No piano player in schooner bar?

Have been on the Grandeur since 11/18. That cruise we had a piano player. Then the 11/30 cruise something was missing. But I did not pick up on it. Now on the 12/9 cruise, was in the schooner bar and it hit me. We have nobody playing piano in there. This cruise or last cruise. They have the Rasario strings playing every night there now.

Any other ships missing a piano player in the schooner bar? Or is it just us.

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Maybe due to year end budget cuts, why no one is playing or maybe the performer got sick and they had no replacement.

Currently on Anthem and we have a piano player in the Schooner Bar, but big time budget cuts on the food selection in the WJ on our cruise.

Have not seen that yet. Maybe a scheduling issue.

Maybe due to year end budget cuts, why no one is playing or maybe the performer got sick and they had no replacement.

Currently on Anthem and we have a piano player in the Schooner Bar, but big time budget cuts on the food selection in the WJ on our cruise.

Can you elaborate on the food cuts in the WJ. We were on it in November, what was missing to you?

We are going again in Anthem in January also.

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always have seen a piano player in schooner in my 20 something RCCL cruise, WJ was about same 2 weeks ago on Navigator although we do not eat there much. Have seen pub entertainment cut back but it was great on last cruise

Piano player on the Freedom Nov11 2017. No piano player on the Indy Nov 27 2017. Schooner Bar was dead except for trivia. Also lobster was tastier on Indy.

We were on the Grandeur 10/28 to 11/9 and we went to the Schooner every night and the piano player, JR, was very good. He said he was on the ship until Feb. hmmmm.....

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Gosh, we'd miss not having a piano player there. :(

The piano player could have had a personal emergency and needed to leave abruptly. When this happens on short notice they can't always find a replacement. My dad was the Schooner Bar piano player for several years and one time he had to leave on short notice due to my Grandma's failing health.

The piano player could have had a personal emergency and needed to leave abruptly. When this happens on short notice they can't always find a replacement. My dad was the Schooner Bar piano player for several years and one time he had to leave on short notice due to my Grandma's failing health.

I think you are right.

We are getting someone new at St Thomas. They have Steven Burk listed in the Compass for tomorrow.

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On the Anthem, we have Igor on the Schooner’s keys from 1730 till 1815, and then Jam from 2130 tlll “late”...

I was on the Harmony last month and we had a piano player in the bar, and actually he was quite good.

Yes :p:cool::p no more driving to the levy and it was dry .

The Schooner Bar is the first live entertainment venue we check out on our cruises. If we like it, that's where we will be the rest of the cruise!

I realize that everyone's tastes and expectations are different but we have seen great to awful. Maybe we can all compare our experiences here but also list who is currently performing on each ship and a small review. I'll start:

Grandeur 10/28-11/9, JR Neal. The best piano player/singer we have enjoyed of our 6 Royal cruises and 2 dozen cruises on various lines. He played 60s, 70s, 80s to present music plus a mix of humor and experiences. Typical piano bar music plus some that are unique, all great to sing along with and will try anything requested. We thought his talent was wasted with the 'older' passenger mix on this cruise. Our group ranged from 29-65 yo. and we all loved it.

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Other, not so good or our style for comparison, Schooner bar entertainment, sorry don't have names:

The strings that filled in on JRs days off were very good. Quiet low key music playing while having drinks. Not sing along though ...lol.

Anthem, May 2016, Schooner bar piano player/singer played really old music 1930s, 40s, 50s etc., too old for us and we're 60 and 65 yo..lol. Remember 'You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy, when skies are gray' ... Really! Big crowd and sing along but not our thing.

Anthem, 2016, May or November, not sure: Schooner bar late night Adult-only Shows. Although we cruised both times with large groups, and would have enjoyed this 'Vegas Show' it was inappropriate for the few teens with us. Late night hot tub soaks for our group instead.

Majesty, June 2014, Schooner bar piano player/singer played typical piano bar tunes. Excellent piano player and couldn't sing very well but we enjoyed singing along with many others, every night.

Explorer, May 2013, and Liberty, May 2015, no memorable live entertainment after dinner. We just hung out which friends and family in the pub and closed it down every night. May have been a guitar player there.

Carnival, NYC May 2005: very talented young piano bar player/singer that our (22 & 25 yo) son and future DIL 'found' first. Played all typical piano bar music and had a very large lively crowd that spanned all ages 20s- 60s and full tip jar...lol. Felt very bad for him though, he would get very drunk every night by the end of the evening.

Carnival, later 2005 or 06, piano bar, older singer strictly playing sedate 40s and 50s type music. Boring and not too many tips in his jar. Not a 'Fun Ship' entertainer.

NCL, Breakaway, 2014, dueling pianos, Howl at the Moon, very good entertainment in a very crowded room with wooden folding chairs lined up 'butt to butt'. Really! Needs to be in a showroom BUT it's not a piano bar which we prefer every night for singing, chatting, and after dinner drinks.

All other ships and cruises nothing memorable to write about, for us.

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Can you elaborate on the food cuts in the WJ. We were on it in November, what was missing to you?

We are going again in Anthem in January also.

 

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We had lunch in WJ only 6 days out of 12, so IMO ""only"", I felt there was too many casserole dishes almost daily at the WJ. Today, they finally had baked chicken, which I didn't see during the week. After 25 times on Anthem now, I and others noticed the difference in food choices compared to our previous sailings. The staff and service is still a 10 in the WJ :)

Back on topic :)

The Schooner Bar is the first live entertainment venue we check out on our cruises. If we like it, that's where we will be the rest of the cruise!

 

I realize that everyone's tastes and expectations are different but we have seen great to awful. Maybe we can all compare our experiences here but also list who is currently performing on each ship and a small review. I'll start:

 

Grandeur 10/28-11/9, JR Neal. The best piano player/singer we have enjoyed of our 6 Royal cruises and 2 dozen cruises on various lines. He played 60s, 70s, 80s to present music plus a mix of humor and experiences. Typical piano bar music plus some that are unique, all great to sing along with and will try anything requested. We thought his talent was wasted with the 'older' passenger mix on this cruise. Our group ranged from 29-65 yo. and we all loved it.

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Other, not so good or our style for comparison, Schooner bar entertainment, sorry don't have names:

 

The strings that filled in on JRs days off were very good. Quiet low key music playing while having drinks. Not sing along though ...lol.

 

Anthem, May 2016, Schooner bar piano player/singer played really old music 1930s, 40s, 50s etc., too old for us and we're 60 and 65 yo..lol. Remember 'You are my sunshine, my only sunshine, you make me happy, when skies are gray' ... Really! Big crowd and sing along but not our thing.

 

Anthem, 2016, May or November, not sure: Schooner bar late night Adult-only Shows. Although we cruised both times with large groups, and would have enjoyed this 'Vegas Show' it was inappropriate for the few teens with us. Late night hot tub soaks for our group instead.

 

Majesty, June 2014, Schooner bar piano player/singer played typical piano bar tunes. Excellent piano player and couldn't sing very well but we enjoyed singing along with many others, every night.

 

Explorer, May 2013, and Liberty, May 2015, no memorable live entertainment after dinner. We just hung out which friends and family in the pub and closed it down every night. May have been a guitar player there.

 

Carnival, NYC May 2005: very talented young piano bar player/singer that our (22 & 25 yo) son and future DIL 'found' first. Played all typical piano bar music and had a very large lively crowd that spanned all ages 20s- 60s and full tip jar...lol. Felt very bad for him though, he would get very drunk every night by the end of the evening.

 

Carnival, later 2005 or 06, piano bar, older singer strictly playing sedate 40s and 50s type music. Boring and not too many tips in his jar. Not a 'Fun Ship' entertainer.

 

NCL, Breakaway, 2014, dueling pianos, Howl at the Moon, very good entertainment in a very crowded room with wooden folding chairs lined up 'butt to butt'. Really! Needs to be in a showroom BUT it's not a piano bar which we prefer every night for singing, chatting, and after dinner drinks.

 

All other ships and cruises nothing memorable to write about, for us.

 

 

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We were on the Grandeur this past January and the female piano bar player was absolutely atrocious. I'm one to enjoy the piano bar for a good long time and make it a nightly hangout. On this particular sailing, I couldn't even tolerate walking through the Schooner Bar because she was so heinous. :) LOL Glad to read you've had a wonderful, top-notch entertainer! We very much enjoyed the Rosario Strings, but they weren't the same as having a sing-along session.

We sail on the Serenade next month. I'm hoping we will have a really great piano bar happening there!

Our one other RCI piano bar experience was on the Oasis with "Kim, the Guy." He did a fine job, but repeated a lot of the same songs night after night. We enjoyed him, but the variety could've been improved upon.

How do I get on RCI's substitute piano player list?:cool:

the piano player on Navigator was terrible place was always empty Simon John, lucky for us pub guitar player was great

We have a dueling piano bar right next to our house and love to just go over an hang out, but on our jw cruise in february, we went into schooner bar thinking it would be about the same, but was very bad. The piano player was horrible, very low key. It felt like somebody that got brought in to a department store. Everybody was basically ignoring him and nobody was singing or getting into it at all. We barely spent any time in there the whole cruise. This thread is giving me hope that maybe it is better on other ships, even if some are not good.

OASIS - Turkey Day week

Schooner has always been our fav' place on any RCL cruise .... until OASIS

could they have picked a worse location? When they do something in the atrium (and they do something every night) the sound (noise) drowns out any hope of a nice time in Schooner - so WHY have a piano player ......

but wait .... there's more

On our recent OASIS the first night it appeared there was gonna be 2 hours of otherwise quiet in the atrium with piano music in S', the piano player failed to show up. We asked the bar staff "where's the piano player" ... each pulled the same daily we get out of their pocket, unsure if piano was scheduled, and said "dunno" ... and picked up the phone.

Later a manager (wearing officer stripes) came by and asked the bartenders, "where is the piano player?" It was getting pretty comical at this point. The Schooner has always been fun, but this was new.

The piano player showed up about 15 minutes later ..... 5 minutes b4 music in the atrium started ..... which would drown him out BIG TIME

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were this a one time event it would be funny, but twice was funnier. Another nite we left Schooner as trivia was about to start and as we left the piano player came in and asked the bar staff "what's going on?"

"What we have here, is failure to communicate ....."

[Cool Hand Luke if you don't recognize the reference]

Bar tenders at Schooner (who were great and friendly and perhaps the best part of the trip) said "he's new" ......

... could they have picked a worse location? When they do something in the atrium (and they do something every night) the sound (noise) drowns out any hope of a nice time in Schooner - so WHY have a piano player ...... ...

And if it's not blaring music or some sale they seem to have every 10 minutes from the Royal Promenade, then the sound from the fountain under the Rising Tide Bar is there to drown out the piano player.

And if it's not blaring music or some sale they seem to have every 10 minutes from the Royal Promenade, then the sound from the fountain under the Rising Tide Bar is there to drown out the piano player.

I could not agree more. They ruined the Schooner Bar on Oasis class ships.

I could not agree more. They ruined the Schooner Bar on Oasis class ships.

Oasis class cruise has been on our bucket list but no longer if they don't have a dedicated Schooner bar!

How many times can we see Love and Marriage, Dancing with the Stripes, Quest, Star Search...oh, I mean Karaoke ...? Too many times so far after 6 Royal cruises.

Pet Peeve: since when is Karaoke a singing competition? When we were on Liberty a few years ago they offered a good 'traditional' Karaoke that was well attended. It has now turned into 'American Idol' which in turn negates the fun factor and audience participation. Royal, please don't call it Karaoke, if it's not.

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With all the negative experience’s related in this thread, I have to respond with my enjoyment of “Jam”, currently playing in the Anthem’s Schooner...

He is an accomplished piano player, and a pretty good entertainer.

While he didn’t exactly “pack ‘em in”, like the dueling “Howl at the Moon” piano’s do on the NCL Breakaway,

He certainly had his “regular’s” there each night,

And he also had many of the off-duty singers from the ship’s show cast accompanying him, as well as some talented guests,,,,

The location sounds a bit better than the Oasis Class, but there was a lot of “traffic” passing thru, and sometimes noise from loud bands in the Music Hall, below....Bolero’s was in a better location, isolation-wise...

Oasis class cruise has been on our bucket list but no longer if they don't have a dedicated Schooner bar!

 

How many times can we see Love and Marriage, Dancing with the Stripes, Quest, Star Search...oh, I mean Karaoke ...? Too many times so far after 6 Royal cruises.

 

Pet Peeve: since when is Karaoke a singing competition? When we were on Liberty a few years ago they offered a good 'traditional' Karaoke that was well attended. It has now turned into 'American Idol' which in turn negates the fun factor and audience participation. Royal, please don't call it Karaoke, if it's not.

 

 

 

 

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The Oasis class ships do have a dedicated Schooner Bar. However, it is located on deck 6 and very open to the Royal Promenade so sound from the Promenade very much affect what is going on in the Schooner Bar. We rarely go there when on Oasis/Allure. The atmosphere is just not the same as the Schooner Bars on Voyager/Freedom class ships.