Standup/comedy routines from passengers.

[Mike981]

Not for me.

I was just wondering if passengers doing standup during the talent show or something, was ever a thing. I see many-many possible issues.

[lenquixote66]

2 hours ago, Mike981 said:

Not for me.

I was just wondering if passengers doing standup during the talent show or something, was ever a thing. I see many-many possible issues.

I was on a cruise in 2013 that had a passenger talent show.I believe the were told that any subject was okay except politics.

[rkacruiser]

I avoid attending passenger talent shows as if they were filled with Covid-19.  I pay good money for professional entertainment on a cruise.  I have no interest in the "want-to-be" entertainers.  

 

On some long cruises, a choir made up of guests have provided good entertainment.  Those are acceptable and sometimes very good.  

 

Otherwise, you won't find me in attendance at such a performance.    

[SteveH2508]

We did a 42 day Amazon cruise where they held a passenger 'talent' show one night. The 'talent' was very variable. There was one guy (very full of himself) who did a stand-up routine which was pretty dreadful. 

 

Roll forward about a year and I open the newspaper one day to see his and his wife's picture on the front page. They had just been arrested for drug smuggling in a port in Portugal (allegedly carrying designer suitcases as sales samples for someone else). They are now doing a long sentence in a Portugese prison. I feel sorry for his cellmate...

[ldubs]

10 hours ago, Mike981 said:

Not for me.

I was just wondering if passengers doing standup during the talent show or something, was ever a thing. I see many-many possible issues.

 

I recall seeing passenger talent shows, but never a comedy routine.  Most were singers.  There was one hula dancer.   

 

Kind of off topic but I used to really enjoy the crew talent shows.  There are some incredibly talented folks on the ships.   Very nice to watch, except for the cruise director staff silliness.

[sparks1093]

I think they had something like this one night on our first 4 day cruise although it wasn't stand up per se. Passengers were allowed to take the mike and tell their favorite joke as I recall. It wasn't all that dreadful but it wasn't one of my favorites either. Probably why I've only seen it once.

[LHT28]

years  ago  we did see  passenger talent shows on some lines

Saw a young boy  that sang opera  though not my  style of music his voice was incredible

They also had crew talent shows  & again mostly singers

[drsel]

some lines make the passengers and crew perform when they run out of entertainment options to provide the guests.

This is usually the case on the longer cruises over 14 nights.

 

that is why I prefer 7 night cruises because you are guaranteed at least 4 to 6 shows by a professional production team.

 

Because a long Cruise provides the same amount of entertainment as a short Cruise of 4 to 6 nights, the cost per night of a long Cruise should be proportionately much less than a short Cruise.

 

but on the contrary, the very long cruises have a very high cost per night .

it's ridiculous!

 

 

 

[cruisemom42]

15 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

On some long cruises, a choir made up of guests have provided good entertainment.  Those are acceptable and sometimes very good.  

 

 

I've participated in guest "choirs" onboard a couple of cruises; this was a British line and I had the feeling it was a regular thing. I enjoy singing so for me the fun was in the rehearsals and not so much the concert at the end, except that it capped the experience. I suspect it was more enjoyable being part of the performance than watching it. 

[ovccruiser]

Not an exactly a stand up comedy show, but did attend a Karaoke on board QM2 and was in stitches at two Norwegians trying to sing Bohemian Rhapsody in broken english

[lenquixote66]

10 hours ago, ldubs said:

 

I recall seeing passenger talent shows, but never a comedy routine.  Most were singers.  There was one hula dancer.   

 

Kind of off topic but I used to really enjoy the crew talent shows.  There are some incredibly talented folks on the ships.   Very nice to watch, except for the cruise director staff silliness.

There always seems to be at least one crew member who sings better than either the singers employed by the CD for the cruise and sometimes even better than the guest singers.

[slidergirl]

I avoid passenger and crew shows anywhere like the Black Plague.    They remind me of those movies about the family summer camps up in the Poconos and Catskills of the 50s and 60s...  

 

I will 'fess up and say I did participate in one show at Club Med Cancun back in the early 80s,  I went with 2 girlfriends and they guilted me into dancing with them to "California Girls" (we were all beach girls).  It was dreadful.  I got good and drunk on Kamikazies before that one!  

[davekathy]

18 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

I have no interest in the "want-to-be" entertainers.  

Agree. 

[Heidi13]

4 hours ago, drsel said:

some lines make the passengers and crew perform when they run out of entertainment options to provide the guests.

This is usually the case on the longer cruises over 14 nights.

 

that is why I prefer 7 night cruises because you are guaranteed at least 4 to 6 shows by a professional production team.

 

Because a long Cruise provides the same amount of entertainment as a short Cruise of 4 to 6 nights, the cost per night of a long Cruise should be proportionately much less than a short Cruise.

 

but on the contrary, the very long cruises have a very high cost per night .

it's ridiculous!

 

 

 

 

While this is applicable to most long cruises, it doesn't apply to all longer cruises. Our first World Cruise with Princess had multiple repeats of the standard shows. No new material was developed onboard.

 

On our recent World Cruise with Viking, during 99 days we had the standard Viking shows + 1 developed specifically for the WC repeated once. In addition to a plethora of guest entertainers, the Cruise Director and staff developed multiple new shows on board, both in the Theatre and Atrium. During our time aboard they developed, produced and performed at least 10 shows in the Theatre and 4 or 5 in the Atrium.

 

Entertainment is also a relatively small component of cruise cost, so makes minimal difference on the daily cost, with the exception of flying guest entertainers aboard on longer cruises. On longer cruises (World Cruises) they also provide some expensive perks, which are paid for by daily cost. 

[drsel]

What expensive perks besides free shore excursions, free WiFi, unlimited alcohol and speciality dining?

 

considering the exorbitant prices charged for a world Cruise, they should also provide every passenger 10 vouchers to use for complimentary spa treatment over a long period of 99 days

 

 

 

 

 

[lenquixote66]

1 hour ago, davekathy said:

Agree. 

I used to do a great rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone .That was Vaughn Monroe’s biggest hit.I always wanted to sing that at a cruise talent show but Mrs.66 discouraged me.

[Mike981]

13 hours ago, SteveH2508 said:

 

Roll forward about a year and I open the newspaper one day to see his and his wife's picture on the front page. They had just been arrested for drug smuggling in a port in Portugal (allegedly carrying designer suitcases as sales samples for someone else). They are now doing a long sentence in a Portugese prison. I feel sorry for his cellmate...

 

I'm not sure if it's the same story, but I recall a year or two ago reading about a couple who did the same thing with designer suitcases. They looked to be 60ish or so.

[SteveH2508]

9 minutes ago, Mike981 said:

I'm not sure if it's the same story, but I recall a year or two ago reading about a couple who did the same thing with designer suitcases. They looked to be 60ish or so.

That's them. Almost certainly they were at it on our cruise as well (Jan/Feb 2018). They were nicked in Feb 2019 whilst on a CMV Amazon Caribbean voyage.

[Mike981]

What a crazy story. I remember their silly explanations on how they were "tricked". The story I read, interviewed people they knew and how they couldn't figure out how they lived so high and mighty.

[Ladyinflight]

I have seen 2 guest talent shows and 2 crew talent shows I thought were very good. I enjoyed them.  Never saw any want to be comics.  Some of the so called professional talent they fly in for entertainment, can leave a lot to be desired, especially those jugglers and acrobatic performers.  They seem to just go from one ship to another.

[ldubs]

9 hours ago, slidergirl said:

 I got good and drunk on Kamikazies before that one!  

 

i think that is a prerequisite!  Haha

[ldubs]

7 minutes ago, Ladyinflight said:

 They seem to just go from one ship to another.

 

My perception is the "guest" entertainers get booked for a cruise season and make the rounds from ship to ship.  Just as you say.   Some are pretty good and others, well not so much.  

[SteveH2508]

8 hours ago, Mike981 said:

What a crazy story. I remember their silly explanations on how they were "tricked". The story I read, interviewed people they knew and how they couldn't figure out how they lived so high and mighty.

 

First or second day he was at a table next to us in the smoking area giving it large. My BS radar went into overdrive. One of our cruising buddies also had him pegged as a wrong 'un from day 1.

 

[K32682]

Passenger talent shows are comparable to root canal surgery.  Extraordinarily painful without sufficient amounts of anaesthetic and best avoided if possible.    

[davekathy]

19 hours ago, lenquixote66 said:

I used to do a great rendition of You’ll Never Walk Alone .That was Vaughn Monroe’s biggest hit.I always wanted to sing that at a cruise talent show but Mrs.66 discouraged me.

Lenny, I play the drums and have since 1967. I consider myself damn good (even though I can't read music) but I'm sure others may not. 😀🥁