Bingo w/The Happenings Cast?

[tbmrt]

Noticed this in a recent aws spark link....How does Bingo w/The Happenings Cast work?  

[cantgetin]

LIke any other bingo, you purchase cards out front if you want, and they play usually 4 games.  That part is standard.  The fun part is that there will be at least 2 people leading the event.  The best is when one of them is The Diva.....between calling, it is a series of jokes, songs, etc.  This is especially when verifying results and other "down time" minutes.  The whole thing is right at an hour or a tad less.

We recently had The Diva and Pip The Flare (Pip is her name, Flare is her position).  Pip was the straight person who did the calling and business part of things, but at the same time, shared a few jokes, etc.  The Diva was  great.  We had The Hostess at another session....she wasn't as good.

[CineGraphic]

51 minutes ago, cantgetin said:

We had The Hostess at another session....she wasn't as good.

 

FYI: It's her first contract, and it was her first time ever hosting bingo.

[cantgetin]

22 minutes ago, CineGraphic said:

 

FYI: It's her first contract, and it was her first time ever hosting bingo.

Fair....we've had various people of various quality on different cruises.....in many different positions.

[tbmrt]

Tx...I thought they had Bingo with the Diva AND another bingo with the Happenings Cast.  

[cantgetin]

1 hour ago, tbmrt said:

Tx...I thought they had Bingo with the Diva AND another bingo with the Happenings Cast.  

It varies with the cruise.  We had bingo with the Diva and  bingo with the Hostess (different sessions).  Both of these are technically members of the Happenings Cast.  My guess is that when they haven't finalized who will be doing it, they list it as "cast" and can then present whoever.

[CineGraphic]

On the recent transatlantic we attended Bingo with the Diva twice.

She had a different co-host each time, but everything else was the same. It's a great act.

They also had Bingo sessions hosted by the Gamer, the Hostess, and possibly one more.

The jackpot amounts were insane when the Diva hosted. The place was packed.

 

[CruisingWalter]

On our current Valiant Lady sailing it's only listed as "Happenings Cast" twice, no mention of the Diva. On Scarlet it was specifically the Diva and we had a near sellout in the Red Room. We didn't go to tonight's show so I'm not sure who hosted tonight. 

[CruisingWalter]

10 hours ago, cantgetin said:

Fair....we've had various people of various quality on different cruises.....in many different positions.

 

But honestly how hard is it to host Bingo?!? Especially when you have the Diva as your cohost. Especially when you are a 'professional entertainer' on a cruise ship. The Diva takes the heavy lifting, all you have to do is follow her lead. Bingo with a co-host really should be one of the easiest gigs on a cruise ship next to Trivia. 🙂

[CineGraphic]

3 minutes ago, CruisingWalter said:

But honestly how hard is it to host Bingo?!? Especially when you have the Diva as your cohost. Especially when you are a 'professional entertainer' on a cruise ship.

 

In this case the Hostess took the role of the Diva, which is hard to compete with in the first place. Carlos was literally running laps around the theater. That's hard to compete with when it's only your 2nd cruise of your very first cruise contract. She was great, just not great as someone who's been doing it for considerably longer. Edel the Hostess is a delightful person, ready to take on anything.

We look forward to sailing with her again.

[cantgetin]

With multiple VV cruises, we've had great Divas and one that....well, if she had been the first I'd seen, I might not have bothered with a second.  Carlos is definitely the best of the best.  The only negative thing about Carlos is that he sets the bar crazy high for anyone else!

With any role, some people are better than others, due to training, experience, natural ability, or whatever.  Sometimes it is personal preference on the part of the guest.  One thing on VV is that the Happenings Cast tend to get known as themselves rather than "the person playing the role on that cruise."  That's likely good for their career if they are good.  It also shows up poorly for those who are "also rans."  If I have praise, I try to make it public as well as sharing by name with VV.   If I have serious criticism, I'll save it for the long VV follow up survey and hope that they take it seriously.

An aside--if you had a room host, server, or whoever who went above and beyond for you, DO mention them in your comments as it can affect everything from raises and promotions to a little extra time off on a port day.  If you loved a particular entertainer, let VV know--it might influence getting them back for additional contracts,

[aviators99]

On 11/19/2023 at 10:03 PM, CruisingWalter said:

On our current Valiant Lady sailing it's only listed as "Happenings Cast" twice, no mention of the Diva. On Scarlet it was specifically the Diva and we had a near sellout in the Red Room. We didn't go to tonight's show so I'm not sure who hosted tonight. 

For my cruise next month on VL it's also listed as "with the Happenings Cast", which took me by surprise.  I've always just seen "with the Diva", including the last time on VL.  I hope you check it out this trip and report back.

[TheDarkestBlue]

Sailing soon on Scarlet Lady and my schedule reads:

 

Bingo with the Diva

2-3pm | The Red Room, Deck 6   

 

 

[Tralfaz1138]

On the Singapore to Sydney I've only seen Bingo with the Diva.  I will warn people that they can go through the numbers quickly.  There was a guy in the audience that bought the 9 card package and had trouble keeping up.  He eventually flipped out, dropped his cards and stormed out shouting all the way about going too fast.

 

It's a fun and goofy show, though.

[CruisingWalter]

On 11/20/2023 at 11:41 PM, aviators99 said:

For my cruise next month on VL it's also listed as "with the Happenings Cast", which took me by surprise.  I've always just seen "with the Diva", including the last time on VL.  I hope you check it out this trip and report back.

 

If the Diva was in any of the Bingo shows, it would have been the first one that started at 9:30p. We did not make it to the Red Room for that one. The rest of the week on Valiant Lady it was hosted by other folks in the Happenings Cast. Carlos was hosting a lot of other events, but not much in the way of Bingo. 

[raphael360]

4 hours ago, Tralfaz1138 said:

On the Singapore to Sydney I've only seen Bingo with the Diva.  I will warn people that they can go through the numbers quickly.  There was a guy in the audience that bought the 9 card package and had trouble keeping up.  He eventually flipped out, dropped his cards and stormed out shouting all the way about going too fast.

 

It's a fun and goofy show, though.

Agreed.... I made the mistake of buying 4 cards total and fought like heck to keep up.  I'm going to only buy 1 card in the future, sit back, and enjoy the show. It's entertainment, not a true bingo hall experience.  

[aviators99]

4 hours ago, CruisingWalter said:

 

If the Diva was in any of the Bingo shows, it would have been the first one that started at 9:30p. We did not make it to the Red Room for that one. The rest of the week on Valiant Lady it was hosted by other folks in the Happenings Cast. Carlos was hosting a lot of other events, but not much in the way of Bingo. 

Hmm...That's a shame (I assume your word "any" in the first sentence should have been a "one").  He's by far the best bingo host I've seen.  Also, I thought he was on RL.  Glad to hear he's on VL.

[cantgetin]

Carlos was on Valiant in November 2023--he was GREAT.  By far the best diva on any of our cruises.  Unfortunately he won't be on our next cruise.  He did bingo at least twice....plus several other activities.

[tbmrt]

56 minutes ago, cantgetin said:

Carlos was on Valiant in November 2023--he was GREAT.  By far the best diva on any of our cruises.  Unfortunately he won't be on our next cruise.  He did bingo at least twice....plus several other activities.

Hoping Carlos will be on our cruise end of February....Loved him in June

[cantgetin]

46 minutes ago, tbmrt said:

Hoping Carlos will be on our cruise end of February....Loved him in June

He said that he will not be on Scarlet in April...I asked.  He also said that you can see his schedule if you look him up under "A Woman Named Carlos: (or it might have been "called" rather than "named,:

[CruisingWalter]

9 hours ago, cantgetin said:

He said that he will not be on Scarlet in April...I asked.  He also said that you can see his schedule if you look him up under "A Woman Named Carlos: (or it might have been "called" rather than "named,:

 

And if you want to be able to spot his alter ego on the ship, follow him on TikTok. Such an amazing performer and so gracious. He remembered us during the Cabaret show and our amazing dinner we all had together the last time we sailed Scarlet. 

[babalooo]

Loved Carlos, but saw him twice and hope the next cruise we're on has new blood. We loved Wesley as the Diva. He did a better Around the World but his bingo was not as good as Carlos.

[cheryl8503]

Can someone please share the cost of Bingo? Sailing in March from San Juan to Miami and I just started follow Carlos on the clock app,

[TheDarkestBlue]

In early December on Scarlet Lady it was $30 for one card, $45 for two, it went at a normal pace with funny bits in between, lots of explanations for how it works, and the jackpots were surprisingly good $$$$.

[Tralfaz1138]

3 hours ago, TheDarkestBlue said:

In early December on Scarlet Lady it was $30 for one card, $45 for two, it went at a normal pace with funny bits in between, lots of explanations for how it works, and the jackpots were surprisingly good $$$$.

To be clear, it's $30 for 4 pages (games) with 3 cards each, $45 for 6 cards per page, and I "think" $55 for 9 cards per page.  We went with the 6 cards per page where it was a little challenging to keep up at times, so I don't think I'd ever want to try to manage 9 cards.