No more Broadway shows

[Sparky321]

I am very disappointed to hear that RCL has decided to stop several Broadway shows across the line. I booked 2 cruises for Feb. 2026 on Independence of the Seas, the main reason that I chose RCL was that they still had Broadway shows and not the cheezy entertainment that seems to be the norm now for too many of the cruise lines. It is too bad that I have just made final payment or I could have looked for a different option. I would be interested in hearing about other lines that still have good entertainment in the main theater.

 

Jim

[Matt]

Honestly, most other lines have worse shows. Royal is known for having the best entertainment, including their own stuff.

[PhantomWolf]

We travel in less than two weeks on Indy and my fiancee is very disappointed that Grease has been cut.  She was looking forward to it.

[smokeybandit]

Other than Starwater (which featured great singing, dancing and effects, just way, way too long), I've enjoyed all the non-broadway shows on RC ships.

[RCIfan1912]

Boy I'm glad we caught Saturday Night Fever on Liberty last month because it was fantastic. The insane level of production on a ship is mind blowing. We usually have our kids so we don't get to go to the shows but this was a solo cruise for us. Sad these kinds of shows are going.

[wordell1]

Cruising changes all the time and Royal (and other companies) add and take away things all the time for a variety of reasons.  I can't even count the number of things that I miss, but there have also been many things added that I enjoy.

Don't let this ruin your cruise.

[ChessE4]

43 minutes ago, RCIfan1912 said:

Boy I'm glad we caught Saturday Night Fever on Liberty last week because it was fantastic. The insane level of production on a ship is mind blowing. We usually have our kids so we don't get to go to the shows but this was a solo cruise for us. Sad these kinds of shows are going.

We find that Royal's singers and dancers do a great job regardless of the show. And the smaller ships have revamped their production shows, adding guest musicians.

[Ryan79]

Whenever there is someone disappointed that something “they were  looking forward to” is going away, there are plenty others who are happy for the change after watching the same thing over and over for the past several years.

[FOB]

On Indy at the moment and “The Tap Factory”, which is the new show to replace Grease, is an impressive mix of tap dancing, drumming and acrobatics / gymnastics. 
it’s not a broadway show but the performers are definitely high class

[OCSC Mike]

16 minutes ago, FOB said:

On Indy at the moment and “The Tap Factory”, which is the new show to replace Grease, is an impressive mix of tap dancing, drumming and acrobatics / gymnastics. 
it’s not a broadway show but the performers are definitely high class

Wonder originally had Tap Factory but got rid of it after a while.

[loki007]

so sad if they start going away from the Broadway shows. We are on Allure in December and Mama Mia is one of the reasons we chose it. Might as well go on Barnival now 

[smokeybandit]

Norwegian getting rid of broadway shows, too

 

 

[BigKarl]

It is kind of a "Good and bad for me."  My wife truly enjoys the Broadway shows and I do not.  She would attend the show and I would find a quiet place to relax alone.

[JohnK6404]

I don't think they're (Royal) getting rid of them entirely... maybe scaling back some of the older productions. All new Icon class ships have Broadway/West End level shows like The Wizard of Oz, Back to the Future, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, etc. 

Thankfully, they are not relying only on their own productions (Voices, The Book, Blue Planet... ugghhhh!). I think the Broadway/West End shows, ice shows, and AquaTheater shows is what sets them truly apart from all of the competition. I've always thought Royal and Disney lead the way in high-quality entertainment.

[WAYNO]

I have tried to like the Royal  Broadway shows, but I just can't.

If you've seen one break-dance show, you've seen them all.  

I just asked my wife if she remembers any Broadway shows we liked, and her answer was Grease.  She must've experienced that show without me, as I have never seen it.  And that's the show I always looked forward to.

[fireclan]

I like We Will Rock You on Anthem. I've seen it many times, but still really enjoy it.

[WannaCruise]

19 hours ago, JohnK6404 said:

I don't think they're (Royal) getting rid of them entirely... maybe scaling back some of the older productions. All new Icon class ships have Broadway/West End level shows like The Wizard of Oz, Back to the Future, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, etc. 

Thankfully, they are not relying only on their own productions (Voices, The Book, Blue Planet... ugghhhh!). I think the Broadway/West End shows, ice shows, and AquaTheater shows is what sets them truly apart from all of the competition. I've always thought Royal and Disney lead the way in high-quality entertainment.

Glad Royal hasn't dropped Broadway shows completely.  We don't cruise to see a show (we live in a big city and always have shows playing here), but I do think that Royal's shows are a big plus.  Their Aqua and ice shows are always amazing and the theatre cast is so talented in their in house shows.  However, I personally get really excited when there is a Broadway type show on the cruise.  I'll often even see the show a second time if i can.  DD and I were disappointed when they didn't renew Grease on Harmony and aren't putting them on the other newer Oasis class ships.  I hope that going forward it is not just Icon class that has this level of show.

[JohnK6404]

12 minutes ago, WannaCruise said:

Glad Royal hasn't dropped Broadway shows completely.  We don't cruise to see a show (we live in a big city and always have shows playing here), but I do think that Royal's shows are a big plus.  Their Aqua and ice shows are always amazing and the theatre cast is so talented in their in house shows.  However, I personally get really excited when there is a Broadway type show on the cruise.  I'll often even see the show a second time if i can.  DD and I were disappointed when they didn't renew Grease on Harmony and aren't putting them on the other newer Oasis class ships.  I hope that going forward it is not just Icon class that has this level of show.

Us too, the entertainment is a just another enhancement to the whole cruise experience. I usually like to pick the ships that are destinations in themselves, as well as the ports on the itinerary. I love the ships that you don't mind the skipped port and extra sea day. Especially if you've been to the same ports multiple times. 

We live less than 50 miles from NYC, but really haven't seen a Broadway show in a few years so it's nice to have the option on the ship. Recently, when we go into Manhattan, it's usually to see our crappy NY Rangers play lose at MSG. 

[WannaCruise]

12 minutes ago, JohnK6404 said:

Us too, the entertainment is a just another enhancement to the whole cruise experience. I usually like to pick the ships that are destinations in themselves, as well as the ports on the itinerary. I love the ships that you don't mind the skipped port and extra sea day. Especially if you've been to the same ports multiple times. 

We live less than 50 miles from NYC, but really haven't seen a Broadway show in a few years so it's nice to have the option on the ship. Recently, when we go into Manhattan, it's usually to see our crappy NY Rangers play lose at MSG. 

Yes exactly "an enhancement to the whole cruise experience".

We live in Toronto, so not NYC but there are still always good shows being offered.  We happened to have seen 3 of them this past year.  I would love to go all the time; however, since we've been cruising more I tend to lesson our theatre budget.  So it's great when it's part of the weekly entertainment on the ship.

[Gilley]

I think the older ships should have broadway shows.  Ships like the Oasis class and Icon class have aqua and ice shows as well as other entertainment.  Those ships that don’t have them lack a lot, filling in gaps with a bunch of trivia and not so funny comedians.  While I like the ships Orchestra bands, I need more.  The headliner shows today are no substitute for the broadway shows.  I booked Indy for Grease but that is gone.  Just got off Odyssey and I could have skipped the Book.  All other entertainment was jugglers, ventriloquist and not so funny comedians.  A few singing shows - Las Vegas and Nashville and Showgirls held my interest but they still can’t replace a good broadway show.

[Xaa]

The loss of Broadway shows just begins to make the cruise lines more fungible.  I'll miss them, but I won't stop cruising and some/many of my cruises will still be with RCI and they know it, so it's an easy choice for them.

[Jolly Ogre]

On 2/7/2026 at 1:59 PM, JohnK6404 said:

Thankfully, they are not relying only on their own productions (Voices, The Book, Blue Planet... ugghhhh!). I think the Broadway/West End shows, ice shows, and AquaTheater shows is what sets them truly apart from all of the competition. I've always thought Royal and Disney lead the way in high-quality entertainment.

Those are still better than "Cats" on Oasis and the craptastic "Tap Factory" that replaced "Grease" on Indy.

[whitsmom]

I am not a big fan of the Broadway type shows but we would go anyway; however, if we didn't like it we would just leave.  We are on the Harmony in March so we will see how we like the shows.  I have our show reservations all set for our March TA.  I have always enjoyed the Ice Skating shows even if I have seen them before.  

[JohnK6404]

2 hours ago, Jolly Ogre said:

Those are still better than "Cats" on Oasis and the craptastic "Tap Factory" that replaced "Grease" on Indy.

Absolutely! 

[ZBoyles]

On 2/9/2026 at 8:36 AM, whitsmom said:

I am not a big fan of the Broadway type shows but we would go anyway; however, if we didn't like it we would just leave.  We are on the Harmony in March so we will see how we like the shows.  I have our show reservations all set for our March TA.  I have always enjoyed the Ice Skating shows even if I have seen them before.  

We will also be on that TA. Grease was good on Harmony in January of 2025 but the best show in my opinion was Royal's own show called Columbus. I am not a huge musical person and was worried I would not like them but went to all the shows and the only one that disappointed a little was the Fine Line aqua show but I think that is because they scaled it down due to the waves. Does anyone have experience with Voices (the replacement for Grease)? Is it worth seeing?

[whitsmom]

1 hour ago, ZBoyles said:

We will also be on that TA. Grease was good on Harmony in January of 2025 but the best show in my opinion was Royal's own show called Columbus. I am not a huge musical person and was worried I would not like them but went to all the shows and the only one that disappointed a little was the Fine Line aqua show but I think that is because they scaled it down due to the waves. Does anyone have experience with Voices (the replacement for Grease)? Is it worth seeing?

We saw Grease on the Harmony before too.  We saw the Fine Line aqua show and it wasn't as good as other aqua shows we have seen.  I can't recall ever seeing Voices.  

[WannaCruise]

20 hours ago, ZBoyles said:

We will also be on that TA. Grease was good on Harmony in January of 2025 but the best show in my opinion was Royal's own show called Columbus. I am not a huge musical person and was worried I would not like them but went to all the shows and the only one that disappointed a little was the Fine Line aqua show but I think that is because they scaled it down due to the waves. Does anyone have experience with Voices (the replacement for Grease)? Is it worth seeing?

We were on Harmony in December.  Voices is fine.  I would have personally preferred Grease, but yes , I'd still go.  It isn't a Broadway show but we still enjoyed it.