Honolulu Blue

Thanks for the brochure link and the thread link. The cost was roughly as I expected (feared 😯) for such an experience. It does look more luxurious than Jazz Cruises (or indeed other music charter cruises) these days.

Mr. Lazaroff told an interesting story in his latest newsletter. It involved a 2014 sailing of the Signature Jazz Cruise, where 400 passengers on a Seabourn ship sailed in Europe where the passengers flew to Nice, France, and had a special concert experience in Monte Carlo. I call this to your attention because apparently this is what Michael L. was referring to when he discussed past European luxury cruise experiences during his Q and A. Also, my wallet started screaming when I thought about how much a charter cruise on Seabourn would have cost. 🤑 I also thought of how far I would go, and how much I would pay, to see my favorites.

The Ruby had a library as of April 2023.

I have not. I guess I have a lot to look forward to. Thanks for the heads up!

Thanks for sharing this. I'm a little surprised they let the crew smoke in areas where passengers are likely to encounter them, though I suppose at some of their jobs, they're in place for so long during the day, they'd need some place to go that's relatively close. I'm also a little surprised that the crew would want to be in a place where they can show off this habit in front of the passengers.

The Super Legends Cruise 2.0 edition for 2025 announced their lineup a couple of days early: Of the relevant performers, the Isley Brothers, Sheila E., and Jody Watley are all duplicated from the one I booked. Only WAR moves the needle for me among the additions. This one is missing Heatwave, Tavares, and the Mary Jane Girls from the other cruise. I think I'd take that trade and officially am not interested in switching ships.

I've taken the Carnival shuttle from the airport a couple of times. It works fine for me, but I wouldn't recommend it for your group. First, because you're getting in the day before the cruise, you'd have to all go back to the airport the next day to catch the shuttle. Second, it would probably cost less to rent a couple of buses or a small fleet of cars than paying for individual seats on a shuttle. And third, you need to figure out what you want to do with regards to transportation to the port and then work backwards. Galveston has a few hotels within walking distance of the port, but they're small and expensive. Houston's airports have some nearby hotels and you can probably get transportation from any of them straight to Galveston's port through a private party. And there are hotel options in between. Make sure you choose the right one. Good luck. 🙂 Several years ago, I got a pack of used Carnival casino cards from the cashier. Not free, but it only cost $1. I'm not sure they now give away packs at the casino or GS, mostly because I haven't tried in a long time. YMMV. Carnival's app doesn't allow you to find your fellow travelers, but you can sign up for a separate chat program with those you're close to onboard. The reviews of this aren't great, and I haven't tried it myself, so YMMV on this too. I'll defer to others on the details of the afternoon tea. I've never attended one. I can't think of many across-the-board recommendations for Carnival. If you like burgers, you'll probably like Guy's and its fries. BlueIguana serves good burritos and tacos; don't expect authenticity there. And there are some quiet places to hide on each ship, though it might take a day or two to discover them. Enjoy your upcoming cruise!

I'm from the States and I know this. I almost never hear an American use this term. When it was used, it was much more often used as an unkind term about a group of people. I wonder if my UK friends used it in this way. I assume they did.

I've done 11 cruises on four different cruise lines since the restart with several more scheduled. I think all of them are doing most things right, at least as far as I'm concerned. Most of the standards that you, I, or anyone else could set are subjective, but one standard is much less subjective than the others - financial performance. And here there's one standout - Royal Caribbean and its affiliated cruise lines. I've been impressed by how often they can get near premium cabin prices for their newest ships - of which they've had quite a few. I'm sure that's boosted their bottom line a lot. Also, I think Royal, the cruise line, is as close to "all things to all people" as any cruise line. They have enough fun stuff to do onboard. Their crew is good enough. Their food is good enough. Their itineraries are varied enough and interesting enough. Their ships are pretty enough inside and out. And they have a fair variety of sizes of ships to please almost everyone.

Thanks for sharing this. I was on that cruise in March in kind of the opposite of a royal suite with no drink package. I wonder if the fact that it was a charter made a difference in their enforcement of this?

These days, Carnival installed non smoking casinos in some of their ships. They seem popular and might be the best of both worlds for now. I've heard that Royal has done the same on some of their largest ships. It's hard to imagine a completely non smoking ship. Unlike on land, everyone is completely trapped onboard for 24 hours or more. I don't see a solution to this. P.S. I haven't heard this rumor. To me it's irrelevant where it came from, if anywhere.

Last night I attended the Abducted to the 80s concert that featured four bands from that decade. How did it go? I'll slowly get through all the details. Please be patient. I drove down yesterday from home. It took about 6 hours to get there. Part of the reason I agreed to go to this concert that's a long way from here was to test out both my car (which I bought in April) and my ability to drive long distances. Both worked out well, the car better than me. It sipped fuel (scans crowd) like a lady on a first date and generally rode, steered, and braked well. As for the driver, I had some minor navigation issues and I had to go through some construction in several places. But those were to be expected and I managed to survive them all. Anyway, back to the action at the Amphitheater. It was a nice place with good seating and views. I did indeed have a front row seat. I was close to the action - almost TOO close. The stage was about 5 feet above ground level, which meant that I had to look up at the stage and the camera angles were a little strange. OK, the show started at 7 on a warm night (that turned a little cool and windy after dark) with Naked Eyes. They had the honor of playing the session's best song (IMHO), "Promises Promises". They played it second to last to their biggest hit. I thought they were good, but then again, I thought all of these performers were good. Keep that in mind. Next up was The Motels. Their two big hits had a unique sound that made them haunting to me. And their lead singer Martha Davis was a big part of that. I was glad to see her still hanging in there. She was a quirky one. I bet she would be a lot of fun in a Q&A session. BTW, she and her band were on TEC in the past. And did you know she plays guitar? I did not know this. One of my VIP perks was a photo op with Ms. Davis after this show. There were about 18 people who were in line with me and I was #3 to go back stage. She autographed my poster (also a VIP perk) and we took a photo. It turned out nice. Modesty does not permit me to post it. She seemed really nice throughout our brief interaction. I was able to get back to my seat in time for the next show. Some other VIPs... were not so lucky. The next show was with Men Without Hats. I had written these guys off completely. That was a mistake and the biggest surprise of the event. I actually liked this show and would go see them again sometime. It helped a lot that their lead singer was very enthusiastic and moved around a lot - though it hurt my ability to photograph him. Also helping was the fact that MWH played their One Big Hit both at the start and the end of their set. Another help was the fact that they had a lady on keyboards. She looked to be a bit young to be an original band member from the 80s; maybe she was born in that decade. After they played their set, there was the longest delay between bands of the whole evening - about 40 minutes. And then Wang Chung came out. I had seen these guys in concert on The 80s Cruise back in March. They played most of the same songs, though one of the songs they dumped this time was "Don't Let Go", which was the song that introduced me to this band. They played a cute cover of "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" before breaking into their big hit, which closed the show. After the show, the crowd cleared out quickly. But us VIPs had another backstage session - this time with the Wang Chung leads. I told them about how much I enjoyed them on the TEC, and they told me a story about how much they liked playing in Studio B instead of by the pool as they were scheduled for. They also autographed my poster and this time I got several pictures with them. The drive back to my hotel was surprisingly pleasant and drama free with very little traffic. The only bad part is that it was at night, and I don't do well with night driving in unfamiliar cities. Overall I had a wonderful time in Decatur and wouldn't mind spending more time down there to see a band or two (or more) that I liked. Thanks for stopping by.

Lots of people book cruises in the Caribbean in August. Most of them turn out fine with minimal effects from the weather. Some of them are affected to a greater or lesser effect by hurricanes. Always keep these things in mind when sailing in the region: 1) The cruise ship companies and the ship captains will avoid large tropical disturbances (tropical storms and hurricanes) whenever possible 2) There are many things that can be done if a storm is in the area or planned to be 3) Stay informed about weather forecasts in the area. This sub-forum is a good resource, but hardly the only one. Good luck with whatever you decide. 👍

As I plan for my next musical adventure (which I should have a post or two on in a couple of days on my 2024 thread), I got an e-mail just now from the Super Legends Cruise 2.0. They set a date of June 14 for the pre-sale and they promise to have the lineup for it on that date. Let's see what they come up with.

I eat at the trough all the time on the Celebrity ships I've been on (only the Summit and the Millie). I like both the selection and the quality there. Unfortunately for the OP, I rarely bother with pasta or burgers at the OVC, so I don't know how often they're served there.

Thanks for sharing this. Two thoughts: 1) This is an impressive collection of games for a cruise ship these days, IMHO 2) OF COURSE they had "Cat in the Hat"! 🙂 I wonder if they had any other of Dr. Seuss' books. My vision isn't that good. ☹️

Panama's currency IS the U.S. dollar. They call it a "Balboa". Another suggestion to the OP is that some vendors in some ports sell blister packs with local coins or currency. They're very pricey for what you get, but it is an option. I have bought a few of these over the years from various countries.

Thanks for the clarification on NCL. Your New England cruise story sounds interesting. I have a Princess cruise in that area in a couple of months. By "fearless leader", did you mean one of the passengers or someone on the crew?

In addition to what @cr8tiv1 said above, you should try to look at the roll call for your cruise here. I've found that it's a good way to get to know your fellow solo cruisers prior to boarding. Also, I've found there are multiple solo meetings during each Princess cruise. Consult the newsletter for details. Some might be at different times and/or in different locations. YMMV on these. Maybe yours will be the one where you find your new posse! 😁 Which ship was this on and when was it? This doesn't sound like the NCL others tell me about. Their newer ships have dedicated studio cabins and last year they added cabins on all their ships for solo use.

This sounds a lot like my residence hall life from many years ago. 😊 It also sounds like crew life from not so long ago, but I know less about that. In addition to what my fellow posters have said, I should point out that at least one online agency offers roommate matching for their singles cruises RIGHT NOW.

First, an apology for not posting my news about the 2025 80s Cruise and ECP's generosity in this thread, where it belonged. I'll link it here and now. And now it seems the UDC has made one last addition to their lineup with The O'Jays. "Back Stabbers" is my favorite song from them, but they had other songs that I like. I'll definitely have to make room for them. I should note that like Earth Wind & Fire and Kool and the Gang, disco is a small part of who they are. Since the lineup feels finished, let me post it here.

I was on the Majestic in April 2022, though it wasn't a transatlantic. It was about 70% full at the time of its sailing. I never tried to spend any significant time on the outdoor decks, so I can't help you there. Here are a couple of the places I hung out when I was onboard. The common areas can get a little noisy, but as a fellow introvert, I found them quiet enough during the morning hours.

@dides: Thanks for the press release. My first thought was that they were going to try a country-themed cruise sometime. But they didn't mention it here, so never mind.

That's OK. There's an audience for them that Celebrity and other cruise lines are willing to cater to. And as @George C said, some of them can sell out quickly.

There are other music charters with other, younger performers if you prefer. Some are on Celebrity, but most are not. BTW, the older musicians, music, and fans are sometimes the best ones!