Cruise Entertainment

Cirque de Soleil’s first residency on a cruise ship is launching with two brand-new productions. The Carousel Lounge on MSC Meraviglia is being purpose-built at a cost of €20 million (£17 million) to stage the shows, complete with the latest in sound and lighting technology and special rigging. VIAGGIO is the story of a passionate and eccentric artist who hears the call of his faceless muse. Mysterious and seductive, she beckons him into the vivid world of imagination to complete his masterpiece – brought o life by electrifying colours and exciting acts. With sound at its heart, SONOR – the second show [...]

The stars of BBC’s Strictly Come Dancing will be sparkling bright again this summer as they cruise the Mediterranean and northern Europe with P&O. Ringmaster Craig Revel Horwood will be in charge of the dancing circus once more for all four Strictly cruises. Professional dancers and competing passengers will be on tiptoes waiting for him to pronounce the verdict: “FAB-U-LOUS, daaaahlings!” Last year’s winner Ore Oduba is reunited with partner Joanne Clifton on board P&O Cruises’ Ventura for a 14-night cruise to the Western Mediterranean, departing April 30. They will be joined by Giovanni Pernice, Neil and Katya Jones, AJ [...]

Cruise ship Britannia is to host a five-night residency for Boyzlife, the Irish supergroup formed by Brian McFadden and Keith Duffy. The Westlife and Boyzone stars will appear in the P&O ship’s Limelight Club, an intimate supper lounge where guests have a three-course meal before the entertainment – which usually consists of conversation and song. For Duffy, the visit will be a return to the ship on which he competed in TV’s Battlechefs last year. He said: “We are very excited to be taking our sell-out tour to sea and entertaining Britannia’s guests with music and stories from life on [...]

Sir Tim Rice presents the narration of a musical journey through some of his best-known work for a new production that will debut on Seabourn Encore in January and follow on every ship in the fleet. An Evening With Time Rice brings together his work as a lyricist with composers Andrew Lloyd Webber on Joseph and his Amazing Technicolor Jesus Christ Superstar and Evita; Elton John’s The Lion King; Alan Menken, on Aladdin, and Beauty and the Beast; and ABBA’s Bjorn and Benny on Chess. The new show has been created exclusively for Seabourn by Belinda King Creative Productions. It [...]

TV favourites Ant and Dec are gearing up for their Saturday Night Takeaway finale appearance broadcast live from P&O Cruises’ Britannia next month. There are plenty of other opportunities to cruise with the stars, and leading agents Iglu have come up with a list that includes celebrity chefs, dancers from Strictly, and a Bake Off winner. As managing director Simone Clark points out: “A cruise with a celebrity offers a memorable and exciting holiday with a real difference. “Fans can combine meeting some of their favourite celebrities in an intimate setting, with an exotic holiday location; what’s not to love?” [...]