Entertainment - what actually happened

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, david_sobe said:

They are catering to the crowd that wants to sing Sweet Caroline

I used to like that song.  Now it causes me physical pain.  Unfortunately, it seems to be the only song some cruisers can come up with as a request.  I've even had musicians on the ships concur.  

[david_sobe]

18 minutes ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

I used to like that song.  Now it causes me physical pain.  Unfortunately, it seems to be the only song some cruisers can come up with as a request.  I've even had musicians on the ships concur.  

But you said in this thread you liked to sing along with the songs you know 🤩
Entertainment that wows people or dares to make them think or dares uses a curse word or if a drag queen shows up disappoints people.  Therefore its Sweet Caroline 24/7.

 

SWEET CAROLINE

BUM BUM BUM

SO GOOD SO GOOD SO GOOD

Edited August 26 by david_sobe

[Susannekells]

On 6/23/2024 at 5:40 PM, Wayward Son said:

 

I don't know. It's a phenomenal show. But, when you've seen it 137 times, it's time for something new.

 

While I want to see it, if you're trying to be a frequent cruiser, you may get tired of it

[Susannekells]

On 6/25/2024 at 12:49 PM, Oceansaway17 said:

and believe me some of these can actually be quite entertaining too.

Huh, maybe to you, I hate them

[Susannekells]

On 6/29/2024 at 1:16 PM, BrianLo said:

I think there’s some broader misunderstanding for what their strategy is on this one. Broadway “like” productions are not going away, major licensed productions are being unwound. Even after all these cuts NCL has 5 licensed musicals and RCL has 6. Wizard of Oz is an in house RCL production in actuality. We are gearing up for more of that from both operator and less “Hamilton at Sea”.

 

Why? Because the licensed productions often have dedicated cast who don’t really do anything for the entire cruise and take up revenue rooms. The goal is not to axe their core cast, it’s to actually give them more productions to do. Much like Celebrity Edge where there were four discrete in house productions (singing, dancing types) the core cast performed over a 10 day cruise.

 

Where NCL deserves all the blame is having axed them all without replacements ready and thinking they could get away with Wheel as a temporary stop gap through 2026. Which is again nothing like Price is Right or Press your luck, both of which have quality production and are free. It has completely backfired. Even the dustiest of the removed entertainment were better. 

You're 'Pressing your luck', I'm not gonna watch these ridiculous TV game shows. I'm not going to stand in a line 2 1/2  house hoping to get in a tiny venue.... And I can sit at home, having excellent wine, reading or watching TV  ..or even go to a theater show... So I will not travel NCL to sit in my cabin after dinner from 7 ish most nights... I know some "wheel of fortune' fans, sadly they're not into traveling at all. Even  cruises, even ones with wheel of fortune... They just like to sit on their couch watching sport and then watching game shows...

[ChiefMateJRK]

2 hours ago, david_sobe said:

But you said in this thread you liked to sing along with the songs you know 🤩
Entertainment that wows people or dares to make them think or dares uses a curse word or if a drag queen shows up disappoints people.  Therefore its Sweet Caroline 24/7.

 

SWEET CAROLINE

BUM BUM BUM

SO GOOD SO GOOD SO GOOD

You're pushing it my friend.🤬 (jk)

[BirdTravels]

16 hours ago, Susannekells said:

You're 'Pressing your luck', I'm not gonna watch these ridiculous TV game shows. I'm not going to stand in a line 2 1/2  house hoping to get in a tiny venue.... And I can sit at home, having excellent wine, reading or watching TV  ..or even go to a theater show... So I will not travel NCL to sit in my cabin after dinner from 7 ish most nights... I know some "wheel of fortune' fans, sadly they're not into traveling at all. Even  cruises, even ones with wheel of fortune... They just like to sit on their couch watching sport and then watching game shows...

@Susannekells There are no 2 1/2 hour lines to stand in. Maybe you have never been on a cruise ship before. And are relying on the fake news you read on the internet. 

 

There is live entertainment in many areas on the ship, every night. If game shows is not your thing, then find a bar to sit in and listen to live music. Or go out on deck for pool parties. Seems like you want to go and sit in your cabin, which is fine, but you are missing soooooo much. Unless the itinerary does not permit, there is usually a show in the theater every night. 

 

Yup, there is no 5000 seat stadium on the ship that can accommodate every person on the ship at the same time. Never is. Never will be.  

[Susannekells]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

@Susannekells There are no 2 1/2 hour lines to stand in. Maybe you have never been on a cruise ship before. And are relying on the fake news you read on the internet. 

 

There is live entertainment in many areas on the ship, every night. If game shows is not your thing, then find a bar to sit in and listen to live music. Or go out on deck for pool parties. Seems like you want to go and sit in your cabin, which is fine, but you are missing soooooo much. Unless the itinerary does not permit, there is usually a show in the theater every night. 

 

Yup, there is no 5000 seat stadium on the ship that can accommodate every person on the ship at the same time. Never is. Never will be.  

Lol, fake news, you seem to be Norwegian fake propaganda person. I was on the Epic in March. The theater had 'Burn the floor' 2 nights. I booked for one. It was nice. 2nd night checked out smaller venues, got there about 20 min before start time, it was full, people were already lined up for the, next performance  in just under 3 hours, I tried the second one, same situation, I walked about a bit, stood in the atrium a bit, got tired of standing, everything  was overcrowded, no sitting in a bar, you could stand in a bar. . 2 nights of let's make a deal in that big theater, but I have zero interest in that, same story, full smaller venues, I don't think the TV game show was well attended, probably why everything else was so crowded . anyway unless Norwegian change entertainment, I'll only go once more.. unfortunately I bough a cruise now.. I like the sea and dinner followed by the theater show used to make for a nice evening ... I got another cruise line in mind that still have a variety of entertainment options, so I'll give that a try . The 2 NCL cruises I went on last year had pretty good entertainment.   I went on Pride of America, too their shows was the first disappointing ones I experienced 

Edited August 27 by Susannekells

[Oceansaway17]

20 hours ago, Susannekells said:

Huh, maybe to you, I hate them

then do not watch them. No one is making you.

On some cruiselines they are popular.

[Oceansaway17]

19 hours ago, Susannekells said:

You're 'Pressing your luck', I'm not gonna watch these ridiculous TV game shows. I'm not going to stand in a line 2 1/2  house hoping to get in a tiny venue.... And I can sit at home, having excellent wine, reading or watching TV  ..or even go to a theater show... So I will not travel NCL to sit in my cabin after dinner from 7 ish most nights... I know some "wheel of fortune' fans, sadly they're not into traveling at all. Even  cruises, even ones with wheel of fortune... They just like to sit on their couch watching sport and then watching game shows...

well after dinner you could take a walk around the ship. You could try to engage in friendly conversations with people along the way. No need to be in your room by 7pm

 

 

[asctony]

3 hours ago, BirdTravels said:

@Susannekells There are no 2 1/2 hour lines to stand in. Maybe you have never been on a cruise ship before. And are relying on the fake news you read on the internet. 

 

There is live entertainment in many areas on the ship, every night. If game shows is not your thing, then find a bar to sit in and listen to live music. Or go out on deck for pool parties. Seems like you want to go and sit in your cabin, which is fine, but you are missing soooooo much. Unless the itinerary does not permit, there is usually a show in the theater every night. 

 

Yup, there is no 5000 seat stadium on the ship that can accommodate every person on the ship at the same time. Never is. Never will be.  

Have you been on the Prima?

That OP is correct in what they said. The venues are all very small! There are lines outside Sids nightly for at least an hour before the show.

NCL has cut back drastically on Entertainment & using passenger participation to reduce entertainment costs. 

 

[Susannekells]

2 hours ago, Oceansaway17 said:

well after dinner you could take a walk around the ship. You could try to engage in friendly conversations with people along the way. No need to be in your room by 7pm

 

 

You have a lot of ideas on what I should do, but unless NCL changes their entertainment. No more NCL for me. I'll  go on a cruise with better evening entertainment or stay at home and book a few shows, I do that anyway when I'm home and I can stream TV.  I hope you enjoy your friendly conversations with various people you see around the ship

Edited August 27 by Susannekells
Adding

[Laszlo]

The entertainment on the Gem in June / July was pretty weak..... and thats putting it nicely. And yes people were standing in line 60 minutes before the show went on. The only saving grace was we had a suite and walked right in. 

[ontheweb]

2 hours ago, asctony said:

Have you been on the Prima?

That OP is correct in what they said. The venues are all very small! There are lines outside Sids nightly for at least an hour before the show.

NCL has cut back drastically on Entertainment & using passenger participation to reduce entertainment costs. 

 

Yes, I have been on the Prima. And the only time there was really a long line for Syd Norman's was for the Fleetwood Mac show.

 

Disclaimer, I do not need a seat. I stand for rock concerts (such as The Tedeschi Trucks Band with special guest Little Feat last Sunday night.)

[eileeshb]

I’ve just checked the entertainment option for Norwegian Getaway in January. It’s 2 gameshows, million dollar quartet and Howl at the moon. I know howl will not be in the theatre and sometimes involves a queue to get a seat, standing room only or very poorly attended. Does anyone know when the next cast rotation is happening for Million Dollar Quartet on Getaway? I’ve been on a couple of sailings with brand new cast which meant their performances were all in the second half of the week. 
I saw choir of Man on Escape and am heading to London to see the longer version in a few weeks, the cast on Escape were promoting a run of shows on land in the states and a bunch of ads popped up for the London shows on my social media feeds during the summer. 
I enjoyed six but the buddy I had with me on that cruise didn’t like it and we’re both gen x. I also saw guests get highly offended at Rock of Ages and Priscilla on previous cruises. It seems like some of cruise ship audiences have a pretty low tolerance for anything “modern” unless it’s a singalong type show. Only 1 cruise I’ve been on had a substantial number of young families all the others had almost entirely over 21 guests. 

[asctony]

2 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Yes, I have been on the Prima. And the only time there was really a long line for Syd Norman's was for the Fleetwood Mac show.

 

Disclaimer, I do not need a seat. I stand for rock concerts (such as The Tedeschi Trucks Band with special guest Little Feat last Sunday night.)

Ok, you don't mind standing and don't need a seat.

Our 2 times on Prima were both the same - long lines. 

Remember, years from now you stood in line,  enjoyed standing in line. When you get older and may have health issues, you may not be able to stand in lines. You may need a seat.

Older people do cruise. 

Enjoy your waits in line.

[ontheweb]

2 minutes ago, asctony said:

Ok, you don't mind standing and don't need a seat.

Our 2 times on Prima were both the same - long lines. 

Remember, years from now you stood in line,  enjoyed standing in line. When you get older and may have health issues, you may not be able to stand in lines. You may need a seat.

Older people do cruise. 

Enjoy your waits in line.

Actually, I stood for the show, not on the line. I did once have a seat but found myself getting off of it.

 

And I am 77. Does that qualify me as an older person?

[Susannekells]

4 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Yes, I have been on the Prima. And the only time there was really a long line for Syd Norman's was for the Fleetwood Mac show.

 

Disclaimer, I do not need a seat. I stand for rock concerts (such as The Tedeschi Trucks Band with special guest Little Feat last Sunday night.)

I assure you on the Epic, people were lining up for the small venues for the second performance before the first started and they we're 2 1/2 hours apart...

The theater take a lot of people but that was repeat shows or gaming shows.

NCL is heavy on gaming, casino bingo, TV gaming shows.....

Replacing theater shows with gaming shows tipped the balance too far

Edited August 27 by Susannekells
Fix

[asctony]

3 hours ago, ontheweb said:

Actually, I stood for the show, not on the line. I did once have a seat but found myself getting off of it.

 

And I am 77. Does that qualify me as an older person?

If you are 77 and healthy, congratulations! 

Enjoy!

[ready2cruzagain]

9 hours ago, Susannekells said:

I assure you on the Epic, people were lining up for the small venues for the second performance before the first started and they we're 2 1/2 hours apart...

The theater take a lot of people but that was repeat shows or gaming shows.

NCL is heavy on gaming, casino bingo, TV gaming shows.....

Replacing theater shows with gaming shows tipped the balance too far

 

I agree with you, we were on the Epic in January for 3 weeks and the lines for The Cavern were super long and the wait was horrendous. Yes, hours. The line for the MDR was long, 30 to 45 minutes at most times. Was glad we had reservations, unfortunately NCL has cut out the reservations for the MDR unless a larger group. I stated that on here before and was told I was wrong but I was there. Glad to see it wasn't all in my head 🙄. The entertainment on the Epic was pretty bad.

[ontheweb]

10 hours ago, Susannekells said:

I assure you on the Epic, people were lining up for the small venues for the second performance before the first started and they we're 2 1/2 hours apart...

The theater take a lot of people but that was repeat shows or gaming shows.

NCL is heavy on gaming, casino bingo, TV gaming shows.....

Replacing theater shows with gaming shows tipped the balance too far

I do not doubt you. But please do not doubt me that on at least our sailing on the Prima the only really long line for Syd Normans was for the Fleetwood Mac Rumours show. In fact on the first night, I got there late and still got in.

 

We sailed on the Epic in 2012, and I found it much too large a ship.

[ontheweb]

8 hours ago, asctony said:

If you are 77 and healthy, congratulations! 

Enjoy!

Thank you. I was only 76 when we were on the Prima.

[Susannekells]

I don't doubt that sometimes it's easier to get in, this last cruise on the Epic was the first one I was on that the did these TV gaming in the big theater.  Often a lot of people is in the big theater, but I don't think wheel of fortune was well attended so there were more people than usual trying to get into the small venues. The main show 'burn the floor" was on 2x a night, two nights, it was the only show that one could prebook, but after I had my turn it left another open night

Maybe pre booking more or all shows would help. At least you know if you got a seat and you can't turn up 15-20 minutes before shows start. 

 I'm sure no  one likes everything offered on cruises but having a balance of activities good, unfortunately NCL already had plenty, gaming or gambling so turning the big theater over to gaming put too much burden on the small venues 

 

[StooBush]

Was on the NCL Star from 7/27-8/8. On most NCL cruises I've been on, the Broadway touring show is excellent, and the rest of the entertainment is meh. On the Star, which had no Broadway show (though there was a Broadway night by the ship stable of performers, 6 singers and 6 dancers), I was surprised to find that several of the entertainers were excellent! Electric violinist Gary Lovini performed entirely different shows on two nights. His Queen medley was fantastic. James "The Voice from the Valley" Humphreys missed getting on the boat when we changed our itinerary, but he joined us in St. Johns. His shows were also just fantastic, including a Robbie Williams cover that this superfan definitely appreciated. There were also husband and wife pair of aerialists "Duo Heartbeats," a very talented NCL band who backed Lovini and Humphreys among others, and a string trio "Brilliant Strings" that had me following them around the ship to hear them play.