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Ray Coussins - Singer in Crooners Bar


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We have enjoyed Ray Coussins on several Princess cruises (and on one Royal Caribbean cruise several years ago) but have not seen him recently. We saw him last in 2014 and I think he said he would be performing on the new Royal Princess next.

 

He was performing in Crooners Bar each night. He was at one time Frank Sinatra's personal piano player and had many stories to tell about that era. My husband especially enjoyed his performance of Rhapsody in Blue. Yes, we did book a cruise just to see him!

 

Have you seen him lately? Or do you know where he is performing, or will be next?

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He may have been on the Royal when we were on April 25- May 21. His name sounds familiar. Also I vaguely remember someone doing a Frank Sinatra tribute. Or maybe it was my cruise on the Grand this past February.

Edited by dickinson
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we were on a ship in Alaska....think it was the Crown....and he played. He was wonderful. He did say that he wasn't sure how mych longer he would be doing this as he had some type of cancer....He also talked about Frank Sinatra.....One of the better people I have seen in Crooners....place was packed every time he was there. Nice, nice guy. I have often thought about him and wondered how he was doing.

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He is (or at least was) on the Ruby. We saw him in April/May and I saw him listed on the Patters for June.

 

By the way, he's a pianist, not (at least by primary calling) a singer. He's famous for having been Frank Sinatra's house pianist for years.

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We were on the Grand to Hawaii this past December/January - Ray was fabulous! We took several pictures with him and enjoyed his playing so much! I would sit in Crooner's for 2 hours just to get a seat for his show. He did a wonderful New Year's Eve performance, very memorable.

 

I thought he was supposed to be on the Grand until August (next month), but don't know for sure. Would like to be on another cruise where he is performing, he is the best!

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He is (or at least was) on the Ruby. We saw him in April/May and I saw him listed on the Patters for June.

 

By the way, he's a pianist, not (at least by primary calling) a singer. He's famous for having been Frank Sinatra's house pianist for years.

 

I hope you are correct. We will be on the Ruby Princess in September and October this year and it would be a real treat to see him again.

 

Thanks for all of the responses.

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Ray also has a show act which he will preform in a pinch in the Princess Theatre. I can,t remember the circumstance for certain but either the scheduled artist became ill or was so bad was removed from the ship and Ray filled in and did a great job. You will often find him hanging around the IC around 10 or 11 am.

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  • 1 month later...
He performed at the Universe Lounge last night on Coral Princess, 9/13/2015. His final number of "My Way" with the Princess Big Band was simply sensational.

 

If you get to talk to him, ask how long he will be onboard. We are on Coral in November.

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I have seen him several times......He knows us by sight now....He told us that he plans to stay on the Coral for the rest of this contract which should be through November.....Then he will go back home and who knows what ship next. He is great....If you see him, ask him how his tooth is. He knocked it out on our Alaskan cruise, and couldn't get to a dentist for a few days....

Edited by laughing husky
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I have seen him several times......He knows us by sight now....He told us that he plans to stay on the Coral for the rest of this contract which should be through November.....Then he will go back home and who knows what ship next. He is great....If you see him, ask him how his tooth is. He knocked it out on our Alaskan cruise, and couldn't get to a dentist for a few days....

 

thank you . I hope it really is through November. We board on November 22 and disembark on December 7 so I'll keep my fingers crossed he's on our cruise.

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If you get to talk to him, ask how long he will be onboard. We are on Coral in November.

 

He said that he was on the Coral through to Ft Lauderdale, but after that would be off for a while. We did not get the impression that he would still be onboard beyond October, but don't know specific dates.... Sorry

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  • 1 month later...

He played on our recent (Sept 21 - Oct 9) 17 day Panama Canal transit. He did a show in Universe Lounge and also played most nights in Crooner's. He had a loyal following who were in Crooners repeatedly. He played, told a few short anecdotes, and took requests.

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  • 1 year later...

Has anyone heard if Ray Coussins is back on the Princess ships? He was so wonderful when we saw him. We would love to sit and listen to him sing his songs again. What makes him so special is that he is so personable and reaches out to his audience. A really wonderful entertainer. We will be traveling again soon and wish Princess would book him again. <|3

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I found his website & discovered this undated statement.

 

 

To the many wonderful people that I met on Princess Cruise Lines over the past few years, I have some news.



 

After many years of working for them Princess Cruises have sadly not booked me for any of their present scheduled cruises.

I loved working with them of course and hopefully they will find a place for me one day on one of their great cruise liners. I miss my many cruising friends with whom I had a fantastic time entertaining them with my piano and my songs.

 

I hope that we will meet again somewhere over the rainbow.

If you have enjoyed my company and would like to see me on board once more, please let them know.

Princess Cruises can be contacted here: customerrelations@princesscruises.com

 

http://www.thepianoplayer.biz/

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Ray performed on the Island Princess sailing from Feb 28 to March 15 this year. Saw him in Crooners and 1 night in the theater. It was interesting to hear his stories about Sinatra and he is very talented.

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So, Ray Coussins performed on the Island Princess that ended last week? How lucky for you that you saw him play the piano! How unfortunate for us that we did not sail on that voyage. <|3 Thanks for the information, Jase. Maybe he will turn up again. I only wish there were a way of knowing when that will be as we would book a cruise to see him. That's just how fantastic his performance is!

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