Musical fans and cruise goers are sure to be pleased with the enormous amount of options available today with the major cruise lines. Get to see that hit musical show and have all the benefits of a first class holiday travelling from one destination to another.
Most cruise ships have 1000+ seating theatres and all of the seats are filled up quickly when the show is scheduled during a ship’s sailing. Each cruise line offers different musical experiences and all of them are sure to get you tapping your feet!
See what these cruise lines offer below:
Norwegian Cruise Lines
Now playing onboard the Norwegian Getaway, a production of the Tony Nominated “Legally Blonde” will be playing for audiences. Elle Woods shows you that you never know what surprises life holds for you. She is a good-time California girl who goes to Harvard Law to get her boyfriend back, and ends up defying expectations by succeeding in becoming a solicitor. This mega-musical is based on the Reese Witherspoon film.
Norwegian Breakaway, on the other hand, offers “Rock Of Ages” the 5-time Tony Award nominee of 2009. The script draws attention to a small town girl who arrives in Los Angeles in 1987, where she hooks up with a metal rocker and falls in love. The music is centred from the heavy metal hits and groups of the 1980s.
Royal Caribbean Lines
“Chicago” has played not only London’s West End but also throughout the world. ‘All that jazz’ in true Fosse sexy moves and Kander and Ebb’s decadent score is taking place on the Allure of the Seas. The theme behind the 20’s Jazz Age sets the tone with Roxie Hart as the wannabe and Velma Kelly, a cabaret star who finds they have something very much in common…Front page news and murder.
The cruise company’s newest acquirement is Andrew Lloyd Webber’s “CATS”, based on the poems of T.S Eliot. Holding court in the longest-running musical category, it will debut on the high seas aboard the Oasis of the Seas in the autumn of this year. It will also be playing at the London Palladium for a limited 12-week engagement; however, there is no admission charge for seats on the Oasis.
Currently playing on the Oasis of the Seas is the hit musical show “Hairspray” where it has entertained audiences since 2009. The development in the storyline shows a girl achieving her dream of performing on a 1960s TV dance show.
“Saturday Night Fever” struts it stuff with the music of Barry, Robin and Maurice Gibb aka the Bee Gees on the Liberty of the Seas.
This autumn, the dancing queens of “Mamma Mia” will be the latest entry of shows onboard RCCL’s newest ship Quantum of the Seas. The stage presentation is not just a musical revue but a fully fledged musical that weaves ABBA’s hit songs into the plot.
Royal Caribbean allows booked passengers to secure seats in advance of any show before the ship even sets sail.
Disney Cruise Line
Disney certainly has stretched its entertainment wings to the fullest from movies to the stages of New York and London’s West End. Their ships are also adding stage shows to their wide array of entertainment.
This will be a positive introduction for younger members of the family who really embrace the musical theme. For all ages, Disney is showcasing their first musical version of the hit film “Aladdin” on their ship Disney Fantasy, well before it is due to make its premiere on Broadway. If all goes well, Disney shows will appear on the rest of their fleet.
With the price of a typical West End show now averaging close to £100 a person, it is not something a family can take advantage as often as before. Within the past ten years, the cost of a seat at the theatre has trebled.
Musicals at sea are just another example of how the cruise lines are constantly looking at ways to “up their game” and offer their guests something different.
Written by Veronica Shine
