Cruise ship inside view:
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 Sonic Odyssey
As cruise
director on Quantum of the Seas, Jimmy Rhodes has responsibility for
the entertainment aboard the line's most innovative ship to date.
For the 15-year veteran of Royal Caribbean, this is a dream
assignment.“Entertainment has been my life since the time I was
eight. Now when I can oversee and organize it, I love it.”
While Quantum is different than anything Royal has done before, Mr. Rhodes objective for the entertainment on Quantum is to not only have it “world class” but “traditional to Royal Caribbean - - that tradition of quality entertainment.” “[Quantum] is true Royal. It does look like a Celebrity ship in many ways - - it's like Celebrity Solstice and Oasis had a baby. But now we have brought it back to Royal. What we are good at and what we have always been good at is that interaction with the guests.” The entertainment venues As on most cruise ships, the primary entertainment venue on Quantum is the ship's theater. However, the entertainment presented in the theater is different from the entertainment presented on other cruise ships. “You are going to get a high performance show whether that be a musical, a headliner, a comedian or a production show. On Quantum, you are going to see something dynamic and different than what you have seen on previous ships.” There are no traditional musical revues on Quantum. Instead, the theater production cast perform “the musical Mamma Mia - - the full two hour and a half version with a 15 minute intermission. It is a true Broadway musical and that is different within our fleet and the Royal Caribbean culture. We do have Boradway musicals [on other ships] but it is only the hour and a half version.” The theater is also home to the avant garde show Sonic Odyssey. “Sonic Odyssey is a show that will visually take you on a journey and stimulate all your senses.” While the show involves singers, dancers and aerialists, the focal point of the show is the earth harp, an instrument whose strings stretch from the stage over the audience to the back of the theater. “There is something you get from the show with the earth harp. The room becomes the instrument. You can feel the energy coming out of the earth harp.” But the earth harp is not all there is to Sonic Odyssey. “The costuming in the show, we have done production shows at Royal Caribbean for years and we can recycle costumes but everything with Sonic Odyssey is brand new.” Visiting artists also perform in the theater. “We took a different approach with our headliners. We picked all new people. We used to give people and an opportunity because they were great and were a sure standing ovation. With Quantum, everything is brand new. So if you come on the Quantum, you are going to see someone that you haven't seen. They all have to give me 50 minutes to an hour as opposed to most shows which are 45 minutes max.” “Comedians, we found people from the area that we will be sailing out of - - basically, New Jersey and New York. Someone with whom the guests are familiar with but who they have never had the opportunity to see them in a comedy club.” “Singing headliners, there are not that many out there. [So we] challenged them to come up with a whole new show.” Quantum's second major entertainment venue is Two70, perhaps the most technologically innovative entertainment venue now at sea. “It cost $34 million - - all the technology, lighting, sound equipment, the harnessing equipment that we use for the flyers. That room alone cost more than our first ship that we ever commissioned at Royal Caribbean.” Located at the stern of the ship, guests access Two70 by the Via on Deck 5. It may appear to be a two deck high space but there is more to Two70 than meets the eye. “It goes up to Deck 8 and down to Deck Zero. There is no traditional backstage. All the dressing rooms and lifts are brought from Deck 7 down into the space or from Deck 4 up into the space.” Two70 leads two lives. “During the day, it is a space where we encourage people to have lunch. The [adjacent] Cafe@270 is complimentary. There are many nooks and crannies where guests can just relax, be comfortable in and read their books. We have big chairs so it is like your living room. Two70 degree panoramic views of the ocean or the port of call that we are in that day. So that is a space where we encourage people to go during the day.” “But at night it transforms into an amazing entertainment room. The lighting is a central lighting so it sort of glows, creating a different feel from the space that you were in a few hours ago.” 
Starwater
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Suspended over the center of the space are six giant movable screens. “They are on robotic arms which sit on a gantry. The gantry is what takes them in an takes them out. The screens themselves can come all the way down to the floor or up to the ceiling. Each robot screen is about $160,000.”
“Their background is the Vistarama. During the day, they are glass windows from which you can see out. But at night, there is a thin screen that comes over the glass and we project 18 projectors on it. We can change that vista to set the mood of any theme we are trying to create.” The technology is not just suspended above the audience. “The dance floor is a traditional dance floor but it is also a stage. So we can bring that whole dance floor up to one level to match the rest of the stage. The drops in Two70, we know they are there but you don't know. You can be sitting in front of a pod and not even known it until a dancer will shoot up in front of you or repell down [from above]. The whole room becomes the stage. The whole room is unique by day and by night.” Two70's “signature” show is called Starwater. “Starwater is a unique show because it does not really have a story line. While looking at the show, you are questioning yourself what is it all about? What is going to happen next? You always want to be looking around.” The singers and dancers are not just on the stage but in among the audience and on the screens. “Starwater is visually going to blow your mind because of the Vistaramas that we use and the robot screens correographed with the dancers. We can take 16 [dancers] and turn them into a cast of 36.” In addition, the cast includes aerialists who suddenly appear above the audience. “The aerialists that we have in Starwater are all gymnasts or have strength training behind them. There are no safety nets. They are harnessed in during some sections of the show but most of it is done through strength.” “We will do Starwater eight to nine times during a 12 day cruise.” In addition to Starwater, Two70 is used for virtual concerts in which the performers appear on the robot screens and the Vistaramas. “Its a live concert digitally on the screens. We work with an orchestra from Las Vegas called Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns. [These musicians] play the big shows in Las Vegas like Celine Dion, Bette Midler, any big name. They are like the crème de la crème of Las Vegas. Every Sunday they get together, the singers and the musicians [to form Santa Fe and the Fat City Horns]. The band plays everything jazz, rock, country and western, Motown. They have a concert that will resonate with every guest aboard.” Reflecting this venue's special place in the ship's hierarchy, Two70 is only used for premium entertainment. While the screens are occasionally used to show a sports event such as a major football game, “we do not have traditional activities in Two70. We do not have trivias in there or have game shows.” For Starwater and the shows in the main theater, Quantum has instituted a reservation system. “Because of the sheer volume of guests aboard and the intimate size of the venues, we have to do reservations. We always have a standby line and 10 minutes before the show we will let the standby line in. We hold enough spaces to allow the standby line to come in. We do each show multiple times. The guests get to make the reservations for whenever they want.” Another nightime entertainment venue premiering on Quantum is the Music Hall. A two level nightclub, the Music Hall has a bar and pool tables on the upper level and a stage, a dance floor and another bar on the lower level. It can accommodate 416 guests. “The first four days of the cruise we have a designated tribute band. That could be a tribute to the Beatles, to the Temptations, [to Led Zeppelin, to Journey]. It is an experience that guests do not normally have on a Royal Caribbean ship because [such bands] would be performing in the main theater where you just sit and get entertained. It is your chance to interact with the band. You can actually dance to the music or get up and sing along whereas in the theater, you can't really do that. The beauty of this space is that it is live all the time. It reminds you of the House of Blues in how intimate it is and how they are right there, that is exactly what we have on Quantum in the Music Hall.” The Music Hall is also used for theme parties such as the 70s themed Groovey Town. “On most of our ships, the Voyager class and up, [the 70s theme party] is on the Royal Promenade. [On Quantum], it is intimate, and you can dance to a live band. Horizon our show band plays the music live as opposed to it being on tracks. Great 70s music. The guests want to interact, they want to dance so all the characters in Groovy Town are on the floor for photo opportunities and for dancing opportunities. Then I come in as the host.” Not all the entertainment performed on the Royal Promenade on other Royal Caribbean ships is performed in the Music Hall on Quantum. Instead, the Royal Esplanade, a smaller version of the Royal Promenade malls, is used for some shows. “We have four cast members who do all the Dreamworks pop-ups, which are the photo opportunities for our guests. We also have the Dreamworks Wows. We use members of the Two70 cast and of the theater cast to create a show on the Royal Esplanade. There are four different ones and we do them eight times a cruise.” These shows are similar to the parades held in the Royal Promenade on the larger Royal Caribbean ships “but not on the big scale that we are used to. We have cut them down to have a Dreamworks Wow rather than the large parades that we are known for on Royal Caribbean. We do some Dreamworks shows up in Seaplex because the space is so big.” The Seaplex is a sports venue aft on the upper decks of the ship. “It is an all indoor facility which we can transform into different things - - roller skating, bumper cars and also into our trapeze school, full court basketball, volleyball.” Quantum's sports-related features also include a sky-diving simulator, a surfing simulator, a rock climbing wall and the North Star, a crane-like appendage that lifts a capsule high over the ship. “Its almost like a mini-amusement park in so many ways. You can rock climb, you can sky dive, and you can take this up 300 feet in the air. You can't find that anywhere else. That is what is unique about Quantum.” |
Cruise ship interview - - Quantum of the Seas - - Royal Caribbean - - Cruise Director Jimmy Rhodes