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Illusionarium Bites the Dust


djmess
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Thank you for trying to make me feel better. :)

 

"... unfortunately, I booked the Getaway specifically for Legally Blonde.... I am a huge fan of Legally Blonde. I know the soundtrack by heart, I've seen the show numerous times (but only on video, not live), I even watched the "The Search For Elle Woods" competition show on MTV a few years back, etc.

 

My wife and I have seen dozens of shows on Broadway, yet I didn't particularly enjoy NCL's staging of "Legally Blonde."

 

Until I gave it a second try. I'm glad I did. While the plot is feather light, the talent, music, costumes, set design, and lighting were impressive, especially given that the musical was staged on the high seas. (Admission: After seeing that outrageously fit blonde do her "Whipped Into Shape" dance number, I wasn't right for weeks. ;))

 

Still, there is a season for everything and let's face it: Most (not all) men do not enjoy musicals, period. During the first showing two years ago, two couples sat behind us and just ragged on the show from start to finish--loudly and with disgust--as if they were being forced to watch it. Meanwhile, dozens other couples walked out during the show, something which one rarely sees on Broadway.

 

Turnover is the way of the stage world. As I write this, more than a dozen major shows on Broadway are set to leave, replaced by other shows. People want variety. While I adore "Burn the Floor," I wouldn't be surprised to see it replaced by another show in a year or two.

Edited by chesapeake2atlantic
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Just off the Getaway. We saw the Illusionarium and IMHO it was so cheesy and not worth the extra cost. We saw the cirque show on the Epic and loved that one so we had high expectations. Not surprised its going away.

 

A HUGE surprise was Million Dollar Quartet!!! Phenomenal!!! Hands down best show I have seen on a cruise ship in over 20 cruises. Very talented group. Don't miss this one.

 

Burn the floor was excellent as well.

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My wife and I have seen dozens of shows on Broadway, yet I didn't particularly enjoy NCL's staging of "Legally Blonde."

 

Until I gave it a second try. I'm glad I did. While the plot is feather light, the talent, music, costumes, set design, and lighting were impressive, especially given that the musical was staged on the high seas. (Admission: After seeing that outrageously fit blonde do her "Whipped Into Shape" dance number, I wasn't right for weeks. ;))

 

Still, there is a season for everything and let's face it: Most (not all) men do not enjoy musicals, period. During the first showing two years ago, two couples sat behind us and just ragged on the show from start to finish--loudly and with disgust--as if they were being forced to watch it. Meanwhile, dozens other couples walked out during the show, something which one rarely sees on Broadway.

 

Turnover is the way of the stage world. As I write this, more than a dozen major shows on Broadway are set to leave, replaced by other shows. People want variety. While I adore "Burn the Floor," I wouldn't be surprised to see it replaced by another show in a year or two.

 

Hahahaha! I'm impressed that you actually caught (and remembered!) the name of the song! ;) :p

 

I know that Legally Blonde isn't everyone's cup of tea, because it IS very "light" and silly and girly, but Blue Man Group wasn't my cup of tea when I was on the Epic (and it was there both times I was on that ship - and yes, I saw it without walking out mid-performance!). "After Midnight" on the Escape was not my cup of tea either. My solo friends and I agreed that the show was way too long (we were ready to leave about half way into it). Yet...I'm sure there are other people who really loved both of those shows.

 

So while I know Legally Blonde wasn't overly popular, and do I understand why it was removed, that doesn't mean that I'm not disappointed. As a fan, I would love to have had the chance to see it, because unlike a lot of the people who apparently didn't like it, I'm already very familiar with the plot, the silliness of the songs, etc. So none of that would have come as a surprise to me. (In fact, I'd be the odd girl silently singing along to the songs and trying to keep myself from dancing the entire time.)

 

If there is a show on a ship that isn't something that interests me, I simply don't go see it. I just do something else after dinner. But that's what is creating a problem for me with this cruise: everything (entertainment-wise) that I'm interested in is being removed and the things that are left behind hold no interest! :(

 

Anyway, about the Illusionarium, I hope NCL gets its act together quickly, because unless whatever takes the place of the Illusionarium is something that I want to see, I want my money back! That's not a free stage show that I can simply decide to forego. I paid extra for that one! lol

Edited by dreamr
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I had to call NCL today for a different issue and asked about the Illusionarium. I was told the same thing about the stop sale in September. The lady on the phone guessed that they were making a change but would still keep the dinner show format. She admitted that they received no such details and was just speculating.

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Securing the rights for Hamilton would require something NCL doesn't want to spend...money.

 

Agreed, Frank Del Rio's business model seems to be to fill up ships utilizing gimmick promotions and aggressive advertising. FDR is slowly phasing out many of the outside production shows by not renewing rights to many brands. So far the Pitbull commercials with scantily clad women and the gimmick promotions seem to be working just fine.

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Agreed, Frank Del Rio's business model seems to be to fill up ships utilizing gimmick promotions and aggressive advertising. FDR is slowly phasing out many of the outside production shows by not renewing rights to many brands. So far the Pitbull commercials with scantily clad women and the gimmick promotions seem to be working just fine.

 

Ha ha about the Pitbull song... FORD is using it right now in their commercials. Very imaginative advertising campaign by Norwegian. They couldn't even secure exclusivity rights to the usage of the song for their brand image in advertising! Cheap man. :cool:

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  • 2 weeks later...
We spoke to NCL TODAY .They confirmed illusionarium is going and were really quite arrogant, stating they can change what they want when they want at any time. Really bad could notcare less attitude. Its our first and maybe last time with NCL . I am already concerned about the service and we have not even sailed yet.

We really booked this for Legally blonde and the illusionarium. We are very dissapointed but NCL dont seem to care !

 

I wonder why they said that? It is not "gone"

It was temporarily unavailable for booking.

Enjoy your cruise!

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I wonder why they said that? It is not "gone"

 

It was temporarily unavailable for booking.

 

Enjoy your cruise!

 

 

 

Going on past performance, the fact that NCL telephone reps said it was going was just about the biggest clue we had that it wasn't.

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I'm hoping it's back for our November cruise. I want my SIL who's never seen it to be able go. Not sure who'll be performing as they all just have 6 month contracts. That keeps the show fresh. Hoping the mentalist is as good as the one we saw there. They're currently in the semi finals of America Got Talent Show, call themselves the Clairvoyants now.

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  • 4 weeks later...

Just wondering if there is anything new regarding Illusionarium. Are you still able to book for Oct. and Nov.? We don't sail until Jan. so too early for us to book but wondering if there is even a possibility of it being an option. Trying to plan now so we'll be ready when we hit 90 days.

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False thread. You're fine for booking. It was just off the books for a bit.

 

Seems that there is lotsa not-quite -accurate info out there lately!

 

I started the thread when I was told by NCL that It was no longer going to be on the ship. We have all come to learn to never trust anything that NCL tells us. I'm cruising Oct 2 and apparently it is bookable for us once again.

 

So when this thread was started, it was not false or not quite accurate, it is what NCL told us. Thus the thread was started.

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I started the thread when I was told by NCL that It was no longer going to be on the ship. We have all come to learn to never trust anything that NCL tells us. I'm cruising Oct 2 and apparently it is bookable for us once again.

 

So when this thread was started, it was not false or not quite accurate, it is what NCL told us. Thus the thread was started.

 

 

Understandable. Since the info is no longer valid you may want to ask the mods to delete it so people don't start reading through pages of invalid info.

 

Just a thought.

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I started the thread when I was told by NCL that It was no longer going to be on the ship. We have all come to learn to never trust anything that NCL tells us. I'm cruising Oct 2 and apparently it is bookable for us once again.

 

So when this thread was started, it was not false or not quite accurate, it is what NCL told us. Thus the thread was started.

 

My comment was not a shot at you. There IS a lot of bad info in this forum of late. A lot of it is misinformation by NCL reps. And some is conjecture, which morphs into the threads becoming NCL bashing, " oh my Gawd - I can't bring epi-pens on board anymore".

 

I was told on Tuesday by the preconcierge that Headliners would no longer be requiring reservations. That the venue was, and I quote , " walk in and sit down, no reservation needed" for the comedy sets. On Friday I was told that it will absolutely still be requiring reservations made on board.

 

NCL needs to get their info act together.

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