Princess Theatre Showtime

[joe d]

I just got off a 14 day cruise on the Caribbean Princess and I am still upset about the timing of the evening shows. For us this is one of the most important items of the cruise. On this cruise the first show of the evening was at 8:15 instead of the usual 7:15. Note, there was a live feed of the shows in the in the Explorers Lounge.

 

The first night we went to the theatre we arrived one half hour early only to find the theatre full. We proceeded to the Explorers Lounge to also find it full. If you wanted a good seat you had to arrive at least one hour early and even that was playing it a little too close. One night we went one hour and 10 minutes early and there was already a long line outside the theatre. After this nonsense we just gave up on the shows all together.

 

I have never seen so many disgruntled customers in one place as a theatre full of people waiting over an hour to see the show.

[BJS]

I just got off a 14 day cruise on the Caribbean Princess and I am still upset about the timing of the evening shows. For us this is one of the most important items of the cruise. On this cruise the first show of the evening was at 8:15 instead of the usual 7:15. Note, there was a live feed of the shows in the in the Explorers Lounge.

 

The first night we went to the theatre we arrived one half hour early only to find the theatre full. We proceeded to the Explorers Lounge to also find it full. If you wanted a good seat you had to arrive at least one hour early and even that was playing it a little too close. One night we went one hour and 10 minutes early and there was already a long line outside the theatre. After this nonsense we just gave up on the shows all together.

 

I have never seen so many disgruntled customers in one place as a theatre full of people waiting over an hour to see the show.

I am very sorry you felt you had to give up the shows all together.

Show times will vary from ship to ship, depending on the CD, itinerary and other evening entertainment. Yes, some cruises 1 hour before to insure a seat is required...we bring our books. Late shows usually do not have this issue.

Maybe all those "disgruntled customers" will chose not to attend the early show next time you are onboard and you will not have this issue.

[jagoffee]

We do agree about Princess’s main theater seating. We were on the Emerald in October. It seems to me like the area does not even seat 25% of the people on board. We went to a show 1 hour and 10 minutes before the show and we could not even sit together. It seemed like it was better on the Royal Princess.

[pris993]

Did on have a problem on Royal and Grand recently. We usually go about 45 minutes early.

[fishywood]

I really can't tell from the OP's post whether this was a nightly occurrence or just what occurred on embarkation day when there is usually just one performance.

 

And I don't recall Princess often using 7:15 as a regular show time, other than possibly the one or two nights that there are two performances but the early one is specified as a pre-dinner show for late seating. Usually that is around 7:00 but could be at 7:15 if late fixed seating is 8:00 or 8:15. On nights with three performances the first is usually 6:45 or 7:00, with subsequent ones at 8:30 and 10:15. If the schedule was not a reasonable facsimile of the above then you have an Entertainment Director experimenting with changes.

 

Since the OP was on board for two weeks if they discovered this issue early they could have filled out a comment card which would have gotten them a personal response from someone in the entertainment department. Maybe they would have put a third performance on some additional nights, but that would depend on the performer's contract. Unfortunately the performance with highest demand and the greatest necessity to arrive early will always be the one timed to follow early seating dinner, especially on the nights with shows only at 8:00 or 8:15 and 10:00 or 10:15. Which has always been 50% or greater of the nights onboard my Princess cruises; I would never rely on their being an earlier performance until seeing it listed in the Patter. If someone does prefer to dine early (or relatively late at ATD or the buffett) they could look for one of the alternative activities or live music during the peak hours and then attend the late show in the theater.

 

Bottom line is the timing of the shows is not the problem, the peak hour demand is. And always will be no matter how Princess adjusts the times; it is better to adjust your own schedule to when the venues may be less crowded. Where else are you going in the evenings?

[chicopaige]

Having to arrive at least 30 minutes early to secure a seat in the theatre is standard procedure, seeming to get worse with each cruise I take. There are no Princess personnel around as people battle over “saved” seats-they know a lot of upset people so they make themselves scarce. Princess needs to offer 3 shows per night!

[cruising deacon]

A couple of weeks ago we were on the Regal and the same 8 pm showtime for the first show. There was nothing prior to that each evening. Since we tend to eat early, we usually walk the ship now for some time after dinner. Seems to us that the entertainment on Princess has gone steadily downhill for the last 5 years. For most of us who cruise more than once or twice a year, the shows have been around for so long, we don't bother to go to see them. Although, on this crusie there was a new one for us "Born to Dance", and it was pretty good. The comedians are getting old, we don't bother to go see them any more either. Maybe its time to check out other lines.

 

Therefore for us, with the show times being later in the evening and lack of diversity in them, we tend not to go.

[Kenswing]

I just got off a 14 day cruise on the Caribbean Princess and I am still upset about the timing of the evening shows. For us this is one of the most important items of the cruise. On this cruise the first show of the evening was at 8:15 instead of the usual 7:15. Note, there was a live feed of the shows in the in the Explorers Lounge.

 

The first night we went to the theatre we arrived one half hour early only to find the theatre full. We proceeded to the Explorers Lounge to also find it full. If you wanted a good seat you had to arrive at least one hour early and even that was playing it a little too close. One night we went one hour and 10 minutes early and there was already a long line outside the theatre. After this nonsense we just gave up on the shows all together.

 

I have never seen so many disgruntled customers in one place as a theatre full of people waiting over an hour to see the show.

I was also on this cruise and totally agree with you. Having to show up an hour early to get a seat is ridiculous. We also ended up only going to one show.

[Hlitner]

Our observation is that Princess has designed their theaters with less seating (as a percentage of total passenger capacity) then nearly all the other cruise lines (13) upon which we have cruised. This sometimes has caused CDs to schedule a 3rd show in order to calm the infuriated masses. For us, it is not a problem since we practice active "queue avoidance" which means simply arranging our schedule to avoid the biggest crowds. So when it comes to the evening we tend to dine late (after 8) and attend the shows intended for the late diners. It is the show for earlier diners that is generally the problem. Another observation is that when we started cruising (in the mid 70s) it was the late sittings that were most in demand (most folks preferred to wail until the sun went down before having dinner). But now, the "worm has turned" and it always seems like a majority want to dine early (especially true for North Americans). We even met a few Floridans who complained that the Early Sittings (and early open dining) was not early enough...as they were used to eating "Early Birds" around 4pm :).

 

Hank

P.S. Wonder how some of these folks would deal with parts of Spain where restaurants do not even open until around 9pm.

[floridalover5623]

Yes, the show lounges are usually filled early as you found out. It all has a lot to do with what type show is being offered that particular night.

Juggler- you can arrive any time.

Production show- 1 hour early.

Not having after dinner coffee and chatting with everyone at the table excessively during the meal also helps to get a decent seat. ;)

[Cruise-Crazzy]

I have been on cruises that had 3 shows a night.

[hm9912]

I just got off a 14 day cruise on the Caribbean Princess and I am still upset about the timing of the evening shows. For us this is one of the most important items of the cruise. On this cruise the first show of the evening was at 8:15 instead of the usual 7:15. Note, there was a live feed of the shows in the in the Explorers Lounge.

 

The first night we went to the theatre we arrived one half hour early only to find the theatre full. We proceeded to the Explorers Lounge to also find it full. If you wanted a good seat you had to arrive at least one hour early and even that was playing it a little too close. One night we went one hour and 10 minutes early and there was already a long line outside the theatre. After this nonsense we just gave up on the shows all together.

 

I have never seen so many disgruntled customers in one place as a theatre full of people waiting over an hour to see the show.

 

The same is true on the Regal and the Royal which is why we have 5:30 dining. On the Regal one adult and three grandchildren could save seats in almost an entire row for our family of eight. We had no problem and the kids enjoyed the shows.

 

Photo taken on the Regal 7:27PM for the 8:15 show and the theatre was filling up fast

 

 

 

Howard