RCL Ovation of the Seas - Lack of Entertainment?

[Matkai]

Hi Everyone, booked to go on our Cruise for March 2023, however, been hearing a lot from people who have just disembarked or are currently onboard Ovation of the Seas and they are not happy with the lack of entertainment or the absent Cruise Director?

RCL put out a press release telling everyone about what was going to be available on Ovation of the Seas in 2022 - do they change or water this down for Australian Cruisers as no-one has mentioned the main production 'The Dream' which was suppose to be onboard or the Theme Parties and Theme Nights?  

The only two acts that I have are comedians James Palomare and James Buster (both never heard of)

Has anyone cruised on Ovation of the Seas since it restarted and how did you find the entertainment.  

Thank You

 

[boeckli]

The article you quote is dated March 22, 2016 ...

[Jandex]

Following.

We are boarding on Wednesday and have heard the same. 
Was on Quantum a couple weeks ago - 3 day cruise - entertainment was fabulous. 

[Hammer61]

1 hour ago, Matkai said:

comedians James Palomare

I think that’s meant to be Simon Palomares? We saw him on the Ovation transpacific, sorry but he’s not very funny and almost cringeworthy at times!

 

Entertainment on that 19-night cruise was ok, but not great, just your standard shows, trivia, lectures etc, we saw a couple of good shows in the theatre but also nights when they had nothing in the theatre and only trivia or a band/pianist in the bars around the ship.

 

Maybe the biggest let down (funny though) was getting an invite to the new Icon of the seas video (advert) with the promise of someone would win a cruise on the inaugural voyage, so the whole ship turned out to the 3 screenings they had in the theatre with the draw to be made at an event in the evening to celebrate the new video, turned out to be a 2 night cruise on the test cruise from fort Lauderdale in Florida, the prize was for the cruise only!!!! Even the Americans on board were shocked/amused…..hahahahahaha, and after the day of the draw we heard nothing about it again, usually with these things and a decent prize the CD makes the most of it for a few days at least!

[Jean C]

1 hour ago, Matkai said:

Hi Everyone, booked to go on our Cruise for March 2023, however, been hearing a lot from people who have just disembarked or are currently onboard Ovation of the Seas and they are not happy with the lack of entertainment or the absent Cruise Director?

RCL put out a press release telling everyone about what was going to be available on Ovation of the Seas in 2022 - do they change or water this down for Australian Cruisers as no-one has mentioned the main production 'The Dream' which was suppose to be onboard or the Theme Parties and Theme Nights?  

The only two acts that I have are comedians James Palomare and James Buster (both never heard of)

Has anyone cruised on Ovation of the Seas since it restarted and how did you find the entertainment.  

Thank You

 

Hi, the name James Bustar rings a bell and he was very good, very entertaining. I  haven't heard of the other guy. You will find articles about James Bustar from a Google search that will put your mind to rest. I hope you enjoy the cruise 🙃

[bretts173]

2 minutes ago, Hammer61 said:

I think that’s meant to be Simon Palomares? We saw him on the Ovation transpacific, sorry but he’s not very funny and almost cringeworthy at times!

 

Entertainment on that 19-night cruise was ok, but not great, just your standard shows, trivia, lectures etc, we saw a couple of good shows in the theatre but also nights when they had nothing in the theatre and only trivia or a band/pianist in the bars around the ship.

 

Maybe the biggest let down (funny though) was getting an invite to the new Icon of the seas video (advert) with the promise of someone would win a cruise on the inaugural voyage, so the whole ship turned out to the 3 screenings they had in the theatre with the draw to be made at an event in the evening to celebrate the new video, turned out to be a 2 night cruise on the test cruise from fort Lauderdale in Florida, the prize was for the cruise only!!!! Even the Americans on board were shocked/amused…..hahahahahaha, and after the day of the draw we heard nothing about it again, usually with these things and a decent prize the CD makes the most of it for a few days at least!

The cruise is in March who knows the entertainers on board then.

[Matkai]

Just now, bretts173 said:

The cruise is in March who knows the entertainers on board then.

If they reviews are so bad now, I am not taking the risk, will wait and hear back from next couple of cruises and then make decision before final payment - luckily we paid extra for fully refundable deposit.  Shame though because I was really looking forward to it 😞

[Matkai]

6 minutes ago, Jean C said:

Hi, the name James Bustar rings a bell and he was very good, very entertaining. I  haven't heard of the other guy. You will find articles about James Bustar from a Google search that will put your mind to rest. I hope you enjoy the cruise 🙃

Did you see the main production the Dream and was there any theme nights or theme parties?  Thanks

[ToeKnees]

interesting to read this topic as we are on board on 24th Jan 22 and were expecting a full list of entertainment and activities. Has anyone got a recent copy of some of the daily planners so we can get an idea ? We recently came of Majestic Princess and there were plenty of night time activities, so hoping for the same xx

[bretts173]

3 minutes ago, ToeKnees said:

interesting to read this topic as we are on board on 24th Jan 22 and were expecting a full list of entertainment and activities. Has anyone got a recent copy of some of the daily planners so we can get an idea ? We recently came of Majestic Princess and there were plenty of night time activities, so hoping for the same xx

There is plenty of night time activities, aimed at a slightly younger audience than princess. The best way is to download the royal app and change the cruise to the current sailing.

[Matkai]

2 hours ago, bretts173 said:

There is plenty of night time activities, aimed at a slightly younger audience than princess. The best way is to download the royal app and change the cruise to the current sailing.

Thanks, I did that, what I found interesting was the current cruise to Tasmania has the main production 'Dream' showing but the next cruise that is going to South Pacific on the 14th December does not and appears to have less entertainment? 

I am hoping this will be updated and now that I know how to do this will keep any eye on this sailing as we are booked to go on the same in March.

Thanks for your help.

 

 

 

Edited December 9, 2022 by Matkai

[bretts173]

1 minute ago, Matkai said:

Thanks, how do I change cruise - cannot see that option on the app. 

 

If your on your cruise, click the calender, down the bottom it says change ship/dates. Then click browse our ships. Hit ovation and then the date of the current cruise.

[arxcards]

6 hours ago, boeckli said:

The article you quote is dated March 22, 2016 ...

We enjoyed the entertainment on our Ovation cruise, but that was a month before that media release. I suspect it might have changed again by now.

[arxcards]

6 hours ago, boeckli said:

The article you quote is dated March 22, 2016 ...

Nice photos of yours sitting on the gallery page atm.

[Jean C]

11 hours ago, Matkai said:

Did you see the main production the Dream and was there any theme nights or theme parties?  Thanks

Sorry, I didn't see James Bustar on an Ovation sailing, it was Princess or maybe Carnival, and pre covid. The one-off entertainers move around from ship to ship.

[Chiliburn]

I’m currently on Ovation and I thought the entertainment selection is pretty good.

Pixels is on just about every night,Live love legs was on and last night

there where 4 gigs going at once last night.
Schooner bar had the stowaway pianist ,music hall had Flash ,the pub had someone with a guitar and Bolaros had a Caribbean band . All at once.
 

I think the band `switched on ‘my have been put off because there was a lot of trouble with the audience,they where very good.
 

I haven’t seen much in the way of off ship entertainers but I’m sure they are coming.

 

[boeckli]

9 hours ago, arxcards said:

Nice photos of yours sitting on the gallery page atm.

 

Thanks Geoff 🙂

[DT1304]

4 hours ago, Chiliburn said:

I’m currently on Ovation and I thought the entertainment selection is pretty good.

Pixels is on just about every night,Live love legs was on and last night

there where 4 gigs going at once last night.
Schooner bar had the stowaway pianist ,music hall had Flash ,the pub had someone with a guitar and Bolaros had a Caribbean band . All at once.
 

I think the band `switched on ‘my have been put off because there was a lot of trouble with the audience,they where very good.
 

I haven’t seen much in the way of off ship entertainers but I’m sure they are coming.

 

Keep it nice and clean and covid free Chili. 😉

I board on Wednesday.

[arxcards]

On 12/10/2022 at 6:52 AM, Chiliburn said:

I’m currently on Ovation and I thought the entertainment selection is pretty good.

Pixels is on just about every night,Live love legs was on and last night

there where 4 gigs going at once last night.
Schooner bar had the stowaway pianist ,music hall had Flash ,the pub had someone with a guitar and Bolaros had a Caribbean band . All at once.
 

I think the band `switched on ‘my have been put off because there was a lot of trouble with the audience,they where very good.
 

I haven’t seen much in the way of off ship entertainers but I’m sure they are coming.

 

Actually, that does seem similar to 2016

[resordanis]

1 hour ago, arxcards said:

Actually, that does seem similar to 2016

We are also on the next cruise and exactly the same as the last two. Very repetitive and get very boring!

[mr walker]

14 hours ago, resordanis said:

We are also on the next cruise and exactly the same as the last two. Very repetitive and get very boring!

The 'Broadway style' production shows remain in place for several years, so repeat cruising will mean they will be the same year on year. The fly-in entertainers will rotate around from ship to ship & it is luck of the draw who you may get on any particular cruise & the in-house bands/entertainers are there for months. 

We did B2B2B for 34N at one time & saw some of the same entertainment, including the fly-in performers, who, at times join for the end of 1 cruise & say on for the next one. Sometimes we would see them more than once and other times not. We saw a magician and then went to his show again on the next cruise to try and work out how he did some of the tricks 🙂 

On that trip they had a 'special' show where the two stars of the production show did a one-off show together where they sang - one of them had been on Idol or similar. 

We mostly enjoy the entertainment & the fact that RC have a live orchestra rather than canned music like some other lines - we hope this is still the case post- Covid.

[resordanis]

5 minutes ago, mr walker said:

The 'Broadway style' production shows remain in place for several years, so repeat cruising will mean they will be the same year on year. The fly-in entertainers will rotate around from ship to ship & it is luck of the draw who you may get on any particular cruise & the in-house bands/entertainers are there for months. 

We did B2B2B for 34N at one time & saw some of the same entertainment, including the fly-in performers, who, at times join for the end of 1 cruise & say on for the next one. Sometimes we would see them more than once and other times not. We saw a magician and then went to his show again on the next cruise to try and work out how he did some of the tricks 🙂 

On that trip they had a 'special' show where the two stars of the production show did a one-off show together where they sang - one of them had been on Idol or similar. 

We mostly enjoy the entertainment & the fact that RC have a live orchestra rather than canned music like some other lines - we hope this is still the case post- Covid.

Yes still true. We have enjoyed the Orchestra on the last two evenings! Unfortunately for us, lots of comedians too!

[MicCanberra]

The guest shows can be hit and miss, I find 20 minutes enough to realise which it is. If you have already seen the production shows, then perhaps look at music being played elsewhere 

[mr walker]

11 minutes ago, resordanis said:

Yes still true. We have enjoyed the Orchestra on the last two evenings! Unfortunately for us, lots of comedians too!

Comedy is, I think, the hardest of all forms of entertainment, as people have so many different tastes & senses of humour.

 

We look forward to hearing the live music of the orchestra in March!

Edited December 11, 2022 by mr walker
pressed reply button to soon

[M-H-B]

Is all the comedy PG/G or is it split - the earlier sessions family friendly and the later ones for 18+ the way Carnival do it?

Thanks!