What did you think of the DJ on your cruise?

[lisiamc]

Did you have a good DJ on your last Celebrity cruise? We always seem to get one who can clear the floor in record time - and we always mention it on the comment card. So is Celebrity not listening, or am I just an old fuddy-duddy?:)

 

Lisa

[remixernyc]

cool question!!!!! being a former DJ myself I'm always critical, I have to say we've always had good DJ's on cruises.... specifically when we sailed on Zenith a few years ago the DJ played mostly hip hop so we danced all nite. There wasn't a big "club" crowd, but for those who were dancing, the DJ kept em on the floor.... so my answer is yes we had a good DJ on our last Celebrity cruise.... :)

[lakelodge]

the DJ was the ONLY thing that we gave a "poor" rating on the comment card--We were on Milli two weeks ago. The booth is hidden away somewhere so there is absolutely no contact between the DJ and the audience. Every song was at least 5 minutes long, even if there was NO ONE on the dance floor. There was time between songs which cleared the dance floor. Way too much latin music, there were only a handful of couples dancing on this style, but most nights he played 6 or 7 latin songs in an hour to an hour and a half that we were in the disco. He never spoke over a mic, just played the songs, the only way I know that there was a DJ and that it wasn't some computer generated music player is that they introduced him at the Welcome Aboard show.

By the way, everything else about Millennium impressed us and we are ready to go back! Martha

[remixernyc]

Way too much latin music,

yeah I agree with that..... we avoid the disco when the DJs plays it....

[emcee207]

We were on the Constellation twice last year, in Feb and in Dec. I can't remember the DJ in Feb but he probably was the same guy we had in December. On both cruises the DJ was horrible. Played the music he wanted to play even though the crowd was obviously a little older than the music he was playing. To make it even worse, he never shut up, yelling into the microphone etc and going on and on even tho no one could even understand him. Everyone was complaining. Once I asked him if he had any Al Green and he didn't even know who he was. Why can't they get this one right?????

[friarfan]

We had a great DJ on the Horizon several years ago. Great music and the dance floor filled. Ever since then our DJ's have been horrible. They play a certain type of music no matter what the demographics of the passengers. This usually resulted in the dance floor being completely empty. You would think that they would figure this out at some point. When you play a certain type of music and the dance floor and the disco are mobbed all night, you might want to continue to play that type of music throughout the cruise. Unfortunately, they seem to play the music they like despite the results: an empty dance floor and dissatisfied passengers. The DJ is typically the only area where we rate it a complete disappointment on the comment forms.

 

friarfan

[lisiamc]

That's the part I can't fugure out - why the DJs don't tailor the music to the audience. Don't they want people to dance? I have sometimes suspected that they are in a hurry to send all the passengers to bed so that they can cater to the handful of off-duty crew members that usually stay in the disco into the wee hours.

 

I am glad to hear that some people report having a good DJ on their cruise - I knew there had to be a few out there somewhere. We spend a lot of time in the Cova Cafe and Michael's after the show, but often we're in the mood for something more energetic, and we'd go to the disco more often if the DJ was good.

 

Lisa

[usha]

I'm partial to live music over canned, and I would consider a drummer "good", or a keyboard player "good", since they're really performing music. I have an 8 year old granddaughter who is capable of doing what a DJ does, which is change CDs, and I'll bet she's as "good" at it as any DJ. So, this adult who stands there changing CDs all evening could, at the very least, play what the crowd wants to hear. That would be "good".

[hajekfam]

A DJ does more than change CD's. My son-in-law owns a DJ company and having watched him and his employees dj weddings there is a lot more that a good dj does. A good dj senses the mood of the crowd and will change the type of music as needed so that the dance floor remains full. They have to keep up with all the latest music and dance crazes as well as all the oldies.

His DJ company is an award winning company - they go to DJ conventions to keep up with all the latest music and dances.

Having seen one of the best, I concur that Celebrity's DJ's are nothing more than record spinners.

[joie de vivre]

Just off the Summit, the guy that played music was absolutely horrible. He was so horrible that I can't call him a DJ. :eek:

[cruzaddict]

Also just off the Summit......the DJ "sucked"....he never talked and could clear the floor in two seconds flat....except of course for the crew,they loved it!!!!!

[poolwife]

Sorry, to hear the DJ on the Summit is soooo bad. We are sailing on it on 6/24/05 and my husband loves to dance to oldies and can't stand it when the DJ doesn't play music that fits the crowd. Haven't found a good DJ on a ship yet. When they have started to play some good oldies music they always get people out dancing, then they switch the music and the floor goes empty. I don't get it! Why don't the cruise directors make sure the DJ's are catering the music to fit the crowd.

[remixernyc]

man I'd love to have a gig DJing on a cruiseship..... I'd have the club rockin' you'd never wanna leave!!!!! :)

[lisiamc]

remixernyc,

 

I wish you were the DJ on our next cruise - you sound like exactly the right person for the job! Maybe you could offer your services to Celebrity as a DJ trainer. I think they could use one.

 

Lisa

[starrynites]

I'm glad to see this topic discussed as I feel the same way. I don't get it either. I look forward to dancing and when there's a table full of hot ladies all itching to dance and we wait, and wait for a danceable tune and finally leave without dancing, it's disappointing! I like a variety, from hip-hop to disco and latin too, some music makes you want to dance and some does not. The disc jockey's I've seen don't seem to care!?:confused:

[baesue]

Sorry, to hear the DJ on the Summit is soooo bad. We are sailing on it on 6/24/05 and my husband loves to dance to oldies and can't stand it when the DJ doesn't play music that fits the crowd. Haven't found a good DJ on a ship yet. When they have started to play some good oldies music they always get people out dancing, then they switch the music and the floor goes empty. I don't get it! Why don't the cruise directors make sure the DJ's are catering the music to fit the crowd.

 

 

Hey poolwife-baesue here, so you're an oldies dancer. We'll just have to get this DJ on track. My wife and I love dancing to the oldies, and if this DJ is as bad as everyone says he is, we'll just have to make sure that the 6/24/05 sailing of the Summit will be his last "sea cruise". Ha ha.

 

Anyway, when we're not dancing to the oldies, I can usually be found in the hottub, so maybe I should change my name to hot tub guy. Anyway I don't think either of us will be spending much time in the pool or the hot tub on this trip (its cold in Alaska).

 

Let's see if we can get some talk going. Have you looked at the Celebrity Connections link then Summit 6/24/05? Good site.

 

Talk to you later.

 

baesue

[lakelodge]

could somebody print this out and mail it to Celebrity?

[hajekfam]

We also give the DJ's on Celebrity the lowest marks on the comment card. We love to dance but it seems that they clear the floor everytime. Maybe we pick cruises that have older people, but it seems that as soon as they put on some hip-hop, the floor clears quickly. On some Celebrity ships, the DJ is really too far from the dance floor to see what is going on. Also, they do take requests, but you have to know the name of a song rather than a dance style. In other words, you can't ask for a cha cha or a west coast swing.

[Wennfred]

Good Question, but its just not with Celebrity, but I think with all Cruiselines, I spend some time in the Disco to listen to some good music and man I just get pissed and leave, where do they find these DJ's !!! I mean even the Mixing sucks, My sister can mix better, Drives me crazy.

 

I ask and what they say, oh the Real DJ is sick, LOL :eek:

[doree]

We had DJ Ken on Mercury in January 05 and he was good -- he just left at one point to "go do something" and his music was repeating, but there were lots of folks out dancing. Our fav was not a DJ, but Tony Suwamee, who played guitar, "steel drum" music, at the back outside bar on Millie!!!! We bought his CD.....wonder where he is????? He sent a postcard to us from Gibralter on one of his trips. Anyone remember him???

[L11]

I also hope Celebrity reads this. My DH is not a big dancer, but I usually meet a group of people who enjoy dancing and lots of times we just dance together in a group (except for slow dances). Anyway, on our last cruise on Infinity, there was a crowded dance floor for about 1/2 hour of 70's disco mixed with a little hip hop and I even got my husband up for a slow dance. We were having a great time when the DJ started into some really loud techno/hip hop/Latin mix that was just awful (to us anyway--early 50s). We all finished our drinks hoping that 'DJ Bruno' (wherever he was--never saw him) would figure out that the empty dance floor meant CHANGE THE MUSIC. He never did so we all went to bed.

 

Maybe the DJ should be more accessible so that he can more directly interact with the people in the club rather than hiding in his little booth and never saying a word. Might as well have been a jukebox for all the thought he put into it.

 

Linda

[Lois R]

Hi:) so I guess if you don't even remember any of the DJ's that must mean they weren't very good?:eek:

Or I just didn't go to the disco very often?

[pins5]

I also hope Celebrity reads this. My DH is not a big dancer, but I usually meet a group of people who enjoy dancing and lots of times we just dance together in a group (except for slow dances). Anyway, on our last cruise on Infinity, there was a crowded dance floor for about 1/2 hour of 70's disco mixed with a little hip hop and I even got my husband up for a slow dance. We were having a great time when the DJ started into some really loud techno/hip hop/Latin mix that was just awful (to us anyway--early 50s). We all finished our drinks hoping that 'DJ Bruno' (wherever he was--never saw him) would figure out that the empty dance floor meant CHANGE THE MUSIC. He never did so we all went to bed.

 

Maybe the DJ should be more accessible so that he can more directly interact with the people in the club rather than hiding in his little booth and never saying a word. Might as well have been a jukebox for all the thought he put into it.

 

Linda

The same thing happened to us on Zenith. The dance floor was packed...4 young kids came in and they changed the music. Within 1/2 hour or so the place was emty except for 4 drunk kids. I wish it was a jukebox.....then we could have been able to dance somewhere on the ship. We are in our late 40 early 50's and found there was no where to go dancing. I would have gladly put some quarters in a jukebox to hear some dancing music for our generation!:eek:

[sunpsyche]

I agree with the above. I love to dance and dont really consider myself an old fart. I can tolerate SOME hip hop and techno, but really, if the dance floor has cleared, they really should be able to take the not so subtle hint.

[Schplinky]

Not specifically a Celebrity illustration but it seems to be par for the course. On RCL's Navigator last month, the DJ was playing some fun disco/pop stuff and the floor was packed. He suddenly switched to hip-hop and house music and the floor cleared. We waited for 30 minutes and he showed no signs of budging, even though the dance floor was empty and lined with people wanting to dance to something else. I wondered if this was because someone tipped him to play the house music but then I thought of another reason. This was just after midnight and the hours for the disco were "until late" and I wondered if he got to call it a night once people started leaving?