Which cruise line has the BEST entertainment

[life is to be happy]

HI there

 

my family have only ever been  on royal carribean and norweigan cruises however we are open to looking at other cruise lines 

however entertainment is one of the most important aspects for us .... norweigan is the best for this as they had a great variety and loads of different entertainment every night like quizzes, shows etc however royal has ice shows which norweigan doesn't 

however wanted to put it out there to see what people think provides variety of entertainment ...  we are not really into magic shows or karaoke

 

thanks in advance for your responses

[billslowsky]

7 minutes ago, life is to be happy said:

HI there

 

my family have only ever been  on royal carribean and norweigan cruises however we are open to looking at other cruise lines 

however entertainment is one of the most important aspects for us .... norweigan is the best for this as they had a great variety and loads of different entertainment every night like quizzes, shows etc however royal has ice shows which norweigan doesn't 

however wanted to put it out there to see what people think provides variety of entertainment ...  we are not really into magic shows or karaoke

 

thanks in advance for your responses

I think NCL and Royal are pretty similar; Royal puts on more "known" shows like Hairspray and Cats (I got a great nap during Hairspray) while NCL's shows like Chorus of Men and the so-bad-it's-entertaining Blazing Boots are more than adequate.  Carnival has the best comedy shows by far.  And Celebrity's Silent Disco (when they offer it) is a hoot.

[life is to be happy]

1 minute ago, billslowsky said:

I think NCL and Royal are pretty similar; Royal puts on more "known" shows like Hairspray and Cats (I got a great nap during Hairspray) while NCL's shows like Chorus of Men and the so-bad-it's-entertaining Blazing Boots are more than adequate.  Carnival has the best comedy shows by far.  And Celebrity's Silent Disco (when they offer it) is a hoot.

ill have a look at carnival to see what they have

[orville99]

37 minutes ago, life is to be happy said:

ill have a look at carnival to see what they have

Unless anything has changed recently, one thing they lack is live bands.

[CruiseBride926]

For the bigger productions we prefer Royal but for smaller things like trivia and comedy we actually really liked Carnival. 

[flamingos]

51 minutes ago, life is to be happy said:

And Celebrity's Silent Disco (when they offer it) is a hoot.

Is that anything like Hush!, the silent party?

 

[Hutcha]

I think Royal and NCL are pretty close on entertainment. I'd disagree that royal is better for the bigger productions. NCL has a lot. Jersey Boys, Kinky Boots, Six, Footloose, etc. 

[DCPIV]

You're probably better off asking this in a general board (unless you're shotgunning it across boards).

 

The pool and lounge performers on Celebrity are head and shoulders better than any I've seen on any other line with only a very few exceptions. It's rare that I even go to a show on Celebrity because I can't pull myself away from the lounge acts. 

[DCPIV]

57 minutes ago, billslowsky said:

And Celebrity's Silent Disco (when they offer it) is a hoot.

 

Liberty of the Seas had silent disco twice on our sailing last week. Silent disco has spread all over the place over the last few years or so. Yes, it can be a lot of fun to watch! 

[firefly333]

55 minutes ago, life is to be happy said:

ill have a look at carnival to see what they have

As it said comedy shows are good. The theater shows are more like games shows, or if music singers have to dance and sing, double requirements, and have been known to be off key and my ear isnt perfect but I know off key.

 

Comedy is what they do best. X and G rated, they have both. 

[CPT Trips]

Syd Norman’s, Howl at the Moon, Comedy Club, piano bar type performer, singer guitarist and small vocal/instrumental group every evening along with Broadway shows, “pool band,” dinner show, and the typical cruise ship “headliners,” lead me to say NCL.
 

Royal was close, but on our recent cruise there were dead times several evenings with no live entertainment options. 

 

[cello56]

The live music on Royal cannot be beat. Everywhere you go there are live bands and orchestras. 

The Broadway production shows - Mamma Mia/Grease/Cats/Hairspray etc. are not just typical cruise ship production shows. These are full length legit Broadway shows. When Cats was installed on Oasis, Andrew Lloyd Webber came onboard to inspect it and make sure that it was exactly the same as his land based shows. Many of the shows have had cast from London West End in them. 

[LGW59]

1 hour ago, life is to be happy said:

ill have a look at carnival to see what they have

If you enjoy drunken (beer) belly flop contests, Carnival is your ship

[John&LaLa]

Only Royal has diving/aquatic shows😉

[Another_Critic]

4 minutes ago, John&LaLa said:

Only Royal has diving/aquatic shows😉

I'm disappointed you didn't post "Royal has Cats! ... end of thread."  😄

[John&LaLa]

Just now, Another_Critic said:

I'm disappointed you didn't post "Royal has Cats! ... end of thread."  😄

 

It's been mentioned a couple times already😉

[shipgeeks]

I'll put in a different point of view here.  I know there are some who will agree, and some who will disagree.

MSC shows, because of the nature of the passengers -- many different languages  -- does shows that are not lyric-dependent, but more like Cirque du Soleil: variety shows with a theme.  They also sometimes do an abbreviated opera.  We really enjoyed them; we are tired of all the rock and broadway-theme shows on RC and others.  And we can see Cats and similar shows at home; we wouldn't choose to do that on a ship if we had an alternative.

MSC doesn't usually do comedy shows, so if that is your thing (it's not ours), that could be a negative.

Our MSC cruises also had a lot of dance parties, and live music all around the ship.

[firefly333]

7 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

If you enjoy drunken (beer) belly flop contests, Carnival is your ship

Gone. They dont have them. Lol some enjoyed competing. Naming pre covid things which might never come back... 

 

Liberty OTS no pool band last cruise, so it's missing things too. The big screen tv at the pool been broken since liberty resumed ... carnival big screen worked unlike rcl liberty. 

[PhillyFan33579]

There is no right answer to this because people have different tastes. Personally I think RCI has the best variety of shows and the best variety of live music, although Celebrity is close too. I also think RCI has the best comedians. Carnival usually has more comedy shows on a cruise than RCI, but more often than not my stomach hurts from laughing so hard listening to comedians on RCI. That rarely happened when we used to cruise on Carnival a lot. However, if you enjoy comedy where every third word is a curse word, you will like the adult comedy shows on Carnival. 

[smokeybandit]

5 minutes ago, PhillyFan33579 said:

There is no right answer to this because people have different tastes.

Yep. You'd find 10 different answers to this

[George C]

We have cruised most of the major lines , rccl entertainment keeps me returning love the aqua and ice shows. I was pleasantly surprised at MSc yacht club which had its own entertainment and you can see there big productions shows also. We discovered music charters about 5 years ago and just love them live music from early to very late , plus interviews and the chance to interact with people like America, Michael McDonald, Rita Coolidge etc , will sail on another in a few weeks . We do 70’s music but there cruises for 50’s , 60’s , 80’s , disco, country soul etc. our cruise is on celebrity summit.

[deliver42]

Royal and NCL far above everyone else, then Carnival, MSC, Princess and HAL in that order in my opinion.

[neverbeenhere]

Yup… Princess has some good entertainment options.  Good and bad on all lines. Depends on what you like any particular day. 

Edited January 23, 2022 by neverbeenhere

[LGW59]

5 minutes ago, George C said:

We have cruised most of the major lines , rccl entertainment keeps me returning love the aqua and ice shows. I was pleasantly surprised at MSc yacht club which had its own entertainment and you can see there big productions shows also. We discovered music charters about 5 years ago and just love them live music from early to very late , plus interviews and the chance to interact with people like America, Michael McDonald, Rita Coolidge etc , will sail on another in a few weeks . We do 70’s music but there cruises for 50’s , 60’s , 80’s , disco, country soul etc. our cruise is on celebrity summit.

Have you ever done the Summit Jazz Cruise?  I would love to do that one, and Rita Coolidge LOVE her, that smoky voice is incredible.  

[George C]

12 minutes ago, LGW59 said:

Have you ever done the Summit Jazz Cruise?  I would love to do that one, and Rita Coolidge LOVE her, that smoky voice is incredible.  

Definitely would like a jazz or flower power cruise,  so far we just have done the 70’s rock and romance,  Rita Coolidge was great , her book is super interesting and she was very friendly and outgoing had a nice conversation with her two years ago.