Entertainment changes on the Emerald

[2Canucks]

CC host: Crissy Reid

 

FC consultant- Nikki Beare

 

You should have no issue meeting up with your BVE friends. *Just ask Nikki what time/where to meet her in turnaround day. She's the one who meets them and takes them around.*

 

Lee Childers is in now as CD. No change in the format, but band Fusion has left and XtaSea from St. Lucia has arrived. It seems at first glance that there's two bands playing party/dance music (Evolution and XtaSea); one band plus occasionally the orchestra doing ballroom (Cruise Control and the orchestra). *Lots of dancing opportunities now.*

 

Lee made one good change already. On the first evening he had Evolution play a short set in the Piazza. People won't seek them out on the ship without knowing who they are/what they play. This was a great way to introduce them. XtaSea played sailaway, so same thing there.*

 

No additional movie times at MUTS. It's still one show performed three times in the theater, music and game shows and theme parties in Explorers, and music and DJ in Club Fusion.*

 

We were THRILLED to see in yesterday's Patter that the Adagio pianist we had enjoyed for several cruises was back on board after one cruise away. Not to be: *last cruise's pianist is still up there. The Patter was wrong. We're not fans of the new guy.*

 

Barty Brown is back in Crooners. He must have gone home for the holidays.*

 

Hypnotist's show (Fernandez), we hear, is a joke. Doesn't lend itself to 30 minute format, which makes sense. 30 minutes works great for comedians, not for hypnotists.*

 

Not that we really care (there's always something to do), but if you, like us, like shows, the new format is a disappointment.*

 

Free internet on St. Thomas is on my iPhone through 3G.

 

 

 

Thank You for the above information...very much appreciated! :D

 

 

Karen...see you onboard the Emerald!! :D

 

Pat :)

[Zena,W.P.]

Sammy is good and lots of fun. I hope he's still on in November.

 

The balloon toss is to keep the audience occupied while waiting for the show to start. A lot of people seem to enjoy it and see how far they can send a balloon through the theater. They don't do it all the time or on all ships. It does make the wait time for the show to begin go faster.

 

 

First time we were in the theater with a balloon toss was an experience for sure. We sat in the front row. I'm terrified of balloons. I know, real stupid thing to be afraid of, but you don't get to choose. The balloons kept coming at me. I was both scarred, but also laughing because of the situation. The crew in the front saw my reaction and kept the balloons coming at me. The audience near me saw it also and "helped" get me even more balloons. It really was funny because of course balloons cannot hurt you, so it was both fun and icky. EVIL BALLOONS

[Gotribe]

They had a hypnotist do a 30 minute show? Usually it takes them at least 15 minutes to hypnotize people. That doesn't leave a lot of time for the actual hypnotized part of the show.

[ROWSE]

We just returned on the 27th from the Emerald Princess. I had no idea we were the trial run for the new entertainment schedule or that there was a change like this coming.

 

I felt rather cheated as I was expecting the same wonderful schedule that we were use to. The theater for the 8:30 show became less crowded, but we had a party of 6 so we went in as soon as possible after the 7:15 show to get seats together. This resulted in a wait longer than most of the shows lasted.

 

I had always enjoyed the alternative show in the Explorer's lounge, and it left an empty hole to have this taken away.

 

The hypnotist felt like he just started his act, and it was over. I felt like he just didn't have a chance to do anything very funny as he had to be so quick. I am sure it would have been far more enjoyable as a longer show.

 

We adapted and enjoyed everything despite this cut down version, but it just made me feel sad that more and more things are being cut as the cruising years go by. I wonder why they mess with something that makes the majority happy? I'm sure the almighty dollar is the answer, and I just have to hope nothing else I have come to enjoy will be changed.

[cruiselover05]

Can you tell me what time the gym opens in the morning?

Thanks

[lynwar]

I'm so glad to know where Barty Brown is performing. We saw him on the Emerald at the end of October 2010. He stayed aboard to Nov. 8 and then went home to England on the Ruby on the transatlantic, I believe. We missed him (especially me) on the Ruby this time. The first time we saw him was in Feb of 1998 on our first cruise, so it was like a reunion with him in 2010 after not seeing him in the years between. I'm so glad I had my picture taken with him. I was in Crooners about every night, and when I missed, he asked me what had happened. He missed my hubby when he was absent, too. He is a really good guy.

The Ruby Princess didn't have too many changes that I could tell.

Lynne

[duck addict]

Can you tell me what time the gym opens in the morning?

Thanks

On Jan 7 cruise...fitness center hours 7 am to 10 pm

[Northender]

Thank You for the above information...very much appreciated! :D

 

 

Karen...see you onboard the Emerald!! :D

 

Pat :)

 

Pat, see you on the Ruby:):D:)

[kool kruiser]

Getting back to the main thrust of this thread, I am with many here in being very disappointed with these changes. We too are not interested at all in game shows etc or dancing, so just one (too short ) show or cabaret each evening, Crooners or MUTS. Much preferred having two ''professional '' entertainments, in Explorers and the Theatre. Will also miss the string quartet. To me, this is an obvious money-saving exercise.

We love Princess in every way except for it's low quality entertainment. What a pity when other brands recognise the need to improve in this area that Princess are dumbing down further.

In view of the many similar negatives posted, perhaps the Princess powers that be who read these boards will take note, abandon this new arrangement and even improve the entertainment, rather than just saving $$

[MSUcruisers]

I'm so glad to know where Barty Brown is performing. We saw him on the Emerald at the end of October 2010. He stayed aboard to Nov. 8 and then went home to England on the Ruby on the transatlantic, I believe. We missed him (especially me) on the Ruby this time. The first time we saw him was in Feb of 1998 on our first cruise, so it was like a reunion with him in 2010 after not seeing him in the years between. I'm so glad I had my picture taken with him. I was in Crooners about every night, and when I missed, he asked me what had happened. He missed my hubby when he was absent, too. He is a really good guy.

The Ruby Princess didn't have too many changes that I could tell.

Lynne

For those who are interested, here is Barty Brown's link.

http://www.barringtonbartybrown.co.uk/

[cruiselover05]

Thanks for the gym info. It opened at 7 last year too but was hoping it would be earllier. They were lined up at the door by 6:30. :rolleyes:

[PescadoAmarillo]

Getting back to the main thrust of this thread, I am with many here in being very disappointed with these changes. We too are not interested at all in game shows etc or dancing, so just one (too short ) show or cabaret each evening, Crooners or MUTS. Much preferred having two ''professional '' entertainments, in Explorers and the Theatre. Will also miss the string quartet. To me, this is an obvious money-saving exercise.

We love Princess in every way except for it's low quality entertainment. What a pity when other brands recognise the need to improve in this area that Princess are dumbing down further.

In view of the many similar negatives posted, perhaps the Princess powers that be who read these boards will take note, abandon this new arrangement and even improve the entertainment, rather than just saving $$

 

I have to admit that I totally agree with your comments. Although I prefer music performances to comedians (and certainly to magicians or hypnotists), I liked the fact that there was a choice before, between the show in the Princess Theater or the show in Explorers Lounge. Both shows didn't have to appeal...one of them generally did. **And although I love football on MUTS, I'm really not much into watching a movie while on a cruise. *So featuring MUTS in the Patter as the second primary entertainment venue now seems a bit...well, limited.

 

However, when I walk by Explorers at night, whether it's karaoke, or trivia, or a theme party underway, the lounge is generally full and people seem to be enjoying themselves. So either they really are, or they are there simply because of a lack of alternative choices. I suspect it's the former

 

Still, it makes no sense to me that people are packed in Explorers and standing in the hallway outside of it, when there are fewer than 20 people in Club Fusion listening to music there. And the 7:15 and 8:30 Princess Theater shows are full, while the 10:15 show is rather empty. It seems some schedule tweaking is still required. And I believe a comedian plays better in Explorers than the Princess Theater, but that's not the way it is now.

 

And still people are lined up from the theater doors back midway through the casino on Deck 6 to get into the theater for the 8:30 show. I'm not sure they've gained anything with the addition of the earlier show. They're still arriving early and waiting for the show to start. It just that they're waitin standing up now. Hardly an improvement.

 

The changes are not enough for me to run back to Celebrity, but I have to admit my entertainment tastes are more compatible with what's offered there. If you, like me, did not consider entertainment to be a strength of Princess, you'll certainly find it even less so now.

 

BTW, the Captains Circle party for Gold members was held in the theater late in the afternoon of Princess Cays. Only Platinum and Elite were invited to the traditional party in Club Fusion.

[MSUcruisers]

BTW, the Captains Circle party for Gold members was held in the theater late in the afternoon of Princess Cays. Only Platinum and Elite were invited to the traditional party in Club Fusion.

 

What was the difference between the two parties?

[caribill]

BTW, the Captains Circle party for Gold members was held in the theater late in the afternoon of Princess Cays. Only Platinum and Elite were invited to the traditional party in Club Fusion.

 

Wonder what they do when one person is Platinum and the spouse is Gold.

[monakayk]

What was the difference between the two parties?

Good question, Natasha487! I would like to know too, Jeannie!

[mysweetness]

my brother is platinum and he brought his girlfriend ( gold ) to the party with no issue at all.

[From the 949]

My wife and I were on the 1/27/12 sailing. We liked the new format with a 10:15 show in the Princess Theatre. It was about half to 2/3 full. The late shows varied in length. The hypnotist show at 10:15 was HORRIBLE. He had all the time in the world and it was a total waste of time. Interestingly, we sat next to a couple who attended the 8:30 show. One of them participated in being hypnotized and wanted to come back to see the show as a spectator. They said the 8:30 show was extremely funny! So, who knows. To us, the hypnotist was just going through the motions to get the show over. The other shows in the Princess Theatre were just ok, so 30 minutes was long enough for us. The comedians were quite funny.

 

I think with any change, there will be some that like it and others that don't like it. Regardless of scheduling, there's always something to do on board. On this particular cruise, I think the average age was 70+, so we felt the ship was pretty quiet after 10:30.

[BarbinMich]

We just returned on the 27th from the Emerald Princess. I had no idea we were the trial run for the new entertainment schedule or that there was a change like this coming.

 

I felt rather cheated as I was expecting the same wonderful schedule that we were use to. The theater for the 8:30 show became less crowded, but we had a party of 6 so we went in as soon as possible after the 7:15 show to get seats together. This resulted in a wait longer than most of the shows lasted.

. . .

 

We, too, were on the Jan. 17 cruise and while we liked the 3 show times in the theater, I did note that the production shows and maybe the others were only running about 35 min., which I found odd since they're usually 45 min. Now I know why!

 

We never went down to Club Fusion in the evening since we found what we wanted in the theater, Explorers or Crooners. I wonder how many people really want to dance that much. Explorers, which has a smaller capacity than Club Fusion, was overcrowded most nights.

 

The entertainers on the 17th were underwhelming. I wonder if they're having trouble getting better talent, with the shortened showtimes??

 

Since we're doing the Emerald TA on Apr 25, I hope there are some improvements to the "new" evening schedule.

 

Barb

[IAMGPW]

Some of the shows were definitely too short. The comedian kept commenting and looking at his watch. He needed more time and it did effect the quality of his show. Beatle mania was great but they never did costumes changes whic they could have down with more time. Some of the singers on the ship were off key and need to be changed, so for those musical shows the 30 minutes were more than enough. Maybe they can extend the late shows

[PescadoAmarillo]

Beatle mania was great but they never did costumes changes whic they could have down with more time.

This, I think, is the worst part of the shortened shows. ANY band can play Beatles music. That was just part of the Beatles Maniacs shows. It was the dialogue, the humor, the costume changes that made it the best show of the cruise.

 

And having them play in Club Fusion...see comment above. They have two other bands that can play Beatles music to dance to.

[Gail & Marty sailing away]

300 to 400 people doing a B2B same ones ....

[SRQfireman]

300 to 400 people doing a B2B same ones ....

 

O.K....I'll bite...what does this have to do with entertainment changes on the Emerald? Not even sure what this means

[IECalCruiser]

300 to 400 people doing a B2B same ones ....

O.K....I'll bite...what does this have to do with entertainment changes on the Emerald? Not even sure what this means

There are doing two 10 day cruises B2B on the Emerald next January and will have the same limited entertainment options on the two cruises.

[dianef]

WOnder if all the Princess ships have shortened their shows and cut down on their onboard entertainment.To us,the entertainment part is one of the reasons we like to cruise.

 

We are going on the Sapphire in a week.We will see then.We were on the Sapphire in Oct and it was not cut back then.Maybe it is something all the ships implemented after the first of the year.Hope not.