Carnival Cruise Line had me on Carnival Ecstasy last week to witness first-hand the new CarnivalLive program. The headliner on our sailing: Martina McBride.
This was the ninth concert in the series this year, and the country music star's show in port in Cozumel marked the sixth sellout. The crowd was filled with dozens of McBride fans drawn to the four-day sailing, which included a stop to Key West, too, because she was performing. The seats in the ship's main Blue Sapphire showroom were also occupied by a lot of opportunists who said they had heard of McBride and were familiar with a couple of her songs and thought it would be a cool event to take in for just $20. Either way, this show in particular and the CarnivalLive concert series in general seems to be a real hit.
The audience was loud and energetic at the McBride show, and she was gracious in interacting with the crowd in the somewhat cozy confines amid about 900 attendees. She even came back for an encore to the whoops of the crowd that gave her a standing ovation.
The concert series lined up 15 acts for its inaugural season. Each was scheduled to play at least two shows. Others you can catch onboard: Trace Adkins, Olivia Newton-John, Styx, Leann Rimes, Kansas, Jennifer Hudson, Lady Antebellum and Chicago.