Do you like HAL production shows compared to other lines?

[timbom]

Step one is the worst once you have seen it the same show appears on all ships.

 

Love the music walk as it almost makes up for the lack of shows in the show room.  I am one of those who never books the same ship twice because the show room shows never change..

 

Wish they would go back to acts.  There are tons of AGT performers out there that would be great on cruise ships.

 

[oaktreerb]

I think the Step One performances are great with the surrounding graphics on the Koningsdam.  The older ships ships don’t have the graphics.  Do they have the Step One dancers on the older ships?  Before Covid we saw a dance show without the graphics and it was lacking the “wow” factor.

 

 I have yet to see a piano duet twosome where I enjoy both voices.  Usually the female voice seems screechy and the male is mellow and they don’t sound good together.  Music Walk is much too loud for me.  I wonder if it would be as successful if not combined with the drink package!  I must admit, these days people do seem to enjoy dancing on the dance floor! 

 

HAL can do better.  They need to look at what Seabourn offers.  Different types of music in different venues.

 

HAL needs to fully embrace the EXC concept they promote.   Whoever handles entertainment and enrichment needs to go back and look at the Maasdam Alaska 21 day itinerary.   Entertainment should reflect the cruise itinerary and the type of ship.

 

I’m so tired of seeing the same shows over and over even on different ships in the HAL line.  BBC Earth is like watching a documentary with the beauty of nature and the struggle for survival.  I’ll not attend another.

 

 

[rkacruiser]

12 minutes ago, oaktreerb said:

HAL needs to fully embrace the EXC concept they promote

 

is that concept still being promoted?  

[Mary229]

8 minutes ago, rkacruiser said:

 

is that concept still being promoted?  

There was a clip of an interview recently posted here or on YouTube?  Gus states he wants to embrace their niche as a cruise line for travelers differentiating HAL from the holiday or vacation cruise lines

[rkacruiser]

2 hours ago, zhuangcorp said:

don't really understand the "great itinerary" comment. My HAL cruise will stop at 3 cities in Mexico. All other cruise lines such as Norwegian, Royal, Carnival, Princess all stop at the exact same 3 cities in Mexico. How is the itinerary superior in any way?

 

I understand your confusion about the meaning of "great itinerary".  On short cruises, HAL's itineraries are much like those of other cruise lines.  (One exception are the HAL Caribbean cruises that stop at Half Moon Cay which is an island experience that is different from other private island cruise experiences.)  It is in the area of long cruises that HAL's itineraries excel.  

 

3 hours ago, Mary229 said:

Yeah, I am not sure of the world stage myself.   The stage is too vast for many of the presentations done in that room and the multimedia experience does not entertain me.  

 

I am pleasantly surprised that I am not alone in my opinions about the World Stage.  When this "theater in the round" concept was announced prior to the building of the first Pinnacle Class ship, the concept sounded intriguing.  For a cruise ship's Main Theater, it seemed so innovative.  Something must have happened between the approval of the original concept and the programming that has been produced for the World Stage.  Multi-millions have been spent on the World Stage that, I believe, have thus far been wasted.  But, this is not the first time that has happened.  The Main Stage theaters on the Signature Class ships were expensive to design and build.  Their technical abilities have mostly been underused.  

 

2 hours ago, Jersey42 said:

we have enjoyed many of the music walk venues, depending on the performers.

 

As have I.  Comedians?  I don't "get" much of their routines anymore.  Others around me are laughing their heads off, but I am wondering "what's so funny"?  

[jeh10641]

2 hours ago, rkacruiser said:

 

I understand your confusion about the meaning of "great itinerary".  On short cruises, HAL's itineraries are much like those of other cruise lines.  (One exception are the HAL Caribbean cruises that stop at Half Moon Cay which is an island experience that is different from other private island cruise experiences.)  It is in the area of long cruises that HAL's itineraries excel.  

 

 

I am pleasantly surprised that I am not alone in my opinions about the World Stage.  When this "theater in the round" concept was announced prior to the building of the first Pinnacle Class ship, the concept sounded intriguing.  For a cruise ship's Main Theater, it seemed so innovative.  Something must have happened between the approval of the original concept and the programming that has been produced for the World Stage.  Multi-millions have been spent on the World Stage that, I believe, have thus far been wasted.  But, this is not the first time that has happened.  The Main Stage theaters on the Signature Class ships were expensive to design and build.  Their technical abilities have mostly been underused.  

 

 

As have I.  Comedians?  I don't "get" much of their routines anymore.  Others around me are laughing their heads off, but I am wondering "what's so funny"?  

I do not remember all the music/shows that we saw on Westerdam and Oosterdam. I do remember Rotterdam (12/01/21). We watched Cantare an acapella group of guys singing with canned music in the main stage. They were excellent. We do love Lincoln Center Classical (I think we had them on Westerdam and Oosterdam). B.B. King's Blue Band was rocking and the dance floor was packed for the early evening shows. Ditto Rolling Stone Rock (our first experience there). On our previous trips, Billboard was really fun. We did not go there this time, no time to go. The two comedians were funny.

 

As for itineraries - I will not cruise if the cruise is less than 10 or 11 nights, preferably two weeks or longer is ideal (we are retired). We did a RCCI transatlantic in 2008. I loved the Navigator of the Seas. It was preupdating. We are doing an Anthem of the Seas next year, not because of all the gimmicks but because of the price and the itinerary (from Southampton to several ports we have not been to).

 

Our 11-night Caribbean trip on Rotterdam took us to several islands we had not been to before. And to one island we had visited, on our honeymoon in 1967 (St. Thomas). To me, private "islands" are considered sea days. We are not beach sitters. We like to see history, culture, and the people. HAL ships cater to our needs. It is not for everybody.

 

Jim

[iancal]

We find it inconsistent across all the mass market lines.  Sometimes good, sometimes not so good.   

 

We do not short list and/or select based on production shows.  We take an aisle seat.  If we are not happy after 15 minutes we exit the theatre.  More often than not we exit.  We can always go to a high school or college production at home if we are desperate.

[rkacruiser]

37 minutes ago, jeh10641 said:

We watched Cantare an acapella group of guys singing with canned music in the main stage.

 

This group who first performed on the Nieuw Amsterdam during her Dedication Ceremony and on the cruises that followed were the best entertainment that I have ever experienced on any cruise on which I have sailed.  Probably not the same group of gentlemen, but, the reports that I have read when this group has been on recent HAL cruises have all been most favorable.

 

 

7 minutes ago, iancal said:

We do not short list and/or select based on production shows.  We take an aisle seat.  If we are not happy after 15 minutes we exit the theatre. 

 

Neither do I choose my cruise on the basis of entertainment and I do choose such a seat.  In fact, on some of the ships there is a bar-type seating on the starboard side of the entrance to the Main Theater.  I will take a seat there.  And, more often than not, will soon join the exodus of others from elsewhere in the Theater.  

 

7 minutes ago, iancal said:

We can always go to a high school or college production at home

 

I am fortunate that I live in a community that has a University whose Theater Department has a national recognition.  Think Tom Hanks.  He was a student there and is an important supporter of their theater program.  

[Navybikermom]

I have been on 9 HAL cruises, and the best entertainment was on the Prinsendam, but alas - she is no longer a HAL ship. I have been on one HAL cruise since Covid and did not enjoy any of the main shows. They were much better before. 

[KroozNut]

Love 'em!

[zgscl]

I think the biggest problem I have with the Step One Dance Company concept is that there are 4 shows for the entire fleet. Once you have seen them all then that is it. The only variation is the theater layout. For a first time or infrequent cruiser it is not a problem, but for frequent cruisers it just gets extremely repetitive and the same is true of the nature documentaries. 

 

As I recall there used to be different shows depending on the class of ship or maybe they were cycled out more frequently. Of course I am sure COVID did not help this either. 

 

[MISTER 67]

At one time all the entertainment in the main showroom was excellent, I remember seeing HAL's rendition of "Copacabana" back in the late 90s on the Ryndam, super show.

What we get now in the Showroom is a joke, thank heavens for Music Walk.

Edited April 12, 2022 by MISTER 67

[Mosaic]

Step One Dance Company, for the most part, needs to go. In my opinion.

[Rcriley34]

Step One reminds me of a Junior High Dance recital.  If your kid or grandkid is dancing it maybe entertaining, but all the rest is just not that exciting.    Even one guy with a guitar doing a sing-a-long would be a giant step up.   

[PROCRUISE]

Was just on the Eurodam this past March 9th for 10 nights. The "production" shows were 6 dancers and recorded music and singing. The shows were a little better than I expected. However, for two of the evening "shows" it was just a National Geographic movie! 

 

Just got off the Celebrity Reflection this past Saturday, April 9th after a 7 night cruise. The production shows (3) were with a LIVE band and 4 singers and 6 dancers as well as aerialist, The shows were phenomenal.

 

HAL has a long way to go to be able to match evening production shows like those on X, RCCL, NCL.

[kochleffel]

On 4/10/2022 at 3:54 PM, rkacruiser said:

One exception are the HAL Caribbean cruises that stop at Half Moon Cay

Alas, my only HAL Caribbean cruise didn't get there, because of the weather. It was a great cruise nonetheless, even though it seemed that almost everything that could go wrong did. Well, the ship didn't run aground and wasn't attacked by pirates. We did have an itinerary change because of a propulsion problem and a course deviation for a medical evacuation, in addition to the missed stop.

[rkacruiser]

7 hours ago, PROCRUISE said:

Just got off the Celebrity Reflection this past Saturday, April 9th after a 7 night cruise. The production shows (3) were with a LIVE band and 4 singers and 6 dancers as well as aerialist, The shows were phenomenal.

 

HAL has a long way to go to be able to match evening production shows like those on X, RCCL, NCL.

 

The main theater shows that I experienced on Celebrity Eclipse were mostly enjoyable.  I did not care for the shows that were Cirque type with the aerialist.  But, a Cirque type show I saw on MSC Meraviglia was different than Celebrity's interpretation of such a show and I loved it.  Want really good Main Theater shows?  Check out the production shows on MSC!  When was the last time that you could enjoy an abbreviated version of an opera on a ship?  I did on Meraviglia with a male and female performer whose voices were opera quality.  

[kochleffel]

Addressing the original question: I haven't especially liked the main shows on any ship or line that I've experienced so far. In my (limited) experience, NCL stages the most elaborate productions, and they are shortened versions of actual Broadway (or similar) shows, so generally worthwhile. Those I've seen on RC have been nearly unstaged, with little or no plot, but RC uses a live orchestra, while NCL uses recorded backing music and plays it too loud. On the Serenade on 2019, RC formed a jazz band out of the stage orchestra and it was outstanding when it played in the centrum.

 

I don't think I've ever gone to a main-stage show on HAL - just didn't seem interesting to me. What is bringing me back to HAL for a TATL is the Lincoln Center Stage. Oh, and the other passengers.

[Aquahound]

On 4/9/2022 at 11:54 AM, zhuangcorp said:

 

Do you like the HAL production shows compared to other lines??

 

How do I say this nicely?  Let's just go with no.  

 

 

[SueMo]

In the past six months, we’ve been on HAL Nieuw Amsterdam for its New Years Eve cruise, the Celebrity Edge,  and Celebrity Apex.  I have to say that when it comes to main stage entertainment, Celebrity wins hands down.  Both the Edge and Apex had excellent orchestras to back up any guest entertainers, and quality singers and dancers for their production shows.  (The Apex had a show called “Rockumentary” which we really loved, and we’re not typical production show people.)  The Nieuw Amsterdam, on the other hand, had no orchestra to back up guest entertainers which made shows seem almost karaoke in comparison.

 

HAL usually gets the edge in lounge entertainment with BB Kings and Lincoln Center (we haven’t sailed on a ship with Rolling Stone lounge yet), but on our particular cruise the BB King’s drummer was quarantined for the first five nights of our cruise so there was essentially no live entertainment for dancing, which was a real bummer since it was a New Years cruise.

[kickboxrca]

If I was choosing a cruise line for the entertainment, I definitely wouldn't choose HAL.  That said, we have very much enjoyed the Rolling Stone Rock Room and BBKings ... when they used to have the Broadway style entertainment, we went, but it wasn't really our thing - we do love the live music in the smaller venues, and tend to hit both of them after dinner each evening.

 

Since HAL has been offering Explorations Central, although not evening entertainment, the non-shore-excursion peddling information sessions have been  some of our favourite activities - especially on our trips to Alaska and the Panama Canal - love the movies that they show that align with the trip, too.  Even the offerings in the computer lab have improved (that said, I haven't been on a cruise since our March 2020 cruise was cancelled - we have our post-covid cruise planned for Alaska this summer).

[drsel]

All reading all these very interesting and informative comments about how HAL is so much inferior to Celebrity, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean (regarding production shows, entertainment and activities), I wonder how they manage to fill their cabins.

Last minute price drops???

Edited April 15, 2022 by drsel

[Aquahound]

19 minutes ago, drsel said:

All reading all these very interesting and informative comments about how HAL is so much inferior to Celebrity, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean (regarding production shows, entertainment and activities), I wonder how they manage to fill their cabins.

Last minute price drops???

 

By people who don't rank entertainment high on their list of cruise preferences.  Nothing wrong with that.  🙂

[drsel]

Gary Bembridge, an experienced expert HAL cruiser, has made an excellent YouTube video addressing all the concerns and criticisms of HAL.

 

Edited April 15, 2022 by drsel

[Sea42]

10 hours ago, drsel said:

All reading all these very interesting and informative comments about how HAL is so much inferior to Celebrity, Norwegian and Royal Caribbean (regarding production shows, entertainment and activities), I wonder how they manage to fill their cabins.

Last minute price drops???

For us, the itinerary is the top priority, followed by times in port and price. The entertainment offered on the ship isn't a consideration.