ABBA Songbook to be Retired in July

[What was that?]

Either the Coasters (Charlie Brown), and/or the Diamonds (Li'l Darlin').

[chatdad]

Yea!  Was probably the worst show I saw on our transatlantic.  

[Jim Avery]

On 7/14/2023 at 7:30 PM, cmmaxwell03 said:

Any update on the entertainment?  Wondering what to expect when we sail this September.

I heard it will be a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute show.  It doesn't get any better than "Sweet Home Alabama"...🥃

[tocruiseguy]

On 5/3/2023 at 2:10 PM, lackcreativity said:

Why does a show have to be devoted to one group exclusively? Couldn't they do a whole decade at a time? They could then update a given show over time by adding and removing individual songs while not having to revamp the entire program. At least it would keep things a bit fresher as time goes by.  

Agreed and maybe the braintrust at Viking will someday realize there have been 4 decades of music since the 1970's.  Even my 92 year old father likes some music from the 80's, 90's, etc.  The music on our Viking cruise was brutal, how many times do they have to play "Celebration" on a Viking Cruise?  

[CILCIANRQTS]

3 hours ago, tocruiseguy said:

Agreed and maybe the braintrust at Viking will someday realize there have been 4 decades of music since the 1970's.  Even my 92 year old father likes some music from the 80's, 90's, etc.  The music on our Viking cruise was brutal, how many times do they have to play "Celebration" on a Viking Cruise?  

You mean the “let’s all pretend we’re having a good time” song?? 😎

[KBs mum]

16 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

I heard it will be a Lynyrd Skynyrd tribute show.  It doesn't get any better than "Sweet Home Alabama"...🥃

Roll Tide! 

 

[Jim Avery]

4 minutes ago, KBs mum said:

Roll Tide! 

 

Bless you!  And a cheery Roll Tide back.🍸

[duquephart]

Laundry detergent?

[Jim Avery]

1 hour ago, duquephart said:

Laundry detergent?

Haha, just rude you are. 🥃🔥

[charmed1959]

On our Iceland/Norway cruise thus far we’ve had Duets and Rock and Roll.  Tonight is the West End musical one called Stage Door.  Other entertainment was two nights of a piano virtuoso they brought in.  An Opera Singer that was last night and will again perform tomorrow night, a deck dance party around the pool, and two solo shows, one by one of the Viking vocalists, Tina, and one by the Cruise Director, Damian.  I don’t know how common that is.

[Mariastreby]

3 minutes ago, charmed1959 said:

On our Iceland/Norway cruise thus far we’ve had Duets and Rock and Roll.  Tonight is the West End musical one called Stage Door.  Other entertainment was two nights of a piano virtuoso they brought in.  An Opera Singer that was last night and will again perform tomorrow night, a deck dance party around the pool, and two solo shows, one by one of the Viking vocalists, Tina, and one by the Cruise Director, Damian.  I don’t know how common that is.

How was the Rock and Roll one, if you attended? Or heard others discuss it? If all it did was cover songs only to the early 70’s, and were way more pop than rock, then once again they missed the mark. We are 68 and 73, and listen to classic rock music. I love the Doors, also Lynyrd Skynyrd, CCR, the Who, Aerosmith, the Stones, etc. Or they could try the rock “anthems” by Kansas, Boston, and lots of others. One show we saw on the Mars last May was called something else, but at least it wrapped up with a decent rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody. The audience was on its feet when that ended. 

 

Every cruise has a show by the Cruise Director, and the assistant CD, depending on how long the cruise is. On the Star last December, we had a guest guitar player, backed by the band, who could sing, played multiple styles of songs, and even told whacky jokes in between. Far different from the guy in the Explorers Lounge. But I wouldn’t want to hear either another classical pianist or an opera singer, as we’re exposed to enough classical music in the Atrium. On our Oceania cruise in the spring, they had a guest comedian, and that was fun. 

[charmed1959]

9 minutes ago, Mariastreby said:

How was the Rock and Roll one, if you attended? Or heard others discuss it? If all it did was cover songs only to the early 70’s, and were way more pop than rock, then once again they missed the mark. We are 68 and 73, and listen to classic rock music. I love the Doors, also Lynyrd Skynyrd, CCR, the Who, Aerosmith, the Stones, etc. Or they could try the rock “anthems” by Kansas, Boston, and lots of others. One show we saw on the Mars last May was called something else, but at least it wrapped up with a decent rendition of Bohemian Rhapsody. The audience was on its feet when that ended. 

 

Every cruise has a show by the Cruise Director, and the assistant CD, depending on how long the cruise is. On the Star last December, we had a guest guitar player, backed by the band, who could sing, played multiple styles of songs, and even told whacky jokes in between. Far different from the guy in the Explorers Lounge. But I wouldn’t want to hear either another classical pianist or an opera singer, as we’re exposed to enough classical music in the Atrium. On our Oceania cruise in the spring, they had a guest comedian, and that was fun. 

The Rock and Roll one had some songs from Journey, Queen (but not Bohemian Rhapsody), Beatles, Alabama, Kansas.  A few more “power ballads” slow songs than high energy Rock, but not bad.  Our assistant CD is a former ballroom dancing champion, and claims he does not sing, so that is probably where the Viking Vocalist solo show came in.  (She was good, sound mixing needed work.). I agree, I skipped the pianist, and sat in the back for the Opera singer as I wasn’t sure I’d like her show.  It was short, 45 minutes, and included “Summertime” and “Moon River”, which are some of my favorite songs.  I’m not sure I’ll go to her next one.  Our cruise director had quite a few Opera songs in his show, and even the Duet show had the Celine Dion/Andrea Botticelli song “Prayer”. (As did the cruise director.). I think I’m tired of that song now.

 

I’d love a comedian.

[Liz Masterson]

Just thinking... what a wonderful problem for Viking to have... everyone is tired of seeing the ABBA and The Beatles shows on the Viking ships... 

 

This indicates they have a very high number of returning sailors... 

 

So maybe they could cut back on all the catalog mailings? I'd love just one big beautiful Viking Cruise Guidebook each year... 

 

 

[Liz Masterson]

🤣

My mail just arrived…

[duquephart]

Let Oceania know who you are and see what happens. Every bit as bad as Viking.

[BlairsvilleCruiseGirl]

Is anyone else getting tired of all the "soothing" music in the lounges pre-dinner?  Every evening on our June Viking Sea sailing, in both the Explorers Lounge and the Living Room, there were pianists, cellists or violinists playing "soothing" music.  Now, don't get me wrong, they were all quite talented and the music was beautiful, but geez, after a while I was ready to fall asleep!  Couldn't Viking have one place on board where they have a little more upbeat music during the early evening?  It doesn't even have to be live music, just something with a little pep to it!  I think the ideal solution would be to have the Aquavit terrace bar play some good ol' rock and roll music pre-dinner.  We can go have a drink, chair dance to the music - you know, an upbeat atmosphere where we're not afraid to talk or laugh because we don't want to wake anyone up!

And yes, for all you fans of the soothing music, there would still be plenty of it in the Explorers and Living Room!

[KBs mum]

Our preference would be for no music in the atrium, the those who wish to avoid music or listen to their own via headphones won't have to keep moving. 

Also it's the nearest thing on the ship to a pub, where conversations can be started easily with strangers. Unless the live playing is on. 

 

With two dedicated live music spaces and occasional dancing under the stars event there is no reason for it to happen anywhere else

Edited July 29, 2023 by KBs mum

[Jim Avery]

3 minutes ago, KBs mum said:

Our preference would be for no music in the living room, the those who wish to avoid music or listen to their own via headphones won't have to keep moving. 

Also it's the nearest thing on the ship to a pub, where conversations can be started easily with strangers. Unless the live playing is on

I'm with you.  I just don't get it why every space everywhere one goes must have music.  And on a ship at sea it is nice to just hear the person you are with or even just the sound of the ship.  

[Mariastreby]

23 minutes ago, Jim Avery said:

I'm with you.  I just don't get it why every space everywhere one goes must have music.  And on a ship at sea it is nice to just hear the person you are with or even just the sound of the ship.  

I agree about the music, especially in the Atrium in what most would consider the normal Happy Hour time. On the other hand, our second favorite cruise line, Oceania, has piped in music in various venues at certain times. And often too loud. Their piano singer in the Martini Bar at their “true” happy hour drowns out any attempt at conversation, yet they never seem to fix it. Thankfully, Viking doesn’t do that. 😊

 

Most major lines always have piped in music broadcast everywhere, especially on the pool deck, to give a party/holiday atmosphere. Thankfully, few of the “over 50” lines tend to do that, though I can’t speak to Princess or HAL. I suspect that all of this classical atrium music on Viking is something Tors thinks we all want. Or his way of saying, No, we aren’t going to make you listen to that music on the loudspeakers. But even that live music is a bit intrusive, and I wouldn’t mind a bit if I never heard a cellist or piano player there again!

[dd57]

We really enjoy classical music and appreciate Viking's live music.  At least it isn't constant polka music like we had on a HAL trip once!  

 

They already have different types of music in different locals at different times, at least between Explorer's and the Atrium.  But adding more genres (and more modern music) at different times would be a great addition.  And more quiet times instead of recorded music.

[KBs mum]

It's not that we don't like classical music, or showtunes, but we don't want to be forced to listen to somebody else's choice of which and when. We have our own playlists of favourites by top singers/orchestras, have seen a lot of them live, and listening to not particularly good performers instead doesn't interest us 

[ReaderGirl57]

We are just off the Jupiter and we had 4 shows from the Viking Vocalists. “Decades” was songs from the 50s, 60s, and 70s. The 50s and 70s were pretty good, but the 60s featured Burt Bacharach and Andy Williams, which isn’t exactly what I think of when I think of the 60s. “Duets” was famous musical partnerships. Think “Endless Love”, “I Got You Babe”, etc. “Stage Door” featured songs from the West End and Broadway and “Southern Sounds” was country and western. The performers were talented if not exceptional, but very sweet and enthusiastic which goes a long way in my mind. Our cruise director was Edward Garth and he did a cabaret performance one night which was my favorite. Out assistant cruise director Rosie also performed one night and they brought in a classical guitarist named Mark Hussey for two shows as well. He was quite good. Since this was our first Viking Cruise, I would have been happy with ABBA and the Beatles, but we enjoyed the shows.

[loriva]

On 5/5/2023 at 12:58 AM, loriva said:

An update to my original post from staff on Jupiter:

     --The ABBA Songbook will be folded into a show on the pool deck--a show to allow people to get up and dance.

    --The Beatles show folds into a classic rock show--50s, 60s, and 70s; Stones, Fleetwood Mac, others.

     --There will be a new show, Southern Sounds, which is country western.

     --A second new show will be show tunes--more of a traditional production show onboard cruises.

 

Variety shows and guest entertainers will also continue.

 

 

Well, I got three out of four correct when I started this thread!  Missed "Duets" and some of the names.  (In my defense, I was trying to figure out how to get a bean bag into a cornhole target from the stairway in the Atrium as I was listening to the information from the entertainment staff on the new shows...  I know, excuses, excuses!)

[Hobson1754]

19 hours ago, Jim Avery said:

I'm with you.  I just don't get it why every space everywhere one goes must have music.  And on a ship at sea it is nice to just hear the person you are with or even just the sound of the ship.  

But let’s keep the birds tweeting in the rest rooms please😀

[charmed1959]

3 hours ago, loriva said:

 

Well, I got three out of four correct when I started this thread!  Missed "Duets" and some of the names.  (In my defense, I was trying to figure out how to get a bean bag into a cornhole target from the stairway in the Atrium as I was listening to the information from the entertainment staff on the new shows...  I know, excuses, excuses!)

Nailed one from the top landing today, and I’m terrible at cornhole.  Earned that mimosa.

 

I have coffee in the atrium every morning.  I don’t mind the classical background music but it’s not what I would choose.  A few days ago a couple came down to play cards with their own music.  I was just far enough away the music was clashing.  I much preferred their music, and was trying to decide if it would be too creepy for me to move really close to them.  In the end I moved farther away so I could only hear the classical, but if I were to voting.