Royal Caribbean is quietly bringing back beloved adult events
After the cruise industry returned to sailing from North American ports in July 2021, all cruise lines had to make major changes based on the covid pandemic. Some were obvious such as vaccination requirements, masks and extra cleaning protocols. Capacities were also limited and social distancing was enforced (as much as possible on a cruise ship.
Many popular activities were changed or canceled to comply with these rules, which were mandated by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC). Events such as dance parties, parades and anything that brought people together in an enclosed space disappeared. It included things like laser tags on ships that have that because you can̵[ads1]7;t play without bumping into people.
Even on big ships like Royal Caribbean Groups (RCL) – Get a free report Oasis-class ships, events were compromised due to CDC-related regulations. It was unpleasant, but necessary given the situation on board and ashore.
That began to change when the CDC began to loosen, then drop, its pandemic-related regulations. In July 2022, the CDC stopped regulating cruises, making cruise lines somewhat dependent on the ports they stopped in, but leaving them mostly completely unregulated.
After that happened, most of the lost activities returned, sometimes in modified form at first, and later exactly as they were before the pandemic. However, a very popular activity did not return even as all pandemic-related rules and precautions began to disappear.
That led to fears it wouldn’t return, but finally some Royal Caribbean ships are offering “The Quest,” a popular 21-and-over treasure hunt.
Royal Caribbean
What is Royal Caribbean’s “The Quest?”
“The Quest” varies based on who’s in charge, but it’s a mildly adult (to sometimes very adult) game/competition designed to be more risky than traditional cruise activities. Different teams compete to be the first to get each requested item.
A member of the Royal Caribbean Blog message board, who is not affiliated with the cruise line, described it this way.
“It’s basically this giant scavenger hunt within your team. On Oasis it was in Studio B. There are 6 couples who are team leaders and the cruise director calls out tasks – things to find in the audience, or things to achieve. For example 6 women’s bra, or 3 shoelaces tied together.The team leaders have a card with their number on it, and as soon as the task is done/found, they run up to the cruise director with the object and the card, waving it in his face.The fastest teams get more points ,” HMills96 shared.
Another poster, Jerel, put it this way.
“In short, it’s an adult-oriented game show where people willingly make fools of themselves,” he wrote. “It doesn’t take long before they ask for girls wearing red thongs and to prove it on stage or even ask a captain to produce 4 bras, many women will quickly rip them off btw. It’s also pretty much guaranteed to see dirty men dancing with each other and/or hairy men dressed up in women’s clothes.”
Royal Caribbean is slowly bringing back ‘The Quest’
When pretty much every other activity had been brought back and “The Quest” hadn’t returned, some feared it might just quietly disappear. It’s definitely an activity that’s not really in line with the company’s family-friendly business model.
Now, however, a number of members of a Royal Caribbean Facebook group have posted about “The Quest” returning on its sailings (with some sharing evidence of the announcement of the event on the Royal Caribbean app).
“Look what’s back on the Brilliance tonight, apparently the first time on any ship since Covid,” shared Thomas Anglin, who provided a screenshot from the app.
A number of group members also shared that the game show has been on several Wonder of the Seas sailings.
“Under the transatlantic had it,” wrote Nick Miyar.
“We had it on the Wonder a week ago. Every cruise director wants the first one,” added Scott Leonard.
And while “The Quest” looks set to return, so far it has only appeared on select ships. However, it seems that when a ship brings it back, it makes it a regular feature on every cruise (usually the last night) as it was before the pandemic.
