Ships Quizzes

[Missey]

I`ve recently returned from Aurora R217 and yet again, like many other people, see the same group winning the quizzes with full marks. This group of six don`t always travel together and when not, join other cruisers.
This particular group each take a question sheet, half write down the questions and the other half the answers keeping them for their next cruise which is often a back to back. If you go to these quizzes you will be aware that the entertainment staff will take, say for instance, 20 random questions from a number of 100 which can be repeated over time, and if you do more sea days than the captain, you will remember them.
I myself, have been to many quizzes and remember some of the questions, and if I cruised as much as this group, perhaps I would score a full house.
On this cruise and others I have heard the grumbles and complaints and a group I was sitting next to, told me on one of their cruises this group had won 61 bottles of wine, they had also complained to the entertainment staff who told them there was nothing they could do. No wonder the prizes this time were golden stickers. LOL
What annoyed other cruisers the most is when staff asked what the scores were, teams who thought they had done very well were dismayed when this group with held putting up the hands until the very last, with full marks. They enjoyed playing mind games with people and thought themselves intelligent. Unfortunately, they gave the impressions of smug unintelligent people who obviously didn`t realise that different people see them on different cruises and know only too well they do not win on merit.
I`m sure if you go to these quizzes you will know who I mean.
Missey

[Meg 50]

an expensive way to stock up your cellar!

[oldbluefox]

That's what I was thinking. It would be cheaper to nip down to the local supermarket or off licence and buy the wine.
As for writing down the questions and answers and swotting up on them I really couldn't be bothered. Mind you I'm the wrong person to have any opinions about quizzes as I never go to them but can understand the frustration of those who do go and see the same group playing mind games and sweeping the board. Really P&O should have a wider stock of questions which would eliminate a practice which borders on cheating and makes it fair for everyone.

[JoanneB]

If the Entertainments staff actually had some new questions every day there wouldn't be a problem. After going on other lines we noticed back on P&O Azura this year for a family cruise how poor the Ents staff were at the quizzes. Everything was pre-prepared with slides, and always in a venue where you felt you needed to buy a drink.

[david63]

I suppose that it is inevitable that if you cruise frequently that you will get to know the questions/answers and even if they add some new ones there will still be some of the old ones around (I mean questions not passengers ).

Having said that there is such a wide choice of sources for quiz questions these days that they could be more inventive - although like most things these days the questions for each day's quiz are probably dictated by Southampton as they seem to dictate everything else on board!

[Mervyn and Trish]

I can't abide cheats. But not keen on on board quizzes either!

[Manoverboard]

IF you have to win, and some do, then just take a smart phone ... easy peasy

ps ... the only person they cheat is themselves of course, truly pathetic imo.

[Ranchi]

Quizzes taken far too seriously by some, these days. I agree that some back to back cruisers obviously shine on the second leg. Fortunately the wine is so so - chateau spleenbender? that it isn’t a disaster if you don’t win & could be seen as a benefit!
To illustrate the change in attitude; one year there was a table that was doing particularly badly in the syndicate quiz, table 5 I believe. The question came out’Where would you be if you landed at Dum Dum airport?’ One answer that was handed in was ‘Table5’. ( they had in fact sent that answer in themselves for a laugh).

[AileenB]

I know exactly who you mean, Missy! They keep popping up on our cruises. One couple spends more time at sea than at home. Fair enough, but rather sad that their time on board is spent doing all the quizzes over and over again! They became a bit of a joke on our last cruise. Sometimes they don't win and then there is much cheering and applause from everyone.

[CaroleF]

I remember a most embarrassing quiz on Oriana, quite a long time ago now. We went up to the Syndicate Quiz and a someone on a table near the entrance called over to come and join them, very friendly we thought. We introduced ourselves and when I said my name one of the men, whose wife had gone to get pencils etc, said 'Oh, that's my wife's name, do you have an 'e' on the end of Carole?' I said I did and he called out loudly to his wife - 'Hey, here's another Carole with an 'e'.' She came over and said, 'Your middle name isn't Ann is it?' I said it was and there was joy all round! It gradually dawned on John and me that they had drunk far too much. Anyway the Quiz started and it got more embarrassing as it went on. There were quite a few questions that were either Literature or History based - my subjects so I knew some of the answers. One in particular I remember was that there are two statues of Shakespearean Characters, Ariel and Prospero at the entrance to the BBC - which play are they from. I said, The Tempest. 'Oh no, you've got that wrong,' said the other Carole - 'it's Midsummer Night's Dream.' I insisted it wasn't but her answer got written down and was obviously wrong which she didn't like at all. As the quiz went on the six of them got more and more argumentative and noisy. Eventually they started arguing with the woman asking the questions and eventually she threatened to disqualify the table! John and I kept right down in our chairs trying to demonstate we weren't part of their group. After what seemed an age the quiz finished and we bid the rest goodnight and left quickly. I said I was never going to join another table again!

[Quizzical Bob]

I enjoy the quizzes as you might expect from my user name. I like the syndicate quizzes and used to do them with my wife who hated them but came along to keep me company. We only do the quiz as a couple and on one cruise we won so regularly that we started to get booed which we thought was unnecessary. Eventually my wife stopped coming with me so I do them on my own and have won on a few occasions. If I do manage to get a couple of wins I usually pass on the wine from there on and let the second-placed team have it. The daytime gold stickers are not worth worrying about.

[wolfie]

We have met the foursome in the individual quiz many times who work as a team!