No more Derek Lewis in 2016...

From our pal Derek Lewis:

To all my friends and supporters, I am afraid that the recession has finally hit yours truly. Although I was confirmed and contracted on Royal Caribbean's Liberty of the Seas from October 16 through April 16, 2017, I was just informed that RCCL is cancelling the Pub Entertainer position on some ships, including the Liberty of the Seas, for the remainder of the year.

I know three other Pub Entertainers affected by this decision, so it's not just me. I was offered a slot on Liberty commencing January 2, 2017 and I informed RCCL that I am willing and able to get the party started from then until April 16, at which time I have to debark for my lovely wife Patty's wonderful daughter's wedding. (Either get off then or find a new wife, home, and family as the venue and caterers have all been booked and paid for.)

Unfortunately, I am unable to confirm any dates in the new year at this time as nothing is being booked now at HQ until decisions are made at corporate about the Pub entertainer position. I am fairly certain that the good folks on Liberty want me back in the Hoof and Claw, and I of course am very hopeful that this will occur. I have met and gotten to know so many great people and watched them turn into Superstars in 20 years at sea, the last 15 with Royal Caribbean and Celebrity.

The picture in this post is of the fortunes from my dinner with Patty last night at Pei Wei. I hope these fortunes pan out, as I don't want to hang up my Strings and Rings yet. Plus, Patty's reaction -- besides being happy that I would be home for our birthdays and holidays -- was to double the size of the “Honey-Do List”.

My sincere and humble apologies to all those who booked cruises in whole or in part due to the presence of the FiveMinuteParty in the Pub on Liberty. I wish I knew more, but this is the complete extent of my understanding of the situation. I am sure that there will be good entertainment on Liberty this fall, and I will surely miss seeing you all out there.

Rock On, Superstars!

OH NO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IS TERRIBLE NEWS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :( :(

We were so looking forward to seeing Derek on our upcoming cruise. So very bummed to hear this. Boo hiss Royal - he's just about the best entertainer you have and ALWAYS pulls a crowd.

Now this really sucks. The pub is our favourite hang out. I am not sure I understand the reasoning as most ships sail at full capacity(at least that is what people say here) and the cost of cruises doesn't appear to be getting any cheaper. I wonder if any other cost cutting actions are coming.

Sorry to hear this. We loved him on our Rhapsody/Alaska cruise several years ago. I wish him the best.

Already sent an email to Royal. Grrrr.......(copied below)

I just saw on social media (facebook and cruise critic) that it has been decided to cut back on the pub entertainment on various ships. Specifically, that Liberty of the Seas cancelled Derek Lewis who was scheduled to begin his contract on October 16th. We have cruised with Royal since 2001. We have been on 25 cruises. Derek is the only entertainer we have ever seen that consistently PACKS his venue. He has a huge following out of Galveston and I can tell you that he has been a major source of onboard revenue for you. This decision is extremely disappointing. As long time cruisers, we have certainly noticed all the cost cutting done by corporate and have learned to accept most of them. To eliminate one of your most popular entertainers is among the dumbest you’ve come up with. I hope you receive many complaints regarding this and reconsider what is a very short sighted and ill advised decision.

Sorry to hear this. We loved him on our Rhapsody/Alaska cruise several years ago. I wish him the best.

Debi, this has nothing to do with the thread, but how did you insert your RCCL C&A member status in your message? I think that is so cool, and I would like to add my status to my messages. Thank you!

Main reason we sail RCCL is the entertainment, Derek was one of the best, if RCCL continues to go on this path we will be looking at other lines. On our cruise on Brilliance last week the only decent performer was in the pub. Another thing on entertainment is they had listed in program that they had dancing and the time, then listed the music would be pre-recorded???

He is one of the best , really was the only reason we sailed out of Galveston a second time , Derek is a class act and will land on his feet for sure

Sent from my iPad using Forums

If you would like to make your thoughts known to Royal, please email krush@rccl.com

All these cutbacks are a shame, lots of times the pub on the ships seems to be empty at night, it's not something that appeals to me as being a brit we can get this anytime, I prefer the schooner bar and still miss the days of there being a live band in the Viking crown instead of the disco that seems to be taking over now.

I agree. I enjoy the Schooner Bar and loved sitting at the bar in the Viking Crown Lounge!

Debi, this has nothing to do with the thread, but how did you insert your RCCL C&A member status in your message? I think that is so cool, and I would like to add my status to my messages. Thank you!

Ok here goes.

I apologize in advance if I forgot a step. I don't think I did though....

First, you'll need to find an image you want and save it somewhere where you can link it to your signature. I have a public folder in my Dropbox account where I store all my pictures that I share. Or you can just store it on your computer.

Next, go to User CP top left side of this page and click on it. Click on edit signature. There will be a box on about 1/2 way down to Edit Signature Picture.

Click Browse to find the file location. Double Click the file. Then click the Upload button. Next, click Preview Signature to make sure it is where you want it.

Good luck.

Ok here goes.

 

I apologize in advance if I forgot a step. I don't think I did though....

 

First, you'll need to find an image you want and save it somewhere where you can link it to your signature. I have a public folder in my Dropbox account where I store all my pictures that I share. Or you can just store it on your computer.

 

Next, go to User CP top left side of this page and click on it. Click on edit signature. There will be a box on about 1/2 way down to Edit Signature Picture.

 

 

 

Click Browse to find the file location. Double Click the file. Then click the Upload button. Next, click Preview Signature to make sure it is where you want it.

 

Good luck.

Hmm, for some reason I cannot copy the Emerald picture in order to save it to my computer/desktop. Oh, well!

Derek should try to sign with another cruise line leaving from Galveston, I would be willing to do another line if I know Derek is playing

Hmm, for some reason I cannot copy the Emerald picture in order to save it to my computer/desktop. Oh, well!

You can find it here:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Crown+%26+anchor+Emerald.gif&tbm=isch&imgil=AUT-edI3YjNOOM%253A%253BZzqJOMgE94zQiM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.iglucruise.com%25252Fcruise-rewards%25252Froyal-caribbean-crown-and-anchor&source=iu&pf=m&fir=AUT-edI3YjNOOM%253A%252CZzqJOMgE94zQiM%252C_&usg=__gq2BT1dwDatrIZUrGSKdETJAMYg%3D&biw=1502&bih=918&ved=0ahUKEwjg_7yVqbDPAhUPBh4KHfwrAwsQyjcIUQ&ei=y83qV6DuIY-MePzXjFg#imgrc=AUT-edI3YjNOOM%3A

Or take it from here:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/21960358/Public/emerald.jpg

If you would like to make your thoughts known to Royal, please email krush@rccl.com

This is very disappointing news. I will draft an email and send once I calm down. Who is krush?

this is real bad he packs the pub every night we have three trips before jan. 1 on LOS just to party with derrick we have followed him since he started in galveston years ago this is game changing i hope he moves to the other line in galveston

Derek needs to be moved to a larger area than the pub, most nights on my cruise in April we could not find a seat, another thing about Derek is he plays for hours without a break, RCCL will be stupid if they do not resign him

You can find it here:

https://www.google.com/search?q=Crown+%26+anchor+Emerald.gif&tbm=isch&imgil=AUT-edI3YjNOOM%253A%253BZzqJOMgE94zQiM%253Bhttp%25253A%25252F%25252Fwww.iglucruise.com%25252Fcruise-rewards%25252Froyal-caribbean-crown-and-anchor&source=iu&pf=m&fir=AUT-edI3YjNOOM%253A%252CZzqJOMgE94zQiM%252C_&usg=__gq2BT1dwDatrIZUrGSKdETJAMYg%3D&biw=1502&bih=918&ved=0ahUKEwjg_7yVqbDPAhUPBh4KHfwrAwsQyjcIUQ&ei=y83qV6DuIY-MePzXjFg#imgrc=AUT-edI3YjNOOM%3A

 

Or take it from here:

https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/21960358/Public/emerald.jpg

Debi, thanks for your help!

The direction RCCL has been going in the past few years has been very disappointing, and cutting back on live entertainment is just another example of heading in he wrong direction. For the first time in a long time, we have not taken a cruise yet this year and have no cruises planned. Cruising, especially with RCCL, just isn't what it used to be for us. The live entertainment, particularly in the pub or schooner bar, is something we really enjoy. If they do away with this, it's just another reason to look at other cruise lines.

I wonder if the cutbacks in onboard live entertainment is related to the prevalence of drink packages (and I say this as someone who loves the drink package). But in the past, RCI had an interest in keeping people in the bars and keeping them happy and lively so that they purchased more drinks. Now, with drink packages, I think they are just as happy to bore their passengers in the evening and put them to bed. There's no incentive to keep the bars full anymore. All they need to do is the minimum required to keep people booking.

This has been our experience of late as every schooner bar and pub entertainer has played so many slow slow boring songs that are more likely to put you to sleep rather than make you happy, wanting to party and buy a drink. They may be good musicians, but have no sense of how to put on a show or were specifically told to slow things down or were specifically chosen because they are dull. I miss a full schooner bar like you can't believe.

Blah.

I wonder if the cutbacks in onboard live entertainment is related to the prevalence of drink packages (and I say this as someone who loves the drink package). But in the past, RCI had an interest in keeping people in the bars and keeping them happy and lively so that they purchased more drinks. Now, with drink packages, I think they are just as happy to bore their passengers in the evening and put them to bed. There's no incentive to keep the bars full anymore. All they need to do is the minimum required to keep people booking.

 

This has been our experience of late as every schooner bar and pub entertainer has played so many slow slow boring songs that are more likely to put you to sleep rather than make you happy, wanting to party and buy a drink. They may be good musicians, but have no sense of how to put on a show or were specifically told to slow things down or were specifically chosen because they are dull. I miss a full schooner bar like you can't believe.

 

Blah.

I tend to agree with this. We used to spend almost every night in the Schooner listening and singing along with the entertainer. The past few trips we have run out of the Schooner looking for something actually entertaining.

This is a shame.

beachcampin - you may be onto something here. On our last cruise, we rotated between the casino and Derek in the pub. I tried 3 times to check out schooner and it was shut down and empty by 12 every time. I couldn't figure out why Royal would cut back one of the few long term entertainers they have (and some others too - not just him) that regularly PACKS a venue. But perhaps they have "figured out" that most of the nightowls buy drink packages. They save money on performers and they save money on the drinkers - less night time entertainment, people just give up and go to bed. Hmmmmm......

I wonder if the cutbacks in onboard live entertainment is related to the prevalence of drink packages (and I say this as someone who loves the drink package). But in the past, RCI had an interest in keeping people in the bars and keeping them happy and lively so that they purchased more drinks. Now, with drink packages, I think they are just as happy to bore their passengers in the evening and put them to bed. There's no incentive to keep the bars full anymore. All they need to do is the minimum required to keep people booking.

 

This has been our experience of late as every schooner bar and pub entertainer has played so many slow slow boring songs that are more likely to put you to sleep rather than make you happy, wanting to party and buy a drink. They may be good musicians, but have no sense of how to put on a show or were specifically told to slow things down or were specifically chosen because they are dull. I miss a full schooner bar like you can't believe.

 

Blah.

I had the same thoughts about this. I think you are right!

I emailed the Presidents office and was emailed in return ....SNIP....called me today to talk about entertainment and we had a nice conversation in which I was given the opportunity to express my thoughts and opinion about Derek Lewis, pub entertainment and entertainment in general. I encourage others to do the same. We need to bombard RC about these types of things that affect our cruise experience.

I also emailed Ken Rush and received no reply!

Per Royal Caribbean this post has been edited to add correct email address to address issues: royalguestrelations@rccl.com

We just disembarked the Explorer of the Seas sailing out of Seattle.

One of the nights offered no shows not even the ice skating show.. The only thing available for the evening entertainment was a movie on the pool deck. :rolleyes:

I always enjoyed the pub entertainment as well as the cozy fun atmosphere.

We will miss the go to venue at the pub.

The entertainment we miss the most is the dueling pianos in the local bars that was once offered on the Royal Caribbean ships....