Spirit LIVE - Thanksgiving '24 Boys' Trip - Casinos and Cruisin' with TxTeach79

[TxTeach79]

Well well well, we meet again!! 🛳️

 

It's about time to fire up the ol' annual Thanksgiving LIVE! We stand mere days away from heading east for 10 days of fun, gambling, drinks, debauchery, food, drinks, beach, drinks, shows, drinks, and all that that implies. This time around, we head to Mobile, Alabama to board the OG namesake of the beloved ol' class of little ladies.... the matriarch, if you will....

 

 

 

This one is gonna be a bit different than usual. @HelloItsMeB is on her usual lengthy November getaway in Japan (which I never have the ability to join on account of the day job, you get it), but I'm also not solo; my good buddy we'll call Z, who I coach football/basketball/track with at my school (and who has never been on a cruise). He and I have been good friends since we both arrived on campus together, teach & coach together, and he's one of my big casino buddies too. He's also single, so if given the chance, I plan to wingman my tail off. 

 

I'm not sure how this whole thing is gonna go - I'll be getting him up to speed and aware of all things cruising a good bit, so I'm not sure how that with effect my Live, but I'll do my best! We are rolling out immediately after school on Thursday - we got subs for Friday and our basketball teams get the day off - and driving east toward Mobile in a 24 year old F150... more to come on that... with two stops along the way, both casino nights in comped rooms. I'll detail them accordingly.

 

Til then, we count the minutes, gang! Let's go cruisin'!

 

 

[Jamman54]

You bet that we're along for the ride! See what I did there? 😁

[TxTeach79]

For reference, this'll be cruise 36 on Carnival and will take me to 233 days. My last Carnival sailing was this summer on Venezia out of NYC: 

 

Here are a couple other recent ones:

 

 

 

And I'll gladly shoot over to NCL and Princess when the wind takes me that way...

 

 

 

 

 

[TxTeach79]

Til we fire up the truck and head east…

 

[princess76021]

Whoppie!! Got here early!

Thanks for taking us along

hugs 

[TxTeach79]

Okay.... so here's the plan on the way out there... we're leaving Thursday afternoon. Ship leaves Saturday. It's about a 9 hour drive, so we could do it in one shot no problem, but since we have a little time, why not break it up?

 

We'll leave the Dallas area and head east three hours on Thursday to stay at one of my two long time "home" casino hotels, the Horseshoe Bossier City.

 

 

We each have our own room here (we're about to be stuck in one cabin together for 8 days, let's enjoy the freedom while we have it) since we're both comped. We both have a little Freeplay and a small budget for the night to play with, then we'll each use our food comps, and have a relaxing evening in our rooms. I'll crank my AC down, take a nice hotel shower, and sleep hard... hopefully after winning a little money or breaking even.

[TxTeach79]

The next morning, we'll head east for about five hours where we have two more comped rooms at Harrah's Gulf Coast in Biloxi (also a Caesars property like the Horseshoe)....

 

 

I enjoy Biloxi, all the casinos on the water.... it's laid back and easy, and we both have gulf view rooms. Plans are to check out the "redneck riviera" and enjoy the evening gambling at Harrah's and the nice rooms.... again, a little Freeplay and a smallish gambling budget for the night. 

 

That's the thing - we're public schoolteachers and coaches, we don't gamble big by any means, we just bet very small, enjoy the drinks and the atmosphere, and have fun. Comps are easier to come by than you'd think! 

[HelloItsMeB]

1 hour ago, TxTeach79 said:

Well well well, we meet again!! 🛳️

 

It's about time to fire up the ol' annual Thanksgiving LIVE! We stand mere days away from heading east for 10 days of fun, gambling, drinks, debauchery, food, drinks, beach, drinks, shows, drinks, and all that that implies. This time around, we head to Mobile, Alabama to board the OG namesake of the beloved ol' class of little ladies.... the matriarch, if you will....

 

 

 

This one is gonna be a bit different than usual. @HelloItsMeB is on her usual lengthy November getaway in Japan (which I never have the ability to join on account of the day job, you get it), but I'm also not solo; my good buddy we'll call Z, who I coach football/basketball/track with at my school (and who has never been on a cruise). He and I have been good friends since we both arrived on campus together, teach & coach together, and he's one of my big casino buddies too. He's also single, so if given the chance, I plan to wingman my tail off. 

 

I'm not sure how this whole thing is gonna go - I'll be getting him up to speed and aware of all things cruising a good bit, so I'm not sure how that with effect my Live, but I'll do my best! We are rolling out immediately after school on Thursday - we got subs for Friday and our basketball teams get the day off - and driving east toward Mobile in a 24 year old F150... more to come on that... with two stops along the way, both casino nights in comped rooms. I'll detail them accordingly.

 

Til then, we count the minutes, gang! Let's go cruisin'!

 

 

Excuse me. ALSO single?! 😂😂😜

[TxTeach79]

 

1 minute ago, HelloItsMeB said:

Excuse me. ALSO single?! 😂😂😜

 

OMG. He's ALSO single. In addition to his other traits. SIGH. I TAGGED YOU IN THIS. 

[HelloItsMeB]

3 minutes ago, TxTeach79 said:

 

 

OMG. He's ALSO single. In addition to his other traits. SIGH. I TAGGED YOU IN THIS. 

PHEW. THANK YOU FOR THE CLARIFICATION SIR PAUL. 😘

[TxTeach79]

So as for the ship itself, I had a casino comp for an inside, but I got a little crafty and picked my room...

 

 

Ol' 4122 is an "inside," but has a nice big floor to ceiling window. It's obstructed, yeah... but this particular cabin looks to be in between lifeboats and has way more of a view than most. At worst, we've got plenty of natural light, which is legit. Good luck handling darn near 600 pounds of pure masculine power, 4122...

[SenatorsFan]

I look forward to following along! 🍻

[Hogladyrider]

Whew got in on page one and thru the "single" oopppssy!

[TxTeach79]

ShipSpotting! Where are we headed and who are we gonna see?

 

11/25 - we're in Key West, and it's just us!

 

11/26 - we're in Freeport with Norwegian Jade. (I know who you are, Pride of Hawaii. Don't you lie to me.)

 

11/27 - Nassau. This is WILD, as you've come to expect. Our sister Pride - one of my best cruises ever - will be here. So will Glory, who I've sailed twice out of Boston and NOLA... we go BIG with Utopia OTS and Allure OTS, and MSC Meraviglia pokes in. 

 

11/28 - Alone at Half Moon Cay, a welcome respite.

Edited November 16 by TxTeach79

[Stallion]

3 hours ago, TxTeach79 said:

Well well well, we meet again!! 🛳️

 

It's about time to fire up the ol' annual Thanksgiving LIVE! We stand mere days away from heading east for 10 days of fun, gambling, drinks, debauchery, food, drinks, beach, drinks, shows, drinks, and all that that implies. This time around, we head to Mobile, Alabama to board the OG namesake of the beloved ol' class of little ladies.... the matriarch, if you will....

 

 

 

This one is gonna be a bit different than usual. @HelloItsMeB is on her usual lengthy November getaway in Japan (which I never have the ability to join on account of the day job, you get it), but I'm also not solo; my good buddy we'll call Z, who I coach football/basketball/track with at my school (and who has never been on a cruise). He and I have been good friends since we both arrived on campus together, teach & coach together, and he's one of my big casino buddies too. He's also single, so if given the chance, I plan to wingman my tail off. 

 

I'm not sure how this whole thing is gonna go - I'll be getting him up to speed and aware of all things cruising a good bit, so I'm not sure how that with effect my Live, but I'll do my best! We are rolling out immediately after school on Thursday - we got subs for Friday and our basketball teams get the day off - and driving east toward Mobile in a 24 year old F150... more to come on that... with two stops along the way, both casino nights in comped rooms. I'll detail them accordingly.

 

Til then, we count the minutes, gang! Let's go cruisin'!

 

 

Wingman? Or Side-Show Bob?

[Stallion]

2 hours ago, HelloItsMeB said:

Excuse me. ALSO single?! 😂😂😜

Busted

[TxTeach79]

She’s currently headed back to Mobile for one last shorty before we saddle up…

 

[TxTeach79]

I’ve been on a lot of cruises, sailed out of a lot of homeports, but never Mobile before. The roll call is already like 50% Auburn and Alabama people yelling at each other. I have a feeling this cruise will “just mean more” if ya know what I mean….

[Shaded Lady]

I'm on board for the fun... and drinks!

[Essiesmom]

I’m onboard for the AirTags.  EM

[HolySpearit]

Woohoo following along! 

Also very jealous of B’s trip to Japan! 

[Stallion]

3 hours ago, TxTeach79 said:

I’ve been on a lot of cruises, sailed out of a lot of homeports, but never Mobile before. The roll call is already like 50% Auburn and Alabama people yelling at each other. I have a feeling this cruise will “just mean more” if ya know what I mean….

Yeah we're cruising out of Galveston during the resumption of the Texas v. Aggy series - could be tense if that's on TV.

[markmbsc]

Awesome, definitely along for the ride!!

[TxTeach79]

14 minutes ago, Stallion said:

Yeah we're cruising out of Galveston during the resumption of the Texas v. Aggy series - could be tense if that's on TV.

Oh yeah - that’ll be WILD. First game in forever, both teams highly ranked… can’t even imagine.
 

Iron Bowl will be our last day at sea headed back to Alabama, should be a party!

[MeganGC1983]

Here-ish! I’ll be completely in after Saturday! 😎🛳️