Bill Board on Board changing formats

[DCThunder]

3 minutes ago, Niagarawine said:

Yep I hate Sweet Caroline 

That's one of the many reasons I hate the Boston Red Sox and their fans. They unleashed the Curse of Sweet Caroline on American sporting venues across the fruited plain.

[Niagarawine]

3 hours ago, ldog said:

The problem with Billboard, for me, is that they perform the same set list over and over.  It seems canned and processed.  Even the banter between songs is repeated.  On BTB cruises it's even more obvious.   A single performer can read and adapt to the audience and it's spontaneous and creative and thus, more fun. 

Yep so boring, we are being dumbed down. HAL needs to promote creativity instead of keeping the status quo. Same with art programs. Lots of interesting passengers sail with them so they should factor that in and stop worrying about branding. I remember the Oprah stuff with all that pricy merch.  I was on Royal a while back and they had a baby grand in the lobby, think it was the Jewel, they announced that a talented young guy about 15 would like to play for guests. He was terrific.all these lines get stuck in the same old routine and don’t realize that many of us would like new ideas. If it doesn’t fly then drop the concept. We had a trans Atlantic with so many good performers, Marty Allen and his wife, the Osmonds, some lady from Britains got Talent,  Jersey boys, the temptations Vegas act, so much fun.

[Niagarawine]

8 minutes ago, DCThunder said:

That's one of the many reasons I hate the Boston Red Sox and their fans. They unleashed the Curse of Sweet Caroline on American sporting venues across the fruited plain.

I live down the street from  a CFL stadium and every single type of game they play that over and over. I used to like Neil

[DCThunder]

5 minutes ago, Niagarawine said:

I live down the street from  a CFL stadium and every single type of game they play that over and over. I used to like Neil

So the Curse has spread to the Great White North.  Will the spread NEVER stop??? 😉

[Niagarawine]

17 hours ago, RuthC said:

If true, this is the best news I have read on this forum in some time! 

I hope all the ships return to the true Piano Bar format, and that includes those that currently have Mix on board. Get rid of the set playlists, dictated by Seattle, and let the musicians include the passengers in deciding what is done on any given night. Piano Bars on HAL used to be fun! 

Yes imagine how bored the performers are having to do the same routine. You can see it on their faces.each ship should have its own speciality, jazz, blues, rock, classical, Frank Sinatra

[Niagarawine]

2 minutes ago, DCThunder said:

So the Curse has spread to the Great White North.  Will the spread NEVER stop??? 😉

No we are copy cats

[Niagarawine]

Actually I was so bored with the music I started singing in the elevator, so on the Mozart floor it was dadada

[Niagarawine]

Nothing beats that guy on Princess singing children’s nursery rhymes. 

[Niagarawine]

10 hours ago, Haljo1935 said:

I don't know their names, but I could not listen to the duo that was performing Dec 21 - Jan 6 on K'dam; I honestly don't know if the man was good or not because the female was painfully bad and I moved on as quickly as possible. I tried a couple times hoping maybe she was having an off night, but it was never good.

Solo, duo, or any number would be ok with me so long as they're good. I think HAL needs better interviewers in the entertainment department.

Did she sing Itsy Bitsy Teeny Weeny Yellow Polka Dot Bikini

[Niagarawine]

Actually if it was shown that good entertainment makes passengers spend more because they are in a good mood and drinking that might work. It’s always tge bottom line, no?

[Quartzsite Cruiser]

We have cruised HAL long enough to have seen the old piano bars and the Mix with one performer, and also Billboard on Board.  We have also enjoyed some very good piano bar performers and some we couldn't listen to.  The same can be said about the performers in Billboard on Board, but on our cruises that have that venue, we've seen more good duos than not good ones.  The  good ones interaction with each other added to the performance.  That is the music venue we have enjoyed the most, and I hope they keep Billboard on Board.

[BarryFromBoston]

2 hours ago, madera1 said:

I used to enjoy the solo piano performances and pre Covid there was one singer who had his own groupies sitting around the piano. Some even had signs! I don’t recall if that was Barry or another singer.

I definitely had groupies. The two that had all manner of signs, and people who skipped the MainStage to get a seat in what I called "The Ring of Fire" were myself, and Stryker. 

[DCThunder]

58 minutes ago, Niagarawine said:

Nothing beats that guy on Princess singing children’s nursery rhymes. 

I always wondered whatever happened to Andrew "Dice" Clay.  The Diceman used to tell nursery rhymes too...😈

[AtlantaCruiser72]

well, rumor is she hates you too so I guess we can call it even! 🤣

 

1 hour ago, Niagarawine said:

Yep I hate Sweet Caroline 

[Niagarawine]

3 minutes ago, AtlantaCruiser72 said:

well, rumor is she hates you too so I guess we can call it even! 🤣

 

Yep

[JeffElizabeth]

On 1/26/2024 at 1:08 AM, montythecat said:

I really do hope the two pianos format isn’t removed from the 

other ships where it currently exists. The rapport between the

two is usually part of the joy of the experience. Anybody who

has seen the wonderful Meghan and Gabe will know what I

mean. Surely HAL can afford to pay for two pianists ? Our

evenings will not be the same if this happens.

 

Different strokes right, but we have always preferred the single piano player. 

[Shalandara]

While hubs and I are really not that much into going to shows and whatnot, we do like music.  Especially soft background music for bars and common areas.

We just booked the Irish All Stars cruise for 2025 *because* of all the extra entertainment that *that* charter can bring onto the ship.

Yes it can be more expensive to do a charter.  But the chance to hear some great quality Irish musicians seems worth it.  Not certain we would ever go for one of the soul or blues cruises -- we love music but that is an awful lot of just one type.  (Yes, I realize I said this after telling you what charter we are booking -- but while the performers are all Irish the*type* of music they are performing is still pretty varied within that.)

[Hlitner]

We are big fans of piano bars, and HAL used to have some excellent piano bar players/singers.  That being said, we are surprised that nobody sees this for what it is.  Another HAL entertainment cut-back.  They are going from 2 players to 1 which comes with an obvious financial benefit to HAL.  So, in the past 6 months they have eliminated the Lincoln Center Stage groups, and now they are eliminating 1 piano player.  We look forward to reading about what HAL is "adding" to its entertainment line-up.

 

Hank

[weeislayman]

On 1/26/2024 at 10:34 AM, JennysUncle said:

Maybe they can get "Barry from Boston" back

Yes, Barry was really good.  While he declined my suggestion that he do 'Free Bird', he did a lot of songs that were suggested,

[510picker]

We were on Rotterdam last November and loved listening to Trenton and Blair in Billboard Onboard. When you have two performers that mesh well, it is great. When they don’t, it’s a little painful to watch. We will be back on Rotterdam in April and will see what the format is at that time. 

[jeh10641]

On 1/25/2024 at 9:03 PM, iflyrc5 said:

We are currently on the Rotterdam and the Bill Board on Board only has one performer instead of the 2 people playing and singing.  According to our Cruise and Travel director HAL is going back to the "Piano Bar" format with just the one person and a crowd sing along style.  So far is seems to be very popular on the Rotterdam.  I assume at some point they will remove the second piano and reconfigure the area.  I just hope at the next drydock they close off the stairway coming down from the casino so we won't keep getting the smoke smell down on the Music walk.

I heartily agree about the Casino smoke, my only complaint from our Rotterdam cruise in December 2021.

Jim

[jeh10641]

On 1/26/2024 at 7:22 AM, Queenvee said:

I'm glad to hear about the return to the one singer; as many other posters have stated, the duos were often not so great and that area became raucous.  I missed the daily Lincoln Center on Stage performances on my August 23 NS voyage.  Guess you win some, you lose some...

The Lincoln Center music was my favorite venue on a couple of HAL cruises. I will miss them.

Jim

[jeh10641]

23 hours ago, Niagarawine said:

I was on in November and I just thought some of the songs were cheesy, Itsy Betsy Yellow Polka Dot Bikini? I am no spring chicken but that was yuch. Think one piano player playing some good jazz might be better. We were in one of the bars that had a piano but no live music so ai asked and the server said they cut back. Maybe one of the performers could play there. 

Itsy Bitsy Yellow Polka Dot Bikini! Wow, that brings back memories of my youth 65 years ago.

Jim

[jeh10641]

6 hours ago, DCThunder said:

That's one of the many reasons I hate the Boston Red Sox and their fans. They unleashed the Curse of Sweet Caroline on American sporting venues across the fruited plain.

I dislike the Red Sox despite spending four years in Maine surrounded by their fans. Or maybe it is because I did!

Jim

[RuthC]

7 hours ago, *Miss G* said:

 

Sweet Caroline and Piano Man is why you’ll find me in BB King’s.  Or maybe sticking toothpicks in my eyes.  It’s that much fun.

If I never hear either of those two songs again in my life, it will be too soon.