Cruise Archive · 2009 Review

A Newbie Parrothead Goes Off to See the Lizard
By Ted Clements, Central Texas PHC
Ted was the winner of the Parrothead Cruise 2009 Raffle

Stumbling around the internet in June 2008 I happened across Parrothead Cruise 2009. Having been infected with the Parrothead bug at a Las Vegas Jimmy Buffett concert I was immediately disappointed to see that the 2009 cruise was already sold out. However, one last carrot was dangled in the form of a raffle for a cabin on the cruise. I hit the bait like a hungry trout, but with the reality of near certain failure.

Then the phone rang in December and Brent Jones from the Atlanta Parrot Head Club tells me I've won the raffle! Disbelief, expletive and rapid reassurance confirms the impossible; that I've hit the jackpot. I just can't sufficiently describe sitting in the main dining room of an upper end cruise ship with my wife Patti dressed in togas at dinner. I'll bet the non-Parrotheads looking on in awe couldn't either. The entertainment absolutely rocked as did the camaraderie. We owned part of that ship.

I came home with a guitar signed by Jimmy Buffett from the live auction. Logic is absent from deciding to bid on such a treasure. I got the auction caller's attention and told him I'm bidding to win. My wife didn't even know what I was doing until the couple we were with cried out the alert. Too late for Patti, I got it without a regret! The guitar now resides in my living room, Buffett picture on display and further drove me to dig out my wife's 1970 vintage acoustic guitar on which I'm laboring to play Banana Republics and, what else, Lovely Cruise.

This Parrothead stuff is addictive. I joined a Parrothead club and now am a confirmed Parrothead. I could go on for days. Taking no chances, I signed for Parrothead Cruise 2010 in a blink. Best darned cruise going. Parrotheads are the best.