“The Bar Has Fallen Off the Edge of the Earth”
By: Keith Johnson – Seattle, Washington (USA)
* * *
After trumpeting their collaboration with Celebrity Cruises to retrofit bar areas on cruise ships, we were hopeful Cirque was finally beginning to expand on the concept of “themed environments” they had always wished for. Sorry, not going to happen, at least net yet. We had a summary all written up before we found this article which appeared October 12 in the National Post, a Canadian newspaper. It laid out the situation so well we’ll just excerpt it here.
“Cirque du Soleil’s Big Top at Sea Not a Hit With Cruise-Goers” by Graeme Hamilton, National Post
“The Cirque du Soleil, accustomed to winning over critics and audiences with its cutting-edge shows, has encountered a crowd immune to its charms: the shuffleboard set. A joint venture between the Montreal-based Cirque and Celebrity Cruises, announced with great hype last year, has been put in dry-dock after disappointing passengers on the two Cirque-themed luxury ships.
“Every guest is different. I guess their expectations just weren’t met,” Celebrity Cruises spokeswoman Lyan Sierra-Caro said yesterday. The cruise line says it is in discussions with the Cirque “to develop a new evolution of the onboard entertainment experience.” Ms. Sierra-Caro said a timeline has not been set for a return of the Cirque to the high seas.
Renee-Claude Menard, a spokeswoman for Cirque du Soleil, said passengers were expecting a traditional show of acrobatics from the Cirque performers. “We have to conclude it was not for them,” she said. “The attitude on a cruise ship is very different. Patrons of a cruise line lead a very organized life. They would sit there and expect a show, because that’s what you do on a cruise line.”
She said the Cirque is in discussions with Celebrity to provide a more traditional on-board show, within the confines of a ship. The Bar at the Edge of the Earth will remain, she said, but Pez Erizo and the others have been eliminated. “We believe that it’s a great bar,” she said. “Was it in the right place at the right time? Maybe not.”
Kenneth Wong, a marketing professor at Queen’s University, said a setback like the cruise-ship venture is to be expected for a creative company like Cirque du Soleil. “It’s a very difficult business to be in because you’re not really an act. You are trying to be a broader experience, and when you start to think about a product in those kinds of abstract terms, something that is beyond just three hours sitting in a chair, you do have to test the tangible frontiers of those boundaries from time to time.”
He said the flop will not have the same resonance as it would have had it been a show under the big top. “This doesn’t really damage the brand. It was just one of those things they tried, it didn’t work, and if anything they had the good sense to pull the plug earlier rather than later,” he said.”
In a news item posted on www.cruisecritic.com, Celebrity spokeswoman Liz Jakeway suggested that the further tweaking will result in what “our guests … have told us they expect from a program involving [Cirque]: acrobatic and artistic performances.”
The only part of the above coverage we would dispute is the headline; Cirque never intended the Bar to be a “big top at sea.” And there will be something else in the offing, as the six-year alliance only began in 2004. The extensive decorations and technical installations made in both ships bars will remain, as will the on-board Cirque boutiques selling shirts, masks, CDs and DVDs.
We have to say we’re not too surprised. Celebrity is an upscale cruise line and as such attracts an older clientele. We suspected that said customer would have a hard time getting past the idea that this Cirque du Soleil “thing” isn’t a “show” and wouldn’t have clowns/trapeze artists/strongmen/jugglers. Such is the baggage the name Cirque du Soleil brings with it, and part of the challenge of breaking out of that mold into other forms of entertainment.
But, dear reader, don’t fret. For those who didn’t have the chance to experience this special Cirque environment, we at Fascination! are here to sacrifice time and money to make sure you get the story! Keith and wife LouAnna took the Summit on an Alaska cruise back in September, and documented the Bar at the Edge of the Earth in excruciating detail. Look for our first installment in a future issue.
And, if we can speculate, expect Celebrity to announce some sort of Cirque du Soleil “collaboration” that would more easily fit into their shipboard theaters at some point in the future.
[Source: National Post.com, Cruise Critic.com, Celebrity.com]
