Billboard Venue

[canadarocks]

We keep trying since they changed the concept. Haven't liked it yet. And believe me, we want to

Edited November 21, 2023 by canadarocks

[RuthC]

41 minutes ago, canadarocks said:

We keep trying since they changed the concept. Haven't liked it yet. And believe me, we want to

Agreed. At least put the Piano Bar concept back on the Zaandam and Volendam. Those ships are set up nicely for it, with a smaller room, and a much smaller passenger list than the larger ships. 

[shipshape sam]

On 11/19/2023 at 2:35 PM, terrydtx said:

The Pianists do 45 minute sets and then the Rock and Roll Venue next to Billboard will do a 45 minute set while they are off.

It is a really nice set up that you have music the evening.  

[electro]

15 hours ago, RuthC said:

Agreed. At least put the Piano Bar concept back on the Zaandam and Volendam. Those ships are set up nicely for it, with a smaller room, and a much smaller passenger list than the larger ships. 

Was on the Zaandam for the last Canada / New England to Ft lauderdale cruise at the end of Sept.

The had a new piano Bar entertainer come on in Quebec City. He was talented but was very "show tuney". Did not make for great sing alone. Billy Joel songs should not sound like show tunes IMO.

Met some people who were staying on for another 100 days for the world cruise. I thought I hope for their sake the piano player get switched out alone the way. 

 

I'm hoping for better when I board the Rotterdam this Friday.

[highscar]

I remember back in the 1990. They had a piano and invited anyone to play. Dad was in his glory as a life long classical pianist. 

[FlaMariner]

18 minutes ago, highscar said:

They had a piano and invited anyone to play.

 

So glad I'm around for Billboard Onboard......instead of guest talent.  

 

(I recall during the "Origin Story" that they referenced the piano on the ship as being provided by HAL but the talent was the passengers...this was in the era of Ellis Island....guess that lasted a lot longer...LOL)

[510picker]

I’m currently on the Rotterdam and the piano players are great, IMHO. Trenton and Blair work well together and both have great voices!

[Hobby3333]

56 minutes ago, 510picker said:

I’m currently on the Rotterdam and the piano players are great, IMHO. Trenton and Blair work well together and both have great voices!

I hope they are still on the ship in 22 days .  In July the players were really bad but the band in Rolling Stones were great.   

[510picker]

4 hours ago, Hobby3333 said:

I hope they are still on the ship in 22 days .  In July the players were really bad but the band in Rolling Stones were great.   

The Rolling Stone band and BB King are good, but have heard better before on other cruises. 

[Hobby3333]

4 minutes ago, 510picker said:

The Rolling Stone band and BB King are good, but have heard better before on other 

5 minutes ago, 510picker said:

The Rolling Stone band and BB King are good, but have heard better before on other cruises. 

Just depends on the band.   Hit or miss.

[510picker]

8 minutes ago, Hobby3333 said:

 

Very true. I still enjoy listening to them.

[oldbluff]

On 11/19/2023 at 12:02 PM, Ruthenium said:

My son is one of the two Billboard Onboard singer-pianists on the Eurodam for the next few months -- and from what he says, he and his fellow pianist get along really well and are happy to take requests on music from various decades.  He's a pretty wonderful singer (with perfect pitch, so your ears will appreciate it) and his performing partner has many skills as well.  People DO sing along and "it's nice," he says, and they try to do a lot of call and response!

 

 

We board Eurodam in a couple of weeks and look forward to meeting your son and listening. I don’t expect perfection but decent pitch and a bit of interaction with the crowd makes for a great evening. And using a tempo and style that matches the song, vs one size fits all. The two on Koningsdam the end of last year were dreadful. 

[ctbeacher]

On 11/20/2023 at 7:11 PM, FlaMariner said:

Billboard Onboard is our favorite entertainment venue.......A seat at the piano side bar stools is a must for our evenings.  Lots of fun no matter the genre of the evening....and "all requests" is a blast. 

 

 

Hi.  How mobbed is it for pre-dinner drinks - say from 7-8:00?  Do seats around the pianos turn over much?

 

Thanks to all for the great information.

[Haljo1935]

On 11/22/2023 at 12:56 PM, oldbluff said:

...The two on Koningsdam the end of last year were dreadful. 

Did not get their names, but the ones performing on K'dam this Christmas->New Years were not better. Especially the female - she was beyond hard to listen to.

[FlaMariner]

2 hours ago, ctbeacher said:

Hi.  How mobbed is it for pre-dinner drinks - say from 7-8:00?  Do seats around the pianos turn over much?

 

Thanks to all for the great information.

 

We've had no problem getting seats around the piano when we arrive after first sitting dinner...so around 7ish.....Sometimes we will "hold court" at our good seats around the pianos for the entire evening but we've also scored seats around the piano after attending the first show in the main theatre.

 

.....and yes, the seats will turn over during the evening......but does seem to vary by ship/performers

 

YMMV.....

 

Enjoy Billboard Onboard......it's our favorite entertainment venue

[electro]

2 hours ago, ctbeacher said:

Hi.  How mobbed is it for pre-dinner drinks - say from 7-8:00?  Do seats around the pianos turn over much?

 

Thanks to all for the great information.

When I was on at the end of Nov, there was no live music before 8:00. 

[Ruthenium]

On 11/22/2023 at 1:56 PM, oldbluff said:

We board Eurodam in a couple of weeks and look forward to meeting your son and listening. I don’t expect perfection but decent pitch and a bit of interaction with the crowd makes for a great evening. And using a tempo and style that matches the song, vs one size fits all. The two on Koningsdam the end of last year were dreadful. 

We were on the Euro over New Year’s Eve — wonder if our paths crossed!

[Ruthenium]

On 11/19/2023 at 11:31 AM, Carol28 said:

Thanks everyone.  We actually left HAL because of the entertainment quality, especially the production shows. On our last cruise, several years ago, the dueling piano gals see to be fighting with each other.  They took the term "dueling" literally!  I

I now understand the Billboard venue is a piano player singing songs from artists like Billy Joel and Elton John and the like, but not a sing along type show.  Is it usually only one performer there?

 

My son has been on the Eurodam playing in Billboard Online — we went over New Year’s and everybody was singing along (we tried to film him and kept breaking into (less tuneful) song ourselves!)

[ctbeacher]

On 1/9/2024 at 2:36 PM, FlaMariner said:

 

We've had no problem getting seats around the piano when we arrive after first sitting dinner...so around 7ish.....Sometimes we will "hold court" at our good seats around the pianos for the entire evening but we've also scored seats around the piano after attending the first show in the main theatre.

 

.....and yes, the seats will turn over during the evening......but does seem to vary by ship/performers

 

YMMV.....

 

Enjoy Billboard Onboard......it's our favorite entertainment venue

We had the late seating dinner and went to the bar at Billboard every night.  The bartenders (Jon and Henry) were great.  Most nights at 7:00 there was music trivia, which we enjoyed.  The other nights had one piano player.  She was good too.

 

We considered it the best bar on the ship.  Others were more sleepy (to us anyway).