I won a first prize (one of 100) from Deilmann Cruises. (Grand prize was a 7-day cruise on the Mozart.) The prize is for $2000 towards a cruise, plus they'll discount the stateroom by $1000, and they've given me a list of cruises with free airfare from NY. Still -- the least expensive cruise with a queen-bed stateroom (because I'm not going through the QE2 debacle EVER AGAIN) would be $4632 out of pocket for six days, plus drinking and spending. That's not a win. :)
However -- I poked on the sweeps site and saw that other winners were able to apply their winnings towards one of their river cruises, which seem to be less expensive. I called the company and they're sending me a brochure about those -- we'll see if it's a viable option. The company very nicely post-dated the letter until the end of July, so even though I have to get it notarized "within three days," that buys us some time.
Still. A win is a win, and exciting. Now...when will I win a car?