Sing-along piano bars

[chaffin514]

I really enjoy the atmosphere and normally sail Carnival which has the piano bar. Last year I sailed the Caribbean Princess which didn't have one. Getting ready to book my next cruise and was curious if RCL or NCL had this type of setting.

 

Thanks,

Sue

[lv2crooz2]

Did you miss Bert Stratton? He has quite the following with folks booking around his vacation schedule. The Mariner had a great piano player but I've not sailed NCL...Yet;)

[JudithEM]

This was a big factor in deciding my next cruise too. I'm told that RCL has a piano bar (Voyager) and that helped us make our decision (just made today - yay - I book tomorrow).

 

Best piano bar player I've heard so far -- Ron Pass, who was on the Carnival Valor in Feb. 05 (www.ronpass.com) --SOCIAL!! He was then on the Liberty last summer. Unfortunately, we missed him on the Liberty last month. Instead we had Duane, who was a bore. We tried to get him going but he accused me of liking all the fast songs! If I take another Carnival cruise, I will definitely make sure the ship has a good piano player. We also liked Joe (Conquest - 2/04) and Cameron (Victory 4/03). Some crew members on our last trip told us that we should also look for Ed, who is even better than Ron.

 

I'll be checking this thread as this is important to my husband and me also.

[kyriecat]

RC usually has a nightly sing along in the Schooner Bars. On Rhapsody (10/04) they had a guitar player instead of piano, but he was lots of fun. He played lots of country and rock from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, but some Jimmy also. There was a piano player on Brilliance last year who was also good, but he played to the older crowd. We were on a 12-nt Med sailing so most of the passengers were 40s and up. More Dean Martin type. We had some fun when he got a group of men up to do the hokey pokey.

[momofmeg]

I really enjoy the atmosphere and normally sail Carnival which has the piano bar. Last year I sailed the Caribbean Princess which didn't have one. Getting ready to book my next cruise and was curious if RCL or NCL had this type of setting.

 

Thanks,

Sue

 

Really? we are considering the CB for a fall cruise and we were told there was both a great piano and karoke bar. Do you think you just did not find it? If I can't find something I always ask the purser or guest relations.

[momofmeg]

RC usually has a nightly sing along in the Schooner Bars. On Rhapsody (10/04) they had a guitar player instead of piano, but he was lots of fun. He played lots of country and rock from the 60s, 70s, and 80s, but some Jimmy also. There was a piano player on Brilliance last year who was also good, but he played to the older crowd. We were on a 12-nt Med sailing so most of the passengers were 40s and up. More Dean Martin type. We had some fun when he got a group of men up to do the hokey pokey.

 

Kyriecat-I am in my early 50's and am definetly younger then the Dean Martin crowd-he was popular in the 50's and 60's but I was a child then and not interested then or NOW. Now I love the old Beatle's stuff. that is what my age group love.

 

The Dean Martin crowd would be my parent's (both are dead) age. People well into their 70's and 80's. Not people in their 40's and 50's.

[momofmeg]

I really enjoy the atmosphere and normally sail Carnival which has the piano bar. Last year I sailed the Caribbean Princess which didn't have one. Getting ready to book my next cruise and was curious if RCL or NCL had this type of setting.

 

Thanks,

Sue

 

Mariner of the Seas had a great piano bar-it was not far from the casino if I remember correctly-like betwen the casino and the show lounge. Their food though was just so-so and a big disapointment for me as MOS is much more expensive then Princess or Carnival.

[jerick]

Some crew members on our last trip told us that we should also look for Ed, who is even better than Ron.

 

That was probably Ed Rrocks. He was on the Valor last August, and yes, he was very entertaining. He mentioned that he would have a land-job somewhere on the East Coast (New York, possibly) over the Winter.

 

Jeff

[JudithEM]

Jeff -

 

If you hear where Ed is in New York, I'd love to know. I'm only about an hour from the city and it would be great NOT to have to wait till my next cruise to enjoy a piano bar.

 

Thanks.

[kyriecat]

Kyriecat-I am in my early 50's and am definetly younger then the Dean Martin crowd-he was popular in the 50's and 60's but I was a child then and not interested then or NOW. Now I love the old Beatle's stuff. that is what my age group love.

 

The Dean Martin crowd would be my parent's (both are dead) age. People well into their 70's and 80's. Not people in their 40's and 50's.

 

I didn't mean to offend - my parents are in their 50s. I was also trying to be generous with the cruise crowd. To be honest, I think most of the people were late 60s and up. We may have got 49 if we averaged everyone on the ships ages. There was a couple celebrating their 64th anniversary onboard. The singer definitely fit in since he was also an older man. There were a few couples in the 30 and under group, but the majority on this trip were retirees. There were almost no children onboard.

 

I was (poorly) trying to say it was more of a lounge singing act than rock or country. I remember Moon River and New York, New York but I didn't know most of the other songs. I tend to equate Dean Martin with lounge singers. Maybe that is a bad perception. We had a great cruise but didn't hang out in the Schooner Bar much. We prefered the Viking Lounge IF we could get the DJ to quit playing rap and salsa.

[jerick]

Jeff -

 

If you hear where Ed is in New York, I'd love to know. I'm only about an hour from the city and it would be great NOT to have to wait till my next cruise to enjoy a piano bar.

 

Hi Judith,

 

I did a google search for his name and found a listing on a musicians website for him. His email address is edrrocks@hotmail.com . If you send him a note, perhaps he'll let you know where he is performing.

 

Jeff

[benjidog]

Radiance of the Seas has a piano bar where he also lets folks in the audience sing along. We spent a few nights there. It was great fun.

[Krazy Kruizers]

We love the Piano Bars. On most of our HAL cruises we have had some very good sing-alongs.

[montgomeryfamily]

On the Caribbean Princess we saw Bert Stratton several times and there were several sing-alongs. Also, he didn't mind spontaneous sing alongs to which sometimes happened on particular songs. He is very funny and and we've always really enjoyed him. In fact, one of the critical factors in selecting the date for our Cruise Critic group cruise on August 19, 2006 was to make sure that he would be onboard and not on vacation. His vacation schedule is on his website. The piano bar is called Schooners.

 

We really enjoy piano bars on the ships and like sing-alongs. We have been in piano bars on Royal Caribbean, HAL, and Princess. But we have never been on a ship where the entire piano bar performance every night was a sing along. Our experience is that the piano bar person performs primarily solo and then they also have some group activities like the sing-along for an hour or so.

[Cathy p]

would get my vote. I too am in my 50's and enjoy the oldies, however, I can only take so much of Benny Goodman or Dean Martin. We were on the Zuiderdam last year and they had an Oldies night which was really nice. Hopefully the CB will have a bit of variety.

 

Cathy p

[DanJ]

Really? we are considering the CB for a fall cruise and we were told there was both a great piano and karoke bar. Do you think you just did not find it? If I can't find something I always ask the purser or guest relations.

 

I haven't been on the CB yet. Neither the Grand or Sapphire had a "Piano Bar" as such. They had a piano player in the Lobby just forward of the mid-ship elevators on deck 7, but I didn't get the feeling it was a singalong type setting. But they do karaoke several nights during the cruise in one of the lounges. Sapphire had it in Club Fusion.

 

The sing along piano bars I've seen on Carnival had mics at the tables, and if you wanted to sing, you let the player know, and he turned the mic on for you.

[fun cruiserz]

Judith EM - I have to agree with you about Ron Pass being fantastic. We were on the Carnival Valor in Feb 06 and enjoyed many evenings in the piano bar with Ron and toasting to the socials.

[JudithEM]

Thanks, Jeff, for Ed's email. I just wrote to him...if I find out where he is playing, I will let everyone know. If you have a great piano bar and a pina colada, maybe you could close your eyes and imagine you're on a ship!

 

Anyway, I also asked him if Carnival posts info anywhere online about who is scheduled in the piano bars on their ships. Will hold that info for the future, if he provides it, as my next cruise is on RCCL.

[breenw]

Bert Stratton on the Caribbean Princess makes the cruise worthwhile! I would book that ship again just to hear Bert sing. If you like all kinds of music, fun entertainment, and singing along, Bert is your guy!!! He performs nightly beginning at 9 p.m. in the Crooner's Lounge on board.

 

They also have a piano bar but we never went there because we went to Bert's show every single night while on board.

 

If you really want some fun entertainment - I can't recommend this sailing enough. He is by far the best entertainer at sea that we have had the privilege to see.

[montgomeryfamily]

Breew, I didn't realize that the Caribbean Princess also had a piano bar in addiition to Bert. We enjoyed Bert so much, including the sing-alongs!!! We thought he was the piano bar entertainment. Thanks for posting the correct name--it is Crooners. I got it mixed up with the name of a bar on another ship that is siimilar sounding.

 

I also agree with you about booking the Caribbean Princess just for Bert. That is why we made sure of his vacation schedule before selecting the date of our Cruise Critic group cruise.