Princess Shows Getting Shorter

[Nukesailor]

Just off the Emerald Princess today from the 12/17 - 27 cruise. It seems Princess may be headed in an unfortunate direction with their shows. All shows in the theater were shortened to about 30 minutes. The official reason was "to give a greater opportunity to take advantage of the many other entertainment options." On some evenings, there were two show times in the theater, 7:15 & 8:30, on other evenings three shows, with an added 10:30 show. In the case of one show we'd seen before, "It's a Swell Party," the shortening resulted in removing the story line the show previously had but left it with only the songs. The shortened time also applied to the other entertainment in the theater, such as the comedians, singers, etc.

 

Another thing we noted was that none of the production shows used the ship's orchestra. All had recorded music and backup singers.

 

All in all, definitely a decrease in quality. Hopefully, this is only an experiment and won't spread to the rest of the fleet.

 

Art

[highheel girl]

Been 30 minutes for awhile now.

[Loonbeam]

There are a couple of active threads on this topic over the past month or so, the changeover has been in play for a while now.

 

Just off the Emerald Princess today from the 12/17 - 27 cruise. It seems Princess may be headed in an unfortunate direction with their shows. All shows in the theater were shortened to about 30 minutes. The official reason was "to give a greater opportunity to take advantage of the many other entertainment options." On some evenings, there were two show times in the theater, 7:15 & 8:30, on other evenings three shows, with an added 10:30 show. In the case of one show we'd seen before, "It's a Swell Party," the shortening resulted in removing the story line the show previously had but left it with only the songs. The shortened time also applied to the other entertainment in the theater, such as the comedians, singers, etc.

 

Another thing we noted was that none of the production shows used the ship's orchestra. All had recorded music and backup singers.

 

All in all, definitely a decrease in quality. Hopefully, this is only an experiment and won't spread to the rest of the fleet.

 

Art

[Astro Flyer]

I recently disembarked the Crown after 32 days with the shorter three show setup which for us worked better. We had early TD for the first 12 days & late TD for the 20 days & it was much easier for us to get seats and to not be rushed either to or from dinner.

 

It was no problem to arrive early enough to easily get a seat although like anything else on the ship from lectures to shows it doesn't completely prevent those who consistently show up in the middle of things & don't care about arriving on time. :(

[Pam in CA]

There are a couple of active threads on this topic over the past month or so, the changeover has been in play for a while now.

It's been rolled out for the past several months and as you say, discussed.

[hmh60]

Just another reason why we are looking elsewhere for our cruising vacations.

[Nukesailor]

Been 30 minutes for awhile now.

Didn't know that. I should have been paying more attention on CruiseCritic:o. Still, the assistant Cruise Director acted like it was something new, and on our last Princess cruise, December 2011, the show times hadn't been reduced.

 

Art

[OCruisers]

Having the time of the Production Shows reduced is welcomed by us. :)

 

~~~~

[jrzebird]

Actually, I rather liked the shorter shows. They were generally a bit longer than 30 minutes, but for me they were a perfect length. Plus, as Astro said, either the 7:00 or 10:15 show fit perfectly with my dinner.

 

As for the orchestra, on the CB, the ship's orchestra did perform in at least two of the shows. They weren't on stage, but they did appear at the end, when the backdrop fly was raised.

[Pam in CA]

Didn't know that. I should have been paying more attention on CruiseCritic:o. Still, the assistant Cruise Director acted like it was something new, and on our last Princess cruise, December 2011, the show times hadn't been reduced.

It might have been new to the ship and/or ACD, which is always possible. Not all ships got the new format at the same time. It was rolled out over a period of months.

Just another reason why we are looking elsewhere for our cruising vacations.

It's not for everyone but I prefer the shorter format. Plus, I don't cruise for the nighttime entertainment. :)

[janacin]

Just off the Emerald Princess today from the 12/17 - 27 cruise. It seems Princess may be headed in an unfortunate direction with their shows. All shows in the theater were shortened to about 30 minutes. The official reason was "to give a greater opportunity to take advantage of the many other entertainment options." On some evenings, there were two show times in the theater, 7:15 & 8:30, on other evenings three shows, with an added 10:30 show. In the case of one show we'd seen before, "It's a Swell Party," the shortening resulted in removing the story line the show previously had but left it with only the songs. The shortened time also applied to the other entertainment in the theater, such as the comedians, singers, etc.

 

Another thing we noted was that none of the production shows used the ship's orchestra. All had recorded music and backup singers.

 

All in all, definitely a decrease in quality. Hopefully, this is only an experiment and won't spread to the rest of the fleet.

 

Art

 

We were on the Sapphire 2 weeks ago and I really like the idea of a 30 minute show. It meant that they could slip in a third performance which was welcomed by most. We all know that Princess Theatres are smaller than most and an extra performance means seats will be easier to find. The shows were enjoyable and we never missed the extra fifteen minutes. There was less conflict with other entertainment that was going on at other venues on the ship. All the production shows had the ships full orchestra. At times the music is augmented by a pre-recorded track that the musicians play to. That's not a new thing. It's been done on all ships for years.

[capriccio]

Actually, I rather liked the shorter shows. They were generally a bit longer than 30 minutes, but for me they were a perfect length. Plus, as Astro said, either the 7:00 or 10:15 show fit perfectly with my dinner.

 

 

We like it too. We first experienced it on the Sapphire in May.

[caribill]

The 30-minute concept was introduced on a couple of ships in the lat sprint this year and rolled out to the other ships by the fall.

 

Some like the shortened entertainment and some hate it (I am in the latter category). As one poster above said, it removed the entire plot from one of the production shows.

 

And cruisers who are new to Princess generally like it because they did not know how it used to be.

 

Do I cruise just for the evening entertainment? No. But since I am on the ship, I like to see the shows and guest entertainers.

[fishywood]

On Grand Princess last week the "Cabaret Showtimes" with magician Jean Boucher, vocalist Brandi Chapman and the final night encore featuring both were the same length as they always were. I did not go to any of the production shows as I had seen them last year on the Star, but judging by the din echoing into the casino and the time the crowd emerged "British Invasion" seemed no shorter than I remembered. Personally I think the production shows may benefit from a little pruning; the predictable transitions between numbers make one show too similar to another. (And "What a Swell Party" would be the one I would trim first).

 

And I know all three shows were sung to taped music, as the Princess Orchestra was in either the Vista Lounge or Explorers on those nights. Two nights they played a Big Band set--from 8:30 to 9:30 while we were at second seating dinner :(:(:(

 

...and not to reopen an old can of worms, but the need to shorten the shows actually arose from the decision Princess made quite a while ago to no longer have "encore presentations" of shows on a second night but to squeeze in three performances the same night. Apparantely Princess was seeing low ratings and negative comments on the post-cruise survey from passengers who found themselves attending the same show twice--because they are too stinkin' lazy to read the Patter!

[biker1972]

One other thought, and impossible to find out the answer because it is proprietary information: what was the effect on drink sales. Less time in the dark theater might mean more in drink revenue. I would think this would have been studied before the shorter shows were rolled out fleetwide.

[newport dave]

The shorter shows were on the Caribbean Princess in July, and we hated them. Much prefer the 45 min shows. Just got off the Celebrity Millennium and their shows were around 45-50 mins, and were miles better then anything I've seen Princess put out, even when their shows were 45 mins long.

[Coral]

They rolled it out on the Sapphire in May. I think they have rolled it out ship by ship.

 

Definitely a disappointment but according to our CD - it was a "win-win for all". I disagree.

[1025cruise]

Just one thing to point out. The OP mentions they are just off of the Emerald, which had a pretty bad bout of Noro last cruise. It's possible that members of the orchestra and the main singers were affected by the illness.

[Nukesailor]

Just one thing to point out. The OP mentions they are just off of the Emerald, which had a pretty bad bout of Noro last cruise. It's possible that members of the orchestra and the main singers were affected by the illness.

About 200 people, including 30 crew, were affected by the Noro. Luckily, we weren't.

Possibly a few of the singers and dancers, although they seemed to be all there (I doubt they could perform if they had Noro). The orchestra definitely was not affected - they were usually performing somewhere else during the production shows.

Also we never saw the complete "Disco - Blame it on the Boogie" as they had malfunctions of the lighting computer and shut the show down part way through. It was more like "Disco - Blame it on Bill Gates."

 

Art

[Kerry&LuAnn]

To accommodate all the passengers who would like to see the nightly shows, Princess had two choices: shorten the times and have 3 shows each night, or expand the size of the theater. Scheduling three shorter shows seems the logical option.

[gertz]

Our daily habit on the ship is the shows, all kinds and especially the production shows. We have seen most several times but with different cast members they are like new to us. We were on the Sapphire in May when they changed and were profoundly disappointed. We are show junkies if you will. Makes no difference if it is Las Vegas, Broadway, Disney or whatever.

 

It is also interesting, and not because of the above we only have one cruise booked for 2013 and we are talking about cancelling it in favor of some land vacations only. To say the least we were very disappointed.

[OnVacation11]

About 200 people, including 30 crew, were affected by the Noro. Luckily, we weren't.

Possibly a few of the singers and dancers, although they seemed to be all there (I doubt they could perform if they had Noro). The orchestra definitely was not affected - they were usually performing somewhere else during the production shows.

Also we never saw the complete "Disco - Blame it on the Boogie" as they had malfunctions of the lighting computer and shut the show down part way through. It was more like "Disco - Blame it on Bill Gates."

 

Art

 

You did not miss much... we went to the last showing and the theater was only about 1/4 full. The show started late, stopped after 5 mins due to technical issues and then started again. Just a bunch of disco song strung together for 30 mins. It was OK but nothing to get excited about.

Entertainment was definitely not the best part of this cruise.

[PunkiC]

I like the shorter shows. Maybe I am ADD. :o

[PescadoAmarillo]

Just one thing to point out. The OP mentions they are just off of the Emerald, which had a pretty bad bout of Noro last cruise. It's possible that members of the orchestra and the main singers were affected by the illness.

 

No, that's definitely not the case. The orchestra does accompany I Got the Music, but, sadly, there is no string quartet on the ship to join them.

 

Sadder than the 30 minute shows (and the fact the Princess seems to think we don't have attention spans that allow for longer than that), is the general lack of other entertainment- although 2 or 3 times each cruise thy are having an encore performance of a comedian in the Explorers Lounge. But there are large blocks o time every evening with nothing- and I mean NOTHING, and then there are offerings like Music Videos in Club Fusion. I don't quite understand why they now have three bands for dancing but no string quartet. It's obvious that games shows and reality TV-type entertainment are the future. And dancing. Lots o dancing. It's gotten so we count the number of times that word appears in the Patter every night. That's entertainment!

[Coral]

I don't quite understand why they now have three bands for dancing but no string quartet. It's obvious that games shows and reality TV-type entertainment are the future. And dancing. Lots o dancing. It's gotten so we count the number of times that word appears in the Patter every night. That's entertainment!

 

I used to love the string quartet that played in the atrium on evenings. They were very classy and it was wonderful to sit down there and listen to them or have them in the background while enjoying casual conversation.

 

On my last few cruises, there was a very loud and IMO annoying band that was just playing noise. No one was at Vines or Alfredos because it was too loud. The CD said people want this.