Ray Coussins - Singer in Crooners Bar

[TLCOhio]

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.

 

Appreciate this great question on Ray Coussins. As noted above by this traveler from San Antonio, we also were very fortunate to be on the late February-early March Island Princess sailing from Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco. Lots more on that Panama Canal "adventure" is detailed with many photos on my live/blog connected below.

 

We were so fortunate to super enjoy the Princess Theater program that Ray did. WOW!! It was such a great show!! He completed this program with a great video clip where Frank Sinatra sang that trademark "My Way" and Ray finish it with his excellent keyboard work. Wonderful segment!!

 

BUT, almost as great was an earlier part of his evening program where he shared about his personal meeting with Ira Gershwin at his Beverly Hills mansion arranged by Sinatra. This included Ray playing "Rhapsody in Blue" for this famous brother of George Gershwin. So excellent!! Plus, Ray also shared about going to the top music school in London and rubbing shoulders with Elton John, etc. Fascinating stories, memories and connections. Nice music, songs, etc.

 

Later in the cruise, I did drop by and enjoyed part of his playing and audience interaction in the Crooners Bar. Also very nice, but the top highlight was his full, very good stage performance and that sharing on the big stage of the Princess Theater. Great experiences. Very fun and enlightening!!

 

THANKS! Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

 

Panama Canal? Just completed Feb. 28-Mar. 15, 2017, Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco adventure through the Panama Canal with our first stops in Colombia, Central America and Mexico, plus added time in the great Golden Gate City. Lots of fun pictures!! See more at:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2465580

[Alison48]

Thanks for the information, Terry! I am so delighted Ray Coussins is still doing what he does best! Lucky for all those passengers that enjoyed his shows. (Wish my husband and I had been two of those!) It was very nice of you to have posted.

[RosaRobinette]

We just finished a 15 day Hawaiian Emerald Princess and met Mr. Coussins. He was wonderful. Didn't find him until the end of the trip and could kick ourselves for it. He's amazing!

[M@A]

Just got off of the Royal Princess in LA, and wanted to report that Ray is still in rare form doing multiple shows a day at the Crooners Bar. 

He is fabulous performer (and great character) and not to be missed if you have the opportunity to catch his act.   

 

Jake 

[Colo Cruiser]

On 1/3/2019 at 3:39 PM, RosaRobinette said:

We just finished a 15 day Hawaiian Emerald Princess and met Mr. Coussins. He was wonderful. Didn't find him until the end of the trip and could kick ourselves for it. He's amazing!

Man that Ray guy is pretty young.  

[M@A]

LOL.  I recall him saying he's 71 and on his 7th marriage.  (I'll let him tell you about the state of his derrière.)

[Memtn901]

Hey folks-any news about Ray Coussins? I'm hoping he'll be on the Royal 11/23/2019 7 day LA-Mexico cruise.

[gotta cruise again]

8 hours ago, Memtn901 said:

Hey folks-any news about Ray Coussins? I'm hoping he'll be on the Royal 11/23/2019 7 day LA-Mexico cruise.

 

I did a search and found this information on Ray Coussins’ website:

http://www.coussins.org/Ray/

 

Seems Princess is no longer booking him!!!

[1emerald1]

I sailed on the Royal last April and he was on the cruise prior to mine.  I wonder how old the post on his website is.

[Memtn901]

@1emerald1  EXACTLY! unfortunately, I'm afraid his website has not been updated in some time. I have friends that sailed this year on the Royal with him, and I sailed with Ray in Jan 2018 on the Grand SFO-Mexico. I'm hoping he's back (or still on) the Royal this November.

[1emerald1]

10 minutes ago, Memtn901 said:

@1emerald1  EXACTLY! unfortunately, I'm afraid his website has not been updated in some time. I have friends that sailed this year on the Royal with him, and I sailed with Ray in Jan 2018 on the Grand SFO-Mexico. I'm hoping he's back (or still on) the Royal this November.

Yes I was very disappointed that I had just missed him.  I sailed with him on the Emerald in 2014 or 2015 and he was fantastic.  

[rkelly21]

On 7/18/2015 at 6:21 PM, lv2cruiseanywhere said:

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?

Ray is currently on the Caribbean Princess for a few more weeks. Don't miss him.