Shame on RC shows!

[prmet]

Down from Freedom last week and the shows were terrible. I remember when all nights were incredible shows and man they are poor now. Last few time we cruise were on Carnival and the shows were lame and we said "remember those RC shows? We need to get back to those" well we did and were worse. Of all seven nights I liked one, the last night, (Once upon a time), wife tought even that was meh. I mean the comics were good but, The main show two nights a standing comic? At least Carnival have a lounge for them and the main theater for productions.

[davekathy]

So how was the cruise? 

[Clarea]

I like the comedian shows. 

[prmet]

The cruise was great

[tlund]

I agree.  The caliber of shows was quite disappointing.  I was very concerned about the comedian show since there weren't a lot of people at the show.  Can make for an uncomfortable situation.  

 

[Grandma Dazzles]

How was the ice show?  Always enjoy - was that once upon a time that you mentioned?  Other shows are like food - very subjective.  I remember a comedian where the whole place was laughing hysterically;  I didn’t think he was funny!  What didn’t you like?  If you want major Broadway shows you need to sail Oasis class. 

[cruisegirl1]

Many times the headline is a juggler or a lame magician/comedian who puts on  a kids party kind of act.  In my opinion, a juggler or magician ( ok - except for Drew  Thomas) are not headliner material.  I hate to speak of the Good Old Days of cruising, but when we started cruising in the  late 70's, there were named acts as headliners.

 

M

[bouhunter]

Some cruises have good shows, some don't.  They aren't a high priority for us but we usually check them out.  "Bad" shows don't bother us, they are what they are.

[reallyitsmema]

12 minutes ago, Grandma Dazzles said:

How was the ice show?  Always enjoy - was that once upon a time that you mentioned?  Other shows are like food - very subjective.  I remember a comedian where the whole place was laughing hysterically;  I didn’t think he was funny!  What didn’t you like?  If you want major Broadway shows you need to sail Oasis class. 

 

Once Upon a Time is a production show in the theater, we enjoyed it very much when we sailed Freedom.  It is based on a bunch of fairy tales, thus the once upon a time...

[Ashland]

We did a B2B on Freedom the Southern Caribbean in September and didn't go to one show....We went for the itinerary not the shows. We were content after long amazing days in ports/tours to watch Amazon Prime or Netflix in our cabin at night. Long time cruiser with RCI and we're over shows and formal nights (been there, done those and that)..prefer to relax now.

[ONECRUISER]

Cruising 20-30 yrs ago you would have well know acts, off top of my head I remember Four Tops, Temptations, Spinners...2 of the Monkees. Last 10-15yrs been pretty standard with 2 nites of the Main Ship performer shows, nite each of Welcome and the Farewell, then nite of Love & Marriage. Otherwise it's performers that go ship to ship, line to line, with some good, some not so much. Over the yrs have seen some of those 2, 3 and much as 8 times..

Edited December 5, 2018 by ONECRUISER

[mugtech]

At least the shows on NCL and RCL still have live orchestras.  I was most disappointed on Princess and Carnival to hear someone singing to prerecorded music.  I get more than enough karaoke in the Philippines.

[davekathy]

3 hours ago, prmet said:

The cruise was great

Looking forward to our upcoming March 2019 B2B cruise on the Freedom. 

Edited December 6, 2018 by davekathy

[cb at sea]

I've never been a fan of "production" shows...but I've always thought their "guest" entertainers were, well....entertaining!  I'd prefer some rockin' bands personally!

[nhraformula00]

Oasis class ships have great shows.

[Wilson]

4 hours ago, Grandma Dazzles said:

How was the ice show? 

 

Was on Freedom a couple months ago and the ice show was wonderful. We went twice and enjoyed it both times.

[Dodgers671]

Try MSC Seaside better prices and BETTER shows in my opinion 

[prmet]

1 hour ago, cb at sea said:

I've never been a fan of "production" shows...but I've always thought their "guest" entertainers were, well....entertaining!  I'd prefer some rockin' bands personally!

Me too. And here the music was not very rockin. There was a funky groovy band with a very short repertoire, the always present piano man, the caribbean and reggae group, and the guy with the guitar that can do rock but the public always asked for country songs and he obeys.

[frank808]

29 minutes ago, Dodgers671 said:

Try MSC Seaside better prices and BETTER shows in my opinion 

I will agree that the prices are definitely better.  Do not agree that the shows are better.  Different strokes for different folks.

[Mikew0805]

5 hours ago, mugtech said:

At least the shows on NCL and RCL still have live orchestras.  I was most disappointed on Princess and Carnival to hear someone singing to prerecorded music.  I get more than enough karaoke in the Philippines.

While I know that most of “playlist productions” are recorded... last night “Amor Cubano,” on the Horizon was not. The in house Latin band provided the music. It was VERY good. 

 

That said... I like production shows anyway. 

Edited December 6, 2018 by Mikew0805

[Mixyestspitlik]

On 12/5/2018 at 3:07 PM, prmet said:

Down from Freedom last week and the shows were terrible. I remember when all nights were incredible shows and man they are poor now. Last few time we cruise were on Carnival and the shows were lame and we said "remember those RC shows? We need to get back to those" well we did and were worse. Of all seven nights I liked one, the last night, (Once upon a time), wife tought even that was meh. I mean the comics were good but, The main show two nights a standing comic? At least Carnival have a lounge for them and the main theater for productions.

 

As for Comedians, CCL is better. Same with live bands. CCL is better. I have seen CATS and Grease. They were good. Same with aquatic show. RCCL comedians are not good enough

[Biker19]

2 minutes ago, Mixyestspitlik said:

 RCCL comedians are not good enough

Quite subjective, like the food.

[Tapi]

On 12/5/2018 at 9:22 PM, Dodgers671 said:

Try MSC Seaside better prices and BETTER shows in my opinion 

Don’t know about the Seaside specifically but we just got off the MSC Meraviglia (which is their largest ship in the fleet and only a year old), and the main theater shows were pretty bad. No band, the singers and dancers performed in front of LED screens, and there was no original content. Every show was a “tribute” to something, like musicals, rock bands, etc. If you wanted to see something truly professional you had to pay extra to attend one of the resident Cirque du Soleil at Sea shows, which were amazing. 

 

But to give credit where credit is due, there was a show at the main theater ever night. No filling the gaps with love and marriage games or other stupid passenger participation crap. But we did get the feeling that MSC has cheapened the main stage entertainment in order to steer passengers to pay for the better entertainment. I shouldn’t point fingers directly at MSC but at the entire cruise industry for this practice. 

 

[brillohead]

On 12/5/2018 at 5:00 PM, ONECRUISER said:

Cruising 20-30 yrs ago you would have well know acts, off top of my head I remember Four Tops, Temptations, Spinners...2 of the Monkees. Last 10-15yrs been pretty standard with 2 nites of the Main Ship performer shows, nite each of Welcome and the Farewell, then nite of Love & Marriage. Otherwise it's performers that go ship to ship, line to line, with some good, some not so much. Over the yrs have seen some of those 2, 3 and much as 8 times..

Cruising in the 80s and 90s also cost 5-10 times as much, if not more, per person.....

 

If I want to see a mainstream popular performer, I can go to a concert here at home. 

I would rather pay less to cruise more often, personally.  

If you want to see a particular act while on a cruise, you can always go on a charter for that particular genre.  

[ONECRUISER]

Yeah, funny should say that as was just looking at my scrap book of old Concert tickets. First time I saw Bob Seger almost 40yrs ago our tickets were $8 each. Saw him again in 1996 Ticket's were $45 each. This yr $225ea. All in same seating area... But do agree about Cruise cost's. Was lucky to cruise once every 3yrs in late 80's, once every 18months in late 90's, 1-2 times a yr in 2000's. Now doing 80+ nites a yr 3 out of 4 yrs... Love to Cruise, often. I was even one of the first Cruise Critic members 20yrs ago...