Charter cruise

[Sherry H]

I have friends who tell me they have decided to take a cruise on the Eurodam. Come to find out, the cruise they are taking is a charter (jazz cruise).

 

I have shared much with them about my cruise experience but I am wondering what they might find to be different on a charter cruise.

[kazu]

I have friends who tell me they have decided to take a cruise on the Eurodam. Come to find out, the cruise they are taking is a charter (jazz cruise).

 

I have shared much with them about my cruise experience but I am wondering what they might find to be different on a charter cruise.

 

Is it a full charter Sherry? In other words, they have booked with the jazz cruise (since the jazz organization has chartered the entire ship) or is it a group on the cruise that anyone can book?

[Roz]

The entertainment will revolve around jazz? :confused: There will be more organized events onboard with a jazz theme?

 

Roz

[absolutboy20]

It depends on the charter.

 

The chartering company can

- Change dining and make the MDR dining without a specified seating time.

- Pull beverage packages that are normally offered on regular cruises

- Change dress code requirements for dining

- Make reservations for speciality dining and spa appointments only available to be booked once on board

- Change the entire entertainment offerings on board including in the main theater

 

Those are some of the items that I've experienced.

[Sherry H]

Yes, it is a full charter. Holland does not show a cruise that date on the Holland website.

 

I realize they will have lots of entertainment involving jazz groups. I guess what I am asking is what might they not have advantage of that we have on a scheduled cruise. Regular entertainment, happy hour times, dinner assignments, etc.

[bwaz]

We considered a full reggae charter. The music and activities looked great. However, we felt the terms were very unfavorable. 50% deposit. Full nonrefundable fare due 6 months ahead of sail date. So we gave it a pass.

 

Sent from my LG-D801 using Forums mobile app

[kazu]

Yes, it is a full charter. Holland does not show a cruise that date on the Holland website.

 

I realize they will have lots of entertainment involving jazz groups. I guess what I am asking is what might they not have advantage of that we have on a scheduled cruise. Regular entertainment, happy hour times, dinner assignments, etc.

 

If it is a full charter, then they are going to be affected for sure. I am assuming they booked it then as they like jazz (I hope).

 

A lot can be affected. Entertainment - jazz most likely. It will not be standard entertainment. Charters have a lot of say in the entertainment (some bring their own on board) and even the daily activity schedule of the ship.

 

Dining (as already pointed out). There might not be open dining and there might only be one dining time available.

 

there might be happy hour and there might not be.

 

I hope a couple of our CC members who do a lot of charter cruises see this and post as well as they can add to the list I am sure.

 

From the few I have done, room service was not affected.

 

There could be public rooms closed off for meetings or rehearsals.

 

Access to the Lido may also be a bit limited at certain times for activities or the activities may overwhelm and they may not want to be there.

 

All that being said, some of these charter cruises can be a lot of fun.

 

I know the ones we were on, people who were not part of it, wanted to know which ship we would be on the next year as they wanted to book. It is a whole different atmosphere and quite often more going on.

Edited June 26, 2015 by kazu

[catl331]

The rules about what alcohol you can bring on board could change. The Jazz cruises are done every year, and someone will chime in here sooner or later to tell you the way things were when they were on one.

Edited June 26, 2015 by catl331

[sun~]

I have done 6 Legendary Rhythm and Blues cruises.

 

Dining hours are reduced in the MDR. No breakfast or lunch service. No assigned seating for dinner. However, they assign early or late seating, but it is used for autographing signing - early dinner goes Tuesday evening, Wednesday for late seating, just so there aren't too many people all at once.

 

The food has been awful on all the blues cruises. They seem to be clueless about that folks sleep til 11 and want breakfast. The late night jams may not go on as long on a jazz cruise though. They ran out of all kinds of stuff. So don't expect much in the way of dining on a charter. The specialty restaurants are always understaffed. Always. We usually only eat in specialty restaurants. They haven't clued in that folks want to eat between 6:30 and 8. This is when the talent eats.

 

This is important to know. Watch for breaks in the schedule. It isn't that noticeable. But take that time for dinner.

 

Room service is available.

 

They have been very loose in the past about alcohol. I do believe they are going to crack down on booze. They have sold the drinks package. A couple of years ago they tried to gouge and charge $20 EXTRA daily for the package from the week before. Keep an eye on that.

 

This was the first year that HAL allowed some of the mariner "benefits". Only after many folks complained.

 

Almost all the venues will become music venues. Main stage, back deck, crows nest, piano bar, and a couple of other spots. All the HAL entertainment staff will not be working during a charter. On the blues cruise, many opt to stay on board for the week and party. The cruise director gets the mike yanked out of his hands and gets taken over, often by one of the musicians.

 

 

The charter completely takes over, so don't expect it to be a regular snooze cruise. The only unaffected area is the spa, it is owned by Steiner. There will even be a merch area run by the ship's shops. So you can buy charter gear on your sign and sail card.

 

I hope that helps!

 

LRBC booked for January 2016

[Typhoon1]

The chartering company decides on entertainment and dining times. Normally, bringing their own entertainment. It is their ship for the week, so they tell HAL what they want.

 

Otherwise don't expect to see a whole lot of difference.

[Sherry H]

Thanks to all for the info..........

 

Sherry

[hattack]

This October will be my 11th straight full charter Jazz cruise....you visit Ports...take part in the safety drill...kicked off the ship the last morning are the only things that are in common with a normal cruise....the promoter controls all the onboard activities....full days at sea are just that, full of Jazz related activities...this is not the type of cruise that one goes on to rest and relax and hang around the Lido Deck pool...you hardly spend anytime in your cabin enjoying your balcony view....if you are a true Jazz fan, you will love this charter....early turn in after the concerts figure around 0230...folks have a tendency to sleep in late on full days at sea....don't spend alot of time lingering over dinner because of the concert schedule

 

Most cruisers that do their 1st full charter music cruise, seldom take a regular cruise again

[LHT28]

Did the Malt shop cruise last yr

the things we did not have was afternoon tea in the Crow's nest as they had it set up for some of the music groups

 

We had early dining/late show or late dining/early show for the MDR

Buffet was open most of the day ..some stations were limited menu at certain times

The MDR was open for breakfast cannot remember if for lunch will have to look at the schedule

It was only our 2nd cruise will HAL (first in 1990) so do not know what is normal & what changed due to the charter

Lots of party nights

 

We are going again this year ;)

[LHT28]

MDR was not open for lunch but here is what was open for food

no one went hungry unless they chose to ;)

 

 

One of the Daily schedules

this was a port day but still plenty to do

 

Edited June 27, 2015 by LHT28

[Sherry H]

LHT28........thank you so much for sharing this info!

[LHT28]

LHT28........thank you so much for sharing this info!

 

I always said I would never do a chartered cruise but I did enjoy this one so sometimes things do change :D

 

Lyn

[donaldsc]

They need to contact the group that chartered the ship to find out what the changes will be. None of us can know.

 

DON

[Diver2014]

We were also on the Malt Shop Memories Cruise last year on the Eurodam.

Star Vista, the chartering company, completely takes over the ship with activities. It was absolutely the best cruise we've ever been on. Don't expect to lie around the pool working on your tan...there are Q&A's, photo sessions, live interviews, book signing etc going on constantly. This goes for the jazz cruise and country/western cruises as well. We chose first seating in the MDR so we could attend the second show each evening. We didn't bother with specialty restaurants because we just wanted to eat and go to the show. It was all about the music. The only time there were limited activities was on port days when even the musicians got off the ship to look around the ports. We're going on the Flower Power cruise next February.

[Globaliser]

Is this one of the Eurodam charters next January/February? There's a "straight ahead" jazz charter on 17 January and two sailings of smooth jazz on 10 January and 21 February.

 

There's very little regular entertainment. Don't expect to see ship-organised daytime activities. And I think that the company was changing the straight ahead jazz cruise to open dining only in the main dining room on most/all nights - haven't managed to find the time to do another one since before that change.

[Hlitner]

HAL has hosted the "Smooth Jazz Cruise" for several years on various ships. This is a terrific opportunity for those that love jazz since the cruise features many excellent Jazz Musicians and singers. I believe this cruise sells-out every year and is a full ship charter. The Smooth Jazz folks welcome anyone willing to pay the price :).

 

Hank