The End of Lincoln Center

[foodsvcmgr]

HAL’s death by 1000 cuts continues as Lincoln Center Stage will be eliminated later this year as a regular quartet on each ship and will now be a rotating headliner act that moves from ship to ship.

Thus you may or most likely will not encounter it on your particular sailing.

Source - Points Guy.

[Mary229]

Perhaps cuts but perhaps also laying the ground work for a different production.   Entertainment  like cuisine is fashion and like fashion is constantly shifting.  
 

I would give it all up for a better enrichment program. It is hard for live entertainment to compete with streaming video, movies and other mass media.  It is a new generation 

Edited January 7, 2023 by Mary229

[mcrcruiser]

Candidly it is a shame that this is happening .We loved the old HAL .now they want to encourage the younger generations  .However ,the  younger generations can ill afford the longer HAK cruises being  produced  .so why change a good thing ?

[REOVA]

5 minutes ago, Mary229 said:

Perhaps cuts but perhaps also laying the ground work for a different production.   Entertainment  like cuisine is fashion and like fashion is constantly shifting.  
 

I would give it all up for a better enrichment program. It is hard for live entertainment to compete with streaming video, movies and other mass media.  It is a new generation 

Why not have both better enrichment programs and live performance?

 

So I guess now the BBC movies will have recorded tracks (like the dance and singers now have since they did away with the HAL band). Next thing they'll just have digital music box to sit and listen to. But then they can sell tokens to drop in and select your song from the digital Jukebox. 🤔 

 

When they talked about cuts in 2019 it was mentioned the onboard entertainers and crew (band, singers, etc) would open cabins they could sell and also switch to cheaper third party entertainment agency. 

[lazey1]

I for one am delighted to find out that HAL will be eliminating Lincoln Center Stage or limiting it to a rotating headliner act. Classical music is not enjoyed by everyone and it seems like for years that Lincoln Center Stage has been devoted to funerary music. Perhaps once a cruise I could manage to sit through one of their shows. PS, I am 81 years old, definitely not one of the younger generations.

Edited January 7, 2023 by lazey1

[kochleffel]

I noticed that Lincoln Center Stage is described as "on select cruises," but I didn't know whether that was a change. It's still listed for the fall TATL on the Oosterdam that I have booked, and I really hope that it stays, because it's the main reason I chose HAL over other cruises lines for an itinerary with lots of sea days.

 

[kochleffel]

1 minute ago, lazey1 said:

I for one am delighted to find out that HAL will be eliminating Lincoln Center Stage or limiting it to a rotating headliner act. Classical music is not enjoyed by everyone and it seems like for years that Lincoln Center Stage has been devoted to funerary music. Perhaps once a cruise I could manage to sit through one of their shows. PS, I am 81 years old, definitely nor one of the younger generations.

 

I probably don't have as much experience on HAL as you do, but this was not at all my experience. No funerary music whatsoever. And not all old people -- the cruise had an unusual number (for HAL) of young couples and many of them came to the concerts, every one of which was SRO.

[GeezerCouple]

This is big news for us, and very unwelcome.

 

We finally had a wonderful NZ/Australia cruise on Noordam, just before the plague hit.

Being classical music lovers, we found this to be a wonderful extra.  I had read about it, and kept it in mind when considering trying HAL.  We were both very pleasantly surprised by the quality of the musicians.

 

The Lincoln Center room was always completely packed, with people standing in the back.  We weren't alone in arriving early to get a good seat.  (The seating arrangement wasn't ideal, but it "worked".). A larger room or more seating would clearly have been very well used.

 

Lincoln Center really set HAL above and beyond other cruise lines, at least for us.  DH asked me to try to plan more on HAL, precisely because of Lincoln Center.  (COVID put a lid on cruises for us for a while; otherwise, we'd probably have taken 2 or 3 more by now.)

Without Lincoln Center, there's not that much that clearly distinguishes HAL from a few other cruise lines or ships.  They all have their pros and cons.  In fact, we really enjoy Oceania, especially their Riviera/Marina ships.  However, their little occasional quartet isn't anything close to the real performances at Lincoln Center.

 

We'll still consider HAL if there is a specific itinerary, which is the most important thing when we select cruises.  However, IF this is true, HAL just dropped off the "preferred list" for us.  It was still a very nice cruise indeed, beyond LC, but so are cruises on several other ships...

 

With all the cuts being made, and by many cruise lines, some of the charm of cruising is slipping away.

[Yes, we understand the financial pressures.]

 

What a shame. 😒

 

GC

[3rdGenCunarder]

NO!!!! No no no no no! I will miss Lincoln Center so much! 

 

I never found their performances "funerary." They had a wide variety of programs, and not all of it was classical. Their movie theme set was fabulous. The musicians were well trained and on the cruises, I took, I could see the joy they had in playing together. 

 

Cut the lobster, keep Lincoln Center!!!!!!

[tupper10]

I guess they no longer want us to cruise anymore with them. It was one of the things we liked best about their cruises. The demise of Lincoln Center means that they don't really value their loyal customers and want to change the demographic, oh well.  

[Infi]

With Lincoln Center now departing, I do wonder what will fill the void - that lounge is always packed in the evenings and that music style is clearly enjoyed by many. The Volendam/Zaandam still have the classical duo in Explorers that is not branded as Lincoln Center. Perhaps RWS (HAL's entertainment company that provides Step One Dance Company/Billboard et al) has something new in the works? For HAL's sake, I sure hope so.

[Mary229]

34 minutes ago, REOVA said:

Why not have both better enrichment programs and live performance?

I think enrichment programs will be a far better match to their newly stated goal of long, exotic voyages.    I certainly can listen to far better classical music on my phone than I have heard on any cruise ship. And yes, I do listen to classical music almost daily. 

[aaaaa]

Also from the article: "Additionally, on Vista-class ships — Noordam, Westerdam, Oosterdam and Zuiderdam — the line will replace B.B. King's Blues Club with the Rolling Stone Lounge."

[Infi]

I also wonder if HAL is doing a natural "cleaning house" of their partnerships. On our holiday cruise on Zaandam, I was told the partnerships with Microsoft and Oprah had expired during the pandemic and were not renewed; America's Test Kitchen expired in January 2020 as well. I also heard from one of the entertainment staff that the Port to Table (cooking shows that aren't ATK) is coming back, but the BB King contract expires early 2023 as well - not sure if those are true or just rumors. If BB King contract is expiring, that will be another big loss for HAL as that venue must be a huge moneymaker.

[Dutchman48]

1 hour ago, foodsvcmgr said:

HAL’s death by 1000 cuts continues as Lincoln Center Stage will be eliminated later this year as a regular quartet on each ship and will now be a rotating headliner act that moves from ship to ship.

Thus you may or most likely will not encounter it on your particular sailing.

Source - Points Guy.

Here is a link to the article.

Some of your favorite music venues are going away on this line's cruise ships - The Points Guy

 

After reading the article I have mixed feelings. My wife and I have always enjoyed The Lincoln Center but found on the vista ships it was hard to get seating due to the size of the room. Really loved the double deck space on the newer Panicle ships. 

Will have to wait and see if moving them to the main stage works. The plus will be easier to get seating while the minus will be less performances.

The article also talks about other changes to the music walk. 

[REOVA]

19 minutes ago, Infi said:

I also wonder if HAL is doing a natural "cleaning house" of their partnerships. On our holiday cruise on Zaandam, I was told the partnerships with Microsoft and Oprah had expired during the pandemic and were not renewed; America's Test Kitchen expired in January 2020 as well. I also heard from one of the entertainment staff that the Port to Table (cooking shows that aren't ATK) is coming back, but the BB King contract expires early 2023 as well - not sure if those are true or just rumors. If BB King contract is expiring, that will be another big loss for HAL as that venue must be a huge moneymaker.

They are rolling the BB King music into the song list for the Rock Band (and hopefully the horn section). 

 

Won't affect the smaller ships, since they have either BB King (to now be Rolling Stone) or Rolling Stone area but will be interesting on Pinnacle ships if the BB King area will be trivia, games and comedy club only now. 

[FlaMariner]

I've been cruising HAL before Lincoln Center Stage and I will be cruising HAL after Lincoln Center Stage. 

 

We've enjoyed Lincoln Center Stage but understand entertainment needs to keep changing and being refreshed.  

 

I'm looking forward to what is new and different regarding entertainment when I'm onboard.

 

We will enjoy the journey and watch them come and go......

[Radbooks]

But they are also adding this:

 

'Plus, rolling out between February and early Summer, the line will add a music offering in the form of a band at the Ocean Bar on all Vista- and Signature-class ships. The contemporary trio will play pop arrangements, dating from the 60’s through today.'

 

We enjoyed listening to a group in the Ocean Bar last summer on the N. Statendam and would love to have that more frequently.

[St Pete Cruiser]

Lincoln Center and B B King are our favorites. Not sure about Rolling Stone Lounge, but maybe it will be good. The live music in Ocean Bar will be nice. 

On a long cruise, you want some variety.  Enrichment, besides the standard productions like Spirits of the Caribbean, are needed.

[Tampa Girl]

1 hour ago, lazey1 said:

I for one am delighted to find out that HAL will be eliminating Lincoln Center Stage or limiting it to a rotating headliner act. Classical music is not enjoyed by everyone and it seems like for years that Lincoln Center Stage has been devoted to funerary music. Perhaps once a cruise I could manage to sit through one of their shows. PS, I am 81 years old, definitely not one of the younger generations.

 

The reason for having diverse musical entertainment is so that one does not have to sit through "funerary" music if one is not so inclined.  There were sufficiently different music being played in other areas on the ship for you not to have suffered through classical music.

[REOVA]

7 minutes ago, Radbooks said:

But they are also adding this:

 

'Plus, rolling out between February and early Summer, the line will add a music offering in the form of a band at the Ocean Bar on all Vista- and Signature-class ships. The contemporary trio will play pop arrangements, dating from the 60’s through today.'

 

We enjoyed listening to a group in the Ocean Bar last summer on the N. Statendam and would love to have that more frequently.

They've had the Ocean Bar band (in addition to the HAL band on World Stage when music was live). This is nothing new. PR marketing will next say they are having more variety at the Lido buffet. 🙄

[REOVA]

4 minutes ago, Tampa Girl said:

 

The reason for having diverse musical entertainment is so that one does not have to sit through "funerary" music if one is not so inclined.  There were sufficiently different music being played in other areas on the ship for you not to have suffered through classical music.

And if they've sat through it, they would have heard various genres of music (yes all on classical instruments but if anyone has seen The Muses - African woman quartet- they don't do "funeray" either) 😁

[Homelines]

What about bringing back the Filipino bands and Rosario Strings?  The music used to be so much better.

[LMaxwell]

Even though not to my tastes, that is a cutback as it is something that was a HAL differentiator. I feel badly for those that enjoy it. LCS was always well attended that I saw. LCS is also the music for 2 or 3 of the main theater shows, so ultimately this will also be a cut back for main theater entertainment, already an agreed upon weakness of HAL. 

 

Does anyone know what "later this year" means? Am looking at March for spring break and wife resistant due to lack of entertainment on last cruise. If even less this time, I'll have to sleep in Lifeboat #9

[canadarocks]

43 minutes ago, Radbooks said:

But they are also adding this:

 

'Plus, rolling out between February and early Summer, the line will add a music offering in the form of a band at the Ocean Bar on all Vista- and Signature-class ships. The contemporary trio will play pop arrangements, dating from the 60’s through today.'

 

We enjoyed listening to a group in the Ocean Bar last summer on the N. Statendam and would love to have that more frequently.

Hopefully the band at the Ocean Bar will also be on the Pinnacle Class ships. We will miss Lincoln Center for sure.