Comments on: Cruise Shows the Cheesy Standard?

By: Paul Motter

Paul Motter — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 05:23:30 +0000

http://www.cruisemates.com/articles/feature/Oasisnights-091708.cfm

In the link above I wrote 6 months ago I use the Le Reve comparison as a loose description of what the shows will be like. I saw Le Reve at the Wynn and it is a great show, as is EAU by Cirque D’ Soliel. (Both shows are in Las Vegas).

Both shows are water-based acrobatic shows. I thnk it will be a fair comparison. The Oasis Aqua Theater has winches for aircrobatics, and trampolines on the sides. It is built specifically for that kind of water and air acrobatic-style show.

I wouldn’t be surprised if they used some of the same people as Le Reve, but I have not heard that said, yet.

By: Robin

Robin — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 05:08:22 +0000

Just heard from a TA that Oasis of the Seas is creating a show with the people who did Le Reve at Wynn. If the show in the Aqua Theater is even 1/2 the wow Le Reve is, they will set a new standard for cruise ship entertainment. I’m scouring all the cruise websites now looking for more information on this show. Anyone out there with more info?

By: Dave Beers

Dave Beers — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 20:57:35 +0000

I’ll admit that I have the jaundiced eye of a seasoned cruiser when it comes to the big shows. After a while they look like the flavor of the week. New cruisers usually love the revues and I think that is great. It just isn’t my cup of tea anymore – although there are exceptions.

I do find myself drawn more to the entertainment outside the main showroom. I love the jazz bands on Carnival cruises, and the Rosario Strings on whatever line they happen to be contracted with. Same with the classical guitarists RCI has playing in the Centrum of their ships.

I know the performers in the big shows work very hard and I shouldn’t dismiss their efforts. I was surprised to learn last year (at an RCI Diamond member Q&A) that big shows can take a year or more to put together, and costs are already in the millions before they do the first show aboard a ship.

By: Gordon

Gordon — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 04:47:38 +0000

Yeah, the cruise ship comparison came to my mind at the same time I was watching Mr. Jackman’s number during the Oscars. However, unlike (apparently) most people, I actualy kind of enjoyed that number – heaven knows, it wasn’t art or maybe even artistic, but it was pleasant enough for what it was and for as long as it lasted. It’s the same, for me, with most cruise ship entertainment. It’s a diversion, a pleasant interlude to share with traveling companions and/or new friends. And like most entertainments, the cruise ship “revue” can be fresh and snappy or tired and stupid. Even then there are limits; we aren’t talking high culture here.

So all these writers yakking about “cruise ship entertainment” are just critics blowing smoke, dismissing the revue as too lowly to possibly provide entertainment and ignoring every other entertainment outlet on the ship. Hey folks, relax, unpucker a little, huh? What’s wrong with a few songs and flashy costume changes and maybe a cocktail, to wile away an hour or so while sailing the high seas? And as Dave Beers pointed out, much of the entertainment on a cruise ship is outside the main showroom, and a lot of it is terrific by any standard.

Personally, I cruise as much for the way ocean travel feeds my spirit as for any other reason, so the entertainment is just part of the setting, and I appreciate it, like the Oscars, for what it is. But I always remember the sunsets a lot longer than I remember the shows.

By: jeph

jeph — Mon, 02 Mar 2009 19:21:05 +0000

The connection (between the Oscars opening number and stereotypical cruise ship productions) hadn’t occurred to me until it was pointed out, but I can see what they’re talking about. When I watched the broadcast, I just loved the whole tongue-in-cheek concept– “Hey, kids, let’s dress up the barn and put on a show! We’re gonna do a good old-fashioned Hollywood opening number, only this year, we’re gonna do it all on a budget of about twelve dollars and fifty cents!”

Of course, Jackman’s great talent and charm can carry off things far more difficult than that little bit of deliberate silliness. I smiled through the whole thing– it’s a lot better than hearing the list of all the people the guy who won for Best Sound Effects Editing wants to thank.

By: Dave Beers

Dave Beers — Fri, 27 Feb 2009 01:50:30 +0000

There are two shows I remember from my cruises, and both were on NCL in the 1990′s. These weren’t the typical “revue” or “medley” shows, which I find exceedingly boring. The SS Norway in 1994 – The Will Rogers Follies. The Norwegian Sea in 1999 – Grease. These were simply brilliant shows that had the crowd totally jazzed. They weren’t revues or some other stale attempt at appearing innovative.

I rarely go to the “main” shows these days unless it is something truly different. I’d rather watch stock cruise ship performers like “El Gaucho” anyday as compared to the “big” shows. At least he is entertaining.