We also held four tournaments, which always are hits among our players. The winners were: $200 no-limit hold'em, Peter Fisher, $4,050 (yes, my dad!); $100 Omaha eight-or-better, Brian Shaw, $1,390; $200 limit hold'em, Judy Cromer, $2,720; and our second $200 no-limit hold'em event was won by two-time winner Brian Shaw, $3,640. I guess he'd be our MVP, if we had one!
The entire 2007 cruise schedule is up on our website at cardplayercruises.com, and it is very comprehensive, with all of the info you could need. We would love to have you join us for fun, sun, poker, and camaraderie. Our office can answer any questions for you at (888) 999-4880, or in Las Vegas at (702) 655-0919. Until next time, class dismissed!
Please e-mail me your poker-related questions to [email protected]. I personally will answer each e-mail I receive.
