Occupancy/seats in the Princess Theater

[cr8tiv1]

I just picked up the Captain Circle Magazine (it’s been laying around for a month).

 

Page 25 “The Princess Theater can accommodate 922 guests.”  That would be a total of 1844 passengers with two shows a night.  Princess built bigger ships, removed the aft lounge, and did not enlarge the Princess Theater.

 

How many of you (CC members) either never go to a show, have been turned away/discouraged because the theater was full, and/or was disappointed because you missed a show?  Feel free to add your reasons/opinions regarding shows in the Princess Theater.

 

Princess Cruises Fleet

Overview

Ship Name	Tonnage	Capacity (lower berths)	Registry	Entered Service
Caribbean Princess	112,894	3,149	Bermuda	2004
Coral Princess	91,627	2,000	Bermuda	2003
Crown Princess	113,561	3,080	Bermuda	2006
Diamond Princess	115,875	2,670	United Kingdom	2004
Discovery Princess	145,000	3,660	Bermuda	2022
Emerald Princess	113,561	3,080	Bermuda	2007
Enchanted Princess	144,650	3,660	Bermuda	2020
Grand Princess	107,517	2,600	Bermuda	1998
Island Princess	92,822	2,200	Bermuda	2003
Majestic Princess	143,700	3,560	United Kingdom	2017
Regal Princess	142,229	3,560	Bermuda	2014
Royal Princess	142,229	3,560	Bermuda	2013
Ruby Princess	113,561	3,080	Bermuda	2008
Sapphire Princess	115,875	2,670	United Kingdom	2004
Sky Princess	144,650	3,660	Bermuda	2019

[Guest ldtr]

Actually the larger ships still do have the aft lounge. The change was replacing the mid ship explorers, with Princess Live.

 

They did remove the aft lounge on the Island. Now one of the smaller ships Princess is sailing.

 

While I have found that the early show fills up and is full sometimes 20 minutes before the show starts. Never had a problem finding a seat at the late show.

[cr8tiv1]

@ldtrThank you for the clarification.  I should have said some ships do not have an adequate lounge on the Aft Deck.  I know the Emerald, Ruby, and the Crown have Club Fusion.  Not really suitable for performances.  I am not a fan of the Royal Class ships so have not had any experience on them.  

[voljeep]

1 minute ago, cr8tiv1 said:

@ldtrThank you for the clarification.  I should have said some ships do not have an adequate lounge on the Aft Deck.  I know the Emerald, Ruby, and the Crown have Club Fusion.  Not really suitable for performances.  I am not a fan of the Royal Class ships so have not had any experience on them.  

I'm curious - what would be your solution?  

[waltd]

I guess just get to the showroom 45 minutes early and then there is no problem.   Been doing that for years.   Just take a book to read. 

[cr8tiv1]

4 minutes ago, voljeep said:

I'm curious - what would be your solution?  

 

I don't have a solution.  I was just wondering.  In the olden days, there were two different entertainment options going on in the Princess Theater and the aft lounge.  That seemed to provide variety and split the load up.  On my most recent cruise, I skipped a lot of the Princess Theater shows since I've either seen them or the quality of the visiting guests were terrible (in my opinion only). I would do a You Tube search to determine if I wanted to subject myself to the crowds, loud volume, etc).  

[Guest ldtr]

35 minutes ago, cr8tiv1 said:

 

I don't have a solution.  I was just wondering.  In the olden days, there were two different entertainment options going on in the Princess Theater and the aft lounge.  That seemed to provide variety and split the load up.  On my most recent cruise, I skipped a lot of the Princess Theater shows since I've either seen them or the quality of the visiting guests were terrible (in my opinion only). I would do a You Tube search to determine if I wanted to subject myself to the crowds, loud volume, etc).  

There are still usually two entertainment options, or sometimes 3.

 

In addition to the theater you have 

 

Explorers on the grand class, usually game show type events, but sometimes guest entertainers do their second show there.  On Royal class the game shows are done in the Princess Live

 

Then you have the aft Lounge on both the Royal and Grand class, where sometimes guest entertainers do their second show.  There is one production show that is designed for that room that I see show up every so often.  

 

Sometimes you have music live music in explorers or the aft lounge.  Though the aft lounge is often used for events such as the captains circle events.

 

 

So it sounds like as far as you are concerned it really does not matter what the capacity is, because you do not like the entertainment anyway.

[Thrak]

Never had an issue with seating for the late show. For the early show we have often arrived 30-40 minutes early. We take a drink and read on our phones while waiting. I get my drink in a rocks glass - usually either a Chairman of the Board or a 24k Gold Margarita on the rocks - and try to get a seat with a railing in front of it to set my drink on. (I despise those little fold out tables on some ships. I just have too much belly to make them comfortable.)

 

What has often surprised me when arriving early and waiting for the show is all of the "old people" who seem to be enjoying some of the music that's playing when it's obviously more from "my" era rather than the era of all those old people. (Of course then I realize they are the same age as me...🤪)

[jimbo1683]

What times are the early and late theatre show typically?

[Honolulu Blue]

1 hour ago, cr8tiv1 said:

How many of you (CC members) either never go to a show, have been turned away/discouraged because the theater was full, and/or was disappointed because you missed a show?  Feel free to add your reasons/opinions regarding shows in the Princess Theater.

 

I'll add my experience.  In December, the shows in Regal's main theater weren't close to being full - and there was only one show per performer per evening.  Of course, there were fewer than 1000 passengers on that cruise, so that explains a lot.

 

I was on the Majestic in April and didn't attend any of the shows in their main theater.  None of them interested me enough to want to attend.  They were back to two shows a day for those who attended.  I never heard about how well attended any of the shows were.

[JF - retired RRT]

Pre-covid we were never turned away, but we did walk away when we saw the crowd waiting to get in.

One cruise since the restart and didn't go to any shows. Too many unmasked pax for our comfort level.

[geoherb]

57 minutes ago, jimbo1683 said:

What times are the early and late theatre show typically?

 

It varies from ship to ship and according to the itinerary and the whims of the entertainment director. Last December, they were 7:30 and 9:45 on the Caribbean Princess. On my February cruise on the Regal, there were only 1,325 passengers, and they scheduled just one show per night in the theater at 9:15. 

[jimbo1683]

11 minutes ago, geoherb said:

 

It varies from ship to ship and according to the itinerary and the whims of the entertainment director. Last December, they were 7:30 and 9:45 on the Caribbean Princess. On my February cruise on the Regal, there were only 1,325 passengers, and they scheduled just one show per night in the theater at 9:15. 

Just thinking about if i booked specialitu dining and wanted the show after - if i booked for 7/7.15pm then i guess i'd be pretty safe for the second showing?

[cr8tiv1]

I appreciate hearing everyone's stories.  There is no right or wrong answer.  Thanks for keeping it light hearted and fun.  

[SiliconCruiser]

Do all of the Princess ships now have ADA access on the 6th floor, or are there still ships where the passengers with disabilities are still mandated to the nosebleed locations behind the rest of the attendees on the 7th floor?

 

[cr8tiv1]

I was on one Grand class ship (think it must have been the Ruby/Crown) that you could enter through Deck 6 without climbing stairs first.  There was enough space near the front for a scooter.  Could have been the Caribbean.  Senior moment.

[The Mikado]

We don’t go to the shows but we have noticed a full boat (ha) about 45 mins prior to curtain on the few times we checked. 
 

This is B.C. (Before covid)

Edited August 14, 2022 by The Mikado

[MissP22]

11 hours ago, Thrak said:

Never had an issue with seating for the late show. For the early show we have often arrived 30-40 minutes early. We take a drink and read on our phones while waiting. I get my drink in a rocks glass - usually either a Chairman of the Board or a 24k Gold Margarita on the rocks - and try to get a seat with a railing in front of it to set my drink on. (I despise those little fold out tables on some ships. I just have too much belly to make them comfortable.)

 

What has often surprised me when arriving early and waiting for the show is all of the "old people" who seem to be enjoying some of the music that's playing when it's obviously more from "my" era rather than the era of all those old people. (Of course then I realize they are the same age as me...🤪)

Now if they could only turn down the volume a bit so I could read in peace. 

[Suite Susie]

It was standing room only for the production shows on our cruise.  It was a 2 week sailing and I was puzzled why there were not repeated, giving everybody a chance to see them. Great shows though!

[skynight]

Some observations when the ships were full. We arrived 30 to 45 minutes early depending on the show. The 8pm hour show was the most crowded. Early or later shows less crowded. That is why we always planned our evening dining around the evening shows or other activities we wished to attend and not the reverse. We did lots of b2b2bs. We spread production shows out over the time on the ship. We normally attended guest entertainers such as comedy and singers. Most of those shows are not as crowded. Princess really should have additional performances of productions shows. Not sure how the theater can be designed to seat more and still have views as well as safety. Some things I don't think should be done, pre-cruise reservations and tickets. Reserved seats.  

[satxdiver]

If there is a show that we have not seen or want to see again, we go usually to the "late" show and arrive 45 or so minutes before it starts taking along our eBooks to read.   Most of the time we simply skip the shows for the live musicians while enjoying an adult beverage.  

[jimbo1683]

Why dont they make it a ticketed event, even if its free - just take bookings on the day and have a standby list like a theatre so that you dont have to waste 45 minutes of the evening which is the equivalent of the brits getting up at 5am to reserve their sun lounger. 

[mam11]

Silicon Cruiser: " One clown tried to tell me that the ADA seats were for those with "handicaps".  He was seated in a scooter and his spouse (or whomever) was seated in the ADA seat.  When I asked if thought it would be okay if my wife transferred from her wheelchair to the legitimate ADA seat, he seemed to be at a lost for an answer.  I think his scooter was a rental, as well."

 

I don't quite understand this comment. My husband uses a mobility scooter and is much more comfortable staying on it for a show as opposed to transferring to a seat. In the downstairs section, there are several rows that have a couple of missing seats at the end. We have assumed that those were rows where he could pull his scooter up on the end and I could sit next to him. Do you consider that I, as an able bodied person, shouldn't sit in those  seats? They are not marked handicapped. Thanks for your thoughts. 

 

[Thrak]

5 hours ago, jimbo1683 said:

Why dont they make it a ticketed event, even if its free - just take bookings on the day and have a standby list like a theatre so that you dont have to waste 45 minutes of the evening which is the equivalent of the brits getting up at 5am to reserve their sun lounger. 

 

This is a horrible idea. I would hate it if they went this route.

[skynight]

6 hours ago, jimbo1683 said:

Why don't they make it a ticketed event, even if its free - just take bookings on the day and have a standby list like a theatre so that you don't have to waste 45 minutes of the evening which is the equivalent of the brits getting up at 5am to reserve their sun lounger. 

Not a good plan. Would turn me off. Too much pre-cruise structure for a vacation. Rather go with the flow. Furthermore, it does not solve the problem, more demand for seats than seats available. It just pushes the problem backwards in pre-cruise time and those familiar with the system go on line first to reserve. 

Edited August 14, 2022 by skynight