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Severe Anthem Entertainment Cuts

heathermiller86nj
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SunReader

SunReader

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Hi, I will be on the same cruise as Gail on Friday. I have the internet package. I will try to post about the Music Hall entertainment. Hope the smaller venues aren't packed.

 

Royal didn't notify customers who booked direct about the dynamic dining and tribute bands changes. It was after final payment date. Found out from Cruise Critic.

 

Looking forward to a great cruise.

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TeeRick

TeeRick

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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!

 

Bill - I will try to find out. Savannah Jack has been awesome. The entertainment has been excellent overall. You will soon see. We really liked The Gift and We Will Rock You. We were not too keen about Spectra's Cabaret but to each his own. The musicians from We Will Rock You have also been playing here and there around the ship at night and they are all really good.

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DJuris716

DJuris716

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Do any recent Anthem cruisers have info about the live bands and potential of tribute bands coming back for the last few cruises of 2016?

 

The following entertainment is currently scheduled for the December 16, 2016 sailing of the Anthem of the Seas:

 

Darrell Joyce Comedian

Mosaic Acapella Group

Dan Bennett Comedy Juggler

 

Per Royal Caribbean

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ATC cruiser

ATC cruiser

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Posted
It seems perhaps it might be difficult getting onboard entertainment during the holidays. I'll be boarding Anthem in a week. If I want to listen to Journey that bad, I'll just play them on my music list on my balcony with a nice beverage.

 

 

[emoji106]

 

 

Sent from my iPad using Forums

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SunReader

SunReader

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Yes, there have been cuts to the entertainment. I am on board now. The first night was karaoke in the Music Hall and the second night was a DJ that had music for the younger crowd. Tonight it is the DJ in the Music Hall at 11:00.

 

Besides the tribute band cut, the comedian was also cut for the welcome aboard show and late night comedy show last night. The cruise director said the comedian didn't make the ship.

 

One recommendation I have is don't schedule the late seating for dinner. They have entertainment options but they are earlier in the evening.

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robbykapnj

robbykapnj

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Thank you for the update.

 

Have you questioned, commented or complained about the entertainment cuts? Curious what shipboard management's response would be to:

 

-Cut to the well-advertised tribute bands on Anthem

-Lack of live music at Music Hall (which was heavily advertised as a venue dedicated to live music)

-Lack of a nightclub on night 1

-Cut to entertainment such as the comedian

 

 

Appreciate any updates. Hope you manage to still enjoy.

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CruisingChick

CruisingChick

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We had so much fun on our first Anthem cruise back in March. Rock The Boat was the band in the Music Hall and they had Resurrection (Journey Tribute Band) also on board.

 

I am almost sorry that we booked another cruise for next month. I hate having to go to bed right after dinner as we have late seating dinner.

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TeeRick

TeeRick

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Yes, there have been cuts to the entertainment. I am on board now. The first night was karaoke in the Music Hall and the second night was a DJ that had music for the younger crowd. Tonight it is the DJ in the Music Hall at 11:00.

 

Besides the tribute band cut, the comedian was also cut for the welcome aboard show and late night comedy show last night. The cruise director said the comedian didn't make the ship.

 

One recommendation I have is don't schedule the late seating for dinner. They have entertainment options but they are earlier in the evening.

 

They had live music in the Music Hall most nights on our recent 12 day (the one just before your cruise). Occasional DJ too. We had a comedian on opening night and another later in the cruise. If your comedian did not make the ship (and if true)- I can't see how that qualifies as a RC entertainment cut. I agree - no tribute bands but some here have already posted these are coming back in the new year. There were multiple venues each night that had live music in addition to the production shows.

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gazruss

gazruss

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We were just on the Nov 27th 12 day sailing. We were also on the Anthem inaugural sailing last Nov and loved it so much we booked while onboard. The difference between then and now was night and day. RCI has penny pinched this ship so much it was painful to witness. If you have never been on another sailing maybe the entertainment was fine, but like the food it is totally subjective. The music hall was a joke, Recorded ballroom music, a lady playing guitar alone with no vocals at prime time. Karaoke, And the poor poor band that played most of the other times were worse than the karaoke. Only night we found it full was when Savannah Jack played. Last night comedy act was pitiful and i have never experienced so many people get up and leave during the show. Cruise director commented on how many empty seats there were. Have to wonder if its a plan by RCI to have bad entertainment in the venues to stop people attending and using their drinks package. Room service is now useless unless you pay. Our room attendant was so overworked he never had time to vacuum our cabin. We again booked while onboard the second day but are now moving the booking to another ship. Positives were the return to normal dining went well for us and we never had to wait to to be seated. The food in the dining room was as good as ever before, Dru Pavlov the CD and his sidekick Chris were very good, almost Spacey class.

 

Some on here might not like to hear this, but RCI has to be told we sheep will not accept substandard services much longer.

 

Oh by the way, we still enjoyed the cruise despite RCI not because of them :)

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SunReader

SunReader

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They had live music in the Music Hall most nights on our recent 12 day (the one just before your cruise). Occasional DJ too. We had a comedian on opening night and another later in the cruise. If your comedian did not make the ship (and if true)- I can't see how that qualifies as a RC entertainment cut. I agree - no tribute bands but some here have already posted these are coming back in the new year. There were multiple venues each night that had live music in addition to the production shows.

 

It is possible the comedian didn't make the ship due to personal issues, but weather was fine in the Northeast. Haven't seen Savannah Jack on the schedule. Sounds like I would have enjoyed them. The music sets are repetitive. If you see them one night, they were the same songs the next two nights. Tonight there will be a show. Spectre Carbaret got postponed due to technical difficulties. So a lot of the entertainment is now scheduled on later couple of days.

 

Due to large number of non US travelers on board, they may not be working hard to replace the entertainment. I think many have done this cruise as part of a longer US holiday tour. Maybe this is why much of the music is instrumental.

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walker409

walker409

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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!

Hi. Just curious as to where you located the list of on board entertainment?

 

 

Sent from my SM-G900V using Forums mobile app

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Life is Good Cruising

Life is Good Cruising

Posted
Posted (edited)
Do any recent Anthem cruisers have info about the live bands and potential of tribute bands coming back for the last few cruises of 2016?

 

Just off Anthem yesterday and was told they were going to have a Led Zeppelin Tribute band for the Christmas sailing. Even though we didn't have a Tribute band, there was plenty of entertainment going on nightly. Spent a lot of nights in the Music Hall dancing :)

Edited by Life is Good Cruising
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Kat196

Kat196

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By far, our least favorite cruise.

 

Windjammer and Café 270 always crowded. Once we went to Windjammer, could not find a seat, went to café 270 and the line was out the door and down the aisle; finally went to Solariam we got a seat but food was subpar.

 

Shows not so good - except for the magician......loved him.

 

Elevators took forever.

 

Except for trivia, not much to do. (Yes, they have Northstar, IFly and Bumper Cars......altogether takes 45 minutes out of your 7 day cruise.) We and a lot of other people spent a lot of time wandering. Oasis class SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO much better.

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Baires

Baires

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I was just informed that this is the entertainment lineup for the 10-day holiday cruise on Anthem (12/23 - 1/2), so they doesn't seem to be cutting much, and there's a tribute band as well:

 

AJ Jamal, Comedian

Tommy Green Jr, Pub Guitarist

Finis Henderson, Impressionist

Ronn Lucas, Ventriloquist

Led Zepagain, Tribute Act

Stephani Parker, Vocalist

Darrell Joyce, Comedian

Rick Novell, Juggler

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MonaCK

MonaCK

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Posted
I was just informed that this is the entertainment lineup for the 10-day holiday cruise on Anthem (12/23 - 1/2), so they doesn't seem to be cutting much, and there's a tribute band as well:

 

AJ Jamal, Comedian

Tommy Green Jr, Pub Guitarist

Finis Henderson, Impressionist

Ronn Lucas, Ventriloquist

Led Zepagain, Tribute Act

Stephani Parker, Vocalist

Darrell Joyce, Comedian

Rick Novell, Juggler

 

Is that from sending an email? Sounds like they were just reconfiguring a bit, or are heeding suggestions.

 

Looks like a great lineup to me!

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