How Are The Ships Pool Bands?

[roe2ship]

I really enjoy listening to a great band by the pool. I have only cruised on Princess, and the first time the band was excellent, the second time a different band hardly attracted any of the passengers. The music was not that good and barely any dancing by the band themselves. What can you tell me about the pool bands on RCI ships? Any specific group that comes to mind as unforgetful?

[mamax4]

The only type of band I've ever heard out by the pool is a steel drum band. No variation. I'm not much for that particular type of music. If you ask me, it all starts to sound the same after a few drinks!

[roe2ship]

The only type of band I've ever heard out by the pool is a steel drum band. No variation. I'm not much for that particular type of music. If you ask me, it all starts to sound the same after a few drinks!

LOL, thanks. I do think though that after a few drinks, the music sounds better and better!:D

[cabana]

How ya doin? And how the hell is Bo? And the kids? Hope you guys all had a great time on the CB. We just booked the Crown for April 28 of 2007. Looks like an nice trip. Take care

Bill and Kim:)

[roe2ship]

We are all doing wonderful, thank you. Hope all is well with you and Kim. Lucky you..........new ship again and the southern caribbean. Southern Caribbean or Hawaii is next on my list in summer of 2007 if my extended family backs out of all of us cruising together AND plans are (if all works out okay) it will be just me and Bo to celebrate our 20th wedding anniversary!:D :) ;)

 

Sure hope you have a great cruise with nice weather. Take care!

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

RCI pool bands vary in quality and versatility. One problem is that they often sound good when the cruise ship leaves port, but then they play pretty much that same repertory the entire cruise, so by the end of the cruise, you know every song and every arrangement. I am a musician, so I pay attention to such things.

 

My own impression is that better bands play on the longer cruises and bigger ships. That may be just coincidence.

 

I will say that often the pool bands are better than one or more of the lounge bands. One cruise we took had a lounge band that was little better than a garage band. I don't know if the bass player had ever played professionally before, but then some lounge bands are pretty darned good and the theater orchestras have all been impressive.

 

This is just a guess, but I bet with cruise ships getting bigger and bigger, the competition to hire and retain talent is getting stiffer and stiffer. Some bands on cruise ships today probably would never have been hired fifteen years ago.

[lindalu62]

Same songs over and over, and not that talented. They look and sound bored. This was on Rhapsody a couple years ago. Bring your ipod for some decent tunes around the pool!!

[spoonful]

We had the a variety. We had the requisite steel drums. Then an alternative and rock music band who also did a country set. Think of a band whose quality is somewhere between wedding and the prom.

[love2vacation]

Loud. :cool:

 

If you want to read in the sun, by the band isn't the place for it. They are fun to listen to for a while.

[terri23]

lindalu - I think we heard the same band! They had about six songs in their rotation. How many times can you hear the steel drum version of "I shot the sheriff" before you go insane? :eek: Guess that's what the mango tangos are for ;)

[okiediver]

We were on Rhapsody a couple weeks ago, and really enjoyed the steel drum band by the pool. I wish I would have bought the CD--if anyone knows how to get one I would appreciate it!

[logan1_2000]

Maybe its tacky or cliche, I don't know, but I just love the sound of a steel drum band, esp. poolside. It just sounds like a vacation. Paradise. I lookforward to it, average quality or not.

 

Disney Cruise Line has a CD that it sends to recent cruisers (as an inducement to book another cruise) that has about 7 or 8 steel drum arrangements. It also has the ship's horn (to the tune of "when you wish upon a star") and finishes with 2 minutes of the sounds of the shore, just the wave and surf hitting the sand, seagulls in the background, but the steel drums are the focus.

[ducklite]

Too loud IMHO. As far as stage presence, OK bordering on obnoxious. As far as musical talent, competent. Nothing to write home about.

 

Anne

[Nliedel]

The Mariner Pool Band was great, very fun and a good crowd there. Loved them. Not enough to buy the CD but enough to have a good time. Of course the more drinks of the day...

[love2vacation]

The Mariner Pool Band was great, very fun and a good crowd there. Loved them. Not enough to buy the CD but enough to have a good time. Of course the more drinks of the day...

 

Post the thread to your Mariner review!

I want to read your thoughts!

[stillfrantic]

The band was fine but was only playing by the pool in very limited hours. I don't think te band started until after lunch. The morning featured kind of bizarre piped in music....like old 70's 'WildFire" and Sonny & Cher kind on music instead of tropical sounding tunes. That kind of diappointed all of us.

[Nliedel]

Post the thread to your Mariner review!

I want to read your thoughts!

 

I am not going to put my review up on the general boards, it's looooooooooong. I posted it to the reviews and am hoping it gets up in a week or so. For those of you that cannot wait it is on my website, blog.liedel.org

 

Did I mention it was long? Yep, 13 pages. Although I did not mention the band at all. Can't talk about eveytyhing lol.

[constantcruiser]

On a recent 10-day cruise aboard the Jewel, the pool band missed the ship in Boston, San Juan & St. Maarten. They finally caught up with us in Bermuda, but by then passengers had taken the situation into their own hands...with metal wastebaskets from their cabins substituting for steel drums. It was hilarious. Everyday more & more passengers joined the group with makeshift instruments...and a tip jar!

[redcat72]

The band on the Grandeur was decent. Nice tropical music. I'm not really a pool person, so I didn't hear too many repetitive songs. Although, they were loud as heck!!

[Linda/Ohio]

There was a decent pool band a couple years ago on the Majesty..they sang a song with lyrics like "Here kitty-kitty"--one of those ditties that you can't get outta your head.

[EBFURR]

I have posted pool band posts before, as we are more or less fans of the pool area and the band is part of the atmoshere. In our opinion (for whatever that's worth) the bands are not as good as they used to be. The best we have heard was 10 or so years ago. We like the Caribbean sound while on a cruise - Bob Marley, etc. We find that today's bands often either play to fast, too loud, or both. They tend to mix in a lot of non-caribbean type music (not so recent top 40 stuff) that does not fit the mood. We agree that they look bored a lot.

 

The last time out on Mariner, the band would play a really good sounding song, then play something awful like "Who let the dogs out" at about triple speed.

 

We don't particulary mind the repitition if the music is good to begin with. The pool band is not a "deal breaker", but a good one can make the cruise more enjoyable.