No teams allowed for trivia on Sunshine

[south-carolinagirl]

Recent change?  Haven't ever experienced this before.  The crew member, I believe her name was Barbara kept saying over and over no talking within your group, everyone had to have their own paper and would publicly scold and call you out if you were talking to your group.  Anyone else ever experience this before?  We really enjoy trivia and usually have a great time, but this time it was really awful.  We are going on Sunshine again in May with son (who really enjoys sea days and trivia) and two of his friends, if this crew member is still there, we are just going to tell her we don't want to win and play the way we always have. 

[stingray310]

I've never seen a ban on teams during trivia before, but the thing I would like to see is a ban on phone usage during trivia's. On our last few cruises it appeared to me that several people were looking up answers on their cell phones and telling the person with the paper the answer to write down. I also think I've seen, but can't verify, people just write down the answer when it is given and then they end up winning the trivia with a perfect score. These activities really discourage me from wanting to participate in any of the trivia's. I only participate in the trivia's for something fun to do and do not usually expect to win, but these activities really make it less fun for me at least. Just my opinion on the trivia contests.

[Hoosierpop]

Team ban is dumb. If they want to limit the size of the team in order to be eligible for the prize, that may make sense.
 

And yes, agree with banning phones. Some team got 19/20 on the strange laws one that was unbelievable for them to have known that many.  The next best was 12 correct. Maybe they played with those exact questions before. 

[PrincessArlena'sDad]

It really is a sad that people cheat on trivia games. Wife and I often comment that they must have really poor self esteem if they feel the need to cheat on cruise ship trivia games in order to feel good about themselves.

 

A few weeks ago, someone cheated on a trivia game (wrote down the answers when answers were announced for scoring) in order to win a plant.

[mz-s]

You should mention to her or the cruise director (who is the leader of the fun squad) your feedback.

 

I have played trivia several times on Sunshine and never experienced this.

[ProgRockCruiser]

36 minutes ago, Hoosierpop said:

Maybe they played with those exact questions before. 

I think this is probably the case.  A couple of times I've sat near a trivia game (we rarely directly participate, because we know we don't know), and I have noticed that I knew some answers only because I had heard the same trivia questions on previous cruises.  So if you document your knowledge well enough, you could memorize enough to do better than normal so-called "trivia knowledge".

[Bollycats]

I was on Sunshine last Oct and the guy leading it said no teams either. My cruise buddy and I did it together because we knew we weren't going to win anyway.

[crooooze]

On Royal, they ask you to swap answer sheets with someone nearby for scoring… not a bad idea

[nwcruiselover]

Trivia is one of my favorite onboard activities, but it takes some of the fun out of it when I see people using their phones or writing answers down as they’re announced.  It sure takes away the even playing field.

[Mike45LC]

If I were a trivia participant, I would tell the cruise staffer who scolds passengers for working as a trivia team to kiss my seating area.  I am the paying passenger, and he//she/it is a lowly staff member.  Let's not forget who is who!

[mz-s]

Onboard trivia died when the wifi was made available bow to stern. I still play just to kill time on a sea day but I have no aspersions that I'll even rank in the top 5 of players.

 

The lone exception is last year I played the same trivia on 3 cruises, and was able to memorize some answers. I still lost but not by as much.

[havanadaydreaming]

there are some trivia contests that i think folks can get 18, 19 or 20 right....but not too many.  

 

im a fiftysomething who has played his share of trivia at sea and on land and i have a few very sweet spots  sports, music, film.  (im a sports nut, former radio dj and film minor fyi) 

 

one particular sports trivia had me baffled.  some of the questions were really good.  

 

how many feet is a bowling lane?

what is the circumference of a basketball rim? 

who was the last nfl player NOT to wear a helmet?

who was the first mlb player elected to the hall of fame?  (a baffling one to me, there were 5 electees in the first class of the HOF) 

what is the national sport of Canada? (not hockey, fyi) 

 

i played it straight the first time i heard these and actually won.  the second time i heard the same questions there were 4 teams that got perfect scores.  they either remembered the answers or fibbed, obviously.  i didnt submit my score since i was aware of the answers.  

 

i havent noticed the phone usage but many of my cruises were before internet access was widespread. 

 

 

 

 

[havanadaydreaming]

my last cruise was on a small ship and trivia was sparsely attended. i made friends with a 70 yr old fella who i very much liked.  he did pretty good on a honest sports quiz and we wound up tying.  i very much tried to concede but they had us do a bonus question that was fantastic.  

 

how many points did kevin garnett score in game x of the nba finals in two thousand whatever.  pfffffft.  common sense told me either quite high or low but who knows?  i guessed 100 knowing that was impossible. i forget his guess.  

 

the answer was a pedestrian 20.  ??? he won the ship on the stick!!! 

 

i now love the tiebreakers with answers verbally stated before the answer.  problem solved! 

[hurricane0226]

3 hours ago, PrincessArlena'sDad said:

It really is a sad that people cheat on trivia games. Wife and I often comment that they must have really poor self esteem if they feel the need to cheat on cruise ship trivia games in order to feel good about themselves.

 

A few weeks ago, someone cheated on a trivia game (wrote down the answers when answers were announced for scoring) in order to win a plant.

I thought that was what everyone done, my bad.

[havanadaydreaming]

another trivia i love is Friends, tv show.  

 

i watched the series on first fun tv from the very first episode. i think i saw every episode.  im down, baby.  sweet spot! 

 

uh, got 5 out of 20.  ha! some of the questions i couldnt even fathom a guess. 

 

another one was Golden Girls.  i wasnt a big watcher of the series but my wife's elderly developmentally challenged aunt watched it over and over every visit.  i thought my wife would at least complement my deficiencies to be competitive. 

 

uh...knew we were in "trouble" when multiple teams wore Golden Girls tshirts to the contest.  i was duly impressed!!! we got smoked, of course, but that was a fun half hour.  i loved seeing the other teams joy! 

[staceyglow]

I play by myself, so I consider it an accomplishment when a team of 8 people win because collectively, they got one more answer right than I did 

 

Now, what I would like to see is how 8 people divide up one ship on a stick... 

[havanadaydreaming]

i am still hoping for a Jimmy Buffett trivia contest on a cruise.  i have seen him 56x live.  have all his books, albums. my basement is a literal MargaritaBill (my first name).  

 

that said, on a ship of 4k passengers im certain someone is a bigger fan than me with better quick recall memory.  but im easily a top 5 passenger every time.  even then, if you play 20 random song intros imma probably struggle with some of the deeper cuts despite hearing them many, many times. 

 

but, if you play his 20 most popular songs i bet quite a few folks on a cruise could get them without knowing the answers.  

 

 

[vwrestler171]

1 hour ago, havanadaydreaming said:

there are some trivia contests that i think folks can get 18, 19 or 20 right....but not too many.  

 

im a fiftysomething who has played his share of trivia at sea and on land and i have a few very sweet spots  sports, music, film.  (im a sports nut, former radio dj and film minor fyi) 

 

one particular sports trivia had me baffled.  some of the questions were really good.  

 

how many feet is a bowling lane?

what is the circumference of a basketball rim? 

who was the last nfl player NOT to wear a helmet?

who was the first mlb player elected to the hall of fame?  (a baffling one to me, there were 5 electees in the first class of the HOF) 

what is the national sport of Canada? (not hockey, fyi) 

 

i played it straight the first time i heard these and actually won.  the second time i heard the same questions there were 4 teams that got perfect scores.  they either remembered the answers or fibbed, obviously.  i didnt submit my score since i was aware of the answers.  

 

i havent noticed the phone usage but many of my cruises were before internet access was widespread. 

 

 

 

 

I actually won sports trivia on Panorama with those questions.  Missed MLB HOF and my team got the NFL one because my friend was a fan of the player, but I don't remember who it was. 

[dcwalker]

OMG. Barbara is an absolute hoot! I was on Sunshine in December and happened to play trivia and some other kind of challenge game with her. She's a nut. She scolds anyone who asks a questions that she just answered. She calls out anyone who stands up and walks out during the activity. She say you must raise your hand to be excused. She'll pick one person to keep an eye on everyone else. She styled the discipline of her trivia games after a Zimbabwe elementary classroom. She does this all with a straight face, until she can't hold it in anymore and starts laughing. She had us all in stitches.

[DCDragonfly]

5 hours ago, havanadaydreaming said:

 i didnt submit my score since i was aware of the answers.  

 

 

 

 

 

I'd have done it so that when the host asked my name, I'd say "Charles Van Doren."  😈

[broadwaybaby123]

I can see banning the phones, but teams no.

 

I can offer a slightly different take. I'm an Activity Director for Retirement Living. I always allow teams, as I find it promotes engagement. It's as much of a social activity as it is intellectual. It's enrichment, not school. 

 

When I compete in the trivia contests on a cruise, I often get accused of cheating, since I'm generally on the younger side of the age group and often beat people twice my age. I do not cheat! Many times I come up with my own trivia for work and happen to stumble on that answer. I do not use my phone to look up the answers at all. Case in point: I was on a Carnival cruise years ago playing "Name That Tune: Crooners". I managed to get a perfect score, and often would know the answer before the clip ended. The Activity Assistant actually stood up for me when I was accused of cheating, saying that she watched me every single time, and not once did I cheat. I just happened to hear those songs every single day at work, I had no clue they would be part of the trivia.

 

I do, however, have an issue with those who legitimately cheat. I don't feel like it's fair to allow folks to use their phone. It defeats the purpose of why folks are there: to socialize and learn something. If you're there for the prize, you're there for the wrong reasons.

Edited March 31, 2023 by broadwaybaby123

[Honolulu Blue]

12 hours ago, staceyglow said:

I play by myself, so I consider it an accomplishment when a team of 8 people win because collectively, they got one more answer right than I did 

 

Now, what I would like to see is how 8 people divide up one ship on a stick... 

I'll come to this quote a bit later, but I'd like to ask what defines a team?  Is a husband and wife a team?  Is hubby, wifey, and kiddos a team?  I almost always compete alone, but I think it would be a little dull (if lucrative, for me 😈) to compete only against other singletons.

 

Like @staceyglow I consider it a small victory when i barely lose to a big team.  But only a small victory; I really want those Ships on a Stick!

 

And how DO non-family teams divvy up a SOTS or a BOAR anyway?

[d9704011]

2 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

but I'd like to ask what defines a team?

I'd say (only) the listed occupants of a cabin.

[LoungingMcCoy]

I love trivia!  It's my favorite onboard activity.  I have won two ships on a stick.  It would be three but the person running classic rock trivia on our last cruise put a Red Hot Chili Peppers song in there.  I have nothing against RHCP but they aren't classic rock!  lol  I lost by one point.

 

My wife and I play solo (I have to let her know who is the trivia master in our house), but I don't mind teams.  I want to win but at the end of the day we're all there for fun.  I don't really pay attention but I have never noticed anyone looking up answers on their phone.  I have to admit that, after many trivia games, there are some answers that I didn't know at first but when they're repeated on a later cruise I remember them.

[llachance]

How can a ship on a stick be so important - I am platinum, have played trivia many times and never won.  It is for fun - however you get your answers should be your business.