So am I going to win at Scrabble again?

[dln929]

One of my silly little pleasures on a sea day is to sit down with my husband and play a game of Scrabble with him. On the Solstice last year I beat him 302 to his 194 (yes I wrote it down in my cruise notebook for all posterity ;)). However I must admit that getting to play at all was hit or miss because everyone--apparently--loves playing this nostalgic game as much as we do, and/or the game boards are all messed up. Like one game board I picked up had 4 "Q"s in it. That's a tough one! So what do my fellow enthusiasts think. Should I bring our travel set or do the crew on Azamara run a tighter ship with regulation strength Qs for every board and not one more?

[150edmiston]

One of my silly little pleasures on a sea day is to sit down with my husband and play a game of Scrabble with him. On the Solstice last year I beat him 302 to his 194 (yes I wrote it down in my cruise notebook for all posterity ;)). However I must admit that getting to play at all was hit or miss because everyone--apparently--loves playing this nostalgic game as much as we do, and/or the game boards are all messed up. Like one game board I picked up had 4 "Q"s in it. That's a tough one! So what do my fellow enthusiasts think. Should I bring our travel set or do the crew on Azamara run a tighter ship with regulation strength Qs for every board and not one more?

 

If you have one, get the scrabble app for iPad. Its recently updated and really good. You can play versus each other without internet or others over a wireless connection, although i wouldn't recommend that at sea unless you have unlimited minutes and a fast connection. David

[dln929]

Thank you David. It's a funny thing but as much as we use our portable electronic devices for playing other games while waiting in airports or train stations, I hadn't thought of an old stalwart like Scrabble being available that way too. Oh Deirdre! welcome to the modern world.

[excitedofharpenden]

Thank you David. It's a funny thing but as much as we use our portable electronic devices for playing other games while waiting in airports or train stations, I hadn't thought of an old stalwart like Scrabble being available that way too. Oh Deirdre! welcome to the modern world.

Deirdre, I've been playing Scrabble on the iPad for a while now and wouldn't be without it. It's fun to pass and play with your opponent or against the computer with varying levels of difficulty and no need to add up. It does it all for you. I think there's a free app, but the adverts drove me nuts so I paid for it. They changed it recently as David says. I don't like the look of it so much, but it's still really good. I think my record is 386 against the computer on intermediate. On "difficult" I don't stand a chance.

 

Phil

[dln929]

Thank you Phil. I was originally resistant to the idea of giving up the lovely hand feel of turning the pages of books but now that I've started reading them on my Kindle, I love it. So I guess we could readily adapt to playing Scrabble electronically too. BTW, 386??? Good job. I have some serious catching up to do!

[excitedofharpenden]

BTW, 386??? Good job. I have some serious catching up to do!

If we are on the same cruise we'll have a game and play for money. LOL Low 300s is my usual so we'd have a good game!

 

Phil

[dln929]

If we are on the same cruise we'll have a game and play for money. LOL Low 300s is my usual so we'd have a good game!

 

Phil

 

Only if you allow a bilingual board. My husband is English born and I'm American so it's no holds barred when it comes to methods of gaining points. We abide by the OED and Webster's equally. It's cutthroat in our house!

 

I've been looking through photos of the Azamara ships and that outdoor eating area (is it Windows cafe or something like that?) looks like such a nice place to play board games and cards. On the S class ships we always gravitate towards the porch of the Oceanview Cafe. Beautiful aft view, fresh air, and a nice bar. What's not to love.

[excitedofharpenden]

Yes, the Sunset Bar is my favourite spot. On the last cruise we weren't out there that much because it was so hot from Mumbai to Athens (near 100 degrees) and we had a following wind. There's a card table area in Looking Glass on the right hand side by the entrance where the games are kept. There were a number of bridge players on the last trip and it was busy in the afternoon.

 

Whilst on the subject of games, if you have't got it you ought to buy Five Crowns. It's an American game a bit like Gin Rummy, but with an adapted pack of five suits. You can get it from Amazon. We love it and play quite a bit on those sea days. Need to buy a new deck because I have worn the old one out.

 

Phil

[dln929]

No, Five Crowns is a new one for me but we'll get it. I looked it up on Amazon and someone reviewed it and said it was interesting enough to hold the attention of the adults...and their grade school child. Whew! I think I could manage this one. For all that I am reasonably intelligent with word games, I am a stupido with cards (though for some odd reason I really like cards, go figure). We've played UNO lots of times on cruises during Happy Hour. It's just simple enough that a cocktail or two doesn't really affect the outcome of the game. ;) We have two full days at sea at the start of our Quest voyage so there'll be time to master, I mean, conquer, Five Crowns. I hope. If not, pass me another drink!