What happened to the Horse Racing on Princess?

[Philly Ken]

We were on the Star Princess the week after Thanksgiving and I was surprised that they skipped it. Granted, when we were on the Golden in May '04 they did the Horse Racing, but rather than do it in the pool area as Royal Caribbean does (and makes a big deal about it and makes it a very fun event!), they skipped it altogether this cruise.

 

While we had a great week on the Star, I think the Cruise Director staff did miss some good opportunities to get the passengers more active.

[Druke I]

Don't know why, but it does seem that Princess has eliminated it, for the most part.

 

One poster sometime ago said he/she spoke with a Cruise Director, and that there seemed to be a "general lack of interest".

 

I'm not sure how accurate that may be - I for one never "played the ponies".

[houstoncruisers2001]

One poster sometime ago said he/she spoke with a Cruise Director, and that there seemed to be a "general lack of interest".

 

I vote "general lack of interest". It never interested me.

[spongerob]

Michael et al,

 

The reason I was given was that there had been a dispute or disputes over the results of some races, possibly concerning the auctioned horses where several hundred or thousand dollars might be involved. Since there is no way to record the dice rolls and proper movement of the horses, there is no way to verify or refute a claim that errors were made. Therefore, the horse races have been discontinued on Princess.

[negc]

Lack of interest appears to be the story on the discontinued horse races on Princess. Of course, if they really wanted to hold them, they could easily find a way to verify the results. :( RCI continues to hold the races and auctions without, to the best of my knowledge, any problems or serious disputes. :)

[spongerob]

You might be right, Negc. The races were always held before bingo, which of course made the bingo fans antsy. I miss the auctions, though. We had a lot of fun bidding on and decorating horses with CC roll call groups.

[jbrambach]

I vote to bring horse racing back on Princess ships. It is great fun and it is interesting to see how the horse owners decorate their horses.

[Mike2131]

We enjoyed the races on the Coral last December. If they are indeed gone, that's too bad. We will miss them in September on the Diamond.

[Deloresgardella]

We had the horse racing last year on the Regal but they didn't have it this year on the Coral.:confused: I missed it even though I didn't participate every day I really looked forward to it. Was fun rooting for your horse. :)

Delores

[ssantow]

We just got off the Island Princess yesterday and it is true the Horse Racing is gone. Discussions with CD David Cole revealed that the program is being revamped and will hopefully soon return to Princess ships.

 

If you are looking for a group activity you might want to try the Scrapheap Regatta. Our CC group built a ship for this cruise and had a ball doing it. We only came in second but had a ball participating in the event.

 

Stan

 

[cynbar]

What is the Scrapheap Regatta ???????

[cherylandtk]

I believe its a sort of contest where you build a ship out of trash, leftovers, scraps, etc. found onboard. Not sure if there are 'valuable prizes', but folks report all sorts of fun coming up with design ideas.

[ssantow]

The Scrapheap Regatta is held toward the end of the cruise. Teams build a ship from materials they can find onboard the ship. The ship must be capable of carrying a case of beer two lengths of the pool. The ships are judged on seaworthiness, design, creativity, and several other items. The winner is the team making the trip in the pool without loosing the beer. Winner gets the case of beer.

 

It is lots of fun just to build a ship and be in it, even if you don't win. The pool area was quite crowded during the event and cheering for their favorites. Our Regata was held on our second day after leaving Hawaii. The winds were up 45 Knots and we had rough seas of 12 to 18 feet. Inspite of the weather every enty made the trip.

 

Stan

 

[bdjam]

Just off Dawn Princess and no horseracing. I wish they’d bring it back too – one of my last day on board rituals was always to go to the Kentucky Derby version of the Real Live Wooden Horseracing. It wasn’t quite the same this time. I instead went up to listen to the pool band and had a drink.

Hey…maybe that’s what they planned… :o

[PINEVIEW01]

I didn't participate in the horse races and never understood why the even had them. Would not mind at allif they didn't have them on any of the cruise lines.

[earljr]

Horse races went the way of Trap Shooting off the aft deck, Golf on the Sports deck hitting balls into the sea, and even shuffleboard (on some ships)

 

A moment of silence please ----

[negc]

I didn't participate in the horse races and never understood why the even had them. Would not mind at allif they didn't have them on any of the cruise lines.

 

From many of the other posts, there are cruisers who don't share your disdain for the horse races and many who actually miss them. I imagine that is why Princess originally held them, and why other lines still do. Would their return be a real imposition on you? I think it would be a bit presumptuous of me to expect all cruiselines to offer only those activities that appeal to me and to discontinue any that I am not interested in.

[Charles4515]

Horse races went the way of Trap Shooting off the aft deck, Golf on the Sports deck hitting balls into the sea, and even shuffleboard (on some ships)

 

A moment of silence please ----

 

They still have horse racing on other cruise lines. Had it a couple of weeks ago on RCI.

[Charles4515]

From many of the other posts, there are cruisers who don't share your disdain for the horse races and many who actually miss them. I imagine that is why Princess originally held them, and why other lines still do. Would their return be a real imposition on you? I think it would be a bit presumptuous of me to expect all cruiselines to offer only those activities that appeal to me and to discontinue any that I am not interested in.

 

Hope they bring the horse races back on Princess before next November when we are booked.

[JLC@SD]

Over the years I watched and participated in the horse races, the odds were terrible, 2 to 1, 3 to 1 and 4 to 1 when the actual odds were 6 to 1. The "House" took a big cut for the "Crew Parties" so I guess this might have caused a lack of interest.

 

My favorite Horse Race experience was on the Dawn Princess. The CD named the horses in each race with names picked by the audience based on the CD's theme. His theme was "ugly women" for one race and Hillary and Camilla made the list immediately. Also making the list and named for one of the horses was Michael Jackson..........:)

[bdjam]

The "House" took a big cut for the "Crew Parties" so I guess this might have caused a lack of interest.

What? Who told you that?

[JLC@SD]

What? Who told you that?

 

The CD announced it.

[bdjam]

The CD announced it.

It was a joke, right?

[negc]

Over the years I watched and participated in the horse races, the odds were terrible, 2 to 1, 3 to 1 and 4 to 1 when the actual odds were 6 to 1.

Maybe you should study up on parimutuel betting which bases the payouts on the number of bets placed on each horse, not on the odds of any particular horse coming in first. :)

[Globaliser]

It was a joke, right?

Clearly, some people will actually believe anything that they're told! :D