Horse Race?

[tbmrt]

I watched video on horse race and not sure how this works....Auction for one of 6 horses usually gets really expensive...Do the "spectators" bid on horses or are the people who one a horse the only ones who get to win?

[cantgetin]

People who are racing bid on the horses....auction starts at $150.  THey then get a session with "the artist" to decorate their seahorse and bring it back on race day for the gambling race.  THey do the "spin the wheel" thing which tells how many spaces you move and another system where you can win an extra spin, go back spaces, etc.  Ultimately the owner of the winning seahorse gets the pot of whatever people bid to get their horse less 10% casino charge.  THe spectators are just there to watch. THey are not involved in any bidding.

 

Truth, I don't get it....but if you are into gambling, guess it is fun...THe auction prices are $150-$500.

[tbmrt]

Thanks...I definitely don't get the 6 people only thing, but whatever.

[CineGraphic]

1 hour ago, tbmrt said:

Thanks...I definitely don't get the 6 people only thing, but whatever.

 

Early on during the cruise they have an auction.

There are only 6 seahorses up for bids.

You customize your horses a few days later, and they have the race a day or 2 later. We were on an 8 day sailing, so the schedule is probably tighter on shorter sailings.

We had a blast, made some great friends, and the seahorse is a nice keepsake.

 

Edited April 2, 2023 by CineGraphic

[Travel-and-See]

So on my cruise, it was 2 separate events.  The auction is where everyone bids on the 6 sea horses. The 6 winners of the auction each get a session with "the artist" where they get to paint and decorate the sea horse - which they get to take home and keep. 

 

Then after the 6 sea horses have been decorated - they have a race.  It's like a giant board game.  The winner of the race gets the auction money - which is usually over $1,000. 

 

The people on my cruise were definitely VERY into it and having a great time. I enjoyed watching it. Both occured on Sea Days. 

[spookyfudge]

On 4/2/2023 at 11:45 AM, CineGraphic said:

 

Early on during the cruise they have an auction.

There are only 6 seahorses up for bids.

You customize your horses a few days later, and they have the race a day or 2 later. We were on an 8 day sailing, so the schedule is probably tighter on shorter sailings.

We had a blast, made some great friends, and the seahorse is a nice keepsake.

 

 

 

On 4/2/2023 at 11:45 AM, CineGraphic said:

 

Early on during the cruise they have an auction.

There are only 6 seahorses up for bids.

You customize your horses a few days later, and they have the race a day or 2 later. We were on an 8 day sailing, so the schedule is probably tighter on shorter sailings.

We had a blast, made some great friends, and the seahorse is a nice keepsake.

 

 

Thats my horse I purchased (ship colors in the back) it was fun.  You bid on the horses starting at $50 and goes up.  The cost was $150-$300, winner of the race gets all the money.  You have a one on one with the art director to paint/decorate the horse with drinks.  It was a great time, I almost won  but it was still fun!

[cantgetin]

1 hour ago, spookyfudge said:

 

Thats my horse I purchased (ship colors in the back) it was fun.  You bid on the horses starting at $50 and goes up.  The cost was $150-$300, winner of the race gets all the money.  You have a one on one with the art director to paint/decorate the horse with drinks.  It was a great time, I almost won  but it was still fun!

The house does take 10% of the pot....so you get 90% of the money if you win.  THe auction starts at $50 and goes up to $500, but at above, the horses normally go for $150-$300.

[singleflyer]

Just saw the "race" today on Scarlet Lady.  I thought I heard them say the prize was a free drink.  Nothing about a large sum of money.  Also, it was pretty boring.  Mostly The Artist just rolled dice and if she rolled your number your horse moved up one spot.  Then if you landed on a starfish you got to spin the wheel.  I'm hoping it wasn't for a large sum of money because one of the contestants jokingly moved the wheel to a better spot.  

[cantgetin]

The prize is definitely 90% of the money bid to buy the horses.  They may get a drink as well.....

[Travel-and-See]

Yeah, they gave out free drinks during the game when I saw it as well. That's in addition to the prize money. 

[babalooo]

I love the idea of the champagne cage as a harness, whoever painted that red and white striped horse!

 

When we did this on our last cruise, it was a 3 day event:

Day 1 - bid on your horse (starting bid was $50 and on our cruise, everyone got theirs for $50)
Day 2 - paint your horse (we didn't know about this and there was a set time the Artist set up paints for decorating, which cut into our dinner reservation)

Day 3 - race the horses

 

It was fun. I wouldn't have paid too much more, although you have a 1 in 6 chance of winning the race. Needless to say, I didn't win, but it something different to try!

[CineGraphic]

41 minutes ago, babalooo said:

I love the idea of the champagne cage as a harness, whoever painted that red and white striped horse!

 

Thanks!

The idea actually came to me in a dream the night before, so the next morning I went to "Sips" and asked them to save me a few cages during the day. I was surprised that it fit. "Mrs. Ed" now sits proudly on display next to 3 Voice of the Ocean trophies. lol

[KKB]

19 hours ago, Travel-and-See said:

Yeah, they gave out free drinks during the game when I saw it as well. That's in addition to the prize money. 

OK...I saw your post about solo deals (so this is WAY off topic of this post) but the thread was locked.

Check out cruiseplum.com (not a TA)--good source for solo deals.

[Travel-and-See]

33 minutes ago, KKB said:

OK...I saw your post about solo deals (so this is WAY off topic of this post) but the thread was locked.

Check out cruiseplum.com (not a TA)--good source for solo deals.

Thanks!  

 

The issue that I brought up on that thread was how difficult it is to search for solo prices on the Celebrity site. Very annoying. I don't care if it's a deal or not, but I would like to be able to search and see the prices easily.   But you are correct, Cruiseplum is a good resource! 

 

To take the topic back to Virgin... I love how easy it is to just put in 1 sailor and I can see the TOTAL prices. On Celebrity I have to look for the solo price... then add in what I will pay for tips and wifi... it's a hassle to do that math.  Huge win for Virgin on keeping things simple when searching and pricing cruises. 

 

And you get a seahorse race too! (now it's on topic... haha).