Cruise Report Part 4 of 4, The Ship: In Which Pete Loses, Wins, then Loses his Money in the Casino

So about now you're wondering, the ship was at sea for 7 days but you've only discussed 3 of them, what did you do the other days? The answer to this question, however, is vastly different depending on who you ask. Here it is from four different perspectives:

Chris' Day
Most of my days were spent attempting to find sun. It was cloudy for the first few days of the cruise, so I was forced to sit in the hot tub as an alternate source of heat. I also worked out every day, since I had access to a gym just by walking upstairs. The gym on the ship was interesting because the machines had no weights. Instead, they had pneumatic air compressors that you could adjust with a foot switch. I ate a lot as well, to counteract all of this exercising, since there was a 24-hour pizzeria that had to be taken advantage of. I also spent some time in the casino learning to play craps (although not actually playing) and watching the others lose their money. I did spend some playing in a blackjack tournament that I eventually lost. When I go to a casino it cannot accurately be called "gambling". A "gamble" implies that there is a chance at both winning or losing. When I play, however, there is no chance of winning. I only lose, and I lose quickly. The only real money I spent in the casino was to put $20 on one hand of blackjack with the idea that if I won I'd walk away and if I lost I'd walk away. Of course I lost immediately. Amount of alcohol consumed: Zero, just one bad smoothie.

Bryan's Day
Bryan's typical day was very similar to mine except he actually won in the casino. $100 on one pull of the slot machine. However by the end of the cruise he had managed to lose most of it at blackjack. Bryan also read a book in the sun, went to the gym, ate the occasional calzone, and played Spades with us. Bryan and I won all but one game of Spades, because we are a juggernaut. We will take on all comers. Amount of alcohol consumed: Two hard lemonades.

Brian's Day
Brian Park was Pete's friend from Oregon (pronounced "Oar-a-gone" not "Organ"). He had a particular affinity for the casino and for sleeping. Along with Pete he managed to sleep away a good portion of the daylight hours, choosing instead to come out at night and pay the casino a hundred bucks or so. He knew the dealers by name and even tried to fix one of them up with Bryan. Alas, he was not her type so Brian proceeded to allow her to take his money. At the end of the cruise he had lost so much money that he had to borrow some from Pete in order to pay for a cab home from the airport. However, all of his losses paid off in that one of the girls who was also losing money in the casino kissed him after she happened to win once. He also made it to the finals of the blackjack tournament (pronounced "turn-a-ment" not "two-er-na-ment"). Amount of alcohol consumed: 2 shots of tequila, one blue-looking thing.

Pete's Day
Pete's days were spent mostly eating and sleeping. Pete managed to also sleep away the days while gambling at night, but in typical Pete fashion he also never stopped eating. To this day I wonder how he can always be hungry. Pete also gambled (and therefore lost) quite frequently, but he actually had a winning streak. One night he managed to bet the table maximum at blackjack 3 consecutive times and win every time. This made up for the previous night's losses, but this windfall was soon spent on more hands of blackjack, and he once again returned to the red. Amount of alcohol consumed: Blue-looking thing.

4 college students on a cruise managed to purchase and consume only 6 alcoholic drinks during one week. The same cannot be said for many of the other passengers, especially those from Texas who were in a constant state of inebriation and were therefore always screaming "yee-ha!". I'm not kidding.