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Best Piano Player in Crooners on Princess?


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I have to say that I am not a fan of any of the piano players in the various Crooners' Bars. They mostly are too loud, too hammy and attract large crowds that fill up the bar and surrounding walkways. Don't get me wrong, if the piano playing is softer and allows for conversations, I have no problem with it. But many of the players put on a show that is better located in a venue designed for audiences. Please leave me one quiet bar where I can have an after dinner drink in peace.

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Ray Coussins gets my vote. He was Frank Sinatra's piano player back in the day..

 

We were on the 14-day Panama Canal cruise on the Coral Princess in February 2012 and chose that cruise specifically because Ray Coussins was performing in Crooner's each night. We had a fabulous time with him.

 

Our next cruise, a B2B out of Galveston was again selected around Ray Coussins' schedule. He will be on the Crown Princess early in 2013. You can hear him at http://www.thepianoplayer.biz

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I have to say that I am not a fan of any of the piano players in the various Crooners' Bars. They mostly are too loud, too hammy and attract large crowds that fill up the bar and surrounding walkways. Don't get me wrong, if the piano playing is softer and allows for conversations, I have no problem with it. But many of the players put on a show that is better located in a venue designed for audiences. Please leave me one quiet bar where I can have an after dinner drink in peace.

 

That is what a venue like Adagio is for..background music in a more private location. Crooners is out in the open and is a place for showmanship IMHO and that is why they have these entertainers..plus most are very personable and interact with the audience. We think Ray Coussins is great as well as Barty Brown and Bert Stratton to name a few. A fun place to spend some time when the slot machines are not very nice!

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Ray Coussins gets my vote. He was Frank Sinatra's piano player back in the day..

 

We were on the 14-day Panama Canal cruise on the Coral Princess in February 2012 and chose that cruise specifically because Ray Coussins was performing in Crooner's each night. We had a fabulous time with him.

 

Our next cruise, a B2B out of Galveston was again selected around Ray Coussins' schedule. He will be on the Crown Princess early in 2013. You can hear him at www.thepianoplayer.biz

 

 

Agree.. Ray is our favorite...

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That is what a venue like Adagio is for..background music in a more private location. Crooners is out in the open and is a place for showmanship IMHO and that is why they have these entertainers..plus most are very personable and interact with the audience. We think Ray Coussins is great as well as Barty Brown and Bert Stratton to name a few. A fun place to spend some time when the slot machines are not very nice!

 

Only three ships have an Adagios and we usually seem to be on those without one.

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Barty signed off on 11/28

 

He's doing the ruby transatlantic in the spring.

 

And, 40 days in the winter -- but I can't remember if it's

on Emerald or Ruby

 

He's a nice guy. We first saw him on the old Crown Princess in 1992

 

Barth only left for the holidays and returned to the Emerald either 1/7 or 1/17.

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I've actually enjoyed all of them, for the most part. Arny G. and Bert Stratton have been the piano bar entertainers we've probably cruised with the most. I have heard some of the music that Bert has written that he doesn't play on the ships and it has a completely different feel to it that is enjoyable and good.

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Just received an email from Ray Coussins. He will be playing piano on the Crown starting March 12th..

 

I'm on the Crown tomorrow and hope Ray Coussins is still on-board. He is superb. Personally, I like Larry Dunsmore the best - humor, voice and playing talent. As for Bert Stratton - Yikes! A lot of people like him, but I sure don't. Listened to him for about 20 minutes once and did not like him at all - and then every evening, I would hear the exact same comments/music and 'skit' as I left the dining room and had to pass by him and the bar.

Edited by Pythian
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we were on the Grand last week and really enjoyed Alan Shields at Crooners.

he is a wonderful piano player and singer.

he is not an over-the top showman demanding attention.

he just plays his music...and he'll take requests.

some people talk a little but most are listening.

one night he had his own show in the Vista lounge.

 

also love Barty on the Emerald.

completely different type, but so much fun and full of information.

more storytelling than singing.

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I've actually enjoyed all of them, for the most part. Arny G. and Bert Stratton have been the piano bar entertainers we've probably cruised with the most. I have heard some of the music that Bert has written that he doesn't play on the ships and it has a completely different feel to it that is enjoyable and good.

 

Fathercop, I see that you are going to be on the Island on Oct 13. You will be traveling with Arny G again, since he will be in Crooners that cruise.

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Fathercop, I see that you are going to be on the Island on Oct 13. You will be traveling with Arny G again, since he will be in Crooners that cruise.

 

Judy

Great to hear Arny will be on the Grand in the fall. We are looking at the Grand from Nov. 24th thru Dec. 8. What are your plans this fall? We are leaving soon for a three week drive around Ireland.

Bill

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Judy

Great to hear Arny will be on the Grand in the fall. We are looking at the Grand from Nov. 24th thru Dec. 8. What are your plans this fall? We are leaving soon for a three week drive around Ireland.

Bill

 

Hi Bill. No, Arny won't be on the Grand. He was on the Grand all last fall. He will be on the Island this fall, doing the Panama Canal runs. We are joining him for two of them, the Sept 28, 15 day full transit and the Dec 10 partial transit. In the meantime, we will be doing two short cruises, the May 12 coastal on the Sapphire from LA to Vancouver and the a short 4 day to Ketchikan and back on the Golden. One of these years we will be back on the same ship together! Have a great trip around Ireland! We had talked about doing two weeks driving around England, but hasn't happened yet. Since I'm still working, when I take time off, I really like the relaxation of cruising, and not the stress of driving on the "other" side of the road.

Take care.

Judy

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  • 1 month later...
We were on the Coral in Feb/Mar for a Panama Canal cruise and the entertainer in the Crooners Lounge was the piano player for Frank Sinatra.

 

That would have been Ray Coussins who is a very versatile performer in the sense he has a full night club act which we have seen him do in the Princess Theatre when another performer was ill....and he was very entertaining.:)

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The piano bar is one of our favorite venue's on Carnival and now we're in the process of deciding between Caribbean Princess and the Ruby--so glad to hear the piano bar is alive and well on Princess!

 

BTW, Crooner's on the Ruby looks like a slightly bigger venue than on the Caribbean (based on the deck plan drawing). Is that the case?

Edited by alreadypacked
To add question about venue size
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The piano bar is one of our favorite venue's on Carnival and now we're in the process of deciding between Caribbean Princess and the Ruby--so glad to hear the piano bar is alive and well on Princess!

 

BTW, Crooner's on the Ruby looks like a slightly bigger venue than on the Caribbean (based on the deck plan drawing). Is that the case?

 

Yes it is and IMHO a better one too

 

One of our favourites as well

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  • 5 years later...

When one was able to secure a quiet table to enjoy singer/pianist Eiric Stone and virtuouso Yevhen Krasnykh, it was fantastic. It takes years and years of hard work to be able to entertain audiences for long hours. These performers are true champions of the arts.

 

It was quite a tragedy that the management of Sea Princess elected to engage a company out of the United Kingdom to present and perform production shows. The shows were all the same. Different songs, same performance.

 

Very ordinary and extremely disappointing. Sets usually used for big production numbers performed by the Sea Princess cast were conspicuously absent.

 

A good director could build excellent shows around Eric Stone and Yebhen Krasnykh.

 

Cost-cutting and failing to use the best of your talent results in loss of business. That is the 'reality/.

As for the Captain'Cocktail Party, that was a pure debacle. If you are going to have a Captain's Cocktail

party, for goodness sake, do it properly.

 

The travel expert knew her study but "the voice". Sorry to say it, but the voice grated.

 

The photographs did a terrific job and there is more scope here.

 

A lot more to say about this trip. Pulling the vacuum cleaner out at 10.00 pm was very attractive.

 

The cabin and dining room staff, work extremely hard to hold up the brand. Perhaps they should be

shareholders. When people are shareholders in a brand their blood is in the project and they are more

inclined to, not only work hard, but to ensure the brand's success.

 

An interesting trip. No dinner bell!!!!

 

Heaps of highs.

 

Quite a few lows, especially the Australian passengers who drink far too much alcohol.

 

The Captain and Officers did a fabulous job given all of the circumstances.

 

Jan Lindrum

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