San Francisco to New York-Pirouette's observations

[Cool Fool]

Getting on the Mariner next week and I'm going to be so happy to be on the ship I don't care what they play. I always assume it will be wedding/ bar mitzvah / quincenera / anniversary music and anything more is a bonus.

[Travelcat2]

Getting on the Mariner next week and I'm going to be so happy to be on the ship I don't care what they play. I always assume it will be wedding/ bar mitzvah / quincenera / anniversary music and anything more is a bonus.

 

With your attitude, you'll have a great time:D(y)

[BBWC]

Pirouette - have followed your comments with interest and could not agree with you more about the lack of contemporary music. We have been on Navigator since mid-August and I have commented on it several times (and we are 60s/70). At least the speed has picked up a bit since my comments, so we have the occasional rock and roll night, but I will continue to make suggestions.

[flossie009]

With the greatest of respect to TC, a business that operates only on its present clientele without an eye to the future is doomed to fail. I suspect that within the next 5 years, a large portion of the passengers on this cruise will no longer be sailing. Regent needs to build for the future and those of us who have reached a certain stage in our professional lives and who appreciate excellent cuisine and service can certainly afford Regent. I would think that we are a very desirable demographic and our suggestions and input should be embraced while at the same time Regent should continue to offer the things that appeal to their longtime and loyal passengers.

 

Pirouette,

You are not alone in your thinking about the line needing to become more contemporary. We are in that younger category as well and felt similarly about the selection of music played (among other things). Certainly sedate lounge music is lovely while conversing over pre-dinner cocktails and perhaps over coffee. But later at night, it is much more fun to let loose and dance up a storm!

Lynn

++1 :D .................. Thank you for these excellent posts; fully agree that Regent needs to think very carefully about how its music offerings, and other entertainment, will be tweaked to suit the next generation of cruisers.

[iguy]

getting on the mariner next week and i'm going to be so happy to be on the ship i don't care what they play. I always assume it will be wedding/ bar mitzvah / quincenera / anniversary music and anything more is a bonus.

 

+1!

[SuzCruise]

Pirouette, I also wanted to add my thanks for letting us accompany you on your vacation. It was a very enjoyable and thought provoking read. My favorite line was if you want to feel young and beautiful, cruise Regent. Hilarious! I agree with your critique of the music played onboard, as I said in an earlier post that was censored. On our last RSSC cruise it was shockingly bad. We joked that it was the lost recordings of Benny Goodman. Sadly, it seems some of the older folks on these boards would think that is a good thing. I also agree that the cruise lines need to rethink who their target audience should be, and quickly. As I said before, luxury cruises aren't popular with any one else we know our age (40s) and cruise lines need to figure out why and fix it. The often repeated excuse that young people don't have money or vacation time is patently false (and shockingly ignorant). Popular professions have high salaries and liberal vacation policies. We all take long, luxurious vacations at least a couple of times a year. The luxury cruise lines need to find a way to target this demographic now. And lastly, I want to commend you for your polite, considerate posts even when it seemed like you were being "shouted down" in a way. Without honest posts like yours, these forums would be useless.

 

 

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[Silver Sweethearts]

..... and people were singing at the top of their lungs.

 

- With all due respect, that sounds like something you would find on a mass market line and not what we are looking for on a luxury line.

 

I agree with your critique of the music played onboard, as I said in an earlier post that was censored. On our last RSSC cruise it was shockingly bad.

 

- And how did you find it "shockingly bad"?.

 

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[fizzy]

- With all due respect, that sounds like something you would find on a mass market line and not what we are looking for on a luxury line

 

-

With all do respect, I find the trivia teams to be a lot of boistrous and raucous noise and it looks like the players are having a howlingly good time. It's not our cup of tea but it seems like the players are having an awful lot of fun. Perhaps that activity is something you might see on one of those mass market lines. Perhaps there is more to your statement than meets the eye.

[Host Dan]

Thank you Pirouette for your thoughts and observations from your cruise! :)

[Pamela1]

Thank you Pirouette for your thoughts and observations from your cruise! :)

 

 

I agree Host Dan....and thank you too for being a wonderful host. :D

[Pamela1]

++1 :D .................. Thank you for these excellent posts; fully agree that Regent needs to think very carefully about how its music offerings, and other entertainment, will be tweaked to suit the next generation of cruisers.

 

I wonder if it would be within the rules to give a +++ to this?...we shall wait and see.

[irishwitchy]

Thank you Pirouette. I really enjoyed your comments and overall the sprited discussion over the music. Travelcat, I'm 58, love to dance and I'm retired and have the time and money to do a cruise for weeks. (Currently in Hawaii for 24 nights. ) I don't think I'm alone in this demographic. All cruise lines offer different prices and experiences, I like Regent because I write one big check and I'm done. However after dinner my husband and I love to dance and that dance can include anything from a fox trot to a cha-cha or hustle.

 

I read these comments and I think most people are fine with "quiet" music during dinner and mingling before dinner, but after dinner - some "uptown funk" is needed for those of us not quite ready for bed. Going on NCL isn't for me.

[Travelcat2]

Thank you Pirouette. I really enjoyed your comments and overall the sprited discussion over the music. Travelcat, I'm 58, love to dance and I'm retired and have the time and money to do a cruise for weeks. (Currently in Hawaii for 24 nights. ) I don't think I'm alone in this demographic. All cruise lines offer different prices and experiences, I like Regent because I write one big check and I'm done. However after dinner my husband and I love to dance and that dance can include anything from a fox trot to a cha-cha or hustle.

 

I read these comments and I think most people are fine with "quiet" music during dinner and mingling before dinner, but after dinner - some "uptown funk" is needed for those of us not quite ready for bed. Going on NCL isn't for me.

 

I was younger than you when I retired but can't take long cruises due to our decision that animals are more important to us than long vacations (difficult decision but the kitties won out). Would love to know what "uptown funk" is as I have absolutely no idea.

 

In terms of music, I truly don't care what they play - just as long as I don't hear it in my suite. My main issue with music nowadays is the volume it is played rather than the type of music (other than rap and hip hop). Having never listened to extremely loud music, my hearing is not damaged and is quite acute. As my DH says when I hear his conversations on the phone from across the house, I have "stealth hearing".:halo:

 

Enjoy Hawaii!

[UUNetBill]

Would love to know what "uptown funk" is as I have absolutely no idea.

Mark Ronson featuring Bruno Mars. Eminently danceable.

 

https://g.co/kgs/wDLhri

[Roninpsnow]

Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars now that is great uptown funk! Good choice UUNetBill!

 

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[Travelcat2]

https://www.bmi.com/about. This is one of the companies that deals with royalties from cruise ships and other places where music is played. I clicked on one of the links and saw how often cruise lines have to pay for their "licenses" to play music. Not sure what the licenses cover.

 

Bill, listened to about 10 seconds of Bruno Mars -- I could not dance to what I heard but obviously others can. Again, no big deal except that I had to turn the sound down on my computer because, for some reason, it came across very loud - even though my sound level was at a low level (kind of like when you are watching televisions and the commercials are much louder than the programs).

 

Anyway, this would be an interesting topic for someone to research so that we can learn why Regent doesn't want to play some music.

[iguy]

I have been watching this thread with great interest. Although I love many different types of music, I am not a dancer. I really couldn't care less what music is played onboard or even what shows are put on, although I appreciate that to many passengers these things are important.

 

I find it incredulous that Regent would not play certain music because of rights fees. I would assume that the musicians play what they have been told is the music that appeals to the majority of Regent's clients. And from what I have seen on our four Regent cruises, this is largely the case.

 

That said, there is no doubt that Regent's demographic is getting older, and if the cruise line is to continue to attract new passengers, it will have to adapt to their musical tastes. Until it does, some folks may be disappointed, and I expect what the OP has been feeling is a reflection of that.

 

Or perhaps Regent is simply not the cruise line for people who like to dance to modern music.

[Travelcat2]

 

I find it incredulous that Regent would not play certain music because of rights fees. I would assume that the musicians play what they have been told is the music that appeals to the majority of Regent's clients. And from what I have seen on our four Regent cruises, this is largely the case.

 

.

 

This is an interesting point and plays into a big part of this thread. Regent has certain channels on their televisions and not others (even though many Regent guests request it). A good example is ESPN - probably the most asked for channel. After thousands of requests, Regent does pay a lot of money (I've heard that it is a couple of hundred thousand dollars) for the right to play the Super Bowl. Other than that, you will not find championship sporting events on Regent (this has been brought up many times in the past).

 

So, while I have no idea what Regent's music licensing agreement covers, there is a possibility that this is related to the issue of playing older music (which isn't an issue for many of us). And, the cost could be dramatically more than one would expect.

[fizzy]

If anyone is interested, you can go to the ASCAP site to read about the licensing rules for cruise ships.. For instance... a ship withXXX to 300 cabins paid $22,000 and change for the year 2016. The amounts vary by number of cabins.

[Travelcat2]

The thing that we need to know is what the license covers. Is old music (30's, 40's, 50's, etc.) exempt or do cruise lines pay for them? Is there a cut-of date for paying royalties, etc.

 

There are many, many websites that address royalties. Here are a few

 

http://internationalmusician.org/5-things-you-didnt-know-about-performance-licensing/

 

 

http://blog.sonicbids.com/music-royalties-101-what-they-are-and-how-to-collect

 

https://www.royaltyexchange.com/length-of-ownership-music

Edited October 2, 2017 by Travelcat2

[Pirouette]

I tried to post earlier but that post for some reason did not go through.

 

For clarity, the issue of royalties was never raised in my discussions with Regent while on board last week. The only concern was sheet music and rehearsal time for any new music. This too is a non sequitur given the fact that the band demonstrated a much broader repertoire at the Atrium party, selections which they chose not to play on subsequent evenings. This is not about royalties, but about specific choices that Regent makes as to the musical offerings on their cruises. Those choices may suit some, but obviously not all.

 

Flexibility is essential to accommodate Regent's longstanding clientele as well as those who are newer to the brand. They are Regent's future. Music and entertainment are but one part of the overall cruise experience. This aspect is more important to some than to others as evidenced by the varying posts on this thread.

 

I will now be disengaging from this thread. I thank all who have participated in this discussion. There is an obvious divergence of views and I am pleased that Cruise Critic has provided a forum for respectful dialogue.

 

I will do a final cruise review and summary on a different thread so that those who are interested do not have to go through 8 pages of posts for my final observations,

 

Again, thanks to all who have participated in this discussion. I would have no hesitation in cruising Regent again, but that does not rule out constructive feedback and room for improvement to make future cruises better and more inclusive of both older and younger demographics.