Princess To Drop Bridge Games

[Edarrich]

There has always been un hosted bridge and majonge games on Princess as there are not enough players to warrant a host. I've been on cruises were there were only a handful of players although it was in the patter.

 

 

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[PLW0520]

There has always been un hosted bridge and majonge games on Princess as there are not enough players to warrant a host. I've been on cruises were there were only a handful of players although it was in the patter.

 

 

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There may be duplicate bridge players on board but when they find there is no directors they are not interested in playing.

 

My husband and I both play but at home we are not able to play together very often. When we are traveling whether it's a cruise or a few weeks in California or Arizona we always find a bridge club and play a couple of times a week. We attended the North American Bridge Championships in Phoenix in Nov and it didn't look to me like bridge was declining seeing the thousands of people who were there. We also were at a tournament in Rancho Mirage Ca the following week and there were 3100 people playing. I understand that all the directors get is a free inside cabin so it's hardly costing Princess anything to hold the games. Princess is our preferred cruiseline but I guess we'll look at other options.

 

I have also noticed here at home that there are a lot more younger players at the clubs.

[Montevideo]

I was hoping that this insane policy did not spread to OZ, but today Princess's Australian office confirmed that hosted bridge games will not be available from April this year for OZ sailing, except for the world cruises.:mad:

 

I don't cruise to play bridge, but I sure enjoyed my bridge at sea. :)

 

We have it on good authority that there will not be any Bridge on the Sydney to Sydney 2014 WC at all. So perhaps it is that from April 2014 all Bridge will cease.

[RDC1]

Which other lines still host bridge? I believe Celebrity stopped doing so in 2012.

[mr green]

Which other lines still host bridge? I believe Celebrity stopped doing so in 2012.

 

As far as I know HAL still does, on most cruises over 7 days.

 

john

[Pia1913]

As far as I know HAL still does, on most cruises over 7 days.

 

john

 

Does HAL still have "gentlemen" hosts too?

[Loonbeam]

The last NABC my Dad did (probably 20 years ago) claimed around 24,000 players. Now its around 6000 last I heard.

 

There is definitely interest in bridge, but that doesn't necessarily translate to corresponding interest on a cruise. It sounds like Celebrity for example dropped their bridge program a few years ago, I am sure Princess looked at the net effect of that as well.

 

There may be duplicate bridge players on board but when they find there is no directors they are not interested in playing.

 

My husband and I both play but at home we are not able to play together very often. When we are traveling whether it's a cruise or a few weeks in California or Arizona we always find a bridge club and play a couple of times a week. We attended the North American Bridge Championships in Phoenix in Nov and it didn't look to me like bridge was declining seeing the thousands of people who were there. We also were at a tournament in Rancho Mirage Ca the following week and there were 3100 people playing. I understand that all the directors get is a free inside cabin so it's hardly costing Princess anything to hold the games. Princess is our preferred cruiseline but I guess we'll look at other options.

 

I have also noticed here at home that there are a lot more younger players at the clubs.

[geoherb]

On a HAL cruise we took, I tried playing in one of the organized games. At the time, I had fewer than 300 points--but was considered an expert compared to most of the people who played. One of my partners put down 11 cards for dummy. My right-hand opponent held 15 cards in her hand. Neither realized it until I asked the dummy where the other two cards were. The director was able to fix the board by consulting the people at the previous table. He certainly had a lot of patience to run that game.

 

The director later found a more suitable partner for me. We ended up winning an afternoon event. I got 0.70 masterpoints for the win.

[alexspepa]

On a HAL cruise we took, I tried playing in one of the organized games. At the time, I had fewer than 300 points--but was considered an expert compared to most of the people who played. One of my partners put down 11 cards for dummy. My right-hand opponent held 15 cards in her hand. Neither realized it until I asked the dummy where the other two cards were. The director was able to fix the board by consulting the people at the previous table. He certainly had a lot of patience to run that game.

 

The director later found a more suitable partner for me. We ended up winning an afternoon event. I got 0.70 masterpoints for the win.

 

 

My wife and I are actually taking bridge lessons now - I play a lot of poker but bridge in the hardest thing I have ever tried to learn in my life.

 

By the way - the only way I would agree to play is if we are not partners - that would be a disaster waiting to happen...

 

I can understand the dismay of folks who do play at the cruise lines cutting it out.

Edited February 18, 2014 by alexspepa

[mr green]

Does HAL still have "gentlemen" hosts too?

 

Not as far as I know, but its possible.

 

jon

[DRS/NC]

"Let me know when you are cruising so I can book the same one. ;) My husband is all kinds of upset about this decision. He loves the bridge games, lessons and all. It is one of the main reasons he has liked Princess. He would have been bored silly on our TA last summer if hadn't had bridge on those sea days."

 

 

If this decision had occurred when my DH was alive, I'd now be "elite" (or whatever they call it) on HAL instead pf Princess!

[candiac]

Having seen the number of tables diminish on Princess over the last couple of years, I can understand why they are cancelling it. However, in January we were on an RCCL ship that had morning bridge lectures and afternoon play. I was pleasantly surprised to see the Director ask for a larger room as we had filled the ten tables allotted. The high ranking players were given ACBL points at the end of the cruise.

 

Do you think maybe it has more to do with the cruises now offering "tournaments at sea" for a premium price?

[geoherb]

Do you think maybe it has more to do with the cruises now offering "tournaments at sea" for a premium price?

That's one thing I see a lot of advertisements for in the Bridge Bulletin magazine. It's not just tournaments at sea, but also lots of bridge instructors doing special cruises.

[PLW0520]

We have looked at these cruises but the prices are too high. We are leaving Monday on a hosted bridge cruise organized by someone here and actually have people from all over Canada and the US going. It is not a tournament at sea but there will be master points awarded. It will be our first time on NCL which would not be my first choice but I'm sure it will be fun.

[DRS/NC]

That is true for my husband. I guess we'll be finding another cruise line. Too bad because I do like Princess for the most part.

 

My husband explained to me (a non-bridge player, to his dismay) that social bridge, where a bunch of people get together and play some games is not what some players would like. Duplicate bridge requires some supervision, and ACBL rules need to be observed in order to gain official points. I wonder if the short-sighted young people who are making this decision have any idea about what is involved.

 

This was our situation (I hate bridge!), but DH LOVED playing duplicate & getting Master's points at the Princess tournaments. We always looked for a cruise w/several sea days so he could play & I could "veg" in a shady spot on deck.

 

Another sign of the lines looking past an aging population to recruit younger passengers?

[mr green]

 

Another sign of the lines looking past an aging population to recruit younger passengers?

 

Strange as it may be for some, there are many many young bridge players, 'Life Masters' at age fourteen however I guess might be too young for cruising.:)

 

john

[SeaRetired]

I understand only WORLD CRUISES continue with Duplicate Bridge after May 14. But Bridge equipment will be available. It seems to me that Bridge attracts over 100 a day, but only on cruises with lots of shipboard activity - cruises with 7+ sea days. Those 100+ include lessons. Bridge players will not be happy with the proposed lecture enhancement substitute. Bridge is an addiction, and worth keeping. The game was originally made up on a cruise.

[PLW0520]

I understand only WORLD CRUISES continue with Duplicate Bridge after May 14. But Bridge equipment will be available. It seems to me that Bridge attracts over 100 a day, but only on cruises with lots of shipboard activity - cruises with 7+ sea days. Those 100+ include lessons. Bridge players will not be happy with the proposed lecture enhancement substitute. Bridge is an addiction, and worth keeping. The game was originally made up on a cruise.

 

I had no idea that bridge started on a cruise! I can see no bridge on cruises with only 3 sea days but all those sea days on a Hawaii cruise with no bridge is not for us.

[paul929207]

I understand only WORLD CRUISES continue with Duplicate Bridge after May 14. But Bridge equipment will be available. It seems to me that Bridge attracts over 100 a day, but only on cruises with lots of shipboard activity - cruises with 7+ sea days. Those 100+ include lessons. Bridge players will not be happy with the proposed lecture enhancement substitute. Bridge is an addiction, and worth keeping. The game was originally made up on a cruise.

I have not been on a Princess cruise where there were even close to 100 people playing bridge.

[generichandle]

Hey Doug: Back in college I found chess boring; ergo..........not a player. But scrabble? Sure. I like words. :D

 

Hey Pia!

 

Good to hear from you again. Sadly, I take my chess set to each cruise, and I expect there will be someone playing, but for whatever reason, chess has become less popular among older folk, and more among younger, so perhaps I should be sailing Carnival? Yuck!

 

Oh, BTW, congratz! World Cruise! Wow. I am jealous yet again. :)

 

Doug

[SeaRetired]

I understand after May 14 only WORLD CRUISES will have bridge but bridge equipment will be available on all cruises . The lecture program will be enhanced, though that may not be a substitute for bridge players. On cruises that have 7 or more sea days I notice bridge gets over a 100 usually that play or attend lessons. I doubt that the boards and cards will last without supervision , and think there will be a lot of disappointed pax and partners.

[mr green]

I understand after May 14 only WORLD CRUISES will have bridge but bridge equipment will be available on all cruises . The lecture program will be enhanced, though that may not be a substitute for bridge players. On cruises that have 7 or more sea days I notice bridge gets over a 100 usually that play or attend lessons. I doubt that the boards and cards will last without supervision , and think there will be a lot of disappointed pax and partners.

 

My wife and I always play bridge on board, but i have never seen 100 players. Statendam may have had 75 or so one time.

The best was on the old Song of America. An entire bridge club had a private room, and we were invited to join. Much to my surprise a couple of months later a package arrived for me, it contained three medals that I was informed that I had earned while playing on the ship, and as I recall it was only a 7 day cruise.

 

john

[Pia1913]

Hey Pia!

 

Good to hear from you again. Sadly, I take my chess set to each cruise, and I expect there will be someone playing, but for whatever reason, chess has become less popular among older folk, and more among younger, so perhaps I should be sailing Carnival? Yuck!

 

Oh, BTW, congratz! World Cruise! Wow. I am jealous yet again. :)

 

Doug

 

Hi Doug: no need to be jealous. Still lots of availability. But your job might get in the way. ;)

[AnnArborDan]

This is what I just sent. Use your own words, but please do let Princess know what you think.

 

to customerrelati.

Attn:

Adrian Fischer, vice president entertainment

 

Dear Mr. Fischer,

- I request that you reconsider the recent decision by Princess Cruise Line's recent decision to eliminate duplicate bridge directors from cruises (other than world cruises).

- Organized duplicate bridge lectures and duplicate play is THE key component of my at sea entertainment.

- Lack of sanctioned, hosted duplicate bridge is a deal breaker for me, especially for longer cruises such as transatlantic, repositioning, and longer adventure cruises. .

- Currently on the Crown Princess South American Grand Adventure (49 days) we are running 22 tables of duplicate and 3-5 tables of party bridge most sea days. While not huge numbers, this is respectable, and shows that there is demand for duplicate, especially on cruises with 5 or more sea days.

- I believe that the decision to eliminate bridge directors drastically underestimates the fierce dedication that bridge players have for the game and thus the negative customer reactions.

- I propose a modification of the new policy whereby bridge directors are provided for cruises that have 4 or more sea days.

 

--

Kindest regards,

<your name>

[BridgeMates]

I'd like to send a msg how disappointed we are about the decision to stop the duplicate bridge.

Please give me the address.

Thanks