Trivia Prizes on the Nieuw Amsterdam - Are all the ships like this now?

[IndyDenise]

We usually ask if we can get a drink instead. This doesn't help if you happen to have a beverage package, but we've never accidentally pricked ourselves with a free drink. ;)

 

 

 

Yeah, well I did and let me tell you it wasn't amusing.

 

 

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[IndyDenise]

John Heald; Carnival Cruise Line ;)

 

 

 

Hey! Don't knock the Ship on a Stick or the masses of Carnivalites that worship at the feet of THE HRH John Heald of SSDream will go ballistic!!!

 

I won a Gold Medallion on a ribbon necklace ( very ala Olympic-ish ) for winning trivia on Carnival in August.

 

I choose that over the Ship on a Stick. You can't wear the stick thing to formal night ., and be smug and stylish while gloating.

 

 

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[Globaliser]

I was on the Oosterdam just before Christmas. I hadn't played trivia until the last sea day. The assistant cruise director announced before the game that due to the fact that there had been so much rancor in the earlier games, that days gift would be a cookie for each member of the winning team.

Hey, it could have been worse - it might have had to have been a saucer of milk for each person.

[bcd2010]

We usually ask if we can get a drink instead. This doesn't help if you happen to have a beverage package, but we've never accidentally pricked ourselves with a free drink. ;)

Made me remember something from our last cruise. The trivia topic was coffee. No one on our team drank coffee and everyone said they didn't know much about coffee. Wouldn't you know it... we won! And the prize? Any coffee item from the Explorations cafe :D (they let us get soda instead.)

 

I've seen vicious verbal arguments break out at team trivia, as well as verbal abuse heaped on the cruise director :eek:; it's just a game folks

 

One of the posts on this topic said there wasn't much of any budget for prizes, but I also wonder if one reason for (or perhaps benefit of) "uninteresting" prizes is that it tones down the competitiveness - at least for those for whom "interesting" prizes might be the motivation.

 

Save

[Wendy-Europe]

In our last cruises in HAL we' ve got Pins, not just for the winning team, they throw a handful of pins for everyone who wanted (mostly nobody).

 

One day they cleared the storage because it was the cruise before drydock and they put a package of Microsoft promotion giveaways at the table. Luggage tags, caps, ballpens , everything a really ugly green.

Enough for everybody.

[kira5]

I remember a fitness challenge years ago where you received prizes for reaching certain levels. Points were given for going to the gym, 4 times around the deck, ordering off the healthy meal options, etc. There was a baseball cap to start, a t shirt and I believe top prize was a jacket. You had a booklet to keep track of your points. It was probably a nuisance to have an employee on deck to mark off the completion of the walk, etc. I thought it was a fun activity but I do remember that there were others.

[RuthC]

I remember a fitness challenge years ago where you received prizes for reaching certain levels. Points were given for going to the gym, 4 times around the deck, ordering off the healthy meal options, etc. ... You had a booklet to keep track of your points.

Sounds like the old, old Passport to Fitness program. That disappeared more than ages ago, replaced by the -dam Dollars program (which disappeared ages ago).

[Globaliser]

Sounds like the old, old Passport to Fitness program.

That's how I remember it: Passport to Fitness. I've still got (and use) some of the T-shirts that I redeemed my points for. They're quite old and tatty now, but still useful for going to the gym.

 

The two best things about Passport to Fitness were the psychological incentive - way beyond the value of the prizes on offer - to participate in activities, which went some way to counteracting all the unhealthy aspects of cruising; and the sociable and friendly atmosphere that that participation and some gentle competition created.

[kira5]

Yes, that was the name of the program. Your memory is better than mine! There were many ways to get points because there were so many (free) activities that qualified all day long.

[earljr]

I remember a fitness challenge years ago where you received prizes for reaching certain levels. Points were given for going to the gym, 4 times around the deck, ordering off the healthy meal options, etc. There was a baseball cap to start, a t shirt and I believe top prize was a jacket. You had a booklet to keep track of your points. It was probably a nuisance to have an employee on deck to mark off the completion of the walk, etc. I thought it was a fun activity but I do remember that there were others.

 

Still have my baseball hat and t-shirts (material a tad thinner with a hole or two)

Once in a while someone on board will ask about the word "cruisercise" on my hat and after

I explain usually there is sort of a " your kidding" look. HAL would give away such nice things free!!

Edited January 23, 2017 by earljr

[Jean1946]

We have never won a prize (pin or anything) but we go for the fun of it. It is now taken too serious. We do not join another group because we feel put down when cannot help them, so just enjoy ourselves alone, sort of. Sometimes we get as many 5 points WOW.

 

Join other people just for the fun of meeting them. We have met several wonderful couples playing trivia. We win some, we lose some. Just enjoy yourself. If you don't like the group you are with, try to find another one. We always try to fine a Canadian or someone from England, cause there's usually quite a bit of questions in those categories.

 

Yes, pins seem to be the prizes nowadays!

[ithaca gal]

We love to play trivia every time it is offered. There are usually two or four of us, so we look for a few players to bring us up to a team of six. We have made some very good friends as a result of this.

 

I took a friend on a cruise this month and we met three people on the first night and formed a team. We had such a great time with these people! We all made it a point to get together in the afternoon for every trivia opportunity and then met again at 7:30 before dinner. We are actually planning to reunite next year -- that's how much fun we had.

 

We have cruised again with people we met at trivia and we have stopped in to stay with others while traveling. It's a great opportunity to meet people and have fun!

 

Now then, about those pins ........... what a waste of money! Why not a cup of coffee or soda at Explorations Café? Is that asking too much?

[the_dylaness]

LOVED the old dam dollars program (2010?!?)

We are not supercompetitive ppl but participated a lot in activities. Ended up with two sweatshirts on Eurodam and friendship memories of Matt from Orlando

[HokiePoq]

LOVED the old dam dollars program (2010?!?)

We are not supercompetitive ppl but participated a lot in activities. Ended up with two sweatshirts on Eurodam and friendship memories of Matt from Orlando

 

I loved the DAM dollars as well. Fond memory of winning the putt putt competition (I don't play golf) much to the consternation of the male golfers who were competing, lol. We got HAL beach towels with our dollars.

A friend is on a grand cruise right now. They have Grand Dollars that work in the way DAM dollars used to. One of the perks for being on a Grand cruise, I'd imagine.

[TheCalicoCat]

My husband LOVES trivia, but he said that there were a lot of regulars (on several different cruise lines) who knew the answers before the questions were asked, because they asked the same questions on a previous cruise.

 

So for someone who might get to go on a cruise every 2 or 3 years, that really takes the fun out of it.

 

On a Carnival cruise, one couple won several ships on a stick & gave one to my son. He LOVES it. He even brought it to show & tell at school. :) (A pin would have been lost eons ago.)

 

On RCCL we got luggage tags that say, "We love baggage handlers." I liked that prize.

[Veronicat]

Q: What are the five layers of the atmosphere?

 

A: Troposphere, stratosphere, exosphere, rich dark chocolate and a creamy nougat center.

 

My team may not have won but I received a round of applause and we were awarded refrigerator magnets.

[bcd2010]

We also compared our older pins to the current one's and the current one's are much thinner. Less weight for packing;)

 

And the lighter weight ones are better for:

 

Save

[Sequim88]

Sounds like the old, old Passport to Fitness program. That disappeared more than ages ago,

 

Hmmm... :rolleyes: was on Veendam last time we were on HAL - 15 years ago. Another thing we now know not to expect to see.

 

String a few pins together and attach a treble hook. Might be interesting what you could catch. ;) :D

[Wehwalt]

I can't deny being one of the more serious players. I don't keep the prizes unless they have a use. I tossed out most of the metal pins a year ago. The only things I have around from HAL right now are a bicycle bag and one of those foam cell phone holders, that I use around a little notions-style cylinder. Both were from a grand voyage on the Prinsendam. From other lines, I have random pens, passport holders, water bottles and such.

 

I don't play for the prizes, really. If I feel obliged to take them I'll leave them in some lounge. If we're opening the bottle of champagne, I'll have a glass, but the bottle is too many calories!

 

Last time they tried giving me one of those red and white Windows hats, I told the cruise director that when I wore one, they resembled a Trump hat so closely a Bernie bro shot at me ... with an arrow ...

Edited January 29, 2017 by Wehwalt

[RuthC]

I don't keep the prizes unless they have a use. I tossed out most of the metal pins a year ago. ... If I feel obliged to take them I'll leave them in some lounge.

You should never feel "obliged" to take a prize you don't want. Much better to refuse it in the first place, so it can be given to someone who does want it.

If you throw it away, it's somewhere in the trash system, even if the metal goes to recycling. Left in "some lounge" means someone else has to clean up, and throw it away. It's unlikely to be put back in the prize pool.

What a collective waste.

[Wehwalt]

You should never feel "obliged" to take a prize you don't want. Much better to refuse it in the first place, so it can be given to someone who does want it.

If you throw it away, it's somewhere in the trash system, even if the metal goes to recycling. Left in "some lounge" means someone else has to clean up, and throw it away. It's unlikely to be put back in the prize pool.

What a collective waste.

 

I do not trash them. I leave them for other cruisers. Possibly I wasn't clear. Or in people's mail slots if they are big enough. I'm sensitive to your concern, and if no passenger wants it, and no crew member wants it, it really isn't much of a "collective waste". That being said, I'm grateful for your instruction in replying to me in such a friendly manner on two different threads within such a short period. See you onboard!

Edited January 29, 2017 by Wehwalt

[RuthC]

I tossed out most of the metal pins a year ago.

 

I do not trash them.

Guess I misinterpreted what you must have meant by "tossed out most...".

So sorry.