SquidDaddy

We are sailing on the Sunshine on August 23rd and it looks like we have a new guy to Carnival....Daniel David. I know it is a long shot, but has anyone heard anything about him?

Does anyone know anything about Milburn Dumas? Headed out on the Liberty soon, and it looks like he's our man.

We had Milburn on the Ecstasy this past January. He wasn't too bad and really tried to get the crowd going. He is an older gentleman so his humor was kind of goofy in my opinion. He knows quite a few piano songs but not necessarily piano bar songs so to speak. I would put him in the middle of the pack of all the different piano bar folks we have had.

Hey if you loved Marty then you might be interested in what a bunch of us are doing on Oct 27 on the Freedom. We are doing The "Party with Marty" Halloween Cruise. It is Marty's own little group cruise. But you book it on your own. We will have more info on Marty's Peeps page on fb and here. Like I said it is not an official group cruise, just a bunch of Piano Bar lovers getting together with their favorite PBE. We will have a cocktail party or two with Marty and a costume contest.

Thanks for the invite but I don't think our schedules will permit a cruise at that time of the year. Would love to see Marty again though...seems like his Carnival gig has really become quite the show. We sailed with him on the Freedom in Sep.2011 and it was only his third cruise or so. He definitely came out of his shell by the end of that cruise...just took some encouragement from a bunch of us PB regulars to get him going. A reunion cruise with him would be a lot of fun.

-Jeff

I sailed with Bruce twice on the Glory in 2010. I very much enjoyed his piano bar. He's a little lower key, not the big, loud frat party type. But he works hard to get everyone involved with lots of singing along and trivia and develops a nice rapport with his regulars. He's very charming and has a large repertoire (though lighter on current music) He had a nice hardcore group that filled the seats around his piano every night on the cruises I took with him.

 

This is what I wrote about him after I sailed with him the first time:

 

"I just got off the Glory this past Saturday. I spent every night in the piano bar and had a blast. Bruce is a sweet and talented Scotsman (excellent accent!). Lower key than some. His playlist is varied and always includes lots more than what is just on the list he hands out, but pretty lean when it comes to current songs.

 

He does a good job making everyone feel included and welcome and absolutely loves audience participation, often dropping out and letting the audience sing and pointing out and featuring someone who is singing along enthusiastically. He's got an extra microphone for people who want to sing and it often got passed around. Early on he often does trivia and "Name that Tune" stuff to help people get involved (I can name that tune in 250 notes! LOL)

 

It can get a bit repetitious as he finds what works with his audience, on our cruise he had 20 somethings to 70 somethings in his bar, and he works to please everyone, that was quite an age gap to straddle. And he accommodates requests as he can, almost to a fault... Oh, if I never hear "Rhinestone Cowboy" again, it will be too soon! LOL!

 

His is one of those piano bars where it can be nice just listening and chatting with just a few people in the bar (as it was early on the first night) or a lot of fun with a big raucous group which it became later on in the cruise. The people in the bar and their willingness to participate definitely make a big difference. Seats around the bar were at a premium by the second night of our cruise as his "hardcores" found their way to the bar. The first night worried him a bit as he said that the previous two cruises were rip-roaring from the get go.

 

Just make sure it's after midnight before you ask him what his favorite thing to wear under his kilt is! LOL!"

 

If you scan on the old thread you can find earlier reviews of him and they are all good.

 

He certainly has his fans (of which I am one), there is one lady on the Piano Barbarians FB page that sailed with him last July and raves about him:

 

Tammy B: you will love him. We sailed with him last July and had the absolute best time! I truly cannot say enough about him. He is wonderful.

Sunday at 5:44pm · Like · 1

 

 

 

So, go and enjoy!

 

Happy Sailing,

 

Laura

:):)

Thanks for sharing your past review...sounds like we won't have anything to worry about with Bruce!!! The DW and I were worried that we were going to have to find a new nightly hobby this cruise before it was switched to Bruce.

I will report back our experience as well when we return.

-Jeff

Just saw that the our PB entertainer for the Dream on 4/27 has changed from Martin Alex Aucion to Bruce McGhie. Through some previous research through the FB group and here, it appeared as though Alex was pretty dull compared to the PB greats. I'm not finding as much info on Bruce, but what little I have seems to be pretty good. Can anyone here offer up a recent review of Bruce, his style and if the PB was truly a party place? On our last two cruises we were treated to Marty Gast and Jason Davis and we had a blast.

Looking forward to some replies!