My Casino Cruising Jackpot Chasing Bingo Chanting Baby

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I was awake at 4 AM this morning, and had yet to record even a single note for yesterday’s blog. I hadn’t even sorted through all of the trivia questions yet to capture new ones for future reference. I found that at least two of the ones we had heard before, and gotten wrong before, were not yet in the spreadsheet (for example the Peppermint Lifesaver had not been captured yet). Sharon made sure that she got up in plenty of time to shower and get ready for mass. She asked me, “Are you going to meet me at the Hudson Room after mass; or, are you going to meet me up in the Crow’s Nest (after mass) for Travel Trivia.” Now, I added that second part of her question for your benefit, as I surmised that’s what she must have said from what transpired next. I said, “Yes.” I couldn’t quite understand why she seemed frustrated with me. “Yes, what?” she demanded. Now I reflected on what had just happened, and said “Yes, I will meet you after mass.” But what Sharon heard was the continuation of that thought, assuming that I would meet her up in the Crow’s Nest. I hadn’t realized that the “Are you going to meet me after mass” thought was on both sides of the “or”. I must ask, why do wives pose “Yes”/”No” questions to their husbands as a choice. Who does that? Well I showed up at the Hudson Room about fifteen minutes early. I saw Sharon near the front, and saw that the service had just finished the readings. I went down to the Dining Room to check out the menu for tonight, which is at the far end of the ship on the stern. When I came back, I couldn’t spot where Sharon was and thought she might have had to step out for a moment. I was looking at some of the picture box art on display in the hall when a mass of people headed for the elevators and stairs. I didn’t see Sharon and confirmed that Sharon wasn’t among them. I rushed back to the cabin to see if Sharon was there. She wasn’t, so I grabbed her glasses and headed to the Crow’s Nest where I found her and Jim already seated at our table. She had headed to the Lido after mass and got me a croissant and her a chocolate one with some juice. Her question had been are you going to meet me at Mass or in the Crows nest. I got some spare note paper and Sudoku sheets. The spare sheet of paper that I write down the trivia questions on is the Explorations Café’s Daily Puzzle, today asking “What word describes a group of the following animals?” I handed it to Jim and asked him if he knew these. The list of sixteen queried about groups of crows, owls, jelly fish, geese, whales, dolphins, wolves, monkeys, larks, boys, peacocks, bees, foxes, frogs, airborne swallows and bears. I was impressed that he knew “a murder” of crows and “a parliament” of owls. Some of the groups had more than one answer, for example, it is a “pod” of killer whales; but, a “gam” of humpbacks. We learned this in Alaska last spring. Not to dwell on these choices much longer; but, one we found interesting was “a shout” of boys… Jim suggested that it should be “a gang” of boys. While Jim thought about his answers; and, later while Lucia considered her responses, Sharon and I did our daily Sudoku Challenge. I barely beat her across the finish line in what was close to a photo finish (but my pen was down first). In the Hard Game, which required some annotation, or at least I thought it did, Sharon finished first, beaming “Done” and slamming her pen down. I objected noting Sharon had forced me to do the puzzle in pencil (one of those tiny dull Holland America golf pencils that they so cherish and guard and often offer as trivia prizes; but, they never actually ever give any of them away). It’s much easier and more legible to do the puzzle in pen.



Our British contingent showed up and all six of us were ready for Travel Trivia. KK arrived, and asked if anyone had been here from yesterday. A show of hands caused a smile to cross her face. “Well,” she began, “You may notice some changes today. Today, I will accept just one answer… the answer that is on MY answer sheet… PERIOD.” I like the way that Dave had set up his rules on the Nieuw Amsterdam… Rule #1 – The cruise director is always right. Rule #2 – When disputing an answer, refer to Rule #1. But I think KK got her point across. We felt these were rules that we could live with. She gave people ample time to discuss answers among team members. Some felt perhaps too much time, at least Stewart and Vanne did probably because they’d been to so many of the places KK was talking about and either knew the answer, or could think about and come up with the answer. KK began, “What country would you be in if your ship arrived in the port of Zeebrugge?” Vanne wrote down the answer, and Stewart commented, “We’ve been there.” KK continued, “What island would you be on if your ship arrived in the port of Limassol?” Vanne wrote down the answer, and Stewart commented, “We’ve been there.”

“What archipelago would you be in if your ship arrived in the port of Lerwick?” Vanne wrote down the answer, and Stewart commented, “We’ve been there.” Our British teammates rattled off the top of their heads many of the answers. I looked at Sharon midway through the trivia session to say “Well I’m feeling pretty useless about now.” Then came one that we did know, “What country would you be in if your ship arrived in the port of Rotterdam?” A pretty silly question for anybody cruising on a DAM ship; but, I knew exactly what KK was doing. Vanne wrote down “Holland” as her answer. I complained saying that she needs to change the answer to the “Netherlands”. She shook off my concern, saying, “It’s HOLLAND!” And Stewart agreed. I told them, “KK is making a point with this question, she will not accept anything but the ONE answer on her sheet, and that answer is going to be the Netherlands.” But they’ve always called Holland, Holland, and anyone travelling with Holland America should appreciate that. Seeing how dismayed I was Vanne relented by adding “(Netherlands)” after what they knew was right. KK finally asked a question about some place that Stewart and Vanne hadn’t been; and, that we both had been! “What country would you be in if your ship arrived in the port of Ushuaia?” This was the port we failed to get into in Argentina before heading south to Antarctica. Jim thought that it might be Chile; but, we assured him it was not. Everyone but me knew what the ABC Islands were, for the bonus, and there were extra point given for spelling them right. I’m suspecting after our upcoming cruise in February for my mother’s 85^th birthday I’ll know what they are; because, we will be stopping at two of them. That cruise will also be on the Zuiderdam. Aruba we won’t be visiting. The other two are Bonaire and Curacao. We got just 13 of 20 points. The winners got them all right! And they weren’t the nitpickers so that was some satisfaction. And those first three questions, they were, Belgium, Cypress and the Shetland Islands.



We attended a lecture on “The Pirates of the Mediterranean.” The lecture was quite entertaining and informative covering the rise and fall of the Barbary Pirates. Afterwards we went to the casino, and Sharon sat down with Fishin’ Bob. I watched some blackjack; but, the Fun-21 table that I prefer was not open. I walked over and I had to do a double-take on the 13,500 credits in Sharon’s bank. I’m used to seeing this around 2,000… more than that and she is probably up, less than that not so good. She had a big multi-line payout with multipliers that yielded $108; and, if that wasn’t enough, she’d also won the small progressive jackpot for about $25 trying to get a bonus game. I expressed the idea that it might be a good time to quit for now. I think she’s hooked. She wanted to play on to get that bonus game.



I came back to the cabin to start today’s blog. Sharon returns shortly; and, she had won another small jackpot and banked $150 onto her ship ID card. Maybe this is her lucky day. We’ll see at bingo! We went up to the Lido for lunch. I ate mine topside and Sharon took hers back to the cabin. I miss those pizzas on the Nieuw Amsterdam. I keep walking by the pizza slices available in the Lido pasta section, thick soggy pieces piled with all sorts of good toppings; but, unappetizing compared to the NY Pizza with its thin crispy crust. I could only get vanilla ice cream for Sharon, so I topped it with chocolate syrup and hoped she’d accept that. I also had to return without chocolate chip cookies. I did get some macadamia nut cookies with white chocolate chips for myself.



We had a new table and couch in the center of the Crow’s Nest which was packed. Stewart was still upset about “Holland”; and, Vanne pointed to her tote bag and noted, “Well, they wouldn’t call it ‘Holland America’ now would they if Holland wasn’t the proper name?” Can you hear the distinctly British accent in these words? I can hear Dave’s words from the Niuew Amsterdam echoing with Sharon’s refrain, “Some people take trivia, Way Too Seriously.” Still, it’s good to have energized, motivated and especially British teammates in the Team Trivia Challenges. The best man at our wedding, Ron (Linda’s brother), should have no problems with this next question: “What Central American nation’s coral reef is second only to the Great Barrier Reef of Australia in size?” He’s an avid scuba diver and been here numerous times. Sharon actually proposed the correct answer first; but, I was trying to reckon if there might be any others. Vanne wrote down “Belize” and I’m not sure she’d ever heard of it before. They’re pretty solid geographically when it comes to Europe and the Middle East, so perhaps it’s just as important for them to have Americans on their team as well. Sharon let us down not being able to come up with the 8-string blue grass instrument. She recommended the “pedal steel guitar”. It was the mandolin. I was amazed when nobody immediately recognized “Which Broadway musical included they lyrics, ‘Don’t be stupid, be a smarty, come and join the Nazi Party.’” It seemed to be on the end of Stewart’s tongue, so I helped him out, “It’s about a scam that these Broadway producers came up with to make a fortune by producing a flop…” “Of course,” Stewart exclaimed, “The Producers”. Sharon and I instantly knew where the home base of the Knights of Malta is, because we’d peeked through the peephole of their door (to see the secret surprise) while on our whirlwind private tour of Rome just two weeks ago… Has it really been two weeks since we were in Rome? Time really can fly by when you’re cruising! Now, I might add, if you’re actually serious about winning trivia you should make sure that any potential British Teammates actually do know something about likely British topics like rugby, soccer and of course The Beatles. They let us down with “After the breakup of The Beatles, which of the Fab Four was the first to top the Pop Charts in 1970?” I’ll give you a clue: It wasn’t Ringo! And it wasn’t our answer “John Lennon” either. Does that give you enough help? If you said Paul McCartney, congratulations, you’re absolutely wrong too! It was in fact, George Harrison (who, by the way was the youngest Beatle, and our British teammates didn’t know that one either). However, Stewart and Vanne did redeem themselves when Mike asked “The Valley of Sin is a notorious depression surrounding the 18^th hole of which golf course?” Oh yes, it helps if your British teammates know a thing or two about golf as well! Vanne was writing down “The Old Course at St. Andrews”. When Mike announce the answer later, he said it was “St. Andrews”. Stewart objected to us, “But that’s not right. St. Andrews is a ‘town’. There are many golf courses at St. Andrews. Only the ‘old course’ has the Valley of Sin. We should protest!” Vanne did go up after Mike announced the winner (we lost by one point). Mike agreed with her that the actual course was indeed the ‘Old Course’; but, that ‘St. Andrews’ was all that he was looking for. Mike just doesn’t make a big show of “Rule’s Number One and Two”; but, his word is final, unlike KK the other day.



We made our way to the Queen’s Lounge where there was a special trivia session billed as Picture Trivia-Where’s Mike. A Cooking Show was still in progress so we sat on some cushions by the windows and watched the sea go by. The sailing has been mostly smooth from the Azores; although, some felt the previous night was bumpy at times. I didn’t notice. As we waited a young woman walked up to us wearing a very, very tight-fitting shear knit white top. You know the kind that’s meant to make a statement like “Here I am!” She asks, “Where is the casino?” Sharon points just ahead in the direction she was headed. As she walks by Sharon asks me, “And what are you looking at?” “I think it’s time to go in,” I say, changing the subject, and we find a booth with our teammate Vanne. Stewart is off playing bridge. This game features pictures of our Cruise Director Mike in various places around the world. He then will point out something in the picture for us to identify, and then he will ask where in the world this is (e.g. city, country). Mike shook things up when he said that for this challenge, only teams of two people would be allowed. Vanne finds a single gentleman to join her. The first place was easy to recognize, Diamond Head as seen from Waikiki beach where he was surfing. Both Sharon and I have been; just, not with each other. I’d been to Stonehenge in Great Britain and the Eiffel Tower in Paris, and we both recognized them. Sharon had been to the Panama Canal in Panama and Christ the Redeemer in Rio de Janeiro and we both recognized them. Places that we’ve recently been to together and recognized included Tiananmen Square in Beijing, China; the Wailing Wall in Jerusalem, Israel; the Great Wall in China; and the Bosporus Strait in Istanbul, Turkey. We got the one many people missed, showing Mike in a light windbreaker standing on the promenade by the railing with a thin line of white in the background. I wasn’t sure it was what I suspected until Mike said that the answer for the first column was the same as for the second column. It had to be Antarctica. I was about to suggest Ephesus for the one picture we should have gotten right, but Sharon suggested Olympus, so we missed that one plus the port we used to get to it. We got a 65%!o(MISSING)n this test (barely passing?).



We had time for a little casino time in our busy day. Sharon went off to spend some time fishing with Bob. Should I be worried? The Fun-21 table was open and I had to squeeze in between some dude playing first base (my favorite spot) and the loud flirty lady who was sipping on a pinkish cool looking drink. She was playing her $15 bets and placing regular bets for the dealer… and she was loud. I was not doing well; but, not all that badly either. I asked her, “What’s that drink that you’re drinking?” “Oh,” she said, “Something that she gave me.” Pointing at the sheepish looking female pit boss who seemed to acknowledge her culpability in the “loudness” at the table. “She said that I’d like it, she called it, uh, hmm, a Wang-Wang!” I said, “That’s the strongest drink they serve on Holland America. I learned about this on my last cruise playing Team Trivia. Do you know what’s in it?” “Vodka,” I think she said. The dealer piped in that it’s like Long Island Iced tea and has gin in it as well. I corrected him, saying “Actually, gin is the one liquor it doesn’t have in it. I then named off Bourbon, Brandy, Rum, Rye, Scotch, Tequila and Vodka.” The woman said “Oh my,” as she nursed her tall cold drink. The man at first base had a couple tough losses to dealer’s miracle-21’s. So I took his spot. The woman’s playing partner the day before was standing nearby and came up and wanted to grab a full stack of red chips so that she could also play. There was some bickering as to whether she’d paid back the previous stack of chips that she’d borrowed. From the repartee between them I was beginning to suspect they were mother daughter, which brought a whole new dimension to the dynamic. I guess the family that drinks, gambles together and chases men together stays together. It really is unconscionable to ply players like this with potent booze to loosen up their play. Mom seemed to be doing well, even if she doesn’t hit 16’s. The game doesn’t appear to have been as good to her daughter. They soon got up and left me alone with this dealer. I noted that when I got 21 with five cards I got a special payout that the pit boss needed to authorize of 3:2. I also got this payout when I hit with an eight and seven and scored a six for 21. It too was paid 3:2 and I’m thinking this game is very similar to “Spanish-21” (except in that game they remove the tens instead of the kings). I played only about twenty minutes, and finding myself up over $25, I decided that I probably should quit ahead with Bingo coming up.



It was my turn to pay for our Bingo cards. I didn’t think that was fair. I told Sharon that when I had last paid for bingo I had bought her a winning Bingo card (do I need to remind you it was my winning bingo card that Sharon swapped with me behind my back… Lucky numbers, indeed). I thought it would only be right if she continued to buy bingo cards until she bought me a winning card. My argument did not convince her. I bought the cards and gave her a card. We also got an extra play for the $20,000 jackpot game. I got to stand for the first game, and pretty early in the game as well; but, someone else called “Bingo”. The second game was the “B-O Game”, a double bingo requiring all of the B’s and all of the O’s on one square. Andy instructed that instead of calling “Bingo”, the winner should shout instead, “I have BO.” He said the kids always laugh when he says this, it just isn’t as uproarious for the typical HAL cruiser. Either way, we didn’t even coming close to worry about whether we should shout “Bingo” or “I have BO”. The third game was a double bingo. We’re both pretty happy with Andy’s choice of games. This gives us much more fun than playing the shorter “Four Corners” and “Small-X” games as seemed to be the norm on the Nieuw Amsterdam. Sharon’s card seemed to be doing quite well, so we were surprised to see the lady near us stand up (again). Sharon needed just two numbers herself. Then two calls later, she tries to hand me her card, telling me to stand up. I decline and told her to stand. While she is trying to urge me to take the card Andy calls “O-72”. Sharon grabs the card and jumps up, “Bingo!” She won $193! I thought I was doing well in the blackout game, and was about to stand when someone else shouted “Bingo” in that game. Sharon had two squares within two calls herself!



We had dinner with two others. Sharon had seen him at mass each day but his wife isn’t catholic. I ordered the goat cheese pastry to start. I followed that with the three-topping crostini (tomato, mushroom, and prosciutto) with balsamic vinegar. I also ordered the cheddar cheese soup which was quite good. Sharon had the apple vichyssoise soup which she though was pretty good. I had the steak-salad and their special teriyaki-like dressing; while, Sharon enjoyed her roast beef and Yorkshire pudding. I thought they might be having a banana crisp tonight, and I was right. Fourth time so far on this 19-day cruise. We had it just twice in 24-days on the Nieuw Amsterdam! Did I mention this is my favorite HAL dessert (with vanilla ice cream). Sharon resorted to the ever trusty Crème Brule, but hers had an excessively thick flamed crust. She doesn’t like that part anymore because it’s difficult for her to eat with loose teeth.



We got up to the Crow’s Nest in time for Pub Trivia. Stewart and Vanne were already there; but, we missed Jim. We learned that after 7 PM Lucia is ready to turn in so she hasn’t been joining us for evening trivia challenges. We started on a roll. The first hiccup came with “What fruit contains the most calories?” There was considerable discussion, when I realized that it must be “Avocado”. Valle looked at me sideways and suggested, “Well we wouldn’t call ‘that’ a fruit in Britain.” I said, “It grows on a tree, its seed is inside with a fleshy pulp around it and with an outside skin.” She wrote down “Avocado” but I could sense the objection. And I knew how many bones there are in the human body… 206 (okay, the adult human body). And from my alphabetized list of countries/flags I was pretty sure of “What country comes first alphabetically in the list of UN member nations”. Now, the first in my list, which includes territories, is “Abkhazia” which is associated with Georgia. I was pretty sure that “Afghanistan” was the answer. My teammates tried to do better; but, the best they could come up with was “Albania”. And our British teammates let us down when Andy gave us another of those darn Beatle questions. “In general, what is the heaviest bug?” There evidently is a difference between what Americans consider a bug (or insect), and what the British consider a bug. Well, none of us even considered the lowly beetle. The most discussion came when Andy asked, “How many sides does a banana have?” I suggested, “Inside and Outside;” but, they weren’t having any of that. Stewart was adamant that it was five, claiming as his source of reference, “I eat lots of bananas!” Valle thought it was more triangular; hence, three. I was kind of leaning towards six, thinking triangular; but, then divided with a sub-edge. Sharon refuses to vote on food questions involving foods she won’t eat. Valle wrote down “4”; which, was nobody’s answer, asserting her power of the pen. Stewart objected, “But it’s five, I know it’s FIVE, it’s bloody FIVE!” We missed the bonus question, “How many plays did Shakespeare write?” Someone shouted out “Too many.” I knew that our British teammates were guessing way to low with “20” or “25”. Oh yes, it helps if those British Teammates know a thing or two about Shakespeare. I suggested “48”. Unfortunately, it was “37” and our answer wasn’t within the 2 margin of error Andy was allowing. Stewart was saying, “I told you it was FIVE,” when Andy covered that answer. We only got 12 out of 17 points; while, the winner got 16! As we left the Crow’s Nest, I heard Valle saying, “Well I guess we all know who will be sleeping on the couch tonight.” I think she was kidding.

We stopped in the casino with about half an hour to kill before the 8 PM Show. Sharon found her machine and proceeded to spin those fishing reels. I sat down at third base at the Fun-21 table and started to play. I was doing better than usual and making just $5 with the occasional parlay on winning. I took advantage of the liberal “surrender” rules, which allows early surrender, which I did once holding “16” against a dealer’s face card. It turned out that the dealer had blackjack; but, I’d already accepted a loss saving half of my bet! I’d played for just ten minutes, I was ahead, so I decided it was a good place to quit. I go over to see how Sharon is doing and she’s beaming. I check her point count and it’s nearly 16,000 points (at a penny a point that’s not too shabby). “I hit the middle jackpot for almost $150,” she said. I asked her, “Don’t you think it’s a good time to go and find some seats?” And I was thinking, like maybe a really good time to do that. “I want to get the bonus play,” she said. I had heard this mantra before. I’d once been at a casino with Linda, and we were supposed to go eat dinner at the casino’s steakhouse where we had reservations in just a few minutes, but she was glued to a video poker machine. She was convinced that it was about to give up the jackpot. The funny thing is, a couple minutes later it did just that (and it’s probably a good thing that she’s the one that won it and not somebody else who’d sat down as we’d have been walking away, or I’d have never heard the end of that one). So I saved us some seats and let her chase her bonus play: it wouldn’t do for someone else to get that! I just need to have Linda explain to Sharon that when you play the slots you want to hit the jackpots; but, Sharon thinks the bonus plays are more fun. I mean, where’s the thrill in the wheels stopping and the bells and whistles sounding and you instantly win a bunch of money, huh? It’s much more fun to have to choose a fishing basket to find out what multiplier you get and then to pick a net full of fish to see how many fish you catch and then choose a fishing hook for this or that… and after a bunch of animated excitement you get to find out how much you win… or better… if you get some extra chances of throwing your line in the water again! I guess you can get the feeling that you’re in control of this game, because, you get to make choices… not necessarily informed choices… okay, hunches. I know, never underestimate the power of a woman’s intuition. Still, point me to the blackjack tables. I’m just saying…



I got us “our seats” and it was a good thing I sat down when I did because it didn’t take long for the Showroom to become completely full. I’m looking at my watch wondering where Sharon is. I can’t go and get her because I’d lose our seats. Then I hear her, excusing herself as she slips by those on the end to get to our seats. She’d gotten her bonus but it didn’t pan out as she’d hoped. She’d quit when she got down to $125. Not bad for one day, a medium jackpot, the small jackpot and a bingo win. It more than covered the Show tickets that she was able to gift to the design person helping us with our home. The show titled “White Magic” started featuring the magician (last name “White”) and his assistant/partner who is an incredible contortionist from Mongolia. The two of them are planning to wed in 2016. We’d seen this show last spring on our Alaska cruise, and they are quite entertaining. He is very good at close up magic and illusions. His David Copperfield inspired act is quite mind-boggling. He starts with a glass fishbowl full of clear water. He turns the water black before your eyes. He then takes three glass vases each filled with a different colored sand (red, yellow and blue). He pours the sand from one vase into his hand, allowing some to trickle through his fingers so we all see that it’s sand. He then allows the rest to be poured into the fishbowl. He repeats this for the other two colors of sand. Then he plunges his hand into the fishbowl, pulls it out, and appears to have retrieved all of the red sand which he then pours from his hand into the vase. And he repeats this for the other two, and with a swish of both hands in the fishbowl, the opaque black liquid returns to clear water. Voila. The contortionist had a great deal of trouble balancing on the moving bobbing ship. She had to restart a couple times after slipping from her perch while steadying herself on two hand pedestals, looking forward at a bow and arrow target, while her legs are arched back over her head, one foot/toes holding the bow; while, the other foot/tow pulled the string. She finally did get off a shot that hit the outer edge of the target. When we’d seen her do this in Alaska, she hit the bull’s eye dead center! She also did a hold, supporting her entire body with her mouth clamped onto a mouth support. When she lifted her hands from the floor, her body was arched again backwards and her legs over her head… she could look up and see her toes above her. This must be quite dangerous on a ship with as much movement as we were having.



We rushed to get seats in the Queen’s Lounge to watch the Marriage Game. Evidently, many had the same idea, and our seats at the show were not the best for getting to the Queen’s Lounge quickly. I found a railing for Sharon and me to share near the bar at the far back of the Queen’s Lounge. Sharon had gone back to the cabin and was meeting me here soon. Vanne and Stewart showed up, and there turned out to be enough room at the rail for all of us. Sharon joined us as Mike started the show. Amazingly, he found two newlyweds, married just two months who were finishing up their honeymoon with this Atlantic crossing. Then he found the couple who’d been married 60 years, and they were both happy to play the game as well. Mike found three couples who’d been married about 40 years, all who wanted to play the game. So Mike decided to allow the audience to pick the lucky couple. It was clear that Mike had a preference going in for the guy wearing the “Guinness” shirt. Mike said, he would allow the audience to judge which couple was the best kissers. Immediately the couple on the right commence in one passionate kiss complete with a full dip. “Wait, wait, wait,” Mike objects. “You must wait until I tell you to start.” Mike started the contest. The first couple did it again. The second couple was a so-so kiss, and Mike’s guy gave his wife a peck on the cheek and went back to drinking his beer. Do I need to say who won? The newlywed groom was surprised to find out that there had been two handful of boyfriends before him. The other two had no trouble matching the one-handful answer (both being high school sweethearts). When Mike asked the men, what would they make larger, and what would they make smaller physically on their wife, the oldest man was having difficulty deciding what to change. And then he started holding his hands out in front of him as if holding a cantaloupe in each hand. When Mike questioned what he was thinking he confided that his wife’s boobs were not always the same size. In the end he decided to make one of the boobs smaller. Mike asked the obvious question, which boob. He said the right boob. Then he suggested that he would make the other boob larger. And the older couple ended up winning the overall contest.

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