What's the draw with pianos in the suites?

[klepton]

I'm just curious about what the real selling point is with NCL having a baby grand in some of their top suites. Do some people enjoy playing so much that they'd book a suite just because they could play on the ship? Or is it something where you could arrange (for extra cost) to have a piano player come in and play while you were entertaining guests?

[computerworks]

They are equipped with digital 'player piano" hardware. You have a collection of piano music cartridges by famous musicians.

 

Nice background stuff if you host a party.

[punkincc]

I'm just curious about what the real selling point is with NCL having a baby grand in some of their top suites. Do some people enjoy playing so much that they'd book a suite just because they could play on the ship? Or is it something where you could arrange (for extra cost) to have a piano player come in and play while you were entertaining guests?

 

We attended a Roll Call gathering in a Garden Villa and they had arranged for a piano player during the event. Don't know about the fee arrangement. Maybe just a very nice tip to cover a couple hours. I guess it's a very upscale thing. If I had the GV, it would go unused I'm sure. It does take up a lot of space.

[Medtech2]

They are equipped with digital 'player piano" hardware. You have a collection of piano music cartridges by famous musicians.

 

Nice background stuff if you host a party.

Now that would be cool!!

[Goo Brew]

Yeah, inserting the cartridge, sitting down and pretending to play! That would be awesome...at that point I would make sure someone was recording it!! Hahaha!

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

[SuiteCruiser]

One of our cabin-mates last year in the Garden Villa is a singer/songwriter pianist. It made the experience even more unbelievable. It was really great.

[LegallyBlonder]

I think part of the reason is because Garden Villas are designed to accommodate special events (weddings, or even just cocktail parties) so it makes sense to have that available for those occasions. I also think it is just part of the opulent decor. It did go largely unused during our last stay in the GV (and most likely our next in June as well), but I certainly wasn't annoyed by the 5 sq.ft. out of 5,000 that it took up-LOL!

 

 

Sent using the Cruise Critic forums app

[klepton]

Well the digital piano player would be cool... I didn't know they had that.

 

I can see it a little more with the GV, because you can fit massive amounts of people in there and actually have a decent size party. I guess I was more asking because I booked a Deluxe Owner's Suite on Pride of America, which isn't anywhere near the size of a GV, but it has a piano in the room.

 

I tried to use it as a selling point to book the room, telling DW that DD would be able to practice her piano during the cruise. Little did I know that with the digital player, I'll be able to practice my playing as well... and my playing will sound magnificent!!!! :D

[Blondie008]

We had a baby grand in our Royal Suite on our RCL Cruise (never ever again) worst invention ever. It had an auto play - but seriously - every time we played it the phone would ring with some complaint or another.

Anyone who visited us, its just a natural reaction to go hit the piano keys - dringdring - phone call - complaint again...:rolleyes:

The novelty wore off within - urm - first hour - waste of space. Beautiful lobby area - and a baby grand .....

The autoplay was nice - it did play some lovely tunes - but - dont think one of the cabins below us liked it too much (wonder why:eek:)

Pass - we didnt use it after the initial novelty wore off.

Only suite I have seen it look and feel good in is the Penthouse on MClass celebrity ships - perfectly right for those amazing suites.

[chloemonkey]

We had a baby grand in our Royal Suite on our RCL Cruise (never ever again) worst invention ever. It had an auto play - but seriously - every time we played it the phone would ring with some complaint or another.

Anyone who visited us, its just a natural reaction to go hit the piano keys - dringdring - phone call - complaint again...:rolleyes:

The novelty wore off within - urm - first hour - waste of space. Beautiful lobby area - and a baby grand .....

The autoplay was nice - it did play some lovely tunes - but - dont think one of the cabins below us liked it too much (wonder why:eek:)

Pass - we didnt use it after the initial novelty wore off.

Only suite I have seen it look and feel good in is the Penthouse on MClass celebrity ships - perfectly right for those amazing suites.

 

Have had it in the Royal Suites on RCI, the Garden Villas on NCL.....all numerous times......and the novelty "does" wear off rather quickly....BUT cannot imagine how the small amount of space that it does take up could be construed as a waste or "problem"....honestly.....when you are talking about 1200 too 16oo square feet......and it probably IS a very nice addition to special occasions or family get togethers.....

 

But then again......when lucky enough to sail in these great suites......why would one complain/question the addition to a piano? As the wet bars are there also....and probably not every guest chooses to mix cocktails or have a working bar....

 

Just my two cents!

[puddles99]

I honestly don't get the piano thing . . . it is a fun novelty and makes sense for some events, as mentioned earlier. I will say that we never received a single noise complaint about playing the piano, however, so maybe the sound proofing is better on NCL? Who knows!

[dttampa]

The baby grand is called a Disklavier. They came out about the time that the Dawn first sailed. I bet they got a great incentive to put them there so all the rich folks could see them and go home and buy one.

 

I worked at a major performing arts center during that time. We were purchasing a bout a dozen new pianos and they were bending over backwards to try to get us to buy some of those. In the end they ended up giving us one to keep in our largest lobby.

 

The one we had in the GV on the Star didn't really work very well. For the first 10 days, we couldn't get it to work. But then one day, it just started playing randomly. It was very useful to use as a place to serve food, display stuff, and hang around. We had Halloween party, some the second city kids played it a bit.

[AEckhardt]

The baby grand is called a Disklavier. They came out about the time that the Dawn first sailed. I bet they got a great incentive to put them there so all the rich folks could see them and go home and buy one.

 

I worked at a major performing arts center during that time. We were purchasing a bout a dozen new pianos and they were bending over backwards to try to get us to buy some of those. In the end they ended up giving us one to keep in our largest lobby.

 

The one we had in the GV on the Star didn't really work very well. For the first 10 days, we couldn't get it to work. But then one day, it just started playing randomly. It was very useful to use as a place to serve food, display stuff, and hang around. We had Halloween party, some the second city kids played it a bit.

 

 

Sounds like your piano was haunted! Lol!! Randomly not working for days and suddenly starting to play? Right around Halloween? Definitely haunted... 😉