Severe Anthem Entertainment Cuts

 

Updated schedule:

Welcome, AJ Jamal, Comedian

Finis Henderson, Impressionist

Ronn Lucas, Ventriloquist

Stephani Parker, Female Vocalist

 

!

On a positive note, all 4 of these acts are great.

In recent Adventure review, I commented on Stephani Larker as follows:

"STEPHANIE PARKER - headliner. If you ever see her on one of your sailings GO SEE HER! What is she doing singing on cruise ships? Seriously? One of the best headliners I have seen in my RCL history, should be recording professionally on a label signed by some record producer. I wonder what her story is but wow, just awesome and a full-on standing O at the end.

https://www.instagram.com/

Let's see... 35 RCL cruises, let's assume 3 headliners per cruise that's over 100 headliners I have personally witnessed. I remember 5 of them... Stephani is one of them.

By the way, I was on Quantum for 12 nights as a

Solo and more than Enough to Do every night I couldn't decide sometimes.

Go with a positive mind... I think you mentioned You're only On for 7 nights I don't think you'll be able to do everything and you would not even remember the other headliners 5 years from now, not what the shows were.

Live for the moment and have an awesome Cruise! :D

Just out of curiosity, how does the OP know who the entertainment acts are that are now scheduled to be on the ship, as opposed to who was previously scheduled. I know that royal lists the shows that are on the ship, but I didn't know that they list the individual acts.

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Just out of curiosity, how does the OP know who the entertainment acts are that are now scheduled to be on the ship, as opposed to who was previously scheduled. I know that royal lists the shows that are on the ship, but I didn't know that they list the individual acts.

 

 

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You can email RCCL a couple of weeks before your cruise and they will tell you.

web_reservations@rccl.com

I too am on the holiday sailing.

I was not a fan of dynamic dining (experienced it on the Quantum) so I'm glad that we are back to traditional dining.

I have absolutely NO doubt that there will be plenty to do on the ship - hopefully the OP will go into the cruise with an open mind. I know that I will be!

You can email RCCL a couple of weeks before your cruise and they will tell you.

 

 

 

web_reservations@rccl.com

Thanks

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Out of curiosity where did you get all the information that 'x' number of comedians and 'y' number of fly in acts would be performing on your cruise?

Out of curiosity where did you get all the information that 'x' number of comedians and 'y' number of fly in acts would be performing on your cruise?

See post #53

See post #53

That wasn't my question, OP stated they were expecting a certain amount of entertainers when they booked and now the list is shorter. I was curious as to where the initial expectation came from since I have never seen a list that states on 7 days there will be 'x' entertainers, a 9 day will have 'y' entertainers, etc. I know as the cruise gets close you can get the list but OP made it sound like they were aware of a certain number of entertainers at the time of booking.

That wasn't my question, OP stated they were expecting a certain amount of entertainers when they booked and now the list is shorter. I was curious as to where the initial expectation came from since I have never seen a list that states on 7 days there will be 'x' entertainers, a 9 day will have 'y' entertainers, etc. I know as the cruise gets close you can get the list but OP made it sound like they were aware of a certain number of entertainers at the time of booking.

Sorry, I'm guessing that they had emailed RCCl at one point, and was told the original schedule, and either they or someone else emailed later and got the new schedule

I have always sent an email before my cruises, and most times there were more entertainers than was listed in the email.

Does anyone have any more insight into the live music and tribute band cutbakcs? We really had been looking forward to the LIVE music in music hall after dinner and not partaking in karaoke or a silent disco every night of our cruise after 10pm. RCCL had heavily advertised Music Hall as a venue dedicated to live music with a variety of bands. Really hope we can look forward to a tribute band on the Anthem holiday sailing.

Also, how is traditional dining working out for anyone ont he first sailing without dynamic? Are the menus unique to Anthem or are the same standard fleetwide menus that we've practically memorized?

Thanks for any insight.

I would be a bit disappointed too. I chose Anthem over Grandeur and Serenade for our New England/Canada cruise next year because there are more entertainment options. It sounds trivial but I'm looking forward to tribute bands. All the ones listed are bands I LOVED when I was younger. Will I be disappointed if they cut tribute bands? Yes! Will it ruin my cruise? No.

Reporting live from Anthem. I am finding this thread to be really interesting since on Anthem there has been plenty of entertainment options every night in addition to the production shows. The Music Hall has been packed. Last night just for example Savannah Jack played for several hours there and rocked the place out. There was live music in Michael's Pub and in the Schooner Bar all at the same time and a cool virtual concert in 270. Boleros had live Salsa music. This is after we attended We Will Rock You which was no less than excellent. Really folks there is nothing to worry about - unless you cruise just to see a tribute band. Passengers on this cruise (Nov 27 - Dec 9) were informed after final payment about the change from DD and the change from tribute bands but really it has not ruined our cruise at all.

Does anyone have any more insight into the live music and tribute band cutbakcs? We really had been looking forward to the LIVE music in music hall after dinner and not partaking in karaoke or a silent disco every night of our cruise after 10pm. RCCL had heavily advertised Music Hall as a venue dedicated to live music with a variety of bands. Really hope we can look forward to a tribute band on the Anthem holiday sailing.

 

Also, how is traditional dining working out for anyone ont he first sailing without dynamic? Are the menus unique to Anthem or are the same standard fleetwide menus that we've practically memorized?

 

Thanks for any insight.

I'm sailing on Friday. I'll come back when I get internet (usually the last 4 days of the cruise) and let you know. I have late seating, and there better be live music after 10 in the music hall.

Reporting live from Anthem. I am finding this thread to be really interesting since on Anthem there has been plenty of entertainment options every night in addition to the production shows. The Music Hall has been packed. Last night just for example Savannah Jack played for several hours there and rocked the place out. There was live music in Michael's Pub and in the Schooner Bar all at the same time and a cool virtual concert in 270. Boleros had live Salsa music. This is after we attended We Will Rock You which was no less than excellent. Really folks there is nothing to worry about - unless you cruise just to see a tribute band. Passengers on this cruise (Nov 27 - Dec 9) were informed after final payment about the change from DD and the change from tribute bands but really it has not ruined our cruise at all.

Is Katrina and her band, Synergy still on board and playing in the Music Hall?

We were on a B2B on Anthem in October and even though both sailings did not have a Tribute band, there was also plenty of music playing nightly in various venues on both sailings.

For those that are interested, Tribute bands on Anthem are back for 2017. To start off the year, the "Journey" Tribute band DSB will be on board the 1/2/17 sailing.

Is Katrina and her band, Synergy still on board and playing in the Music Hall?

 

We were on a B2B on Anthem in October and even though both sailings did not have a Tribute band, there was also plenty of music playing nightly in various venues on both sailings.

 

For those that are interested, Tribute bands on Anthem are back for 2017. To start off the year, the "Journey" Tribute band DSB will be on board the 1/2/17 sailing.

Yes Synergy is on board and has been playing at night in the Music Hall.

Yes Synergy is on board and has been playing at night in the Music Hall.

Thank you :)

I don't even need to read the thread to know you will get flamed endlessly for your valid concerns.

Exactly! People cruise for different reasons.

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I'm sailing on Friday. I'll come back when I get internet (usually the last 4 days of the cruise) and let you know. I have late seating, and there better be live music after 10 in the music hall.

Yes, please let us know how everything is working out. We will have late, fixed seating dinner when we sail in January and I don't want to have to go to bed after dinner. :D

On the ship now. You have nothing to worry about entertainment wise. I don't like karioki either and find that there are too many things to do at night. The music hall is rocking, boleros is jumping and there are shows to go to. My husband has to drag me to bed at night. You have nothing at all to worry about. It's a great cruise.

Glad to hear you are enjoying your cruise. How is traditional dining working out for its first cruise? Have you cruised RCCL before? Do the menus at all look unique or are they the same food options across the fleet with identical fleet-wide menus?

Enjoy the rest of the trip.

Reporting live from Anthem. I am finding this thread to be really interesting since on Anthem there has been plenty of entertainment options every night in addition to the production shows. The Music Hall has been packed. Last night just for example Savannah Jack played for several hours there and rocked the place out. There was live music in Michael's Pub and in the Schooner Bar all at the same time and a cool virtual concert in 270. Boleros had live Salsa music. This is after we attended We Will Rock You which was no less than excellent. Really folks there is nothing to worry about - unless you cruise just to see a tribute band. Passengers on this cruise (Nov 27 - Dec 9) were informed after final payment about the change from DD and the change from tribute bands but really it has not ruined our cruise at all.

I'm sailing on Anthem on Friday...do you know if Savannah Jack is staying on for the next cruise? I hope so...sailed with them a while back and they were excellent!

Silly question, but how do you find out about the entertainment outside of what is on Cruise Planner? We love tribute bands and don't want to miss one because we pre-booked a show (knowing that we can change reservations once on board via the app).

Thanks!

Stephanie

Silly question, but how do you find out about the entertainment outside of what is on Cruise Planner? We love tribute bands and don't want to miss one because we pre-booked a show (knowing that we can change reservations once on board via the app).

 

Thanks!

Stephanie

Request entertainment info from [noparse]web_reservations@rccl.com[/noparse] about 3 weeks before the cruise.

Hi All,

 

Have an upcoming cruise on the Anthem and am very concerned by the ongoing cuts to entertainment. Given a longer, holiday sailing, I would've hoped for more entertainment than on a 7-night cruise, not less. Also, since we booked the cruise, there have been numerous, material changes to the cruising experience.

 

-First, we booked hoping for a dining and menu change and had been greatly looking forward to the rotating dining with varied menus with dynamic. Now we're back to traditional with the fleet-wide menus that can practically be recited after the 5+ year old food options. At least had hoped for menu changes even with the switch from dynamic to look forward to some enticing options from dynamic, but several have reported fleet-wide menus with little to no difference from other ships.

 

Aside from dining, we really were looking forward to the tribute bands at Music Hall. We know they were subtly eliminated. Now Music Hall with a house band is the same a Viking Lounge on every other ship, just a new venue. Also, it's disappointing to hear that most nights after 10pm is either Karaoke or a "silent disco". A silent disco is fun ONE night of a cruise, not multiple. Wasn't the whole point of this venue to have changing, ongoing LIVE music?

 

Finally, it's very disappointing to see the fly-on acts change and become depleted for our sailing to now:

 

Original Schedule:

AJ Jamal - Comedian

Finis Henderson - Impressionist

Ronn Lucas - Ventriloquist

Resurrection: A Journey Tribute - Tribute Act

Darrell Joyce - Comedian

Rick Novell - Juggler

 

Updated schedule:

Welcome, AJ Jamal, Comedian

Finis Henderson, Impressionist

Ronn Lucas, Ventriloquist

Stephani Parker, Female Vocalist

 

I get that "entertainment is subject to change" but I didn't think it would go from 6 acts to 4, maybe one would cancel and be substituted for another performer.

 

We've gone from 6 specialty acts to 4. We've gone from a live tribute band to a soloist. We've gone from 2 comedians to 1. I just don't get it, on every 7 night we've been on, there are at least 2 comedians. Now on a 10-night sailing we will have one comedian, fewer than planned and fewer than every other ship in the fleet?

 

What is going on? Very concerned and disappointed. Trying to keep an open mind, but when looking forward to a trip and paying holiday premiums, it's alarming to see such drastic cuts.

 

Thanks!

Apparently, with half the comedians, the cruise will be half as funny.

None of these things are major in my book. Just go with the flow and enjoy the cruise. Life is too short!!! :cool:

Not major to you but everyone looks for different things in a vacation. I think the pools are a waste since they are so small but how many would be here complaining if they shut it down for an entire cruise. I don't gamble so I think the casino could be used for something else but I'm sure that would upset someone that likes to gamble.

People are allowed to be disappointed and express that disappointment without people being rude and dismissive.