jazz cruise on the Westerdam

[MKMC]

Anyone on the January 29 jazz cruise on the Westerdam? Would love to hear about it.

[CruiserBruce]

To meet others on your cruise, the Roll Call boards are used. I can't give you the link right now, hopefully others will quickly.

[McDaddy]

Since the cruise is passed, I don't know if the roll call still works, but it was absolutely amazing. 1pm to 1 am, every day, three or four venues of just top of the top jazz. The hardest part was deciding what to go listen to. The second hardest part was your ears and brain getting full of awesome music.

 

The highlight for me was interacting with the musicians (we had lunch by the pool with Kurt Elling, his wife and daughter, and some of his band one afternoon) and seeing them interact with each other...they are all fans of each other. It really is like a big reunion. You instantly have something in common with everyone on the ship.

 

Well worth the extra $$$, IMHO.

 

Jim

[CruiserBruce]

The roll call still works. It may not be very active. But it still works.

[George C]

there is a review posted on this cruise

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=96835

[vtbobby]

Since the cruise is passed, I don't know if the roll call still works, but it was absolutely amazing. 1pm to 1 am, every day, three or four venues of just top of the top jazz. The hardest part was deciding what to go listen to. The second hardest part was your ears and brain getting full of awesome music. The highlight for me was interacting with the musicians (we had lunch by the pool with Kurt Elling, his wife and daughter, and some of his band one afternoon) and seeing them interact with each other...they are all fans of each other. It really is like a big reunion. You instantly have something in common with everyone on the ship.

Well worth the extra $$$, IMHO.

Jim

 

We absolutely second everything Jim said...fantastic personal interaction with some of the best jazz musicians in the world...incredible piano and guitar competitions...fantastic all-star 17 piece big band...spot-on humor...sitting and chatting with John Pizzarelli, Anne Hampton Calloway, Scott Hamilton, Jay Leonhart, and Bill Charlap...what a rush! Hearing even half these great acts in a commercial environment would cost more than this entire cruise...:cool:

 

Bob & Beatrice

[vtbobby]

there is a review posted on this cruise

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=96835

 

A nice review...but the poster (a non jazz fan ?!?) is reviewing a different cruise...the "smooth jazz cruise" earlier in Jan...:rolleyes:

[boojimom]

I will put in my 2 cents to what Jim and Bob & Beatrice have already said.

 

The cruise is a unique experience for any jazz music lover to not only see top talent up close & personal but to also get to interact with them as real people enjoying what must be a working vacation for most of them.

 

On a side note, we watched a Grammy red carpet interview with Kurt Elling last night (Boo - he didn't win) and said "Hey, there's his wife Jennifer standing behind him, looking very lovely." So cool to see someone on TV like that and have the memory of working on a jigsaw puzzle together over coffee one afternoon on the cruise, while Kurt watched over their daughter.

 

:)

[crusinbanjo]

Gee, was anybody upset that they brought their instruments onboard?

 

JUST KIDDING. Got to love the jazz cruises. I hope to be on one soon!

[McDaddy]

I laughed at that thread. I'm sure almost everyone on the cruise is or was a musician on some level. It was not unusual to walk down a hall and hear several people practicing/playing/warming up.

Additionally, the "Northern Lights Disco" was set up with Keyboard, drum kit and Bass, and the semi-organized "passenger jam" often went until the wee hours. So feel free to bring your axe on The Jazz Cruise, but be prepared to sit in and take a ride!

 

Jim