Best line for music and food?

[DarrenM]

I really dislike classical music and jazz.and country.

 

Yet on a cruise ship I dont mind any of it.

 

And I am not expert enough to know whether any of the musicians are mediocre. A term I find quite offensive.

 

Maybe as a child of punk music, where you didnt have to be a master of your instrument and anyone could give it a go i am more respectful of anyone that tries.

 

Sadly you dont get a good punk guitar band on a cruise ship.

 

Hey ho let's go

[Luigi007]

16 minutes ago, DarrenM said:

I really dislike classical music and jazz.and country.

 

Yet on a cruise ship I dont mind any of it.

 

And I am not expert enough to know whether any of the musicians are mediocre. A term I find quite offensive.

 

Maybe as a child of punk music, where you didnt have to be a master of your instrument and anyone could give it a go i am more respectful of anyone that tries.

 

Sadly you dont get a good punk guitar band on a cruise ship.

 

Hey ho let's go

Sorry if my use of the word mediocre offended you. But hey, they really weren't good. What can I say?

So, let's make an analogy. If I watch a sports match and the teams and players are not good, and the match is boring and of low quality, should I not say so, and just say that I'm respectful of their effort? Or a bad actor in a movie? In any form of entertainment, if someone puts him or herself out there and performs for the public, he or she is subject to criticism. 

[navybankerteacher]

2 hours ago, Luigi007 said:

I guess they do offer it lately, since I just met someone who was in a HAL cruise with the same dates and itineraries of our Alaska cruise on the Norwegian Bliss (I actually saw their ship several times) and she said they had Lincoln Center jazz musicians and chamber music ensembles were performing during their cruise.

Good to hear - years ago they always had a string quartet, a fairly decent small orchestra and live music , piano - sometimes accompanied by strings in the MDR for dinner - lately, very little.

[Aquahound]

4 hours ago, Luigi007 said:

I guess they do offer it lately, since I just met someone who was in a HAL cruise with the same dates and itineraries of our Alaska cruise on the Norwegian Bliss (I actually saw their ship several times) and she said they had Lincoln Center jazz musicians and chamber music ensembles were performing during their cruise.

 

I'm thinking they don't really know what jazz is.  On my last HAL cruise, which was one of their brand new Pinnacle Class ships, Lincoln Center Stage was only a string quartet.  In fact, I haven't seen live jazz on any of my HAL cruises.  

The best jazz I ever heard on a cruise was on Oasis and Allure of the Seas.  Then again, all the entertainment on those ships is pretty much top notch.    

Edited September 13, 2019 by Aquahound

[DarrenM]

9 hours ago, Luigi007 said:

Sorry if my use of the word mediocre offended you. But hey, they really weren't good. What can I say?

So, let's make an analogy. If I watch a sports match and the teams and players are not good, and the match is boring and of low quality, should I not say so, and just say that I'm respectful of their effort? Or a bad actor in a movie? In any form of entertainment, if someone puts him or herself out there and performs for the public, he or she is subject to criticism. 

Except usually when you attend a sports match, you are a fan of one or the other teams, and you will have paid specifically for that event.

 

And usually if you are a fan of one of the teams, as long as you win, the entertainment value is secondary.

 

Whereas the music on a cruise ship is supplied free to us all, and is never going to satisfy everyone.

[Luigi007]

50 minutes ago, DarrenM said:

Except usually when you attend a sports match, you are a fan of one or the other teams, and you will have paid specifically for that event.

 

And usually if you are a fan of one of the teams, as long as you win, the entertainment value is secondary.

 

Whereas the music on a cruise ship is supplied free to us all, and is never going to satisfy everyone.

No, we’re all paying customers. It’s not free. It’s included in the price you paid for your cruise. All included amenities and entertainment are part of the money you paid and a fraction of it goes to the musicians’ salaries. There is no free lunch. My analogy is actually more accurate than yours. If you play an instrument as an amateur for free I’ll forgive your mistakes, but if you are a professional playing for a salary and I’m a paying customer I have the right to criticize. Funny that we are posting on a website forum called the Cruise CRITIC and you’re berating me for criticizing.

[Hlitner]

On 9/10/2019 at 10:27 PM, lenquixote66 said:

RCI is the only cruise line in recent memory that offers classical music as entertainment.

Surely you jest.  Consider that HAL has a classical duo (such as violin and piano) on every cruise that plays nightly.  Princess also has a classical duo on most of their cruises (we just came off the Caribbean Princess where they had two violinists who were excellent and drew a decent crowd every evening.   HAL (and even Princess) will also book some Classical Guest Entertainers,,,,often a concert pianist or a violinist.  And HAL now has their "Lincoln Center" entertainment on several of their ships.  But just to mention our most recent (just back last week) Caribbean Princess cruise besides that nightly violin duo we had a classical violinist in the main show room (2 evenings) and a skilled pianist (he thought he was Liberace) who also did two main shows.  We have also had some pretty decent Opera Guest performers on Princess, Celebrity and HAL.

 

As to your mention of RCI, the problem is that RCI's food leaves much to be desired.

 

But I do think the problem is finding a line that has truly good cuisine and good classical music.  Not sure it exists.  Some would argue that Oceania has very good cuisine, but their entertainment generally is nothing great.  Not so sure about Crystal since it has been a few years since we cruised on that line, but I do not remember being overwhelmed by their cuisine (it was very good....just not great) or entertainment.

 

Hank

[lenquixote66]

3 minutes ago, Hlitner said:

Surely you jest.  Consider that HAL has a classical duo (such as violin and piano) on every cruise that plays nightly.  Princess also has a classical duo on most of their cruises (we just came off the Caribbean Princess where they had two violinists who were excellent and drew a decent crowd every evening.   HAL (and even Princess) will also book some Classical Guest Entertainers,,,,often a concert pianist or a violinist.  And HAL now has their "Lincoln Center" entertainment on several of their ships.  But just to mention our most recent (just back last week) Caribbean Princess cruise besides that nightly violin duo we had a classical violinist in the main show room (2 evenings) and a skilled pianist (he thought he was Liberace) who also did two main shows.  We have also had some pretty decent Opera Guest performers on Princess, Celebrity and HAL.

 

As to your mention of RCI, the problem is that RCI's food leaves much to be desired.

 

But I do think the problem is finding a line that has truly good cuisine and good classical music.  Not sure it exists.  Some would argue that Oceania has very good cuisine, but their entertainment generally is nothing great.  Not so sure about Crystal since it has been a few years since we cruised on that line, but I do not remember being overwhelmed by their cuisine (it was very good....just not great) or entertainment.

 

Hank

You probably did not see that I posted afterward that I was basing my response solely on cruise lines I have been on.

I happen to love pizza on RCI cruise ships but I also love pizza that my wife refers to as having the taste of cardboard.

I have been on HAL ships but not since 2013,Cunard not since 1973,Carnival not since 1994,Celebrity not since 2015. The last few years only on NCL and RCI and never on any other cruise line.