Honolulu Blue

Small update on jury duty... as I've mentioned elsewhere in this thread, I'm on jury duty next week. They actually had my status on the phone starting 5 PM yesterday, but I didn't call until this morning. They asked me to not report on Monday, but keep calling starting Monday night for the other days. I was kind of hoping for a complete dismissal like I got 3 years ago, but it's all right. I'll get through this. And now I want to talk about that wacky weed. Prior to this Rock and Romance Cruise, I had not smelled or witnessed anyone smoking MJ on any of my cruises. On at least two occasions while I was attending poolside concerts on this cruise, I could smell Willie Nelson's favorite medicine. I didn't witness anyone smoking or vaping while I was there, though I confess most of the time my eyes were on the performers. No judgement on anyone for doing this, and I'm not a narc or informant, but the obvious questions are 1) how did they get that stuff onboard? and 2) did anyone else notice? Nobody said anything while I was there (thankfully) and I didn't hear any buzz on the ship about this. Again, this isn't a big deal (it actually confirmed my impression that the R&R group is a fun bunch that I really should hang out with), but I wanted to note it before I forget about it.

Actually, my point is that Carnival and the others are NOT different in this regard. You're correct in that you don't get a pool of minutes - you get an amount of time (24 hours) in which you can use the Internet which can't be extended by logging out.

They actually announced it yesterday by e-mail; the Web site is live now. Here's the initial performer list. I apologize for the font; they didn't ask me which I preferred: ...and here's the itinerary. I think it's very interesting. It's a repositioning cruise, which I haven't seen any charters use. The stop in Victoria is very long, and of course there's that San Francisco overnight. It sounds like fun for those who are interested. I was offered the chance to sign up for the pre-sale to beat the peasants in line for cabins on the ship. I think I'll decline the opportunity. One reason is that a quick calculation of the cost for a single cabin on this voyage is $4625, which would be the most I'd ever paid for any cruise ever, and not by a little bit. There may be some more discussion of the cruise in the newsletter today, so be sure to look out for that.

Princess, Celebrity, and Carnival are similar with their single-day, single-device plans. To provide amplification to the highlighted point, if you have multiple devices, you can switch between them. They'll ask if you want to login into this new device and log off from the old device. Then hit the button and it's done. Easy peasy, IMHO. Otherwise, you CAN log off your device at any time, but there's no point to it unless you're switching devices.

I was on this cruise with George and have done other music charter cruises. The ones I have been on didn't allow kids, though I have seen others that have (though there may be age limits). This is an option for the OP and others to avoid kids, though an expensive one. Obviously, you want to go on a ship where the entertainers are ones you like and the expected crowd is similar to you, or at least compatible.

That does sound unusual. Iwas around the pool a lot, but it was because they were playing the music that appealed most to me at the time. Perhaps things will be different next year. Speaking of next year, it was great to hear you and your lovely wife, and I'm sorry we won't do the rock and romance thing together next year. I am sure it will be a great experience for you.

I did a full Panama Canal transit on the Carnival Splendor a few years ago that included most of these ports. If I recall correctly, we stuck with local time most of the time, which means we changed time zones several times. My guess is you'll do the same, but this is always subject to the discretion of the Captain. Have a great cruise!

While I wait for our plane to get here (it's delayed), ill take a little time to review an email that just showed up in my box. Sixthman is adding another country music charter cruise in addition to OCC and Cayamo. It's called Boots on the Water and it's a 5-day sailing next February on the Norwegian Gem. Yee haw! In the same email came an initial lineup for Train's Sail Across the Sun Cruise that will also sail next February. Living Colour will be onboard, and they were on The 80s Cruise in both 2022 and 2023.

Moving back to yesterday afternoon... I saw Hotel California, tribute band for the Eagles. They were very good, though they played a couple of songs that weren't as familiar to me. An hour later, after some drinks, I went to see the Doobie Others, which did Doobie Brothers songs. I thought this was the best performance of the day, though not by a lot. There was a lot of musical comfort food here. I wonder how many Doobie songs Mr. McDonald will play on our upcoming cruise. I initially wanted to see Randy Bachman in the main theater, but at the last minute I decided to head to the cabin to watch the livestream. Mr. Bachman, of course, was the founder of both the Guess Who and BTO. IIRC, @George C recommended him. He was good, though he liked his storytelling time. And even with the stories, the show was only about 1:15 - the shortest show I saw in the main theater all week. I apologize in advance for the pictures. Then the night called me and I had to surrender to it. I'll sum up my experience in a few days while I work on other things. Thanks for following along.

I'll cover yesterday's events in a later post, but while I have a bit of time, I'll cover our arrival into Miami. We docked early, I left on time, line to debark was relatively short, Customs liked my pretty face, and soon enough I was out the door. I found the shuttle I purchased to the airport ($20, a rare bargain these days) and here I wait. It's a mini bus that holds about 15 passengers, plus a small attached trailer for all the luggage.

Good morning! I've already been to a concert today, out by the pool. I really like 10 AM concerts. 9 would be even better, but I'm sure most people would think that was absolutely crazy. Anyway, I went to see the tribute band Creedence Revived. They were very good. They played all the songs you and I know and love from them. Sadly, there was no room for any John Fogerty solo songs. 😕 I happen to like those better. That's all for now. Thete will be more to report, but my Internet is going to expire soon. For the record, it's worked well the vast majority of the time - as it should for the price that I paid for it (mostly covered by OBC). Thanks Elon. 👍

I've taken advantage of laundry bag deals on Carnival (many times) and Royal (once). I have never had to wait for a deal, just used the bag(s) provided, or asked the cabin steward for a bag and/or instructions on how to nake the deal work. I hope you can do something like this on NCL. Good luck. 🙏

It sounds like you got around! All that sounds great and I'm glad you were able to experience it all. This was a four concert day, so this is going to take a while to write and plan put. Your patience is appreciated (as always). Thanks in advance. The first concert was the LSB Experience at 10 AM by the pool. The sun wasn't too bright yet and the ship didn't wiggle around too much. LSB was obviously filled with talent, but most of their songs were from the early 70s - generally too early for me to appreciate. A couple of hours later came the Peter Asher experience. I think it would be a stretch to call it a concert, since there were only about half a dozen songs in the hour plus show. Mostly, Mr. Asher told stories of his days as a singer, a talent booker, and a manager. The stories were great, but a lot were from the 60s, which wasn't what I wanted. So, I guess the experience was OK? It was all right, but not something I'm clamoring to repeat. Later on, I went back by the pool to see Orleans. It was warmer and the sun was higher in the sky. I didn't have any issues with it. I thought they were good, in line with expectations for them. They played a medley of songs of the mostly more famous label mates they played with at Asylum Records in the late 70s. One of them was The Eagles, which I will hear more of tomorrow. But that's getting ahead of the story. I snuck in a burger at the nearby grill and took it into the buffet to eat. It was good, really hitting the spot. It was no Guy's, however. Last, but not least, we got an evening treat in the main theater- Generation Radio. This was an all-star group of musicians headed by Jason Scheff, former bassist and lead singer for Chicago. I hoped these guys would be good. Boy, were they. I thought this was the best concert on the cruise so far. They grabbed me from the start with the best song anyone has played so far - Kenny Loggins' Danger Zone. They mixed in Chicago tunes with Kenny Loggins, Journey, Tom Petty, and one uptempo Generation Radio original. Alas, they had to put in several Rascal Flatts songs, and this I thought was the weakest part of the show. There were more songs here from the 80s than any other decade. So I think this show would have had a more natural home on The 80s Cruise, of all places. I'm not sure how the R&R veterans will make of it, though the ladies on either side of me seemed to like the show and its performers well enough. When I returned to the room, I found the schedules for the next day on my bed. Tomorrow is the last full day of this cruise. I habe a busy day planned. We shall see if I can survive it. 😵‍💫

Let's see how much I can say and show in 20 minutes. I have Internet access, but a concert soon. Anyway, I saw the @George Cendorsed Cara Lee by the pool yesterday afternoon. She was good and the weather wasn't too punishing. This show focused on female singers of the 70s. I got to sit on the front row. Then, in the evening, I got to see my first nighttime concert by the pool. This was billed as the Yacht Rock show. I liked that kind music back then. I still like it today, now that I understand it better. They played a couple of Boz Scaggs songs, one each from Ambrosia, Player, and Pablo Cruise; and they closed with one from Christopher Cross (who will be on TEC next year). BTW, I was in the front row again. In the meantime, we left Curacao and are steaming back to Miami at 18 to 19 knots. The food remains solid. Gotta run. Peter Asher is calling my name.

Today we're in Curacao. I have some decent free Internet access, so I can catch up with the news if the world and other stuff. Where was I? Oh yes, yesterday onboard. I eventually retreated to the ship from a short visit to shore in Aruba. The weather was decent, warm but not hot, with some wind. It's actually similar here today, but let's back to yesterday (a Foreigner song that Lou Gramm played last year but Foreigner did not play for whatever reason). Last night's main theater concert was Ambrosia and a bunch of Yacht Rock spare parts working together - Peter Beckett of Player, the one guy from Looking Glass, and John Ford Coley. The spare parts weaved themselves in and out as they played their songs - along with some of Ambrosia's own. They also played Gary Wright's Love Is Alive as a memoriam to him. This was both less confusing and more enjoyable than I made it sound. The lady to the right of me seemed more familiar with and enjoyed the Looking Glass and Coley songs. I was more in line with Player and Ambrosia. I thought it was cute that the guy from Ambrosia noted that Player's Baby Come Back was in a bunch of Swiffer commercials a while back. Overall this was well worth the price of admission (stop staring at me like that! 🤣). After dinner in the trough, I checked out the Dave Mason concert that was being streamed. I gave him four songs, respected the musicianship, but didn't hear anything I recognized, so I turned him off. Sorry George. I really did give him a shot. I then went up to the Sky Lounge for the first time on this cruise to see Bella Donna, tribute act for Stevie Nicks and Fleetwood Mac. There weren't many people here at this time and I had a nearly unlimited choice of seats. They were in the process of doing sound checks and actually performed a song straight through. Steadily the room filled and with 19 minutes to go, there were barely any seats left. I have to say that Bella Donna put on quite a show. The Stevie character (she was introduced, but I didn't catch her name or any of her band mates, sorry) particularly impressed me with her constant outfit changes and 6" platform boots. I imagine only being able to do two things in 6" platform boots - falling down and trying to avoid falling down. I got to record a video of Rhiannon, one of the Fleetwood Mac songs that Stevie sings lead on. I like the regular 4 minute version, but this one lasted for 6. It wasn't half bad, but it was no Kashmir. 😲 Anyway, Bella Donna went through about a dozen songs, roughly evenly split between Mac songs and solo Stevie songs. One thing that might have disappointed some of her fans was that they did not get to Leather and Lace, her duet with Don Henley. However, they did do her duet with Tom Petty. Overall I liked the show about as much as I expected to and I'm glad I expanded my bedtime to attend. And that ended day 4 of my current adventure. I'm sure there will be more to write about soon. It's just a matter of when I'll be able to do it.

Good to know, thanks. I'm definitely spoiled by past experiences on other music charter cruises. More notes...

I'm pretty sure Royal built up Falmouth. I don't know the details of it and only have limited tools at my disposal to look it up. I've been to Falmouth twice on Carnival ships where they were scheduled stops. The "agreement" for Falmouth might be as simple as everyone is welcome, if there's room, and if you're willing to pay the fees.

I assume cash is changing hands, but maybe I'm just a hard hearted cynic. 👹

Thanks. Yeah, I've been in the theater on other shows on the Summit. I know they're good. And I'm pretty sure the Foreigner shows were the most popular ones here. Everything else, I hope, is downhill from here. 🙏

I had a day off from the Internet, but we're docked in Aruba today, and I'm hanging out in a location where the Net is plentiful, reliable, fast, and free. So, what happened yesterday for me? Not a lot, just a couple of concerts. I must have a warped sense of perspective if I think that in anyone's else's normal life that two concerts is "not a lot". 🙃 Before those concerts, I saw @George C walk by my hiding place and say hi. It took me a couple of seconds to recognize him. Sorry about that. Anyway, he was on his way to book his suite for next year's edition of Rock and Romance. Congratulations! I haven't booked yet, but I'm leaning toward NOT booking next year. It's a long, complicated story. I would rather talk about more fun and less complicated stories. My first concert was by the pool with Lez Zeppelin, tribute band for Led Zeppelin. I guess I'm a casual fan of the Zep; they mostly came and went before my time. I have three if their LPs somewhere in cold storage- 3, 4, and Houses of the Holy. My favorite song from them is the highly quirky The Crunge. SPOILER ALERT: the gals didn't play it. 😦 The weather by the pool was nice- low 80s with mostly steady seas and some wind in the right places. Lez Zeppelin put on quite the show, I thought. They were a tight foursome, so they photographed really well. The music was crisp and the lead singer did a good job of heating up the crowd. BTW, the drummer was a guy, not that it mattered. I think I have a new #2 song from Led Zeppelin. They played some intro bars from a song that piqued my interest and I turned on the video camera. It turned out to be KASHMIR and this version of it ran for 10 1/2 minutes! Ouch!! I guess I can kiss my career as a videographer goodbye. But that was quite a song, quite a song indeed. I had heard it before. But only bits and pieces and not anything like the full version. It's moments like these I crave on my musical adventure. Other songs? They played The Ocean, which was a surprise to me but really shouldn't have been (we were on the ocean, duh). And they closed with Black Dog and Rock and Roll from 4. What about that most famous Zeppelin tune, the classic rock staple? Well, sorry, Stairway was DENIED AGAIN. No telling if they played it in their other show. This wasn't that big of a deal to me; I think it's a good song, but it's long and slow and tough for an afternoon party crowd by the pool to properly appreciate. Anyway, after retreating to the trough for some drinks suitable for all ages, I settled into my seat for a little WAR. It was nearly the same seat as for Lez Zeppelin, just one seat to the left. The view was similar, but as this band is a sextet, my camera had to cover more ground. These guys were good, roughly in line with expectations. Low Rider closed out their show. I captured two of their other songs on video, which I will keep for personal use. Later on in the evening I got my schedule for today. It's a little slow during the day, but will eventually pick up. Stay tuned for further adventures! P.S. I skipped the Bee Gees Gold concert late by the pool. I guess I'm really not a late concert person. Let me make a note.

Yeah, the Foreigner thing happened. I arrived half an hour early and snaked my way through a considerable line just to get into the main theater, only to find no seats available on the main floor. I guess I'm too used to having reserved seats or sailing on under 100% occupied ships, because I can't recall anything like this. I called an audible and went up to the OVC for dinner. It was quite good and there was barely anyone there. I'll have to note this in the future. Then I came down to the room and turned on the VOD for some Foreigner action. They had already started. What? No intro? I guess not. OK. I started to relax and get into the show. The video was of very good quality. The vantage point used was also very good. The sound was about as good as one could ask for from a stock TV speaker. The guys put on a very good show, about in line with expectations. Kelly Hansen, the lead singer, directed traffic well and did his best to fire up the crowd. No Mick Jones, of course, but the other performers did quite well. They played most of Foreigner's biggest and most famous songs. It was very similar to the set Lou Gramm played for us at last year's 80s Cruise - minus the silly solo songs. While the concert was going, Ketina brought copies of tomorrow's documents - including the schedule from StarVista. I think I'm done for the evening. It's been a good day. I had a couple of solid meals, saw a couole of great shows, and met some like minded (sort of) cruisers. I'll take a minute to be thankful for all of it, and all the moves that made this possible.

Let's catch up with a few things. First, I did get the schedule for today from guest services. I then retreated to the room and found a couple of gifts from StarVista. Thanks guys. I then met @George C and several other CC members in his suite. It was a wonderful time and I surprisingly fit in quite well, in a quirky sort of way. 🤪 Then we moved on to the Pablo Cruise concert. This one was quite enjoyable, better than I expected. The big Foreigner concert is a few hours away. I'll be sure not to miss that one. Then I'm not sure what trouble I'll get into tonight.

Nothing to do with anything relevant here, but I was recently on a music charter with Tommy Tutone, who most famously played that song. I'm sure he did several versions of it.

Thanks for the food discussion. I've heard a mix of things about NCL's food in the past. I'll experience some of it for myself on the McDonald LaBelle Cruise next month. I'm not too finicky about food, but I do know what I like. Celebrity and its OVC happens to have, I feel, the best variety of good food at sea. That's a small point in R&R's favor as this cruise will continue on the Summit next year.

I'm sorry this report took so long to get out, but let's get to it. I missed the sailaway, the Cara Lee Show, and the late pool concert. I felt fine, just a little tired for these events. I guess I'll try to make up for it today. I wasn't given a StarVista schedule last night for today, and I may or may not pick one up in my rounds later on. I did get a separate Celebrity newsletter today. That will have to do for now. My buddy and I took a few pictures around the ship this morning. Breakfast was about as good as I can imagine from a cruise ship buffet. More to report later today, I'm sure.