Which cruise line has the BEST entertainment

[life is to be happy]

On 1/23/2022 at 5:19 PM, CPT Trips said:

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. 

 

thanks for that  our last cruise on NCL 2018 was our first and they had loads of entertainment every night and it was all very good. our last cruise on royal the year after just didnt compare to NCL and we thought royal lacked what NCL gave us 

[life is to be happy]

On 1/23/2022 at 6:06 PM, LGW59 said:

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

not for me lol...

[life is to be happy]

On 1/23/2022 at 6:09 PM, John&LaLa said:

Only Royal has diving/aquatic shows😉

and they are absolutely superb and we love watching them too

[life is to be happy]

On 1/23/2022 at 6:50 PM, deliver42 said:

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

yeah I think so too... I always keep going back to Norweigan and Royal 

[bonsai3s]

Outside the theater, after watching the Ukrainian couple acrobat...

 

Men: (as always loud) "Did you see that girl?"..."Oh yeah."

Women: (whispering) "Girl?...what girl?...we were looking at that gorgeous, strong, muscular man".

😉

[VeggieCruiser23]

Royal is the only cruise line with ice shows, and the ice shows are the best!! ❤⛸

[NC State]

We have always cruised with Disney; however, we took our first RC cruise in December. I know things are not normal at this time on cruise ships....but hands down Disney.  We did enjoy the ice skating show on RC. That was something we haven't seen before on a ship.  To us entertainment isn't a big thing.  We are just relaxing with a drink in hand and enjoying the ocean/beaches!

[yogimax]

Hard to believe no one has mentioned Disney.  The production shows there are terrific.

[NC State]

5 minutes ago, yogimax said:

Hard to believe no one has mentioned Disney.  The production shows there are terrific.

I did 36 minutes ago...but you are right!

[AstoriaPreppy]

On 1/23/2022 at 11:08 AM, life is to be happy said:

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

 

As others have mentioned, Royal really excels in entertainment (I think better than NCL). In addition to the multiple venues (ice rink, aqua theater, two70), Royal's main theaters are always much MUCH bigger than the NCL theaters. NCL main theaters are like... off broadway sized, where Royal has massive stages and theaters. Much higher production values on Royal across the board. 

 

On 1/23/2022 at 11:18 AM, 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. 

 

Hey, compared to lots of the older NCL shows, Blazing Boots is remarkably good! World Beat is a great example of an NCL production show that is somehow both incredibly offensive, and incompetently performed. If you've ever wondered what people who can't Irish step dance would look like attempting to Irish step dance, World Beat has you covered. 

 

On 1/23/2022 at 1:06 PM, LGW59 said:

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

 

Carnival hasn't had belly flop contests for years... that's like KLG era. 

Carnival main theater shows have been downscaled a lot from what they once were, but the line makes a point to have a wide variety of music on board in bars and lounges. The newer ships almost always have a string trio playing pop music, and a Cuban band in the Havana lounge.

 

As for the worst, it's hands down Princess. Many of their jukebox shows are designed for a passenger base that is... slightly older and dowdy? Think less Motown and the Beatles, and more Lawerence Welk.

[Trueblueky]

2 hours ago, AstoriaPreppy said:

 

As others have mentioned, Royal really excels in entertainment (I think better than NCL). In addition to the multiple venues (ice rink, aqua theater, two70), Royal's main theaters are always much MUCH bigger than the NCL theaters. NCL main theaters are like... off broadway sized, where Royal has massive stages and theaters. Much higher production values on Royal across the board. 

 

 

Hey, compared to lots of the older NCL shows, Blazing Boots is remarkably good! World Beat is a great example of an NCL production show that is somehow both incredibly offensive, and incompetently performed. If you've ever wondered what people who can't Irish step dance would look like attempting to Irish step dance, World Beat has you covered. 

 

 

Carnival hasn't had belly flop contests for years... that's like KLG era. 

Carnival main theater shows have been downscaled a lot from what they once were, but the line makes a point to have a wide variety of music on board in bars and lounges. The newer ships almost always have a string trio playing pop music, and a Cuban band in the Havana lounge.

 

As for the worst, it's hands down Princess. Many of their jukebox shows are designed for a passenger base that is... slightly older and dowdy? Think less Motown and the Beatles, and more Lawerence Welk.

Carnival  has multiple events every night. On a ship that only has two shows during the cruise, what happens the other nights?

[AlohaLivin]

On 1/23/2022 at 11:08 AM, 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

We prefer the large production shows on NCL usually, but usually prefer the variety shows on Royal (NCL tends to be heavy on the acrobatic/aerialist based “variety” shows and that get old fast). 

[AstoriaPreppy]

2 hours ago, Trueblueky said:

Carnival  has multiple events every night. On a ship that only has two shows during the cruise, what happens the other nights?

Fly on guest entertainers. Comedians, magicians, jugglers, etc in the main theater. 

[chill6x6]

WOW!  That's really hard to say...  Some of the best performers I have ever seen was on Princess. The bands at BB Kings on Holland America, awesome as was the string quartet.  Norwegian consistently has excellent entertainment.  Of course Royals Ice and diving productions are one of a kind!  

[topnole]

On 1/23/2022 at 12:17 PM, DCPIV said:

 

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! 

They had it years ago on Liberty.  Pretty sure I remember it on a TA in 2014.   

[Hogbay]

On 1/24/2022 at 3:08 AM, 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

Dear Mr B H 

If you're question was asked on X thread, or Y thread or even € thread . You are going to get the similar response... 

CATS some love , hi John, some hate . Belly flop , YMCA or the string quartet...you have to decide what's you're cup of tea. Quizzes or The Quest ...Love or Devorce show ?? Just enjoy and live every day as if it's your last 🙂

[sgmn]

We enjoy the production and headliner shows on Royal Caribbean. But you have to remember the big budget West End Shows, ice shows  and aqua shows are not on every ship. The smaller, older RC ships have mainly guest headliner acts with a couple of production singing and dancing shows. 

Also with covid a lot of planned performances have cancelled due to self isolating . Hopefully going into the Spring this will be a thing of the past.

[Trueblueky]

11 hours ago, sgmn said:

We enjoy the production and headliner shows on Royal Caribbean. But you have to remember the big budget West End Shows, ice shows  and aqua shows are not on every ship. The smaller, older RC ships have mainly guest headliner acts with a couple of production singing and dancing shows. 

Also with covid a lot of planned performances have cancelled due to self isolating . Hopefully going into the Spring this will be a thing of the past.

Are the big shows free?

[A&L_Ont]

On 1/23/2022 at 1:09 PM, John&LaLa said:

Only Royal has diving/aquatic shows😉

 

On 1/23/2022 at 1:14 PM, Another_Critic said:

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

 

They supposdley tried an Aqua Show called "Aqua Cats".  It didn't work, as the cats refused to jump into the pool and the one that did got out immediately and ran away.  

[asalligo]

On 1/23/2022 at 11:08 AM, 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

 

The answer to your question is not that simple. It really depends on what you want to do. Carnival in my opinion has the most things to do on the schedule each day when you include karaoke, trivia, dance parties, comedians and the like, but they have terrible stage shows. Norwegian was about the same as Carnival to me. Royal, there will be so much more to do on say Harmony of the Seas than Serenade of the Seas and in my opinion the bigger ships also get the better talent and their stage shows are better. Now Holland, Princess and Celebrity will have not as much to do, but what there is to do will be more classy for lack of a better word. 

  

Edited January 26, 2022 by asalligo

[asalligo]

1 hour ago, Trueblueky said:

Are the big shows free?

 

Yes, but on some ships, you must reserve them even though they are free. 

[John&LaLa]

20 hours ago, Trueblueky said:

Carnival  has multiple events every night. On a ship that only has two shows during the cruise, what happens the other nights?

 

 

[Trueblueky]

Thank you.  We've done Carnival, HAL and Costa.  I'd say HAL is more brainy (lectures and such) and goes to bed earlier. 

 

Costa was very European, so hard to compare to cruises with most passengers from US and Canada.  Watched World Cup soccer on the big screen.

[vacationlover_mn]

One cool thing carnival had, was a talent show that passengers participated in.  Note, our last carnival cruise was 23 years ago, so things may have changed 🙂

[deliver42]

I think the best entertainment in shows and live music, not DJ's, is pretty much a tie between Royal and NCL. IMHO they leave all the other lines in the dust, and if you look at my signature, you'll see that I've been on all the majors except HAL.