No tchotchke's on Serenade of the Seas

[mojomanny]

Normally when you play trivia or some other "game", the winner gets a small tchotchke such as a RC Pen, zipper pull, key ring or the much coveted highlighter.

Currently on Serenade of the Seas they are giving out raffle tickets instead of the tchotchke's.  They promise there will be a great raffle on Day 6 (or sooner, they will let us know) for great prizes that "may include excursion discounts, bingo packages worth $36 and more!"  They promise we will be thrilled with the new opportunities this offers.

It sounds like this is brand new and they weren't really sure what the prizes will be or when the raffle will be.  Day 6 is a tough day to get an excursion discount, given day 7 is a sea day before we get off.

This change might be a great new innovation or might be a bust  I'll let you know how it all works out. 

[smokeybandit]

I haven't seen any prizes on my last few cruises.

[schlimazel_traveler]

They had run out of trinkets on our last cruise, too. The port shopping host provided some items and they gave away bingo cards as well. 

 

Once we did a cruise where they handed out cards where we had to collect the activity hosts' signatures after each game (maybe only the winners? Or the winners got extras?). At the end of the cruise we could select prizes based on the number of signatures we had collected. 

 

The trinkets are silly but I like them. I could put RC zipper pulls on every zipper I have at this point but I still like them. 

[Jimbo]

To think I thought this was a spelling error in the title...............

 

Can we take guesses now how many pages this thread will get?

Edited February 5, 2023 by Jimbo

[smokeybandit]

9 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Can we take guesses now how many pages this thread will get?

One for every RC highlighter we have sitting around the house collecting dust?

[mets123]

They've been doing doing this on the Anthem since the beginning of the year. It's a big basket of the usual ship logo stuff,. But not worth what they say its value is. Just another way of cutting their expenses.

 

[Crown Vic]

2 hours ago, mojomanny said:

Normally when you play trivia or some other "game", the winner gets a small tchotchke such as a RC Pen, zipper pull, key ring or the much coveted highlighter.

Same on Celebrity Equinox in November. No ‘prizes’ for Trivia winners. Gotta save money somewhere…but…it’s the little things that upset folks even though the prize may be a pen or something small. Usta like the t-shirts.

BTW, NCL still gives ‘signatures’ for participation that can be turned in for ‘stuff’.

Cheers!

[Jimbo]

1 minute ago, Crown Vic said:

Same on Celebrity Equinox in November. No ‘prizes’ for Trivia winners. Gotta save money somewhere…but…it’s the little things that upset folks even though the prize may be a pen or something small. Usta like the t-shirts.

BTW, NCL still gives ‘signatures’ for participation that can be turned in for ‘stuff’.

Cheers!

Amazing isn't, what has so little value excites and upsets some people when the cruiseline makes changes.

 

In all the cruises we have been on, I bet I  can count all the times we attended a trivia session on one finger. Just not our thing to do on a cruise.

[Crown Vic]

2 minutes ago, Jimbo said:

Amazing isn't, what has so little value excites and upsets some people when the cruiseline makes changes.

Remember the kerfuffle when Celebrity stopped putting chocolates on the pillow at turndown time? Folks complained so much that the chocolates ‘reappeared’. Of course, the next step is the current transitioning to once-a-day cabin service removing the evening turndown.
C’est la vie!

[Homosassa]

The 1/14/23 Radiance of the Sea cruise gave out Royal Caribbean highlighters.

 

If one was lucky, it wasn't dried out and unusable.

 

There was also the joy of playing Trivia  in what should be renamed the Rowboat Lounge instead of the Schooner Lounge as the lounge is now about a third of the size of its originally designed size because of the addition of two specialty restaurants in the former Schooner lounge area.

 

Frustrating overcrowded for Trivia and other functions.

Edited February 5, 2023 by Homosassa

[Jimbo]

I suggest everyone just buy one of these  and use it in your cabin, saves the time looking for a seat in the Schooner Lounge.

 

[flamingos]

Yeah, we have noticed that as well. I mean, seriously, surely there are cases of keychains and highlighters, right?

 

On the last trivia on Jewel a few weeks ago, they gave out little bag-in-bags, which are great little purse sized reusable bags that fold into a little bag for storage.  Those were nice.

[Homosassa]

2 hours ago, Jimbo said:

I suggest everyone just buy one of these  and use it in your cabin, saves the time looking for a seat in the Schooner Lounge.

 

Trivia games on board ship on many cruise lines are well attended by all ages and, with the exception of the games on Carnival that are geared to alcohol impaired brains, usually require a range of knowledge that require a good education at least the high school level and beyond.

[ReneeFLL]

Delete

Edited February 5, 2023 by ReneeFLL

[twangster]

Like they say for the trivia contests on a streaming radio channel I listen to...  "You win pride, not prize!" 

[John&LaLa]

3 hours ago, Homosassa said:

The 1/14/23 Radiance of the Sea cruise gave out Royal Caribbean highlighters.

 

If one was lucky, it wasn't dried out and unusable.

 

There was also the joy of playing Trivia  in what should be renamed the Rowboat Lounge instead of the Schooner Lounge as the lounge is now about a third of the size of its originally designed size because of the addition of two specialty restaurants in the former Schooner lounge area.

 

Frustrating overcrowded for Trivia and other functions.

 

I'm confused, the Schooner seems exactly how I've always known it. Chops and Giovanni's are the same as I remember from 2008.

 

Care to elaborate

Edited February 5, 2023 by John&LaLa

[Ourusualbeach]

14 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I'm confused, the Schooner seems exactly how I've always known it. Chops and Giovanni's are the same as I remember from 2008.

 

Care to elaborate

That's the exact way it was in 2011 on our first cruise with the kids, except instead of Giovanni's it was Portofino's.

[twangster]

1 hour ago, John&LaLa said:

Care to elaborate

 

Maybe they were confusing the old Empress Schooner Bar?  It was full width.  

[Homosassa]

42 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

 

I'm confused, the Schooner seems exactly how I've always known it. Chops and Giovanni's are the same as I remember from 2008.

 

Care to elaborate

Sure, you are late to the party.

 

When the ship was built in 2001, the entrance to the Schooner lounge started amidships and ran from side of the ship to the other. It contain a stage (platform) for a live music and a dance floor.

 

After it first destructive dry dock, the two specialty restaurants and associated service areas were taken from the Schooner lounge area.

 

In the same way, the Windjammer is about a third of the size it used to be before that area was carved out to add the two specialty restaurants at the aft end.  The access to the deck with outdoor seating was lost, as well as the bar that serviced the area.

 

The bright airy Centrum which used to be open from deck 4 up to deck ten. Either side on all decks contained lounge areas to sit that were glass floor to ceiling windows on the sides of the ship (you can see the sad remnants of those windows).

 

All the glass windows of the multi story Centrum core and other extensive use of glass were to give  the ships a light filled interior and those ships were known as the "Radiance" class.

 

More cabins were jammed into the ship (deletion of the library, game room  and cabins in what was once open lounge area of the decks around the central Centrum area.

 

The  deletion of the open public spaces with the addition of more passengers is what leads to the overcrowded conditions on board. 

[Homosassa]

8 minutes ago, twangster said:

 

Maybe they were confusing the old Empress Schooner Bar?  It was full width.  

No, I have sailed the Empress and the Radiance of the Sea when it was first put into service.

 

What was done to the Empress over the years also is a sad existence for what was once called the Royal Caribbean yacht by its crew and passengers.

[publicpersona]

9 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

When the ship was built in 2001, the entrance to the Schooner lounge started amidships and ran from side of the ship to the other. It contain a stage (platform) for a live music and a dance floor.

 

After it first destructive dry dock, the two specialty restaurants and associated service areas were taken from the Schooner lounge area.

 

You are mistaken on all counts. Sounds like you are describing the Colony Club, which is on the aft end. The pool tables are between Schooner and Colony Club. These images are from 2001 and show Portofino's and Chops exactly where the specialty restaurants are today.

 

 

 

 

 

Edited February 5, 2023 by publicpersona

[publicpersona]

30 minutes ago, Homosassa said:

When the ship was built in 2001, the entrance to the Schooner lounge started amidships and ran from side of the ship to the other. It contain a stage (platform) for a live music and a dance floor.

 

I think when you see the Colony Club, that will match up with how you are misremembering Schooner. If you need any more context to my screen grabs above, here's a walkthrough of the Radiance Schooner bar, Chops, Portofino, pool area, and Colony Club as it was in its maiden year 2001.

 

[Tatka]

6 hours ago, mets123 said:

They've been doing doing this on the Anthem since the beginning of the year. It's a big basket of the usual ship logo stuff,. But not worth what they say its value is. Just another way of cutting their expenses.

 

 

So people not only need this type of entertainment (every time we showed up in Boleros there was a trivia), but they need real prizes for this? 🙂 

[Sobro]

We disembarked a Holland America ship two weeks ago. Trivia winners received 30 seconds to touch a trophy. If the trivia leader remembers to bring it.

[RD64]

Are those basic pins, tokens, etc truly a determination of a good cruise? How old are we - 12?