How I Accidentally Started a Trivia War on the Norwegian Encore

I've been on six cruises in my life, and I'd like to think I'm a pretty seasoned cruiser at this point. I know to grab a spot at the buffet before the afternoon crowd hits, I understand the unwritten rules about which pool chairs are fair game, and I can navigate the Encore's layout without consulting the deck map every five minutes. But nothing—and I mean absolutely nothing—could have prepared me for the cutthroat world of cruise ship trivia night. It started innocently enough. My wife Sarah and I were walking past the Atrium on our second evening aboard the Norwegian Encore, and we noticed a hand-written sign advertising "General Knowledge Trivia Night - 8 PM - Deck 8, Studio Lounge." Sarah grabbed my arm. "We should do this," she said with genuine enthusiasm. "It'll be fun! I'm actually pretty good at trivia." I agreed because, honestly, I thought it sounded like a chill way to spend an evening. Maybe we'd win a drink coupon or something. Maybe we wouldn't. Either way, it was something to do besides sitting in our balcony cabin watching the ocean go dark. We showed up about ten minutes early with our complimentary cups of coffee from the café, feeling pretty good about ourselve…