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When you look at the partial charter schedules they're only programming 2-3 hours a day so they don't tie up venues that the rest of the ship wants to use. I think it would be a big come down from the kind of programming we're used to on the full charters.

And here's one that does mention TEC: https://www.chron.com/gulf-coast/article/galveston-music-cruise-ships-18588969.php

It is funny that the Paul Abdul Polaroid would have been retro in her heyday! But I think it's still a fun and unique twist on the usual meet and greet option. Speaking of news about cruises: https://www.thrillist.com/travel/nation/music-festivals-on-cruise-ships

Those are some pretty nice perks -- especially the reserved seating. I'm a big fan of just waltzing in five minutes before showtime instead of waiting in line every night. (But I'm also happy that I snagged a J of J inside single as they're already gone.) It's funny because on one of Lazaroff's pre-cruise teleconferences someone asked if they could sit in on big band rehearsals. The Man paused and said "I'm not sure, but I don't think so." I guess the idea stuck in his head! I think sitting in on a rehearsal might be mildly fun for a land-based concert, but I can't see skipping an actual concert to go to one, which would be required on TJC. @Honolulu Blue Are you in one of the 12 featured photos, or would one have to shift through the 250 or so pictures in the downloads?

I'm late to this thread and have yet to sail on Virgin but I am shocked to see such notable musicians showing up a cruise ship. I am a longtime fan of both Slam Allen and the Lee Boys. These are artists who are really quite known in their field -- Slam Allen was the bandleader for James Cotton, one of the best blues artists of all time, and the Lee Boys tour all over and are appearing soon at the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival. This just makes me want to sail on Virgin even more!

Hi HB! I ate mostly at the buffet on Cayamo as those Sixthman cruises don't really offer dinner breaks the way that StarVista and Jazz Cruises charters do. It wasn't the worst food I've had on a charter -- I'm looking at you, Welcome to Jamrock Reggae Cruise on Royal Caribbean -- but there were a lot of repeat offerings over the week and it grew tiresome. The Indian food, which I usually live off of on cruises, seemed especially lacking in flavor and variety. I did make it into the MDR about three times and everything there was solid if not memorable. (So few people were there I wasn't pressured to join anyone else's table and there were quite a few solo diners.) I should mention that I eat fish but not meat or shellfish. It's not the most restrictive diet, but it means that most of the O'Sheehan's offerings are off the table for now. I have eaten in a specialty restaurant on a charter exactly once -- at a luncheon with one of the bands on the Country Music Cruise quite a few years back. A Sixthman staffer mentioned that there's a nightly vegan menu in the MDR that has to be ordered a day in advance. I did so, and it was really just a few vegetables, and of course the next time I came in the special diets director and hostess remembered me and tried to serve me the vegan meal again which I had to awkwardly decline as I ordered fish with creme brûlée for dessert! They were doing a great job -- it's not their fault I was just experimenting with veganism for the night. I did try the vegan menu one other night and it wasn't much better, so in the future I'll just leave that food for the actual vegans. For how I usually eat -- mostly buffet, with a few MDR trips if I can squeeze them in -- I'd say that for the charters I've been on Holland America has by far the best food, followed by Celebrity, with Norwegian a very distant third and RC in last. I have never been on a non-music charter cruise. If someone ever books a music charter on a Virgin ship they'll have my attention, although I'm not sure the venue setup would be conducive to a floating festival.

Thanks for all of the great reports, HB. I have to say I did not enjoy the food on the Pearl when I did Cayamo except for the one breakfast I had at O'Sheehan's, so you did well by having a few meals there. Today's newsletter did reiterate that it was a one-time sailing. I'm planning on seeing the Doobie Bros here in Boston -- they're at a huge shed and the show is very very far from sold out, so I'll wait and see if any promotions or good secondary market deals pop up. (There are already $25 lawn seats, but I'd like an actual chair if I can get one.) While you were out at sea there has been a lot of commotion over The Guess Who. Of course you and @George C caught Randy Bachman doing some Guess Who songs on R&R. Now Burton Cummings is suing the version slated to be on the 2024 R&R and Flower Power cruises, and he's infuriated by the current GW that he has withdrawn permission for ANYONE to play the Guess Who classics live, forcing the current GW to cancel a number of concert dates. You can read all about this at your favorite online music news source -- Rolling Stone interviewed Cummings and there's been quite a bit of coverage elsewhere as well.

Have a great cruise! I was surprised (given the short length) to see Lazaroff doing one of his Q&As. If you make it (and the 9:30AM start time would likely make it quite an if) I wonder if he'll offer more hints about possible short cruises. I also noticed that an earlier version of the schedule had Ms. LaBelle coming back on the ship on the second Nassau day to do an interview with Marcus Miller, but that's been scratched.

An email just came in about the fall '25 Soul Train Cruise. It said that Charlie Wilson had been added, which certainly makes me more interested in going. It also said this about this cruise, which will get either a red or green light in June: "We want to thank you for your continued support of this cruise. MANY of you have already shown your enthusiasm by pre-booking your spot for Fall 2025, but we still need your help to make this a reality! Please continue to share the news with your friends and family, and if you haven’t yet, make sure you book your spot soon!"

I'm likewise going to call tomorrow and get my presale cabin, @wwcruisers. As for the Ron Carter question, I emailed and got a prompt reply confirming that Ron won't be sailing and that his excursion show will indeed be subject to an additional (unspecified) cost. I don't think it's great advertising, but regardless it's a terrific lineup and I'm excited for my first non-Caribbean cruise.

Here in Mass we're actually allowed one extension to the date of our choice for any reason. You can do it online. It makes things a lot easier for both the jurors and, I imagine, for the court.

Interesting to hear your experience as my next round of jury duty is in July. (It was slated for last month but I pushed it back.) I was thinking of @Honolulu Blue when I saw this: https://www.retromanialive.com Fun lineup but the few times I looked into actually going to Branson (back when they had a lot of legendary country acts performing there) I realized it was just too far from anywhere to be worth my while.

Like @wwcruisers I've entered the pre-sale. It'll be fun to do a non-Caribbean cruise for the first time, and I love the lineup. One thing I noticed from looking at the fine print (on the excursion page) is that Ron Carter, a major jazz legend who is prominently advertised, will be performing at the land-based venue SFJAZZ, which makes one think he won't be sailing (I've never heard of him being on a jazz cruise and it can't be because he's never been invited). It isn't yet clear if that show and the transportation will cost extra -- I'd be quite disappointed if that were the case.

Hi @George C! Were there any special guests at Peter's acoustic set? Also how did you like Don McLean? He's got a bit of a reputation but I have to say I've seen nothing but raves about his show and his interview/meet and greet on Facebook from my friends who are on the ship.

Glad you're having a good time, HB! FWIW if you end up going to any more theater concerts I've found that the balcony seats in that theater are excellent. (Some of the shows might also be less crowded than Foreigner.)

The only issue about doing The Jazz Cruise and then Cayamo a month later was that the Norwegian food was a big letdown after the generally good Celebrity food. I'm looking forward to being back on Holland America when that fall '25 Soul Train Cruise finally happens. I don't pick a music cruise for the food, but it's nice when it happens to be good.

So while @Honolulu Blue is starting their week on Rock and Romance there was some big '25 cruise news: The Soul Train Cruise has added a fall '25 sailing. This is what the email said: So… we’re excited to share that we’re planning a second sailing of the 2025 Soul Train Cruise, to sail in the fall, NOVEMBER 9-16, 2025 out of Ft. Lauderdale, FL aboard Holland America Line’s Eurodam. The decision to sail in November 2025 is contingent upon guest demand and we will judge that demand by asking for deposits from guests. We will assess the demand and confirm if we are sailing no later than June 14th, 2024. Should we decide not to sail, your deposit will be fully refunded within 30 days of our notice on June 14th. No details about itinerary (which I don't care about) or artists (which is all I care about) was provided. I decided to leap at the chance to get a single inside cabin, and now I'm going to get cancel for any reason insurance. I'd be thrilled with a replication of the lineup for the Jan '25 cruise which I couldn't get an inside cabin for, but I don't think that will be the case.

Hi HB! Yes, because I've done three prior Outlaw cruises and three other Sixthman cruises I was able to book an inside cabin yesterday. I think some lucky first timers could have gotten a cabin today via the pre-sale -- although there wasn't much left by that point. The fast sell-out should make it easy for me to get a cabin mate if the friend who is considering that role declines. Interestingly Sixthman is introducing a brand new waiting list system where you make regular payments and get the first cabin that pops up in your category. If none ever become available they pay you a future credit. They are using historic cancellation data so chances are nearly everyone who makes those waiting list payments will end up being able to sail. StarVista doesn't really have waiting lists, they just email when cabins open up and it's a free for all. Rock and Romance had about seven cabins open up on Monday so you might meet some people who came on board at the very last second! Have a great cruise!

Thanks for all of the great coverage, HB! Hope you had a smooth trip home. I got off Cayamo so early I easily made the 10:30 am flight that everyone said I would miss. Cayamo was a wonderful week and like the 80s Cruise we were also in Aruba which was beautiful (and inspired at least one band to do a folk/bluegrass cover of "Kokomo" during one of the late-night jams). We arrived two days after an 80s Cruise. I don't think I've ever been on a music charter that was docked next to a different music charter. Cayamo had pretty good weather except for the second night which happened to be the night Lyle Lovett was slated to do his pool deck show before getting off the next morning in Puerto Plata. The winds were so intense that the show was wisely canceled (I walked around the pool deck later that night and could barely stand up). Since all the indoor venues were already programmed and have more limited capacity they ended up moving Lyle to a 9AM pool deck slot the next morning so he could play and then get off the ship as scheduled. We docked at 7:30 AM or so and about halfway through Lyle's show a Virgin ship docked next to us, so a very small number of Virgin cruisers got to watch a Lyle Lovett concert from their balconies! We also got the starting lineups for the 2025 Outlaw Country and Cayamo cruises, and my personal preference leans strongly toward Outlaw's lineup, which alas would keep me from UDC. Another major factor is that I have multiple friends who would room with me on Outlaw but none for UDC, so in effect the disco cruise would cost me about twice as much. Hopefully it'll sell well and I can catch up with it in 2026. I'll also be getting Cancel for Any Reason Insurance so if the final Outlaw and UDC lineups make me change my mind I'll have some flexibility to switch. HB, this might be of interest: https://mcdonaldlabellecruise2024.sched.com

Thanks for keeping us updated, HB! Great to hear that Sheena Easton delivered live. Who is that singing next to her? Regarding the '25 80s Cruise, if anyone wants to see the lineup HB is referring to it is here: https://the80scruise.com/lineup/ I've only seen three of the artists: Squeeze, Sheila E, and Kurtis Blow. Sheila is a great entertainer. Squeeze do what they do -- I happen to like their music but of course everyone has their own taste. I saw Kurtis so long ago I don't remember anything about his live show. (It was probably a hip-hop package show where everyone got short sets.)

PS -- Here's the 2024 Flower Power schedule. https://2024flowerpowercruise.sched.com John Lodge of the Moody Blues cancelled his land tour and isn't on the final schedule but is said to be recovering nicely so I don't see any changes to the status of his appearance on the 2025 R&R cruise. Tommy James, an oft-requested artist who won't sail OR do two shows in one night, is going to do one big show on the pool and then get off before the ship actually leaves Miami at 7pm. Last time he was booked he did one single show near the port in San Juan and the venue got pretty mixed reviews, so I think most cruisers will be happy to just have him by the pool even if it'll be a crowded affair. And John Kay of Steppenwolf will be the "on and off" guest doing two shows in port.

Thanks HB! So when the announcement happens I'll be on another Sixthman cruise, Cayamo, which leaves on Friday. The nice thing about the timing is that if I love the OCC lineup I can go right to the NextCruise desk and buy a certificate to use on my OCC reservation. And if I don't, perhaps you'll see me on UDC, although I might wait it out a bit more to see who gets added to either cruise.

HB, that webinar will get archived on YouTube. And based on prior webinars the vast majority of the information is geared towards people who have either never cruised or have never been on a music charter. That makes sense, but it also means that what you'd learn would be pretty limited. I watched the archives of TJC webinars with my finger on the fast forward button as I didn't have to hear about luggage tags and specialty dining options.

Today the 2025 Flower Power Cruise was announced. It's a very good lineup that includes Mark Lindsay's first live appearance anywhere in a number of years -- he had retired due an injury and had cancelled on a prior FPC. Rare Earth (with no originals), The Guess Who and ex-Hollies member Terry Sylvester are also doing Rock and Romance in 2025. Alas the dates probably won't work for me (and I won't know for sure until after the April pre-sale) so it's not likely that I'll be booking a cabin.

I might be misreading things but I actually think the performance will be the Hall of Fame Band (Peter Asher's backing group) doing a tribute to Badfinger, rather than a Joey Molland set. When Peter Asher does StarVista cruises he does a matinee show with a full band (including Cara Lee singing "You're No Good" which Asher produced) and then the late night acoustic shows which have lots of special guests. I wonder if he's the only artist who has been on Malt Shop, Flower Power and Rock and Romance.