poolside horseracing

[ckman]

We'll be on AOS on 4/24,this is our 3rd cruise.I love watching the horse racing at poolside.Has any of you ever bought a horse? Can you give me some pointers or info on bidding,and how many races your in after your an owner? How much do they sell for? How much do you win?

[TxKroozer]

We bought two horses in the past. The most recent on the Rhapsody in January. We paid $140 for a horse on the Norway and ended up winning $980. On the Rhapsody we only had to pay $50, but only won the best decorated horse. One mark off winning. Winner won $250. You bid on the horses and its the best odds of gambling on the ship. 1 in 6 wins. You should watch the bids and if the hesteria starts, the later horses go for more. If there is lacksidasical attitude, they have problems selling the horses. This happened in January.

 

The Owner race is normally the last race on the last sea day. You only participate in that race, but you can bet on all the races like everyone else.

 

Its fun. Sometimes you get recognized by others as a horse owner and other times you go un-noticed. Just based upon the crowd at the pool win they auction the horses.

[jwlane]

If you're going to buy a horse, get the first one offered. The later it goes on, the more the sale prices go up.

[MszKitty]

We were on the AOS in July and we paid $400 for our horse and that was the number 2 horse. All the horses went for that approximate amount.

 

We had such fun with our horse. All week, we had a friendly rivalry going on with 2 guys that our daughters had met a couple days prior to the horse auction. They purchased horse number 5. Every time we saw these guys...and we saw them a lot, as they made friends with our daughters....there were "words" (again...it was all in fun). There was even some "horse-napping" involved (my daughters plead the 5th!). :cool:

 

Day of the race...our horse was in the lead....the guys' horse was waaaay in the rear. All of a sudden...BAM!...up they come....past all the rest of us...and WON!!!! :eek: Ouch! That hurt! Those young punks...LOL...won about $2,500! They were gracious enough to buy us all a drink (and there was 8 in my family).

 

We had the best time!:D

[Runner Girl]

I've seen the opposite. First horse went for the most cash and the last was cheapest. In any case, we've bought horses twice and it is a blast! We've never won the pot,though. I think we're due!

[Guest cruzr44]

We bought the first horse for $200. The second through fifth went from $150 to $300 and the last one went for $75. We didn't win the race, but did win best decorated. The pot you win is the total everyone spends on their horses.

[pltag]

Horses on the AOS in Feb. went for $150 to $250. We have always enjoyed horse racing and were very disappointed on recent EOS and NOS cruises because the races were not very much fun. I am NOT a big Cruise Director person, but the CD on the AOS made the races a blast.

 

One little hint on betting the owner's race if you DON'T wind up as an owner ---- bet the horse with the smallest support group, that is the seemingly least interest. Odds are not announced until the race is over and are supposed to be based on the amount of money wagered. Odds of winning should be equal, so if you can pick the long shot and it happens to win, you can win a few $.

 

Either way, it's a blast, especially if you have a group! :)

[hstrybuf]

A group of us from our NOS roll call here on CC went together and bought a horse. Nobody paid a lot or won a lot, but it was fun.

[NoVa Mimi]

How and when can you buy a horse? I really want to do that, and haven't been able to find out, and missed out last year. Also, how do you decorate it, and with what? It all sounds like great fun!

[Guest cruzr44]

How and when can you buy a horse? I really want to do that, and haven't been able to find out, and missed out last year. Also, how do you decorate it, and with what? It all sounds like great fun!

 

Check you Compass, but I believe the auction is the first day at sea. It was in the afternoon. They supply the "owner" with a bag of decorations (each owner gets different decorations). We also used stuff from around the ship to decorate. Some people use trinkets they buy in a port or stuff they brought from home. Use your imagination. You also name your horse so get thinking. One of the more popular names seems to be "Hoof hearted", say that fast three times... It's lots of fun!!

[diceboy]

We bought a horse on our recent voyage. The horses were priced as follows: (give or take)

 

1-$625

2-$725

3-$700

4-$675 (ours)

5-$675

6-$900

 

We did not win - we had a blast though. The group that won actually bought two horses including the $900.

[iluv2bcruising]

I don't really understand how the horse races work on a ship, so here comes a bunch of dumb questions :) :

 

1. Who rides the horses? I would think that the owners would try to find the most fit person on the ship to be their jockey so they could be assured a win.

2. Do they race everyday?

3. Do the owners get to keep the horse at the end of the cruise?

 

Any explanations of how this works would be appreciated!

[stretch]

I don't really understand how the horse races work on a ship, so here comes a bunch of dumb questions :) :

 

1. Who rides the horses? I would think that the owners would try to find the most fit person on the ship to be their jockey so they could be assured a win.

2. Do they race everyday?

3. Do the owners get to keep the horse at the end of the cruise?

 

Any explanations of how this works would be appreciated!

 

The horses are actually wooden horses on poles, approx 3-4' tall, on wooden stands. We used a stuffed turtle as a jockey, though a jockey is not necessary. The "human" jockey just dresses in costume and moves the horse along the track as their number is called out. There are usually 3 races on the second sea day and then the auction for the owners race. Then the winning bidders get a bag of stuff and the "horse to decorate" .

The horses are moved along a lined off track space by space when their number is called out, this is determined by a roll of 3 dice, for example if the three dice are rolled (actually shaken in an hour glass shaped cage) and the numbers are 2, 5, 6, the #2, #5 and #6 horse all move one step forward, if a 3,3,2 is rolled, the #2 horse moves on step, and the #3 horse moves two steps forward. The horse to finish the track first is declared winner.

 

When bidding on horses, usually you can see how many prospective bidders there are when the first horse is auctioned off. I will usually put in one, low bid and let the others fight it out, but take note how many there are that seem serious about getting one. You can put together a consortium of fellow cruisers to give you more $$ if you want, but you'll have to share the winnings if you win. In general, the first horse will be the highest price, the second and third will usually be less, sometimes quite a bit less, by then you may see the 4th and 5th horses getting a little more expensive, but again it depends on how many people are bidding and if any are just bidding to get the $$ up for no go reason. The auctions on the Voyager Class ships usually go higher because of the size of the pool area and number of people that are present, on smaller ships with smaller pool areas, the winning bids are less, and depends on the demography of the people there. Watch the first horse auctioned off, and see how you want to play it. After the owners race, you give the wooden horse back to the C.D. or A.D. running the show so they are reused the next cruise and so on.

I've seen horses auctioned for as much as $1700 (Explorer) to as low as $190 (Brilliance).

Stretch

[iluv2bcruising]

:D Thank you Stretch for that wonderful explanation and help with strategy. I'm glad I asked the question because I was way off base with how this works!

[stretch]

:D Thank you Stretch for that wonderful explanation and help with strategy. I'm glad I asked the question because I was way off base with how this works!

 

No problem, watch your Compass for the days of the horse races, depending on how many you have, it's usually the second and last sea day, or second and third on long cruises. One thing I forgot to mention was you pay for your bets, and horse if you get one on your seapass account, but you get your winnings in cash!

Stretch

[truffles2]

There was NO horseracing on Grandeur last Nov-Dec. I was told by a staff member that it was the decision of the CD to discontinue it as "it did not go over well on some ships". I am wondering if maybe it has come back now that Tom Canosa is back????

[seetosea]

In 1991 on the Song of Norway, we were celebrating my parents 50th wedding anniversary and our 20th. There were 22 family members present and we were on deck when the bidding started. In all our cruises, I NEVER bid on a horse - too chicken. I don't know what came over me, but I just had to have a horse for my folks. I won horse number 3 and paid more than any of the other people. We had a ball all week long taking him with us and passing him around with other family members. On race day, we won "the best dressed horse" for $50. I figured out I was only out $85 if we lost the race. My dad very proudly performed as the jockey. It was neck and neck until the very end when the announcer shouted "And a TRIPLE number 3". I couldn't believe we won. The winnings were $680. I'll never forget that cruise. It was the last time my five brothers and sisters and parents were together. We videotaped the entire week and watch it every time we want a pick me up.

[senior lady]

We were on the Radiance hawaii cruise out of Vancouver last Sept. We bought a horse with our new friends ( that we met on CC:) ) We paid $200. We got into the kids area and they let us use and borrow;) some stuff to decorate our horse. Another friend from London England, (again a CC friend) was our jockey. We had a blast taking the horse around the ship and showing him of. In fact in the Windjammer at lunch the hostess came up and told us with a "wink" that animals weren't allowed in the eating area:rolleyes:

We didn't win, but had a laugh and a geat time.

This was the 3rd horse we've bought on different cruises. That's always one of the things I look for on our cruises. Love to look at the confused faces of people have never seen the "cruise ship horse race"

 

Hey Sue, your not anwering my e-mails. Or haven't you received them??:confused:

 

Karen P

[negc]

On the Jewel repositioning cruise out of Boston last October, the CD told us that because there had been little interest in the horse auctions on the previous several cruises, there probably wouldn't be one on our cruise. We convinced her that there was considerable interest from groups on our cruise and as it turned out, the purse for the owners' race ended up totaling over $2400. Our group's horse didn't win, but the bidding was spirited and everyone had a great time over the course of the days leading up to the big race. :)

[diceboy]

I was told on our Feb AOS sailing that the pot for the owners race was over $16,000 for the New Years cruise. WOW!