INSIGNIA Entertainment

[pacheco18]

This was not done on the two O cruises I was on, hondorner did they do it as a brunch in the MDR on all the O cruises you have been on? The 19 day I was just on had one brunch but nothing special, bread, fruit and wine displayed on tables as you came into the MDR but that was it? Then a Captain high tea at 4:00 in the afternoon lots of finger foods and some hot crapes. Wripro seems to have experienced even less!

 

I was just on a 14 day O cruise -- no special brunch either. Too much food anyway. LOL

 

Celebrity does a special brunch with all the ice carvings and pastry mountains etc. It's good (and beautiful) -- but, again, it just makes you eat more than you really want to. I can live without it. On our last 2 week Celebrity cruise there were 2 brunches and we skipped the second one completely. We ate salads instead and felt much better.

 

Sorry - I know for many of you it is all the about the food.

[Line Dancer]

Started this thread about month ago titled "ENTERTAINMENT". Now last 5-6 posts have only talked about food....duh!

 

Just a little levity before sharper daggers are thrown.

[LHT28]

I'm a little confused by this statement, as this is exactly what Oceania has done at least once on every cruise we have taken with them! Ice sculptures, special bread displays, wine bottle displays, string quartet playing, and recently, ice shrimp mountains -- ice sculptures with shelves loaded with jumbo shrimp. Here's a tower of pastry puffs being constructed on Marina for the special buffet.

 

Must have been because you were onboard ;)

 

We did have a special Brunch but no ice carvings on a couple of cruises

We did have the special Afternoon Tea on the the Norway cruise last year

Oh & who can forget the Bathrobe breakfasts

No other specials though

[wripro]

I guess my comment was a reaction to things like waiters parading through the dining room with flaming baked alaskas and midnight buffets. I love the special Oceania brunches and other offerings.

[hondorner]

I agree with Wripro. Stuff like parading and singing waiters twirling napkins and hoisting baked alaska is fine for first time cruisers, but that's not the ambiance of Oceania. All the brunches I have been to (yes, on all five cruises) were special -- but not flamboyant. Or, maybe special food and special times in the Grand dining Room are not special enough -- or maybe I don't know what "special" is.

[NorthWestPassage]

maybe special food and special times in the Grand dining Room are not special enough

 

Speaking of entertainment and food....What time are the shows sheduled in the evening? I am new to O, with my first sailing on the Nautica set for around 7 weeks from now. For making advance reservations in the specialty restaurants, what time frame should I avoid so that I might actually see the shows? :confused:

[JimandStan]

Speaking of entertainment and food....What time are the shows sheduled in the evening? I am new to O, with my first sailing on the Nautica set for around 7 weeks from now. For making advance reservations in the specialty restaurants, what time frame should I avoid so that I might actually see the shows? :confused:

 

The short answer to your question is that the specific show times are dependant on the acts that are booked for your cruise, but you can estimate that most shows will start between 7:30 and 8PM.

 

With careful planning, an early start time, and a brisk eating speed, we found that it was just possible to do both dinner and a show in the same night.

 

Three cruises in, however, we realized that we were not really enjoying either experience because of the rushed pace.

 

At this point, we just allow dinner to be "the event" of certain evenings, and skip the show altogether. Other evenings, we arrange our dining schedule around the show.

[LHT28]

Speaking of entertainment and food....What time are the shows sheduled in the evening?

The main show usually starts at 9:45 sometimes 9:30 run till 10:30 pm

 

Trivia & other such events may start earlier in the evening

[LHT28]

Speaking of entertainment and food....What time are the shows sheduled in the evening?

 

At this site a couple of people have been kind enough to scan the newsletters from a Marina & Nautica cruise

http://www.1mpages.com/CruiseDailyBulletins.html

Gives you an idea of the daily activities ...times may vary from cruise to cruise

 

Lyn

[webpixi]

I don't know about the other 6th floor rooms over the lounge, but we were in 6006, and every night could hear quite a lot of the show coming through our floor. Mostly just muffled music, but if you're actively avoiding the entertainment, I wanted to point that out.

[SPJOY]

We are soon to leave on our 13th credited cruise with Oceania. We have enjoyed the staff entertainers and also the chance to visit with them on board. Also, many of the specialty entertainers who come aboard for just a couple of shows have been excellent.:)

 

Complaints we have made to Oceania for the past four years are primarily two:

 

A. The same shows are repeated on back to back cruises - bummer. Don't understand why the performers are not allowed to change their show for the following cruise (corporate dictate - information direct from the performers).:confused:

 

B. Karaoke which I love is a disaster. Other than our first cruise which had a great group of Canadians, myself and usually one or very few others show up (please don't say it was my singing) and sometimes some of the entertainment staff. The problem is the song list which is very poor for karaoke for all ages - those that saw it all agree. Not even any show tunes or songs from the sing-a -long booklet. The list has been reprinted but is the same old list from more than 4 years ago. I have offered to bring my karaoke mike and chips (compatible with the ship equipment) containing thousands of songs - just about everything - but have not been allowed to plug it in and my latest request was rejected this past month.:mad:

 

If you like to sing, the sing-a-longs are great and well attended when they have them during the day or just after the evening show. Past experience is that they only have one or two of these per cruise, even on longer cruises. :(

 

SPJOY

[LHT28]

We are soon to leave on our 13th credited cruise with Oceania. We have enjoyed the staff entertainers and also the chance to visit with them on board. Also, many of the specialty entertainers who come aboard for just a couple of shows have been excellent.:)

 

Complaints we have made to Oceania for the past four years are primarily two:

 

A. The same shows are repeated on back to back cruises - bummer. Don't understand why the performers are not allowed to change their show for the following cruise (corporate dictate - information direct from the performers).:confused:We stopped going to the staff shows so no problem but they seem to have the same program for all the ships just depends on the talent at the time whether it is good or not

 

B. Karaoke which I love is a disaster. Other than our first cruise which had a great group of Canadians, myself and usually one or very few others show up (please don't say it was my singing) and sometimes some of the entertainment staff.

 

SPJOY

Maybe the passengers are just not that into Karaoke ..I know it is hard to believe :eek:

 

Lyn

[SPJOY]

We are soon to leave on our 14th credited cruise with Oceania. We have enjoyed the staff entertainers and also the chance to visit with them on board. Also, many of the specialty entertainers who come aboard for just a couple of shows have been excellent.:)

 

Complaints we have made to Oceania for the past four years are primarily two:

 

A. The same shows are repeated on back to back cruises - bummer. Don't understand why the performers are not allowed to change their show for the following cruise (corporate dictate - information direct from the performers).:confused:

 

B. Karaoke which I love is a disaster. Other than our first cruise which had a great group of Canadians, myself and usually one or very few others show up (please don't say it was my singing) and sometimes some of the entertainment staff. The problem is the song list which is very poor for karaoke for all ages - those that saw it all agree. Not even any show tunes or songs from the sing-a -long booklet. The list has been reprinted but is the same old list from more than 4 years ago. I have offered to bring my karaoke mike and chips (compatible with the ship equipment) containing thousands of songs - just about everything - but have not been allowed to plug it in and my latest request was rejected this past month.:mad:

 

If you like to sing, the sing-a-longs are great and well attended when they have them during the day or just after the evening show. Past experience is that they only have one or two of these per cruise, even on longer cruises. :(

 

SPJOY

[JimandStan]

Sing-a-longs? Really?

 

That hasn't been a part of popular entertainment in the United States since the Mitch Miller Show was cancelled.

And I'm no kid, I remember Mitch Miller.....:rolleyes:

[GrammieK]

Never thought my husband and I would be a fan of sing-a-longs either! But there we were, in the piano bar at Sandals, drinking and before we knew it, we were all singing Hotel California! And I must add, it did not stop there! We sang for hours and enjoyed every minute of it. Of course, we were on land and the chance of running into any of our choirmates was very slim.

[White Cat]

We just returned from a 15-day Insignia cruise and frankly the entertainment was the best of any of the 6 other Oceania cruises we have taken. There are new shows and I was told there are different shows on each ship so there supposedly will not be duplication. The quality of the singers was also better than any previous cruise. There was a tenor who was very good as was Margaret Lynn, the assistant cruise director, who performs country and western music.

 

Is the entertainment equal to that offered on larger ships? No, but then my expectation level is that the smaller ships cannot compete in this area. Insignia has switched to one main show at 9:30 p.m. to accommodate both early and later diners. As we eat late, we sometimes missed the show, but I did like not having to wait until 10:15 p.m. for the late show, especially if we had an early port day to follow.

[LHT28]

 

Insignia has switched to one main show at 9:30 p.m. to accommodate both early and later diners. As we eat late, we sometimes missed the show, but I did like not having to wait until 10:15 p.m. for the late show, especially if we had an early port day to follow.

 

I have done 8 Oceania cruises & never have seen a late show advertised for the lounge

The show (as in one) is generally 9:30 or 9:45pm

They may have some activities going on in Horizons after the main show

 

Lyn

[wripro]

Unfortunately, many people equate a large number of semi talented singers and dancers strutting around a stage in big production numbers with good entertainment. I'd much rather see one really talented person performing alone on a stage. On Regatta recently they had Dale Kristien (starred on Broadway for years with Michael Crawford in Phantom) singing and she gave a great show. Of course, it's all subjective.

[baldercash]

Unfortunately, many people equate a large number of semi talented singers and dancers strutting around a stage in big production numbers with good entertainment. I'd much rather see one really talented person performing alone on a stage. On Regatta recently they had Dale Kristien (starred on Broadway for years with Michael Crawford in Phantom) singing and she gave a great show. Of course, it's all subjective.

 

What type of entertainment people enjoy is subjective, the qualifications of Dale Kristien are not, those who do not like his performances do so due to their personal tastes not because of the caliber of the talent.

[LHT28]

What type of entertainment people enjoy is subjective, the qualifications of Dale Kristien are not, those who do not like his performances do so due to their personal tastes not because of the caliber of the talent.

So that does that mean you did not like her?

 

Entertainment is like food it is all subjective.... much like many things in life. ;);)

 

Lyn