It Could Happen It To You! [Archive] - Cruise Critic Message Boards

kakalina

August 22nd, 2006, 02:27 PM

I know this is hard to believe. We are still having trouble. We won the poweball lottery! Really. We did. We just got off the phone with our HAL travel consultant and have booked the Nov 16th Mexican Riviera as a b2b for the 15 day Hawaii. We did try to book a suite but the cruise is almost sold out.

We have never won anything before. Not this big anyway. Just wanted to share our good fortune with our friends here.

Virgil & Trisha

wowzo

August 22nd, 2006, 02:35 PM

Congrats many millions over !! Charter the ship - take over the Penthouse - all the Penthouses !!:D Enjoy yourselves. M.A.

ekerr19

August 22nd, 2006, 02:51 PM

I thought it was won in Wisconsin by workers at a cheese factory... at least that was the initial report. :confused:

I play faithfully and can only hope...

Congratulations!

kakalina

August 22nd, 2006, 02:59 PM

We actually won on 8-2 but just found out Friday. We did not win the jackpot, just the third biggest.

ekerr19

August 22nd, 2006, 03:05 PM

That's awesome! :D

Even better if you had the Powerplay option, but still a nice win!

Enjoy your cruise!!!!

LAFFNVEGAS

August 22nd, 2006, 03:08 PM

Congratulations Virgil and Trisha:cool:

With you added cruise of November 16th you will be on our cruise over Thanksgiving. You will have to come over to our Roll Call:) We booked this cruise in July last year and I know that the S Suites were sold out by the first of this year.

sail7seas

August 22nd, 2006, 03:10 PM

Congratulations.......VERY, very happy for you.

Save us all from googling to find out.........

Inquiring Minds want to know:

What was the 'third prize'?

We don't have Powerball in Massachusetts.

kakalina

August 22nd, 2006, 03:12 PM

We won on 8-2 but just found out on Friday. We did not win the jackpot just the third biggest win.

sail7seas

August 22nd, 2006, 03:20 PM

Oh my goodness.........Were you one of the $800,000 winners?
(:) I googled ;) )

waterbug1

August 22nd, 2006, 03:25 PM

How wonderful! I love hearing good news. May it bring you joy…you are off to a great start already. Have a fabulous cruise!:D

May4

August 22nd, 2006, 03:40 PM

:D You must be walking on air. You are true blue cruisers who know the first thing you need to do after winning a big prize is to book a cruise.
Have a wonderful time at sea.
Thanks for sharing your good news.:D

esther e

August 22nd, 2006, 03:56 PM

I'm thrilled for you. However, I'm not sure it's a good idea to put this on the internet..that's my conservative, suspicious personality coming out.:)
Esther

AlohaPride

August 22nd, 2006, 03:59 PM

Congratulations!!

We don't have a lottery here...."Dam" the man!!

scopewest

August 22nd, 2006, 04:04 PM

Congrats! Enjoy the trip and be sure to post a review.

Buckett

August 22nd, 2006, 04:05 PM

Congratulations! This is the best news I've heard all day. My hubby and I play the Lottery every week, so I can just imagine how excited we'd be if we hit it. :D

happy cruzer

August 22nd, 2006, 04:09 PM

I'm sure this was very thrilling. Enjoy every minute of the experience. Accentuate the Positive! I think you are very wise to do something memorable with some of the money!
:) :) :)

GrammyPL

August 22nd, 2006, 04:38 PM

Trisha & Virgil - Congrats. No wonder you asking out our b2b..... But we are going on the Zaandam Oct 22 for the Sea of Cortez before we are on the same Hawaiin cruise as you. Why don't you look into that cruise. We are keeping our same room for both cruises. OH - it also leaves from San Diego. Penny

Copper10-8

August 22nd, 2006, 04:54 PM

Congrats! Have a great time!!

sail7seas

August 22nd, 2006, 04:55 PM

BUT THEY STILL HAVEN'T ANSWERED!!!!! ;) We know it's the third prize.......But WHAT is the THIRD Prize?

kakalina

August 22nd, 2006, 05:22 PM

Frogs

August 22nd, 2006, 05:33 PM

OK OK . I didn't want to give the actual amount; it seems sort of, well, crass is the word I hear my Mother whispering in my ear :o . However, in the interests of saving Sails pondering time it was only $10,000.00. Not huge, but certaily nothing to sneeze at :)

I would be happy with that as well! What a great way to spend it - On a cruise! I would consider doing the same - at least some wonderful vacation!

Blessings!

sail7seas

August 22nd, 2006, 05:36 PM

Again Congratulations........I think it's terrific!!!!!

Enjoy your cruise.

Bucky3

August 22nd, 2006, 06:56 PM

That is wonderful news! Congratulations! But I'm surprised you didn't book another Hawaii-Tahiti trip. Don't I remember reading your wonderful review of that last year, or am I confused?? Anyway, congrats, again & Aloha!

kakalina

August 22nd, 2006, 06:59 PM

Krazy Kruizers

August 22nd, 2006, 07:12 PM

Congratulations on winning $10,000.

Midway through this thread I went onto our PA lottery and saw the amount that you had won ( didn't want to say anything until you did).

Sad to say that we won only $3 on that one. We don't buy the powervall tickets until it reaches in the big millions!!

RuthC

August 22nd, 2006, 08:53 PM

Congratulations on your winning the Lottery, and finding such a nice way to help the economy with it, too! :)
(Just hold back enough to make the taxman happy. :rolleyes: )

AlohaPride

August 22nd, 2006, 09:16 PM

Congratulations on your winning the Lottery, and finding such a nice way to help the economy with it, too! :)
(Just hold back enough to make the taxman happy. :rolleyes: )

Which should be about Half... :eek: :rolleyes:

stanford's girl

August 22nd, 2006, 09:43 PM

Big congrats to you Trisha & Virgil !!!! :D:D
It's nice to know that someone who loves cruising won!! :cool:

kryos

August 23rd, 2006, 08:43 AM

OK OK . I didn't want to give the actual amount; it seems sort of, well, crass is the word I hear my Mother whispering in my ear :o . However, in the interests of saving Sails pondering time it was only $10,000.00. Not huge, but certaily nothing to sneeze at :)
Couldn't happen to two nicer people. I am very happy for you and your DH, Kakalina.

Now go out and book that suite. You deserve it!

And ... hey ... $10,000 sure ain't chump change, that's for sure! :)

Blue skies!

--rita

kakalina

August 23rd, 2006, 11:45 AM

Congratulations on your winning the Lottery, and finding such a nice way to help the economy with it, too! :)
(Just hold back enough to make the taxman happy. :rolleyes: )
Ruth, actually they took 30% off the top and cut us a check for the balance. Makes it much easier.

HeatherInFlorida

August 23rd, 2006, 11:55 AM

Virgil and Trisha, no it's not crass in this case because it's a matter of public record. Be glad it wasn't first place or we'd all think you could just take us all on the cruise with you!!! Wouldn't that be something???

Congratulations! I would just do what you did. Run out and book my cruise of a lifetime which for us would be a return to Bora Bora and the surrounding islands. Just this second I was looking at the Paul Gauguin 10-day Tahiti cruise and thought "If only ..."

That win would have done it for me! Have a wonderful cruise:D and wallow in your win.

Tinknock50

August 23rd, 2006, 12:11 PM

$10,000 is wonderful!

If it was first prize, you would have too many "friends" and relatives you never knew you had wanting to contact you.:)

kryos

August 23rd, 2006, 01:22 PM

$10,000 is wonderful!

If it was first prize, you would have too many "friends" and relatives you never knew you had wanting to contact you.:)
Not to mention all the charities that would be contacting you on a daily basis. As someone else said, lottery winners and the amount of their windfall is a matter of public record, and short of some very sophisticated legal maneuverings, there is no way to hide the fact that you've won a substantial sum of money. Not just friends and relatives, but every con artist in the world would be breathing down your neck once you come into that sort of cash, so frankly, I think it's actually better to win a smaller sum ... one that won't attract this element and complicate your life.

Blue skies ...

--rita

bdcbbq

August 23rd, 2006, 01:29 PM

The first phone call after realizing you have won a lottery should be to an attorney, followed by an accountant.

Afterwards, you might tell your spouse.:D But never tell your kids!

kryos

August 23rd, 2006, 01:52 PM

The first phone call after realizing you have won a lottery should be to an attorney, followed by an accountant.

Afterwards, you might tell your spouse.:D But never tell your kids!
LOL ... so true. But, I'd probably leave the accountant out of the equation. He'd only manage to lose the money for me. :)

The other thing is ... don't be in such a hurry to claim it if it's a major windfall. Get the attorney to set up a closely held corporation for you ... or even a non-profit foundation if you plan to dole a lot of the money out to charity. Only after that corporate set-up is arranged go and claim the money. Then you can claim it in the name of the corporation, letting the attorney be the "front man." Keeps your name and face out of the publicity.

True, this opens the way for other problems ... and could result in some cases in a higher tax bill ... not to mention the attorney's charges. But I still think it's better than having all of the crazies coming at you from every direction.

I never knew anyone who won a major prize in the tens of millions, but I did have a friend at work who won one of the "smaller" prizes in the Delaware lottery ... something whereby she got about $50,000 each year for the next 20 or so years. Not a shabby prize. After taxes, it wasn't enough to quit working over, but it was enough to make life a lot easier for her and the two kids she was raising. But it was funny how relatives seemed to assume that she now "owed" them something just because she won. It was that attitude and how she dealt with it that caused her to become estranged from almost her entire extended family.

Sad ... especially when you consider that $50,000 a year isn't all that much by the time the tax man comes to visit. While the prize money helped make life a lot easier for this single mother, it sure didn't make her rich or able to spend with abandon. It just ensured that her kids would now have college educations and they could live in a house without a mortgage or a slew of behind bills.

Blue skies ...

--rita

BJHOOSER

August 23rd, 2006, 02:33 PM

Hi, congrats on your win. You may not think it is a lot but look where it is going to take you...lol. Have fun and enjoy. Abby:o

Shelli

August 23rd, 2006, 03:24 PM

I'm thrilled for you. However, I'm not sure it's a good idea to put this on the internet..that's my conservative, suspicious personality coming out.:)
Esther

I tend to agree with Esther. Your first and last names, your city and state, and the dates you'll be away from home are already posted. You really should be more cautious.

And congratulations on your win!

HeatherInFlorida

August 23rd, 2006, 04:27 PM

I'm one of the most cautious people you could ever meet, but the fact is that every time we post on here that we're going on a cruise, we're letting people know we'll be away and for how long. Since Trisha & Virgil have already spent their winnings, no one will find the $$$ in their house;) .

There are a lot of people on here who show their last names in their screen names and even if they don't, there are ways to trace many of us.

Anyone who wants to find out who we are, can. Ziggy publishes a long list of "Bon Voyages" ... should all this stop?

Every time we have our mail held, or our newspaper, local people know we'll be away. I doubt very much that people are going to travel cross country to get to Kakalina's house so we really need to worry a bit more about those who know we're gone close to home.

I'm not saying we shouldn't all be more careful; I just think that right now Trisha is excited and happy and there's really no need to rain on her parade with doomsday prophecies.

I know I'll get flamed for this post; that's okay.:)

sail7seas

August 23rd, 2006, 04:36 PM

How can we assume their house will be empty? They may have other people who live with them.....parent/grandparent.

Some people purposely hire housesitters so that their house will not be empty when they travel.

Not to mention excellent alarm systems. :) ;)

kakalina

August 23rd, 2006, 05:30 PM

obriendan

August 23rd, 2006, 06:35 PM

Life is too short to worry about everything. I would hate to give up the fun I have on CC for the sake of security. And remember, this is from one whose house was broken into, and two TV's, and a car stolen during our Maasdam Transatlantic cruise last August!:o I'm pretty sure that the thieves were not sophisticated enough to be following CC to find out about vacant houses to hit. There was a rash of burglaries at that time throughout the neighborhood.

localady

August 23rd, 2006, 06:38 PM

Congratulations on your winnings!!:D

We would do the same thing, celebrate by booking another cruise!!;) :D

P.S. Last August we were burlgarized while on the Prinsendam, but by a kid who lived across the street from us who we'd tried to help out by giving odd jobs to. His folks neglected to tell us he was a meth addict. My least concern is that someone from here knows my whereabouts!

serendipity1499

August 23rd, 2006, 07:04 PM

Congratulations on your windfall..That's great! Hope you have a grand time on your cruises..:)

Rita says "Sad ... especially when you consider that $50,000 a year isn't all that much by the time the tax man comes to visit. " I'll gladly take an extra $50,000 a year or even less..;)

I was ecstatic when my friend & I won $90.00 on the nickle slots together...We each put $5.00 in on the last day of our cruise...I had played for the first three days & then stopped because I was losing..Also proved my DH wrong, as he thinks I'm very un-lucky & usually lose!;) Of course my friend helped as she's always lucky..She won a nice chunk earlier in the cruise & suggested we each put $5.00 in this machine..We kicked her DH out of "our slot machine" & he does not let us forget it!.:( I came home ahead of the game for the first time in my life!

Happy cruising all..

HeatherInFlorida

August 23rd, 2006, 07:49 PM

Heather: Please, come over to my house while I'm gone. BTW, while your there would you dust the furniture and water the plants. Oh, and maybe put some fresh groceries in for when we come home.
Thanks
and turn out the lights when you leave

You got it, Trisha! I'll be there! Not to worry. All will be well. And just in case anyone thinks they can get by me, I'll be bringing along my attack dog.:D

AlohaPride

August 23rd, 2006, 07:53 PM

You got it, Trisha! I'll be there! Not to worry. All will be well. And just in case anyone thinks they can get by me, I'll be bringing along my attack dog.:D

If you are watching Trisha's house, who will watch YOUR house? :D If you want to fly me out, I will volunteer :)

kryos

August 23rd, 2006, 08:04 PM

If you are watching Trisha's house, who will watch YOUR house? :D If you want to fly me out, I will volunteer :)
LOL ... now, your's is a house I'd be glad to hang my hat in while you are on a cruise. Hawaii? I could sure get into a couple of weeks of rent free living there. :)

Blue skies ...

--rita

HeatherInFlorida

August 23rd, 2006, 09:05 PM

If you are watching Trisha's house, who will watch YOUR house? :D If you want to fly me out, I will volunteer :)

Hmmmm ... how about this? You go to watch Trisha's house and I'll fly out to your Hawaii abode and watch your house!

DH can stay home and watch our house:) ... unless someone else wants to come watch our house.;) November can be quite lovely here so you can just stay on when we head out on our cruise on 12/2. What the heck ... you can walk our dog, do all my Christmas shopping and decorate, too!

LOL:D

serendipity1499

August 24th, 2006, 01:03 AM

Can I get in on this act too? I need someone to watch my house & walk & play with my dog too..My Pup's baby sitter is selling her house & moving away soon:(

Aussie Gal

August 24th, 2006, 05:34 AM

kakalina,

I have just read this thread tonight and am thrilled that someone of whom I am acquainted has actually one something from a lottery. How wonderful for you and your DH and then to go on a cruise, what more could one ask for.

I hope you have a great time spending the money and enjoying yourselves. Life is too short and it is lovely to hear of someone doing what they love best with a special win.

Jennie

SDHALFAN

August 24th, 2006, 11:23 AM

Hi Kakalina,

I too have just "discovered" this thread - I must be spending way too much time over on the Roll Call board. Congratualtions and have a ton of fun spending your windfall.

Consider yourself fortunate that you weren't able to book a passage on the October 22nd sailing or I might have been hitting you up for a free drink.:D

Have a wonderful cruise.

Valerie:)

AlohaPride

August 24th, 2006, 03:16 PM

Rita and Heather,

I would be MORE than happy to have you both stay at my home for the 2 weeks I'll be gone in December. You both can take turns walking my 2 dogs (A 14 year old Chiuahuah Terrier and a 7 month old Golden Retriever). Not to mention cleaning the kitty box (2 year old siamese). I have a 3 bedroom home, so you will each have a room if you like :p Now all you have to do is get the air fare to Hawaii in the hight of the travel/flying season :D

Does $10 pp/day suffice for "gratuity?" :confused:

kakalina

August 24th, 2006, 04:30 PM

Mary and Keaka: I will be there in November. Maybe we can meet for lunch or perhaps I could get you a guest pass to visit us on the ship.
Trisha

AlohaPride

August 24th, 2006, 05:09 PM

Mary and Keaka: I will be there in November. Maybe we can meet for lunch or perhaps I could get you a guest pass to visit us on the ship.
Trisha

That would be AWESOME!!!!! When will you be here in November? I would LOVE a guest pass!!! :D :D :D I've got chicken-skin just thinking about being able to tour one of those "dam" ships!

Lunch or dinner sounds great too! It all depends on what day of the week you will be on Oahu :rolleyes:

kakalina

August 24th, 2006, 05:59 PM

We will be there Nov 11th and 8th. We stay overnight in Honolulu. I will check out passes. I know they can do it, I'm not sure if they will with all the stringent security nowadays. But I will ask.

Love Cruises

August 24th, 2006, 07:10 PM

OK OK . I didn't want to give the actual amount; it seems sort of, well, crass is the word I hear my Mother whispering in my ear :o . However, in the interests of saving Sails pondering time it was only $10,000.00. Not huge, but certaily nothing to sneeze at :)
Congratulations... that is awesome. You both must be so happy!

Have a great cruise and pamper yourselves.

AlohaPride

August 24th, 2006, 07:33 PM

We will be there Nov 11th and 8th. We stay overnight in Honolulu. I will check out passes. I know they can do it, I'm not sure if they will with all the stringent security nowadays. But I will ask.

The 11th is a Saturday! I could drive you and your DH around the island or something (after my tour of the ship, of course!) :D You might want to wait to hear how fun my tours are after the Voyage of the Spammed get back, however. :rolleyes:

kakalina

August 24th, 2006, 07:40 PM

The 11th is a Saturday! I could drive you and your DH around the island or something (after my tour of the ship, of course!) :D You might want to wait to hear how fun my tours are after the Voyage of the Spammed get back, however. :rolleyes:

Oh man, sorry for the typo it is the 7th and 8th. Not a weekend But we are there overnight and able to be out as late as we want on the 7th