The Cruise/Redux - Part 3

Day 2&3 Highlights only:

Basketball Competition:
Katie and I wanted to find a fun activity so we read and found a basketball shootout and knew that we had to participate. We eventually got everyone to go except Heather who was sick in the room from the previous evening's shenanigans. We went and signed up with Tina, the social director, along with about 5 others. Once word got out about the tourney there were dudes coming out of the woodwork. My personal favorite was Frank. He was a very intense rebounder at the basketball competition who wouldn't take off his iPod (he had eye of the tiger on repeat). He also, for reasons unknown, brought his brand new Air Jordan's on a 3 night cruise to the Bahamas. The greatest part about Frank is how he was willing to help anyone. He always wanted us to put more arc on the ball or shoot it in (advice I actually tried to follow). So we all go and suck, I made 1/20 for example. I did bet Vanessa she wouldn't make one and she did so I owed her a beer which she doesn't drink so it really worked out great. Katie was also a baller and made it to the finals with an unheardof 6/20 in. However she had to face Frank and lost to that douschebag. On a side note, a little guy with a shirt that said "Italian Stallion" walked straight into a pole; very funny.

Captain's Greeting:
Well we got all gussied up for the captain's dinner and decided to stop by his cocktail hour for a free drink before dinner since this is the only time that they are offered the whole cruise. This one really backfired since I jokingly asked the waiter for "one of each" and he literally set down 9 drinks before me. So, being the economist that I am, decided to drink them all. Needless to say I don't remember dinner that night and apparently walked out for a good portion of it. In addition, Nathan and Heather, the Hollywood couple, were interviewed about their big day in Nassau. We clearly didn't get off the boat to go into that rat infested shit hole and had nothing to say to the guy. Heather had slept all day but they looked damn fine on TV when we saw them later that night being broadcast over the whole ship.

All day drinking on deck:
This was part of our "Fun Day At Sea" and boy was it. After the last few days it now seemed that Josh had actually managed to buy a drink from every waiter on deck. They hounded him all day and it ended up that Dean from St Vincent was the big winner. He was a real hustler and you need that while drinking. It turns out he knew Michael our waiter, also from St Vincent. Now Michael and I had a relationship much like that of Christian and I on our last short-ass cruise. Nic-o-las was my name and I hit the rock more times than I can count or care to. Other than that we had great fun on the water slide getting a hint from a 5 year old to arch your back and ride on shoulder blades and heels for maximum speed. Nathan had his first encounter with sushi (no more needs to be said).

Bingo:
What a f'ing waste. Jim couldn't get the board to light up correctly and we only used the free space once. They don't sell buckets of beer and we all lost. We played 4 corners, diamond, top line, diagonal, and all sorts of other retarded games. One game 6 people won and they each made about $16 US. Very intense though.

Casino:
Well it turns out that the statement "easy come, easy go" is a correct one. I managed to lose all initial winnings in a few hours once leaving an initial $10 bet on black for 5 rolls and then losing it all. Everyone else was smarter than Grass and I and decided to stay out of the casino and by out I mean standing over our shoulders giving advice. Lucky number 11 hit about 5 times for me but once hit 4 times in 7 rolls and I only got the first one because I was afraid to bet on it again. As always you come out talking about how close you were or what should have been.

Late night encounter:
A chance encounter in the 24 hour pizza parlor with Charlie Korsmo left us flabbergasted and in awe of this man. Well nothing really happened except I found a medal on top of a trash can that a girl from his posse wanted back and then I made an ice cream bowl about 10 inches tall, which Korsmo commented on, and then Josh plopped his face down into it.

Catchphrases developed:
konichiwa (in a very Asian voice), delic (pronounced like delicious), I mean come on (south park style), Geeeeeeeeeee-Unit, Newt Rockney, and a funny face by Nate (that guy really stepped up in the humor department)