Charter Music Cruises selling out

[wwcruisers]

You will be in great shape, rest wise...fyi often the best time to have interaction with the artists is when the ship is in port and the artists elected to stay onboard and relax...I was Blessed to have a nice lunch on the lido deck with Larry Carlton & George Duke and a late breakfast with Chante Moore :cool:(my next wife):cool:

 

fyi, what type of camera are you planning to take on the SJC

 

Oh, just my little sure-shot. It's small enough that I can take it anywhere, but doesn't do well with the interior lighting of most cruise ships. Sadly, I'm not much of a photographer.

 

It's also been my experience that you can see some interesting things, staying onboard in port. I always try to plan one port stop as our "private yacht day" -- sleep in, eat breakfast, and spend the day by the pool. We were in the Solarium on Radiance of the Seas one day, when a ships officer came in -- followed by about twenty crew members. The officer (head of safety) apologized for commandeering the pool, but explained that they would be conducting water safety for the new crew members. We were allowed to stay and watch -- fascinating! They were instructed on the proper (and improper) way to enter the water, wearing a life vest. Once everyone was in the pool, they all linked arms to form a big floating orange circle. I've always felt safer, knowing that the crew has such good emergency training. :cool:

 

So now, I'll just have to dream about looking across the pool and seeing Boney James on a lounge chair, lol! :p

[hattack]

When you write your annual letter to Santa Claus telling him how good you have been this past year, included in your wish list you might ask for an inexpensive camera for your SJC next year (might ask your friends who are camera buffs about a simple point & shoot, I am a Nikon fan, and have as my back up to my D3400 DSLR a Nikon COOLPIX L32 (about $100) which my GF uses and it takes great pictures of her with the artists she sees around the ship, the beach and shore excursions (be aware it is not waterproof)...the nice aspect of the SJC is that they do not allow cameras or videos during the performances but they have free downloads after the cruise with photos taken by several professional staff photographers)..also there are plenty of SJC staff who "shadow" the artists around the ship that will gladly take photos of you with the artists with your camera

you are so right about the unique opportunities by staying on the ship during port days..the year Chante Moore was on, I was Blessed to have lunch with her on the last sea day (her Dad lives in New Orleans)..much to my surprise she shared with me that she was in the suite directly across the hall from our interior cabin on the Lido Deck and had met my GF on the very first day of our cruise on the way to the safety drill...she was kind enough to take a photo with me (that is my screen saver on my computer)...of course my GF said nothing to me all week about it(knowing what a huge fan of her I am) ...kharma is always in play...that evening after dinner we ran into Eric Benet who was kind enough to have me take a photo with him & my GF ...funny thing, when I printed out the pictures when I got him, I misplaced that photo for about 3 months:D.....rule of thumb on your SJC, always have your camera ready, you never know when you will run into an artist (rule of thumb when they are eating or with their family, respect is shown to them for their privacy)...the year George Clinton was onboard, no one recognized him because he looked "normal"..saw him in the elevator, recognized his "gators", I started singing "I Just Want To Testify" his 1st big hit back in the 50's when he was in a doo-wop group and he started singing lead...it's priceless moments like those that make the Jazz Charters well worth the $$$

[hattack]

:eek:OMG:eek:...now I understand why you are :)soooooooo excited:)..I was not aware that the 2018 SJC line up was already announced...it was chosen by previous cruise guests ..the line up is like the 1927 Yankees if they were smooth jazz artists...I have seen all of the artists on previous smooth jazz charters so seeing them on one cruise all together is HEAVEN...I will have to see about convincing my GF to "treat me" in 2018 for taking her to Venice in 2017...see you onboard

 

fyi...if you are a Brian Culbertson fan, he has a new CD coming out next week "Funk"...I received an advance copy, it is awesome

[wwcruisers]

Hattack -- thanks for the heads-up on Culbertson. And yes, this line-up just blew me away! :cool:

 

Ever since "Shake it Up" came out (many years ago), I have always wanted to see Boney James and Rick Braun on the same stage (have seen them individually). My DH finds Keiko Matsui's music fascinating. The whole line-up is just a who's who of smooth jazz (minus Koz, of course:()

 

If I didn't mention it, we booked the March cruise, rather than February. Same line up and pricing -- and the choice of cabins was better. We thought our chances might be better, weather-wise in March. We've had some pretty stormy Caribbean cruises in early February. Of course, as you pointed out, the February cruise will be more romantic, since it falls over Valentines Day! ;)

 

If you can talk your GF into booking this one, let me know which date you're on. I haven't started a r/c thread for the March cruise, but I still plan to try to get one going. The current 3-10-18 r/c thread is for the sailing that was canceled for this charter -- so, it should be short-lived.

 

BTW -- Loved your story of meeting the Godfather of Funk in an elevator! George Clinton would indeed be hard to recognize, without the costumes and props!

[hattack]

it won't be hard to convince her to go...just how we will budget for it...the Koz Cruise out of Venice is challenging because of the air fare and the fact one just does not fly that far to just take for the cruise so we are currently looking at doing a 5 day post cruise to include a quick side trip to Milan, Oslo & Reykjavik (Iceland) courtesy of Icelandic Air free stopovers, thus our budget is extremely tight...advise your DH, that I too am a huge fan of Keiko....I have a photo with Keiko, Candy Dulfer with me in the middle, that I have advised my Son to blow up and place on my casket at my Going Home Service...lol...so many great smooth jazz cruises, so little $$$$$...good thing I love P&B sandwiches...it's funny, when I invited my GF to go on the Capital Jazz Super Cruise in 2010, she advised me she didn't like cruises (too boring)and she didn't like Smooth Jazz and the only performing artist she recognized was George Duke...now I can't get rid of her and she has become a huge Boney James & Brian Culbertson fan...who knew

[wwcruisers]

Hattack -- know what you mean about budgeting for unique cruises. We had actually been booked on the Celebrity Mardi Gras cruise for 2017 -- but canceled it, in favor of the 2018 SJC. I was having second thoughts about the Mardi Gras cruise, even before then. So many venues and activities had already booked up (more than a year in advance) that I was concerned that we had 'missed the boat', so to speak. And, as much as I have always loved New Orleans, I just don't tolerate crowds as much as I used to. So, I still would love to take a cruise to New Orleans -- maybe just not at Festival.

 

Definitely know what you are talking about, with your plans to spend some time in Europe, around the Dave Koz cruise. Not only the expense, but that's a LONG time to spend on a plane -- just to turn around and fly home. I would love to be able to take a transatlantic cruise to Europe in the spring, spend the summer touring, and take another cruise back home. I have the same "bucket list scenario" for sailing to Australia/New Zealand, from the West Coast. Don't know if I'll ever do it, but it's nice to dream...:cool:

[hattack]

you may want to explore a Mississippi New Orleans Jazz Theme River Cruise in the spring to coincide with the French Quarter Festival (much better then the NO Jazz & Heritage Festival (plus it's free)..would recommend staying at the Hubbard Mansion B & B..we were turned onto River Cruises in 2010 when we did one out of the South of France (Rhone & Rhine Rivers) and visited Jazz Clubs from Lyon to Paris..River Cruise vessels hold around 150 guests and is very relaxing and laid back...you might also consider doing a Maine Windjammer Cruise in the summer and tie into attending the Newport and/or Litchfield Jazz Festivals...each is a very different cruise experience and a welcome change from megaships cruising the Caribbean

If funds were no issue, I would love to do a wildlife photo safari on the Zambezi Queen on the Chobe River in Africa tied into attending the Capetown International Jazz Festival...are you aware that the Essence Fesstival will be held for the 1st time this December in South Africa...anytime one can combine a cruise with a Jazz Festival it"s all good

[wwcruisers]

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=2397963

 

I just started an r/c thread for the second (March 10) sailing of the Smooth Jazz Cruise (link above). Hope that we have at least a few Cruise Critic folks on that sailing. BTW -- I posted the link to my thread to avoid confusion. There was a previous r/c thread started for the 3-10-18 sailing, that was canceled for our charter. But, since there is no longer any activity on that thread, it should (hopefully) disappear pretty soon.

[hattack]

did you notice that Tom Joyner's Fantastic Voyage will be sailing out of New Orleans in the Spring of 2017..I have never sailed on a FV, but my friends have and they loved it..New Orleans is thee #1 Port of Departure in North America so folks have a tendency to spend 2 to 3 nights either pre/post their cruise...Tom's overall line up as announced to date, does not reflect including New Orleans based artists, but I am sure Tom will correct that oversight very soon

[wwcruisers]

Hattack -- I was just wishing that Dave Koz would schedule his 2018 cruise out of New Orleans (or maybe, somewhere on the west coast). Now that the new Poland Street cruise terminal is getting close to completion, maybe we'll see more cruise lines coming to your city, on a regular basis! :cool:

[hattack]

Koz should be announcing his 2018 voyage very soon...promoters understand to stay competitive they have to capture deposits almost 18 months ..Koz had a 2011 Alaska charter that was awesome and he seems to alternate a European cruise every other year...Koz has a huge fan base on the West Coast (Southern California)so who knows..the challenge with a West Coast depature is a limited amount of Ports South (to Mexico) and lack of warm weather beach ports to the North...however it does beg a Panama Canal option, but that would mean a 8 night charter (which is fine by me)..or maybe South America or Hawaii...the nice thing about a music theme charter is that ports of call are secondary to the music & artist line up

[wwcruisers]

We used to live in the LA area, where I was first introduced to smooth jazz on FM radio -- 94.7 The Wave. Being an old school rock-n-roller, I used to jokingly call it "The all Kenny G, all the time" station. But then, I heard Boney, Braun, and Koz, not to mention Lee Ritenouer and Jeff Golub....and, I was hooked! I would LOVE it if KOZ booked a Mexican Riviera sailing out of LA or San Diego. Here again, some folks aren't wild about those ports (they've gotten a bad rap, lately) -- but, who's getting off the ship, anyway?;)

[hattack]

I lived in the LAX/ Long Beach area during the mid 80's and had no interest in Smooth Jazz...I moved to New Orleans in 1998 and following Hurricane Katrina in August 2005, I went on my first Smooth Jazz Charter (All Star Smooth Jazz Cruise) in November 2005 and discovered Rick Braun, Brian Culbertson, Nick Colionne, Peter White, Mindi Abair, Euge Groove, Marion Meadows and became hooked for life...sadly Smooth Jazz is mostly ignored in New Orleans..save for an occasional Will Downing concert at the House of Blues...since 2005, I get my Smooth Jazz "fix" by doing a yearly Jazz Charter...to save for the cruise, I stopped going to the Essence Festival & the Jazz & Heritage Festival which I consider a small sacrifice for a week of great music and seeing old friends who share my passion...my GF is still a hard core straight ahead Jazz fan but has become a "closet" Smooth Jazz fan when she is around her Jazz purist friends...lol

[hattack]

funny you should mention Kenny G..Jazz fans dismiss him, but I saw him in concert at the Essence Festival and 50,000+ Essence folks LOVED him..what I have learned over the years, with a lot of the Smooth Jazz artists, if you just listen to their CD's you really cannot appreciate how great they are until you see them live on the ship...one night at a midnight jam session Boney James, rick Braun & Brian Culbertson did a James Brown tribute ..no one wanted to leave the showroom..priceless memories..one year Charlie Wilson did a 10pm concert on a jammed packed Carnival Cruise Lido Deck..a few of us men, advised our wives and GF that we were going to get a slice of pizza and meet them back at the cabin...we give the ladies our cameras...it was 0130..when we arrive at the pizza stand, all 4 back up dancers for Charlie Wilson were "unwinding" following the show and enjoying pizza & coke..they invited us to join them at their table...we were having so much fun we did not notice how fast the time went by and soon our wives/gf came looking for us...needless to say it was a long walk back to our cabins...lol

[wwcruisers]

WOW -- You have some really great memories, from these cruises, Hattack!

Oh, and like your GF, my DH has more of an old-school traditional jazz background -- Bird, Miles, Satchmo. But, he quickly decided that he liked most of what he was hearing on the Smooth Jazz station. Granted, some of it can sound like elevator music -- but, not when you're listening to it LIVE! :cool:

[hattack]

well, if I hit Pick 4 in the lottery within the next month,playing a SJC combination, I will book the 2018 SJC the same sailing you are on and your DH and my GF can trade straight ahead Jazz stories (she is from Detroit and use to go to Baker's Jazz Club all the time)..her Dad was a Jazz musician and left her a lot of Jazz albums from the 40's & 50's..we share the love of Motown and 60's Funk so if one stops to think about it many of today's Smooth Jazz artists have their roots in that era (Boney James, Richard Elliot, Candy Dulfer, Euge Groove)...my Dad was a fan of Wes Montgomery & Chet Atkins (what a combination and in college from 69-73 I was a big BST, Chicago, Brass Construction, Mandrill, EWF fan..during the 80's I loved KC & The Sunshine Band...in 2004, I attended the Essence Festival when Prince performed and we had floor seats, center row...attending a Prince concert is like attending a James Brown concert...as a matter of fact most of Prince's horn section where from Brown's Band..with one interesting addition...Candy Dulfer (95% of the Essense throng had never heard of her, I had because I was at Montreux in 2002)...needless to say at the end of the night everyone knew who Candy Dulfer was..you will really enjoy Culbertson's new CD "Funk"

[wwcruisers]

Speaking of Candy Dulfer, did you notice that they are playing a clip of her music as background, on the SJC website? As my DH would say, she's not too hard on the eyes, either! :D

 

A lot of my misspent youth was going to every rock concert that came to town. But my DH has one that I truly envy. He got to see Sly and the Family Stone, back when he was in high school. He still says that it's one of the best concerts he's ever been to!:cool:

 

Glad to hear that you got to see Prince, when you did...RIP:(

[hattack]

well, since I was actually at Woodstock in 1969 ( 2 towns over from where I grew up) and saw Sly & The Family Stone that evening, your DH and I can chat about our mutual experiences:eek: at our misspent youths over dinner..it was quite an experience for my 18th birthday and being a former Catholic Alter Boy, seeing so many "hippie girls" in one place made me change my life plans of being a Priest;)

 

Prince was awesome..in 2004 the majority of the older R&B Essence crowd was not pleased that Essence had booked Prince and featured him on the opening night..after one song, every one was enamored...when he played Essence again in 2014, everyone was pumped to see him and he did not disappoint...sadly, he did not have Candy Dulfer with him that time...so many of my favorite artists are passing for too quickly...George Duke, Teena Marie & Chuck Brown were all on the Capital Jazz SuperCruise and Wayman Tisdale on the SJC all performed on a music charter a few months before each passed so it made seeing them on the ship even more memorable...when asked in a Q&A onboard the SuperCruise about that, George Clinton vowed that he would be performing "The Funk" up to the time that the P-Funk Starship whisked him away off the cruise ship:)

[wwcruisers]

Yep -- Woodstock was a culturally defining event, for the music of our generation. I remember saving my $$ to buy the double album, as soon as it was released (think I wore it out).

 

I grew up in Memphis, and we did have a fair number of good musicians blow through town. Funny thing, I never was much of an Elvis fan, until he died. That week, one of the local radio stations started playing some old demo tapes, from the basement at Sun Records. The tapes were old (and not very good quality), but hearing his early stuff with Jerry Lee Lewis and Carl Perkins (and others) just blew me away!

[hattack]

I love going to Memphis for the music clubs...one can easily hear the influence of "race music" in early Elvis CD's...New Orleans may be known for Jazz but in the 50's & 60's it was known for the "The New Orleans" sound which produced more #1 R&B (Race Music) than any other city...Fats Domino, Jesse Hill (Ooh Poo Poh Doo), Aaron Neville, Ernie K-Doe (Mother in Law), Chris Kenner (I Like it Like That), Lee Dorsey (Workin in the Coal Mines), Irma Thomas,The Dixie Cups (Chapel of Love),Dr. John and the amazing Allan Toussaint...Ray Charles & Frankie Beverly & Maze recorded their best selling iconic albums in New Orleans...it would have been amazing if during the 50's-60's, there was a full charter cruise ship sailing from New Orleans right after Jazz Fest featuring that line up..a group of current New Orleans artists are recording an Alan Toussaint Tribute CD to be released next spring...I will let you know when it is released

[hattack]

there is a very famous DVD entitled "The T.A.M.I. Show" that was a live 1965 taping of a concert in California featuring Chuck Berry, James Brown, Rolling Stones, The Supremes, Beach Boys ,Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Marvin Gaye with the Blossoms, Lesley Gore and a few popular British Invasion Bands from that era...it's note worthy due to the 23 minute performance of "Please, Please, Please" by James Brown and the Famous Flames which caused Mick Jagger to almost refuse to go on stage behind JB and resulted in Jagger changing his stage performance to mimic JB...poorly filmed and edited, it is still worth the effort to secure if you can

[wwcruisers]

there is a very famous DVD entitled "The T.A.M.I. Show" that was a live 1965 taping of a concert in California featuring Chuck Berry, James Brown, Rolling Stones, The Supremes, Beach Boys ,Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, Marvin Gaye with the Blossoms, Lesley Gore and a few popular British Invasion Bands from that era...it's note worthy due to the 23 minute performance of "Please, Please, Please" by James Brown and the Famous Flames which caused Mick Jagger to almost refuse to go on stage behind JB and resulted in Jagger changing his stage performance to mimic JB...poorly filmed and edited, it is still worth the effort to secure if you can

 

There was an homage to that performance in the movie "Get on Up" -- very interesting! :cool:

[hattack]

I will be so glad for next Sunday when the NFL season starts...I was somewhat bored on Sunday, so I loaded up my 5CD track player with all Boney James, sat down with my laptop to "surf" the CC boards and switched channels on the TV all afternoon (finally settled in on watching Love Boat reruns) it brought back memories as I took my first cruise in 1974 with my then future in-laws

in surfing the subject lines on various cruise lines threads it amazed me on how different the experiences are between doing full charter Smooth Jazz Cruises exclusively since 2005 and a "normal" cruise...cabin types and locations are not all that important on Music Charters...cruise line "perks" don't exist on music charters (although we have always received credit for each charter in the cruise line loyalty programs)..port of calls are not that important nor is the full dinner dining experiences...just as long as the music is on time and the water smooth, Smooth Jazz cruisers are pretty laid back and happy...since this will be your first SJC experience I will be curious to hear your perspective on the SJC as compared to your "normal" cruise...fyi on the Love Boat reruns, one show had the Pointer Sisters (who were of course cabin attendants) singing with Isaac (Ted Lange) who IMHO had the greatest hustle of all times since he always was paired up with all the beautiful Women of Color :D

[wwcruisers]

So, Hattack -- I don't have to ask: "Are you ready for some football?!" Are you a dyed-in-the wool Saints fan? Folks from New Orleans are clearly devoted to their team! In the relatively short time I've lived in the Puget Sound area, I've developed a true fondness for the Seahawks, as well as their loyal fans (known as "the twelves"). But, my heart will always belong to the Pittsburgh Steelers. Funny, because Pittsburgh is one of the few places I have NOT been. One day, I would like to pack up my 'terrible towel' and make the pilgrimage to Heinz Field, to be part of the 'home crowd'.

[hattack]

I lived in Seattle during the late 70's, very early 80's and loved going to the Seahawk games when Jim Zorn was the QB and Steve Largent was the all pro wide receiver...loved attending the Super Sonics games at the Dome with Downtown Freddy Brown & Dennis Johnson...I am not a huge NFL fan, but have a special place in my heart for the Oakland Raiders...the Saints are beloved in New Orleans and have a special connection due to bringing the region together following Hurricane Katrina with the run to the Super Bowl..was very lucky to go to the Dome to attend 2 Super Bowls...believe it or not I am a huge fan of college Ice Hockey forged when I attended college in upstate New York during the late 60's..sadly no ice hockey in the deep South...growing up, I was Blessed to meet the great Willie Mays when he played for the NY Mets in 1964..wished they had selfies back in those days..will always love the Steelers when they started Jersey Joe Gilliam at QB ...never saw a QB throw a pass for 85 yards before..this season marks the 50th anniversary of securing an NFL franchise..it is noteworthy because to secure a franchise the City Fathers had to agree to eliminate Jim Crow laws in place at the time...am not an LSU fan, so I have to be real quiet on Saturday's around here...lol