Do Princess production shows tell a story?

[Strauss1020]

23 minutes ago, Strauss1020 said:

 

Actually, I couldn't agree more!! I absolutely love opera and go every chance I can. I've had lots of opportunities here where I live. 

 

I could attend all of the ballets that are performed here but I choose not to and give away my tickets to good friends. My biggest problem is that I'm totally aural and NOT visual. That's why I have a blind spot (forgive the pun) towards monotony in music. It doesn’t necessarily have to be one genre of music or another. Phillip Glass and other minimalists are thought of as "classical composers". I'd sooner endure a painful kidney stone then listen to their compositions. 

 

I see every day how hard dancers work. I truly admire them. I wish my old, fat body could do 10% of what they're able to achieve. Yet most ballet eludes me. After 40+ years I appreciate ballet but I'll never love it. 

 

Opera on the other hand is mostly aural. Through the music, you can discern the characters innermost feelings. I don't speak fluent Italian, German or French but I find the communicative power of the music overwhelming. The singer doesn't need to be good looking or a great actor (before Maria Callas, most opera singers were really bad actors!). 

 

I play ballet classes. That's what I do at my employment. I will tell you that most of the music I play comes from opera. I rarely, RARELY play something from a ballet score. They haven't fired me and I've been at my current job for over 25 years.

Edited March 14 by Strauss1020

[TRLD]

14 hours ago, Strauss1020 said:

I already stated that the lack of good evening entertainment wouldn't keep me from cruising. There are many aspects of both Celebrity and Princess that seem very, very enticing. I simply started out by stating 1) I haven't cruised as of yet; 2) I looked at what the shows were like on both Celebrity and Princess and 3) the production shows on both cruiselines seem to be terrible. 

 

I don't have unrealistic expectations. As stated before, the production shows don't need to be at a Broadway/West End level or to the standards of La Scala or the Met. I simply stated that I thought the shows would be much more entertaining if they had dialogue, a plot and story rather than just a variety show. I also brought up the fact that other cruiselines have, in fact, utilized this type of entertainment. 

 

Several people have rebuked me for having this opinion. Some have told me that I shouldn't cruise at all. I'm not sitting in an ivory tower castigating any show that can't live up to the high standards of an opera by Verdi, Puccini or Wagner. I'm simply saying that I feel that the production shows of Princess or Celebrity are lame. Many others concurr with this sentiment. 

 

Both Celebrity and Princess have made huge changes to their ships. Princess, whose ships in their Grand and Royal classes can be difficult to tell apart, made enormous changes to their most recent Sun Princess. If you observe the difference between the Millennium and Soltice class ships of Celebrity and the more recent Edge class ships, the fleet seems to be almost unrelated. 

 

Both cruiselines seem to be making huge transformations. I only hope that the oft disparaged production shows will change from the shows I watched on YouTube. When looking at the alterations that both cruiselines have implemented, no one in their design department seems to be accepting of your "it is what it is" attitude.

Probably not.  As one goes from family focused to adult focused to Premium to Luxury the focus on production shows and entertainment drops and the overall focus is more on the cruise itself (along with the destinations), lower key entertainment, and more social interaction.

[OzKiwiJJ]

Princess is now combining modern technology with some of its show. Some years ago we saw Born to be Wild, a show were the story involves a trip down Route 66 in a pink Cadillac. Although I enjoyed the first "edition" of this show it wasn't one of my favourites. We saw it again last November on Diamond Princess, this time with amazing high quality video scenery as a backdrop. It was stunning. 

 

We did a few Celebrity cruises pre-pandemic but I found their shows lacking in quality compared with Princess. The live show band on Princess really adds to the overall effect of their shows.  

[MacMadame]

10 hours ago, OzKiwiJJ said:

Born to be Wild, a show were the story involves a trip down Route 66 in a pink Cadillac.

Oh, that sounds great! I have a car trip down Route 66 on my bucket list. I hope they have that on my cruise in Jan.

[Thrak]

On our last cruise(s) we had a mix ranging from the very worst musical group we have ever had on a cruise to phenominal. The terrible group was a local band from the port that was invited onboard for one evening. I told my wife that somewhere an "open mike night" at a cheap bar was missing an act. They really were that bad. We did, however, have several performers that were vastly better than any we have ever experienced on a Princess cruise. These few performers were incredibly good. We were totally blown away and, of course, extremely (and pleasantly) surprised.

[skents]

On 12/18/2023 at 2:21 PM, Thrak said:

On The Bayou has a story. See it on Coral Princess.

This is the best show I have ever seen on any Princess ship.

[charliedalrymple]

 

23 hours ago, skents said:

This is the best show I have ever seen on any Princess ship.

 

The best show I have seen on a Princess ship is "Encore," even though it has no story.  However, the guest soprano opera singer might have met even Strauss1020's exacting standards.

[Strauss1020]

7 minutes ago, charliedalrymple said:

 

 

The best show I have seen on a Princess ship is "Encore," even though it has no story.  However, the guest soprano opera singer might have met even Strauss1020's exacting standards.

I saw this. Yes, the soprano was good but..... sorry, I still want a story. The soprano sang the Habanera from Carmen Act 1. Now Carmen has a GREAT story!! 😁

[OzKiwiJJ]

3 hours ago, charliedalrymple said:

 

 

The best show I have seen on a Princess ship is "Encore," even though it has no story.  However, the guest soprano opera singer might have met even Strauss1020's exacting standards.

I prefer Bravo, by a smidge!

[charliedalrymple]

4 hours ago, Strauss1020 said:

The soprano sang the Habanera from Carmen Act 1.

 

Our soprano on a NZ cruise (from the Sydney Opera) sang the Queen of the Night Aria and was awesome!!

[pivibird]

Is there a way to find what production show will be on your cruise?  Sailing Majestic to Alaska in June. 

[Incredimom]

2 hours ago, pivibird said:

Is there a way to find what production show will be on your cruise?  Sailing Majestic to Alaska in June. 

I would like to know this as well. I am sailing Sapphire Princess in May!

[Strauss1020]

33 minutes ago, Incredimom said:

I would like to know this as well. I am sailing Sapphire Princess in May!

This article/show schedule is almost 1.5 years old but I think it may give you an idea.

 

https://cruiselifestyle.co.uk/complete-princess-cruises-theatre-shows-guide/

[desertdwellingsailor]

On 12/17/2023 at 11:01 PM, thermal said:

I love production shows like Wicked, The Phantom of the Opera, Les Mis etc.  I love shows that tell a story and take you on a journey.  

 

Do Princess production shows tell a story?  I'm looking for more that a song variety show that feels like glorified karaoke.....

The shows on Discovery Princess were fun but I couldn't discern any story. I love Wicked, Phantom of the Opera and Les Mis FWIW!

[jeeper2]

On 12/18/2023 at 11:21 AM, Thrak said:

On The Bayou has a story. See it on Coral Princess.

This is one of my favorite Princess shows. I’ve seen it three times and would be very happy to get to experience it once again. It was supposed to go to the main theater when the Island was retrofitted but it would not be the same. I suspect it is not there.

[Thrak]

25 minutes ago, jeeper2 said:

This is one of my favorite Princess shows. I’ve seen it three times and would be very happy to get to experience it once again. It was supposed to go to the main theater when the Island was retrofitted but it would not be the same. I suspect it is not there.

 

The one and only time we sailed on Island Princess (2016) they did have On The Bayou in the main theater. I watched it and it was definitely not nearly as good. It wasn't designed for that type of stage. I don't know if they still have it or not. Hopefully they figured out that it doesn't work nearly as well on a regular stage.

[Ombud]

@Strauss1020 I stand corrected. I'm on night 14 of a 21 night cruise from Sydney to Yokohoma & there has not been a production show with a story line. Just 2 'variety' shows to date; plus pianists, magicians, comedians,  and a hypnotist.  OPAt least they shortened the shows to only 30 minutes to fit in 3 a night. Gotta find the positives.

[Ombud]

Just off a 21 night cruise .... never had a show with a story line. Unfortunately seems to be the new norm. 

[Neil_c]

On 3/12/2024 at 4:35 PM, Potstech said:

It's a pity with your background the disrespectful name calling of "so-called singer" and "a dozen young idiots".  These are professionally trained singers and dancers who are very good at their craft. No need to slam them. 

☝️☝️👍👍👍👍👍👍👍👍☝️👍

I Have to agree that the original poster was being disrespectful. My Great nephew and his fiancé are performers on another carnival line ship, they are professionally trained performers. Princess  along with all lines have a large pool of talent to chose from and you have to be talented to get on board. A number of the performers go on to  a career in the West End and/or Broadway. The shows themselves may not be to everyone's taste (I don't like 5 Skies) but you should be respectful of the young performers who are trying to entertain us/