Princess Trivia Cheating - is this common?

[The Mikado]

This is akin to cheating at jacks.

 

In other words, what, exactly, is the point???

[suzyed]

2 hours ago, Coral said:

Who cares that much about winning a trivia game?

Losers who feel better by winning trivia by cheating.

[Steelers36]

These are sad reports and I have seen it as well.  Have not attended a trivia event for a while now.  I would hope if I went now the questions will have changed.  They really ought to mix it up more.  It's not like there is a shortage of trivia out there.  New ones occur all the time.  We used to go to another game - the one where the cruise staff are trying to fool you with the meaning of a word.  There were too many repeats.  Even the stories or explanations of the meaning were repetitive (on different ships with different entertainment staff no less!!).  Maybe I should try it out this November and see it any new ones. 

[satxdiver]

We like to go to trivia for the afternoon version just before dinner.  We always play by ourselves as opposed to joining a group and have fun losing every time.  It is a good mental exercise.  One time we had a woman who wanted to join us which we declined who had a notebook with previous questions that she had written down.  I watched her since she joined a group next to us and every question she would be flipping through the pages looking for the answer (btw they did not win).  They indeed repeat questions as we recognize them from time to time now whether we remember the answer is another thing.  Trivia is fun for us and we do not have any misconception that we would win.   

[geoherb]

One thing the people with notebooks expose is how the cruise staff shouldn't reuse the same trivias time after time. I always try to get to know the cruise director's staff members and wouldn't feel shy about pointing out another team that is using electronic devices, looking for answers in a notebook, or has too many members. 

[ram1977]

Well I'm glad that most people (if not all) agree that this cheating behavior is strange and rude. I really don't understand it at all - especially for such poor prizes! I was a little worried that I was over-reacting about something that I was not that bothered about winning anyway, but I've just always believed that if you can't win something without cheating then what is the point! Unfortunately it does seem like it was not a one-time thing and a few people have experienced it in one way or another.

 

I really wish I could name and shame the people who did it on our cruise but I don't know their names - all I can say is they were an older couple (maybe early 70s). Both had grey hair, his quite short and hers shoulder length and she was in a wheelchair. From what we learned from other cruisers they do sail out of San Pedro a lot - so if you're on a Princess cruise and you see them at trivia - look out!

[capriccio]

We were accused of 'cheating' the first time we ever played Trivia (on Princess or any other line).  My DH and I were a team of 2 and tied after the 20 questions with a team of 6.  There was a playoff round and we won.  At which point the other team immediately said "they are cheating because they don't have 6 team members!"  There was silence in the room and then all the other teams started laughing at them. 

 

That was back in 2008 and we won a useful and high quality (especially compared to current prizes) large reversible waterproof tote that I still use.  We didn't play again for years.  Even now we only play when traveling with family members.

 

 

 

 

[capriccio]

55 minutes ago, geoherb said:

One thing the people with notebooks expose is how the cruise staff shouldn't reuse the same trivias time after time.

 

We've always wondered why, in this day and age, HQ couldn't send out daily trivia questions (with answers that have actually been researched and are correct) to all their ships at sea.  No repeating on B2Bs, no keeping lists, etc.  In year two they could mix up all the questions, add more to the mix, and make up new dailies to distribute.  Once they have a database of questions and answers that is able to be expanded easily it is just a question of generating the various lists (general knowledge, music, movies, whatever).

[icat2000]

I've seen it plenty of times on Princess ships.  I avoid trivia now on any cruise ship like the plague due that type of behaviour. I've seen cruisers berate staff over answers, pronunciations etc.  I find went trivia is on its best time to have a coffee from the cafe 😄

[land lover]

53 minutes ago, capriccio said:

We were accused of 'cheating' the first time we ever played Trivia (on Princess or any other line).  My DH and I were a team of 2 and tied after the 20 questions with a team of 6.  There was a playoff round and we won.  At which point the other team immediately said "they are cheating because they don't have 6 team members!"  There was silence in the room and then all the other teams started laughing at them. 

 

That was back in 2008 and we won a useful and high quality (especially compared to current prizes) large reversible waterproof tote that I still use.  We didn't play again for years.  Even now we only play when traveling with family members.

 

 

 

 

 Came across that same reversible tote a few years ago was wondering how I received it. 

How disappointing for U OP...

Since my DH is a trivia buff we have played 100s of times..over the last several years on Princess and have seen many guests not play fairly.   People often keep the questions/answers which is perfectly okay, but to bring them back to a future game...really? One couple we have encountered does keep a small binder and yes they are on CC and are locals out of SP.

Recently, we have found few questions and games to be as repetitive as they were years ago. We have also found some general trivia to be very challenging. Where the top scores are only 12 or 13.

 

OP hopefully the next time you cruise Princess..the trivia will be challenging where a perfect score isn't achieved.

[land lover]

26 minutes ago, capriccio said:

 

We've always wondered why, in this day and age, HQ couldn't send out daily trivia questions (with answers that have actually been researched and are correct) to all their ships at sea.  No repeating on B2Bs, no keeping lists, etc.  In year two they could mix up all the questions, add more to the mix, and make up new dailies to distribute.  Once they have a database of questions and answers that is able to be expanded easily it is just a question of generating the various lists (general knowledge, music, movies, whatever).

For general trivia most staff members put together  their own trivia questions, with at least one related to their home country.

Unfortunately Other trivia's(music,movie,etc) can be repetitive on the same ship or with the same CD...

Edited September 13, 2019 by land lover

[gvre]

5 hours ago, Colo Cruiser said:

Cruise Critic is a great platform to expose all kinds of cheating on Princess not just trivia.

It is the selfish life many live these days.

Funny Debbie and I just got the prize for the least correct answers 4 out of 20

Edited September 13, 2019 by gvre

[Aus Traveller]

45 minutes ago, land lover said:

For general trivia most staff members put together  their own trivia questions, with at least one related to their home country.

It's frustrating when the staff make up their own quizzes but have some wrong answers.

[tonit964]

Yes, there are cheaters. When my dad and I were on our Hawaii cruise last February, the same team won every. single. time, which was fine with us, we played for fun and to test our own knowledge (or not) .

I couldn't help but feel sorry for these people that needed to "win" so badly.

[caribill]

We also have cruised where there was a couple who had been on the ship for a number of cruises and thus had heard every question before.  They often won, but rarely had 100% of the answers. (I do not know if they cheated, but they had taken the same quizzes and could have just remembered the answers.)

 

a) One day I went to the library and found a Trivial Pursuit game to give to the cruise staff member doing that trivia. The couple scored very low with a new set of questions.

b) They always sat in the same chairs. One day one of our team came early in order to sit in one of "their" chairs. When they came in and found "their" chairs occupied, they just left.

c) They were also the most traveled passengers on that cruise. The Captain often sat down with them for a few minutes during dinner in the dining room.

[snowskier]

The notebook craze is happening more and more -- and now they don't even attempt to hide what they are doing. Also have had a woman try to join our team that had "the book" and was proud of it. A bit like the many Princess cruisers whose badge of identity is how many cruises they have been on only this is how many answers they have in their book.

 

If one joins the trivia events on Princess the entertainment is watching the cheaters compete with each other. 

[tailspintom]

8 hours ago, ram1977 said:

I really wish I could name and shame the people who did it on our cruise but I don't know their names - all I can say is they were an older couple (maybe early 70s). Both had grey hair, his quite short and hers shoulder length and she was in a wheelchair. From what we learned from other cruisers they do sail out of San Pedro a lot - so if you're on a Princess cruise and you see them at trivia - look out!

Grey hair? One in a wheelchair?  Oh yeah there must be only one couple that meet that description 🙂 I may have seen them on a cruise once.

[coo359a2]

9 hours ago, ram1977 said:

 

 

I really wish I could name and shame the people who did it on our cruise but I don't know their names - all I can say is they were an older couple (maybe early 70s). Both had grey hair, his quite short and hers shoulder length and she was in a wheelchair. From what we learned from other cruisers they do sail out of San Pedro a lot - so if you're on a Princess cruise and you see them at trivia - look out!

Was she in a red scooter type chair or actual wheelchair.

[partybarbie]

My dad likes to play trivia, so I go with him.  We have also observed the cheaters and their little blue Princess journals filled with answers from prior cruises.  God forbid you correct their paper and mark one of their answers wrong! The question was who in the original Star Trek television series was the second in command of the Enterprise.  Instead of writing down Mr. Spock, they put Dr Spock (a writer of numerous childcare books).  They insisted that their answer was the correct one and changed their score.  They still lost to another team, which made them look even more petty.  Unless I cruise with my dad, I no longer go to trivia.  I would rather spend my time elsewhere, than arguing with idiots. 

 

[voljeep]

there was a previous poster on here ... a lady as i remember ... who was on a b2b2b or so ... and was quite proud of her team(s) of "ringers" who had been on the previous cruise(s) and had heard the same questions before 

 

kinda sad ... but it seemed to bring joy to her ... after all it is/was HER cruise

[WAussieSFO]

On a cruise earlier this year we along with our friends went to a trivia a couple of days in to the cruise, as luck would have it we actually won with a couple of good guesses. A few teams came over to us after the game to congratulate us on beating the team that had won all previous trivia games. The congratulations from fellow cruisers was a great prize!

[cormike1]

We love going to the Trivia games and have met some wonderful people at them.  I HATE cheaters in anything so if I saw someone using "cheat sheets" or their phones to get answers I would call them out.  Not to help me win but because it just isn't right!  When we did a 21-day cruise we spoke to the woman who led the Trivia most times and asked her to put in some Canadian/Spanish/Italian, etc. questions as there were virtually none.  A lot of U.S. questions like who was the quarterback playing for "such & such" team in the Superbowl in 2013 that had a touchdown in the last 5 seconds of the game to win it.  I know the U.S. loves their football and knows so much but we asked them to make the questions more general so yes we might be able to answer for example a Joe Nameth question because everyone knows him.  Funny thing was she put in a couple of Canadian questions and some we didn't know lol.  I like when they have the music trivia as the ones that always win, don't know the music so don't win, I have found.  I also like the flag or logo trivia....they are a lot harder.  Oh well what can we do eh.....there will always be those few who have to cheat and gloat about their win to feel superior to others.

[cormike1]

On Celebrity they give away the coveted "plastic gold X on a lanyard" that everyone wants.  It is so funny how you are amazing if you win one and everyone just thinks it is great to have one.  My husband won it by answering the question "What do penguins taste like"  People answered the usual answers, chicken, beef, etc.  My husband answered "penguins" and won that beautiful gold X lol.  Our granddaughter got that once we got home and loved it haha.

[metairiegal]

Why doesn't Princess change the questions from week to week!?  With lots of BTB cruisers, they don't even need a binder with the answers - they can just remember the answers from the previous week!  Dh and I enjoyed trivia in the past, but now we don't even bother with it.  

Edited September 13, 2019 by metairiegal

[denmarks]

I always play the morning and afternoon trivia on sea days. I have seen some teams that always win but I always assumed it was due to a member who has been on many cruises and knew all the questions. I have never seen cheating. My team has won many times and I have lots of pens and bag clips to prove it.