Cruise Entertainment

If you're going to put dodgem cars on a cruise ship, then the best thing is you get to drive them and play with them. That's what top executives from Royal Caribbean and their German shipbuilders have been doing - and it looks like they had a great time. The dodgems - a first at sea - will be on Quantum of the Seas which launches later this year, and sister ship Anthem of the Seas, which will be sailing out of Southampton in 2015. Under the guise of deciding what surface to use for the dodgem rink and what [...]

Carnival is taking the concept of cruise ship entertainment to a whole new level with the introduction of a live concert series featuring some of America's most popular singers. I fought my way through a blizzard to watch Grammy and Oscar-winning singer Jennifer Hudson - a star of American Idol and a hit from Dreamgirls - launch Carnival LIVE in a New York night club this week with a sizzling four-song set. Hudson, who began her career performing on a Disney cruise ship is one of 15 acts putting on 49 shows this year on Carnival ships which will spend [...]

Katherine Jenkins may have been top of the bill on this week's Oriana cruise, but there's no doubt what was the most popular activity - and the most frequent - outside the privacy of the cabins, at least. There have been no fewer than 19 quiz competitions. Jeopardised, "Fun" pub quizzes (it's not fun, this is a serious business), individual quizzes (no conferring), sports quizzes, and quizzes to identify the Bond Girl actresses and other famous faces. For the dedicated contestant, nothing competes with the late night action of the Syndicate Quiz in the Crichton Room. There's no bar to [...]

Katherine Jenkins must be getting her sea legs. She was singing on board P&O Cruises' Oriana this week for the second time in a month. What a performer, and what a voice! I should have expected no less from BBC Radio 2's one-time Welsh Choir Girl of the Year, and the winner of two Classical Brit Awards. But she also has a delightfully friendly stage presence and is more beautiful - and taller - than her photographs suggest. Those legs were sadly not on view as she shimmied onto the stage of Oriana's Royal Court Theatre looking like a mermaid [...]

Mamma Mia! Cruise ship entertainment keeps on getting better. I'm not just talking about an Abba tribute band here - though they are always among the most popular shows at sea. What's coming next takes entertainment at sea to another level, because the hit musical based on Abba's songs is to be the headline show on Quantum of the Seas when the new ship sails from New York in 12 months' time. First details of the booking were revealed as the cruise line's float set sail down the streets of Manhattan as part of the Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade. "The [...]

The National Symphony Orchestra should get season tickets for their travels on Cunard's Queen Mary 2. They have just completed a Transatlantic crossing from New York, and are booked to return next September. Last month they were on stage under the watchful eye of conductor Anthony Inglis, who claims to have appeared at the Royal Albert Hall more times than any other conductor, and who has played a part in the naming ceremonies for all three Cunard ships. More than150 passengers volunteered to take part in two choirs, rehearsing under Anthony's direction and then participating in two Last Night of [...]