NCL Reducing Entertainment Staff Across the Fleet

[JT1962]

Kinky Boots ending on Encore. It appears more cutbacks will be coming fleet wide.
 

https://crew-center.com/ncl-lays-staff-members-entertainment-department-will-be-reduced-across-fleet

Edited January 13, 2023 by JT1962

[ChiefMateJRK]

My only concern is that they'll eventually bring it back.

[wolft927]

All onboard entertainment is on a contract basis, having worked on board ships in the entertainment area, there may be a gap, a very small gap between casts and shows 

[Sand and Seas]

Thanks for posting the article.   Hopefully they will keep other productions we love like Million Dollar Quartet & Choir of Man.

[zqvol]

another report from some ambulance chasers

[eileeshb]

I haven’t seen Six or Choir of Man but my understanding of both of those show is that they’re relatively simple staging compared to the likes of Priscilla, Kinky boots, etc. 

There seems to be a move towards shows that are simpler to stage without numerous set changes which will reduce the number of stage hands required too.

[chillyw]

3 hours ago, Sand and Seas said:

Thanks for posting the article.   Hopefully they will keep other productions we love like Million Dollar Quartet & Choir of Man.

 

It makes sense, these shows are cheaper to produce and probably get better reviews from fans based on what we've seen on these boards. I know I don't go see the production shows like kinky boots, Priscilla, etc but I'll go see the choir of man style of shows.

[wally4ever]

4 hours ago, ChiefMateJRK said:

My only concern is that they'll eventually bring it back.

Kinky Boots is a great show.  What about it is so irksome to you that you would prefer it not to be offered even to those interested in watching it?

[MoCruiseFan]

5 hours ago, JT1962 said:

Kinky Boots ending on Encore. It appears more cutbacks will be coming fleet wide.
 

https://crew-center.com/ncl-lays-staff-members-entertainment-department-will-be-reduced-across-fleet

 

Not that disappointed.  That show had been around for way to long and was not my favorite by any means.  I do hope that at some point they bring on a new show or two.

[uneamie]

I personally think their reasons for all of it are very "lame". Why not just say we are cutting cost due to all the money we lost during the shut down. It's that simple. How is cutting out staff improving operating efficiencies?Wouldn't less staff make it harder to be efficient?  How is cutting "turn down cabin service" to once a day have anything to do with  environmental sustainability and adapting to the evolving guests' preferences? Since when did guests preferences evolve into not wanting their room serviced 2 times a day???   Personally I don't need it 2 times a day, but I do like "honesty" and their reasons for all of this sounds like a lot of BS to me.  

[njhorseman]

6 minutes ago, uneamie said:

sounds like a lot of BS to me

Sounds like a lot of BS to you and pretty much anyone with functioning grey matter.

[mking8288]

Oh, we missed the old classics like Andrew Lloyd Webber musicals on stage at the Stardust Theater, old days when Jean Ann Ryan Productions ran them - then, to cut costs ... NCL Productions came around & took over, and wasn't too popular initially but "Fountains" was fun & entertaining then with the CD on stage in a leading role ... and some of the crew talent shows weren't bad.  

 

Maybe, Frankie & Harry Company is going to re-train among the more talented crew members to become the next wave of onboard entertainers ... keeping in line with Sail & Sustain by digitizing those stage sets with 3D virtual ones.  /s  

 

Just not going to walk into a semi packed theater to watch a movie while some folks are heard coughing & sneezing, etc. etc.  Could do that safely from the privacy & relative safety of one's suite and stateroom, studios to balconies, it really doesn't matter - and Room Service specials at 50% off ... a winner ?? 

 

Gotta have a sense of humor these days.  

[cb2367]

I'm sort of concerned about recent changes with NCL. Hoping they are still going to be around for cruising.

 

I mean the change in turn down service, frequent gratuity changes, and now changing up on board entertainment. I was recently on Prima and saw Donna Summer and Noise Boys. Hopefully those kind of shows can continue. Someone else mentioned Choir of Man. I saw that on Escape and enjoyed it. 

 

Just seems like a lot changes taking plans with NCL.

[iamaqt2]

Pretty soon the evening theater shows will be a talent competition among the room stewards for a day of shore leave or a chance to use the passenger areas after hours.

[Turtles06]

52 minutes ago, mking8288 said:

NCL Productions came around & took over, and wasn't too popular initially but "Fountains" was fun & entertaining then with the CD on stage in a leading role ... and some of the crew talent shows weren't bad.  

 

OMG, "Fountains" . . . totally hysterical.  We were surprised to see it when we did (this was a number of years ago), because I'd read here that they'd stopped doing it.  (I hope the participants were truly volunteers and had fun.)

 

As for the crew talent shows, I still recall one show where one of the crew members had a truly fantastic voice; he was far more talented than any of the professional performers we'd heard on board.

[DaCruiseBug]

No surprise here. NCL is making it a habit of announcing monthly cuts and/or monthly fee increases.

 

At this point I have no need or want to cruise NCL again. There's way too many other options at sea.

[cusematt4]

This was noticed and thoroughly noted in our post Getaway review.

 

While the one band on the ship was amazing, entertainment was severely lacking.

 

-Syds/Rock Band eliminated

-2 comedians in 8 days instead of the usual 3-4

-1 fly on act (a sub-par magician) instead of 2-3 with 4/8 nights of no professional entertainment

-1 band and 2 duos - on Royal and I believe other NCL previously - 3 bands, 2-3 duos, 2-3 soloists

 

The lack of professional entertainment will cause us to reconsider NCL and likely choose Royal Caribbean for our next cruise.

 

The staff on the ship were amazing and went above and beyond

[BirdTravels]

We have been on the Encore 3 times since relaunch and never saw Kinky Boots because it was "unavailable" for our sailing. We saw it once on the inaugural voyage of the Encore out of Miami in 2019.

[yankprintster]

1 hour ago, BirdTravels said:

We have been on the Encore 3 times since relaunch and never saw Kinky Boots because it was "unavailable" for our sailing. We saw it once on the inaugural voyage of the Encore out of Miami in 2019.

 

Same.  We saw it on the Encore inaugural transatlantic from Southampton to New York, but it was unavailable on the two Alaska sailings we did out of Seattle in late 2021.  I think it was supposed to be available then, but the rumors were some the cast were sick.

[julig22]

3 hours ago, Turtles06 said:

 

As for the crew talent shows, I still recall one show where one of the crew members had a truly fantastic voice; he was far more talented than any of the professional performers we'd heard on board.

On a couple of the earlier restart cruises, there were shows by members of the production crew.  One in particular stood out as one of the best ever shows I've seen on NCL.

[luv2kroooz]

I have been following along on the live thread for Getaway 1-8-23. This is a twelve night sailing. I think they are seven or so nights in at the time I am typing this. The posted freestyle dailies shed a lot of insight to current entertainment.

 

They have yet to have one " fly-on" entertainer in the main theater. Maybe the fly on acts have already been eliminated, too. They've had three nights of burn the floor. Three nights of the comedy, which are the same comedians that perform in Headliners comedy club. And a movie.

 

Live lounge entertainment has also been drastically reduced. There is one cover band, a duo or two and a pianist. It looks to me like the band that used to play in the Manhattan room or more formal main dining room has been eliminated. That is now shared among the onboard bands mentioned above.

 

I, too, am wondering about the situation over at NCLH in general and NCL specifically. I guess the 4q results will tell a lot. When Mr. Del Rio spoke to investors a few months ago, he used words like record bookings, record yields, and prices 30% higher than the previous record year of 2019. They had a clear path to profitability he proudly announced. Expectedly, he didn't mention anything about the significantly reduced onboard experiences and pending layoffs of shoreside employees right before Christmas, entertainment staff and crew. Again, 4q results will shed light.

 

This may not impact those who don't care about entertainment. For us, we enjoy entertainment and the live music and these were things that NCL did really well pre-Corona.

[njkate]

9 hours ago, DaCruiseBug said:

No surprise here. NCL is making it a habit of announcing monthly cuts and/or monthly fee increases.

 

At this point I have no need or want to cruise NCL again. There's way too many other options at sea.

I have to agree!! Within the last few months they have upped the DSC, they have eliminated free room svc for continental breakfast, they have reduced cabin servicing from twice a day to once a day and now cutting back on entertainment add to that currently very high pricing, what I used to pay for two in a balcony barely gets me an inside on some itineraries.

 

Yes I get inflation but imo cruise fare has really jumped.

 

I have a cruise in March on Dawn, then have an April 2024 trans Atlantic booked that I got at a reasonable fare that can be cancelled if Del Rio comes up with anymore cuts to service

 

Was looking at Europe cruises for summer but I’m not paying $1500 pp or more depending on cruise, won’t touch Prima at those prices, for an inside, so booked Paris/Normandy land vacation 

 

[Karaboudjan]

We were on the Prima a few weeks ago.  The ship was at capacity plus (3500 passengers) but my impression was that neither the Noise Boys or Summer shows was full.  Of course these types of cutbacks save money for NCL, but is it possible that they know the average NCL cruiser or the target NCL cruiser just does not care that much about big stage productions, in which case these moves make good business sense.  Maybe this type of entertainment will become a niche that only certain lines/ships offer.

[laudergayle]

11 hours ago, cb2367 said:

recently on Prima and saw Donna Summer and Noise Boys.

Noise Boys is no longer showing under Entertainment for our April Prima cruise.  For me, they pulled Priscilla on Epic right after we made final payment, and now Noise Boys right after final.  I guess my timing is off…lol.

[BirdTravels]

8 hours ago, yankprintster said:

 

Same.  We saw it on the Encore inaugural transatlantic from Southampton to New York, but it was unavailable on the two Alaska sailings we did out of Seattle in late 2021.  I think it was supposed to be available then, but the rumors were some the cast were sick.

Repeated show cancellations is what got the Million Dollar Quartet fired on their first ship.