No more classical music?!

[mcrcruiser]

We have sailed mainly on these 2c lines but vinttal 6 lines with close to 100 cruises .I  tell it as I see it 

[OlsSalt]

19 minutes ago, ldtr said:

I would expect they are trying to implicat  anyone that posts anything positive about HAL.

 

Because clearly any one that posts anything positive or a potential explanation for something must be getting paid to do so. 

 

At best, they just get labeled a " HAL cheerleader"

[OlsSalt]

1 minute ago, mcrcruiser said:

We have sailed mainly on these 2c lines but vinttal 6 lines with close to 100 cruises .I  tell it as I see it 

 

Good rule of thumb. So do we .........tell it like we see it .

 

 This is a given on this type of forum. No one holds the ultimate truth - opinions very and context matters. Information and insights are the best that can be offered here, but always with the unwritten caveat .......Trust but Verify.

[katmu]

35 minutes ago, mcrcruiser said:

 This  thread  at one time a very good exchange of info ,the good the bad & the ugly .Sorry to say it has  drifted into a thread that it directed into more personal attacks    .I will only post information that I have personally experienced  not hear say , Echo chambers are for canyons not a cruise thread

Asking you to be specific was not a personal attack.  I am sorry if you took it that way.  Others are also posting from personal experience as well.  This thread started because many of us are upset about the cutbacks related to the end of the  relationship with Lincoln Center.  I for one would be satisfied with a string quartet similar to the one on my last Princess cruise.

 

 

[Guest ldtr]

2 hours ago, katmu said:

Asking you to be specific was not a personal attack.  I am sorry if you took it that way.  Others are also posting from personal experience as well.  This thread started because many of us are upset about the cutbacks related to the end of the  relationship with Lincoln Center.  I for one would be satisfied with a string quartet similar to the one on my last Princess cruise.

 

 

On Princess over the years String quartets went to string trios, then to string duos, sometimes a violin and piano. On my current Alaska cruise none at all.

 

On my April TA they did have a duo. Usually the duos have been from Ukraine. Do not know if the war is impacting their recruiting.

 

The CD that was on the HAL Amazon cruise this last year lived in Ukraine (his wife, a former entertainer on board HAL) is Ukrainian) at the start of the war. Next time I see him I will have to ask him if there been an impact in finding entertainers.

Edited July 16, 2023 by ldtr

[katmu]

Just now, ldtr said:

On Princess over the years String quartets went to string trios, then to string duos, sometimes a violin and piano. On my current Alaska cruise none at all.

 

On my April TA they did have a duo. Usually the duos have been from Ukraine. Do not know if the war is impacting their recruiting.

 

The CD that was on the Amazon cruise this last year lived in Ukraine (his wife, a former entertainer on board HAL) is Ukrainian) at the start of the war. Next time I see him I will have to ask him if there been an impact in finding entertainers.

I mistyped.  You are correct now that I think about it.  My last cruise on the Sky in 2019 had a string trio not a quartet.  That was an earlier cruise.  I’m nervous that my next cruise on the Sun Princess may have none as they seem to be touting a new entertainment lineup.  

 

My company has a few contractors currently in Ukraine but they were with us, already at  the start of the war.  We have not been able to recruit anyone new.  I do wonder if the war has made it difficult to recruit performers.  

 

I am planning to do another cruise in Europe in 2025.  I may need to look for a line that still has some classical music onboard.

[Guest ldtr]

Just now, katmu said:

I mistyped.  You are correct now that I think about it.  My last cruise on the Sky in 2019 had a string trio not a quartet.  That was an earlier cruise.  I’m nervous that my next cruise on the Sun Princess may have none as they seem to be touting a new entertainment lineup.  

 

My company has a few contractors currently in Ukraine but they were with us, already at  the start of the war.  We have not been able to recruit anyone new.  I do wonder if the war has made it difficult to recruit performers.  

 

I am planning to do another cruise in Europe in 2025.  I may need to look for a line that still has some classical music onboard.

On the Majestic they have not had any schedule classical string performances. Yet there has been a Cello and violinist in some of the full orchestra performances.

 

I will see if I can run into the entertainment Director and see if they can give any insight on direction. 

 

I do know that I just saw one of the newest production shows for Princess a couple of days ago. If you like a series of short skits, with moving display panels, bright flashing lights and loud music with the singers and dancers intermixed then one might like it, but for me not so much. Unfortunately it uses some of the same type features that Princess has been touting for the theater on the Sun.

 

 

[OlsSalt]

27 minutes ago, ldtr said:

On Princess over the years String quartets went to string trios, then to string duos, sometimes a violin and piano. On my current Alaska cruise none at all.

 

On my April TA they did have a duo. Usually the duos have been from Ukraine. Do not know if the war is impacting their recruiting.

 

The CD that was on the HAL Amazon cruise this last year lived in Ukraine (his wife, a former entertainer on board HAL) is Ukrainian) at the start of the war. Next time I see him I will have to ask him if there been an impact in finding entertainers.

 

I believe there are restrictions now placed on military age men in Ukraine. Yes, they provided wonderful performers on HAL ships in the past, classical as well as superbly trained dancers. 

[Guest ldtr]

16 minutes ago, OlsSalt said:

 

I believe there are restrictions now placed on military age men in Ukraine. Yes, they provided wonderful performers on HAL ships in the past, classical as well as superbly trained dancers. 

The string duos, atleast those I have seen, have usually been women that have completed their university level musical training.  Of course some of those institutions have had their buildings destroyed

[Petronillus]

On 6/28/2023 at 8:55 PM, katmu said:

I do agree that in general the audience for classical music tends to skew a little older.  I think as with travel, classical music is something that with more exposure many younger people gain new experiences and appreciation.  It sometimes starts small with one artist or piece of music.  

I'm convinced that for a great many passengers the Lincoln Center Stage performances were their first exposure to chamber music and, to their astonishment, they liked it! If HAL can't make promotional hay out of that, then they're in the wrong business.

[mcrcruiser]

We miss the Lincoln  Center classical music . Seems to us that HAL is just going in a different direction these days .

Edited July 17, 2023 by mcrcruiser

[Guest ldtr]

The biggest problem with Lincoln Center and with HALs approach to the music walk in general is the lack of flexibility. They have a set program that they follow for X days then repeat. Some of the best Lincoln Center performances I have seen onboard have been when one of the players was out sick and they couldn't perform the fixed program, but instead went with a number of their favorites.

[3rdGenCunarder]

59 minutes ago, ldtr said:

The biggest problem with Lincoln Center and with HALs approach to the music walk in general is the lack of flexibility. They have a set program that they follow for X days then repeat. Some of the best Lincoln Center performances I have seen onboard have been when one of the players was out sick and they couldn't perform the fixed program, but instead went with a number of their favorites.

 

Sets are determined by the agency that places them. On one of my cruises, on sea days they performed solo or in twos, as "recitals," for which they chose the music. Pre-determined sets are better than some of the musical groups I've seen where they confer between sets. "What should we play next?" discussions on stage are unprofessional.

 

Billboard has pre-determined sets, too. The CD on Eurodam did interviews with the various musical groups, and the Billboard duo said they have to learn and play the arrangements as given. And, while they enjoyed playing all of the sets, they really loved the "request nights," when they were off the leash, so to speak.

Edited July 17, 2023 by 3rdGenCunarder

[Petronillus]

1 hour ago, ldtr said:

The biggest problem with Lincoln Center and with HALs approach to the music walk in general is the lack of flexibility. They have a set program that they follow for X days then repeat. Some of the best Lincoln Center performances I have seen onboard have been when one of the players was out sick and they couldn't perform the fixed program, but instead went with a number of their favorites.

Very perceptive comment. On one occasion a few years back, the pianist suffered a slip and fall and sprained her right wrist badly. The group scrambled and developed a series of programs based on the extensive, existing repertoire of piano music for the left hand only. Brilliant!

[cruisemom42]

I never found the LCS performances to be "constrained" as to content during the two weeks in April on Westerdam before they left the ship. Perhaps because the group had been "in residence" for 5 months, they seemed very confident and deft in their selections. Some programs focused on a particular composer but many others had more wide-ranging themes and I believe each of the four musicians also picked their own "favorites" for one of their series of final concerts. 

 

And yes, we were also treated to solo recitals and duos as well.

 

[Guest ldtr]

32 minutes ago, cruisemom42 said:

I never found the LCS performances to be "constrained" as to content during the two weeks in April on Westerdam before they left the ship. Perhaps because the group had been "in residence" for 5 months, they seemed very confident and deft in their selections. Some programs focused on a particular composer but many others had more wide-ranging themes and I believe each of the four musicians also picked their own "favorites" for one of their series of final concerts. 

 

And yes, we were also treated to solo recitals and duos as well.

 

The problem is that they normally do not get to modify their programs. The programs are designed by Lincoln Center and are locked in. It was a key part of the Lincoln Center presentation. Or as the partnership described a set of programs curated by Lincoln Center.

 

Usually it was only if there was an issue such as a person being ill or an injury such as described above that they got to deviate.

 

Somewhere at home I have a list of all of the different  programs. 

[Guest ldtr]

2 hours ago, 3rdGenCunarder said:

 

Sets are determined by the agency that places them. On one of my cruises, on sea days they performed solo or in twos, as "recitals," for which they chose the music. Pre-determined sets are better than some of the musical groups I've seen where they confer between sets. "What should we play next?" discussions on stage are unprofessional.

 

Billboard has pre-determined sets, too. The CD on Eurodam did interviews with the various musical groups, and the Billboard duo said they have to learn and play the arrangements as given. And, while they enjoyed playing all of the sets, they really loved the "request nights," when they were off the leash, so to speak.

Not the Agency. Lincoln Center designs and provides the programs. That was a key part of the affiliation.

[3rdGenCunarder]

37 minutes ago, ldtr said:

Not the Agency. Lincoln Center designs and provides the programs. That was a key part of the affiliation.

 

LC is not the same agency as Billboard, but it's still an outside entity determining the sets. I didn't mind them repeating the sets. I can listen to a good performance more than once. I wonder if the sets have changed with the loss of one of the violins. They never did the movie theme set on my cruise this winter. They did repeat some sets, so it wasn't like they didn't have a spot for it. 

[JAVERZ]

With the financial issues after COVID, the competition with so many new ships, and management changes, it seems HAL is not sure what their product should or could be.  They are cutting back and experimenting. I believe some of the reasons a lot of people have enjoyed HAL in the past has been because of good service, interesting and longer itineraries, interesting lectures and on-board activities.  Not everyone wants the glitz and noise that some of the other cruise lines offer.  And not everyone can afford the luxury lines.  It seems to me the HAL product could find and keep its niche in the more "traditional" way of cruising and still be competitive.  I have been on more than 50 cruises, but the majority of them have been on Holland America because of the things I have mentioned here.  

[Hilltopper_2]

I’m on Panama Canal cruise on Rotterdam and vented to the Entertainment Director about how HAL has gutted all the intellectually stimulating programs. He claims that HAL is working on restoring the preLC structure to have classical music again. He says that LC could not provide musicians for all the HAL ships. He said that they had numerous complaints about Microsoft classes being too advanced and that HAL is offering Tech for Travelers. I took a class and a HAL employee read from a script on taking pictures with your smartphone. I was embarrassed for the poor man. Supposedly HAL is working on Farm to table cooking classes since ATK didn’t tailor its classes to the locale of the cruise. I hope he is right since we have 3 generations going next Nov on  a 44 day cruise ultimate Atlantic and Mediterranean cruise and keeping 2 young teens entertained for the Atlantic passages both ways will be a challenge.

[taxmantoo]

7 minutes ago, Hilltopper_2 said:

Supposedly HAL is working on Farm to table cooking classes since ATK didn’t tailor its classes to the locale of the cruise. 

Do you mean ATK's world renowned classes in how to boil an egg or how to bake a potato ???  🤣 I attended both those classes and can guarantee that those are two certificates that will never make it onto my resume!!!

[montythecat]

I do hope HAL have a rethink and reinstate classical music, 

preferably employing a quartet. As far as I am concerned one of the 

company’s strengths has been the presence on their ships of a rock 

band, the two pianos and a quartet in a dedicated venue.

 

 

[foodsvcmgr]

Cunard has classical musicians on every sailing.
I’m sure they won’t mind sharing their source with sister line HAL.

How much time do they need to work on it?

[oaktreerb]

Recently on a 7 day Koningsdam cruise.  Classical music will not be on 7 day itineraries.  The standard music walk musicians (BBKing, Billboard, pianists) staggered their performance times.  No music in Ocean Bar.  BBC Earth is gone (yea) so that connection with classical performers is over.  The Step One Dancers were uninspired and missing one performer (this has become common).  I wonder when that contract will end.  Movies on demand in our stateroom were plentiful.  There were a couple of movies (Barbie) on the big screen TV in the Lido pool area.  Movies were shown in the Main Showroom during the day and  the spilled popcorn/wrappers were still littering the floor when the evening entertainment began.  

 

Change is in the air.  HAL is concentrating on the longer itineraries.

[Storylady]

We were on the Oosterdam for the Transatlantic crossing. Lincoln Center is on the main stage with better times for their performances. They did several shows including one afternoon program. Also due to the sea days, we had two excellent speakers, plus an excellent CD with Port Talks and other travel subjects, So if Lincoln Center wasn’t on your ship yet, they will be making the rounds of the fleet. 

Edited November 17, 2023 by Storylady