“Early Reviews of ‘The Bar at the End of the Earth'”
By: Keith Johnson – Seattle, Washington (USA)
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When Cirque du Soleil first announced its collaboration with Celebrity cruises, Cirque fans weren’t surprised. CEO Guy Laliberte had often talked about expanding the Cirque “ethos” and style to other forms of entertainment. Cirque hotels and restaurants were early ideas, and the corporate-oriented “Tapis Rouge VIP Experience” tent has become a profitable mainstay of the touring shows. So it was really no stretch when Cirque announced that it would install “themed experiences” in two of Celebrity’s Millennium-class cruise ships, Constellation and Summit.
Celebrity Cruises is, as one might suspect, an upscale, premium cruise line. Though they go to the same ports of call as many other cruise ships, their cruises tend to be more luxurious and tend to attract a more mature, monied crowd.
Fortunately for Cirque fans who might want to take these cruises, cruise ships don’t always sail out of the same port. They migrate from locale to locale, following the cruise “season” around the globe. The Constellation, for example, will cruise the Caribbean before sailing off to Europe for several months, sailing back later in the summer for some New England cruises before sailing back out of the Caribbean again. The Summit also cruises the Caribbean, before cruising through the Panama Canal to work its way up the coast, spending the summer plying the lucrative Alaska tourist lanes. So if you aren’t in the continental U.S., or if you don’t want a Caribbean cruise, there are some other options available that would still allow you to take a “Cirque-equipped” cruise.
Here at the Fascination! World Headquarters, our intense desire to furnish you with all the latest happening in the Cirque-verse ran straight up against economic reality. We just didn’t have the money to book passage on the inaugural cruise this past November on Constellation (Summit will be retro-fitted by Cirque during drydock in January, and should be up and running with mid-March cruises). But that doesn’t mean we can’t pass along some reviews, even if we ourselves didn’t write them.
Cruise review site cruisecritic.com is a large site with tons of member reviews of almost every cruise ship out there. We’ve excerpted reviews from the November inaugural cruise and present them below. We’ve confirmed with Celebrity, that the bar will open and operating every night of every cruise – no “dark” nights or cruises. Evidently, one of the things we weren’t aware of (it isn’t explicitly mentioned in the publicity materials) was the intent to charge $30.00 per person for a “Masquerade Ball” event on one of the nights. Whether this continues as a separate ticketed event remains to be seen – from the reviews it looks like the extra ticket charge wasn’t well received, and our source at Celebrity suggests it may be dropped, though they aren’t ready to commit to that yet.
We’ll build up here from small reviews to a quite cogent detailed report by a man who goes by “efschlenk”. We believe, as these reviews suggest and as has been typical Cirque history, that the concept will only get more refined as time passes. But for now, have a look at their first efforts, in the words of passengers!
Wile 1170:
“As a bar experience, it was amazing. [It] touched all the senses. [There was] always something to look at or going on. [The] characters got more interactive with guests throughout the voyage. [The] drinks were a little overpriced, but it’s worth the experience. [The] Masquerade Ball needs much improvement. As of now, it’s not worth the price of admission as it was exactly the same as the nightly experiences. Celebrity received our feedback and we were part of the Focus Groups performed by Celebrity Marketing onboard for the voyage. They listened and immediately started to implement changes to the experience. In a couple of months, the Masquerade Ball will be something not to miss on the cruise.”
Lois R:
“[We] spent about an hour at the “Bar at the Edge” which was interesting… However, there were a lot of children and picture taking, which surprised me.
Hair 13:
“Yes, it is an Experience and not a show. If you expect a show, you will be very disappointed. The disco has been transformed into “The Bar at the Edge of the Earth.”
The look of it? Well it looks like the TV show “Trading Spaces” came in and decorated it. They have slipcovered the chairs in white and have lots of material hanging from the ceilings. They have made tents in back with lounges in them.
The “experience” was like a bad technical rehearsal. I was just not impressed. We did go to the Masquerade Ball. Yes, we paid the $30 per person and really looked forward to something magical from this. Well, it was the same “experience” we had for free two nights before. The only difference was that everyone had on masks and dressed in white. After being part of a focus group about it, Celebrity and Cirque did make changes on the last night. It was a lot more fun with better music and more interaction with the characters. We did get a refund on the Masquerade Ball [tickets].”
Efschlenk:
“For those who know the Constellation, the big news on this cruise was that Celebrity launched its new association with the Canadian-based CIRQUE DU SOLEIL entertainment group, well-known to Americans for its thrilling combination of acrobatics and new-age artistry seen in traveling venues across the US and in a permanent home in Las Vegas.
For several years, cruise lines have branded their cuisine with the names of famous chefs (Michel Roux, Jacques Pepin, et al.). Celebrity is the first, to my knowledge, to brand part of its onboard activities with a famous entertainment group. The idea is brilliant, but the execution is still in flux.
After great expense and much effort, the 11-deck forward lounge on the Constellation has been converted to the “BAR AT THE END OF THE EARTH.” Rather than presenting its usual acrobatic acts, Cirque du Soleil emphasizes that this is an “experience” rather than a “performance,” and they add that it is an experience in evolution. We attended three times while on the cruise, and noticed it was smoother and more refined each time, but still seemed a bit cerebral, lacking a story line or anything one could really relate to or empathize with.
THE LOUNGE has been draped in white muslin and theatrical scrims so that laser light shows can be reflected off of almost all surfaces. The bar has been retained, but now has something of an “arctic white” appearance. The perimeter seating has been replaced by curtained platforms with cushions (which may be a problem in Alaska or Norway, where these seats are prime nature-viewing locations). The remaining seating has been draped with white linen covers. The stage and dance area have also been curtained with moveable scrims that show projected images relating to the “characters” which appear and disappear over the course of an evening. We were told by another passenger that the investment in décor alone was more than $1 million US.
The lounge features several imaginary (symbolic?) CHARACTERS, each with an elaborate and ingeniously lit costume (one looks like a sea anemone, one a mushroom, one an intestinal parasite, one…. well, you get the picture). Each appears from behind the scrim, dancing and relating to the images on the scrim and the synchronous new-age music. The characters are not recognizable (to me at least) as anything from literature, history, or even the natural world. There is no real narrative associated with any of the characters – again, this is an “atmosphere” or “happening” and not a story or performance in the usual sense. The effect is something like [the alien] bar in Star Wars.
This still is a bar, and drinks are served by an agile and (of course) gracious Celebrity staff dressed in Ewok-style hooded brown costumes. As usual, smoking is allowed on the port side (including the bar area), so you may wish to choose your seating accordingly. The music is very loud (as on all cruise ship venues, not just Celebrity’s.
The first night of the cruise, the BAR AT THE EDGE OF THE EARTH was open only to the cruise line representatives for the launch. The second night there was a free preview for Captain’s Club cruisers, and one night there was a “masquerade party” at which those purchasing tickets ($30 per person, mask included, bookable in advance by your travel agent) were requested to wear white and were provided with masks (left in your stateroom or selected at the new CdS shop onboard). Most cruisers were elegantly clad in white, but one iconoclastic cruiser wore his bathrobe – the essence of “thinking outside the box” when good manners generally preclude wearing one’s bathrobe outside the stateroom.
I believe that in the future the CdS lounge experience will be free. Each visit we made was essentially the same format, so attending a masked (ticketed) showing is not necessary.
What was the RECEPTION OF THE WHOLE CdS VENTURE by the cruisers? Well, there was surprisingly little discussion of it (no buzz) by our fellow cruisers after the event (except for one elite-category Captain’s Club lady who wanted her money back because she bought a ticket and was also given a masquerade ticket free). At the end of the cruise, all masquerade tickets were refunded.
MY IMPRESSION is that CdS is best known and loved for its acrobatics, and its “atmospherics” when viewed alone are too artsy-fartsy for most Americans, many of whom have unfortunately been “Disneyfied” into homogeneity.
I think Celebrity was a generous host and investor in the project, which is brilliant in concept, but I think that CdS fell short in the product it has provided so far. I say “so far” because I think that the product can be rescued by doing some re-programming. I think most audiences want something they can relate to – preferably a story with a beginning, middle, and end. In this case, real inspiration might be found in the delightful and awe-inspiring lectures of the ship’s oceanographic lecturer who demonstrated that nothing exceeds the beauty and ingenuity of the natural world. Why not base the CdS experience on creatures of the sea? It does not have to be dumbed down to a Little Mermaid or SpongeBob Squarepants, but should have something an audience can relate too.
Perhaps it did not help that the CdS “family” on board this cruise was quite large, and although friendly, they seemed to be a bit self-indulgent both on and off stage. Ironically, the one awesome CdS experience was provided by their sole female gymnast/acrobat/adagio dancer who gave a short performance with recognizable CdS style a few times during the cruise. We shall see what the future brings to the Celebrity/Cirque du Soleil marriage. In the meantime, see it and judge for yourself.”
From the sounds of it, I don’t believe any of these reviewers have ever experienced Tapis Rouge at a traveling show. It seems Cirque has taken the foundation of the Tapis Rouge experience and applied it to a cruise ship bar. Once they’ve gone through “cementing the work” (making tweaks) I’m sure the “Bar at the End of the Earth” will become an interesting addition to a Celebrity Cruise.
And if we can somewhere find the money to afford one of these cruises, we’ll report on it first-hand!
