Rare mk-ultra Posted December 20, 2023 Author #126 Share Posted December 20, 2023 (edited) Tonight is the cruise's second formal night. I decided to play dress-up. I thought what I had packed would look good together. I look like a car crash at a flea market. Whatever. No me importa. Edited December 20, 2023 by mk-ultra 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mk-ultra Posted December 21, 2023 Author #127 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Still sticking to 100% Spanish onboard. It’s hilarious. I entertain myself. 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mk-ultra Posted December 21, 2023 Author #128 Share Posted December 21, 2023 Last full day onboard. Sea day. Woke up to a creaking cabin and decent rainfall -- and people stumbling around like pachinko balls. Honestly, the seas aren't very high, but it's enough to make everyone walk wonky. The rain has stopped, but we're still chugging through some minor rollers. Somebody on the bridge dialed the speed down so we aren't going whack-whack-whack at perhaps 30 degrees to the rollers any longer. Other than this early AM we've had nothing short of fantastic weather. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuck Chorris Posted December 21, 2023 #129 Share Posted December 21, 2023 On 12/13/2023 at 8:48 PM, mk-ultra said: There is one weird hand-dealt BJ-ish game I wouldn't touch with a 10' pole. Hey mk-ultra. Great blog! Is the hand-dealt BJ-ish game called Fun21? Or does it have some other name? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFSailaway Posted December 22, 2023 #130 Share Posted December 22, 2023 Thank you for your semi-live, @mk-ultra. My husband and I are taking this cruise in March. I was wondering if the first formal night was held on the first full sea day or the second full sea day. I want to make specialty dining reservations for that evening, but cannot remember which night the first formal night is for this itinerary. Thank you for your help! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mk-ultra Posted December 22, 2023 Author #131 Share Posted December 22, 2023 6 hours ago, Nuck Chorris said: Hey mk-ultra. Great blog! Is the hand-dealt BJ-ish game called Fun21? Or does it have some other name? Fun 21. Very much in the don't do category. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mk-ultra Posted December 22, 2023 Author #132 Share Posted December 22, 2023 So, fantastic trip. I was up ~$5K stricly on blackjack. Tonight being our last night, bet all the cash. Strictly black chips. I had set aside $1K to lose at the casino. I haven't counted it out yet, but cruise is definitely more than paid for. Mucho purple chips. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuck Chorris Posted December 22, 2023 #133 Share Posted December 22, 2023 44 minutes ago, mk-ultra said: Fun 21. Very much in the don't do category. The house advantage is actually quite small. Does require a modified BJ strategy though. https://wizardofodds.com/games/fun-21/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nyazca Posted December 22, 2023 #134 Share Posted December 22, 2023 4 hours ago, SFSailaway said: Thank you for your semi-live, @mk-ultra. My husband and I are taking this cruise in March. I was wondering if the first formal night was held on the first full sea day or the second full sea day. I want to make specialty dining reservations for that evening, but cannot remember which night the first formal night is for this itinerary. Thank you for your help! On our cruise we were scheduled to board* on the 12th the first formal night was the 13th, the first full sea day. Mike * there was a “slight” glitch and many didn’t board until midnight-30 so technically the 13th. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mk-ultra Posted December 22, 2023 Author #135 Share Posted December 22, 2023 (edited) Annnnnd... that's a wrap! Did the schlep my own luggage disembark right as the gangway on deck 7 opened. Perhaps the 10th person off of the ship. Straight into a taxi with no waiting. Easy peasy lemon squeezey. Next up: Virgin Voyages; Scarlet Lady out of Miami in March. Virgin to Virgin. Edited December 22, 2023 by mk-ultra 5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SFSailaway Posted December 23, 2023 #136 Share Posted December 23, 2023 On 12/21/2023 at 8:43 PM, nyazca said: On our cruise we were scheduled to board* on the 12th the first formal night was the 13th, the first full sea day. Mike * there was a “slight” glitch and many didn’t board until midnight-30 so technically the 13th. Thank you so much for your reply! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Santa Roger Posted December 23, 2023 #137 Share Posted December 23, 2023 We will be taking the Crown Princess from San Francisco to Hawaii RT leaving 3/9/2023. Would love to chat with fellow travelers taking that same cruise. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuck Chorris Posted December 23, 2023 #138 Share Posted December 23, 2023 (edited) 31 minutes ago, Santa Roger said: We will be taking the Crown Princess from San Francisco to Hawaii RT leaving 3/9/2023. Would love to chat with fellow travelers taking that same cruise. I assume you mean 3/9/2024. There is a roll call for your cruise with comments from fellow travelers. Edited December 23, 2023 by Nuck Chorris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare mk-ultra Posted December 27, 2023 Author #139 Share Posted December 27, 2023 (edited) On 12/21/2023 at 8:30 PM, Nuck Chorris said: The house advantage is actually quite small. Does require a modified BJ strategy though. https://wizardofodds.com/games/fun-21/ I guess it's fine, casually, but I'm not going to bother to memorize another strategy, grid and deviations to play it. Shame, because it's the only hand-dealt game on the ship. 0.58% (Fun 21) vs. 0.5%, played 100% correct BS (which I couldn't do with Fun 21). Edited December 27, 2023 by mk-ultra Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cant_hug_teddybear Posted December 29, 2023 #140 Share Posted December 29, 2023 Thank you for the semi-live thread. Do you have a sample patter that you can share? I would like to see the current evening entertainment schedule. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuck Chorris Posted December 29, 2023 #141 Share Posted December 29, 2023 (edited) On 12/26/2023 at 6:10 PM, mk-ultra said: I guess it's fine, casually, but I'm not going to bother to memorize another strategy, grid and deviations to play it. Shame, because it's the only hand-dealt game on the ship. 0.58% (Fun 21) vs. 0.5%, played 100% correct BS (which I couldn't do with Fun 21). I hear you about the extra work to learn the Fun 21 strategy not being worth it. I understand that POV. But just to be precise, I believe that the house odds on the ship’s 3:2 standard blackjack (SBJ) are not 0.5% but, rather, 0.63%, what with six decks in the CSM, double down permitted after splitting but splitting Aces allowed only once, and no surrender permitted. See, for example, https://tunicatravel.com/blog/2017/01/two-deck-vs-six-deck-blackjack-games/ and also https://www.onlineunitedstatescasinos.com/las-vegas/blackjack/six-deck/ So Fun 21, when played properly, has the best odds of any game on the ship by a whisker. Fun 21 also has a smaller minimum bet than the ship’s 3:2 SBJ, which I like when I want to keep my bets small. But the most important thing to me is the hand shuffle. I won’t play any blackjack anywhere that is shuffled by a CSM. So I was forced to learn Fun 21 if I wanted to play BJ on the ship. One drawback to Fun 21 that you didn’t mention was that there are a few players who sit at the Fun 21 table who will groan when you do something “nonstandard,” like hit your hard 12 against a dealer 5 or 6. Its always a conundrum -- do you just let the groan stand or do you try to educate them about the effect of the kings missing from the shoe?? Its best, of course, not to say anything. But sometimes its difficult. Edited December 29, 2023 by Nuck Chorris Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sharichka Posted December 29, 2023 #142 Share Posted December 29, 2023 We are on this same trip in February. I'm excited to read your recap and "get to know" the ship and itinerary. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wonders By Wallis Posted January 20 #143 Share Posted January 20 On 12/28/2023 at 8:13 PM, Nuck Chorris said: double down permitted after splitting but splitting Aces allowed only once That's interesting. I was on the Discovery Princess in October got a pair of aces, split that, got two more and split them. I bet I will never see that happen again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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