Carnival Shows - slight rant

[ninjacat123]

3 minutes ago, jimbo5544 said:

If you cruise regularly like you and a lesser extent we do, no matter what you do, you will see duplicates.  The only off broadway version show I saw on a cruise ship worth of watching was Jersey Boys on NCL Bliss.  Some of the others were….painful.  Carnival’s show are different some better than others. 

I have not sailed on ships with Broadway shows.  Do they perform a truncated version of the musical with acting, or just a medley of the show's songs with dancing?  TIA!

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, ninjacat123 said:

I have not sailed on ships with Broadway shows.  Do they perform a truncated version of the musical with acting, or just a medley of the show's songs with dancing?  TIA!

Have seen 3, all whole shows.  Jersey Boys was good, other two were marginal at best.  .  

[Colorado Beach Bum]

1 hour ago, jimbo5544 said:

If you cruise regularly like you and a lesser extent we do, no matter what you do, you will see duplicates.  The only off broadway version show I saw on a cruise ship worth of watching was Jersey Boys on NCL Bliss.  Some of the others were….painful.  Carnival’s show are different some better than others. 

We saw Million Dollar Quartet on NCL and thought it was excellent.  Cats on RCL, not so much.  Playlist shows are enjoyable but it does depend on the lead singers. 

[Viajera7]

2 hours ago, Saint Greg said:

They definitely have a better show/ship ratio. But I’ll say this…you’ve gotten lucky not having any repeats. I know breakaway and getaway are the two ships I’ve seen out of New Orleans in recent years. If I went on both of those two of the three shows would’ve been the same. 
 

But then my question is how long have those shows been running? Carnival switched to the playlist shows since I’ve been cruising which is only 8 years. That means the shows I saw on elation in 2014 and triumph (now sunrise) in 2017 are all different now. Is it better if a show on NCL/RCL is unique but has been running for 20 years? (I have no idea how long they’ve been running)
 

Hopefully carnival keeps adding shows and gets that show/ship ratio down…But while they do have some unique shows, NCL does have the same show on up to 3 ships and RCL in some cases has the same show on up to 4 ships.

 

You are right but I have been lucky so far this year. It’s funny that you mention the Breakaway and the Getaway because those are my next 2 NCL cruises. One next week and the other in October. I was on the Breakaway in February so I know that I am going to see probably the same shows but I am looking forward to see Six again. I am happy that Mardi Gras and Horizon have different productions.

[jimbo5544]

1 hour ago, Colorado Beach Bum said:

We saw Million Dollar Quartet on NCL and thought it was excellent.  Cats on RCL, not so much.  Playlist shows are enjoyable but it does depend on the lead singers. 

Agree about the quality of the voices making a difference

Edited September 17, 2022 by jimbo5544

[ninjacat123]

11 hours ago, jimbo5544 said:

Have seen 3, all whole shows.  Jersey Boys was good, other two were marginal at best.  .  

Is it the whole Broadway show?

[staceyglow]

I have to say that while I love Carnival overall, their production shows leave something to be desired. The female singers tend to be screechy, and their isn't much creativity in the shows. 

 

I have been on a couple of cruises where the shows were "in concert". That means no costumes or sets; the performers sit on stools and sing to the taped music. It is completely obvious that the dancers are lip synching. Inexcusable. 

[jimbo5544]

9 minutes ago, ninjacat123 said:

Is it the whole Broadway show?

Yes

[DallasGuy75219]

22 minutes ago, staceyglow said:

It is completely obvious that the dancers are lip synching. Inexcusable. 

Not sure how's it's inexcusable when Carnival calls the cast "singers and dancers."  There are usually 2 females and 2 males who are clearly the lead singers. They do some dancing but the rest of the cast are clearly dancers, not singers.  Yes they're probably lip-synching, or if they're singing they're not on a hot microphone anyway.

 

But in any event, in my experience the quality of the shows usually hinges on the lead singers.  The backup vocals are likely pre-recorded just like the rest of the music.

[icft]

2 hours ago, staceyglow said:

I have to say that while I love Carnival overall, their production shows leave something to be desired. The female singers tend to be screechy, and their isn't much creativity in the shows. 

 

I have been on a couple of cruises where the shows were "in concert". That means no costumes or sets; the performers sit on stools and sing to the taped music. It is completely obvious that the dancers are lip synching. Inexcusable. 

I agree that Carnival's production shows leave something to be desired. I have never been to one I liked so after seeing each one once I stopped going.The biggest negative for me is the sound quality. I think the screechy female singers is because they seem to pump up high frequency and low frequency sound and suppress the mid range. 

 

But there are those who enjoy those shows until they have seen them too many times and I too find it sad that they rarely change.

[ShakyBeef]

9 hours ago, staceyglow said:

 

I have been on a couple of cruises where the shows were "in concert". That means no costumes or sets; the performers sit on stools and sing to the taped music.

 

They do this sometimes when the seas are rough and so the performers are not allowed to dance.  They may do it other times for other reasons, I don't know about that.  But if it's a rough seas day, this is done for the performers' safety.

[DallasGuy75219]

10 minutes ago, ShakyBeef said:

 

They do this sometimes when the seas are rough and so the performers are not allowed to dance.  They may do it other times for other reasons, I don't know about that.

Post-restart it's also happened if the dancers but not the singers were sick with COVID.  Granted the cast work unmasked in such close proximity to each other that they usually get sick together or at least initially all get quarantined at the same time due to having potentially exposed each other.

[mz-s]

What drives me crazy about the playlist shows nowadays is the LED backdrops look like N64 video game backdrops. I expect to see Donkey Kong rolling out of a barrel during Latin Nights. Like others I’ve had cruises with great shows and horrible shows. It all depends on how good the performers are.

[ninjacat123]

I remember a casting call for "backstage singers" for the Broadway production of Cats.  Singers who would never be on stage, singing to fill out the choral numbers vocally.  I didn't know this was done but it makes sense for a dance-intensive show like Cats.

[san diego sue]

Very interesting to hear the comments on shows.

We had not cruised Carnival for several years and decided to give it a try again on the Panorama.

We have 76 cruises on Princess and was tired of the same old thing, food, shows etc.

Just got off the ship yesterday and was so impressed with the shows, seeing them for the first time.

In a 7 day cruise, getting 4 production shows, all different a real treat for us. I totally loved them. So if you really want to be bored, try Princess with their same old tired shows. Lately with a 7 day cruise you are lucky if you get the two shows promised. last cruise recently we got one in 10 days. Everything is blamed on Covid on those ships. We were tired of hearing about it.

Not to get off topic on this thread but a quick mention, loved the food venues  too.

[staceyglow]

2 hours ago, san diego sue said:

Very interesting to hear the comments on shows.

We had not cruised Carnival for several years and decided to give it a try again on the Panorama.

We have 76 cruises on Princess and was tired of the same old thing, food, shows etc.

Just got off the ship yesterday and was so impressed with the shows, seeing them for the first time.

In a 7 day cruise, getting 4 production shows, all different a real treat for us. I totally loved them. So if you really want to be bored, try Princess with their same old tired shows. Lately with a 7 day cruise you are lucky if you get the two shows promised. last cruise recently we got one in 10 days. Everything is blamed on Covid on those ships. We were tired of hearing about it.

Not to get off topic on this thread but a quick mention, loved the food venues  too.

I recently got off the Royal Princess and the shows were straight up bad. Like, cast members dressed up like the Blues Brothers doing The Robot and The Moonwalk bad. 

[jetsfan58]

Carnival Mardi Gras had some of the best shows that we had ever seen on any Carnival ship. 

[Colorado Beach Bum]

4 hours ago, san diego sue said:

Very interesting to hear the comments on shows.

We had not cruised Carnival for several years and decided to give it a try again on the Panorama.

We have 76 cruises on Princess and was tired of the same old thing, food, shows etc.

Just got off the ship yesterday and was so impressed with the shows, seeing them for the first time.

In a 7 day cruise, getting 4 production shows, all different a real treat for us. I totally loved them. So if you really want to be bored, try Princess with their same old tired shows. Lately with a 7 day cruise you are lucky if you get the two shows promised. last cruise recently we got one in 10 days. Everything is blamed on Covid on those ships. We were tired of hearing about it.

Not to get off topic on this thread but a quick mention, loved the food venues  too.

Glad you enjoyed.  We really enjoy the shows on Panorama as well.  

[BlerkOne]

Shows generate no direct revenue for Carnival and are 100% overhead. There are other entertainment options. No reservations required or possible.

[KyloRen]

I totally agree with you but would also like to add that I hate that so many of the song are oldies. I feel like the majority of people on the boat are my age or even younger (I’m 40) and the focus on stuff like 50s-60s type music while “iconic” is really boring and I’m surprised if it’s anyone else’s style. I remember they had this same music as a kid when I was on cruises. 

[Theosprey247]

I don’t like any show on any cruise line. But alas, my wife likes them so I must persevere to endure. 

[ninjacat123]

40 minutes ago, Theosprey247 said:

I don’t like any show on any cruise line. But alas, my wife likes them so I must persevere to endure. 

Happy wife, happy life😄

[mz-s]

2 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Shows generate no direct revenue for Carnival and are 100% overhead. There are other entertainment options. No reservations required or possible.

 

True but like other entertainment options they certainly generate drink sales.

[BlerkOne]

44 minutes ago, mz-s said:

 

True but like other entertainment options they certainly generate drink sales.

Some, but not a lot. Especially with Cheers and other drink programs. The shows are what, 30 minutes in length?

[Colorado Beach Bum]

3 hours ago, BlerkOne said:

Shows generate no direct revenue for Carnival and are 100% overhead. There are other entertainment options. No reservations required or possible.

But isn’t it part of the whole experience that drives people to cruise?  Most things on the ship don’t generate direct revenue - swimming pools, water parks, mini golf, comedy, piano bar, karaoke, live bands, food, room stewards, etc. but without all of that why would people cruise?