Self Leveling Pool Tables

[vossjemi]

We'll be on the Brilliance in Jan. We've heard about these pool tables and wondered some things about them....How many do they have? Is there usually a long wait to use them? Or do you get them in say 1/2 hour allotments so that others can use? Or is it the typical way you get one at a bar? (Put your quarter on the table, and you play the winner...challengers keep paying?) Are the tables free or do you pay? And, how are they? Do they really play similar to a table at home? Is it in/near a bar so you can fill up and play all evening? How late is the billiard room open? My DH can't wait for this!

[MadCnty]

There are two of them or at least that's how many were on the Serenade. They are full regulation size and it's free to play.And we never had a problem finding an "open" table early in the morning, but the evening maybe different... They are really cool, and they are right in back of the Schooner ;) .

[madforcruising]

On the Jewel you had to go to the Schooner Bar to get the Balls and the Key for the equipment. It´s free to play but you had to give your seaPass Card to the Barkeeper and got it back when you returned the key. There was no charge it was just to make sure they got the key back.

There have been two tables and they have been busy some times. When we wanted to play we had to wait (was on a sea day in the afternoon). We sat down and played cards near the table and waited till the others finished.

It was a quite strange feeling as we had some ship movement that day amd it was strange when the table moved while you tried to play. But definitely fun. It´s really amazing to see everything moves but the balls aren´t moving. One time during the play the table stopped and in a sudden all bals began rolling.

 

If you are interested in the tables look here:

 

http://www.stable.no

 

(There are also video clips.)

[kitty1]

The self leveling pool tables were different. They was almost always an open table.

[kfrank6302]

We were on the Brilliance in March and there are 2 tables. They are located next to The Colony Club, which is, I think, one of the prettiest bars I've ever seen on a cruise ship.

 

We had choppy seas one day and it was very weird to look out the windows and see the horizon rockin' and rollin' and the balls on the table never moved! One of my friends had to leave because the optical illusion was making her sick!

 

We spent quite a bit of time in the Colony Club, day and night, and it never seemed like there was a wait for the tables.

[BabySam99]

Whats ships have pool tables? I'm sure Enchantment doesn't...? Thanks! :)

 

 

Kim

[Scottee25]

There are 2 tables on the Brilliance back between the Schooner Bar and if I remember correctly, the Colony Club. There is no fee to play and as the other posters have pointed out, you give your SeaPass card to the bartender at the Schooner Bar to get the balls. The equipment was never locked up when we were onboard. We were on the Brilliance in Aug 2003 and the tables were usually in use most of the time. The best time we found to get a table was when most people were eating dinner during first seating. There is also a rule that anyone under 16(I believe it is 16 but perhaps it was 18) must be accompanied by an adult while using the tables. However, most of the time when we found the tables in use, it was usually by teenagers under this age without a parent to be found. Most crew members won't do anything about this but on our last night onboard one of the crew members asked the kids where their parents were. Since they were unable to produce them(We didn't see them the whole time we were waiting), the crew member pointed out the rules and removed them from the table. It was a bit crazy at times with all the kids. One time while we were playing, the table next to us had about 10 kids playing it. From what my wife told me, they were waiting for us to turn our backs or something and then were going to try to use both tables. I guess they figured because they were speaking in Spanish that they could get away with it without either of us being the wiser... the one thing they didn't count on was that Spanish is my wife's first language and I wish I had a picture of their faces when my wife promptly responded by telling them to not even think about it(In Spanish of course). When the tables were occupied by adults (or adults with their children) it was good times!

[Sea Island Lady]

Funny! :D

 

 

We never saw any children at the pool tables. If we had, I sure would have spoken up and told them to move on.

 

We didn't play as we have a full size table in our home, but it was fun to watch others and see the table move up and down.

I agree, that the bar area is the prettiest we have ever seen on a ship. I just hate that you have to walk the long route through the smoky Schooner Bar to get to it. :mad: Because of this, we only tried the bar our once and also went for the Captain's welcome reception.

[Scottee25]

Well we were on a cruise in the Med and if the rumors were correct, there was an issue with a Celebrity cruise that caused out ship to be overbooked. I know people around the globe complain about Americans and how rowdy their children are but damned if the Spaniards on board didn't make the American kids look semi-angelic! They really took over the ship and caused a lot of headaches...that is why we tried to spend as much time exploring the ports of call as we could(or just simply relaxing out on the balcony). Most of the time the kids were allowed to run freely with a complete lack of adult supervision... what made them flock to the area around the pool tables besides the pool tables was probably also the TV/Ent Center and tables to play their board game... thing is, none of them could sit still for more than 15 seconds.. we still tried to enjoy our cruise the best we could(and yes we did enjoy the cruise very much) but the major complaint we heard from most people we talked to revolved around the kids and their less than responsive parents.

[vossjemi]

Thanks for the info guys. Sounds like it will be different playing on these tables! We are on the Panama Canal cruise in January, and we are leaving our kids at home! But, they get to go on Disney next sept with us! Mommy & Daddy need alone time too...hee hee. I've heard we won't have a whole lot of kids since its a PC cruise and in jan when school is in. I guess we'll see. I haven't usually been too overwhelmed by unruly kids, but you never know.

 

Can you smoke in there? We don't smoke, but on cruises and vacations and the like, DH does like to have a cigar. And, he'd especially like to have one while he's playing pool and having a drink. Is this allowed? Or, will he just have to chew on it?

[baseballmom]

There is also a rule that anyone under 16(I believe it is 16 but perhaps it was 18) must be accompanied by an adult while using the tables. However, most of the time when we found the tables in use, it was usually by teenagers under this age without a parent to be found. !

We'll be on Serenade the first week of June and my 14-year-old son can't wait to try out the pool tables. I asked my TA to check on the age restrictions, and he said that my son could play on the tables (he didn't say that I needed to be present, but I already assumed that that would be the case). I know how I'd feel if a bunch of kids (or anyone, really) were monopolizing the area, so, even if my son makes a friend or two on the cruise, I have no problem hanging out and keeping an eye on him (and making sure he plays one game and then lets others have a chance).

[Scottee25]

vossjemi,

 

If I am not mistaken, the only place where cigar smoking is allowed is in the Viking Lounge all the way on the top floor... can anyone confirm this for me? I know when we were on the Brilliance people were not allowed to freely smoke cigars and had to do so only in a specified area. Though I don't know if even if he wasn't in that area, if anyone would have a problem with it. I for one do not mind the smell of cigars... in fact I find them quite soothing. I would rather be around the aroma of a cigar over a cigarette any day and I am a cigarette smoker! I guess the worse they can do is make him put it out.

 

baseballmom,

 

Well perhaps they changed the rules regarding the age restriction or perhaps your TA is not familiar with them(which would be understandable). Regardless, never had problems with kids shooting pool when their parents were around... they tended to be on their best behavior in those circumstances. I am sure your son will have fun playing on them and he should get a kick out of them if you are on rough seas while you play(watching the table shift as the boat rocks). I'll be on the ship in January, I'll try to see if they have a sign posted(I believe they had one on the Brilliance stating the age restriction).

[baseballmom]

I appreciate you checking on the age requirements. But, more importantly, I hope you have a wonderful cruise!:)

[Sea Island Lady]

I don't believe that cigar smoking is allowed in any of the public areas. Just outside and on your balcony, unless there is a special cigar lounge. I don't believe that the Viking Crown lounge is that lounge.

[Jfultz81]

Does the Rhapsody have pool tables?

[LindaandJeff]

Two self levelling pool tables on the Radiance. It was very strange to watch them move and the balls stay still. The Captain even made a joke about if you were feeling sea sick to go lay on the tables! :D The tables were always in use on our cruise by adults. There was a gentleman there teaching how to shoot and all sorts of strategies. Really interesting. Several tournments too.

 

As for cigar smoking, on the Radiance it was up in the Hollywood lounge which is by the "disco" (which is the radiance equivalent of the Viking lounge). Though there was a guy that insisted on smoking his cigar everywhere - including in the Seaview restaurant and I even saw him come into the final Bingo session in the Aurora Theatre with his cigar.

[beachchick]

Only the Radiance class ships have the pool tables (unless they were also added to Enchantment during the stretch).

 

beachchick

[kyriecat]

Make sure that the bartender at the Schooner Bar puts your Sea Pass card under the counter when you give it to him for the billiard balls. One of them on Brilliance left my husband's card on the bar while we played pool. We got stuck with some drink charges that weren't ours while we played. We complained to the bartender when we first saw hubby's card laying on the bar where anyone could use it. This was before we found out about the extra drink charges. The bartender told us that no one had used it because he watched it the whole time. Yea, right! When we found out someone else had used the card, we complained to the head bartender and at the purser's desk twice to get the charges removed. They wouldn't do it because that bartender insisted that the charges were ours. The signature on the charge slip was obviously not my husband's but the bartender said that I had signed for the drinks. He was lying! The next time we wanted to play pool, we would not leave the Schooner Bar until the bartender put the card under the counter. I guess we were lucky that it was late and not too many people were in the Schooner Bar. We may have gut stuck with an extra $200 bar tab instead of $20.

[BobBeaSea]

We will be on Radiance in a couple of weeks and, personally, I hope to NEVER see the tables "self-adjust". :D

[FunCruiser56]

It was very weird watching the tables adjust themselves, especially when your playing...we did enjoy the games we played though.

No smoking in this area.

We usually played in the afternoon on sea days and never had to wait.

 

Kids were allowed the play from noon -1:30 I suppose without a parent. Never was in the area at that time but I remember seeing it on the Compass.

 

Wish there were pool tables on more of the ships...

 

Funcruiser

[candigirl41]

Does anyone know if there is a time limit? Or are you allowed to play as long as you want? We are going in October with my sister and her friends, they are all fanatical players. If there is no time limit I am sure they will be there as long as possible.

 

Candi

[windjamming]

I don't remember a time limit on the Radiance, and most people were sensible about giving up their tables after a reasonable amount of time.

 

In fact the pool tables were where I experienced "Gold Anchor Service" for the first time! As madforcruising mentioned before, the cues are kept at the Schooner Bar, and in exchange for your SeaPass you'd get the cues. The bartender remembered our names right away and all cruise long never forgot to yell out a friendly hello even when we walked by to get to Bingo. We made a special mention of him in our guest survey!

 

Another note- don't touch the self-leveling controls at the base of the tables! Once we saw a group of people at the other table fiddling with the levers to make the motion stop. We quickly told them the tables were supposed to do that!

 

Happy cruising (and pool playing)!

K.

[beachchick]

I don't recall a time limit, but agree with windjamming. There are only the two tables and it woud be incredibly rude, IMO, to use one all day if there were other people waiting to play. It's possible that they would start a time limit if the tables were popular and pax were using them for extended periods. Typically though, it seemed that the only "time limit" was courtesy for those waiting to play.

 

Have a great time.

 

beachchick