Wins Seven-Day Cruise Vacation Playing Cruise for Cash Scratch-Off
Marcia Simpson-Foster is a big fan of Lottery scratch-offs, playing them several times a week. She and her husband also love to travel and cruises are their vacations of choice. So, when Marcia discovered that she’d won a seven-day cruise playing the Maryland Lottery’s new Cruise for Cash scratch-off, she and her hubby couldn’t have been happier.
Just two days before her big win, her husband said, “Marcia, you’re going to hit something big one day!” His prediction came true due in part to a suggestion made by a woman at the Royal Farms store where Marcia stopped to buy a couple of Lottery tickets on January 12th. The next day when she stopped at the BP gas station on her lunch break, the Baltimore City Public Schools employee remembered the woman telling her about the Cruise for Cash ticket and decided to purchase one. She scratched the ticket in the store and won $25. Later that evening she purchased a second ticket from Royal Farms and again scratched it there in the store. “I saw the ship’s wheel,” said Marcia. “But I didn’t realize it was winner.” Marcia asked the Lottery retailer to check the ticket. He told her that she had to go to Lottery headquarters. She took the ticket to another retailer and she was told the same thing. When she arrived home, her husband told her she didn’t win anything. But, after examining the ticket further, they both realized she’d won a seven-day cruise.
The happy couple intends to set sail in June to celebrate their 10th wedding anniversary. The winning ticket was purchased at the Royal Farms, located at 504 Edmondson Ave. in Baltimore.
Partnering with Royal Carribean International, The Maryland Lottery launched Cruise for Cash on January 10, 2011. The $5 scratch-off is the first of its kind for the Maryland Lottery and features seven $50,000 instant top prizes, as well as 31 instant seven-night cruise vacations for two, departing from Florida with a premium ocean view balcony stateroom; first class round-trip airfare- for-two to Florida; deluxe premium hotel accommodations for two for the night prior to cruise departure, $1,000 onboard credit and $500 spending money.
Cruise for Cash also features a second-chance contest with six more chances to win a nine-night cruise vacation for two, departing from the Port of Baltimore. Second-chance cruise prizes include a premium ocean view balcony stateroom on any one of Royal Caribbean’s cruise ships departing from the Port of Baltimore and a $1,000 onboard credit. Players enter the second-chance contest by mailing in a non-winning Cruise for Cash scratch-off to the address on the back of the ticket or by going online at mdlottery.com/cruise. Players who enter online MUST keep their original Cruise for Cash ticket to present for validation.