Hal cutting back on musicians

Wrong ! All stage production show entertainers are auditioned, hired, trained and under contract with Stiletto Entertainment of Los Angeles. They are never seen by HAL staff prior to hiring and are not HAL employees.

Many passengers have no clue about the number of cruise staff who work for contractors rather than the cruise line. On HAL not only do you have many of the entertainers but you also have photographers, internet staff, shore excursion staff, etc, who are not actually employed by HAL but rather their contractors. While this makes it easier for the cruise line, it also takes away a lot of their direct control.

RCI, on the other hand, has a different philosophy and seems to be moving more things in-house. This gives them total control. Here is a link to an interesting CC article about RCI entertainment:

http://www.cruisecritic.com/news/news.cfm?ID=6259

Hank

Wrong ! All stage production show entertainers are auditioned, hired, trained and under contract with Stiletto Entertainment of Los Angeles. They are never seen by HAL staff prior to hiring and are not HAL employees.

I have to assume that somebody from HAL had to have decided to contract with Stiletto Entertainment.:rolleyes:

I suspect that someone from HAL will preview and OK the entertainment, contracted or otherwise.

igraf

Wrong ! All stage production show entertainers are auditioned, hired, trained and under contract with Stiletto Entertainment of Los Angeles. They are never seen by HAL staff prior to hiring and are not HAL employees.

While sometimes the solo guitarists and piano bar players haven't been extremely good, there have been several times we've really enjoyed them. On our recent Maasdam cruise (just disembarked on April 7), we really enjoyed Kevin, the guitarist in the Mix. It would be a shame to lose the solo player where you can converse, or hum/sing along depending on the music.

I've also enjoyed the piano bar more often than not.

We've sailed HAL long enough to miss the Adagio quartet. We enjoy the occasional quiet time listening to the violin and piano. If they lose classical music entirely, HAL just continues to slide towards being another mass market line with little to set it apart.

We also heard during our cruise that there will be a change in the company that hires the show cast, and that some Cirque-style shows will be making their way to the smaller ships now. The cast composition will be changed, with more dancers and canned music.

The musicians of the HAL Cats that accompany guest entertainers have always impressed me. It will be a sad day if all the singers and musicians who appear bring along canned accompaniment, rather than have the back up band.

What I won't miss is the singer for the band, as the quality of her voice can be really hard to listen to by the pool. I enjoy steel drums, and thought the solo player on our Maasdam cruise was talented, but listening to Junior play so often for 25 days was too much.

Cirque-type shows coming to HAL? I hope not! I experienced a bit of that on Celebrity Eclipse and it was not to my liking.

In my opinion, since Stilleto Entertainment has been involved with the cast shows, those productions have improved. On the Westerdam in 2013, there was a very entertaining Country and Western themed show and all of the cast shows on the Noordam this year, particularly DROOM, were very enjoyable.

That's ridiculous! It's going to be a jukebox, so that it can be part of the revenue stream. :D

Wonder how many plays for a US$ and I am sure you can insert your room key...

Wrong ! All stage production show entertainers are auditioned, hired, trained and under contract with Stiletto Entertainment of Los Angeles. They are never seen by HAL staff prior to hiring and are not HAL employees.

Have to say,, the shows have gotten a bit better with the new production company. We even sat thru an entire performance and enjoyed it on our last cruise! Think it was called Droom or something like that.

We have always enjoyed Adagio, but Istvan and Katalin on Maasdam during March were fantastic. They are returning home to Hungary for a well-earned break on May 1st, but hope to return to other HAL ship later in the year. We really hope they join Zuiderdam when we are on board in September.

Wrong ! All stage production show entertainers are auditioned, hired, trained and under contract with Stiletto Entertainment of Los Angeles. They are never seen by HAL staff prior to hiring and are not HAL employees.

Actually, just to clarify - the casts are hired by various production companies with Stiletto being one. The newest entry to the fray is RWS & Associates based out of NYC; their casts are currently onboard the Eurodam, Noordam, and Nieuw Amsterdam. With all of the production companies the cast are, in fact, employees of Holland America Line - they are not concessionaires like the photographers, spa, casino etc.

I hope that helps.

On a recent 49 day voyage from Singapore to Rotterdam we thoroughly enjoyed the piano man, Buddy. Seemed like he could pick any tune out of the air and play it well once he'd been given a title. We enjoyed his music and his acerbic sense of humour. But his little band of followers were there to listen, not to drink. So while we considered that experience one of the memorable parts of each day, Seattle would be upset that little extra revenue came from it.

I miss having music in the MDR at night. Another nice HAL touch that had gone poof

On a recent 49 day voyage from Singapore to Rotterdam we thoroughly enjoyed the piano man, Buddy. Seemed like he could pick any tune out of the air and play it well once he'd been given a title. We enjoyed his music and his acerbic sense of humour. But his little band of followers were there to listen, not to drink. So while we considered that experience one of the memorable parts of each day, Seattle would be upset that little extra revenue came from it.

We have experienced this many times on different ships. Seems that a lot of people have not yet clued in to the fact that a Piano Bar is a BAR ... :rolleyes: They show up and occupy prime real estate at the piano without ever ordering a drink and stay there, often for hours. I seriously doubt that any of these people would attempt to do that at a land bar in their city. And if they did, bar management would soon tell them where they can sit ;)

We have experienced this many times on different ships. Seems that a lot of people have not yet clued in to the fact that a Piano Bar is a BAR ... :rolleyes: They show up and occupy prime real estate at the piano without ever ordering a drink and stay there, often for hours. I seriously doubt that any of these people would attempt to do that at a land bar in their city. And if they did, bar management would soon tell them where they can sit ;)

There is a big difference, however. On a land bar, you get in for free and support the bar buy buying drinks. On a ship, you have paid to get into the bar so you do not have to tip to listen to the music.

DON

I heard that HAL is considering going 100 percent Karaoke, guest talent, and crew talent shows

Management has determined that it will not only eliminate the entertainment budget but they will be able to cut a few things from the activity schedule, thus reducing even more staff.

Plus the jukeboxes of course. Two bucks a song, three for a five spot.

I heard that HAL is considering going 100 percent Karaoke, guest talent, and crew talent shows

 

Management has determined that it will not only eliminate the entertainment budget but they will be able to cut a few things from the activity schedule, thus reducing even more staff.

 

Plus the jukeboxes of course. Two bucks a song, three for a five spot.

I don't think you need to worry about them asking you to replace the comedian :D

That's a good chuckle...but sadly, we noticed the lower quality in the Ocean Bar and lack of dinner music in the restaurant aboard the Maasdam. We lament the loss of the old Rosario Strings in the Explorers Lounge.

As another OP once commented....the next thing you will see is juke boxes that require you to insert your cruise card for payment.

One good thing though...at least the music will be on tune.

I so agree! I should have said Adagio and BB King are the best entertainment on HAL ships. Just wish BB King could be on all the ships. We really enjoyed them on the Eurodam.

Absolutely! Tempest Barnes is awesome!

Hello

I took many cruises with HAL over the years, the last one in 2005 on a 35 day Voyage of the Vikings on the MAASDAM....it was on this cruise I noticed a cutback of waiters, cabin stewards and musicians. I pledged never again.

One line that has NEVER cut back on musicians is CUNARD LINE. There are musicians everywhere is various lounges and of course the ballroom where an orchestra plays for dancing. The musicians include a harpist, a four piece string quartet, a four piece night club band, a very popular three piece jazz group and various pianists. In addition, during the Summer crossings Cunard will sometimes complement all these musicians with students from Juliard who also play about the ship. And of course, there is an orchestra that backs up the entertainers in the show room. Usually once a season, the British National Symphony Orcehstra is on board for concerts to huge crowds. I am sailing next week on the Queen Mary 2 out of New York on a 31 days South American cruise, a segment of the world cruise.

One huge reason is Cunard is my GO TO line is that I know I will be greeted with live music all over the ship. You will not find that on HAL and that is a great shame. You can blame the bean counters for that. You can blame the bean counters that HAL is not that special anymore, that nothing really sets it apart, that it really deserves to fail. To all of my fellows who appreciate good music and miss it on HAL, I hope you will check out Cunard.

All the best,

Deck Chair

Just off of the Statendam. While on board I learned that Hal has ended Solo guitarists on vista class ships and thinking of taking it fleet wide. They will also no longer provide singers for the Hal cats and cutting out the saxophonist. I find this very sad as I enjoy the music in the lounges. I always thought Hal was above the pack now they seem to be sliding to the middle.[/QUOT

 

Cut anything but the saxophonist!! As a fellow saxophonist this is just not acceptable.

"You can blame the bean counters that HAL is not that special anymore, that nothing really sets it apart, that it really deserves to fail."

HAL does not "deserve" to fail. This has a been a banner year for all cruise lines, HAL included. Perhaps they don't meet your expectations any longer and you are free to take your business elsewhere but things change, nothing stays the same forever.

I don't think you need to worry about them asking you to replace the comedian :D

What comedian? Rumor has it that they are being replaced with black and white reruns of the Jack Benny Show (most on HAL did see the original shows). We have also heard that the lecturers on Grand Cruises are being replaced with reruns of Wild Kingdom (starring Marlin Perkins). These shows will also be available on your cabin TV at 8pm for the late night crowd :)

Hank:eek:

I do not think that it is just cutting back on music that bothers the average cruiser.

It is the other cuts. And they are obvious-especially to those who frequent other cruise lines.

What do they seem to be? Food quality, preparation, and offerings. MDR service, MDR wine service, ship maintenance-specifically cabin furnishings, plumbing, HVAC, bar service...to name just a few.

Yes, HAL is changing. We would be happier if it was only the music that was changing.

Change at HAL always seems to imply cutbacks to us, not actual changes in offerings.

Agree with all the above. Every cruise I notice a few more cutbacks. Yes it is happening on all the lines but HAL seems to be cutting more that affects the passengers. After my last cruise on the eurodam I was wishing I wasn't in the penalty phase for this NA cruise. Will see if my experience is the same on this one. Don't know if it has any bearing on it but the president of HAL had never been on a cruise before he took the job so how would he know what affects the average cruiser. Bottom line focus only.