We also just returned from the westbound TA, and though a new knee (his) and toe surgery (mine) kept us from dancing, we noticed a decline in the number and quality of musicians onboard. Except for the classical guitarist and, to a lesser degree, the pianist in the Commodore Club, we found the musicianship poorer than before. The most annoying change was that the lobby piano was used only to play itself. In the past, we’ve loved pausing to listen to a human being playing well as we moved around the ship.
Perhaps the arts are no longer a priority for Cunard. In any case, we expressed all of this in the survey we returned. That complaints about dance hosts seem to have made a difference makes me think perhaps we can hope for a return to overall better music for next October as well.