Cirque is GONE???

[Rob&Nancy]

Saw this on the forum (Tbelian is on the Constellation now)

 

"In answer to the Cirque question. They are gone. Off contract effective 1/1/2007. Word was when the contract was up, they wanted a big increase, and did not get it. It was an expensive show for 1 performance each cruise, and they were already highly paid. This comes from butler Rusty, and cruise director Don Fluke."

 

Can anyone confirm this? We are on Constellation later this month, and were really looking forward to the show!:(

 

Nancy

[Sky Sweet]

Saw this on the forum (Tbelian is on the Constellation now)

 

"In answer to the Cirque question. They are gone. Off contract effective 1/1/2007. Word was when the contract was up, they wanted a big increase, and did not get it. It was an expensive show for 1 performance each cruise, and they were already highly paid. This comes from butler Rusty, and cruise director Don Fluke."

 

Can anyone confirm this? We are on Constellation later this month, and were really looking forward to the show!:(

 

Nancy

 

We saw the Cirque show on our Baltic Cruise this past summer on Constellation and went to a movie instead on the night of the Cirque show during our Thanksgiving Cruise. In other words, we didn't think it was good enough to see twice, while we had no problem seeing a number of other shows for a second time during our Thanksgiving Cruise on Constellation. I spoke to a number of people who have seen a full scale Cirque Show in Vegas and said it had a completely differently feel than the one on Constellation. With this in mind, I can understand why Celebrity did not renew their contract if they were asking for a lot more money.

 

BTW, this is the first time we have seen a movie on a cruise since 1976 when we took a nine day cruise with only two port days.

[Pisces11]

The Cirque show we saw on the Summit in September was not even close to a full scale Cirque show. Basically, it was just 2 people doing gymnastic moves on a rope. They were very good but I wouldn't go to see it twice.

[CruisingChick]

We saw the Cirque show on our Baltic Cruise this past summer on Constellation...In other words, we didn't think it was good enough to see twice,

 

Also saw Cirque on our Baltic cruise on Constellation this past summer and my family and I think it wasn't even worth seeing ONCE. Big disappointment. And they only had ONE show. So everyone on the ship tried to fit into the Celebrity theater at once, which isn't nearly big enough. It was a disaster. It was the only bad thing about the cruise.

[Lsimon]

I thought it was a great show. We saw it twice: Summit in April and Connie in October. Was similar but varied a little.

 

I don't think I'd want to see it too many more times, but isn't that true of a lot of the other shows which don't vary a whole lot. And in my opinion was one of a handful of shows we've seen on Celebrity which were really good.

 

Too bad it is gone, I hope they put the funds back in the budget for other good on-board entertainment.

[Sky Sweet]

As long as I can find one or two shows during a cruise, including musicians and comedians, that I consider to be good, that is fine with me. Considering the diversity of Celebrity's passengers, it would be almost impossible for Celebrity to have a show every night that appeals to everyone. However, I consider entertainment to be the least important part of a cruise because I cruise for other reasons and feel there are better places venues for it than on a ship. Therefore, I consider any show I enjoy on a cruise to be an unexpected bonus.

[usha]

The land-based Cirque shows are obviously on a much grander scale, but for what it was, I thought Celebrity's Cirque shows were very entertaining and enjoyable. My favorite was the "wheel guy".

[greeneg]

I agree. We did a back to back on the Constellation last January and went to the Cirque shows both weeks. The shows were not identical, although similar, and we enjoyed them very much.

 

Possibly too sophisticated from Celebrity's new demographic?! Particularly if one is trying to reduce costs.

 

My $ 0.02

[Sky Sweet]

While I enjoy the music of a good musical, my favorite plays over the years have been non musical plays, such as Proof, Tea at Five, Steel Magnolias, Death of a Salesman, A Doll's House, No Exit, etc. Considering the relatively low cost of producing one, I would love to see one on a cruise.

 

Tea at Five has only one actress, while some of the others mentioned have just a handful of actors and actresses. Several of the plays I mentioned also have just one set.

[hcat]

the mini -Cirque show we saw in the theater was awful except for the acrobatics in a very comfined space--that I agree was awesome--but the surrounding drama IMHO was very sexist & bordered on simulated violence against the woman performer.. also involved alot of audience contact like jumping into people's laps & bringing a man up on stage to be part of the drama..when I complained, I was told each troop gets to make its own skit....there was also a store on board with quasi- erotic items to enhance the cirque experience--glad they are gone--& hope the lovely nightclub is restored to its prior state--nice open windows to the sea! after all it is a ship...not Vegas! Glad to see it go...

[drfun48]

Kudos to Celebrity for trying something different,but we hated it. Not because it was too sophisticated as one above suggested,but just because it was terrible.Like many french wines,it's overated and pretentious. But hey,the french consider Jerry Lewis a genius.

[Drew B]

Good or bad, it just doesn't make sense economically to have Cirque aboard for just ONE SHOW. Why feed, house and pay all of those people for, say, 14 days if all you're getting out of them is one performance? In addition to the performers, I'm guessing that they have their own production crew (stage management, wardrobe, makeup, lighting, etc.) and ALL of those people have to be carried. It's just not worth it.

[Spender Nui]

Does this mean they'll clean up the bar at the end of the earth? And get rid of the gauze? And no white nights? I hope so.

[suntan]

If the rumour is true I won't be sad to see them go. We saw them in 2004 on the Summit. What a disaster! White night party - too many people in the Bar at the Edge of the Earth you couldn't move let alone dance. Also they had no respect for the passengers who wanted to sleep at midnight and beyond. We were two decks down from the venue and we could hear their music every night. Our complaints went unheard by Cirque (typical French!:D ). We each received a $300 credit from Celebrity because of this. We were not the only passengers to complain either.

 

I will give credit to Celebrity for trying something new but there was no way that CDS was going to be able to pull off anything similar to what they perform in their shows.

[Andy]

Does this mean they'll clean up the bar at the end of the earth? And get rid of the gauze? And no white nights? I hope so.

 

Hi Spender !

 

I hope so too. I was never thrilled what they did to the lounges. Add me to the list of happy people, if (& when) the lounges return to their original beauty.

[judyfssw]

I really liked the Cirque shows except for the very beginning ones. As soon as they moved them into the theater, it was a great show. Everyone we saw (around 4 or 5 times), they received a standing ovation.

I'm sorry that they're gone.

[brandylane5102]

Hey "host Andy" , We Had A Group Of 50 People On The Constellation This Past Spring. Everyone Raved About The Cirque Show In The Theater . We Particularly Liked The "white Night" Atmosphere And What Was Done To The Lounge . Have Been On 36 Cruises And We Thought That The Atmosphere , Lighting And All The White Costumes Made For An Electric Experience. We Thought That It Was Great To Really See Some Originality & Creativity -- It Was A Wonderful Experience. On The Other Hand , The Theme Had Been Around For A Couple Of Years And Has Probably Run Its Course .

[hammybee]

Hey "host Andy" , We Had A Group Of 50 People On The Constellation This Past Spring. Everyone Raved About The Cirque Show In The Theater . We Particularly Liked The "white Night" Atmosphere And What Was Done To The Lounge . Have Been On 36 Cruises And We Thought That The Atmosphere , Lighting And All The White Costumes Made For An Electric Experience. We Thought That It Was Great To Really See Some Originality & Creativity -- It Was A Wonderful Experience. On The Other Hand , The Theme Had Been Around For A Couple Of Years And Has Probably Run Its Course .

 

I'm with you on this and thought I was the one and only who enjoyed the whole thing, including White Night. I applaud X for trying something different and innovative. Next....

[lschnauz]

Hopefully it's gone from the Summit too, and the Revelations get restored back to the beautiful room it was

[flag fan]

I was actually looking forward to the Cirque show; it was one of the factors in booking a cruise on the Summit, so I am disappointed. But, the Bar at the End of the World got universally bad reviews on these boards and the show sounded very truncated, not like the show I saw on land. It does sound like a sound financial decision, but I wonder how may passengers, like me, were influenced to book because of the Cirque show.

 

(BTW, Cirque is Canadian, not French (although admittedly French Canadian), as one poster wrote.)

[clopaw]

We, too, really enjoyed the Cirque shows. As far as the performers being on board for an extended period of time, they come and come from various ports. On our last cruise, I talked to them as they were disembarking the day after their show. I had wondered why they didn't have more shows, and it turned out it was because they aren't on board for very long.

[Rev22:17]

Host Andy,

 

I hope so too. I was never thrilled what they did to the lounges. Add me to the list of happy people, if (& when) the lounges return to their original beauty.

 

I agree completely. The white draperies, seat covers, remind me of the interior decorating pranks often practiced by college students that consist of unravelling several rolls of toilet paper the victim's office or dorm room.

 

Norm.

[tbelian]

Saw this on the forum (Tbelian is on the Constellation now)

 

"In answer to the Cirque question. They are gone. Off contract effective 1/1/2007. Word was when the contract was up, they wanted a big increase, and did not get it. It was an expensive show for 1 performance each cruise, and they were already highly paid. This comes from butler Rusty, and cruise director Don Fluke."

 

Can anyone confirm this? We are on Constellation later this month, and were really looking forward to the show!:(

 

Nancy

 

Sure, I can confirm this. I mean, we are on day 8 of an 11 day cruise, and, so far, no Cirque show yet. And no discussion or other indication that they are going to reappear. Perhaps the sun was in my ears, but, this is what I know 'right from the horse's mouth', so to speak.

 

If you want, I'll bug the CD about it again, but I'm pretty sure the answer will be: 'Nope, no Cirque.'

[A Little Pixie Dust]

We just returned from Summit and it is true..the contract ended as of the first of the year. X opted not to renew the contract. However, in response to one poster..the performers did not stay on the ship for the entire cruise.

 

We spoke to a crew member who informed us that the troupe always joins the ship at the last port possible before their show and flys out at the next port. They are normally only on the ship 3-4 days.

 

As for what they are doing to the Bar on Summit..she was not yet sure.

 

We enjoyed the show and were glad we got to see it before the contract ended.

 

Desiree

[superjerryw]

The addition of the Cirque show was part of the rebranding that took place a couple of years ago to try and give Celebrity the appearance of a more upscale cruise line. Now that the bean counters are in charge and they start to dumb down the cruise experience I'm sure we can look forward to seeing the Cirque show replaced by a jug band...:rolleyes: