Anyone just disembarked from the Noordam on 12/15?

[Desdemona01]

I was hoping that someone who just disembarked from the Noordam on 12/15 could offer some insight on entertainment on board--specifically the Piano Bar and any entertainers in the main showroom (other than the HAL singers and dancers). Thanks in advance for any information :) Also wondering if there is a guitarist performing in the Crow's Nest in the evenings.

Des

[take us away]

Yes, we just got off the Noordam on the 15th. Entertainment was a bit underwhelming I am afraid to admit. The one comedian was very funny, juggler/comedian was okay, the piano player was good, we had a movie one night (!!!), and BB King one night (but they also performed 3 sets a night in a different venue so why bother), one night was the Marriage Game, then there was the Dancing with the Stars finals .... For once the HAL signers and dancers were decent and often better than the other 'stars'. Never went to the Crow's Nest but the program only had karaoke, disco or canned tracks. There was a steel drum player on the Lido who was decent. The HAL Cats in the Ocean Bar were okay not outstanding. It was strange as the one horn player liked to improvise and would do his own thing - weird.

 

The guy in the Piano Bar was good but between being very loud and the smoke wafting in from the casino right out the door (for some reason we had a lot of smokers) we never went back after a quick drink one night. The Adagio players were wonderful and played all types of music.

 

Wish I had better news... sorry.

Edited December 16, 2014 by take us away

[Desdemona01]

thanks so much for responding! I didn't have high hopes so it's not terribly surprising. We gave up on the HAL singers and dancers many cruises ago and we don't care for magicians and/or jugglers. We've found it is rare to find someone of the caliber of Jimmy Maddox in the Piano Bar, or Joel Mason in the main show lounge.

 

When we were on the Ryndam this past March the pianist with the dance combo in the Ocean Bar, a Scotsman named Andy, was fantastic! We heard that he was going to be performing in HAL piano bars in the future so we'll keep our fingers crossed that we sail with him again someday.

 

Lucky for us we booked another cruise in a few months with the aforementioned Mr. Maddox :D

[MarshDwellers]

We came off on the 15th. We must say the singers and dancers last show DROOM was clearly the best show we have seen in 42 cruises.