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Moody Blues cruise


DeMar
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  • 2 years later...

Yes! They have done two previous cruises and I am finally going on the one in February on the NCL Pearl. It's not just the Moodies but The Orchestra (ELO without Jeff Lynn) and many other bands. I've seen pictures of the previous two cruises and they looked fantastic! They may still have cabins available--you should join us! Go to MoodiesCruise.com for more info.

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  • 3 months later...

We went on the Moody Blues Cruises in 2014, 2015, and 2016. The music was great.

 

The first two cruises were on MSC. In 2014 it was on the Poesia, one of MSC's smaller ships. I was surprised how nice a mass-market line could be. Reasonable drink packages were offered, and the ship seemed far less crowded than other mass-market ships on which we have cruised in the past. In 2015, this cruise was on the Divinia, a larger ship that also offered "The Yacht Club". This is a separate area of the ship that offers all the inclusions and amenities of a lux line -- but for a lower price. In 2016, the cruise was on the Norwegian Pearl, and to be honest, Norwegian is far from one of my favorite lines. The cruise was cut from five nights to four, and drink packages were $600 per room! The ship did offer a "yacht Club" type of option with fantastic suites with a complimentary bar in them, but no separate dining room for dinner and no "open bar lounge" -- all at a much higher cost than MSC.

 

We have been in some contact with the organizers. As of now, it appears very unlikely that there will be another of these cruises in 2017. Perhaps in 2018. The "Norwegian situation" went over well with nobody, so any of these cruises in the future are planned to be on another line -- identity unknown at this time. And it is probable that the next cruise (if there is one) will be the last. The three original members of the Moodies are all in their 70's. Indeed, Graham Edge, their drummer is 75.

 

Anybody interested could sign up on the Moody Blues fan club site to get updates on any future cruises, when available.

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  • 1 year later...
  • 2 months later...
google - moody blues cruise.you can subscribe to their website for info on upcoming trips. the next one is Jan 2, 2018 on Celebrity Eclipse. it's sold out, may be a waiting list.

 

if you are booked on the moody cruise, go to "find your roll call", find Celebrity Eclipse 02 January 2918. to find the roll call, not much moody chatter yet.

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  • 2 months later...

I’m one the admins for the Moody Blues Cruisers Facebook. Our group keeps up with the news about cruises planned by On the Blue which is the company that has booked the Moody Blues up until now (cruises I - IV). At this time no other cruises with the Moody Blues or concert dates have been announced. We are all “Watching and Waiting” of course!!!

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I feel that the Moody Blues Cruise in Jan. 2018 went over well with all who went. The Celebrity Eclipse was a great ship that was very classy -- not a graffiti filled joke like the Norwegian Pearl was in 2016. Plus, if you booked a suite you got great accommodations, a separate open bar lounge, and a separate open dining room. It was luxury cruising at not (quite) the price plus great music.

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  • 2 weeks later...

In the last few days, we received an email from the promoters of the Moody Blues cruises and Cruises to the Edge. It stated that there would be announcements soon on the next Cruise to the Edge, indicating that Justin Hayward (Moody Blues lead guitarist and singer) would be performing on the next Cruise to the Edge (headlining Yes). There was no mention of a future Moody Blues cruise headlining that band.

 

The interpretation of this email is up to the individual. Because I know of rumors that one of more of the other two original Moody Blues did not want to commit to another cruise at this time, I interpret it to mean that there will not be another such cruise in the near future. But there may be other information and interpretations.

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I feel that the Moody Blues Cruise in Jan. 2018 went over well with all who went. The Celebrity Eclipse was a great ship that was very classy -- not a graffiti filled joke like the Norwegian Pearl was in 2016. Plus, if you booked a suite you got great accommodations, a separate open bar lounge, and a separate open dining room. It was luxury cruising at not (quite) the price plus great music.

 

I absolutely loved this year's (2018) Moody Blues Cruise. But as with all travel, there can be hiccups. Unless one is VIP, seating and waiting in lines will be a problem. Some bands were simply too loud with no reason to be. One in our party measured the decibels of an outside performance to be over 100!!! Damaging. Next time we'll bring earplugs. Also, the space at the pool area did not seem sufficient. Some passengers saved seats quite early and we had to stand for several outdoor concerts. And then there was the rain and cancellations. That couldn't be helped though the sponsors have stated that the Royal Caribbean ship for 2019's cruise (with Justin Hayward of the Moody Blues performing but not the other members) will have larger indoor venues.

 

The worst part for us was that we had sailed on the Celebrity Eclipse just five months prior to the Moody Blues Cruise on the Eclipse. We had bragged about the food and service to our friends who accompanied us on the Moody Blues Cruise. But the food and service were just not the same on the very same ship! The food was not nearly as good and the dining room seemed understaffed as did the cafe and other areas on the ship. I can only suspect the quality was less because it was a chartered cruise; that corners were cut. That doesn't make sense to me as Celebrity should be hoping to gain new customers on future cruises. I heard a number, of new to Celebrity, cruisers say that they will not ever go on another Celebrity Cruise. I didn't think it was THAT bad (better food than on RCCL) but it was certainly not the usual Celebrity standard. All said, we still would do it again!

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Sunshine,

 

To be fair, we had the VIP tickets and a suite. So we had reserved seating for the concerts in the auditorium and a separate dining room and separate open bar. And we never visited the pool. And I'm well aware that the suite portion of a ship (any line) can be much different from other portions in all respects.

 

I do agree that musical events outside and in lounges were too crowded and seating too hard to find. But the ship was sailing at 100% capacity (or above) and that factor always diminishes the quality of any cruise. I've had a senior cruise line official tell me that all ships "cruise better" at no more than 90% capacity.

 

And I've felt for a few years that the promoters of these music cruises need to negotiate a little harder on inclusions and quality with the lines. After all, a Moody Blues cruise guarantees the line 100% occupancy -- something that many cruises are unable to achieve these days.

 

In my earlier post, I was comparing Celebrity suite class experience to a cruise experience with more "standard accommodations" on Regent for about the same price -- and without regard to the music part. We found Celebrity to be a bit more enjoyable largely due to the spacious suite. And we did, in fact, book Celebrity for Alaska this summer in a suite based on this.

 

As for 2019, we have cruised Royal Caribbean before and liked it not at all. For mainly that reason, we'll be skipping the 2019 cruise.

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Sunshine,

 

To be fair, we had the VIP tickets and a suite. So we had reserved seating for the concerts in the auditorium and a separate dining room and separate open bar. And we never visited the pool. And I'm well aware that the suite portion of a ship (any line) can be much different from other portions in all respects.

 

I do agree that musical events outside and in lounges were too crowded and seating too hard to find. But the ship was sailing at 100% capacity (or above) and that factor always diminishes the quality of any cruise. I've had a senior cruise line official tell me that all ships "cruise better" at no more than 90% capacity.

 

And I've felt for a few years that the promoters of these music cruises need to negotiate a little harder on inclusions and quality with the lines. After all, a Moody Blues cruise guarantees the line 100% occupancy -- something that many cruises are unable to achieve these days.

 

In my earlier post, I was comparing Celebrity suite class experience to a cruise experience with more "standard accommodations" on Regent for about the same price -- and without regard to the music part. We found Celebrity to be a bit more enjoyable largely due to the spacious suite. And we did, in fact, book Celebrity for Alaska this summer in a suite based on this.

 

As for 2019, we have cruised Royal Caribbean before and liked it not at all. For mainly that reason, we'll be skipping the 2019 cruise.

 

If we go again, it will VIP though I see that VIP has been divided into Silver and Gold level VIP. Hmmmm...between that and it being RCCL, we may not be going either. We were concierge class and found that the benefits of concierge were not great on a charter. Spa or suite class would have given us the different dining rooms as well as VIP and its benefits. We are looking at another music cruise that is on Celebrity for Spring of 2019.

 

Sorry I wasn't clear on the pool. I meant people were saving seats early on for concerts; pulling chairs from the sides over, etc., and leaving towels or other items on them. We didn't actually use the pool area other than for concerts either, though we crossed through the area numerous times a day.

 

Are you sure that the ship was sailing at 100% capacity? We wondered because the cafe/grill and dining room were far less crowded than when we were aboard the same ship 5 months earlier for 2 weeks. On the MB cruise, we never had to wait for a table in the dining room and never had trouble finding one, even one for 6 people, in the cafe/grill. That was a different story on our earlier cruise.

 

We are booked on Celebrity out of England this summer for two weeks to Ireland and Iceland. Enjoy Alaska!

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Sunshine,

 

I know the ship was 100% full. We know some people who decided late to book, but couldn't. The TA who worked this cruise told them it was full with no rooms left, and 2000 people on a wait list.

 

There are levels of VIP. Not sure what the difference is. We had the highest level as we had been on all prior MB cruises.

 

We received an email today that booking for the 2019 cruise starts tomorrow (Tuesday Afternoon). It is RCCL, and they have only announced some of the bands. We are definitely going to let this one slide! But anybody who wants to go needs to book tomorrow. On past cruises, all the good suites (of RCCL has any) will go in minutes, along with all the budget cabins.

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Sunshine,

 

I know the ship was 100% full. We know some people who decided late to book, but couldn't. The TA who worked this cruise told them it was full with no rooms left, and 2000 people on a wait list.

 

There are levels of VIP. Not sure what the difference is. We had the highest level as we had been on all prior MB cruises.

 

We received an email today that booking for the 2019 cruise starts tomorrow (Tuesday Afternoon). It is RCCL, and they have only announced some of the bands. We are definitely going to let this one slide! But anybody who wants to go needs to book tomorrow. On past cruises, all the good suites (of RCCL has any) will go in minutes, along with all the budget cabins.

 

Oh, I didn't know there were different levels of VIP before.

 

On the 100% booking, we wondered if perhaps some decks, or portions of, were undergoing maintenance and not available for booking. Again, just based on the number of people in areas where we had experienced many more five months prior on same ship. I have nothing else to base our assumption on. I see that the RCCL has the capacity to hold 650 more people than the Celebrity from this year. With 2,000 on a waiting list, they need to book bigger ships!

 

The booking today, March 6, 2018, is for past MB cruisers. General booking opens later. Not sure when. The link to book will supposedly be disabled until then for those who have not cruised the MB cruises before (now called "On the Blue Cruise".

 

Waiting to hear from friends as to whether we are going. I hate to miss Al Stewart and The Orchestra particularly. We definitely are going a different one in March on Celebrity.

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Sunshine,

 

There are different VIP levels, but I think they primarily have to do with how close to the state you sit. The lower levels are a bit further back, which may not be a bad thing given the volume level of some bands! There may be additional events for higher level VIP cruisers. I just don't recall the details.

 

Yes, they needed a larger ship for the recent MBC, but a larger ship means more people as well as larger venues. So I don't know if this will be a problem solver or not. The best MBC we experienced was in 2014 on the MSC Divinia, which is a 3900 pax ship, and it too was full. But it seemed the outdoor area was better able to handle the "people load" than was the Eclipse. But as a side note, MSC stopped allowing charters for music cruises when the group from the "Monsters of Rock" trashed the ship. I guess MSC didn't take into account that the average age of MBC passengers are in their 50s and 60s!

 

Finally, you are correct that today's booking window is only for prior MBC cruisers.First timers will have to wait an unspecified length of time to book.

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If we go again, it will VIP though I see that VIP has been divided into Silver and Gold level VIP. Hmmmm...between that and it being RCCL, we may not be going either. We were concierge class and found that the benefits of concierge were not great on a charter. Spa or suite class would have given us the different dining rooms as well as VIP and its benefits. We are looking at another music cruise that is on Celebrity for Spring of 2019.

 

Sorry I wasn't clear on the pool. I meant people were saving seats early on for concerts; pulling chairs from the sides over, etc., and leaving towels or other items on them. We didn't actually use the pool area other than for concerts either, though we crossed through the area numerous times a day.

 

Are you sure that the ship was sailing at 100% capacity? We wondered because the cafe/grill and dining room were far less crowded than when we were aboard the same ship 5 months earlier for 2 weeks. On the MB cruise, we never had to wait for a table in the dining room and never had trouble finding one, even one for 6 people, in the cafe/grill. That was a different story on our earlier cruise.

 

We are booked on Celebrity out of England this summer for two weeks to Ireland and Iceland. Enjoy Alaska!

 

Dear Sunshine,

 

My husband and I went on the last Moody Blues Cruise in January 2018 on the Eclipse. We went regular (not VIP) and experienced the very limited selection in the buffet, and long lines to get into the venues with many being standing room only. It was to be expected considering the Moody Blues were elected to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and everyone knew this might very well be their last cruise together as a band!

 

I have no regrets about putting up with some inconveniences and annoyances. It was very disappointing that the Zombies last pool deck concert was rained out and I definitely feel glad that On The Blue changed to Royal Caribbean after the way Celebrity cut corners on our charter for the Moody Blues Cruise! I have never seen a buffet closing down about 75% by 10pm before on a music cruise and I've been on quite a few!

 

I signed up today of the On The Blue Cruise and am really looking forward to it. Many of the bands and friends who are regulars will be on the ship so its well worth it to me. Sadly, John Lodge and Graeme Edge will not be onboard.

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Mom,

 

As you can see above, we booked very early, suite and VIP. But we knew many who tried to book later who found that they could get a room, but not a guaranteed seat in the theatre. Now, that's just bad! They didn't go. Clearly, the theatre was too small on the Eclipse to accommodate 1/2 the passengers at 100% occupancy, even given the fact that they split the theatre concerts up half in half. I hope you enjoy your "Cruise to the Blue" and I hope you find that RCCL is a better line than it was 20 years ago when we gave up on it. A year or so ago, there was a music cruise with bands I would like to have seen and heard, but it was on Carnival so we just didn't go. There was no VIP or suite status for anybody on that cruise, and everybody had to stand in line for everything, so that was the end of that. At our age, we don't do that,

 

On the 2018 cruise., we did not try the buffet after 10:00 PM. Before that, like lunch, we thought it was pretty good.

 

Basically, we will no longer cruise on "mass market" lines without suite level accommodations. If we can't afford that, we just stay home in the Rocky Mountains, which we do most of the time. But on the RCCL "Cruise to the Blue" you are in for some good music and (if things haven't changed) a rather poor cruise line. Sorry to be "Debbie Downer" , But Sunshine doesn't like RCCL, and I hate it.

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