Cruise Quarters - A Novel About Casinos and Cruise Ships

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Cruise Quarters - A Cruise Ships
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  1. Kindle Edition: 348 pages: 1 item
  2. Publisher: ARAY / Productions; 2011-02-12
  3. Author: Cara Bertoia, Raymond Bertoia
  4. Format: Kindle eBook
  5. Sales Rank in Books: #39698

Product Review

Cruise Quarters - A Novel About Casinos and Cruise Ships is the #1 cruise ship and #1 casino novel at the Kindle store.
Kindle Fire Dept. Book of the Day May 13, "This novel is a gem that is nothing short of a vacation in a book!"
This top rated novel had been featured at Kindle Nations Daily, No Trees Harmed and Daily Cheap Reads. Chosen as 'Read of the Week' at Tripatini.com.
The Review Girl blog raves, "Cruise Quarters is an amazing travel novel which is as much about romance as it is about travel."

It is a fun, fast paced tale of working in the casino aboard a Regal Cruises cruise-ship. It is based on a true story and was written by authors who have decades of experience working on luxury cruise ships and in casinos across the globe.

The crew of the Regal Star resemble a mini United Nations, hiring people from all over the world. But unlike the UN, Regal Cruise's employees present a united front above decks as they attend to their passenger's every needs.

Sarah Seldon is a croupier on the luxury liner. After many unhappy endings, and burnt out on shipboard romance, she is determined to forget about men and concentrate on becoming a casino manager. On land women face a dearth of GOOD men but on a ship giving up men would take willpower. The mostly male crew exist to serve her every need. Handsome Italian waiters bring her food, the Filipino steward cleans her room, English officers play poker with her and the Welsh plumber fixes her sink. She leads a cushy life, sleeping 'til noon, eating gourmet food, and the topper - she gets to wake up in beautiful new place everyday. All because she works in a casino, a place so bad it has SIN in the middle.

Book a cruise and travel with Sarah and the crew as they work, play, feast, and fall in and out of love, all while the ship sails around the globe, stopping at exotic ports of call. Along the way, from Venice to Barcelona sight-see in the Med, shop in St. Martin, take an eco-cruise down the Amazon, and feast in Glasgow. Let the crew tell you their own stories as they sit in the hallway in the wee hours of the morning. While the ship travels to new destinations, tired and tipsy they share tales of love and betrayal.

Excerpt from Chapter One:

When people sat down at Sarah Seldon’s blackjack game, they always wanted to talk about The Book.

“Should I double down? Should I hit? Dealer, I know you’re a gambler; you could let me win if you wanted to. What does the book say?”

She had never read this book, this mythical Bible for gamblers. The truth is there are 2256 books, each teaching its own foolproof winning system. But Sarah had been in the casino business long enough to think with a gambler’s mind. Gamblers knew they could follow all the rules of basic strategy, utilize money management and still lose if they weren’t dealt the right cards. The allure and curse of gambling was that there were no sure things. In the end it all came down to luck; gamblers prayed that Lady Luck would show up and that she would stick around for awhile.

On that particular day, Sarah perched on a chair to get a better view through her salt-stained porthole onto the dock, filled with people busying themselves with the activities necessary to supply a huge cruise ship. Port activities in Hong Kong demonstrated a model of modern efficiency. Even though the ship had been docked for under an hour, already the crew had begun to perform the necessary safety checks. At the same time operators steered forklifts, moving wooden pallets filled with provisions into the hold. Like a patient hooked up to life support, long, fat hoses attached to the side of the ship fed water and gas into tanks, providing nutrients for the upcoming voyage.

You can find out more about Cara and Ray at Author Central.

Customer Reviews

Average Customer Review
4.8 out of 5 stars (20 customer reviews)

10 of 10 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars I loved this book!, February 16, 2011
Randy Benjamin "Netguider" - See all my reviews
Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Cruise Quarters - A Novel About Casinos and Cruise Ships (Kindle Edition)
This is one of those books that I had a hard time putting down. I always wondered what it would be like to work on a cruise ship. It seems like it would be a party every night...turns out...it is! And more...a lot more!

The book is about what takes place behind-the-scenes as told by a lady croupier. If you think the guests are having fun, wait until you see what goes on with the crew members.

Actually, there's a lot more to the book than just fun and games. I learned what it's like to actually work on a cruise ship. It's so different than any other job that I can imagine. Even though it's a fascinating occupation, there's a tremendous amount of pressure that comes with the job as well. No wonder the crew likes to unwind whenever they can.

One of the things I liked best about the book was the descriptions of the exotic places the cruise ship visited. Most were off the beaten 'tourist' path. These are the discoveries that only someone who's been there...Read more


5 of 5 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Best beach read of 2011!, May 26, 2011
A Daniels - See all my reviews
This review is from: Cruise Quarters - A Novel About Casinos and Cruise Ships (Kindle Edition)
As a former tour director, I frequently escorted groups of pensioners on a variety of cruise programs. While coordinating activities with officers and staff, I often wondered what dramas transpired in the Upstairs, Downstairs saga of the crew.
With engaging wit, author Cara Bertoia invites us to peer through the porthole of crew life on mythical Regal Cruises' ships. Follow croupier Sarah Seldon's journey as she sails between exotic ports, placing bets for hopeful passengers while gambling on her own love life. Part romance novel, part guide book, part gaming tips, Cruise Quarters is a realistic tome of life below decks--the work ethic, the leisure antics, the heartbreak and the happiness of life on board.
Based on her own experience, Bertoia brilliantly parallels the rules of the tables with the rules of love, weaving a seaman's tale of life at sea with canons such as, "All is fair in love and war, but a gambler never cheats at the table," and "The best part of playing...Read more


3 of 3 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Travel and romance all in one!, December 5, 2011
Patrice M. Fitzgerald "Author of RUNNING" (New England) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   
This review is from: Cruise Quarters - A Novel About Casinos and Cruise Ships (Kindle Edition)
I had a great time bringing this book along on my Kindle while I cruised the Mediterranean in November. I'm an experienced cruiser with (at least) 17 trips to my name now, and the details I learned about "real life" on board a ship as a member of the crew were fascinating. I even recommended it to the folks I met working on board the Celebrity Equinox as we wound our way through the Greek Islands and a little bit of Italy, Malta, and Turkey.

What I loved was the interesting mix of travel guide, romance, and intimate ship life that this book offered. I have to confess that it made me feel for the hardworking crew... but they assured me that it was worth it for the pay plus the wonderful places they get to visit on their days off.

Altogether a great, entertaining read!

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