Yes. Audition calls for LC were quoting $5,000.00 a player. Even with the pare down from quintet to quartet, that was $20,000 per ship. With 3 Vista Class, 2 Signature Class and 3 Pinnacle Class, that's 8 ships X $20,000 = $160,000 HAL saved. Pre-Lincoln Center contracts, the resident talent in classical was very much a crap shoot. I remember this violin/piano duo that made my undergraduate students sound like Menuhin/Horowitz. We thought we lost them when we booked another cruise that same year on a different ship. Nope. They were there, too. With such punishment, HAL made more, for our bar bill went up. HAL knew their true worth: they made the duo sell stuff at the deck sales on sea days. . . . no kidding! Yes, we are sad about LC and have communicated with the company more than once to no avail. HAL is more interested in developing the casinos.
