Review of Mobile Reference's Bermuda Sights E-Guide

Today, to my embarrassment, I found out I'd bought a guide to the 16 most important sights in Bermuda over 4 years ago and forgot totally about it. I finally got around to reading it today. I thought it might be useful as I'll be sailing to Bermuda on Saturday out of Baltimore on Royal Caribbean's Vision of the Seas.

The e-guide costs $4.99. It has 56 pages though some of the pages are very small. It's an easy read and supposedly will take less than an hour to read it through.

One problem I encountered while reading the guide is some of the information isn't accurate. Later, after I wrote a review on it, I found out why. It was published in 2011 making it outdated. I tried emailing the email address they give at the end of the guide and, it didn't work. It would be nice if they'd update their guide. One bit of outdated information I noticed was how many cruise ships The Dockyard can handle. I know for a fact The Dockyard can handle to 2 cruise ships at the same time. I cruised to Bermuda in September 2024 on Vision of the Seas and, the ship was the second ship to dock there. I remember an earlier cruise (I can't remember the date) when they were building the pier extension.

I found other information in the guide to be interesting like how the airport was built in Bermuda (it was initially for the U.S. Army). I think most of the sights reviewed in the guide are still in Bermuda. One place I wish they'd mentioned is the Frog and Onion Pub which is located in The Dockyard. It features craft brews which I've enjoyed a number of times while there. A pint of Somersby ale will cost you over $15 (as of September 2024, I'll update this if I find out the price has changed.). I can't tell you how much the food costs there as I've never eaten anything there. Stuff tends to be expensive in Bermuda because they have to import it.

Overall, the guide can still be useful BUT, you might want to see if you can find one that is more current. It does have some useful maps of Hamilton and St. George both of which you can get to from The Dockyard. There are regular ferries that go to both from there. The last time I took the ferry to Hamilton, I believe it cost me $10 round trip. One nice thing about the ferry ride is you get to see some stunning homes built along the shore. I'd hate to see what those homes cost.

That's all for this post. Sorry that I've been so bad about posting. I didn't realize until my earlier post today on the Maryland Lottery's Lucky 7 games that it had been over a year since I last blogged. I will try to post something from Bermuda. Safe travels to all of you. See ya!

Review of Royal Caribbean's North Star Ride

During a cruise on Royal Caribbean's Anthem of the Seas in January 2023, I got to try its North Star ride for the first time. The ride promised some great views as a capsule hooked to a crane lifts you 300 feet above the ocean. The capsule has some kind of clear substance all around it (I don't think it was glass) that made it easy to see out of.

I found before I boarded my turn on the North Star (you have to get a set ride time) that Royal Caribbean offers 2 options: pay and free. On the pay ride, you shell out $19 and get to go up over the open ocean for a longer ride than you would if you did the free option. Also, with the pay option, the capsule will go out past the sides of the ship because you're at sea. On the free option, it doesn't because you're in port.

I went with the free option and got to go up while in port at Philipsburg, St. Maarten. The views were fabulous. I could see the various cruise ships around the Anthem including Grandeur of the Seas which I'd sailed on before. Also, I could see all the way to Philipsburg which was great. I think the ride lasted maybe 15 minutes. There was a Royal Caribbean person in the capsule with our group as well as someone at the entrance to the ride. I felt the ride was very safe.

Overall, I was very pleased with the ride though I don't understand why you would want to go up in it while at sea when all you're going to see is ocean and maybe some nice views of the ship. I would prefer to go on North Star while in port. I will give the ride 2 thumbs up as it produced great views and was free in my case. Happy Viewing and Cruising All!

Review of Maryland Lottery's Fast Play Games

 I don't remember when the Maryland Lottery first came out with their Fast Play games. The games are a cross between the number games on paper tickets and scratch offs. They come on a paper ticket like the number games Example: Cash For Life but they offer the gambler the instant win feature that comes with scratch off tickets without the scratching.

The games start at $1 and go up to $20 with the prize amount increasing as the ticket price goes up. Some of the games offer a set prize while others offer the gambler a progressive jackpot that appears to go up $1 for every losing ticket; The most expensive games that cost $20, have progressive jackpots which start at $250,000. The jackpot steadily increases until someone wins it where upon it resets to $250,000 and starts its way back up again.

There are posted odds on each game but, these odds are irrelevant. The reason I say that is because the gambler is playing against all the other gamblers that are playing their game at the same time. So, if the stated overall odds are 1 in 3, 1 ticket could go to someone in Baltimore, a second ticket could go to someone in Hagerstown and a third ticket could go to someone in Cumberland and it's pure luck who gets the winner. The only time the odds might be relevant is if the gambler is playing when a lot of others aren't. In comparison, with scratch offs, you're playing against the book. It's just a matter of time and luck until a winner shows up. Conversely, the gambler playing the Fast Play games could potentially buy 10 tickets and not get a single winner as they could go to other players in the state who were playing at the same time.

One plus of this feature of the Fast Play games is that it is also possible to get back to back winners. I've had on a number of occasions where I paid for 2 tickets and, I happen to pay for them at the right time so both came up winners. Back to back winners are rare in scratch offs.

Overall, the games are more of gamble then scratch offs because you are playing against all the other players that are playing at the same time. Still, they can offer some jackpots that the scratch offs would be hard to match. The jackpot at the time of this post for the Fast Play Diamond Mine game is over $1,000,000 and unlike the scratch offs where you would get the $1 ($20 game) or $2 million ($30 game) over 20 years, in this case you'd get it ALL barring the taxes you'd have to pay.

Ultimately, it depends on how much of a gamble the gambler wants to take. Also, some of the games offer games the scratch off don't like Blackjack ($2 play) which I particularly enjoy. I wouldn't recommend you buy a lot of these tickets because if lady luck isn't with you, you could get your clock cleaned. However, the games are worth a play for the would be gambler. Out of 2 thumbs, I give them 1 because you are playing against everyone else in the state at that time which makes it more a gamble then the scratch offs. If you want a more likely chance of winning (relatively speaking), play scratch offs. 

Good luck to any gamblers out there and please remember to gamble responsibly.

Review of Maryland Lottery's Ultimate Riches Scratch Off Game

On April 24, 2017, the Maryland Lottery came out with it's latest $1,000,000 prize scratch off game called Ultimate Riches. Like all $1,000,000 prize games, the tickets sell for $20 each. The game features 5 so called games with 25 chances to win a prize though the thing that really matters in my opinion is the overall odds of winning which are 1 in 2.96 (Source: one of the tickets I bought with my own money i.e. I don't get paid any compensation from the Maryland Lottery and I don't have any connection with them) which is average for this kind of scratch off game. Most games of this sort tend to have an overall odds of winning of 1 in 3.

The tickets resemble Maryland Lottery's previous game called Instant Millionaire with a winning number at the top of 5 columns and 5 numbers below each winning number. You try to make the winning number with 1 of the numbers below in 1 or more of the columns/games. There is 1 big difference in the Ultimate Riches tickets vice the previous Instant Millionaire game - there isn't any chance of an instant win. In the Instant Millionaire game, Maryland Lottery offered the player a chance at instantly winning either $100 or $50. In the Ultimate Riches game, there isn't ANY instant win feature which is a surprise to me. It's common to have one in the games I've seen.

Top prizes for the game are $1,000,000; $50,000; and $10,000. Interestingly, the Maryland Lottery continues its trend of offering more top prizes in the $1,000,000 prize games. It used to be standard that there would be 3 such prizes. In this game, the Maryland Lottery offers 7! Also, they offer 13 $50,000 prizes and offered 59 $10,000 prizes (there are 57 left at the time of this post). Keep in mind, that with more top prizes, there will be more tickets put out overall for the game (based on the increased number of prizes I've seen and the overall odds of winning anything). One nice thing for those who like this game is that it also means the game will be out longer because of the increased number of tickets.

Overall, the only thing I was impressed with concerning this game was the increase in $1,000,000 prizes. Otherwise, this is a pretty boring game though if you want a game where you'll find out quickly if you won or not, this might be the game for you. This game doesn't take a lot of time to play unlike other games like Maryland Lottery's $2,000,0000 Fortune game where you have to check 40 numbers to see if you matched. Due to the high number of tickets, this game should be very easy to find throughout Maryland. Good luck to all players out there!

Review of Maryland Lottery's Uno Scratch Off Game

Yesterday, while playing some Maryland Lottery scratch off games at a Citgo gas station in Laurel, Maryland, I saw they had a $3 game called Uno after the famous card game. I decided to play it.

The game features 21 hidden Uno cards in 3 rows of 7 with 4 bonus cards to the right for a total of 25 at the top of the ticket. Below the cards are 6 horizontal rows of cards with hidden prize amounts to the right. The rows come in 2 card sets of 5 cards, 6 cards and 7 cards. You scratch off hidden cards at the top and then see if you have a match in any of the horizontal rows. If you do, you scratch that card. When you've scratched all the cards in a horizontal row, you win the prize to the right. As far as I can tell, the prize amounts to the right are random i.e. you won't win a bigger prize for successfully scratching all the cards in a 7 card row vice a 5 card row (I scratched all the prize amounts on 1 ticket I bought to see if there was a difference).

Prizes run from $3 to the top prize of $30,000. There are 4 - $30,000 prizes, 25 - $1,000 prizes, 459 - $500 prizes and 5,029 remaining $100 prizes as of the time of this post (Source: the game's webpage at the Maryland Lottery website) with lesser amounts going down to $3. As the game had just come out yesterday, this is why all the top prizes are still available barring a few $100 prizes.

Overall odds in this game are 1 in 3.83 which isn't very good in my opinion though the cheaper scratch off games tend to have worse odds compared to the $20 games which usually run around 1 in 3. I guess they have to make up the money in the game by not having as many winners.

The game does qualify for Lottery Reward points.

Overall, this game will appeal to people who like the card game Uno or who like to scratch as there is a lot of scratching in this game. The game can be suspenseful in that on repeated tickets I played I had multiple lines where I got down to 1 missing card. So, I kept wondering each time I scratched if the needed missing card was going to show up. On my fourth go at this game, it did (won $3). I found it a nice game though I confess I like Maryland Lottery's Treasure Island $3 game better (see my earlier review on this game). Like the Treasure Island game, I'd recommend you double check your ticket to make sure it's a winner or loser as you might accidentally miss one of the cards in the rows in the lower part of the ticket that would make you a winner. Good luck to you all.

As a reminder, please do remember to play responsibly. The odds aren't in your favor of hitting it big at these scratch off games though they're better than the odds in either Megamillions or Powerball.

Review of Maryland Lottery's Treasure Island Scratch Off Game

My apologies to my readers on this review. I've been meaning to write it for a while and, I didn't get around to it till today. Today, I guess I have a surprise urge to write stuff. Anyway, on to the review.

If you like to scratch a LOT on the scratch off games (I have a co-worker who does), you'll love this game because there is a LOT of scratching involved though not as bad as Maryland Lottery's Lucky Seven Game book they had a while back.

The Treasure Island game was launched by the Maryland Lottery on December 27, 2016 (Source: the Maryland Lottery webpage; http://www.mdlottery.com/games/scratchoffs/ then look for the Treasure Island game). According to the webpage, as of March 18, 2017, the game has five out of eight $30,000 prizes left, fifteen out of twenty-two $1,000 prizes left and seventy-two out of one hundred and four $500 prizes left. Those are the big prize amounts in this game. There are smaller amounts all the way down to $3 which is what the game costs to play.

How the game works: The game has 3 ships at the bottom of the ticket. You start scratching where each ship begins and, you go the direction each arrow points (either up, right or left). Along the way, you'll uncover symbols or prize amounts with arrows directing you which way to go. If you hit a skull & crossed bones with the words Game Over, the game is over for THAT ship. Remember, you have THREE ships paths to follow i.e. you have THREE chances to win a prize.

There are 3 ways you can win in this game:

1) make it all the way to one of the four prize areas - you win the prize you uncover.

2) uncover 3 identical symbols (either a gold bar or key) in all three ship paths, you win $25 for the key, $50 for the gold bar.

3) uncover 3 identical prize amounts in all three ship paths, you win that amount.

At times, even though these directions which I took from the game webpage should be clear enough, I've found I've had to check my ticket with a scanner at the place I bought the ticket or with the Maryland lottery app which will tell you if you have a winning ticket or not (though it won't tell you how much annoyingly). I had one case where I had three $3 winners in a row and didn't know it!

Overall odds of winning in this game are 1 in 3.85. You can do better or worse than that. I've had both happen.

One neat thing the Maryland Lottery did to promote the game is they created a page where you can get your pirate name! I tried this and ended up with the pirate name - Jolly Davy. I have no idea where it came up with this name as my real name is Ron. Guys AND Gals can get their pirate name at:

http://www.mdlottery.com/promotions/treasure-island/

Overall, I've found this a fun game to play vice playing for the $30,000 prize (though I wouldn't turn it down if I hit it to my surprise). I feel this is a cheap game (I usually play the $20 games) to play. It is eligible for Lottery Reward points so save your losing tickets so, you can claim the points on the reward webpage or by using the reward app.

Lastly, please be responsible while playing. The odds aren't in your favor of hitting it big so do play responsibly (i.e. don't play with money you can't afford to lose like your rent or electric bill money). Best of luck to you all!

Update May 7, 2017: I discovered you can use the Maryland Lottery Rewards application (app) to check tickets to see if you won. A big plus of this app vice their normal lottery app is not only will it tell you if you have a winner, it'll tell you how much! This is becoming my go to app when I'm playing Maryland Lottery scratch off games. Also, it may be obvious what you've won in other games unlike this game BUT, it doesn't hurt to have confirmation from the Maryland Lottery on your win.

Review of Maryland Lottery's $1,000,000 Platinum Play Scratch Off

The latest $1,000,000 prize scratch off lottery game that the Maryland Lottery has come out with is the $1,000,000 Platinum Play game. The game has been out since August 22, 2016. Surprisingly, none of the $1,000,000 or $50,000 prizes have been claimed as of the time of this post.

The game features prizes of $1,000,000, $50,000, $10,000, $5,000, $1,000 and lesser amounts down to $20. One difference in this game vice previous $1,000,000 game scratch offs is that the Maryland Lottery is offering four $1,000,000 vice the normal three such prizes. Also, there are nine $50,000 prizes though I don't know what the norm is for that. I suspect the Maryland Lottery will issue more tickets in this game to make up for the increased number of $1,000,000 prizes. I saw on the game's webpage that there will still over 250,000 $20 winners alone still out there.

Like all $1,000,000 scratch off games, the tickets cost $20. Overall odds of winning according the 2 tickets I bought with my own money are 1 in 2.94. Please remember those are the OVERALL odds i.e. you can do better and you can do worse.

Another noteworthy thing about the game is the Maryland Lottery doesn't mention on the FRONT of the ticket that the game has an instant win feature which is common enough with their scratch offs. If a star symbol pops up on the ticket, you win that prize automatically. Otherwise, you try to match 1 to 5 of the 5 numbers you get at the top of the ticket. The game states you have 30 chances to win though the number that really matters is the overall odds ration i.e. 1 in 2.94 which is normal for the $1,000,000 prize games.

Like all the recent games, losing tickets do qualify for Lottery Rewards points. There isn't any second chance drawing in this game for those who like that feature.

Overall, I found the $1,000,000 Platinum Play a decent enough game though I didn't find anything that makes it particularly noteworthy barring the fact the Maryland Lottery is offering four $1,000,000 prizes this time. I do wonder if this will be the new norm for all their $1,000,000 prize games. Time will tell. Best of luck to all players out there and please do remember to play responsibly.

One final comment: all opinions in this review are my own and aren't in any way reflective of the Maryland Lottery i.e. they didn't have anything to do with this game review. I bought the 2 tickets I played with my money i.e. I didn't receive any kind of compensation from the Maryland Lottery and, I never will. Any statistics that I stated for this game came either from the tickets I bought or from the game webpage on the Maryland Lottery website.

Tripadvisor

I've been writing a few posts for a website called Tripadvisor. The sites features reviews on restaurants, hotels, and things to do by ordinary people like you and me. This means in theory that the reviews likely to be more honest. As far as I know, no one receives any kind of compensation for writing something nice about what they write about on the site. I was surprised to find out no one had written an article on the Maryland Renaissance Festival. In my opinion, this festival is one of best things Maryland has every year. I can't wait to go again this year.

Another thing I've done is provide information on the Baltimore/Washington D.C. Medieval Times. As I'm a semi-expert on the place, I thought I could provide lots of basic information on it that might be of use. The only annoying thing I've had with my article is I keep remembering things to add after the fact. I've edited the article something like 6 times.

If you're knowledgeable about sights in your area and would like to tell people about them, check out http://www.tripadvisor.com and write a few articles. Then, you can be something of an amateur travel writer which is kinda neat. Cheers!