Peace, Love and Rock and Roll: Constellation B2B 2/25-3/5/16

Just off the Connie on 3/5 – we were on a B2B with a 4 night regular cruise, followed by the 5 night Flower Power charter. We had many firsts on this cruise: first charter, first time in Luminae, first B2B. I will share some thoughts about the cruises and will compare a regular cruise with a charter (I had lots of questions about how things would work on a charter so thought others may be interested).

Pre-cruise:

We stayed at the Marriott Courtyard Ft Lauderdale Beach the night before. It is across from the beach and has the intercoastal waterway behind it. It is 10 minutes from the port. I don’t think we will stay there again. I had booked an intercoastal view room at an increased rate and they gave us a room on the 2nd floor so all we saw was a parking lot. When I called the desk to say we didn’t have a view of the waterway they said it was there but we were too low to see it – I said that we paid for a view of it and they said that someone has to be on the 2nd floor and BTW we did upgrade you to a suite (it was sort of 2 rooms). They ended up moving us to the 6th floor where we had a view of the ocean. There were some decent restaurants close by and we had a good night’s sleep.

Embarkation:

We took a cab to the port at 10:20 and were onboard by 10:50. Boarding was very quick and easy – we just missed the crowd – we had no waiting, but when we looked back there was a line forming.

Michael’s Club:

We were escorted to a lounge in the terminal where the Michael’s Club concierge, Erick, was waiting. He sat down with us and went over some MC info. He then escorted us aboard the ship and into MC. We had been in MC on Reflection and loved the experience. The M class MC is not as well set up, IMO. It was pretty dark and the bar was small, with no bar stools. We enjoyed sitting at the large bar on Reflection on comfy stools and chatting with the bartenders and other guests. It seemed a bit more difficult to mingle with others in this setting.

Erick was very personable and sat down with us and chatted almost every time we went to MC. He initially went over the small list of requests that I had sent to the shore concierge. We had asked for a bridge tour, if possible, but he said it was difficult to arrange on short cruises (and that the new captain was more of a stickler for security so was less apt to agree with it) – disappointing, but not a big deal.

He said that having the addition of the Sky Suites has not been too difficult for him. The shore concierge has helped with the pre-work. He said the MC lounge hasn’t been too crowded most of the time. He has the SS people go to Luminae when boarding, though welcomes all to MC for disembarkation. On the previous 9 day cruise he split the officer’s cocktail party into 2 sections so all could have a seat and it worked well, otherwise he said it was usually half full at most. For both of our cruises, there were usually only 2-12 people whenever we went there.

The officer’s party in MC was very nice, but only about 12-15 people were there. We enjoyed meeting some of the officers. The captain turned out to be very nice, with a good sense of humor. We also liked the Hotel Manager Migle Zukaite, whom I remembered from the Reflection. We chatted about the Spring Break fiasco on Connie last year (one cruise with a thousand college students had a lot of issues last March). I discussed the Cruise Critic feedback with her and she did not disagree that there was an issue – it sounded like they were working to prevent a repeat this year.

We switched from RCI a few years back in part due to Celebrity’s smoking policy and the small number of children onboard. We love children (and have children and grandchildren), but prefer the quieter elegance of fewer children when we cruise. One of the advantages of Michael’s is having a quiet oasis where you can have a top shelf drink and relax. Since this was a short cruise, I assumed there would be some children onboard. There were 3 toddlers in suites on the first cruise, 2 of whom we saw in MC at times. It was a little disconcerting to have crying in there (and one kid had his diaper changed in there), but luckily it was only a couple of times. We understand that the people had paid for a suite and had every right to be in there with their toddlers, but it did detract from the elegance a bit.

All in all, MC wasn’t as much of a draw for us this time around. It was pretty dead most of the time. We got water there every day and had pre-dinner or pre-show drinks there in the evening, with a plate of hors d'oeuvres. They had some tasty bites every night – had sushi one night. Each plate had 4 different items, 2 of each. They would offer another plate, if you finished those, but we had just had our cheese plate a couple of hours before and knew we had a nice dinner awaiting us in a couple of hours. Angela, the bartender, was sweet and a lot of fun and made some great drinks for us (the drinks elsewhere were somewhat inconsistent in quality).

Wine Cooler in Michael's

Beverages behind bar in Michael's

Nespresso Machine in Michael's

Tea and Coffee Maker in Michael's

To be continued....

Peace, Love and Rock and Roll: Constellation B2B 2/25-3/5/16 continued

Dining

Toddlers were also dining in Luminae – it seemed that at least one of the 3 toddlers was there when we dined. One was loud, one was quiet and one happy as long as fed – none of them were allowed to run around or cry for long (parents took them out) so just normal, exuberant toddlers. They seated them at the front of the restaurant with one particular waiter who was great with kids. The wait staff was good about sitting down with the kids when they got loud and played with them or got them food. It was a little distracting, but I tried to think of it as having a loud adult in a nice restaurant – same thing. We ended up asking to be seated in the back of the restaurant to be the furthest away from the kids and went later in the evening and all was well.

The restaurant was never full and we usually were able to get “our” table in the back by the window. They didn’t save tables for people – if someone else requested that one, they gave it to them, but if no one requested that one specifically they tried to keep it open for us. If it wasn’t open, they let us choose where we wanted to sit. We always felt we had some privacy and could talk to each other. A great dining venue!

We loved the waiter for those back tables (Marijan) and had an amazing experience there. It was more like the old MDR experience where the staff have the time to talk to you and get to know you and you get to know more about them. We liked all the people there, from the maître d’ to the assistant waiters. They worked as a team and were so personable. By the time we finished our second cruise, all the staff usually would stop by our table when we came in, to ask how we were and see what adventures we had had. It was like having dinner with family (without the drama). I have to say that dining in Luminae was one of the main highlights of this cruise, which was surprising to me. I wish we could always afford the suite life.

I knew that we could order from the MDR menu and was nervous about the more limited Luminae menus, especially for my husband. The first night I asked to see the MDR menu and ordered the mushroom soup that I always love. My husband got the Luminae soup and raved about it. That was the last time I ordered off the MDR menu. I decided to be adventurous and try different things (I even had duck Bolognese and loved it). My husband also stuck entirely to the Luminae menu and really enjoyed it. We had some wonderful dishes there and really didn’t even want to book our complimentary specialty restaurant reservations (for being in a suite), but did because it was free. The perfectly-cooked lamb loin was our very favorite (wow!) and the prime rib was a close second for me.

The chocolate desserts were unbelievable – they often were paired with wonderful gelatos – we tried to save room for something chocolate at the end. The almond cake was also amazing. On chic nights, they brought a dessert cart to the table, with a ton of choices - the waiter would make a plate for us, despite our protests (and we would waddle out of there yet again).

The almond cake was very good!

We loved the breads, though tried not to fill up on them.

The sommelier at Luminae was wonderful (Tetania) – she suggested some great pairings and spent lots of time with us. She was knowledgeable and fun. When I chose some expensive wines, she sometimes suggested those within the premium package that were as good, without the extra cost – that impressed me.

Here is the wine by the glass menu in Luminae. Sorry that I cut off some prices, but there were some good choices for the drink packages.

Here is the Luminae cocktail list - the Bourbon and Peaches was delicious!

Peace, Love and Rock and Roll continued

Breakfasts were a real treat. The classic and Florentine Eggs Benedict were a favorite, with sautéed mushrooms and corned beef hash. The fruit plate was always good and we enjoyed the smoothies. The only disappointment was the standard cheap tea there. We would go to Cafe al Bacio to get the Tea Forte (I asked if we could get it at Luminae and they said no). The pastries were good, though we tried to resist.

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Lunches were also very good. The hamburger was delicious and I also loved the lamb burger. Soups were excellent. Our favorite dish was the Grilled Filet Cobb – OMG, the filet mignon slices were delicious – a tasty treat! We saw 3 different lunch menus over the 3 sea days and 2 embarkation days. We ate there for lunch whenever it was open and at Bistro on 5 on port days a couple of times.

The sausage sandwich was decadent!

Bistro was empty usually – we enjoyed great service from Wilmer there. I had forgotten that it was free for people in suites on port days so we signed the $10 PP charge and later saw that it was waived on our bill and only the tip was charged. When we went back a week later, Wilmer remembered us and said there was no charge since we were in a suite – he wouldn’t even print a receipt for us so we could leave a tip (so we left some cash). He is a class act. We liked the soups there and had great salads and paninis. Chocolate shakes from the Gelateria were delicious!

We had dinner at Ocean Liners one night. We were there at 9:00 PM and there was a baby in a high chair (hadn’t seen that before in the nice restaurants on Celebrity). Again, the baby was happily noisy, but not crying. Worse was the loud large group next to us. We finally asked to be moved because we couldn’t hear the waiter or each other. They were happy to move us to a quiet window table as someone had left and then we had an enjoyable dinner. The food was excellent – the goat cheese soufflé is one of my favorite things and the rack of lamb was superb.

Our complimentary dinner on the second cruise was at Tuscan. We had a nice dinner there as well – my favorite wild mushroom ravioli with parmesan cream sauce and the rustic seafood stew did not disappoint. Service was great, but we missed our peeps at Luminae.

Of note, reservations for specialty dining were limited on these cruises. They only had 9:00 and 9:30 slots available. Both venues were packed when we arrived at 9:00. They were very popular on these cruises, I guess.

We ate at Oceanview Café as little as possible, but what we had there was good. We just don’t like juggling plates while finding a table before everything gets cold. It seemed well-run, with clean tables and everything well-stocked.

We only did Room Service once and everything was hot and tasty. We ordered Tea Forte from the pay menu, but it was complimentary – likely because suites get coffee/tea service from Café al Bacio.

We liked to stop by Café al Bacio for tea and a pastry.

We didn’t have any meals in the MDR this time, but when talking to those who did, everyone sounded pretty happy with the food there.

Enjoying your posts.

Keith

Peace, Love and Rock and Roll

Suite:

We had a Celebrity Suite for both cruises – 7140. We would definitely book it again. We have been in an S class CS and liked it a little better, mainly because of the 2 doors in the bathroom (can enter the bathroom from the living room and the bedroom).

The balcony is narrow compared to the S class (about 4 feet wide) so they didn’t want to put loungers out there. We did have the foot stools so it was okay. We did get some nice sun out there at certain times of the day.

The suite is quite roomy and nice, though the sofa could be upgraded. Having the table and chairs was nice. There is an amazing amount of storage. My favorite part of the suite was the walk in closet/dressing room. It had a vanity in the middle with big drawers for clothes and a closet on each side for each of us. It had sliding doors to separate it from the bedroom.

There are mirrors everywhere in this suite and I often was startled thinking someone was behind me (and it was me). Even the bathtub has mirrors so be prepared for reality! My husband vowed to go on a diet after the cruise after being in that tub.

There has been a lot of talk about the high bathtub and the difficulty for short people to get into it. It took a couple of times for me to figure out how to get in and out of it gracefully, but once I did, I loved it. It is a huge jetted tub and so relaxing to lay in and the shower part was quite nice. My husband became a Bulgari fan and smelled very good during the cruise.

There was a septic-type smell intermittently in the bathroom, which got worse and worse by the second day. I let the butler know and he called the plumbers. They arranged to come while we were at dinner and by the time we returned the smell was gone and it never returned during both cruises. Impressive service!

I was a little surprised that our assistant room steward’s first day in housekeeping was the day we arrived. I assumed they had the more experienced people for suites. He and the head steward were hard-working and personable guys. I have to say that things weren’t perfect, but we are not fussy people and did not complain. Things definitely got better as time went on.

Our butler, Alex, was excellent. He was very professional and not an “in your face” type. He went over our few requests and had met them by the end of the day. He said to let him know if there were any problems – he did not want us having to stand in line at Guest Services. We are low maintenance people, but I must say that it is one of the great perks of being in a suite – it is nice not to have to wait in line at GR to do something like dispute a charge on the bill (takes away from the vacation feeling).

We had asked for red wine instead of champagne because we aren’t big champagne drinkers. They had the Perrier Jouet champagne in the bucket cooling when we arrived and said to keep it and they gave us a bottle of red wine in addition (La Crema Pinot Noir). Alex knew about the Jan 1 rule for the complimentary specialty dining and asked if we had booked before Jan 1. Since we had, we received a complimentary dinner for each cruise. We asked him to bring a cheese plate every day at 4:00 (instead of taking little sandwiches, cookies, etc. off from his cart), whether we were there or not – when we were there we had tea as well. We started looking forward to our afternoon tea on the balcony.

We ended up with the toddler trifecta – one of the toddlers was in the suite above ours and I think it was the loud one (could hear him on the balcony occasionally). We could hear the pitter patter of little feet going back and forth (though he must have had cowboy boots on) and an occasional smashing of a toy into the floor. Luckily he was up there a limited amount of time so we didn’t have that issue much. We haven’t been on a short cruise for many years and will likely avoid them in the future. :)

Peace, Love and Rock and Roll

The Ship:

We have mostly been on S class ships when cruising Celebrity, but had been on Infinity so knew our way around. The ship was lovely and well-maintained. Everything was sparkly clean. This ship has an excellent crew – we always felt welcome and pampered.

Ports:

We went to Key West first and had a lovely time. Unfortunately, we were docked at the Naval base for the 1st cruise so couldn’t just walk off the ship, but had to take a trolley back and forth. It only took about 10 minutes, but we docked in town for the second cruise and it was much more convenient to just walk off the ship into town. We did a ship shore excursion “Taste of Key West.” It was a walking tour with some history and some food tasting along the way. It turned out to be a great tour. We had a great guide and enjoyed the food and learned more about Key West (had only been there once before). We tasted several sauces at Pepper’s which was very interesting, mainly because of the owner who thought he was a comedian. One exciting incident was when a pelican flew over and let loose on 3 of us (my husband and I and one other guy). We had to go and clean up and were grossed out, but the guide said it was good luck. I went to the casino that night and won about $1200! I tried to find another pelican to do the same thing when we returned to Key West on the next cruise, but they wouldn’t cooperate.

We did a tequila tasting in Cozumel. It was actually a good tour and included a wonderful Mexican lunch and margaritas. We learned a lot about different types of tequilas (the tasting was similar to wine tasting) and my husband purchased a very nice bottle that isn’t available in the US.

We had signed up for the Chef’s Market Discoveries in Nassau, but it was cancelled due to lack of minimum number of participants. We were a little disappointed, but not heart-broken. I headed for the spa and my husband headed for the sunshine for reading and a nap. Love port days on the ship!

Entertainment on the first cruise:

We had the Tenors of Rock on our first cruise – they were excellent! We also had a pretty good comedian. We didn’t go to the production shows, but heard from some that we didn’t miss much. The CD, Rich Clesen, was actually quite good.

So the title of this review has Peace in the beginning. The first cruise was where we had some peace and relaxation. The weather was beautiful, food and service excellent – life was good! We then headed into Love and Rock and Roll on the second cruise, the Flower Power charter.

I had booked this cruise about a year ago and added the first cruise on so that it would make the flight worth it. The Flower Power cruise was the main event. I have had a cruise canceled due to a charter before so felt a bit guilty about going on a chartered cruise. My former hippie self won that battle.

I didn’t know what to expect with a charter. Would we have Elite coupons and get-togethers? Would the suite venues still be available to us? Would some venues be closed for private functions? Would we be allowed right back on the ship after disembarking from the first cruise like usual B2B guests?

The day to disembark arrived and we for once had that gloating feeling that B2B people must always have when they see everyone else running around with luggage and a hassled look. We donned our Flower Power t-shirts and headed to Ocean Liners at 10:00 to head off the ship for immigration. There were 8 of us returning to the ship and we were all so excited. It took about 30 minutes to get back on, likely because they weren’t quite ready for us, but it was quite a smooth process. Then the party really began! We were all given free passes for Bistro on 5 for lunch – we headed to Luminae for lunch, which was open at 11:30.

It was an amazing 5 days of being with 2000 mostly like-minded people. I never saw any children and most people were 50’s-70’s. We all shared a love for the music of the 60’s and 70’s. When we returned to the ship, the usual Muzak had been changed to 60’s and 70’s music, which was like a balm to my soul. I had forgotten how good that music was. Almost everyone was singing along in the hallways and elevators because we all knew every word of the songs.

All of the staff I talked to also loved the music all week – they were so happy to hear it in the crew quarters as well. Everyone talked about the peace and love onboard – there seemed to be more patience and helpfulness amongst the guests than usual – a sense of community. I heard an occasional grumble, but overall this was a great group of people.

The Love piece of the cruise also came in the form of the “Make Love Not War” vow renewal. We had planned to do this so had some vintage clothes to wear (as had other couples) and I wore flowers in my hair. We signed up right away since there was only room for 25 couples. It was done in Michael’s with Mark Lindsay from Paul Revere and the Raiders as the officiant. He sang a beautiful song to us and had some words of advice. We had a delicious multi-layered cake and champagne and each couple had a picture with Mark and also received a certificate. It was a very sweet way for us to recommit to our marriage.

Now to the Rock and Roll. The ship was rockin’ all week. Knowing that many of these performers were in their 60’s and 70’s and/or the band had younger replacements due to deaths or attrition, our expectations were somewhat low. We were so wrong – most bands were amazing and older singers and musicians still had it.

We loved Guess Who, Blood Sweat and Tears (now with Bo Bice, who was a wonderful performer), Grass Roots (my husband’s and my first date was one of their concerts many years ago), the Buckinghams, the Rascals, Jefferson Starship and Herman's Hermits. Peter Noone from Herman’s Hermits sounded the same and put on one of the best shows, IMO (he was in the suite next to ours!). Micky Dolenz from the Monkees, Peter Asher from Peter and Gordon, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, Paul Revere and the Raiders and the Family Stone were also there. A Beatles tribute band was excellent. The nightly concerts were all memorable – 1000 people were singing, dancing, clapping to familiar songs – such joy in the room! The better bands were in the theatre at night (2 shows) and others at the pool or in Reflections during the afternoon or late night.

This second cruise was a dream come true, with incredible entertainment and with all the things we love about cruising, especially Celebrity cruising. There wasn’t much time for relaxing on this cruise as there were so many activities (music, entertainer Q+&A’s, seminars on Woodstock, lots of trivia, etc.) but luckily we had the relaxation piece on the first cruise. The weather was fantastic and tie dye was chic on this cruise.

Differences between the regular cruise and the charter:

The first cruise we had a notice about Elite events and had the Elite coupons (though the coupons come with the suite anyway). The charter had no Captain’s Club events and we didn’t receive the coupons. We did receive codes for 90 minutes of internet time for each of us for both cruises so I didn’t need to pay for any internet. We were not charged for laundry on the second cruise without the coupon, but did pay to press a suit. Anyway, I wouldn’t count on Captain’s Club cocktail hours and coupons when on a charter, though it might change form charter to charter.

The charter company had their own cruise host so the usual CD was in the background. None of the bands from the first cruise were playing onboard during the charter, though the guitarist stayed on board and played in Cellar Masters at times (he said he knew he wouldn’t have many fans on that cruise).

The dailies were designed with the Flower Power logo and were a different size/format than Celebrity’s, but still had a detachable daily schedule.

There was a charter company booth next to Guest Relations to answer questions about the program, in general, but Guest Relations continued to handle the usual guest issues.

Shore Excursions were the same as with the first cruise and were handled by the Shore Excursion booth.

I did not see any special deals for booking Celebrity cruises while onboard. The charter was selling their future cruises.

The captain did not do the 10:00 announcements during the charter, which I missed.

During the charter, Luminae operated as it normally did. We did have some of the entertainers dining there at times.

Michael’s Club had some private functions in the afternoon so we received a note for the second cruise that we were welcome there from 9-12 AM and 6-9 PM. It was a little disappointing to be restricted, but I had suspected that may be the case. We did continue to get free drinks during those times so that was positive (the charter office had said she wasn’t sure that would be the case when we first booked). Some of the entertainers did hang out there some.

We didn’t find other venues closed for private functions during the charter, so that was a positive.

As far as cost, the charter cruise was close to double to cost of the first one and was only one day longer. There were no perks for the charter – we had received the 123 Go for the first one, which included OBC, tips and drink package. The drink packages were available for the charter at the same prices – we did purchase that on top of the cost of the cruise. Tips were included in the cost. We essentially paid extra for the entertainment which, in our opinion, was worth the extra money.

All in all, despite it being a charter, it still definitely felt like a Celebrity cruise. Many people we talked to had never cruised before and they said they were hooked. We heard many positive comments about the ship and about Celebrity.

Debarkation:

As usual, we did not want to leave, especially with this cruise. It was a magical 9 days that we will never forget. We had a 2 o’clock flight so were some of the last people off at 10:00. We waited in MC after having breakfast. Erick was escorting someone else off and the last call came so we went out on our own. We don’t usually leave that late and it was crazy. We did have about 30 minutes in line to wait for immigration. There was also a huge line for taxis, which we have never encountered before. We ended up getting a flat rate van with others at a different area and were off in 5 minutes while the taxi line had 50+ people.

We did valet luggage and it was the best $20 PP ever spent. It was nice to say goodbye to our big bags the night before and then see them next at our home airport. The Ft Lauderdale airport was crazy! Someone mentioned that there were 23,000 cruisers returning that day. It felt like it – we were glad that we had our boarding passes that Celebrity had printed and didn’t need to stand in line to check our bags – we just headed to security.

It is now post-cruise depression time. We are still humming 60’s tunes and thinking about the fun times. I guess it’s time to plan the next cruise and dream about new adventures!

If anyone has any questions, I will try to answer them. I think I have every piece of paper they gave me so can research things I don’t remember. Peace!

Thanks for your report.

Excellent review, enjoyed it very much :)

We board her on Monday - thanks so much for the review - can't wait to try Luminae

Great review! Thanks for posting. The Rock and Roll cruise sounds like so much fun, and I am glad that you enjoyed it. I am having trouble getting over the part about diaper changes in Michael's Club ...

Great review! Thanks for posting. The Rock and Roll cruise sounds like so much fun, and I am glad that you enjoyed it. I am having trouble getting over the part about diaper changes in Michael's Club ...

I know, I thought they were just changing him into shorts so didn't think too much about it, but my husband later mentioned that they changed his diaper too. I thought we might be in for some dicey times in there, but the little ones must have been busy elsewhere because they were rarely in MC.

We board her on Monday - thanks so much for the review - can't wait to try Luminae

You are so lucky! I don't know if Marijan will still be in Luminae because his vacation was coming up soon, but you will be in good hands with any of them. They are the best wait staff I have ever encountered. Say hello to Anna, Carla, Angela, Tetania, Anitza, Dino, Dragan, Gordanna, ..... :)

Erick, the MC concierge will be gone - I know he was counting the days. I think Bogdan was there before and I'm not sure if he is going back there - I forgot to ask.

Enjoy your suite experience!

Thanks for the review.

Are Captain's Club points given for a charter?

Thanks for the review.

Are Captain's Club points given for a charter?

I didn't think we did, but I just checked and we did get points for the charter. I'm glad you asked!

 

Peace, Love and Rock and Roll

 

We had the Tenors of Rock on our first cruise – they were excellent!

 

The day to disembark arrived and we for once had that gloating feeling that B2B people must always have. We donned our Flower Power t-shirts to head off the ship for immigration. It took about 30 minutes to get back on, but it was quite a smooth process. Then the party really began!

 

It was an amazing 5 days. We all shared a love for the music of the 60’s and 70’s. When we returned to the ship, the usual Muzak had been changed to 60’s and 70’s music, I had forgotten how good that music was. Almost everyone was singing along in the hallways and elevators because we all knew every word of the songs.

 

The ship was rockin’ all week. Knowing that many of these performers were in their 60’s and 70’s and/or the band had younger replacements due to deaths or attrition, our expectations were somewhat low. We were so wrong – most bands were amazing and older singers and musicians still had it.

 

We loved Guess Who, Blood Sweat and Tears, Grass Roots, the Buckinghams, the Rascals, Jefferson Starship and Herman's Hermits. Micky Dolenz from the Monkees, Peter Asher from Peter and Gordon, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, Paul Revere and the Raiders and the Family Stone were also there. A Beatles tribute band was excellent.

 

The nightly concerts were all memorable – 1000 people were singing, dancing, clapping to familiar songs – such joy in the room! The better bands were in the theatre at night (2 shows) and others at the pool or in Reflections during the afternoon or late night.

 

 

This second cruise was a dream come true, with incredible entertainment and with all the things we love about cruising, especially Celebrity cruising. The weather was fantastic and tie dye was chic on this cruise.

 

We are still humming 60’s tunes and thinking about the fun times.

 

Guess Who, Blood Sweat and Tears, Grass Roots, the Buckinghams, the Rascals, Jefferson Starship and Herman's Hermits, Peter Asher from Peter and Gordon, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, Paul Revere and the Raiders and the Family Stone were also there. :eek: :) :cool:

I am GLOWING a GAUDY fluorescent GREEN with *E*N*V*Y* :D

Thanks for the GREAT review of what must have been a FANTASTIC time! ;)

Guess Who, Blood Sweat and Tears, Grass Roots, the Buckinghams, the Rascals, Jefferson Starship and Herman's Hermits, Peter Asher from Peter and Gordon, Gary Puckett and the Union Gap, Paul Revere and the Raiders and the Family Stone were also there. :eek: :) :cool:

 

I am GLOWING a GAUDY fluorescent GREEN with *E*N*V*Y* :D

 

Thanks for the GREAT review of what must have been a FANTASTIC time! ;)

I know, I had to pinch myself sometimes because I couldn't believe I was there! It was kind of a Woodstock for cruisers (without the rain!). :)

The wait staff in Luminae laughed at us when we dragged our sorry butts in for breakfast at the last minute each morning and asked how late we partied the night before. It was hard to sleep with so much excitement!

Do you know if there will be a repeat in 2017? How did you find the cruise? I guess I mean, how can I find it?

Do you know if there will be a repeat in 2017? How did you find the cruise? I guess I mean, how can I find it?

Yes, it will be on the Summit Feb 27-Mar 4, 2017 - Western Carib. The bands so far:

Eric Burdon and The Animals

Chad & Jeremy

Micky Dolenz - The Monkees Lead Singer and Cruise Host

The Fifth Dimension

The Lovin’ Spoonful

Rare Earth

Spencer Davis

Three Dog Night

The Yardbirds

More Artists to Be Added

Last year they added quite a few entertainers as the year went on (and the Turtles canceled due to illness this year, with the Buckinghams added).

You can find it online - Flower Power Cruise with a dot com.

We would love to go, but already have 2 cruises planned next year and a family wedding in New Zealand that at least one of us may attend - we still work so would have to make some choices.

With this being a charter, you can't book and then cancel without a good reason to get all of your money back or I would book in case our plans change (or I win the lottery). For this year's cruise, I purchased their insurance where I could cancel for any reason and get 75% back. It is so tempting to book again....

I found out about the cruise last year on CC when someone wrote in about how their cruise got chartered - someone else wrote in about the Flower Power Cruise. I knew I had to go, though I felt sorry for those whose cruise was canceled.

Thanks! I signed up for email updates.

Thank you for the review.

I forgot to add these pictures of the officers onboard, Elite/Suite coupons and the welcome daily, including hours of operation for the dining venues for the 2/25/16 cruise.

Nice review. Your title mislead me, I expected you might have been on drugs.

Nice review. Your title mislead me, I expected you might have been on drugs.

Very funny! :)