Everybody says  "...oh and ALL the entertainment is included in the price of your cruise!" . 

But what does that mean?

Enterainment is always included at the top of the list of stuff that comes with this nearly all-inclusive vacation option, along with ALL your food, activities (we'll get into that later) and other wonderful things.

Entertainment on the cruise ship may include some or all of the following, depending on which cruise line or ship you're on:

• A big prodution show in a big theatre on the ship some or all nights
• A band on deck in the Caribbean playing steel-drum oriented music (almost a requirement)
• A piano bar which may feature a great performer
• A karaoke bar
• A disco
• Late-nigt adult-only shows featuring magicians, comedians and circus-like performers
• Various bands, groups, trios and other musicians in various different venues
• Entertainment-staff run activities like pool and deck activities
• Bingo
• Slot machine tournments
• Poker tournaments
• Art Auctions
• First-run movies on a big screen inside or outside on deck
• Good movies and/or other attractions on your cabin tv including pay per view movies
• Towel animals made by your cabin steward for you each night while you are at dinner
• Midnight dances and/or buffets
• Food "entertainment" like chef demonstrations
• Tours like "backstage" or "galley"
• Dining room entertaiment

Ok let's take a closer look now

A big production show in a big theatre on the ship some or all nights

These fall into two groups in my opinion:  "Vegas-style" or "Other".  Vegas-style is just want it implies, lots of feathers, a chorus line, a theme, and lots of lights.  The can be very entertaining and if you've not seen one, do so.  It's surely a part of your cruise experience and you surely did pay for it. 

Personally, though, I think they're kind of a "if you've seen one of them you've seen all of them" things.  Sometimes I think the same production company does them for all the ships.  But don't pass them up, sometimes there are some surprisingly good ones

The big entertainment value lies in the "other" category.  If entetainment is important to you, this is where you need to do some homework as all "other" shows are not created equal.  As you might expect, Disney Cruise Lines has top billing in this area putting out a top-knotch quality version favorites from the Disney portfolio as well as unique productions made just for the ships. 

But not just Disney does a good job in the "other" area with Cunard, Princess and Celebrity coming in strong with unique productions.  Celebrity even played around with Cirque du Soleil for an entertainment additon to the cruise experience at one point.