Celebrity & Dancers out there - Please read

My husband & I ( 62 & 71) sailed once again on the Oasis of the Seas in July. In our "young" age we have come to enjoy dancing on our cruise vacations. We have had an amazing time on the Allure & Oasis. The Latin bands in Boleros kept everyone ( all age groups) coming back each evening for a fun time both dancing or simply listening to great music. The club Dazzles had an amazing Filipino band that played a variety of music and also packed the club each night with a variety of all ages. Whoever would have thought at our age we would be bar hopping for great music!!! If Jazz is your thing, Jazz on 4 was great for listening & Central Park had an enjoyable string quartet playing some lovely mood music in a "perfect" setting. And no you do not get great music venues at the expense of a very crowded ship. RCCL manages this beautifully. It is actually easier getting a deck chair of choice on Oasis than on the "S" ships & their adult pool the Solarium is lovely with amazing views of the sea!

We have sailed the Reflection twice & the Silhouette twice. Other than our first experience on the Reflection( D'Revelations the band) in 2013, the bands have been so so & the amount of dance music has truly been scaled back. Even though the dance floor in the Grand Foyer is small, given the right music, people will try to dance. The space in the Sky Lounge is great but so often used for private events & when the bands did play it was for a very limited amount of time or they were playing music that no-one would dance to. We have met many others like us who enjoy dancing & were very disappointed in the direction Celebrity is heading. While the Martini Bar is a happening place, many of us want more than to just sit, drink & chat. We & others actually shared our disappointment with the cruise director, Alexander, on our 2nd Reflection sailing. Would you believe he told us to go to HAL!

Last March we sailed on our first HAL cruise and really enjoyed it. They had a BB King Blues Club Band who packed the club & dance floor every night. And no, the average age was not 80 and above & yes the ship was happening well past midnight. Another band played a variety of dance music as well. Perhaps on the longer sailings the age group is not mixed but on the Caribbean it sure was!!

We sail in Aqua with Celebrity & if it were not for the lack of good music they would probably be our line of choice. As if often said - what makes for a great wedding reception - the food & the music!!

We will be trying the Reflection once again in December & hope to have an experience like our first - D' Revelations where are you!! Also hoping with the new suite restaurant Luminae, that Blu will be far less crowed - more similar to the Silhouette. And yes, HAL has won us as well. We will sail the Nieuw Amsterdam next March.

We were on the reflection last march.

The music was loud,the Miami DJs were Very loud,We did not care for the music.Cruise director told us at the CC get together we should look for a more suitable cruise line.Celebrity might not be for us.We are elite plus but have not been back since March 2014.....

We loved Oceania and Azamara......

We are going to try Silhouette in December....heres hoping......

My husband & I ( 62 & 71) sailed once again on the Oasis of the Seas in July. In our "young" age we have come to enjoy dancing on our cruise vacations. We have had an amazing time on the Allure & Oasis.

This is certainly one subject that heavily favors RCI. On no other cruise line have a experienced the quality and quantity of live music as I have on RCI.

On Celebrity, in my experience, the live music has ranged from awful to excellent but again, the variety doesn't exist like it does on RCI.

I love Celebrity Cruises, but this is one area I'd like to see them improve a little.

Re: Boleros on RC. I can't dance where I can't breathe. :eek:

It may have changed -- but, the last time (2011) I was on an RC ship, Boleros was a designated smoking area. I would have loved to have a drink, listen to the music (and yes, maybe dance a little). But most evenings, the smoke was so thick, I had to hold my breathe, just to walk through that area! :(

(don't know about Oasis or Allure)

Thanks very much Tagsalong - I thought I was clear but obviously not to all. My hope is that Celebrity might see this and even though a long shot, perhaps review their music offerings & types of bands playing on their ships. The direction they are heading in is is a huge negative for many. Additionally, I wanted to let cruisers out there know where some options for great music and dancing exist.

Re: Boleros on RC. I can't dance where I can't breathe. :eek:

It may have changed -- but, the last time (2011) I was on an RC ship, Boleros was a designated smoking area. I would have loved to have a drink, listen to the music (and yes, maybe dance a little). But most evenings, the smoke was so thick, I had to hold my breathe, just to walk through that area! :(

(don't know about Oasis or Allure)

No smoking anymore!! We would not have lasted either! It's a real fun place!

We were on the reflection last march.

The music was loud,the Miami DJs were Very loud,We did not care for the music.Cruise director told us at the CC get together we should look for a more suitable cruise line.Celebrity might not be for us.We are elite plus but have not been back since March 2014.....

We loved Oceania and Azamara......

We are going to try Silhouette in December....heres hoping......

Who was this cruise director? Hope this statement was reported...not a very customer friendly approach!

Good chance that loyal Celebrity cruisers will outlast him/her & the Miami DJs!

Reflection is our least fav S class ship...in large part b/c of the excessively loud DJ music,,,over the top! Hopeful it will change for the best!

No smoking anymore!! We would not have lasted either! It's a real fun place!

Thanks -- that's encouraging to hear! :cool:

Who was this cruise director? Hope this statement was reported...not a very customer friendly approach!

 

Good chance that loyal Celebrity cruisers will outlast him/her & the Miami DJs!

 

Reflection is our least fav S class ship...in large part b/c of the excessively loud DJ music,,,over the top! Hopeful it will change for the best!

The cruise director was ALexander Yepremain & I believe he is still onboard the Reflection. Yes, we made polite mention in our survey. I am truly hoping that by our December sailing that some of the loud music so many are talking about will be toned down & we get lucky with a great Filipino band. In the words of my DH if not, this will be our last Celebrity cruise.

When we were on Equinox last December, we enjoyed Miami DJ's, but really didn't care for the house band nor the entertainment other than the production show and singer, Jane Curry. Thought the Beatles tribute and other shows with staff were very amateurish.

We missed the duo and piano bar we had on Princess and missed the caribbean type sailaway party.

I guess that's why there are many flavors of ice cream...Hard to please everyone.

That being said, the wonderful service and food on Celebrity was fabulous and we are trying the Equinox again this year.

The cruise director was ALexander Yepremain & I believe he is still onboard the Reflection. Yes, we made polite mention in our survey. I am truly hoping that by our December sailing that some of the loud music so many are talking about will be toned down & we get lucky with a great Filipino band. In the words of my DH if not, this will be our last Celebrity cruise.

We were disappointed with the cutbacks in live music and also the activities staff on Reflection. The staff knows what is going on as they are in an awkward situation trying to answer questions. We also wish for the Filipino bands. They were awesome!

If you are looking for dancing and an active cruise, you need to look at other cruise lines. When a dance floor can only accommodation about 20 individuals, that tells you a lot.

Well I gues Dh and I will just bring our own music to dance to!! Since we have testing for our ballroom level just after we get home, we will need to do our own thing on our Summit cruise if there is nothing we can practice to!

snow bunny

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Last March we sailed on our first HAL cruise and really enjoyed it. They had a BB King Blues Club Band who packed the club & dance floor every night. And no, the average age was not 80 and above & yes the ship was happening well past midnight. Another band played a variety of dance music as well. Perhaps on the longer sailings the age group is not mixed but on the Caribbean it sure was!!

 

And yes, HAL has won us as well. We will sail the Nieuw Amsterdam next March.

Hands down.... the absolute BEST entertainment we have ever seen on a ship was the BB King Blues Club Band!! They were so MUCH fun, and they rocked the house! We danced every night and really enjoyed it. :)

I think it just snowed in hell. We're talking about HAL having better nightly entertainmnet than Celebrity. HAL!!! :eek:

Our CD on Reflection in Nov was awful...as was his sidekick...very sophmoric humor....we were told the CD was new..the name mentioned above was not familiar

maybe because Ref sails from Miami it will be the "party" ship, with Miami DJ, etc...

I have just came of the Equinox last Friday, and it was the first time I ever complained about anything in a cruise. The complaint was the entertainment and the CD, Eddy Jenkins who in my opinion is in the wrong job. I love celebrity and have had many cruises with fantastic entertainment, but like others have said, I will give them one more chance before choosing another cruise line.

I have just came of the Equinox last Friday, and it was the first time I ever complained about anything in a cruise. The complaint was the entertainment and the CD, Eddy Jenkins who in my opinion is in the wrong job. I love celebrity and have had many cruises with fantastic entertainment, but like others have said, I will give them one more chance before choosing another cruise line.

You don't mention any specifics, sure would like to hear. Please elaborate.

 

maybe because Ref sails from Miami it will be the "party" ship, with Miami DJ, etc...

Reflection as a party ship. Watching re-runs of the Lawrence Welk Show would be more exciting!:roll eyes:

We were disappointed with the music on our last cruise with Reflection. The singers and dancers were excellent but the DJ, party band, etc. were not up to previous standards. A DJ around the pool just does not make it with us.

I have just came of the Equinox last Friday, and it was the first time I ever complained about anything in a cruise. The complaint was the entertainment and the CD, Eddy Jenkins who in my opinion is in the wrong job. I love celebrity and have had many cruises with fantastic entertainment, but like others have said, I will give them one more chance before choosing another cruise line.

I so disagree, Eddie Jenkins was CD on our June Icelandic cruise and in our opinion we believe that he is currently the BEST cruise director on the Celebrity fleet. He has a very savvy and intelligent sense of humour and was very passenger friendly. I am unable to comment on the entertainment on the Equinox but on the Eclipse it was outstanding with refreshing new material. Most shows had a full house and one show was standing room only. We are seasoned Celebrity cruisers.

When I book with Celebrity it’s because it’s my cruise line of choice with the complete package. The itinerary, the Ship etc., the entertainment is a bonus. That being said I have sailed with Celebrity and had some fantastic entertainment, truly world class, singers and dancers for the production shows. This year however I felt after the second day that the entertainment was slipping and by the 4th day I put a comment card into the guest relations. I know its hard to please everyone, but for me, I like to hear live music, whether it be at the pool, sunset bar, etc. I am not a fan of DJ music on a cruise ship, although to be fair the DJ this year wasn’t as bad as the Miami DJs we had last year. The party band (Air band) didn’t play at the poolside until 22.30 on day 4!! When they did play they were very good, however they rotated the same 16 songs at each performance with Amy Winehouse and Bob Marley making up most of the set. When they played in the foyer, the music they played was not what proper dancers liked, again however, I got up each night to dance to try and get them going. The Limelight ladies (duo) were ok, but very animated and annoying in my opinion, but again, I spoke to others who enjoyed them. The jazz guitarist wasn’t my thing and going by the small numbers each night watching, I wasn’t the only one to think this, but I can appreciate how talented he was. The jazz quartet, again very talented if you like jazz.

The stage singers were very average, the dancers were largely out of time, and when they attended interactive party nights, they would only stick around for 2-3 songs, and as soon as the public got up to dance, they left!!

Eddy Jenkins was largely invisible around the ship, in fact we bumped into him more often off the ship than we did on it. We discussed the entertainment and he was largely uninterested, saying he would look into it and palming us off. It may just be me, but I don’t think rehashing 70s game shows, Mr & Mrs., Family Fortunes, call my bluff etc. is entertainment for 2015. We asked for more entertainment around the pool, maybe quizzes, singers, anything but we were left disappointed. On the last sea day, the entertainment completed at 14.30, and between 13.30 and 14.30 it was the DJ. I really could go on and on but as I said before I didn’t book the cruise for the entertainment, although I found it to be the lowest standard I have had in 9 years of cruising.

All this being said, I will probably book Celebrity again next year and hope for a different Cruise Director, fingers crossed.

I so disagree, Eddie Jenkins was CD on our June Icelandic cruise and in our opinion we believe that he is currently the BEST cruise director on the Celebrity fleet. He has a very savvy and intelligent sense of humour and was very passenger friendly. I am unable to comment on the entertainment on the Equinox but on the Eclipse it was outstanding with refreshing new material. Most shows had a full house and one show was standing room only. We are seasoned Celebrity cruisers.

Once again, it just goes to show, it all comes down to individuals opinion, and I respect yours.

I understand that Eddy was new to the Equinox, and maybe this was part of the issue, but I previously sailed on the Equinox in 2012, and the entertainment was to a much higher standard, and the Cruise Director was involved at the poolside, and with all the entertainment all day.

maybe because Ref sails from Miami it will be the "party" ship, with Miami DJ, etc...

Geez I hope so, having just booked Reflection. That sounds great. ;):D

I think all mass market cruise lines should aim to serve a wide audience. RCI does a great job doing so as others have mentioned. My last X cruise was my honeymoon on Silhouette, a 12-night shoulder season cruise in Europe, and the activities and entertainment were poor overall. We were basically closing down every bar at night (and not late at all). Only cruise I've ever been on where they were kicking us out of the bars! We booked Reflection as part of a multi-generational family group (my parents' choice for a milestone birthday) -- otherwise wouldn't have been my first or even second choice. We did absolutely LOVE Blu on Silhouette and look forward to dining there again on Reflection in Aqua.

I, for one, am hoping for a more active atmosphere on the Reflection out of Miami. We'll see... if not, we won't be back. No big deal.

Geez I hope so, having just booked Reflection. That sounds great. ;):D

 

I, for one, am hoping for a more active atmosphere on the Reflection out of Miami. We'll see... if not, we won't be back. No big deal.

We have sailed on Reflection several times out of Miami. "Active" is not a term that goes with that ship. The food is great as is the service. It has been probably the only ship I have used the term "bored".

We have sailed on Reflection several times out of Miami. "Active" is not a term that goes with that ship. The food is great as is the service. It has been probably the only ship I have used the term "bored".

Sounds exactly like our experience on Silhouette. We were hoping for, at least, a slightly more active crowd on the shorter cruise out of Miami. Perhaps we'll at least get that.