Question about musical entertainment on Virgin?

[3eaglesfam]

My husband and I ( 53 and 50) have so far only sailed on Royal Caribbean .  We are considering Virgin as we like the no children aspect.  Ours are grown and out of the house. 

How is the music selection on Virgin?  The hubs likes classic rock and hates modern music.  When on royal we spend alot of time in the pub listening to the guitar player.  I am happy listening to all types of music. 

Thanks!

[jon81uk]

22 minutes ago, 3eaglesfam said:

My husband and I ( 53 and 50) have so far only sailed on Royal Caribbean .  We are considering Virgin as we like the no children aspect.  Ours are grown and out of the house. 

How is the music selection on Virgin?  The hubs likes classic rock and hates modern music.  When on royal we spend alot of time in the pub listening to the guitar player.  I am happy listening to all types of music. 

Thanks!

the live bands change every few weeks/months but there is always a guest band and the house band as well as a couple of solo musicians onboard. So the music style can vary between rock, country and soul as well as the more laid back busker style guitar soloists.
 

Typically at night the On the Rocks cocktail bar has a live band, usually doing either pop/rock or soul. Then earlier in the evening and daytime the Dockhouse bar and Sip lounge have more laid back guitar music.

[cantgetin]

My cruises have been long ones, so I'm never sure if we had "extra" entertainment or not...but we found a wide variety of voices, types of music, etc.  We had a solo guitarist doing mainly oldies and country, a female with a variety of electronic add ons to her guitar doing a variety of different sets, the house band doing light rock, etc. Places to find music--the roundabout, the Dock, Sip, the loyalty cocktail party (ours was on the outdoor deck), etc.  We also encountered some crew members doing excellent karaoke at The Social Club.

Edited July 6, 2023 by cantgetin

[CineGraphic]

Lots to choose from. The best music I've heard on any cruise ship,

 

 

 

[rebeccac]

And one of the nice things is that other than generally being too loud for my admittedly sensitive ears (I tend to wear earplugs) the sound is really crisp and clear.  Nothing distorted and overdriven.  

[CineGraphic]

31 minutes ago, rebeccac said:

And one of the nice things is that other than generally being too loud for my admittedly sensitive ears (I tend to wear earplugs) the sound is really crisp and clear.  Nothing distorted and overdriven.  

 

With Virgin's history as a record label, I'm sure they spent a ton on acoustical engineering and design.

Most ships, other than the theater, are nothing but huge echo chambers.

[neverendingcruising]

Most, if not all, of their audio gear is Martin Audio which is a top notch brand in the pro audio industry. 

[CruisingWalter]

On 7/6/2023 at 11:54 AM, 3eaglesfam said:

When on royal we spend alot of time in the pub listening to the guitar player.  I am happy listening to all types of music.

 

On the Rocks has great musicians or singers every evening, and the musicians throughout the ships have been awesome. One sailing we had Slam Adams blues guitarist who was just amazing. Our most recent cruise had a Latin trio who were amazeballs. The House Band is awesome as they will play all sorts of sets from modern rock to Irish folk music. You'll find guitarists outside on The Dock from time to time, the Dock House as well as the Roundabout. Music is peppered throughout the ship throughout the days. 

 

What you don't have on VV is the sheer number of venues you might have on an RCCL ship, especially the Oasis Class ships. These are much smaller, mid-sized ships and they did not chop in a lot of venues that bleed into each other. 

 

What you will appreciate is that all the venues have near perfect concert sound and you'll see that there is an audio tech at every performance tweaking the sound during the set. I spoke to one of them during a set and he explained that actual concert designers were consulted in the construction of all the music venues. So the audio design is near perfect and some of the best sound I've heard on any cruise ship. Even Scarlet Night on the upper deck has the sound quality of a really good outdoor concert. I do recommend folks bring ear plugs for that portion of the show because it is LOUD. So much fun but LOUD. 🙂

[CruisingWalter]

On 7/6/2023 at 7:03 PM, CineGraphic said:

Lots to choose from. The best music I've heard on any cruise ship

 

On The Rocks is such a great venue at night. I really hope to see Slam Adams again on one of our voyages, but every group that plays in that venue is simply amazing. 

[neverendingcruising]

I believe you're referring to Slam Allen. Fantastic showman, you can find his schedule on the ships on his website - https://slamallen.com/upcoming-shows

 

Almost worth scheduling a cruise around his schedule. 

[CruisingWalter]

15 hours ago, neverendingcruising said:

Almost worth scheduling a cruise around his schedule. 

 

1000% I would book a cruise knowing that he's on the ship. And if A Woman Named Carlos is the Diva, double the reason to book that cruise. 🙂 

[gminhas24]

On 7/8/2023 at 5:59 PM, neverendingcruising said:

I believe you're referring to Slam Allen. Fantastic showman, you can find his schedule on the ships on his website - https://slamallen.com/upcoming-shows

 

Almost worth scheduling a cruise around his schedule. 

Looks like he's on our Adriatic voyage in September, even more excited now after your guys' praise

[_tacocat_]

1 hour ago, gminhas24 said:

Looks like he's on our Adriatic voyage in September, even more excited now after your guys' praise

He’s such a cool dude too- we’ve been on a BUNCH while he’s playing, and he just hangs out around the ship and talks to whoever when he’s not “on.”  The only other musical acts I’ve seen really interact with folks outside their sets are free label (the initial house band on scarlet) and selkii (an awesome solo guitarist/singer)

[cantgetin]

She was excellent....and very sweet.  

[3eaglesfam]

Thanks everyone for your feed back!  Looks like I will book for a February sailing.  

[NinS]

I'm late to this thread and have yet to sail on Virgin but I am shocked to see such notable musicians showing up a cruise ship. I am a longtime fan of both Slam Allen and the Lee Boys. These are artists who are really quite known in their field -- Slam Allen was the bandleader for James Cotton, one of the best blues artists of all time, and the Lee Boys tour all over and are appearing soon at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. This just makes me want to sail on Virgin even more!

[CineGraphic]

42 minutes ago, NinS said:

I'm late to this thread and have yet to sail on Virgin but I am shocked to see such notable musicians showing up a cruise ship. I am a longtime fan of both Slam Allen and the Lee Boys. These are artists who are really quite known in their field -- Slam Allen was the bandleader for James Cotton, one of the best blues artists of all time, and the Lee Boys tour all over and are appearing soon at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. This just makes me want to sail on Virgin even more!

 

It's a testament to how they treat their contracted musicians.

Dirty Byrd seemed to always have a glass of cognac nearby. Something I never saw on any other cruise line before.