Entertainment in the theatre

[shanni-shanni]

We have a cruise coming up on the Rotterdam in Dec., 2021.

 

Without the ship's singers and dancers, I wonder what the entertainment is like nowadays?

 

Tom

[Caribbean Chris]

The World Stage features this dance group, among other things :

 

https://www.hollandamerica.com/en_US/onboard-activities/cruise-entertainment/step-one-dance-company.html

 

We saw them perform on Nieuw Statendam April 2019 and Rotterdam VII this month, with new shows. I’ve enjoyed their performances which have a lot of video effects as backdrops.

Edited November 29, 2021 by Caribbean Chris

[rkacruiser]

7 hours ago, shanni-shanni said:

We have a cruise coming up on the Rotterdam in Dec., 2021.

 

Without the ship's singers and dancers, I wonder what the entertainment is like nowadays?

 

Tom

 

 

My experience on the Nieuw Statendam during her Inaugural Season:  disappointing and a waste of the technical aspects of the theater along with the money spent to make this "innovative theater in the round" that HAL ballyhood prior to the introduction of the Pinnacle Class of ships.  

[FlaMariner]

On our Rotterdam cruise last month we had dancers/singers, singer, 2 comedians, a saxophonist and the Jersey tenors (a Jersey boys type music review) in the world stage in the evenings.....during the day, there was a great presentation called ORIGIN Story on the history of Holland America Line and some other events that we did not attend.

 

And then once you leave the world stage after the show, there is BBKings, Rock Room and Billboard Onboard (our favorite)....and Lincoln Center after dinner.....

 

Lots to take in...Enjoy.

 

 

[cruzn single]

Personally, for me, I tend to prefer Music Walk over anything in the theatre for the evening.  Not into comedians, magicians, etc.  Lincoln Center is always a highlight.

[FlaMariner]

Agree....Her majesty and I wore out the seats at the piano bar for Billboard Onboard.   It's our favorite.

[SDARCH]

11 hours ago, cruzn single said:

Personally, for me, I tend to prefer Music Walk over anything in the theatre for the evening.  Not into comedians, magicians, etc.  Lincoln Center is always a highlight.

For us....Music Walk, BB King's and Lincoln Center are the best entertainment we have experienced on any cruise line.  

[NCTribeFan]

I detest piano bars but love BB Kings and Lincoln Center. 

 

Just off Eurodam.  The production shows did not have singers (except for a couple of "guest" spots by the BB King vocalists), but had dancers, which I thought were quite good.  I didn't attend any comedy shows.

[510picker]

On our recent Nieuw Amsterdam cruise, the only shows in the World Stage Theater were the history of Holland America, the dancers and BBC Animal show. They had the comedians in the BB King lounge which is way too small for the crowds they drew. With the ship capacity being at 50%, they said they wanted a more intimate setting for the performers. They hosted game shows, trivia, etc., in the BB King lounge before the comedian’s show, so they majority of those people stayed, so getting a seat was very difficult. I’m in a wheelchair and my wife had to sit on my lap because seats were taken. One of the few drawbacks of less passengers I suppose. 

[Sea42]

39 minutes ago, 510picker said:

On our recent Nieuw Amsterdam cruise, the only shows in the World Stage Theater were the history of Holland America, the dancers and BBC Animal show. They had the comedians in the BB King lounge which is way too small for the crowds they drew. With the ship capacity being at 50%, they said they wanted a more intimate setting for the performers. They hosted game shows, trivia, etc., in the BB King lounge before the comedian’s show, so they majority of those people stayed, so getting a seat was very difficult. I’m in a wheelchair and my wife had to sit on my lap because seats were taken. One of the few drawbacks of less passengers I suppose. 

We never did see the comedians due to the lack of seating in the BB King lounge. I hadn't thought about how empty the main theater would have been if they had their shows there. I get it but would have liked to see the comedians.

[rkacruiser]

23 hours ago, FlaMariner said:

On our Rotterdam cruise last month we had dancers/singers, singer, 2 comedians, a saxophonist and the Jersey tenors (a Jersey boys type music review) in the world stage in the evenings.....during the day, there was a great presentation called ORIGIN Story on the history of Holland America Line and some other events that we did not attend.

 

You experienced more variety of entertainment in the World Stage than I did on Nieuw Statendam.  

 

My "complaint" is that the technical aspects and design of The World Stage were ballyhood so excessively that the PR raised my expectations to the point that I became disappointed.  The concept of a "Theater in the Round" with all of the technical aspects (including the hi-tech screen behind the stage that was poorly used) left me with the thoughts of "why is this entertainment staging concept any better than what I have experienced on HAL previously"?  

 

I disembarked Nieuw Statendam as a guest thinking that the entertainment in The World Stage was disappointing.  I disembarked as a CCL shareholder thinking what a waste of money has been invested in The World Stage.  

[twodjs]

rkacruiser - We just returned from the Koningsdam and I must disagree with you criticism of the World Stage entertainment. The dance company production on the World Stage was outstanding! The Humanity show took full advantage of the advanced technology and lighting. Several scenes come to mind - the rain, paint cans and the elevator sequences were all brilliantly staged. You need to sit in seats above the stage level and in the center to get the full impact. Amazing! I've had a chance to see those shows on other HAL ships and the World Stage on Koningsdam makes a huge difference! Money well spent! 

[taxmantoo]

8 hours ago, twodjs said:

rkacruiser - We just returned from the Koningsdam and I must disagree with you criticism of the World Stage entertainment. The dance company production on the World Stage was outstanding! The Humanity show took full advantage of the advanced technology and lighting. Several scenes come to mind - the rain, paint cans and the elevator sequences were all brilliantly staged. You need to sit in seats above the stage level and in the center to get the full impact. Amazing! I've had a chance to see those shows on other HAL ships and the World Stage on Koningsdam makes a huge difference! Money well spent! 

I am not disagreeing with your evaluation but keep in mind that that is one night out of seven or ten ... On the other nights, the World Stage, built at a cost of millions of dollars, is hosting a movie about the history of Holland America, a BBC movie about flora and fauna that has been shown hundreds of times,  maybe a comedian, another dance show or remains totally dark.  Rather sad when all you have to do on a gala night is watch a movie about whale or moose.  HAL is hardly getting a bang out of their buck for that venue. 

[twodjs]

Sigh...there were 4 different production shows on 4 nights. And the history of HAL was not just a "movie" but a very put together presentation hosted by our CD. Sure, there certainly is room for a Broadway or Westend show, but given the financial state of the cruise indusrtry after covid, we should be grateful there even IS a cruise industry. The new management will be a plus for HAL. Just give them time....and enjoy a cruise or two to help the bottom line.

[taxmantoo]

1 hour ago, twodjs said:

Sigh...there were 4 different production shows on 4 nights. And the history of HAL was not just a "movie" but a very put together presentation hosted by our CD. Sure, there certainly is room for a Broadway or Westend show, but given the financial state of the cruise indusrtry after covid, we should be grateful there even IS a cruise industry. The new management will be a plus for HAL. Just give them time....and enjoy a cruise or two to help the bottom line.

I certainly hope you are right.  Variety is the spice of life 😉 We have always liked what they did with the Music Walk but have been really disappointed in the World Stage offerings.

[rkacruiser]

18 hours ago, twodjs said:

rkacruiser - We just returned from the Koningsdam and I must disagree with you criticism of the World Stage entertainment. The dance company production on the World Stage was outstanding! The Humanity show took full advantage of the advanced technology and lighting. Several scenes come to mind - the rain, paint cans and the elevator sequences were all brilliantly staged. You need to sit in seats above the stage level and in the center to get the full impact. Amazing! I've had a chance to see those shows on other HAL ships and the World Stage on Koningsdam makes a huge difference! Money well spent! 

 

I sailed on Nieuw Statendam on her 4th or 5th cruise.  Wouldn't one expect during such an early sailing in her Inaugural Season that The World Stage would be put to best use?  That was my expectation.  And, it did not happen.  Where one sits in such a Theater in the Round ought not to make any difference.  

 

9 hours ago, taxmantoo said:

On the other nights, the World Stage, built at a cost of millions of dollars, is hosting a movie about the history of Holland America, a BBC movie about flora and fauna that has been shown hundreds of times,  maybe a comedian, another dance show or remains totally dark.  Rather sad when all you have to do on a gala night is watch a movie about whale or moose.  HAL is hardly getting a bang out of their buck for that venue. 

 

My thoughts exactly.  

 

7 hours ago, twodjs said:

Sigh...there were 4 different production shows on 4 nights. And the history of HAL was not just a "movie" but a very put together presentation hosted by our CD. Sure, there certainly is room for a Broadway or Westend show, but given the financial state of the cruise indusrtry after covid, we should be grateful there even IS a cruise industry. The new management will be a plus for HAL. Just give them time....and enjoy a cruise or two to help the bottom line.

 

"Just give them time"....No.  There have been concerns expressed about main theater entertainment on CC for years.  This pandemic provided the "Suits" the  time and the opportunity to re-imagination main theater entertainment on the ships of HAL.  By your own report, it appears that such creativity has not happened.   

 

"Just give them time.....and enjoy a cruise or two to help the bottom line."  How many cruises have I sailed that helped their bottom line when the main theater entertainment was sub-par?  My experience on the Nieuw Statendam scrapes the "scab off the wound" that I feel regarding to main theater entertainment.  

 

5 hours ago, taxmantoo said:

 We have always liked what they did with the Music Walk

 

The Music Walk is a winner.  My only complaint when I sailed on Nieuw Statendam that the group in The Rolling Stone Rock Room had a playlist that was quite limited.  Good listening group; but, night after night, the same songs being played.  (I understand there may have been reasons for this.  How much time had those musicians prepare for such an early cruise?)  

[Megamixer]

I will add my agreement to the waste of space and money on the theater, at least with our experience recently on the Koningsdam.  Sure, the dancers were good and the special effects on the tv screens awesome - once - the first time, but not for multiple nights.  The Holland America history presentation was basically like a TV fill in "infomercial" that if anything would have been a good fill in during the afternoon of a sea day.  But as an evening show?

[MisterBill99]

I'm on Rotterdam now. Step One Dance is doing four shows. The first two were the usual ones that had done previously. The one tonight was actually part of a show with the Billboard Onboard performers playing in the theater, and they danced to some songs. It wasn't a bad concept, although they insisted on resurrecting the Whitney Houston video that they had in the old #1's show from the days of the HAL Singers. It was ridiculous then, and it made even less sense now, given that they brought in the great singer from BB Kings to sing along with the video, and she had a great voice and would have done well by herself.

 

Back to the BB Onboard performers. I have a real problem is with the female player/singer, Sidney (Sydney?). Both she and the male performer, Matt (Max?) just graduated from college, although he had previously done an 18-day contract as a fill-in.  He is very good, great stage presence and singer. She is at best average, and at worst mediocre (and not just my opinion, other guests and one activities crew member who I spoke to agreed). With all the entertainers still sitting at home un- or under-employed due to the pandemic, I find it hard to believe that they could not have found some of their veteran Billboard performers to bring back to open their new ship. Celebrity would NEVER take performers with no experience and put them on their newest ship, certainly not someone like the female BB singer.  And Billboard is never crowded at night as it has been on other sailings when the performers there were exceptional. Yes, I know the ship is only 60% full, but I know that I'm not attending most nights and I typically went every night.

 

BTW tomorrow night they're showing two movies in the theater, no show. 

 

The male  singing group Cantare was excellent, and we are looking forward to their second show. Very pleased that they brought that a vocal entertainment to the theater. And tonight's show would have been great (other than the stupid Whitney Houston and In Memoriam segments, also resurrected from #1's) had the BB performers have been as good as they've been on our other sailings, when they really DID deserve a theater show.

 

We saw one comedian (Fiip) in BB Kings, and he was excellent.  A second comedian boarded today in Barbados and there will be several shows in the next few days. I agree that BBK is too small, but they want to make it seem like a comedy club, and doing it in a large theater wouldn't work. I'm not sure what the correct answer is.

 

Oh, and I agree 1000% on the ridiculousness of spending all the money on the gorgeous theaters at the same time they gutted the entertainment performed in it. We can only hope that new management fixes that. I see Cantare and the comedians as a step in the right direction.

Edited December 7, 2021 by MisterBill99

[vswan]

Just got off the Eurodam. Had some great entertainment in the theater, but it was the final show for the dancers and the music walk performers and this week they got a whole new crew. They had 4 live shows with the music walk performers joining for one. The best show by far and one of the best I've ever seen at sea was the Island Magic Steel Band. They did two shows. I was prepared for the basic steel drum show, but it was anything but. They played 3 Andrew Lloyd Webber songs, Ava Maria, some Bach, In the Mood and Rawhide and others the first night, the second included the Beatles and more. They were energetic, thrilled to be there and so good.

[FlaMariner]

It's interesting how folks see things so differently......regarding Billboard Onboard, we were on the Rotterdam in October and Sydney and Matt were our favorite....We hung out at the Billboard Onboard piano bar almost every night.  We would make an attempt to "get there early" so we could get a seat at the piano bar.  Lot's of fun....Thought they were talented young folks and they were a big part of our cruise fun!

 

 

 

 

 

[ColonyGirl2]

I also just got off the Eurodam and I thought the entertainment was excellent.  I particularly enjoyed the dancers and Billboard.  BB King’s performers were also excellent but I found the venue too cold to stay long. 

[mcrcruiser]

The new theatre on Pinnacle ships is incredible but ,we miss the singers  when we sailed last on Koningsdam to the  Southern Caribbean ,a 10 night cruise in 2019  .  The dancers were excellent but ,we liked the singers as well .  Comparing entertainment  ,Princess in our opinion has the edge on HAL for entertainment 

[mcrcruiser]

Just now, mcrcruiser said:

The new theatre on Pinnacle ships is incredible but ,we miss the singers  when we sailed last on Koningsdam to the  Southern Caribbean ,a 10 night cruise in 2019  .  The dancers were excellent but ,we liked the singers as well .  Comparing entertainment  ,Princess in our opinion has the edge on HAL for entertainment 

Additionally ,Princess entertainment is up later in the evening vs  Holland  

[vswan]

I very much like singers also, and on the Eurodam only 1 show had the singers from billboard and BB king join the dancers. Having said that, I've also encountered some very poor singers on some cruises to the point they were hard to listen to. I did think that the background screens they used for some of the shows were very interesting and added to the performances.

[rkacruiser]

Are the discussions of entertainment in The World Stage becoming like the discussions of the cuisine served in the various dining venues on the ships?  

 

What has been lost in the Holland America Line cruise experience is the consistency of the cruise experience regarding entertainment and cuisine and dining service regardless of where one dines.  

 

Somehow, the positive consistency of the interactions of this HAL guest with the crew on whatever HAL ship I have sailed has remained the same.