The Nostalgic Music Heard on a Cruise Ship

I am currently halfway through a 12-day cruise of the British Isles with my husband and three long-time friends. The itinerary includes stops in Belfast, Dublin, Liverpool, and Glasgow. We couldn’t dock in Dublin though due to choppy waters which meant we had an extra day “at sea.” It’s always fascinating to me as to how music gets programmed into such a journey. Cruise lines like Celebrity mostly cater to the over 50-demographic. As such, a lot of the music that is part of onboard shows, trivia contests, and special events all have a decidedly retro vibe. Here are some of the activities they’ve had so far:

The Beatles/Elton John Show

The cruise line’s entertainment director was the headliner of this event which was available to see twice: once at 7 PM and then again at 9 PM. He covered several Beatles’ tunes and a small handful from Elton John’s first decade of hits. It was a mostly satisfying experience since the songs are great regardless of who performs them. Fortunately, or not, these shows don’t last more than 45 minutes so they can’t screw them up too badly. It was a solid show.

“Rock City” Show

The second night featured several singers, dancers, and acrobats showing off their talents to classic rock tracks by artists such as Bon Jovi and Queen. The band sounded great, and the voices were generally pretty good except for the occasional “Broadway” style singing which made the production feel “stagier” than a typical rock show. The audience ate it all up and deservedly so. I’ve been on many cruises where rock/pop music has been underserved except by various lounge singers doing their own acoustic versions of popular songs. This show again tapped into our sense of nostalgia and was quite entertaining.

A solo “diva” show: “Decades of Divas”

One of the headliners in the large Eclipse Theater was a woman named Heidi (pronounced like the country “Haiti”) Karlsson who had a big voice paying tribute to female divas. This included a cover of the Dolly Parton-penned and Whitney Houston-sung I Will Always Love You. The performance was more subdued than Whitney’s but bigger than Dolly’s. Oddly enough, there was a giant screen in which segments of the original divas’ videos were shown. Even though we couldn’t hear Whitney and Dolly, the show’s director didn’t attempt to sync them up with Heidi on stage. This was a bit disorienting. Because Heidi said she was from Sweden, she also covered her country’s major exports by including Roxette’s It Must Have Been Love and a medley of ABBA hits. Nice energy and clearly the audience loved it. She also covered one male artist, Avicii, that was strangely included over “real” female divas like Mariah Carey, Madonna, Cher, or Diana Ross. She also did a slowed-down version of Belinda Carlisle’s Heaven is a Place on Earth, which, while giving the song a fresh take, felt a bit too languid for my taste. She ended her set with an operatic piece (Maria Callas?) which did show off everything she had to offer. Generally, this was another performance that felt very “Broadway.”

ABBA sing-along

Speaking of ABBA, this one we didn’t attend because it was similarly programmed on a cruise of Alaska that we did in May of 2025. The whole event takes place on a dance floor where people can move to the music while screaming out lines from Dancing Queen and many other ABBA hits.

Music Trivia

This is one activity my husband Frank loves to attend. It happens every afternoon at 3:30. The first one was filled with mostly well-known 20^th Century pop hits. There was a guy sitting behind us who kept shouting out the names of the songs as they were playing. I had to play “mean guy” by asking him not to do that because we wanted to see what we knew. He promptly walked away. The one song that threw us off though was one by Boney M which wasn’t a hit in the states. We lost that round.

We also went to a 1960s-themed music trivia contest. Almost every song was familiar to our group and most everyone else in the lounge where the contest was held. The one we missed was a complete mystery though and even now I can’t remember it.

Songs Heard Throughout the Ship

While sitting in lounges enjoying a Manhattan or straight whiskey, music is often curated by live DJ’s. Those looking for some 21^st Century artists might be disappointed. Among the icons that I heard were Stevie Wonder, Bee Gees, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, and Toto. Not a lot of women but some a few white guys sang a Madonna song:

Music Festival in Belfast

Unbeknownst to us when we booked this trip, Belfast, Ireland is home to the world’s largest Irish music festival this week. Yesterday we spent the day in the city and saw musicians carrying around their instruments everywhere. One of our stops was at an Irish pub called Maddens Bar. The place was small and at 1 PM packed with a crowd listening to live local music. We had to sit outside due to the lack of room, but it proved to be a great location with delicious burgers and beer being served out of food trucks across the street. Many other streets were blocked off for festival goers all over the city. While we went on a tour which focused on the dark days of Ireland’s “Troubles” the rest of the residents and tourists were celebrating the sounds of Ireland’s past and present.

All these events are made to k

eep us feeling good and young while we eat and drink ourselves away. I wonder what year Taylor Swift and Beyonce will begin to creep their way onto cruise line entertainment programming… When they do it will mean another generation has passed from coolness to nostalgic like mine has.

Thoughts? Have you been to Ireland or taken a cruise? What has been your experience with the music?

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