Crew Shows

[Northeastal]

DW and myself are just back from a btb on the Emerald Princess. Had a great time but wanted to pose a question to the forum.

 

We are Elite and these were the first two cruises that we have been on that did not have a Crew Show. Kelvin Joy was the CD but we sailed with him last October on the Crown and that did have Crew Shows.

 

Once you have seen a few crew shows these are not really a miss, you can only watch so many versions of "if I were not upon the sea".

 

I was curious though as to whether this was now a fleet wide initiative.

 

Any comments?

[Cruiserkenn]

Had a great crew show on the Star in March. David Cole was the CD. He even played a musical instrument! Something like a piccolo... I am not sure of the name.

 

A great show!

 

The ship's doctor played piano, and sang a duet with an engineer. She wore a beautiful gown! The medical staff was there in the aisles, taking pictures.

 

Also have had great crew shows on the Sapphire in the past year.

 

They were thrilling!

[derdejoh]

No crew show on the CB this March, but the "cooking" demonstration was sort of turned into the crew show -- representatives from the different dining rooms singing, comedy skits, etc.

[mr green]

Golden Princess did a great show, a couple of weeks ago, it lasted an hour.

The highlight IMO was C.D. Billy Highgate singing 'If I were a rich man' from 'Fiddler on the roof!!!'

 

john

[tartanexile81]

I could not stand hearing 'If I were Not Upon The Sea' another time so like Northeastal, I would not be unduly upset if we missed that part of the show. However we know how much some of the crew look forward to performing so I'm pleased to say on all the longer cruises we've always had the show

[OCruisers]

On both of our Crown Princess sailings in January we DID have a Crew Show. :)

While that was only four months ago, things can and do change rapidly. :rolleyes:

LuLu

[antsp]

Kelvin did announce that there was no crew show because there was no one to take part.

[Times Prince]

Kelvin did announce that there was no crew show because there was no one to take part.

Good for them. The crew has enough to do without having to prepare for a show where they are the entertainment.

 

I don't know about Princess, but when we cruised HAL in 1997 the crew was required to put on a show and were not compensated for this service.

[RickEk]

I could not stand hearing 'If I were Not Upon The Sea' another time so like Northeastal, I would not be unduly upset if we missed that part of the show. However we know how much some of the crew look forward to performing so I'm pleased to say on all the longer cruises we've always had the show

 

The last time we went to the crew show a couple of years ago, they had this:

instead of "If I Were Not..."

 

Good for them. The crew has enough to do without having to prepare for a show where they are the entertainment.

 

I don't know about Princess, but when we cruised HAL in 1997 the crew was required to put on a show and were not compensated for this service.

 

From what I understand, the crew shows on Princess are completely voluntary and it gives them an opportunity to show off their talents. We've seen some extraordinary performances and, of course, some that were not so much...:) We've also spoken to some of the performers afterwards and they were grateful to Princess that they were able to perform.

[Cruiserkenn]

Golden Princess did a great show, a couple of weeks ago, it lasted an hour.

The highlight IMO was C.D. Billy Highgate singing 'If I were a rich man' from 'Fiddler on the roof!!!'

 

john

 

Wow! I have heard Billy sing twice on the Sapphire. Fantastic!

[Cruiserkenn]

I could not stand hearing 'If I were Not Upon The Sea' another time so like Northeastal, I would not be unduly upset if we missed that part of the show. However we know how much some of the crew look forward to performing so I'm pleased to say on all the longer cruises we've always had the show

 

Yes, true. They often have If I Were Not Upon the Sea at the end, so I can leave at that point:)

[caribill]

Kelvin did announce that there was no crew show because there was no one to take part.

 

Right. Some ships have a number of talented crew who are willing to showcase their talents and some ships do not.

[Cruisecrazy25]

Just a random story... The crew show started the year Florida got hit with 3 hurricanes (I think 2004 or 2005). My mom and dad were on the CB and Port Everglades closed and they had to stay out at sea a few days. The Cruise director had to come up with some more entertainment for the guests and the crew show was born... Or so he told the people on board haha! Maybe this is true, maybe it isn't. I can say we never had a crew show before this cruise, and almost every cruise after this one, we did. One cruise he even told this story of it's beginnings so maybe it is true.

 

We were on the Royal in March and there was no crew show.

[cdngrl]

The last time we went to the crew show a couple of years ago, they had this:

instead of "If I Were Not...".

 

oh my goodness, that's hilarious...gives me lots of ideas for a family reunion....

 

From what I understand, the crew shows on Princess are completely voluntary and it gives them an opportunity to show off their talents. We've seen some extraordinary performances and, of course, some that were not so much...:) We've also spoken to some of the performers afterwards and they were grateful to Princess that they were able to perform.

 

totally agree. one bartender wanted to sing (and he was good!) he had us petition the cruise director to let him perform.

[PescadoAmarillo]

Crew shows stopped in the Emerald Princess in late February (I think). It was before Kelvin came on board. I can believe that there was a lack of crew participation.

[EightFurryPaws]

When we were on the Ruby, our cabin steward, who was in the crew show, said they get paid $20 USD for each performance.

[rpcv77]

I was on the Diamond this past Christmas and we had a wonderful crew show. Kelvin Joy was CD. If it's completely voluntary and the crew enjoys doing it, it's a lot of fun. If no one volunteers, so be it. We had no crew show on my recent cruise on the Grand. I certainly hope no one would ever be mandated to participate just to make passengers happy!

[cruisequeen4ever]

I love the crew show, too! On our Hawaiian cruise, they had the ukulele/hula performance the last night instead of the crew show. :-(

 

 

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[Northeastal]

Many thanks Antsp. I did not hear Kelvin's announcement but that would make sense.

[pablo222]

From what I understand, the crew shows on Princess are completely voluntary and it gives them an opportunity to show off their talents.

 

I guess voluntary -- in that they don't have to actually do it.

 

I know a dancer who did a bit in the "if not upon the sea"

She was paid $25 to do the show; just like the dancers get

extra pay for doing art auctions or shopping talk.

 

I don't know for sure, but I assume the other crew show performers

-- other than cruise staff -- get paid to show up, too.

[Stevesan]

HAL always has at least one crew show in the main theater. They are often better than the hired professionals.

[SadieN]

On the Sapphire in March balloons were passed out beforehand. Full showroom of pax hitting balloons all over the place. :)

Everyone was getting involved except for a few looking disgusted with their arms crossed or a few others reading their kindles.

[JimmyVWine]

Wow! I have heard Billy sing twice on the Sapphire. Fantastic!

"Wow" is right! If you ever get a chance to see Billy do this rendition at a crew show, do not pass it up, even if you see only that performance.

[Cruiserkenn]

On the Sapphire in March balloons were passed out beforehand. Full showroom of pax hitting balloons all over the place. :)

Everyone was getting involved except for a few looking disgusted with their arms crossed or a few others reading their kindles.

 

Yes! They also had the balloon experience on the Star in March. Fun:)

 

I also have seen it on the Sapphire. Always fun!

 

Enjoy :)

[Cruiserkenn]

"Wow" is right! If you ever get a chance to see Billy do this rendition at a crew show, do not pass it up, even if you see only that performance.

 

Thanks so much! I know that your recommendations are always good.