Charter Music Cruises selling out

[hattack]

zzyx....last saturday while cleaning my home (i hate dusting:p), I cranked up some vintage Al Green, Marvin Gaye and Tammy Terrell, Tower of Power, Mandrill . KC & the Sunshine Band, War with Eric Bourdon and my main man Joe Tex (i have a vintage Wurlizer Jukebox) and danced my way thru 4 hours of cleaning without missing a note or speck of dust...my Parents would be so proud...I suspect that the reason why these types of music charter cruises sell out so quickly is because it is targeted to our baby boomer generation memories of that era

 

Chyna3032....I concur plus Venice has a great Jazz Club right off the Grand Canal...Santorini is the most romantic port in the world IMHO...trying to rearrange my budget so I can book on the 1st of the month (if there are still cabins left) so I can swing both CJSC "X" monthly payments and Koz...on my bucket list

[wwcruisers]

As a longtime X cruiser (and jazz fan) I have always been intrigued by the chartered jazz cruises. Last year, we missed the boat (so to speak) on booking Dave Koz's 2017 cruise. Today, I saw that the 15th anniversary Smooth Jazz Cruise (Feb 10-17, 2018) is accepting pre-booking deposits, this summer. Although Dave Koz is not onboard, the announced line-up includes two of my very favorites: Boney James and Rick Braun. So, to say that I'm tempted would be an understatement! :cool:

 

So, what can you guys tell me about the Smooth Jazz Cruises? Are any of the deposits/payments refundable? What if the line-up changes, and we decide to cancel? Would 'cancel for any reason' insurance cover that? Having never booked any sort of charter before, I'm totally clueless about some of this! :o

[hattack]

purchase "cancel for any reason " trip insurance (make sure if you have pre existing medical conditions you purchase an independent 3rd party trip insurance policy within a very short window time frame (14 - 30 days)of time of booking...normally once you book, deposits are non refundable (read the website small print PRIOR to booking or call them)...the overall SJC line up is awesome so even if 1 or 2 artists cancel you will be elated by the overall line up and onboard activities

 

great value for your dollar and a music experience of a lifetime...normally once you do one full charter music cruise..you never go back to doing a "normal boring" regular cruise

[wwcruisers]

Thank you, hattack! We went ahead and put down a "pre-booking" deposit, this weekend. We won't know more about the actual booking process (or what's available for a "newbie") until mid-August. That gives us some time to shop around for "cancel for any reason" insurance. And, I agree with you -- even if one or two currently booked performers had to be replaced -- that's one AMAZING line-up! But, keeping fingers crossed that I do get to see Rick Braun and Boney James, on the same stage! :cool:

 

Interestingly, Celebrity is still doing bookings for that week (Feb 10-17) on Summit. I have a friend on the boards who's booked for that week. When I told her about the Smooth Jazz Cruise, she called Celebrity, and they told her that they don't know anything about a jazz cruise in 2018. Maybe the ship/itinerary are not quite nailed down, yet? :confused: Here again, I'm probably going to learn a LOT about how charter cruises work, in the next year or so! ;)

[hattack]

My Bad (sorry)...I went back and reread your posting and you were asking about **2018*** ...go to the ECP website and sign up for the newsletter so you will receive an email when the 2018 charter is open for sale...I suspect your "pre deposit" will cover the same thing but better to have all based covered...ECP is slowly transitioning most of it's musiic charters to Celebrity from HAL...the Celebrity ships are absolutely beautiful and very condusive to the onboard program

[wwcruisers]

Thanks for the newsletter tip! :cool: Even with the pre-booking deposit, I'm still not sure when we'll be able to actually book a cabin for 2018. And yes, Summit is a beautiful ship. We've sailed on her twice, so I already have a list of cabin choices ready to go. Of course, on this one -- I doubt that we'll be spending much time in our cabin -- any verandah will do! ;)

[hattack]

you have discovered the "secret" about cabin selections...because of all the music experiences every night, one actually spends very little time in your cabin (to enjoy your veranda) so unless you are claustraphobic an interior or oceanview fits the bill and are usually the first to go (along with the suites)...suites go quickly because guests will entertain their friends with pre/post dinner or concert receptions ...one year we lucked out by having an interior cabin directly across the hall from a famous female celebrity performing artist that was nice enough to invite us to one of her gatherings in her suite...needless to say I enjoyed that...we usually get back to our cabin around 230 am and I like to early rise at 0600 am so I catch up on my sleep in the afternoons

 

think "opposite" of what you have experienced on a "normal" cruise..it's all about the music and you will get very little rest during the week so plan an extra 2 days off from work upon your return to recover

[wwcruisers]

LOL -- thanks for confirming my suspicions, Hattack! I remember thinking that the itinerary was kind of "meh" too -- when I suddenly realized that I probably wouldn't be getting off the ship much, anyway! One port that I have high hopes for is the RC/X private island, Labadee. Fingers crossed that they are planning a nice musical beach party for us, that day! :D

[hattack]

almost certain there will be a beach concert...Carnival had a huge pool deck space where we use to be treated to full day at sea concerts...NCL Getaway has much smaller pool deck space so I suspect we will have an island concert....

 

won't be long now

[wwcruisers]

Hattack -- Another random question, if you don't mind: Have any of the jazz cruises that you've been on had an active CC roll call? I'm just not sure how many folks on the Smooth Jazz Cruise will have even heard of CruiseCritic. Once the 2018 SJC is "official" and we're actually booked, I may try to start an r/c thread. Of course, all I may hear is "crickets" -- but that certainly wouldn't be the first time! ;)

 

And, thank you again for taking the time to be my "go-to" person. Not many folks on the Celebrity Boards have ever taken a music cruise. I know that I'm going to learn a lot (some of it the hard way) about charter cruises, in the next year and a half! :D

[hattack]

very few of regular music theme charters fans have used these boards...the most activity ever was on the Royal Caribbean Freedom of the Seas board last year dealing with the fiasco of the Maxwell Music Charter (great lesson in how not to book a music theme charter) and that was because of the regular cruisers complaining

 

most folks use Facebook to carry on conversation...I am old school and do not use alot of social media so I do not belong to Facebook, but enjoy going to the Capital Jazz Supercruise website and read their Facebook postings which are really active

 

feel free to ask away

[wwcruisers]

I don't do FB either, Hattack. And, once our SJC is "official", I may try to start an r/c thread -- just to see if anyone is out there, on CC. Of course, I'll probably end up singing Nina Simone lyrics to myself over there, just to keep the thread from slipping into oblivion! ;)

[hattack]

if it helps, I can hummmm some Peabo Bryson (he was AWESOME on the ship a few years ago) to keep the thread on the 1st page...lol...as music theme cruises become more popular from time to time you will see a thread started about why they are so expensive and what the difference is between a full charter music theme cruise and a large music group on a regular sailing

 

I suspect when we receive the email newsletter that announces the daily performance schedule you may see a few more hits to this thread

[hattack]

there is also a thread under Roll Call..NCl Getaway that I started a few months ago that is currently inactive and on the 2nd page

[wwcruisers]

I suspect when we receive the email newsletter that announces the daily performance schedule you may see a few more hits to this thread

 

I hope so! :cool:

[CRUZINSINCE2007]

there is also a thread under Roll Call..NCl Getaway that I started a few months ago that is currently inactive and on the 2nd page

 

Hi Hattack! Yes, we need to get more active on that roll call. I need something to calm me down-lol. I am soooooo ready to go!!! Hope everyone is enjoying there summer!

[wwcruisers]

Wow -- Just read on the Celebrity Boards that X is chartering Summit out from late Jan. through the end of March, in 2018. That includes the two Smooth Jazz Cruises (15th Anniversary), scheduled for Feb 10, and March 10, of that year. Unfortunately, there were a lot of folks already booked, during those dates -- who are now scrambling to work out new dates, compensation, etc. One person suggested that doing the Smooth Jazz Cruise might be a good alternative for them. I piped up and told folks that, anyone considering that option needed to get on the pre-book waiting list, ASAP. I know that it came as a shock to me to learn just how fast these charters can sell out -- e.g.: Dave Koz & Friends (2017) sold out in just 4 days! :eek:

[hattack]

WOW...ECP just switchover from HAL to Celebrity so it will be interesting to see how ECP will handle this...these music charters are the best kept secret in the cruise industry these days...they sell out so far in advance because most folks need the lead time to budget due to the cost of the music charter (very much worth the cost in return for the value

[hattack]

just read the Celebrity Board post...I misinterpreted your post (my apologies)I should have read the other post before my responding to yours on this thread)..the advantage those regular cruisers will have is that they will have many options (since it 's so far out) fleet wide on Celebrity and will actually wind up with either complimentary cabin upgrades or a generous onboard credit...plus they have not incurred additional expenses (air fare etc) this far out

 

it becomes a problem if Celebrity had charter the ship for that long of period less then a year out (that's what happen to Royal Caribbean with the Maxwell and Friends charter) and there is less space on the other Celebrity ships in the fleet

[wwcruisers]

Hi Hattack! :)

 

Yeah -- I'm just amazed that X decided to dedicate Summit to two months (at least) of charters, after taking bookings for all of those various and sundry cruises. It's going to cost them a pretty penny to compensate (and re-book) those folks. If the long-term charter thing works out for them, maybe X will just block off a couple of months in 2019 for that purpose -- saving themselves needless aggravation ;).

 

And, on a personal note -- we (as 'pre-booked' pax) are still standing by, to find out when we can actually book a cabin on the 2/10/18 Smooth Jazz cruise. ECP promised to have more info for us on the 15th of this month -- fingers crossed!:cool:

Edited August 6, 2016 by wwcruisers

[hattack]

I am sure everything will work out for you...as final payment for the Smooth Jazz Cruise nears, cabins will open up and upgrades will be accomplished...I was on the Smooth Jazz Cruise the year Dave Koz & Wayman Tisdale were cohost (Tisdale died a few months after the cruise) and it was awesome

 

statistically , most regular guests will booked their cruise about 12-14 months out so the amount of displaced guests for 2018 is relatively smaller to accommodate and the cost to the cruise line to rescheduled their booked guests has already been factored into the charter rate by Celebrity

 

Celebrity ships are beautiful and will be enjoyable for you to enjoy the music and artists

[wwcruisers]

Hattack, Summit is an amazing ship. We've done the NJ to Bermuda on her, twice now. One of those cruises had some of the best music we had ever encountered on a 'regular' cruise. I remember being docked at Kings Wharf one evening -- we sat out on our deck, listening to the flamenco guitarist, playing in the outdoor bar above us. :cool:

 

As a old-time Celebrity cruiser, I've found that the venues on the older ships (like Summit) are much more conducive to live music, than those on the larger (newer) ships -- like Solstice. For example, the coffee bar on Summit has a baby grand, so folks can sit and listen to music, while they enjoy their lattes & croissants. On the bigger ships, the live performers are off in hallway, or some other cavernous space -- playing whatever instruments they can manage to set up there. :eek:

 

So, you can imagine how excited I was to see the Smooth Jazz Cruise(s) for 2018 were going to be on one of my favorite ships! BTW -- Hattack, I don't know if I ever asked: are you joining us on this one (Feb 10, 2018)? Great line-up, fabulous ship, and a private island stop (CocoCay) that is perfect for live music! :)

[hattack]

thanks for your kind invitation, am currently planning on doing the Dave Koz Cruise out of Venice in May 17, so unless I win the lottery will not be doing any cruising for 2018...if I do "find" any extra $$$ then I want to do the Capetown (SA) International Jazz Festival which has been on my bucket list forever in March of 2018

[wwcruisers]

So jealous, Hattack! :p

Saw Koz (with Rick Braun and Kenny Lattimore) at a small local venue (Concert for Cancer) last fall. Dave really knows how to put on a show! That's actually what piqued my interest in the various jazz cruise charters. Sadly, both his 2016 and 2017 cruises were sold out, by then. I heard that the cruise you are booked on sold out in 4 days! :cool: I can't remember what ship Koz & Friends have chartered for Europe, though. Is it one of the RC Radiance Class ships?

[hattack]

HAL Westerdam Koz should be announcing his 2018 charter soon..there are so many great music charters to chose from and they are very competitive and try to get folks to deposit as early as possible...one of the reasons why I love Capital Jazz SuperCruise is that it has a nice mixture of music styles that I love (straight ahead jazz, smooth jazz, soul, neo soul, gospel, funk,old school rap, 60's Motown, oldies)...if I had the $$$ and the time I would do the Legendary Rhythm & Blues Charter, The Malt Shop Memories Charter and the Flower Power Cruise (I actually was at Woodstock, great story if we ever have dinner on a future Koz charter)

 

While we are in Venice pre cruise I want to visit the world famous Fenice Opera House and sit thru at least one act of an Opera...my travel companion is not excited about that but I promised her we would catch the late set at the Venice Jazz Club

 

My parents raised me to appreciate all types of music...I actually attended a Snoop Dog concert