Carnival Cruise Line ignores onboard cheating scandal

Cruise lines get to choose how strict they are about enforcing the rules.

If they enforce every minor rule rigorously, it can make a vacation feel like a trip to the library. Some rules are in place, but enforcement is somewhat lax.

Related: Carnival Cruise Line passengers accept ban on popular item

The most commonly ignored rules are the ones that don’t actually affect other passengers. If you choose to wear shorts and a t-shirt in the main dining room (MDR), Carnival, Royal Caribbean, and other family-friendly cruise lines, you’re probably overlooking those dress code violations.

In other cases, such as people reserving lounge chairs on the pool deck, the enforcement decision becomes more difficult. Technically, the cruise line should confiscate items left too long and remove them from the pool chair.

Doing so, however, could cause the seat grabber to blame the people who are now sitting in the seats they consider “theirs”. This could lead to a heated situation that could quickly escalate.

You can see that cruise lines have to choose where security is involved. In a situation where a passenger is putting other passengers at risk, this is obviously a situation where interference is needed.

When it is less clear, or the other passenger is simply a jerk, the cruise line may choose not to get involved. This is true in areas where passengers are supposed to behave in a certain way, but sometimes choose not to.

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People putting towels and other items down on seats and then leaving is a common problem on cruise ships.

Image Source: Carnival Cruise Line.

The carnival tackles a trivia problem

A few years ago, my cousin Michael and I were playing sports trivia at Carnival Conquest. He used to edit a sports almanac and I spent years writing trivia, so our two-person team was pretty formidable.

We ended up getting 19 out of 20 questions correct and lost to a team that got all 20 correct. After the game was over, the winners came out and gave us the famous “ship on a stick prize”. Turns out they were on the previous cruise and the same trivia questions were used.

They did not intend to deceive. The cruise line just did a bad job of mixing up the list of trivia questions and they really would have had more fun if they didn’t know the answers.

Some people, however, intentionally cheat on board trivia. It’s easy to do because not using your phone to look up answers is on the honor system.

The Carnival brand ambassador recently addressed the trivia on his Facebook page.

I was only told “bozo”. Brilliant. I love this word and it probably describes me perfectly, although I’m not entirely sure what it means

Yes, I know people cheat on trivia from time to time, and no, I will not “report this person to the captain or security.

I understand and honestly speaking, just my opinion, but is there anything sadder than cheating on one of our triva quizzes? Is a ship on a stick or a locket really worth the blow to your self-esteem?

Many of his Facebook followers wished the cruise line would do a better job when it comes to policing its trivia contests.

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Carnival passengers want to apply trivia

“I wish the trivia host would check the sheet before claiming the winner. I was playing one of those music trivia games where you got one point for knowing the song and a second point for knowing the artist,” said Shannon White. “I played 28/30 points by myself. A group of six teenagers claimed they had all 30 points, but after being awarded, I was later told by one of the group that he didn’t know all the artists and didn’t understand the rules when they started playing .”

White wasn’t too upset, but she would prefer some honest competition.

“They didn’t cheat, but they didn’t technically actually win either. And yes, I’m one of those fruit curlers who likes to put a ship on a stick. I have two at home; one from a dance competition and one from a game,” she added.

Many of the respondents believe that the players bear the responsibility.

“We play trivia for fun, but some of the players are way too competitive for just one game. It’s really sad for those of us who are just there for fun and entertainment. Cheating is wrong,” Kathleen Henry posted.

Others took a much harsher view.

“Some insecure, narcissistic people can’t stand losing a contest. It’s embarrassing and degrading to them,” wrote MissLynn Thatsit.

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Some blamed Carnival for not changing its trivia questions more often.

“If you’re willing to trade your integrity for a plastic trophy, it says a lot about you. I love trivia and everyone is right, they should mix up the questions more,” said Ramona Tyrell Mariarz.

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