I just returned from a five day cruise on Royal Caribbean's "Liberty of the Seas." The ship features an ice rink, about one third the size of an official hockey surface. The rink is used for open skating, as well as performances of a terrific ice show entitled, "Encore, An Ice Spectacular." Four shows are scheduled for each sailing.
I was quite excited to see the show, since my internet research indicated that Amelie Lacoste was a headliner. I actually headed down to the first open skate of the sailing and met Amelie in person. After complimenting her on her Peter Gabriel SP, she was gracious enough to give me an autograph. I asked about her loop and flip....her best jumps imho. She explained that she did the 3L but not the 3F on board due to the limited ice surface.
I saw the first scheduled performance of the cruise. The first scene is POTO set in the West End of London, with all the masks and cheesefest accoutrement. The climax of Phantom featured a pairs team, not listed in the credits, that did great lifts, a two footed throw single salchow and no sbs skating. The premise for the rest of the show is that the Phantom haunts various theaters around the world.
The next act portrays a performance of Carmen in 1875 at the Paris Opera House. For any serious skating fan, this was the highlight of the show. An extremely handsome Alexander Goncharov (14th place Russian Nationals) and cute Victor Goncharov show off several double axels, a triple toe for Alexander and a triple lutz for Victor. Alexander also completes a very balletic serpentine step sequence. Next, gorgeous Amelie makes her appearance as Carmen in all of her seductive glory. Her solo features a double loop, double flip and excellent combination spin. Next, Alexander and Amelie skate together, completing perfect sbs double toes, and a beautiful inside edge ds.
The next act is set at the Kirov ballet, featuring festive Russian folklore costumes and skated to a Rimsky Korsokov composition. Beautiful to look at but no difficult tricks. This was followed by a Japanese kabuki number with stunning costumes but no triples.
Next came the epitome of cheesefest routines...."Guest Stars" Fred and Marina doing a bowling pins and rings juggling act on ice with audience participation. Despite myself, I did indeed enjoy their antics! Not to be outdone in the cheese department, the next act featured a comically overweight Elvis with showgirls at a theater in Vegas. Obviously, this sequence was required for a costume change for the final act.
The final city that the Phantom haunted was L.A. This act was second only to Carmen in terms of displayed technical prowess. Adorable Colin Grafton (USA, 8th Place Junior Worlds Pairs) performs a high energy routine in a grunge/valley boy/bare midriff ensemble, featuring a great triple salchow, traveling camels and a combination spin ending in a vertigo inducing scratch spin. This was followed by a daring pairs number performed by Cedric Laignier of France and Mayumi Namikoshi of Japan. The swoop lift at the end made me cringe!
P.S. Colin Grafton, the cutie, posed for a picture with me. If I was only 20 years younger....sigh!
I was quite excited to see the show, since my internet research indicated that Amelie Lacoste was a headliner. I actually headed down to the first open skate of the sailing and met Amelie in person. After complimenting her on her Peter Gabriel SP, she was gracious enough to give me an autograph. I asked about her loop and flip....her best jumps imho. She explained that she did the 3L but not the 3F on board due to the limited ice surface.
I saw the first scheduled performance of the cruise. The first scene is POTO set in the West End of London, with all the masks and cheesefest accoutrement. The climax of Phantom featured a pairs team, not listed in the credits, that did great lifts, a two footed throw single salchow and no sbs skating. The premise for the rest of the show is that the Phantom haunts various theaters around the world.
The next act portrays a performance of Carmen in 1875 at the Paris Opera House. For any serious skating fan, this was the highlight of the show. An extremely handsome Alexander Goncharov (14th place Russian Nationals) and cute Victor Goncharov show off several double axels, a triple toe for Alexander and a triple lutz for Victor. Alexander also completes a very balletic serpentine step sequence. Next, gorgeous Amelie makes her appearance as Carmen in all of her seductive glory. Her solo features a double loop, double flip and excellent combination spin. Next, Alexander and Amelie skate together, completing perfect sbs double toes, and a beautiful inside edge ds.
The next act is set at the Kirov ballet, featuring festive Russian folklore costumes and skated to a Rimsky Korsokov composition. Beautiful to look at but no difficult tricks. This was followed by a Japanese kabuki number with stunning costumes but no triples.
Next came the epitome of cheesefest routines...."Guest Stars" Fred and Marina doing a bowling pins and rings juggling act on ice with audience participation. Despite myself, I did indeed enjoy their antics! Not to be outdone in the cheese department, the next act featured a comically overweight Elvis with showgirls at a theater in Vegas. Obviously, this sequence was required for a costume change for the final act.
The final city that the Phantom haunted was L.A. This act was second only to Carmen in terms of displayed technical prowess. Adorable Colin Grafton (USA, 8th Place Junior Worlds Pairs) performs a high energy routine in a grunge/valley boy/bare midriff ensemble, featuring a great triple salchow, traveling camels and a combination spin ending in a vertigo inducing scratch spin. This was followed by a daring pairs number performed by Cedric Laignier of France and Mayumi Namikoshi of Japan. The swoop lift at the end made me cringe!
P.S. Colin Grafton, the cutie, posed for a picture with me. If I was only 20 years younger....sigh!
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Thank you so much for your great review, Sjs5572! 
