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Zamgwar's Explorer Cruise-The Entertainment
Hello Seven Day Sailors,
First the usual intro-skip past the stars if you read it before ******************************************** To set a base line, we set out with a total of 35 old and a few new friends, with most relationships going back 25 years. There is no greater joy than vacationing with friends who know you well enough to tell you your breath stinks. Rather than being a vacation, it always is more of a seven day party, that moves around the globe. It is important to note that due to our schedules we only travel as peak week touristos, at a time when virtually the entire United States (except for New Hampshire-go figure) is off from school for February break. This was our third group cruise together, and my personal forth cruise. It was our first experience with Royal Caribbean, having sailed NCL and Princess previously. Depending on when you sail, your mileage may vary. Because of the enormous size of the ship, it has it strong and weak suits. You will find my impressions posted separately under the subject heading "Zamgwar's Explorer". They will pop up here over the next two weeks and will include impressions of "The Ship", "The Cabins", The Food & Restaurants", "The Staff" , "The Entertainment", "The Kids view", "The little things" and "my last 2cnts". When I'm done, I will, as always, post the entire review in condensed version on the standard review sites. ********************************** Part 4- The entertainment & Activities My background training in college was musical theater, and my instrument was French horn. Before making the switch to a life in theater, I spent 8 years as a High School Band director. I have in the past 10 years, been involved in over 500 productions. I know when things are bad and know when they are good, and can at times be a real performance snob. It is possibly the only thing I am capable of being a snob about. I am certainly not a slave to fashion (99 percent of my wardrobe is Hawaiian shirts and the remaining 1 percent is formal wear). I relish the thought of a day of eating carny food and as previously mentioned happily munch on meat on a stick from push cart vendors. I am fully capable of spending a day with breakfast stains on my shirt, missing large parts of my face when I shave or having soap from my morning shower in my ear. Just ask my wife. One area in which Explorer absolutely shines, is entertainment. The ship is brilliant at it. This is part in parcel to the incredibly large stable of musicians on the ship, and the astounding technical prowess of the ships two large performing venues. There was live music everywhere, and I mean everywhere. It's what made the Palace Theater Main Stage productions unique. On my previous cruises, main stage productions have always used a mix of canned (pre-recorded) orchestrations with a live rhythm section. Not on Explorer. There was at each Main Stage show, a 10 piece band backing up the singers and dancers. They were either on stage in a "Hollywood squares" type set up, or the pit, which rose up from the floor via hydraulics. Coupled with marvelous lighting design, fantastic stage effects and a visually stunning background star drop, this made the main stage productions a treat. A most unusual combination of a violinist an oboist and a pianist frequently played in the Aquarium Lounge or on the main dining room balcony. The lush timbre of this trio always soothed the party animal in me and caused me the pause, sit down, and listen to at least one number, before running off in search of my next libation. The poolside reggae/Island band was the perfect excuse to bop my head, order a drink, and forget the deck chair situation. There were pianists in Dizzy's in the early evening, the Schooner Bar, The balcony of the Main Dining room and at the Aquarium Bar. The Aquarium bar also featured a jazz quartet from time to time. There was a vocalist who played guitar and led sing-a-longs in the crown and kettle pub. Dizzy's featured a Latin band most nights, although it really sparkled the one night they had an 8 piece Jazz band and two marvelous vocalists performing all the great Jazz standards. It was also the only night Dizzys was really packed. Considering the hour of performance was 12:00am to 1:00am, and the place was full, RCCL should really consider changing this venue to full time Jazz. It is what this space screams for. Had it been there nightly, I'm sure the club would have been packed nightly. At the very least, we would have been there nightly. I suppose that would have meant there were that many people less in the Casino on a regular basis, so bookkeeping may play a hand in this. The vocalists in the mainstage shows were all beyond reproach. While the dancing was on the light end ("She who must be obeyed" is a choreographer) the live orchestration and butt kicking vocal work made up for it. The comedians were funny. Especially since one was an almost spitting image of one of our group of 32. People all week came up to our friend Tom and congratulated him for the great performance. We all did our best to keep a straight face he explained the rigors of shipboard comedy, or why he had red hair on stage and black hair on deck. ("If I didn't use some sort of disguise, I would have to spend my Caribbean days on the bottom of the ship. I have a very small room") The Drifters headlined the last night of the cruise backed up by the House band. Now that was a rip. The whole theater sang along with "under the boardwalk" and "on broadway". Krews Komic jugglers popped up from time to time, including once in an elevator to the surprise and delight of those who used the lifts. The Quest Game in Studio B was absolutely hilarious. Finally, to chime in what everyone has said about Studio B's Planet Ice Show, DON'T MISS IT. The effects, the costumes, the choice of music ( a lot of The Doors), and the skating that is performed in this tiny rink are astounding. It is the only shipboard performance I have ever seen, that left me feeling as though I had "paid" for my ticket, rather than sat down for free. Abso-freakin-loutely brilliant. As far as things to do on board ship, once again Explorer excels. "She who must be obeyed" and others in our group literally "got out there" and did what the RCCL commercial suggested. They rock climbed ( a real hoot), they roller bladed, they worked out in the gym, they had spa treatments and they played mini-golf. One afternoon, all the womenfolk and kids went Ice skating. The result was not exactly "The Planet Ice Show" but was just as entertaining to watch. Four of us sat in the seats and acted as Olympic judges shouting out scores. It was hilarious. WE all played bingo the last day. There was a 16,000 dollar cash prize for the final game which went to one very, very, very, happy player. Had I won it, I would not be writing this. I would be drunk rolling naked on the floor in the wad of CASH they gave him. In addition there were the standard pool games, Karaoke nights, trivia contests, art auctions, sporting events and a plethora of things for kids to do. Entertainment and activities is a very strong suit of the ship. They took some of the edge off, of having two additional days at sea, the missed port of Labadee and the missed port of Grand Caymen. Although even for me, who loves days at sea, four days was A LOT. Especially since the Grand Caymen skip was not a day to be topside. 40 knot winds, 16 foot seas and a ship rolling like a naked man with 16,000 dollars in bingo cash. Even in THAT weather, there were still hundreds of towels on the deck chairs by the pools just in case. Next Up-Part 5- What the Kids thought. That's My2Cnts. What's yours? John Office of Applause The Zamgwar Institute |
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Zamgwar's Explorer Cruise-The Entertainment
"Zamgwar" wrote in message ... Hello Seven Day Sailors, Really enjoying the review. We have sailed on Navagator and Voyager. Your findings are pretty much right on with ours. We will be sailing on Mariner on Sunday Joe---Mariner in 5 days!! First the usual intro-skip past the stars if you read it before ******************************************** To set a base line, we set out with a total of 35 old and a few new friends, with most relationships going back 25 years. There is no greater joy than vacationing with friends who know you well enough to tell you your breath stinks. Rather than being a vacation, it always is more of a seven day party, that moves around the globe. It is important to note that due to our schedules we only travel as peak week touristos, at a time when virtually the entire United States (except for New Hampshire-go figure) is off from school for February break. This was our third group cruise together, and my personal forth cruise. It was our first experience with Royal Caribbean, having sailed NCL and Princess previously. Depending on when you sail, your mileage may vary. Because of the enormous size of the ship, it has it strong and weak suits. You will find my impressions posted separately under the subject heading "Zamgwar's Explorer". They will pop up here over the next two weeks and will include impressions of "The Ship", "The Cabins", The Food & Restaurants", "The Staff" , "The Entertainment", "The Kids view", "The little things" and "my last 2cnts". When I'm done, I will, as always, post the entire review in condensed version on the standard review sites. ********************************** Part 4- The entertainment & Activities My background training in college was musical theater, and my instrument was French horn. Before making the switch to a life in theater, I spent 8 years as a High School Band director. I have in the past 10 years, been involved in over 500 productions. I know when things are bad and know when they are good, and can at times be a real performance snob. It is possibly the only thing I am capable of being a snob about. I am certainly not a slave to fashion (99 percent of my wardrobe is Hawaiian shirts and the remaining 1 percent is formal wear). I relish the thought of a day of eating carny food and as previously mentioned happily munch on meat on a stick from push cart vendors. I am fully capable of spending a day with breakfast stains on my shirt, missing large parts of my face when I shave or having soap from my morning shower in my ear. Just ask my wife. One area in which Explorer absolutely shines, is entertainment. The ship is brilliant at it. This is part in parcel to the incredibly large stable of musicians on the ship, and the astounding technical prowess of the ships two large performing venues. There was live music everywhere, and I mean everywhere. It's what made the Palace Theater Main Stage productions unique. On my previous cruises, main stage productions have always used a mix of canned (pre-recorded) orchestrations with a live rhythm section. Not on Explorer. There was at each Main Stage show, a 10 piece band backing up the singers and dancers. They were either on stage in a "Hollywood squares" type set up, or the pit, which rose up from the floor via hydraulics. Coupled with marvelous lighting design, fantastic stage effects and a visually stunning background star drop, this made the main stage productions a treat. A most unusual combination of a violinist an oboist and a pianist frequently played in the Aquarium Lounge or on the main dining room balcony. The lush timbre of this trio always soothed the party animal in me and caused me the pause, sit down, and listen to at least one number, before running off in search of my next libation. The poolside reggae/Island band was the perfect excuse to bop my head, order a drink, and forget the deck chair situation. There were pianists in Dizzy's in the early evening, the Schooner Bar, The balcony of the Main Dining room and at the Aquarium Bar. The Aquarium bar also featured a jazz quartet from time to time. There was a vocalist who played guitar and led sing-a-longs in the crown and kettle pub. Dizzy's featured a Latin band most nights, although it really sparkled the one night they had an 8 piece Jazz band and two marvelous vocalists performing all the great Jazz standards. It was also the only night Dizzys was really packed. Considering the hour of performance was 12:00am to 1:00am, and the place was full, RCCL should really consider changing this venue to full time Jazz. It is what this space screams for. Had it been there nightly, I'm sure the club would have been packed nightly. At the very least, we would have been there nightly. I suppose that would have meant there were that many people less in the Casino on a regular basis, so bookkeeping may play a hand in this. The vocalists in the mainstage shows were all beyond reproach. While the dancing was on the light end ("She who must be obeyed" is a choreographer) the live orchestration and butt kicking vocal work made up for it. The comedians were funny. Especially since one was an almost spitting image of one of our group of 32. People all week came up to our friend Tom and congratulated him for the great performance. We all did our best to keep a straight face he explained the rigors of shipboard comedy, or why he had red hair on stage and black hair on deck. ("If I didn't use some sort of disguise, I would have to spend my Caribbean days on the bottom of the ship. I have a very small room") The Drifters headlined the last night of the cruise backed up by the House band. Now that was a rip. The whole theater sang along with "under the boardwalk" and "on broadway". Krews Komic jugglers popped up from time to time, including once in an elevator to the surprise and delight of those who used the lifts. The Quest Game in Studio B was absolutely hilarious. Finally, to chime in what everyone has said about Studio B's Planet Ice Show, DON'T MISS IT. The effects, the costumes, the choice of music ( a lot of The Doors), and the skating that is performed in this tiny rink are astounding. It is the only shipboard performance I have ever seen, that left me feeling as though I had "paid" for my ticket, rather than sat down for free. Abso-freakin-loutely brilliant. As far as things to do on board ship, once again Explorer excels. "She who must be obeyed" and others in our group literally "got out there" and did what the RCCL commercial suggested. They rock climbed ( a real hoot), they roller bladed, they worked out in the gym, they had spa treatments and they played mini-golf. One afternoon, all the womenfolk and kids went Ice skating. The result was not exactly "The Planet Ice Show" but was just as entertaining to watch. Four of us sat in the seats and acted as Olympic judges shouting out scores. It was hilarious. WE all played bingo the last day. There was a 16,000 dollar cash prize for the final game which went to one very, very, very, happy player. Had I won it, I would not be writing this. I would be drunk rolling naked on the floor in the wad of CASH they gave him. In addition there were the standard pool games, Karaoke nights, trivia contests, art auctions, sporting events and a plethora of things for kids to do. Entertainment and activities is a very strong suit of the ship. They took some of the edge off, of having two additional days at sea, the missed port of Labadee and the missed port of Grand Caymen. Although even for me, who loves days at sea, four days was A LOT. Especially since the Grand Caymen skip was not a day to be topside. 40 knot winds, 16 foot seas and a ship rolling like a naked man with 16,000 dollars in bingo cash. Even in THAT weather, there were still hundreds of towels on the deck chairs by the pools just in case. Next Up-Part 5- What the Kids thought. That's My2Cnts. What's yours? John Office of Applause The Zamgwar Institute |
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