Celebrity entertainment and questions for a newbie

[Velvetwater]

Hi

 

We are last minute cruise shopping and a 7 night Greek isles from Venice on the Constellation has caught our eye but I can remember a few cruisers on the general board saying that Celebrity was boring on sea days and at night. We like to lounge by the pool but not for a whole sea day and we like to do more than just have a few drinks at night so:

 

What are the main shows like?

Are there any specialist acts (we love illusions)?

Are then any regular comedy acts (this is our favourite night thing on Carnival)?

What is there to do on sea days that is without a fee?

Is there any trivia or quiz type things daily?

Is there a nightclub on board and is it busy?

We always make friends our age on cruises, is it easy to mingle on Celebrity?

 

We are a late twenties couple who are a bit foodie and and like different cultures. We do like to stay up late and party and participating in events with others but also thoroughly enjoy food demos and dressing to the nines for dinner. As you can see we are Carnival fans but are loyal to the best price and itinerary and have only done their longer cruises anyway. It would be great to see if anyone has sailed on both and could compare.

 

Thanks very much! :)

Edited April 19, 2015 by Velvetwater

[4774Papa]

Hi

 

We are last minute cruise shopping and a 7 night Greek isles from Venice on the Constellation has caught our eye but I can remember a few cruisers on the general board saying that Celebrity was boring on sea days and at night. We like to lounge by the pool but not for a whole sea day and we like to do more than just have a few drinks at night so:

 

What are the main shows like?

Are there any specialist acts (we love illusions)?

Are then any regular comedy acts (this is our favourite night thing on Carnival)?

What is there to do on sea days that is without a fee?

Is there any trivia or quiz type things daily?

Is there a nightclub on board and is it busy?

We always make friends our age on cruises, is it easy to mingle on Celebrity?

 

We are a late twenties couple who are a bit foodie and and like different cultures. We do like to stay up late and party and participating in events with others but also thoroughly enjoy food demos and dressing to the nines for dinner. As you can see we are Carnival fans but are loyal to the best price and itinerary and have only done their longer cruises anyway. It would be great to see if anyone has sailed on both and could compare.

 

Thanks very much! :)

We have done 8 Celebrity cruises, as well as two transatlantics with lots of sea days.

 

The entertainment for a 14 day cruise (that is all we do) will include three production shows from the Celebrity singers and dancers. The shows are usually very good to excellent.

 

There might be one night where you have an illusionists. There would be one or two nights with a comedian. Usually, there are one or two cirque solet type shows. Also, sometimes there is a classical pianist or violinist.

 

There are usually some good entertainers in the bars as well. You might have a pianist or guitarist/singer or trio doings classical.

 

It is easy to mingle on Celebrity and make friends. As for going to the bars after 10pm, we just don't do that. I know that others do go. You can find places to dance as well.

 

Most Celebrity cruisers are well traveled, well educated and friendly.

 

We also, cruise NCL, which attracts a younger crowd (somewhat), but prefer Celebrity.

[ClaudiaB]

There will be more lectures on a wide variety of topics - you never know what you'll get. Some are so popular they are in the main theatre. Lots of trivia and other fun game shows to do. Wine tastings - some free, some for-fee. Sometime art classes or craft classes and sometimes a passenger choir with rehearsals and flash mob with rehearsals. Zumba at the pool.

We've never sailed Carnival - we've actually been kind of leery of it.

I suggest going to the specialty restaurants because they're great and because in my opinion it's all a part of the cruising experience.

There won't be multiple shows on one night. Each night the main show is repeated twice. There may be a comedy show on some nights in the smaller theatre. Also as others have said, there are small musical groups in the different areas of the ship throughout the day. From what I can gather, there isn't quite as much on Celebrity as on other lines but you won't be bored either.

 

You will be able to make friends too. I find that cruisers in general are friendly and open and willing to chat. One reason we like to cruise.

 

Get on the roll call for your particular cruise and get involved beforehand so you can plan card games and other things ahead of time.

[jelayne]

What you won't find on Celebrity on are belly flop contests, hairy chest contests and a barrage of announcements.

 

What you will find is trivia, bingo, officers Vs guest competitions, eg pool volleyball, poker, Dancing with the Stripes (guest/officer partner in a dance contest) guest speakers, cooking demos, one announcement a day. Generally a comedian and illisionist. Band or DJ for late night dancing- may or may not be very lively. On port intensive cruises night life dies around 11:30-12.

[bEwAbG]

The Constellation is a lovely ship. I found it to be on the quiet side, though. I picked it because it was rumored to be a little more sedate, and it lived up to that expectation!

 

And to be honest, their production shows are pretty bad. The performers were all fine and hardworking (there was some genuinely good talent there) and the production values were great. However, the shows they were putting on were very under-cooked, conceptually. There was a weird mix of a very wide array of pop music to sometimes laughable effect, none of it geared to any specific demographic and sometimes not even matching the theme of the show. To be clear, I am perfectly fine with a music revue, but these were badly conceived. Celebrity has announced that they're doing new shows later this year, but the quality of those of course remains to be seen. So if you're going on the strength of the stage shows, I think you'll be disappointed. I was looking forward to at least some cheesy fun, but these didn't even rise to the level of that.

[Velvetwater]

Thanks for the replies everyone!

 

We are not into Vegas style/Cabaret style singing the Circe de Solil style thing sounds great....great to hear there are bands about too.

 

The announcements didn't bother us too much on Carnival as I always tuned it out but did almost go blind from a Hairy chest contest.

 

The water polo and food/wine demo and lectures do sound good though...we went to food and wine pairings on both our Carnival trips but the lectures were all about antiques and home improvements which sounded mundane so we didn't go.

 

Is the trivia a few times a day or less than that?

[anniebea]

I have only done one celebrity cruise, (Norwegian Fjords) the two couples who shared our table in the MDR were in to quizzes and from what I can remember there were a number of these throughout the day.

[notsomadhatter]

 

Is the trivia a few times a day or less than that?

 

My last cruise on Connie had trivia 3x a day. That may vary depending on the port intensity of your cruise.

[miched]

We have sailed on many Carnival cruises.

 

You will find that the cruise lines are more alike than different.

 

Celebrity will treat us more like a adult, no reminders over the TA when there is an event.

 

No wild crazy idiotic pool games, like hairy chest and etc.

 

No smoking, very restrictive.

 

Not as many comedians. May be one late night comedy show, plus the standard not so newly wed game and the liars club.

 

Naturally bingo but getting expensive.

 

Trivia and other game shows but the same as on Carnival, most people keep answer sheets and books from previous cruises. Went to a Wheel of Forune Game and people were yelling out the answer before a letter was shown.

 

Entertainment is rather weak, shows are OK but naturally a matter of taste.

 

Celebrity doesn't try to keep you constantly engaged in party type activities just to keep you busy. It is more relaxed and subdued but if you want to be active there is still plenty to but not as hectic.

 

happy cruising 🌊🚢🇺🇸🌞

[OCruisers]

Celebrity is a very nice cruise line and we are happy having dinner in the MDR without having to go to a specialty restaurant every night.

There will be lots of Trivia played.

It's way more laid back than Carnival which is good on port intensive cruises when you need to get to bed early. ;)

LuLu

[villageneighbor]

Others gave lots of good advice in terms of trivia, style of entertainment, wine tastings, kitchen tours, etc.

 

As a reminder you may also benefit from going to the roll call for Constellation and date you leave- to meet other like minded people and perhaps also jointly plan excursions for yah various ports.

Edited April 20, 2015 by villageneighbor

[Stateroom_Sailor]

Hi

 

We are last minute cruise shopping and a 7 night Greek isles from Venice on the Constellation has caught our eye but I can remember a few cruisers on the general board saying that Celebrity was boring on sea days and at night. We like to lounge by the pool but not for a whole sea day and we like to do more than just have a few drinks at night so:

 

What are the main shows like?

Are there any specialist acts (we love illusions)?

Are then any regular comedy acts (this is our favourite night thing on Carnival)?

What is there to do on sea days that is without a fee?

Is there any trivia or quiz type things daily?

Is there a nightclub on board and is it busy?

We always make friends our age on cruises, is it easy to mingle on Celebrity?

 

We are a late twenties couple who are a bit foodie and and like different cultures. We do like to stay up late and party and participating in events with others but also thoroughly enjoy food demos and dressing to the nines for dinner. As you can see we are Carnival fans but are loyal to the best price and itinerary and have only done their longer cruises anyway. It would be great to see if anyone has sailed on both and could compare.

 

Thanks very much! :)

 

I'm going to start out moderately pessimistic...

 

The shows are singing and dancing, giving tribute to the 70's and prior decades. You will see the crowds get animated to Village People multiple times throughout your cruise.

 

On our 7 day Millennium cruise, I thought the comedy and magic acts were sub par. No one does comedy like Carnival! I never saw the illusions act on Carnival to compare.

 

Sea days can be boring, at least initially. There's all kinds of trvia and quiz games on board, more than you would expect. There are port seminars, demonstrations, art auctions, and what not.

 

There's usually dancing after the crew leads performances of a specific decade's chart hits, or after the newlywed and other nighty games.

 

The one thing in common with Celebrity and Carnival passengers (unless it's a booze cruise), is that they're both very relaxed. Where Carnival passengers tend to be outgoing and jump right into friendly acquaintance talk, Celebrity passengers tend to be a little more reserved, with a bit more conversation depth. You'll find most are chatty as soon as someone breaks the ice. We made several friends on our Celebrity cruise.

 

On the Positive...

 

Even though you might feel out of place with some of the entertainment, it can still be interesting to watch (and people watch!). The service, ambiance, low key relaxing atmosphere, refreshments boarding the ship, Top Chef theme (at least I like it!), and general luxury stands on it's own. Lastly if you are a foodie, Celebrity is the best of the three lines we've tried.

 

Variety is the spice of life, and not all land vacations are gong to mix the same level of "fun" vs "luxury". We sail for ports first and foremost, but I'll enjoy either.

Edited April 20, 2015 by Stateroom_Sailor

[Evangaline]

Entertainment in the main theater is not the reason I booked a second cruise with Celebrity, but the lack of entertainment is why I am unlikely to book a third one. I was actually shocked at the low quality of main stage entertainment on our first cruise with Celebrity. After three attempts and then walking out of all three, we just gave up even bothering to look at the Daily to find out what was going on.

 

However, I understand that the line is trying to do some avant-garde shows and on our sailing on the Summit they did have a couple of shows like that. The only issue is that they did not start until around midnight and so with excursions first thing in the am, that was not going to happen. I will say that the line seems to have a weird idea of what people want to see and when they want to see it.

 

One thing I love about Celebrity, however, are their music duos. Loved the techno-rock duo in the Martini Bar, the salsa duo in Reflections and the Spanish guitarist in the Seaview Café. It comes close to making up for the other failings. The reason I stopped sailing with Royal Caribbean is the dorky old timey music like Neil Diamond. I thought if I heard 'sweet Caroline' one more time, I would start screaming.

 

As for sea days, I am quite content to just chill out on the deck with a mojito and Celebrity is pretty good at letting that happen without the barking microphone, but someone looking for pool games might be happier on a different line.