Celebration Adriatic Explorer-the shows

[Flopsy]

Some of you might like to look forward to the following shows in the Broadway Show Lounge (Deck 5):-

 

Fri 21.30 Dancing Queen (70's, Abba etc, but unfortunately only one showing which was full!)

 

Sat 21.00/22.30 Mediterranean Nights (superb,includes an energetic can can)

 

Sun 20.45/22.30 Sunday Night Live (UK comedian)

 

Mon 20.45/22.30 Songs & The City (eg New York,New York)

 

Tues 20.45 Game Show 'Chance' (great fun) followed by.....

22.00 N.B. Crew Show (see the talents of Celebration staff, music,dance,etc)

 

Wed 20.45/22.30 Camerons Classics (superb show)

23.45 Late Night Live (UK comedian, a little naughtier...)

 

Thur 20.45/22.30 Spanish Passion (brilliant show)

 

NB. Get in early if you want a seat!

 

Flopsy

[SOOTY SUE]

Hi Flopsy

 

Can you tell me who the classical musicians are on board at the moment? I'm glad you enjoyed your holiday - I've very envious as I'm not cruising this year - in fact I'm pining just a little bit!

[kruzseeka]

Hi Sooty Sue

 

Just back - and sorry to report that Janus and Josef were NOT on board - boo-hoo!! And to add insult to injury the replacement in Explorers was not in the same league - by any stretch of the imagination!

 

Entertainment in general:

 

In fact, apart from the jazz group, predominantly found in Horizons we felt the standard of the entertainment was not up to the usual standard at all. Even the show team seemed ragged round the edges (under-rehearsed?) and didn't in any way compare in terms of quality of singers or sharpness of choreography with the team on the Destiny earlier this year. I trust this is just the 'luck of the draw' and it isn't a reflection of an economy-driven drop in standards. Over many cruises, we've always raved about the entertainment and although we enjoyed the shows we definitely noticed a difference on this trip (we were not alone in expressing this opinion - many regular Thomson cruisers made the same unprompted comments to us).

 

Flopsy has described the programme for the Adriatic Explorer so here is the run down for the Pearls of the Aegean:

 

Fri 15th - The Dancing Queen - this show was a repeat of the previous Friday night (thus some passengers who had only one week on board and arrived late for embarkation would not have seen it all - and that seemed to be a fault in the planning/scheduling as it was one of the better shows.)

 

Sat 16th - Concerto - a song-based show (cabaret style)

 

Sun 17th - Sunday Night Live - comedian Lloyd Hollett

 

Mon 18th - Cult Fiction (excerpts from Little Shop of Horrors, Wicked and Rocky Horror)

 

Tues 19th - Tuesday's Tribute: about 10 mins of the show team singers then 30/40 minutes of a Madonna tribute act - which got a very subdued response and nothing like the reaction that the following crew show received! Enough said! There are some superb singers amongst the crew and their show was excellent - standing ovations!)

 

Wed 20th Africa - a good show

 

Thurs 21st Oh Boy! - an energetic show

 

The entertainment was still far superior to that we saw on one of the American ships, but there are fewer 'production shows' and more padding out with (in our case during this last fortnight), a repeated show, two comedian nights (which is usual), a tribute night with guest artist and one night a game show ('Chance') which was really a show from Liberties. As Flopsy said, it was good fun, but it wasn't what is usually put on in the show lounge.

 

All of this meant there were only 9 different 'shows' (one of which was Concerto - cabaret style) which is a significant reduction on the 12 we used to see during a 14 night cruise. As I said, it smacks a bit of cost-cutting which is a shame as the entertainment for us is one of the reasons for choosing Thomson.

 

There was a play staged one afternoon which the team did very well and was good - but it was repeated the second week. I guess it's a bit much to expect them to have two plays under their belts, but again, we don't remember ever having seen anything repeated in a two week cruise before.

 

There were also late night cabarets and deck parties when the entertainment team were in action.

 

We did enjoy the entertainment, but as decribed, we felt it didn't live up to previous Thomson experiences. I hope it's not a trend!!!

[jenny wren]

Re the entertainment .....You may find that it was a new team of entertainers starting the summer season at the beginning of May....so they wouldn't have had the amount of time together as perhaps your previous experience.

 

I, like you, have always found the entertainment to be excellent except for once before during May so that is my theory!!!!! they also change at the beginning of November so it might be worth keeping that in mind!!

[kruzseeka]

Re the entertainment .....You may find that it was a new team of entertainers starting the summer season at the beginning of May....so they wouldn't have had the amount of time together as perhaps your previous experience.

 

I, like you, have always found the entertainment to be excellent except for once before during May so that is my theory!!!!! they also change at the beginning of November so it might be worth keeping that in mind!!

 

I agree, jenny wren - there is always the element of the first time for each show which would account for the lack of precision in choreography perhaps but............. we didn't see a lot of rehearsing taking place - unlike one team we saw who were hard at it almost every day - and they were already good (perhaps because they rehearsed so much). Some of the singers weren't very strong though so I'm afraid even with more rehearsals, the flat notes may not disappear! Anyway, as I said, this is all relative and we DID enjoy the entertainment which I would rate as 'good' this time round rather than 'excellent' which is usually our opinion.

[SOOTY SUE]

Hi Kruzseeka

 

I'm glad you enjoyed your hols. Yet again I've been thwarted in my J&J mission! But thank you for taking the trouble beforehand to ask if you could do anything - I think you'll just have to keep cruising until you bump into them again!! :D LoL

[mtt]

Sooty Sue,

Janos is now living in london, he is on facebook

[SOOTY SUE]

Hi mtt

 

Janos in London and on Facebook - no way!! Thanks so much for info :)

[Flopsy]

Hi Flopsy

 

Can you tell me who the classical musicians are on board at the moment? I'm glad you enjoyed your holiday - I've very envious as I'm not cruising this year - in fact I'm pining just a little bit!

 

Hi Sooty Sue

 

Sorry i couldn't answer your query but thankfully someone else has!

 

I would like to comment on the dancers etc.I sat next to the parents of one of the dark haired girls on the front row one evening.The mother told me that her daughter had got the job in November 2008 and had been rehearsing in the UK for the last few months - this was her first cruise appearance starting May 2009.The smaller dark haired girl was also 'straight out of stage school'.In fact three of the dark haired girls were new this month- so maybe that explains why they seem a little ragged?

 

Flopsy

[vwgolf]

Is Bram still on the entertainments team on the Celebration? My kids think he's great!

[mtt]

Bram was on the spirit, he left the celebration in jan

One of the dancers in april told us they reherse for 10 weeks off the ship, then 2 weeks on the ship before the new team start the shows

[Flopsy]

Bounced for Salty.Just a taste of the sort of shows to expect- but they are maybe different this year.

 

Flopsy