Review of Royal Caribbean's Blue Diamonds Scratch Off Game

Last week, I flew back from Seattle, Washington where I did a 7 night Alaska cruise on Royal Caribbean's Explorer of the Seas. While on the ship, I discovered Royal Caribbean has come out with 3 of its own scratch off lottery games. The ship had one in stock called Blue Diamonds. This is a review on that game.

One of the profit centers for Royal Caribbean is the casinos on their ships. With lottery scratch off games being so numerous and wide spread, it wasn't in some ways surprising that Royal Caribbean decided to get in the act. They're a very easy game to run compared to other games in their ship's casinos. The tickets are sold at the cashier's cage, cost $5 each in the Blue Diamond game (I don't know if the other games cost more), offer a top prize of $25,000 (I don't know about the other 2 games as the ship I was on didn't offer them).

Overall odds of winning in Royal Caribbean's Blue Diamond game are 1 in 4.37 (Source: 1 of the tickets I bought). The ticket doesn't show what the prize range is and, I didn't ask the cashier. From scratching off the prize amounts on my losing tickets I have (5 of them) and comparing them, the prize range is as follows:

$5
$10
$50
$100
$1,000
$25,000

I don't know at this time if Royal Caribbean has released how many prizes there are total or what their range (how many different ones there are) is.

The game does have 2 interesting conditions: 1) you must claim any prize before midnight on the last day of the cruise (probably the night before you get off the ship) and 2) you must be at least 18 years or older UNLESS you're on an Alaska cruise like I was in which case you must be at 21 years of age (probably to comply with Alaska gambling laws) to play. I don't know if they offer the games on ship's that sail in other waters like around Australia or the Mediterranean.

The Blue Diamonds game is pretty dull in my opinion because there aren't any instant win chances in the game. You get 5 winning numbers in the middle of the ticket and, you have to match 1 or more of them to the 15 numbers below the winning numbers to win whatever prize. Still, if you want some quick gambling action and, you're not into pulling the arm or pushing the buttons on the slot machines, they might be for you. They're definitely an easy game to play in the casino.

Overall, I wasn't wowed by Royal Caribbean's Blue Diamonds game. To me, it's ok. I did find it interesting to play as I've played a number of scratch off games in Maryland (more reviews coming on those games, stay tuned). If you happen to be on a Royal Caribbean cruise line ship and, you've got to scratch, you might head over to the ship's casino and try one of their 3 scratch off games including this one. Good luck.

Disclaimer: I don't work for Royal Caribbean, I didn't receive any compensation from them for this review and any information cited in this review came from the tickets I bought with my own money. Please remember to gamble responsibly. I doubt you want to go home broke or worse from your fun cruise.

Steamed Salmon

I decided to try my Aroma Professional Rice Cooker/Food Steamer on some of the Alaskan salmon I caught last year during my 7 day Alaska cruise with Royal Caribbean. It's the easiest way I know of to cook salmon. You fill the pot pan of the cooker/steamer with enough water for steaming food, put the salmon fillet in the steam tray, close the top of the cooker/steamer (make sure you hear it click to ensure it's locked), you press the steam/cook button and then press it repeatedly till get you 15 for 15 minutes (minimum time to cook fish) and then, it cooks the salmon. The cooker/steamer will beep when it's finished cooking and automatically go into warm mode.

I decided to be on the safe side so I steamed cooked my salmon fillet for 20 minutes. It came out fine. It was neat to get eat some salmon that I caught myself. It brought back memories of my fishing trip out of Knudsen Cove which isn't far from Ketchikan, Alaska. The scenery was stunning and, it was the first time I'd ever tried fishing for salmon. Luck was with me and, I ended up catching a 20 pound King salmon. It was huge. When we got back to the pier, I got a picture taken of my catch and then, I turned it over to a local company that would fillet the fish and flash freeze it. After that, they held it until I was back in Maryland. Once I'd returned home, they shipped the well packed frozen salmon Federal Express so it arrived the next day. It arrived fine and, I promptly stuck the fillets in the freezer. A couple days ago, I decided to finally try some of my salmon. My Aroma cooker/steamer seemed the easiest way to prepare it and, it was. Now, I'll have to get a little more daring and try cooking my next fillet with some butter and herbs. We'll see on that. Bon Appetit all!

Train Ride

Three weeks before I was supposed to on my Alaska cruise, I was checking with my travel agent Joel Mills to make sure everything was in order. I mentioned to him that I didn't see anything marked on my Royal Caribbean cruise page about transfers to the Anchorage International Airport. He said he'd double check on it. It turned out there was some kind of misunderstanding and, I didn't have any arrangements made for getting me from the cruise ship terminal at Seward, Alaska to Anchorage International Airport. Joel found out there were 2 options a) take a bus which took approximately 3 hours and cost approximately $75 or b) take a train which reportedly was very scenic, took an hour longer and cost $25 more. Joel knows me and signed me up for the train. It was a very good choice.

I did a little research on the Internet and found out the cruise ship terminal train station was supposed to be very close by. They weren't kidding. I think I walked no more than 50 feet from the terminal and was able to board my train. The train has wide windows which made it very easy for travellers to see all the stunning Alaskan scenery. During the 4 hour train ride, we'd get to see glaciers, waterfalls, snow covered mountains, tranquil lakes, bald eagles and swift running streams. Also, the train was very convenient in regards to the airport. It pulled up to a landing that connected directly to the airport as well as being close to connections which can take you into Anchorage. My friend Harvey and I would take advantage of this and catch a bus into Anchorage to take in some sightseeing and have a much needed lunch. The train did offer food and drinks at airport prices. No thanks! Another downside to the train was the seats weren't super comfortable. Good luck trying to get some spare z's in those.

Overall, the train from Seward to Anchorage International Airport was a great way to get from the cruise ship terminal to the airport. It enables you to get one last look at the stunning Alaskan countryside. It made a nice finale to my 7 day Alaskan cruise with Royal Caribbean. I would definitely recommend travellers doing an Alaskan cruise out of Seward take this train vice taking the faster and cheaper bus.

Salmon Fishing

One of the things that is typically Alaskan is salmon fishing. The state is known for its salmon and all 5 major species of the fish (Chum, Sockeye, King, Silver and Pink) can be found there. One of the excursions Royal Caribbean Cruises offers on its Alaska cruise is salmon fishing. My last fishing excursion with Royal Caribbean was a fiasco. I went deep sea fishing out of St. Maarten during my first cruise with Royal Caribbean. It cost $200 to go. Out of 6 people on the boat, only 1 of us caught a fish. You can say fishing is always iffy and, I would agree with you. However, the thing that made the trip a fiasco was when the captain of the boat refused to return us to our cruise ship. I ended up walking 2 miles to get back to the ship. As you can see, I didn't forget it. Between not catching a fish and the fiasco of getting back to the boat, I was leery of doing another fishing excursion and yet, it would be neat to go salmon fishing. I checked with folks who actually live in Alaska to find out if the salmon were running during June. They said the king salmon would be. Ok. That sounded like I had a decent shot at catching a fish. According to the description of the excursion (Knudson Cove Salmon Fishing), it sounded like the fishing boat wasn't that far from the cruise ship pier so, I figured it wouldn't be that hard to get back to the ship if I was stranded again plus, I had the local currency i.e. U.S. dollars since the excursion was in Ketchikan, Alaska. So, I signed up.

My travel friend Harvey also signed up for the excursion and, the 2 of us walked off the boat and did a combination lumberjack show and Ketchikan town tour (I'll blog about that later) before returning to the cruise ship pier. Once there, we looked for the sign for our fishing excursion. We found it and to our surprise, there were 46 people that had signed up! On our drive in, I found out how it worked. Apparently, they find out how many people want to go fishing and then, they find the required number of spots of various fishing boats. Then, they notify the captains of the boats they will have so many customers. The people going fishing get assigned randomly to the boats. I would be assigned to the M/V Silver Lady captained by Ivan Leighton.

The M/V Silver Lady was a nice fishing boat as far as I could tell. One interesting aspect of our fishing was we would troll for the salmon. That means, we would regular rods and reels with weights attached to the fishing line that enabled the captain to take the line down to a certain depth (presumably where his fish locator saw where the fish were). Also, it enabled him to space the lines so there was a minimum chance of them getting tangled. There were 5 of us on the boat and, each of us picked our rod that we would watch during the excursion. One tricky thing about trolling was the pull of the boat on the lines caused the rod tips to jerk a lot which to me was a sign of a bite. It seemed a bit tricky trying to figure out when your rod was moving because of the boat vice getting a hit from a fish.

Harvey was the first to get a hit. The way Harvey had to fight to bring his fish in, it looked like it would be a big one. Sadly, it turned out not to be long enough to keep (it has to be 27 inches I believe). Still, it was the biggest fish Harvey had ever caught. After Harvey took a picture of his biggest catch, Captain Leighton removed the fish hook from its mouth and let it go. The second person on the boat to catch a fish was unknown to me. He caught a 14 pound chum salmon which looked enormous. Captain Leighton landed the fish and put it in a cooler filled with ice which was used just for the purpose. The third and last fish our group caught was brought in by me. When the fish struck, I was uncertain I had a bite because of the pull of the boat on the line. I picked up the rod and, the fish struck again. This time, I was pretty certain I had a fish. Captain Leighton told me to set the hook which I subsequently did. Then, the fight ensued to bring the fish in. The fish gave a surprisingly good fight. At times, the line wouldn't come in because of the resistance the fish was giving. Like deep sea fishing, I'd have to raise the rod up to get some slack line to reel in. After possibly 10 minutes of our tug of war, I finally got to see the fish I'd hooked. It looked huge. Captain Leighton identified it as a king salmon, said it was a keeper and broke out the landing net. The fish continued to fight and, the captain had a time landing the fish. Finally, he succeeded and, he put in the cooler with the chum salmon the other fisherman caught. Because I'd caught a king salmon, my fishing was done. The captain had a rule where if you caught one you could keep, you were done. This was to ensure that hopefully everyone caught a fish. Captain Leighton then worked on spotting more fish so that Harvey and the 2 others who hadn't caught one yet could catch their prize fish. Sadly, it wasn't to be. While trolling around, the captain was nice enough to provide some drinks and some delicious salmon dip his wife made.

Our cruise ship was scheduled to set sail from Ketchikan at 4:30 p.m. Captain Leighton tried to give us as much fishing time as he could get away with. Finally, we had to head back Knudson Cove. There, the 2 fish our group had a caught were weighed and, we could get pictures taken with our catch. The chum salmon the unknown fisherman caught came in at over 14 pounds. My king salmon tipped the scales at just over 20 pounds. My salmon had been tagged by some government department who wanted the tag back so they could log the date the fish was caught, where and how much it ended up weighing. Supposedly, I'd be emailed the history of the fish which I thought was interesting.

At this point, you get to decide if you want to keep the fish and if so, how do you want it processed. There are 2 methods. You can get it cut up fresh into weighed packages, frozen and shipped via Federal Express OR, you can get it smoked, cut up into weighed packages and shipped via Federal Express. It costs $3 more a pound to have it smoked. Also, apparently some salmon are better smoked then sent fresh. The person who took processing orders recommended the guy who caught the chum salmon have it smoked while in my case, she recommended I have it prepared fresh. As I don't know diddly about salmon, I took her recommendation.

After we finished the paperwork for the fish processing, we dashed for the bus that would take us back to the cruise ship pier. To the annoyance of the ship, we arrived back 20 minutes late. The ship does have a rule where they can leave you if you are excessively late but, I figured since I was on an excursion sanctioned by the ship, they couldn't blame me for being late and, I didn't think they'd leave me or my friend Harvey. Still, I don't think I've seen the security folks process me back on board the boat as fast they did when we got back from the fishing excursion.

Overall, it was a fun fishing trip. Harvey and I both caught a fish. Also, tt was very scenic as we got to see bald eagles flying around and snow covered mountains in the background. I was surprised by how many fishing boats were out trying to catch fish. I think Captain Ivan Leighton did a bang up job. I'd gladly go fishing again with him. If anyone is interested in contacting the captain about going fishing, leave me a comment and, I'll pass on the information I have from his business card. This is one Alaska experience you should try. Stay tuned for more post on my Alaska adventure.

Hoonah

Yesterday, I visited Hoonah, Alaska. Hoonah is the home to 1,000 Tlingit indians. Hoonah is the primary town on the island though there is a location known as Icy Strait Point. Ice Strait Point features gifts shops, restaurants and desks where visitors can book excursions on the island. The excursions vary from tram tours of the temperate rain forest to whale watching to riding the world's longest and highest zipline. The zipline starts at 1,300 feet (higher than the Empire State Building and runs 5,330 feet.

Not being a daredevil, I did a tour of rainforest, watched a performance of Tlingit songs and dance and did a tour of Hoonah. I found all 3 excursions interesting. My guide for the rainforest was Kerry who was very knowledgeable about the plants, wildlife and life of the Tlingit. She is a Tlingit herself. The island has an abundance of plants that can be eaten for food and used for medicinal purposes. Kerry mentioned a plant called the Devil's Club which can be used in an ointment that helps with joint pain. For a long time, the Tlingit ran the risk of scurvy due to a lack of vitamin c. To fight scurvy, the Tlingit would harvet a fern in the spring time that is rich in vitamin c, cook it and eat it. Other sources of food included salmon, halibut and deer. It is also rife with brown bears which outnumber the native population 3 to 1.

The song and dance show told of the Tlingit and their history. For centuries, the way Tlingit history was passed was by stories, song, dance and totem poles. The show also explained how the Tlingit were organized starting with 2 basic clans and further subdividing into various houses. During the show, the performers show the back of the cloaks which have an animal symbol on them that identifies their clan. They also stated their Tlingit names which tell their ancestry and where they came from. I found the show very interesting.

My final excursion was a tour of Hoonah. The majority of the 1,000 Tlingit living on Chichagof Island live in Hoonah (population:697 as of 2009 per www.city-data.com). The town has one commercial chain store (an Ace Hardware) with 1 gas pump which they use to fuel their various vehicles. Also, they have a small post office, marina and airfield. There are 2 ways the Tlingit use to travel to the mainland - ferry to Juneau which costs $33 each way and airplane which costs $80 each way. The Tlingit have 1 school which teaches grades kindergarten to 12th grade. According to my tour guide, the last graduating class had 4 students. The school teaches the Tlingit language as well as English. This is critical in helping preserve the Tlingit culture. Incredibly, Tlingit didn't have a written form until the 1970's. Before then, all knowledge was passed down orally. According to my guide who's name I sadly can't remember, there are just 10,000 Tlingit in the entire world. This seemed a small number to me.

Overall, I found my visit to Hoonah and the island really interesting. It was something to learn of the Tlingit culture and way of life. For the overwhelming majority of travellers, the primary way to visit Hoonah is via cruise ship. I visited via the Radiance of the Seas, a Royal Caribbean Cruises cruise ship. Royal Caribbean, Princess, Holland America, Seven Seas, Oceania and Celebrity ships all stop in Icy Strait Point/Hoonah. If you're interested in learning about the Tlingit or want to see some pristine Alaskan wilderness, a port call to Icy Strait Point/Hoonah may be for you. Cheers all!

Royal Caribbean Alaska Cruise

As any readers I have can see, I'm playing catch up on my blogging today. I've been meaning to post some stuff but, I just didn't give off my procrastinating butt and post. This post concerns my upcoming 7 day Alaska cruise with Royal Caribbean.

I think it was last winter that I started trying to figure out what I wanted to do travel wise for this summer. I wanted to return to Iceland and finish all the sightseeing I'd like to do there but, it turned out I didn't see any reasonably affordable package deals I liked. My friend Harvey was interested in doing an Alaska cruise. My travel agent Joel raved about it saying the sights were stunning. I decided to look into it and to my surprise, I found a nice deal with Royal Caribbean for a cruise in late May. I subsequently booked it then, Royal Caribbean decided to put the ship in dry dock for some renovations during the month of May. They offered me a deal where they would give me a $400 ship board credit, a more expensive date in June 2011 and pay the fee to change my airplane tickets. I readily agreed to the offer. So, next month, I'll fly out to Vancouver, Canada and board the Radiance of the Seas for a 7 day Alaska cruise.

The cruise will stop in Ketchikan, Icy Strait Point, Juneau and Skagway. I should get to do a number of Alaska type things like salmon fishing, see a glacier and hopefully see some whales. The ship itself will be a new one to me as I've never cruised on a Radiance class ship before. The ship is smaller than the Adventure or Navigator of the Seas. It holds a max of 2,500 passengers. Still, it should be a nice ship and, I look forward to exploring it when I board for my cruise. This will be my third cruise with Royal Caribbean. This time, I should definitely know all the ropes with them. I've already got my boarding paperwork done and my cruise luggage tags are en-route to my home. They should arrive in plenty of time so I'll be able to attach them to my 1 bag. Also, I've booked in advance all my shore excursions and prepaid for their unlimited soda refills. I know I have to drink a lot of soda to make that worth-whiled but, I prefer that to Royal Caribbean charging $2 to my ship account for every soda I drink. Another nice thing about prepaying on the sodas is that the icon they put on your ship pass is made into the pass vice them attaching a sticker to it. Stickers can come off and, I prefer the icon being part of my ship pass.

I plan to use Royal Caribbean's WiFi again. I was impressed with it last time. One nice difference Internet wise on this cruise is I should be able to post stuff while at the various ports in Alaska. My Sprint USB modem should work in those towns. We'll see on that.

That's all for now. Stay tune for some interesting travel posts coming in the future. Soon, I'll get to play the world traveler again. I can't wait. It seems like ages since I traveled to Peru. Good travels to you all.

Research

In preparation for my upcoming cruises, I've been buying various books on ports of call and what there is to do at them. For example, The island of Cozumel apparently offers some very good scuba diving and an excursion to the Mayan city of Tulum which is on the mainland. The island of Grand Cayman doesn't apparently have a lot of history but, it does have excursions where you can feed stingrays and learn about sea turtles. A friend of mine wants to visit Jamaica during a cruise and, I found out Royal Caribbean has been working with the Jamaican government to create another cruise ship port at Falmouth. This port will be able to accomodate Royal Caribbean's largest cruise ships the Oasis of the Seas and the soon to be launched Allure of the Seas. Jamaica is on my list of Caribbean islands I'd like to visit and, it would be great if I could do a cruise on either the Oasis or Allure of the Seas ships. As far as I know, they are the largest cruise ships in the world. They are literally floating cities as they can accomodate 5,400 passengers and 2,000 crew. I haven't seen the Oasis yet but, it must be HUGE. Concerning Alaska, I've heard those cruises are incredibly scenic. However, I have no idea what you do sightseeing wise at the ports of call during the cruise. I've been reading up on Vancouver. I found out they a nice museum that tells of some of the history of the Pacific Northwest indian tribes. They even have some totem poles carved by them. Vancouver also has a space needle like tower that soars over 440 feet up and gives good views of the city. I confess after doing the CN Tower (1,800 feet) in Toronto, the tower in Vancouver isn't going to be as impressive. Lastly, I've been checking into Internet access. I'd like to be able to post updates on here during my trips but, I don't care to break the bank doing it. I found out Royal Caribbean has somewhat cheaper pre-paid WiFi rates. The cheapest gets down to 30 cents a minute which is better than their flat rate of a whopping 65 cents a minute. However, I would like to know what happens with any unused minutes with the pre-paid charge. Can I carry them over to my next cruise? I'll have to wait on an answer for that one till I do my November cruise. Overall, the next year promises to be pretty exciting travel wise with 2 trips to the Caribbean, 1 to Alaska and 1 to Peru. Stay tuned for some interesting future travel blog entries. Cheers all!