“Production” numbers in Princess Theatre gone downhill

[remydiva]

Is it just me or has Princess seriously cut back on the type, variety and overall quality of the nightly shows in Princess theatre post covid?

 

After 21 cruises, I’ve seen a few. I recall the shows being darn near off Broadway style with elaborate moving sets and shows that sometimes rivalled NYC.

 

Now they are all just the Princess singers, dancers and house band doing covers of popular songs then and now.

Or ‘tributes’

Or like last nite on board the Ruby, a singer with some back up creds doing a Prince tribute for a total of 5 songs peppered with a whole lot of chatter with audience. 
‘how many folks here married .. raise your hand. Now give your sweetie a smooch. You sir.. how many years? 45?! Let’s give this man applause! And you over there .. yes you.. how many for you?! 10?! Wow give her a round of applause!’

 

Not my idea of how to fill a 45 min set.

No stage decor just lots of laser lights and strobes.
 

so .. are there any of the types of shows Princess used to have and some cruise lines still have? 

 

[latebloomer56]

12 minutes ago, remydiva said:

Is it just me or has Princess seriously cut back on the type, variety and overall quality of the nightly shows in Princess theatre post covid?

 

After 21 cruises, I’ve seen a few. I recall the shows being darn near off Broadway style with elaborate moving sets and shows that sometimes rivalled NYC.

 

Now they are all just the Princess singers, dancers and house band doing covers of popular songs then and now.

Or ‘tributes’

Or like last nite on board the Ruby, a singer with some back up creds doing a Prince tribute for a total of 5 songs peppered with a whole lot of chatter with audience. 
‘how many folks here married .. raise your hand. Now give your sweetie a smooch. You sir.. how many years? 45?! Let’s give this man applause! And you over there .. yes you.. how many for you?! 10?! Wow give her a round of applause!’

 

Not my idea of how to fill a 45 min set.

No stage decor just lots of laser lights and strobes.
 

so .. are there any of the types of shows Princess used to have and some cruise lines still have? 

 

Wow we thought it was because our 2022 cruise was shortly after start up. Wasn't all that impressed but figured they were new together so unimpressive. Forget the sets, terrible and yes lots of lasers. Costumes were sub par, compared to what we came to expect from Princess. 

The very best show was in fact the crew shop,, which we always enjoy but this one was over the top.

[Rick&Jeannie]

Over the past few years, the only show that I felt was probably on par with a Broadway show was Five Skies...but we just didn't care much for it. Definitely geared towards a younger crowd!

[Teechur]

We were on the Emerald for 2 weeks in June/July. I thought the three production shows were excellent, if a bit short.

[remydiva]

What shows have you seen this year you e enjoyed?

 

So far we’ve had ‘She will rock you’ one singer doing tribute to female rock stars

 

’Colours of the world’ the ship’s singers and dancers doing different nation style songs 

 

‘Stardust’ again ships singers and dancers doing tribute to bygone eras 

 

The Prince ‘tribute’ singer 

 

Tonite is ‘Magic to do’ so mother music tribute to show times from Wicked, Godspell and Pippin done by .. you guessed it.. the ship’s singers and dancers who are talented but seeing essentially the  same thing every nite is not how I recall these nightly shows. 
 

[vakamalua]

We saw Skylight Bar & Rock Opera on the Discovery--they were EXCELLENT!  Better than the amateurish production shows we've seen on Carnival, NCL, RCCL, Holland...

[Honolulu Blue]

29 minutes ago, vakamalua said:

We saw Skylight Bar & Rock Opera on the Discovery--they were EXCELLENT!  Better than the amateurish production shows we've seen on Carnival, NCL, RCCL, Holland...

We have Rock Opera on the Emerald, which I'm on RIGHT NOW.  Your opinion is valuable and has been noted.

[TRLD]

2 hours ago, remydiva said:

What shows have you seen this year you e enjoyed?

 

So far we’ve had ‘She will rock you’ one singer doing tribute to female rock stars

 

’Colours of the world’ the ship’s singers and dancers doing different nation style songs 

 

‘Stardust’ again ships singers and dancers doing tribute to bygone eras 

 

The Prince ‘tribute’ singer 

 

Tonite is ‘Magic to do’ so mother music tribute to show times from Wicked, Godspell and Pippin done by .. you guessed it.. the ship’s singers and dancers who are talented but seeing essentially the  same thing every nite is not how I recall these nightly shows. 
 

I have been doing multiple cruise on Princess for 20 years. The production shows have always been a medley of songs, dance and costumes based upon the theme of the shows. If anything the newer shows such as Magic to Do (one of my least liked production shows) is moving a bit away from just the song and dance.

 

Princess has never really done Broadway type shows. Always been like Around the world, or the route 66 themed medley. They have gone to more video screen backgrounds and less physical scenery and props.

 

Princess has moved to more solo tribute type guest performers, with less comedy, magic  type shows. However they have always the solo singer, instrumentalist, tribute (impersonator) as well. While the mix has moved a bit more to the solo singer not by a large degree.

[Kay S]

I always like British Invasion and Motown (back in the deep dark distant past.) 

[geoherb]

I've always hated that Princess depends so much on recorded background music in the production shows, including vocals for the dancers. I hate seeing lip synching. The shows that use the Princess Orchestra are even worst. Two string players don't sound like a full string section, and there are instruments on the track that aren't on stage.

 

But I go to nearly every show. Sometimes I'm rewarded with an exceptional singer in the cast. 

[Thrak]

We did 63 days on Grand Princess last year. We embarked in SF and went to Hawaii, Tahiti, and Pago Pago and then went across to Australia and New Zealand. During our time on the ship we saw a couple of the absolute worst performers we have ever seen on Princess but we also saw a few guest performers who were by far better than anything we have ever seen, or expected to see, on a Princess cruise. They totally blew us away. Sooo... it was a bit of a mixed bag but the ones that were good were very, very good.

 

[Ombud]

There weren't ANY production shows on my 22 day April cruise. A few 'variety,' some magicians,  and comedians. Very disappointing.  Not a fan of magicians and the comedians were flat. 

Edited August 5 by Ombud

[Honolulu Blue]

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

There weren't ANY production shows on my 22 day April cruise. A few 'variety,' some magicians,  and comedians. Very disappointing.  Not a fan of magicians and the comedians were flat. 

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. I think you got a bad draw (at least if you like production shows) because on the 7 day cruise I'm currently on, there are at least two production shows, in addition to the guest entertainers. 

[Ombud]

@Honolulu Blue This is what I had on a shorter cruise November / December 2023:

So April 2024 was an unpleasant surprise

[Honolulu Blue]

1 hour ago, Ombud said:

@Honolulu Blue This is what I had on a shorter cruise November / December 2023:

So April 2024 was an unpleasant surprise

Thanks. Rock Opera is one of our shows. It's actually scheduled for later today. 

 

[Ombud]

@Honolulu Blue if you liked 5 Skies I bet you'll like Rock Opera too. Hope i get those on the next voyage

[remydiva]

10 hours ago, TRLD said:

I have been doing multiple cruise on Princess for 20 years. The production shows have always been a medley of songs, dance and costumes based upon the theme of the shows. If anything the newer shows such as Magic to Do (one of my least liked production shows) is moving a bit away from just the song and dance.

 

Princess has never really done Broadway type shows. Always been like Around the world, or the route 66 themed medley. They have gone to more video screen backgrounds and less physical scenery and props.

 

Princess has moved to more solo tribute type guest performers, with less comedy, magic  type shows. However they have always the solo singer, instrumentalist, tribute (impersonator) as well. While the mix has moved a bit more to the solo singer not by a large degree.

Just saw ‘Magic Do It’ and quite enjoyed it ; definitely the best of the 7 days of shows.

[Bobpell54]

We jumped ship from Holland to Princess 2 years ago. One of the reasons were the appalling BBC projected on the wall shows that were available on your cabin tv!!

These were on their Pinnacle class ships.

So far Princess has us entertained with far better shows.

Bob

[JG&Lcruisingnewbies]

I’m not one for watching comedy. I love musicals. Have to say that on my cruise to Norway August last year, I saw both Rock Opera and Spotlight Bar. 
 

I’ve seen a LOT of musicals. Mostly West end productions as I’m only 30 min away from central London

 

Personally I thought both shows were of excellent quality and any of that particular cast could of held their own in the West End or Broadway

 

2 of the cast still stick in my mind. One of the Women in Spotlight bar singing ‘used to be mine’ and a male singer in Rock Opera singing Freddie Mercurys ‘Barcelona’

I’m a Freddie Mercury fan. I recognised what he was about to sing immediately. I remember thinking ‘really? You sure about this’ fully expecting him to not be able to do that song justice. I was wrong. He was Utterly amazing. Perhaps I was lucky with the cast being so good. I hope not though

 

my complaint is that they are too short and not shown enough times over 2 weeks given their popularity

 

I’d also love it if they did 4 over a 2 week cruise, not 3.

Please Princess, at least do a few mid afternoon performances of productions shows. The theatre shows are crammed. You have to be there at least 30 min before to get a seat, nevermind a good seat.

That said I am looking forward to seeing both of them again. And getting to see 5Skies for the first time,

 

I’m on Enchanted this Saturday Miami to NYC

 

all the other theatre shows are on the app now. Not much else grabs my attention tbh. Not interested in Tributes, but I’m sure lots are. Nor comedy, but many love them. It’s all subjective.

 

Perhaps I should just give more than the production shows a try this time though. There is a dancing trombonist. Not sure what Amy Jo slater or Cheaza sings but it doesn’t appear to be a tribute to one artist only. There is a comedian and juggler too.

 

There are 4 tribute acts over 2 weeks. I do think that’s too many but that’s me and my personal preferences

[Honolulu Blue]

4 hours ago, Ombud said:

@Honolulu Blue if you liked 5 Skies I bet you'll like Rock Opera too. Hope i get those on the next voyage

I've never seen Five Skies, but thanks for the side compliment on Rock Opera. I'll try to make it tonight. 

[EllieinNJ]

We are doing the same 14 day repo cruise in November on the Enchanted as we did two years ago.  Then we saw Rock Opera and Five Skies which was basically new.  They will probably have them again this year.  I found them just okay but will probably still go again.  As I recall the other nights we had a lame comedian two nights, a boring trumpet player and a more boring harp player.  We did actually like the male singer that did some Motown and the female singer that did covers by other female artists.

[Princessfan20]

It is not your imagination.  We also have noticed, especially after Covid how the quality of entertainment has gone down and will probably keep going down.  We have never seen a show on a Princess ship that was at the level of a Broadway show.

[Coral]

I preferred it when the shows were longer (they moved from doing 2 longer shows to doing 3 short shows per night, now back to 2 short shows). Nothing seems to be great since then. When they cut the shows, they just didn't make sense. New shows are just short, especially when you have to arrive early for a seat and then the show is short.

[vakamalua]

59 minutes ago, Princessfan20 said:

We have never seen a show on a Princess ship that was at the level of a Broadway show.

 

I suspect you will never see a show on any cruise ship--Princess or on any other line--that is the level of the Broadway show.  Apples & oranges.  Keeping that expectation in mind, several of the ones we've seen on Princess had excellent concepts & execution including set design, vocal talent, choreography & costumes.  

[talkorpi]

Across my cruises with Princess, I've only seen four shows: Colors of the World, Stardust, Rock Opera, and Spotlight Bar. I thought that Rock Opera was easily the WORST of these four while Spotlight Bar was the best. RO was so corny, had no story, not great music, and I just felt the whole thing was not cohesive at all. I am clearly in the minority here, but I do not understand the hype this show gets at all. Spotlight bar on the other hand was great - cool set, really unique concept, awesome costume and song selection, it just had the whole package. Stardust was cute and I love that type of music but I could tell it was dated. Colors of the World was okay if not a little cringey. Not sure what shows my next sailings will have but I do prefer the shows on Princess to Carnival (I'm looking at you, Flick)

Edited August 5 by talkorpi