Thanks to my good friends Linda Johnson and Jan Fisher, part owners of Card Player Cruises I was invited to be a part of the poker room staff on their 2007 Mexican Riviera Cruise.
This was my very first cruise ever, and to say I was excited about it would be an understatement. I’m pretty certain another good friend of mine Jim Leitner was quickly growing tired of my questions regarding the cruise.
The cruise was to last 7 days, from December 1st, through December 8th, and take us from San Diego, to Cabo San Lucas, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, and back.
Day 1
I was awake early, all packed ready to go. Jim and Mylene were supposed to pick me up at 6:30 but of course as always they were late.
Linda after returning for a brief layover from her 6 week trip through the Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zeland, Australia, Singapore, Thailand, and wherever else, was up that morning when I awoke. She finally got to bed sometime around 6:30 a.m. only to be awakened about an hour later by knocks on the door and the doorbell ringing from two of the smartest dumb people I’ve ever known.
We quickly loaded up their car and we were on our way. If you have never traveled in time machine, then you have never ridden with Jim. We left Las Vegas sometime around 7:35 that Saturday morning, and we arrived in San Diego in November. Yes, that’s how fast Jim drives. Not to mention he weaves in his lane more than me in my Ford Taurus which is in bad need of an alignment.
I was amazed at how quickly we got onto the ship once we reached port. There really was no line, and once we dropped off our bags with the porters, I was in my room and unpacking within twenty minutes.
I quickly headed out onto the deck to snap a couple of pictures, sorry this first batch was set on a lower quality:
This is a WPSimpleViewerGallery
At roughly 5:00 pm we took over the Vista Theater, and handed out swag to the Card Player Cruise passengers while Linda entertained them on stage with some great advice peppered with a bit of humor.
Then it was onto our first dinner, with the poker room opening up soon after at 7:00 pm.
Joe and I handled the tournament sign ups, then worked the floor for a bit and I got into bed sometime around 1:00 am.
The service on the ship is amazing, and each night with turn down service, your steward always leave a little something on your bed to send you off to sleep with a smile.
