Fortunately, we are not wealthy. Fortunately, what I’m going to share with you came to my attention too late to become reality. Fortunately? If we were wealthy and I’d found this little “gem” earlier, right now I’d be sitting in a ship off the coast of Ireland in the wind and the rain…when I wasn’t walking on a golf course on shore in the wind and the rain. Did I mention how much I hate wind and rain…and cold?
The Ryder Cup.
The ship is called Le Diamant (above) and today it’s sitting in the water not far from the Celtic Manor Resort, where the U.S. and Europe are hitting little white balls to see who 
wins an 83-year-old piece of silverware. I know this because I came across a blog written by John Honeywell, who works for The Mirror in England and who calls himself Captain Greybeard.
Well, my “Captain Greybeard” wishes I’d found it sooner, even if he doesn’t have the money to be on that ship this week. If I had, and he did, I’d be sitting in Le Diamant instead of watching the Ryder Cup on TV in the middle of the night. Let’s see…sitting in wind and rain…watching golf on TV at 3 a.m….
For my Captain Greybeard, that’s a win-win choice. For me, not so much.
Le Diamant is a French-owned vessel and the passengers on it today paid between $4,700 and $10,289 to be there. For that, they get five nights on the ship with all that a cruise ship offers. The “shore excursion” is four days (it included yesterday’s practice round) of watching the best golfers in the U.S. and Europe play matches.
Yes, in the wind and the rain.
As I said to my Captain Greybeard, that’s a lot of green fees, pal.