70s Rock and Romance Cruise - discussion and questions

[George C]

4 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

...And now it's official.  Jazz Cruises canceled all their charters scheduled for 2022 after Celebrity let them.  Now it's time to figure out what this means for my cruises with StarVista and ECP in 7 or 8 weeks.

Since our rock and romance is non cancelable , I think we need to wait , glad we have insurance on our airfare, hope we cruise , doubt we will get our money back they will postpone if needed like they did last year. Wouldn’t be surprised if more of the music acts change.

Edited January 5, 2022 by George C

[Honolulu Blue]

10 hours ago, George C said:

Since our rock and romance is non cancelable , I think we need to wait , glad we have insurance on our airfare, hope we cruise , doubt we will get our money back they will postpone if needed like they did last year. Wouldn’t be surprised if more of the music acts change.

 

I too think we'll lose some acts on all our cruises, who may or may not be replaced.  

 

In the Left Hand Doesn't Care What The Right Hand Is Doing Department, I got an e-mail yesterday from The 80s Cruise (chartered by the non-jazz portion of ECP).  It was all about business as usual preparing for a good time, as if the last month had never happened (believe me, I wish parts of the last month had never happened 🙃).  No gloom and doom, no hints of any changes.  We'll see how it all goes.

[Honolulu Blue]

The full, public statement from Jazz Cruises on their charter cruise cancellations for 2022:  Important Notice to Guests on our ’22 Cruise Programs – Jazz Cruises (yourjazzcruises.com)

[George C]

Just got a email from starvista rock and romance and there other cruises are going as planned.

[Honolulu Blue]

17 minutes ago, George C said:

Just got a email from starvista rock and romance and there other cruises are going as planned.

 

I got the same email.  I hope this is the final answer, though this pandemic has had an incredible amount of twists and turns.

 

A couple of things I found interesting:

1. The Country Music Cruise and the Soul Train Cruise, both in January on Holland America ships, have been rescheduled.  They don't say when they'll be rescheduled to.  The obvious answer is to the 2023 cruises, but maybe they'll try to schedule a replacement earlier, like this summer?  Stay tuned.
2. If the Soul Train Cruise does get moved to the one that's already scheduled for 2023, it makes it considerably less likely I'll get a cabin onboard.  Many, if not most, of the guests on the '22 cruise figure to spill over into the 2023 edition.

[NinS]

Honolulu, the availiability of the Soul Train Cruise will likely hinge on whether there will be a refund offer or not. StarVista has during the pandemic often just given a credit rather than a refund offer when cruise dates change, but many if not most of the cruisers signed up for the cruise in late 2019 and are now looking at a potential 2023 cruise date!

[Honolulu Blue]

A little bit of news about The 80s Cruise... John Parr dropped out and will be replaced with Paul Young.  This is a small plus as far as I'm concerned. 

 

More newsworthy, IMHO, was what was NOT said.  There was nothing said about the virus or RCCL's current troubles dealing with it, or any hint of cancellation.  It's full speed ahead, I guess.

[Honolulu Blue]

Now some news about the Ultimate Disco Cruise - I can check in on Celebrity's site now!  Except I can't.  They say they'll let me know when I can check in for real.  I can do a lot of stuff without checking in - like book specialty dining, grab an Internet plan, go on an excursion... that sort of thing.  Again, there was nothing warning us about the world outside.  Full speed ahead here too, I guess.

[Honolulu Blue]

Chris Jericho's latest wrestling-themed cruise, scheduled for March '22, has been rescheduled for February '23.  For now, the whole explanation is splashed on the home page at Chris Jericho's Rock 'N' Wrestling Rager at Sea (chrisjerichocruise.com) .  I note this because it's another indication of the rough environment that cruising (especially themed cruising) has in these troubled times.

[Honolulu Blue]

On 11/4/2021 at 11:23 AM, Honolulu Blue said:

• Sunday was the day I was finally going to leave.  Or was it?  After packing, but before going down to the front desk to check out, I was given the news that Delta had canceled my flight.  This would cause a lot of problems that I had to figure out solutions to.  First, I didn't like the flight Delta put me on, so I replaced that and got one of the last seats on another, later flight that I preferred.  Second, I had to go down to the front desk and plead for a room at the inn if they still had one.  The good news is they did.  The bad news is it was very expensive (classy AIs like this one aren't cheap, you know).  Also bad was the fact that I would have to change rooms.  I got some concierge help here, so it wasn't too painful.  I also had to delay my shuttle trip by 24 hours.  That was easiest of all.  I then had to inform work that I would have to take another day off.  They were cool with it.
• I got 7500 miles as an apology for my canceled flight.  That seemed very chintzy to me, especially considering that if the flight had been delayed or I had been bumped, I would have received more compensation than this.  I sent a note to Delta pleading my case.  We'll see how it goes.

 

I made these notes about the end of my adventure with 80s In The Sand in Cancun in October.  The full post is on the previous page.  I actually have an update to share.  I received a nice, polite, apologetic reply after 2 1/2 months from one of Delta's customer service reps.  In addition to the note, there were some gifts - $122 in Delta credit that's good for a year, and a free choice of a $100 gift card (I chose Amazon; other options included Delta, Google Play, Lowe's and Best Buy).  These gifts and the miles I already received added up to about half the amount that I paid for the hotel for the extra night, but I'm content.  At least I got their attention and got a little something.  DOT should probably do something about close-in cancellations in the future.  

[Honolulu Blue]

I saw an article in the New York Times about one of the biggest charter cruises - the Atlantis 30th Anniversary Cruise.  The article is at Can a Gay Cruise Keep 5,500 People Safe Amid Covid? - The New York Times (nytimes.com) .  More details about this cruise are at Atlantis Events - 30th Anniversary Caribbean Cruise .  It's sold out, going to be filled to the brim, working with Royal's protocols (including mask wearing just about everywhere indoors), and it's sailing today.  What could possibly go wrong?  😛  The train wreck potential is extremely high, but if they can pull this off without too much drama, this would be good news for all the charters to come.

[Honolulu Blue]

Because I have too much time on my hands, I took another look at the UDC's health and safety protocols.  I'm glad I did, because it looks like they gave in to the inevitable:

Q: Do I need to wear a mask on the cruise if I am fully vaccinated?

As a result of increased COVID-19 cases associated with the Omicron variant, masks will be required for all guests (regardless of vaccination status,) at all times indoors except while eating or drinking. 

 

@George C, I'm sorry to say that the same is true for the Rock & Romance cruise, because I checked their FAQs.  

 

They had to do it, but having to wear masks almost all the time on a music-themed cruise is a major buzzkill.  There are far too many bands to have everyone play by the pool.

 

Anyway, that's the reality for today.  Let's hope Omicron disappears as fast as it came.

[Honolulu Blue]

More 80s Cruise news... Morris Day and the Time are OUT, but Cameo is IN.  Cameo is OK, IMHO, but I thought the boys from Minneapolis were going to be awesome.  I'll miss them.  As a consolation, they and John Parr are going to be added to the '23 schedule.

[George C]

On 1/17/2022 at 6:19 AM, Honolulu Blue said:

Because I have too much time on my hands, I took another look at the UDC's health and safety protocols.  I'm glad I did, because it looks like they gave in to the inevitable:

Q: Do I need to wear a mask on the cruise if I am fully vaccinated?

As a result of increased COVID-19 cases associated with the Omicron variant, masks will be required for all guests (regardless of vaccination status,) at all times indoors except while eating or drinking. 

 

@George C, I'm sorry to say that the same is true for the Rock & Romance cruise, because I checked their FAQs.  

 

They had to do it, but having to wear masks almost all the time on a music-themed cruise is a major buzzkill.  There are far too many bands to have everyone play by the pool.

 

Anyway, that's the reality for today.  Let's hope Omicron disappears as fast as it came.

But you don’t need a mask while drinking, I am planning on doing a lot , same goes with flying at least first class as soon as plane is up I get my double Bloody Mary and sip until its time to land. I also question on if they will enforce this that well. Theater is real close to suite lounge for my drinks. 

[Honolulu Blue]

2 hours ago, George C said:

But you don’t need a mask while drinking, I am planning on doing a lot , same goes with flying at least first class as soon as plane is up I get my double Bloody Mary and sip until its time to land. I also question on if they will enforce this that well. Theater is real close to suite lounge for my drinks. 

 

That's one way to cope.  Sometimes I wish I drank more.  Have I mentioned that The 80s Cruise comes with a free drink package for all passengers?

[George C]

13 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

 

That's one way to cope.  Sometimes I wish I drank more.  Have I mentioned that The 80s Cruise comes with a free drink package for all passengers?

You could be drinking water , nice that drink package is included for 80’s , I remember a couple of years ago price for the drink package was really expensive on rock and romance , I love the suite lounge some of the artist spend lots of time there and it’s never crowded. 

[George C]

Just requested luggage tags to be mailed, love that celebrity stills mails them, message said they should be there in ten days. Watching a Mellisa Manchester video on YouTube now.

[Honolulu Blue]

StarVista has finally arranged the rescheduling of its charters on the Nieuw Amsterdam that were supposed to happen this month.  The Country Music Cruise was moved to March 26-April 2.  Details at 2022 Rescheduled to March (countrymusiccruise.com) .  The Soul Train Cruise was moved to March 19-26.  Details of that are at 2022 Rescheduled to March | Soul Train Cruise .  No refund offers for either cruise that I can see.

[George C]

Looks like some people canceled , 70 cabins are currently available cheapest is 2k  most expensive 3.5 but no suites .

[Honolulu Blue]

6 minutes ago, George C said:

Looks like some people canceled , 70 cabins are currently available cheapest is 2k  most expensive 3.5 but no suites .

 

That's very interesting.  Thanks for sharing.  70 available cabins seems like a lot at this point (wasn't it sold out at one time?), but somewhat understandable given the circumstances.  I've noticed the UDC has had cabin availability slowly increase over the past three months - with even suites very occasionally making an appearance on the available cabin list.

[George C]

1 hour ago, Honolulu Blue said:

 

That's very interesting.  Thanks for sharing.  70 available cabins seems like a lot at this point (wasn't it sold out at one time?), but somewhat understandable given the circumstances.  I've noticed the UDC has had cabin availability slowly increase over the past three months - with even suites very occasionally making an appearance on the available cabin list.

Yes they said it was sold out , doesn’t appear that there lowering cost. Just called celebrity to order 600 in chips for the casino , I will get 660 in chips , love getting the discount. 24 days to go 😁😁😁

[Honolulu Blue]

On 1/26/2022 at 3:51 PM, George C said:

Yes they said it was sold out , doesn’t appear that there lowering cost. Just called celebrity to order 600 in chips for the casino , I will get 660 in chips , love getting the discount. 24 days to go 😁😁😁

 

Free chips in the casino are always good - even better when they lead to free money 😀.  I'm not sure if I want to buy chips because I don't want to commit to spending time in the casino when there's so. much. great. music. around me.  We'll see.

 

Since hardly anyone is reading this, I'll loop back to some points that are mostly interesting to me.  I did a quick and dirty count of the available cabins on the UDC and TEC.  The UDC had 71 cabins, including 1 suite when I checked.  TEC had 30 cabins with at least 3 of them being in the suite class.  It looks like both are going to sail at less than 100% unless the charters do something drastic.  Fine with me, though I feel for those that felt they had to cancel.  I wonder where the isolation cabins are on these ships.  The available cabins are all over the ships, so that wasn't a hint.  I also wonder if RCG discounted the charter prices because they cabin availability is reduced.

 

@George C revealed in a different thread that the performance schedule was revealed for Rock & Romance.  And it was.  I thought it was great fun to see which bands I'd like to see on which days and see where the conflicts were.  This reveal was important because the UDC schedule is likely to come out very soon (they keep saying "late January" and there aren't too many days left in the month) and I can do even more mental gymnastics.  They wouldn't put The Jacksons on at the same time as Expose, would they?  That would make me cry. 😪  The TEC schedule should be out soon too.

 

Oh well.  Things are looking good.  No band cancellations in the past few days, at least none revealed to us.  Cases are stalling or in retreat in most of the country.  I'm pretty sure I haven't caught the bug, yet.  It looks like both cruises are going to go and my adventure will be mostly unimpeded.

[George C]

If you want to see some of the performances past rock and romance just go to YouTube and enter rock and romance cruise.

[George C]

Just got a email next years rock and romance is 3/16 on summit out of Miami, I am sure we will book while we are on board.

[Honolulu Blue]

1 hour ago, George C said:

Just got a email next years rock and romance is 3/16 on summit out of Miami, I am sure we will book while we are on board.

 

Wow, that's late.  Maybe they're planning a B2B with Flower Power?  Based on what you've said previously, that would be good for you.

 

BTW, I haven't heard anything about the '23 UDC date or ship.  Indeed, this is the first I've heard about the '23 R&R.

 

What I HAVE heard about, thankfully, is the UDC's performance schedule.  I'm still digging through it.  No big surprises - the main theater performers were who I expected them to be.  It looks like I'll be in many places on the ship trying to catch my favorites.  I hope I don't burn myself out.  One thing I did notice is that Cara Lee is here doing the gypsys tramps and thieves thing.  I'll have to catch her at least one because of George's recommendation. 😄

Edited February 1, 2022 by Honolulu Blue