Celebrity Ascent Theatre Tip

[kmhkmb]

Just left a review on the Celebrity Ascent but forgot to include this point.  

 

We had trouble finding a location in the theatre in which the sound mix was balanced - typically the issue we encountered was the vocals were too low (instrumental was too high) - we wondered if this might be due to the location of the sound booth (placed off to the side I presume to maximize the prime viewing areas).  We finally found a sweet spot on the last evening: 

 

Middle section, 3 row back of the blue seats from the stage - ideal for balanced sound and a great view of the stage.  

 

Would suggest not sitting under the balcony on the first level in particular - the sound bounces of the balcony and the mix and off.  My husband is a broadcast engineer and balanced sound is particularly important to him!  🙂  

[CruiseMrB]

Funny you should mention this. I was on Ascent 7 Jan to 15 Jan and had a big problem with the sound design of "Bridges". There was no sense of spacial relationship to the stage or theater whatsoever. The sound seems to come from everywhere and nowhere in particular. This is particularly a problem in this show as there is so much visual tracking happening on the screens - think Imax tours. It didn't match at all. Very confusing to my brain.

 

One of the easier examples to describe is that a couple of times in the show, performers are coming down one aisle or the other, singing. You have no idea where in the literal world they are. They had entered the soundstage well before they physically arrived on the stage. There was no attempt to make it sound like they were coming down the aisle so that you could track them. 

 

The vocals were very compressed, in both frequency and dynamic range. I talked to the engineer, whom you saw was located way house right, and he swears there was no pitch correction, but it sure sounded like it.

 

Awaken! was much better in design, but still had problems, just due to the nature of theater-in-the-round.

Edited January 18 by CruiseMrB

[Cap_D]

Great topic.  I noticed a sound issue on Apex in March 2023 from the back of the balcony, but am not technical enough to describe it as it was done so above. Appreciate the thread.  

[doghog]

We were on the Apex in March 2023 and had no issues with the sound where we were sitting. Front, two rows back. Right side of main center section. 

Edited January 18 by doghog

[Tyler414]

Maybe that is why on Beyond in Jan 2023 the production shows sounded awful, the worst singing, off key, just plain bad.  I'm on Beyond again in March and had zero intention of watching the production shows again, I'll try at least one now.   Thanks!

[lv2cruisgrl]

My husband is a musician.  We always sit in the balcony, middle section, and never in the way back.  Usually no issues then!

[hcat]

appreciate the sound and seating tips,  we always sit  towards the back on end of  a row..just in case we decide to leave early.

 

I am bringing  ear plugs b/c some of the sound is just too loud!l and as mentioned not well balanced..despite E Class being " state of the art"..sometimes they jack up the bass!

[CruiseMrB]

13 hours ago, hcat said:

sometimes they jack up the bass!

Oh my spouse loves that. She loves the bass-droppy males singers, too.

[hcat]

20 minutes ago, CruiseMrB said:

Oh my spouse loves that. She loves the bass-droppy males singers, too.

when bass makes the room vibrate..you know it is cranked up and out of balance!

[carlyman]

What time are the main shows on Ascent? Booking 6pm early dinner and hoping to also make the early shows.

[kwokpot]

9 hours ago, carlyman said:

What time are the main shows on Ascent? Booking 6pm early dinner and hoping to also make the early shows.

7:30 and 9:30

 

[CruiseMrB]

On 1/30/2024 at 1:53 AM, carlyman said:

What time are the main shows on Ascent? Booking 6pm early dinner and hoping to also make the early shows.

Two Things:

The Ascent cruise we were on switched from Select dinging time to Anytime dining for everyone once we were on board. We went to our Concierge level Concierge and she set us up with 6:00pm reservations in the same restaurant (Cosmopolitan, our choice) and same table. It's an extra step to recreate the same Select Time dining that we booked originally. Do that as soon as possible when you get on board.

 

We had dinner at 6:00pm for all nights. You are in and out by 7:00 as long as you choose to not linger over coffee. We went to three 7:30pm shows in the theater, and got the seats of our choice by walking directly to the theatre after dinner. Let the waitstaff know if you have theater plans.

 

EDIT: You could easily set up 6:00pm dining in different restaraunts, or throw in some specialty restaurant reservations, if you so chose. We talked to other folks on the cruise about this and different folks handled it differently.

 

 

Edited January 31 by CruiseMrB

[CoachTimmyD]

On 1/31/2024 at 2:28 PM, CruiseMrB said:

Two Things:

The Ascent cruise we were on switched from Select dinging time to Anytime dining for everyone once we were on board. We went to our Concierge level Concierge and she set us up with 6:00pm reservations in the same restaurant (Cosmopolitan, our choice) and same table. It's an extra step to recreate the same Select Time dining that we booked originally. Do that as soon as possible when you get on board.

 

We had dinner at 6:00pm for all nights. You are in and out by 7:00 as long as you choose to not linger over coffee. We went to three 7:30pm shows in the theater, and got the seats of our choice by walking directly to the theatre after dinner. Let the waitstaff know if you have theater plans.

 

EDIT: You could easily set up 6:00pm dining in different restaraunts, or throw in some specialty restaurant reservations, if you so chose. We talked to other folks on the cruise about this and different folks handled it differently.

 

 

When was "your" Ascent cruise?  We heard from folks currently aboard Ascent this week (11/28) that Select dining is being honored? Wonder if we got bad info, or your cruise was earlier.  Guess I'll find out Sunday when I board...but just wondered if maybe that switch was unique to your sailing for some reason.

[hopeless holiday booker]

The early show which used to be at 7 was always less popular than the 9.00 show.  I wonder if this will change as it's half an hour later.  We used to go before dinner but that won't be possible.  Different ship, different times - shake things up a bit - we don't like change!!!

[kwokpot]

11 hours ago, CoachTimmyD said:

When was "your" Ascent cruise?  We heard from folks currently aboard Ascent this week (11/28) that Select dining is being honored? Wonder if we got bad info, or your cruise was earlier.  Guess I'll find out Sunday when I board...but just wondered if maybe that switch was unique to your sailing for some reason.

Reservations can be made for early and late dining times. 

[Pennstatedj]

We were just off Ascent B2B from Jan 7 thru 21. We had select dining but after first night we became fixed with same table and same wait staff every night. We ate at 545 each night and made all the 730 shows no problem. You can be select and change dining rooms each night or opt to be fixed. You can get any item from other dining rooms any nights. We did that. 

[2Long2NxtCrz]

Thanks for the information! We were on the Beyond back in December 2022 and didn't watch any of the Production shows, just the magician so didn't notice an issue, but we'd like to check out the shows so I'll keep this in mind as to where to sit.

[carlyman]

I assumed 6pm was the earliest dining time; is it actually 530pm?  Might switch to Anytime Dining if that's the case.

Edited February 20 by carlyman

[KLM3164]

On 2/20/2024 at 10:03 AM, carlyman said:

I assumed 6pm was the earliest dining time; is it actually 530pm?  Might switch to Anytime Dining if that's the case.

We were on Ascent last week and the 4 main dining rooms opened at 5:30 pm. We got right in and were able to get to the theater by 7:00 each night and get great seats. The 7:30 production shows were filled to capacity so it seems like they were pretty full by 7:15 if you wanted 2 seats together. People were pretty good about filling in the seats in the center rows we sat in on deck 4 to make room for everyone.

[sharpie13]

Thanks for the information! 

[sharpie13]

On 1/15/2024 at 10:14 AM, kmhkmb said:

Just left a review on the Celebrity Ascent but forgot to include this point.  

 

We had trouble finding a location in the theatre in which the sound mix was balanced - typically the issue we encountered was the vocals were too low (instrumental was too high) - we wondered if this might be due to the location of the sound booth (placed off to the side I presume to maximize the prime viewing areas).  We finally found a sweet spot on the last evening: 

 

Middle section, 3 row back of the blue seats from the stage - ideal for balanced sound and a great view of the stage.  

 

Would suggest not sitting under the balcony on the first level in particular - the sound bounces of the balcony and the mix and off.  My husband is a broadcast engineer and balanced sound is particularly important to him!  🙂  

Thanks for the information. We’ll check it out a few more days.

[Straughn]

On 1/18/2024 at 5:16 PM, lv2cruisgrl said:

My husband is a musician.  We always sit in the balcony, middle section, and never in the way back.  Usually no issues then!

This is where I generally sit on most cruise ships (assuming the ship has a balcony.) In an earlier decade/century, I did a lot of community/semi professional lighting design. I also have a reasonable knowledge of sound dynamics in theatres. My experiences is that the balcony is the best place for a reasonable sound blend and to minimize any problems with lighting focus/shadows.