You know, when it comes to concerts — and we've been to a LOT of them — there are two extremes.
One, you can pay top dollar and take your binoculars so that you can actually see the artist you can't hear because you're screaming your lungs out, for reasons that can never be articulated to anyone with a brain.
Two, you can pay excessive dollars to see your favorite artist(s), who can be heard above the pin dropping in the theater, which if you're lucky is in a setting with some intimacy.
Carnival is bridging the gap.
With a new entertainment strategy called Carnival Live, the cruise line will import first-class entertainers to places where eight of its ships will be visiting (Cozumel, Nassau, Catalina Island), have them perform in the main show lounge (intimate) and give passengers an opportunity to buy tickets for $20 to $40. There is a limited number of VIP tickets, which include meets-and-greets, photo ops, prime seats and a laminated concert pass.
First-class entertainment?
Check this list:
• Jennifer Hudson
• Lady Antebellum
• REO Speedwagon
• Martina McBride
• Foreigner
• LeAnn Rimes
• Chicago
• Daughtry
• 38 Special
• Jewel
• Kansas
• Olivia Newton-John (right)
• STYX
• Trace Adkins
All of them could command ticket prices beyond $40 in traditional concerts.
There's a couple of interesting names on the list of artists who this year will perform 49 times on Carnival ships. One is Jennifer Hudson, who happens to be the Godmother of the Dream…not the Carnival Dream but the Disney Dream. The other is Trace Adkins, who last week left the Norwegian Pearl to enter rehab for alcohol addiction.
Just interesting, that's all.
Carnival Miracle
7 nights
March 1, 2014
Long Beach (return): Puerto Vallarta, Cabo San Lucas
Inside: $559
Cost per day: $79
www.carnival.com