Lincoln Center Stage -- Disappointing

[happywandering]

I have to say Lincoln Center performances on the Westerdam in July were excellent.  They frequently "added" to the playlist by having one of them "substitute" a favorite.  My favorite "go to" venue.  We were on B2B cruises and while of course it was the same titles to the performances each week the substitutions made it special.  As far as audience numbers are concerned they usually had "good" turn out.   My only complaint is the rude people talking as they walked by on their way to the dining room.  The crew puts up warning signs the a performance is in progress, but the signs are ignored.

[New Jersey Pat]

We had an outstanding duo, piano and violin, on the Zaandam for Voyage of the Vikings. They played a very varied program, took requests, played original pieces and Ukrainian music. It was ver well attended 

[rkacruiser]

8 hours ago, happywandering said:

My only complaint is the rude people talking as they walked by on their way to the dining room.  The crew puts up warning signs the a performance is in progress, but the signs are ignored.

 

I disagree with your objection.  Rude?  No.  What are they supposed to do--tip toe through the tulips?  Their HH has been completed and they are anticipating a good dinner.  The issue is not your fellow guests, it is the location of the venue where the group is playing.  I have been "shushed" when it was unwarranted when I made a brief comment about my enjoyment of the music and I DID not appreciate that.  Sorry, but some are overly sensitive to extraneous sounds at times.  My goodness, you are not attending a performance of the New York Philharmonic when you have paid $$$ for your seats.  

[Guest ldtr]

43 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I disagree with your objection.  Rude?  No.  What are they supposed to do--tip toe through the tulips?  Their HH has been completed and they are anticipating a good dinner.  The issue is not your fellow guests, it is the location of the venue where the group is playing.  I have been "shushed" when it was unwarranted when I made a brief comment about my enjoyment of the music and I DID not appreciate that.  Sorry, but some are overly sensitive to extraneous sounds at times.  My goodness, you are not attending a performance of the New York Philharmonic when you have paid $$$ for your seats.  

I will disagree in that there are usually  signs posted around the venue, including in the hall way directly outside asking people to please be quiet when a performance is in progress.

[Aquahound]

9 hours ago, happywandering said:

My only complaint is the rude people talking as they walked by on their way to the dining room.  The crew puts up warning signs the a performance is in progress, but the signs are ignored.

 

I understand what you're saying but I do not totally blame those people.  This is also on HAL.  Why would you arrange a quiet venue like LCS alongside a major passageway?  If the venue is meant to be quiet, move it to a space where people aren't transiting, like the Crows Nest.  

 

Just because there are signs posted doesn't mean everyone sees them.  

[canadarocks]

I can understand both sides of this issue. We love Lincoln Center and we're looking forward to our upcoming Rotterdam sailings where they are performing on the Music Walk, far away from the dining room busyness. 

[syesmar]

On 8/26/2022 at 8:04 AM, kapitch said:

…When we asked staff about this, we were told that smoking was allowed on quarantine cabin balconies, which were near to us.  Disappointing to smell smoke when we thought it was a non-smoking environment.

Thanks for the info. Interesting in light of potential risks, mentioned here.

[rkacruiser]

22 hours ago, Aquahound said:

Just because there are signs posted doesn't mean everyone sees them

 

Precisely.  

 

22 hours ago, canadarocks said:

they are performing on the Music Walk, far away from the dining room busyness. 

 

A better solution to a "problem", that in my opinion, does not exist on the Zaandam or Volendam.

 

I took offense when I was "shushed" by daring to utter a few words to a person sitting next to me.  I guess this woman volunteered to be the "Lincoln Center police".  As I said, the "purists" need to remember they are not sitting in Philharmonic Hall in Lincoln Center.  

[Guest ldtr]

22 hours ago, canadarocks said:

I can understand both sides of this issue. We love Lincoln Center and we're looking forward to our upcoming Rotterdam sailings where they are performing on the Music Walk, far away from the dining room busyness. 

The problem with it being near the other venues is noise from those other venues on the music walk.  With the location near the dining room there is nothing else except the walkway.

 

While some may not see the signs, others choose to ignore them. Guess for them it is too much to expect them to stop talking for 20 feet as the walk down the hallway.

[Florida_gal_50]

38 minutes ago, ldtr said:

The problem with it being near the other venues is noise from those other venues on the music walk.  With the location near the dining room there is nothing else except the walkway.

 

While some may not see the signs, others choose to ignore them. Guess for them it is too much to expect them to stop talking for 20 feet as the walk down the hallway.

I do respect the signs because I’m a rule follower but the suggestion that they be in the crows nest is a great one.  You’d think it was the end of the world to hear a bit of noise.  Hopefully the ship doesn’t make noise that will disrupt. How will people shhhhhhh that 😛.

[Guest ldtr]

54 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I do respect the signs because I’m a rule follower but the suggestion that they be in the crows nest is a great one.  You’d think it was the end of the world to hear a bit of noise.  Hopefully the ship doesn’t make noise that will disrupt. How will people shhhhhhh that 😛.

One is human nature and avoidable for any that chose to follow the signs, the other is not.  Though in many cruises I have not heard many ship noises interrupt a performance. Though they did stop a performance once due to bad sound system

[Mary229]

I would not expect quiet unless I was in an enclosed theatre or other enclosed space.   Having a performance near the major walking artery of the ship and expecting quiet is foolhardy.  

[Florida_gal_50]

12 hours ago, ldtr said:

One is human nature and avoidable for any that chose to follow the signs, the other is not.  Though in many cruises I have not heard many ship noises interrupt a performance. Though they did stop a performance once due to bad sound system

You’ve never heard a ship creaking? Happens on every cruise I’ve been on and I’ve been on a lot.

[Guest ldtr]

4 hours ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

You’ve never heard a ship creaking? Happens on every cruise I’ve been on and I’ve been on a lot.

Also unavoidable, as I mentioned. Though I have not heard the ship creaking g during a Lincoln Center Performance.

[Guest ldtr]

4 hours ago, Mary229 said:

I would not expect quiet unless I was in an enclosed theatre or other enclosed space.   Having a performance near the major walking artery of the ship and expecting quiet is foolhardy.  

Expect total quiet, no.

 

Expect people to comply with signs posted by the cruise line to be quiet while walking about 20 feet down a corridor that has nothing else on it near the venue, does not seem unreasonable courtesy, but certainly seems to be beyond many.

[Florida_gal_50]

32 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Also unavoidable, as I mentioned. Though I have not heard the ship creaking g during a Lincoln Center Performance.

I didn't realize you could stop a ship from creaking during a performance.  I've really heard everything now.  

[LAFFNVEGAS]

On 8/23/2022 at 1:13 AM, VMax1700 said:

They are not 'duelling pianos'.  They are just two pianists who play a limited set list and try to sing along, sometimes ok, but mostly poorly.🙄

Totally agree, I think I had even reported the singing was rather cringe worthy for our July cruise for the piano area. People only sat in the area when the Rolling Stone area was full. Then after a song or two that the piano player attemtped to sing people got up and left. I only remember one pianist our week. 

[Guest ldtr]

24 minutes ago, Florida_gal_50 said:

I didn't realize you could stop a ship from creaking during a performance.  I've really heard everything now.  

Now you are just being silly.

 

Never said anything about stopping the ship creaking. Only that 1. when it did occur it was unavoidable, unlike people talking as they walk by and 2. that I have never heard creaking in that part of the ship during a performance.

 

Currently on Eurodam with a fair amount of ocean movement.  Was down near Lincoln Center reading. Was not creaking there now either.  

 

For that matter did not here creaking anywhere on deck 2 or 3 as I was walking around.

Edited August 28, 2022 by ldtr

[Guest ldtr]

Lincoln Center on the Eurodam is doing something a bit different than the last time I was on board. In the past they have done a different program each day and then repeated it 3 times that day.

 

This trip they are doing 7 different programs over 3 days in a 3,2,2 schedule and aging each program only once during the cruise.

 

As far as the musicians go they are good.

 

1. BM Oberlin College and Conservatory, MM Eastman School of Music. Additional training Meadowmount school of music and Orford Musique

 

2. Juilliard and Rice University

 

3. Ohio State and Manhatten School of Music

 

4. BM Conservatorio Luiso D Annunzio in Pescara, Masters in Performance Royal College of Music London and PhD in Music at University of Surrey.

Edited August 28, 2022 by ldtr

[rkacruiser]

3 hours ago, ldtr said:

Lincoln Center on the Eurodam is doing something a bit different than the last time I was on board. In the past they have done a different program each day and then repeated it 3 times that day.

 

This trip they are doing 7 different programs over 3 days in a 3,2,2 schedule and aging each program only once during the cruise.

 

As far as the musicians go they are good.

 

1. BM Oberlin College and Conservatory, MM Eastman School of Music. Additional training Meadowmount school of music and Orford Musique

 

2. Juilliard and Rice University

 

3. Ohio State and Manhatten School of Music

 

4. BM Conservatorio Luiso D Annunzio in Pescara, Masters in Performance Royal College of Music London and PhD in Music at University of Surrey.

 

Those are very impressive credentials, indeed.  

 

The issue is not the quality of the musicians.  It is the location of the venue.  I thought I read that someone suggested the Crow's Nest and now I can't find it.  Acoustics might be a problem.  Some of the R Class ships had BB King's group there.  Music was good.  But, the hard surfaces, the groups' volume:  really wasn't a world class venue for the group.  Maybe Lincoln Center Stage's group would be better suited for that venue.  

 

 

Edited August 28, 2022 by rkacruiser

[Guest ldtr]

I did get an answer to a previous question.

 

According to the people performing on the Eurodam, they are given a program curated by Lincoln Center. Normally they stick to the program without modification. If one of the musicians cannot perform, then certain of the pieces cannot be properly performed.  In that case they are allowed to and actually must substitute other works that can be properly performed by the musicians that are present.

 

That explains the substitutions observed by the OP during the week when the Cello player was absent.

[rkacruiser]

4 minutes ago, ldtr said:

According to the people performing on the Eurodam, they are given a program curated by Lincoln Center. Normally they stick to the program without modification.

 

That is good to know.  This ought to provide a better quality program than some "entertainment guru" in Seattle who failed Music Appreciation in college.  

[Guest ldtr]

13 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Those are very impressive credentials, indeed.  

 

The issue is not the quality of the musicians.  It is the location of the venue.  I thought I read that someone suggested the Crow's Nest and now I can't find it.  Acoustics might be a problem.  Some of the R Class ships had BB King's group there.  Music was good.  But, the hard surfaces, the groups' volume:  really wasn't a world class venue for the group.  Maybe Lincoln Center Stage's group would be better suited for that venue.  

 

 

I noticed during the first performance onboard that there was two people in the hallway outside of the venue. The technician that supports the venue and the person that was hosting the program. They were pointing out the signs (both the signs on stands and the electric ones that lite up during the performance, as well as directly anyone that stopped in the hallway to go to the area at the back so they would not interrupt the traffic flow in the hallway.

[Guest ldtr]

17 minutes ago, ldtr said:

I did get an answer to a previous question.

 

According to the people performing on the Eurodam, they are given a program curated by Lincoln Center. Normally they stick to the program without modification. If one of the musicians cannot perform, then certain of the pieces cannot be properly performed.  In that case they are allowed to and actually must substitute other works that can be properly performed by the musicians that are present.

 

That explains the substitutions observed by the OP during the week when the Cello player was absent.

I expect that the acoustics would not be good without substantial redesign. the walls in the Lincoln Center venue, including along the hallway appear to be materials that would not reflect sound. The one small window is covered over with a heavy shade during performances as well so minimal hard surfaces to reflect sound.

 

Also on this cruise the Crows Nest seems to be one of the busiest areas on the ship.

[Florida_gal_50]

1 hour ago, rkacruiser said:

 

Those are very impressive credentials, indeed.  

 

The issue is not the quality of the musicians.  It is the location of the venue.  I thought I read that someone suggested the Crow's Nest and now I can't find it.  Acoustics might be a problem.  Some of the R Class ships had BB King's group there.  Music was good.  But, the hard surfaces, the groups' volume:  really wasn't a world class venue for the group.  Maybe Lincoln Center Stage's group would be better suited for that venue.  

 

 

Post 55 for the crows nest suggestion