Tribute Bands

[Ret MP]

About 3 years ago, my wife and I went on the Anthem to Bermuda and Boston.  There was a U2 Tribute Band (I was never a big fan of U2 until I heard this band) that was, in my opinion, absolutely great.  When I got back I was on another cruise social media site and I asked about tribute bands on Royal's ships.  The owner/administrator of the site said that it was something unique to Quantum class ships, they have tribute bands on them.  That was pre-COVID.  On the Ovation, last May, there was no tribute band.  I was told that because of COVID, it was hard to find good tribute bands and the booking of tribute bands was discontinued, at least temporarily.  Anybody know if it has started up again?

[Tin can]

We had a great Beatles tribute band on Anthem in May

[mets123]

Yes. They are on ship that has a Music HAll (Quantum Class and Amped Oasis Class).

[Ret MP]

6 minutes ago, mets123 said:

Yes. They are on ship that has a Music HAll (Quantum Class and Amped Oasis Class).

Ya, the Music Hall makes sense.  The U2 band on the Anthem was in the Music Hall a couple/few times.  Then they had the big finale on the last night in the 270.  That was a great cruise for us. 

[dahirsh]

38 minutes ago, mets123 said:

Yes. They are on ship that has a Music HAll (Quantum Class and Amped Oasis Class).

and I think the cruise must have a min length as well But I don't recall how many nights.

 

[Ret MP]

I found the U2 tribute band we saw on the ship on Youtube:

 

 

[Ourusualbeach]

1 hour ago, Ret MP said:

About 3 years ago, my wife and I went on the Anthem to Bermuda and Boston.  There was a U2 Tribute Band (I was never a big fan of U2 until I heard this band) that was, in my opinion, absolutely great.  When I got back I was on another cruise social media site and I asked about tribute bands on Royal's ships.  The owner/administrator of the site said that it was something unique to Quantum class ships, they have tribute bands on them.  That was pre-COVID.  On the Ovation, last May, there was no tribute band.  I was told that because of COVID, it was hard to find good tribute bands and the booking of tribute bands was discontinued, at least temporarily.  Anybody know if it has started up again?

We had a Def Leppard tribute band on Ovation in July.  Aldo have had tribute bands on Oasis so they are not limited to Q class. 

[orville99]

We have had tribute bands covering the Temptations, the Four Tops, Journey, and the Beatles on RCL cruises pre Covid and have never sailed on a quantum class ship. Bonnie Tyler was the headliner on the Oasis Total Eclipse cruise, and the Jonas Brothers were the headliners on another cruise.

Edited October 6, 2022 by orville99

[texmex.ferr]

We were on Wonder for the TA in April and they had a Beatles tribute band onboard (I think they are still onboard now).     They played in the Music Hall a few times during the crossing, and they also had a show in the theatre too.

We are getting ready to do the TA to the US again on Wonder, and hope they will either be onboard for this crossing, or there will be some other band equally as good.

[Tree_skier]

We had LA vation (U2) on Odyssey back in February and DSB (Journey) on Ovation in August.  All Royal entertainment is now fulling back on now.

 

I'd love to see them bring tribute acts to Voyager and Freedom class ships as well. The Star lounge or equivalent could get way more use than it does.

[3kidsncats]

If they say they can’t find good tribute bands due to covid, that is a line of BS.  I know, because my husband is in one, and one of his agents books some of the bands that perform on Royal ships—plenty of these bands would be very happy for more work as they were all hit really hard financially during covid.  It’s more likely they don’t want to book them, at least not yet.  

[loman]

We had a Journey tribute band on the Anthem a few years ago. 

I soon discovered i cant tolerate that high pitched voice after listening to a few tunes.

Now i cant listen to Journey at all.  Lol 🤣

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Ret MP]

4 hours ago, Ourusualbeach said:

 so they are not limited to Q class. 

That's great news. 

[Ret MP]

5 hours ago, Ret MP said:

Ya, the Music Hall makes sense.  The U2 band on the Anthem was in the Music Hall a couple/few times.  Then they had the big finale on the last night in the 270.  That was a great cruise for us. 

BTW, just as a side note:  The music hall is a great music venue, obviously.  But, it doesn't hold a candle to the 270 for sound and comfort.  I wish they had something like the 270 on the future Oasis and Icon class ships.

[ReneeFLL]

They had a Phoenix tribute band on the inaugural cruise on the Wonder in March. They were also on the second week, but don't remember if they were there the third week. Seems like I heard they went to a different ship, but I'm not sure.

[mets123]

Phoenix was on the Oasis in June.

[Tin can]

8 hours ago, 3kidsncats said:

If they say they can’t find good tribute bands due to covid, that is a line of BS.  I know, because my husband is in one, and one of his agents books some of the bands that perform on Royal ships—plenty of these bands would be very happy for more work as they were all hit really hard financially during covid.  It’s more likely they don’t want to book them, at least not yet.  

 

On Anthem in May when we still had restrictions of 3 day negative tests etc there was a tribute band and a  full compliment of musicians and singers around the ship so I'm not sure why this would be different to the original poster on Ovation at the same time.

 

I feel for the musicians who were hit very hard during covid, the Caribbean band on Anthem had a tips jar which personally I have never seen before but even on a UK cruise I and many others contributed.

 

 

[mac_tlc]

We have seen Phoenix on Oasis in May and September. They are fabulous. 
 

I will disagree with some that the Music Hall is a good venue. I think it’s cramped with terrible sight lines. Last month I went to deck 9 and got a seat at the rail, it was a bit better than deck 8. One night Phoenix was in the Theatre and that was awesome.

 

Here is some Foreigner:

 

 

 

mac_tlc

Edited October 7, 2022 by mac_tlc

[little britain]

Led Zeppelin tribute band No Quarter on Wonder last week. 

[loman]

Foreigner and Led Zep are in my rotation when im on the treadmill along with other 70`s bands . ( no Journey though )

 

Last week on Allure there was a good band in serious need of a sound engineer.

Bass was too loud drowning out the rest of the band. Pity . 🙁

[Another_Critic]

5 hours ago, mac_tlc said:

We have seen Phoenix on Oasis in May and September. They are fabulous. 
 

I will disagree with some that the Music Hall is a good venue. I think it’s cramped with terrible sight lines. Last month I went to deck 9 and got a seat at the rail, it was a bit better than deck 8. One night Phoenix was in the Theatre and that was awesome.

 

Music Hall on Oasis is a different configuration and smaller than on Quantum class.

[nferr]

15 minutes ago, Another_Critic said:

Music Hall on Oasis is a different configuration and smaller than on Quantum class.

 

I really like Music Hall on Anthem. That's where I ended up most evenings.

[SummerBeee]

Led Zeppagain was on Oasis early 2022. They performed in the Aqua Theater as well as indoor venues 

[3kidsncats]

9 hours ago, Tin can said:

 

On Anthem in May when we still had restrictions of 3 day negative tests etc there was a tribute band and a  full compliment of musicians and singers around the ship so I'm not sure why this would be different to the original poster on Ovation at the same time.

 

I feel for the musicians who were hit very hard during covid, the Caribbean band on Anthem had a tips jar which personally I have never seen before but even on a UK cruise I and many others contributed.

 

You may have seen a “local” tribute band (ie, one that lives in the area of the home port for the ship) or a band that was made up of the regular onboard musicians and is being marketed as a tribute band but is not actually performing as such outside of the cruise line.  Previous to covid, RCCL was flying in entire bands for 1 single cruise, or occasionally a couple B2B cruises.  Much like they do for comedians.  But it’s more money to fly in 4-8 people, and reserve cabins for them (usually double up assignments).  And with airline issues, delayed/cancelled flights, there is the added issue of they can’t reliably fly in the band day of - which would mean putting them up in a hotel potentially the night before.  

 

And yes, live entertainment workers were hit incredibly hard during covid, with most being independent contractors and not eligible for unemployment benefits.  In our state, they were able to qualify, except if one had been paid for a single gig via w-2, then their benefit amount was based on that, and essentially amounted to no benefit.  It was tough, and now venues are changing direction with the kind of bands they are hiring (ie, skewing younger, so booking classic rock bands less frequently if at all).  

[Ret MP]

42 minutes ago, SummerBeee said:

Led Zeppagain was on Oasis early 2022. They performed in the Aqua Theater as well as indoor venues 

I'd love to see a Led Zeppelin tribute ban, they're my favorite R&R band.