Entertainment on RC ships

[Surfguyxxx]

Recently, I did Wonder OTS and a Celebrity Reflection cruise both this month, 03/2024.  I was amazed at the different variety of acts on Celebrity, namely "The Boy Band Project" (of which I was truly never a fan) and "Leslie McDonel" who belted out powerful women's rock band ballads.  However, while on RC, I get bored with the same old magicians and comedians.  The production shows by the singers and dancers were both fantastic and I'm not addressing them; just the "other" acts presented.  Does anyone feel that RC needs to update it's lineup?

[cruiseguy1016]

I 've never cruised another cruise line so I can't compare but I've always felt that RCI's choices for "other" entertainment have been good. There have been a few that did not impress me but that could happen anywhere.

[time4u2go]

Yes.

[leaveitallbehind]

I realize Wonder is somewhat unique in the Oasis class ships in that it doesn't have a Broadway based show.  But did you not find the Ice show and Aqua theater show different and entertaining from anything offered on Reflection?  In general, across at least the Oasis, Quantum, and Icon class ship fleet, IMO RCCL has some of the best entertainment at sea.

Edited March 27 by leaveitallbehind

[George C]

I am happy that celebrity has greatly improved their entertainment but it still not a match for all the entertainment options on rccl. Have cruised both multiple times since and before Covid.

[MomentsNotice]

Any classical music on Royal. Either in the main stage or pre-post-dinner at the bars? Am considering a cruise Singapore to Dubai next month on Serenade. First time Royal although I've cruised quite a bit primarily on Holland America and Cunard. 

Edited March 28 by MomentsNotice

[Ashland]

Just cruised both RCI and Celebrity with a day in between. RCI wins hands down.

[MomentsNotice]

Any classical music on RCI? Jazz? 

[George C]

22 minutes ago, MomentsNotice said:

Any classical music on RCI? Jazz? 

Definitely jazz , there was a jazz club that they recently removed.

[LuCruise]

The headliners (comedians, singers, magicians, etc) change cruise to cruise so it's just who you happen to get for your week.  We were on Wonder recently and I quite enjoyed Effectors but would still prefer a Broadway show.  Having said that, the ice show and aqua show were fantastic.  Our week didn't have the best headliners (2 comedians but they were only for 18+ - both the bookable one and the show in the main theatre the last night), and we had some singer that was good, but I missed the additional extra headliner. 

 

Overall though, I really enjoy the headliners (the one that OP commented on) and it's those that change cruise to cruise so even if you cruise the same ship again, it's nice to have something different on top of the staple shows.  In my opinion. Royal is pretty good in the entertainment field (but I have never been on Celebrity to compare).

Edited March 29 by LuCruise

[neverbeenhere]

Entertainment of Royal is generally very good. With 30+ ships almost up and running, they have a good variety of shows and entertainers. BUT... If you sail on your "home" port ship a lot you seen what that ship has to offer many times. (Navigator for us)

[cfkm1]

I have been on many different cruise ships, so far RC has the best entertainment and activities,

 

 

[Surfguyxxx]

Interesting variety of viewpoints.  Thanks all for responding.

[sgmn]

On 3/28/2024 at 9:31 PM, MomentsNotice said:

Any classical music on Royal. Either in the main stage or pre-post-dinner at the bars? Am considering a cruise Singapore to Dubai next month on Serenade. First time Royal although I've cruised quite a bit primarily on Holland America and Cunard. 

This is part of an unique one off world cruise (274 nights) so things may be different than normal.  Because of its uniqueness there's a lot of people blogging on other sites, may be worth checking those out. There's also @island lady cruise critic blog but she's not on it at mo and it's gone a bit quite. 

 

 

On my four night cruise out of Singapore last month on Spectrum the headline acts were acrobatic and magic type. I don't remember any classical or jazz, just a pub singer.

 

Serenade is one of the smaller Royal Caribbean ships

Edited March 31 by sgmn

[island lady]

31 minutes ago, sgmn said:

This is part of an unique one off world cruise (274 nights) so things may be different than normal.  Because of its uniqueness there's a lot of people blogging on other sites, may be worth checking those out. There's also @island lady cruise critic blog but she's not on it at mo and it's gone a bit quite. 

 

 

On my four night cruise out of Singapore last month on Spectrum the headline acts were acrobatic and magic type. I don't remember any classical or jazz, just a pub singer.

 

Serenade is one of the smaller Royal Caribbean ships

 

Thanks!  I will be back on the last quarter (62 nights) out of Barcelona back to Miami.  Plan on revving up my experience and observations pictures/posts from on onboard again, and showing the daily location reports.  🙂  

[CSHS1979]

14 hours ago, sgmn said:

This is part of an unique one off world cruise (274 nights) so things may be different than normal.  Because of its uniqueness there's a lot of people blogging on other sites, may be worth checking those out. There's also @island lady cruise critic blog but she's not on it at mo and it's gone a bit quite. 

 

 

On my four night cruise out of Singapore last month on Spectrum the headline acts were acrobatic and magic type. I don't remember any classical or jazz, just a pub singer.

 

Serenade is one of the smaller Royal Caribbean ships

 

6 days out of 7 Royal has a string trio in the Centrum during afternoon and pre dinner

[suzyluvs2cruise]

On 3/28/2024 at 5:51 PM, Ashland said:

Just cruised both RCI and Celebrity with a day in between. RCI wins hands down.

We're just back from a 15 nt RT Hawaii cruise on Discovery Princess. We've cruised RCI and Celebrity since 1987 and can only say WOW! about the entertainment offerings on Discovery Princess. 

[sgmn]

24 minutes ago, suzyluvs2cruise said:

We're just back from a 15 nt RT Hawaii cruise on Discovery Princess. We've cruised RCI and Celebrity since 1987 and can only say WOW! about the entertainment offerings on Discovery Princess. 

Wow in a good way?

[suzyluvs2cruise]

7 minutes ago, sgmn said:

Wow in a good way?

Absolutely in a good way. Lots of good, live music, shows and parties in the Piazza area. Example....pre-dinner - music in the Piazza for 45 min, as soon as that stopped there was music in Crooners Bar (one floor up) and after that 45 min set more again in the Piazza. They also had Take 5...a good size Jazz Club plus Crown Bar and the Vista Lounge with live music in all those venues and, in addition, for Vista Lounge some pre-recorded Ballroom dance music every evening.   

[rrraydon]

I love Royal’s “broadway” shows. The ice shows in particular are fantastic as well as the Aqua shows. 
 

Last month I sailed MSC for the first time, the Magnifica, one of their smaller class vessels. Absolutely beautiful ship with over a dozen bars and lounges. Nearly every one had live musicians, no DJ. Every lounge or bar you walked in had excellent musicians. Royal doesn’t come close to that in my opinion. They used to, but have cut back on it. 

[Merion_Mom]

On 3/28/2024 at 5:31 PM, MomentsNotice said:

Any classical music on Royal. Either in the main stage or pre-post-dinner at the bars? Am considering a cruise Singapore to Dubai next month on Serenade. First time Royal although I've cruised quite a bit primarily on Holland America and Cunard. 

 

On 3/29/2024 at 9:41 AM, MomentsNotice said:

Any classical music on RCI? Jazz? 

 

You should ask your questions here:  

 

[Surfguyxxx]

12 hours ago, rrraydon said:

I love Royal’s “broadway” shows. The ice shows in particular are fantastic as well as the Aqua shows. 

I agree; their broadway shows and Ice shows are amazing 😊

[birdofsong]

On 3/28/2024 at 5:31 PM, MomentsNotice said:

Any classical music on Royal. Either in the main stage or pre-post-dinner at the bars? Am considering a cruise Singapore to Dubai next month on Serenade. First time Royal although I've cruised quite a bit primarily on Holland America and Cunard. 

We were just on the Ovation, and they had a classical pianist in the Schooner Bar in the afternoons. I haven't noticed that before on other cruises, but it could be because I wasn't walking by the bar during those times.

[birdofsong]

On 3/29/2024 at 10:06 AM, George C said:

Definitely jazz , there was a jazz club that they recently removed.

There was a ton of Jazz on the Allure last August when we did a B2B.  GREAT Jazz.

[cruisegirl1]

I agree, that on some ships Royal needs to revamp the entertainment.  
 

In my opinion, when it comes smaller ships the entertainment is often old and tired. We have found sometimes an entertainer may be good, but  the material is outdated. On a recent cruise, there was a singer/impersonator who was talented, but he did voices of folks that were so outdated that  many of the audience were clueless. 
 

When it comes to production shows, again, the singers and dancers have talent, but the particular songs are often old and irrelevant. 
 

Jugglers are not my cup of tea, and when I see them on cruises (and they are booked on lots of cruises), I’m disappointed  

 

Some of the newer ships have terrific entertainment, but the older/smaller ships not so much.  
 

m