Entertainment reservations question

[durberville]

I see that only the theatre show “Choir of Man” on the Encore “requires” reservations (Thank you Bird). But I was wondering if the other shows can and might be reserved pre-cruise - or are they strictly first come first served?

[BirdTravels]

4 hours ago, durberville said:

I see that only the theatre show “Choir of Man” on the Encore “requires” reservations (Thank you Bird). But I was wondering if the other shows can and might be reserved pre-cruise - or are they strictly first come first served?

On the Encore, only the Choir of Man show was reservable.

 

They used to allow you to reserve the comedy shows, but that recently ended. And for us, more importantly, was the end of the concierge's ability to escort Haven guests into small venues prior to opening. 

 

I asked the Box Office Manager about the change and they told me that this was the result of customer comments regarding the "fairness of reservations" for venues like the comedy club. I asked the box office manager, directly, if it was the result of a cost cutting measure to reduce the Box Office staff from having to process reservations, then enforce reservations at the venues. He said that it was not a cost cutting measure. 

 

Reservations for shows has been around since the Epic first launched in 2009. Seems to me if NCL was going to "respond to customer comments", they would have done this long ago. 

[eileeshb]

From my experience it varies per ship, show and venue. Usually the 2 big shows in the main theatres were reservable but the smaller venues weren’t. I never really paid attention to the comedians, or smaller acts in the main theatre as such, the only non-reservable show I made sure to queue up early for was The Epic Beatles on the epic. 
The solos hosts have sometimes gotten a group of solo’s a batch of seats in the theatre for the one staging each of the 2 main productions in addition to haven guests effectively having a skip the line via their concierge. 
I don’t have access yet to check what the situation is for my next cruise but another guest in a suite has already reported that there are 4 options for one of the main shows but only 3 for the other when there would usually 4 for each. That may be because of our port times or maybe there’s some other reason.

 

[DrUrsula]

On 9/22/2023 at 1:27 PM, BirdTravels said:

On the Encore, only the Choir of Man show was reservable.

 

They used to allow you to reserve the comedy shows, but that recently ended. And for us, more importantly, was the end of the concierge's ability to escort Haven guests into small venues prior to opening. 

 

I asked the Box Office Manager about the change and they told me that this was the result of customer comments regarding the "fairness of reservations" for venues like the comedy club. I asked the box office manager, directly, if it was the result of a cost cutting measure to reduce the Box Office staff from having to process reservations, then enforce reservations at the venues. He said that it was not a cost cutting measure. 

 

Reservations for shows has been around since the Epic first launched in 2009. Seems to me if NCL was going to "respond to customer comments", they would have done this long ago. 

Woah! So now you have to go get in line as early as possible and wait but there will be  with the inevitable " one person per group " holding a place in line for the other 18 family members with whom they are traveling leading to bad interactions  and arguments .

Unless they utilize a sign in system or something I can't see this going smoothly.

 

 

One of the best Haven perks was early access to shows. Can't believe they removed this.

 

How was your experience getting into comedy club, Bird?