Honolulu Blue

OK, I'll keep you updated here when I get some news, but you might as well sign up for their mailing list on their homepage. That's all I've done so far. BTW, the OBTC's date is also close to the Super Legends Cruise, which reduces my interest in it. But they COULD round up a nice lineup that would force me to spend the $$$ on it. We'll see. P.S. Except for the McDonald LaBelle Cruise, all the music charters I've been on have had several artists that weren't of interest to me. Obviously, it didn't stop me from booking them. I'm perfectly willing to let others have their fun, as long as they let me have my fun in my own way. 😛

Thank you, OP, for bringing this to our attention. At the risk of raising the ire of the hard-hearted cynics and people who flat out don't care about such things, this transaction and its announcement does intrigue me. Most of what intrigues me are the answers to the questions that I'll never hear (mostly because they're none of my business), such as: How far up did the approval process, if any, go? Maybe LHB and Jason got their notice at the same time we did, but somehow I doubt it. Does this mean that these pieces will be introduced on her ship when she returns to active duty? Or will they be introduced on ships Celebrity-wide sometime? Did Captain Kate get an endorsement fee, does she get commissions, or both? My cynical nature refuses to believe she did this totally out of the kindness of her heart. 😍🤑 Will we be seeing other captains on X following up with similar deals? It's hard to imagine Captain Pierre hawking jewelry, but who knows? I'm glad that Kate found a side hustle that works for her, and I hope that it benefits both sides. Maybe it will even benefit Celebrity somehow; that would be even better. Back to lurk mode.

Interesting. Thanks for sharing. I've never had a balance to refund, so I don't have any insight there. I wonder which I would prefer - the check or the GC refund. I suppose if I had only one or two cards to keep track of, or if Carnival sends a new card for the balance, then a refund there would be fine. But I think it's a PITA to have to keep records of multiple GCs in case Carnival chooses to refund one of their choice, as I've found out when this happened to me on another cruise line (long story). Then again, a loose check is also a PITA these days - especially when you don't know when it will arrive. I just wish Carnival would stick with one policy and communicate it to its guests.

On the Blue Cruise has announced that they're going to do something a little different with their 2025 cruise. It will be August 22-29 on the Norwegian Gem. It'll sail round trip out of Boston and head to Canada and New England. Funnily enough, I have a Canada-New England cruise in a couple of months. It's not a charter cruise, a themed cruise, or a music cruise, and it's not on NCL. This is the first music cruise that I've heard about that's going to that region of the world. It's also an unusual time for a charter; most are between October and April. The last On the Blue Cruise was in April. They expect to make an announcement in mid-July with more details - including the exact itinerary and some of the performers. OTBC has been one of the cruises I've been following even though I haven't booked it yet. I'm unlikely to pull the trigger on this one, but it's not out of the realm of possibility. If something happens with this, I'll let you know.

From my cruise on the Magic last November:

OP, thank you for posting this. I didn't know until now that the first, embarkation day, singles meet was hosted. I thought hosted solo gatherings were exclusive to NCL. It might be worth a second look the next time I'm on X.

I'm not sure I'd like to be called by name on a cruise ship, unless there was a specific need for it (e.g., I lost something & GS somehow found it). I think there's some value in the anonymity that mainstream cruises and cruise lines (like Carnival) provide. Obviously, others think differently.

Thanks for the brochure link and the thread link. The cost was roughly as I expected (feared 😯) for such an experience. It does look more luxurious than Jazz Cruises (or indeed other music charter cruises) these days.

Mr. Lazaroff told an interesting story in his latest newsletter. It involved a 2014 sailing of the Signature Jazz Cruise, where 400 passengers on a Seabourn ship sailed in Europe where the passengers flew to Nice, France, and had a special concert experience in Monte Carlo. I call this to your attention because apparently this is what Michael L. was referring to when he discussed past European luxury cruise experiences during his Q and A. Also, my wallet started screaming when I thought about how much a charter cruise on Seabourn would have cost. 🤑 I also thought of how far I would go, and how much I would pay, to see my favorites.

The Ruby had a library as of April 2023.

I have not. I guess I have a lot to look forward to. Thanks for the heads up!

Thanks for sharing this. I'm a little surprised they let the crew smoke in areas where passengers are likely to encounter them, though I suppose at some of their jobs, they're in place for so long during the day, they'd need some place to go that's relatively close. I'm also a little surprised that the crew would want to be in a place where they can show off this habit in front of the passengers.

The Super Legends Cruise 2.0 edition for 2025 announced their lineup a couple of days early: Of the relevant performers, the Isley Brothers, Sheila E., and Jody Watley are all duplicated from the one I booked. Only WAR moves the needle for me among the additions. This one is missing Heatwave, Tavares, and the Mary Jane Girls from the other cruise. I think I'd take that trade and officially am not interested in switching ships.

I've taken the Carnival shuttle from the airport a couple of times. It works fine for me, but I wouldn't recommend it for your group. First, because you're getting in the day before the cruise, you'd have to all go back to the airport the next day to catch the shuttle. Second, it would probably cost less to rent a couple of buses or a small fleet of cars than paying for individual seats on a shuttle. And third, you need to figure out what you want to do with regards to transportation to the port and then work backwards. Galveston has a few hotels within walking distance of the port, but they're small and expensive. Houston's airports have some nearby hotels and you can probably get transportation from any of them straight to Galveston's port through a private party. And there are hotel options in between. Make sure you choose the right one. Good luck. 🙂 Several years ago, I got a pack of used Carnival casino cards from the cashier. Not free, but it only cost $1. I'm not sure they now give away packs at the casino or GS, mostly because I haven't tried in a long time. YMMV. Carnival's app doesn't allow you to find your fellow travelers, but you can sign up for a separate chat program with those you're close to onboard. The reviews of this aren't great, and I haven't tried it myself, so YMMV on this too. I'll defer to others on the details of the afternoon tea. I've never attended one. I can't think of many across-the-board recommendations for Carnival. If you like burgers, you'll probably like Guy's and its fries. BlueIguana serves good burritos and tacos; don't expect authenticity there. And there are some quiet places to hide on each ship, though it might take a day or two to discover them. Enjoy your upcoming cruise!

I'm from the States and I know this. I almost never hear an American use this term. When it was used, it was much more often used as an unkind term about a group of people. I wonder if my UK friends used it in this way. I assume they did.

I've done 11 cruises on four different cruise lines since the restart with several more scheduled. I think all of them are doing most things right, at least as far as I'm concerned. Most of the standards that you, I, or anyone else could set are subjective, but one standard is much less subjective than the others - financial performance. And here there's one standout - Royal Caribbean and its affiliated cruise lines. I've been impressed by how often they can get near premium cabin prices for their newest ships - of which they've had quite a few. I'm sure that's boosted their bottom line a lot. Also, I think Royal, the cruise line, is as close to "all things to all people" as any cruise line. They have enough fun stuff to do onboard. Their crew is good enough. Their food is good enough. Their itineraries are varied enough and interesting enough. Their ships are pretty enough inside and out. And they have a fair variety of sizes of ships to please almost everyone.

Thanks for sharing this. I was on that cruise in March in kind of the opposite of a royal suite with no drink package. I wonder if the fact that it was a charter made a difference in their enforcement of this?

These days, Carnival installed non smoking casinos in some of their ships. They seem popular and might be the best of both worlds for now. I've heard that Royal has done the same on some of their largest ships. It's hard to imagine a completely non smoking ship. Unlike on land, everyone is completely trapped onboard for 24 hours or more. I don't see a solution to this. P.S. I haven't heard this rumor. To me it's irrelevant where it came from, if anywhere.

Last night I attended the Abducted to the 80s concert that featured four bands from that decade. How did it go? I'll slowly get through all the details. Please be patient. I drove down yesterday from home. It took about 6 hours to get there. Part of the reason I agreed to go to this concert that's a long way from here was to test out both my car (which I bought in April) and my ability to drive long distances. Both worked out well, the car better than me. It sipped fuel (scans crowd) like a lady on a first date and generally rode, steered, and braked well. As for the driver, I had some minor navigation issues and I had to go through some construction in several places. But those were to be expected and I managed to survive them all. Anyway, back to the action at the Amphitheater. It was a nice place with good seating and views. I did indeed have a front row seat. I was close to the action - almost TOO close. The stage was about 5 feet above ground level, which meant that I had to look up at the stage and the camera angles were a little strange. OK, the show started at 7 on a warm night (that turned a little cool and windy after dark) with Naked Eyes. They had the honor of playing the session's best song (IMHO), "Promises Promises". They played it second to last to their biggest hit. I thought they were good, but then again, I thought all of these performers were good. Keep that in mind. Next up was The Motels. Their two big hits had a unique sound that made them haunting to me. And their lead singer Martha Davis was a big part of that. I was glad to see her still hanging in there. She was a quirky one. I bet she would be a lot of fun in a Q&A session. BTW, she and her band were on TEC in the past. And did you know she plays guitar? I did not know this. One of my VIP perks was a photo op with Ms. Davis after this show. There were about 18 people who were in line with me and I was #3 to go back stage. She autographed my poster (also a VIP perk) and we took a photo. It turned out nice. Modesty does not permit me to post it. She seemed really nice throughout our brief interaction. I was able to get back to my seat in time for the next show. Some other VIPs... were not so lucky. The next show was with Men Without Hats. I had written these guys off completely. That was a mistake and the biggest surprise of the event. I actually liked this show and would go see them again sometime. It helped a lot that their lead singer was very enthusiastic and moved around a lot - though it hurt my ability to photograph him. Also helping was the fact that MWH played their One Big Hit both at the start and the end of their set. Another help was the fact that they had a lady on keyboards. She looked to be a bit young to be an original band member from the 80s; maybe she was born in that decade. After they played their set, there was the longest delay between bands of the whole evening - about 40 minutes. And then Wang Chung came out. I had seen these guys in concert on The 80s Cruise back in March. They played most of the same songs, though one of the songs they dumped this time was "Don't Let Go", which was the song that introduced me to this band. They played a cute cover of "Should I Stay Or Should I Go?" before breaking into their big hit, which closed the show. After the show, the crowd cleared out quickly. But us VIPs had another backstage session - this time with the Wang Chung leads. I told them about how much I enjoyed them on the TEC, and they told me a story about how much they liked playing in Studio B instead of by the pool as they were scheduled for. They also autographed my poster and this time I got several pictures with them. The drive back to my hotel was surprisingly pleasant and drama free with very little traffic. The only bad part is that it was at night, and I don't do well with night driving in unfamiliar cities. Overall I had a wonderful time in Decatur and wouldn't mind spending more time down there to see a band or two (or more) that I liked. Thanks for stopping by.

Lots of people book cruises in the Caribbean in August. Most of them turn out fine with minimal effects from the weather. Some of them are affected to a greater or lesser effect by hurricanes. Always keep these things in mind when sailing in the region: 1) The cruise ship companies and the ship captains will avoid large tropical disturbances (tropical storms and hurricanes) whenever possible 2) There are many things that can be done if a storm is in the area or planned to be 3) Stay informed about weather forecasts in the area. This sub-forum is a good resource, but hardly the only one. Good luck with whatever you decide. 👍

As I plan for my next musical adventure (which I should have a post or two on in a couple of days on my 2024 thread), I got an e-mail just now from the Super Legends Cruise 2.0. They set a date of June 14 for the pre-sale and they promise to have the lineup for it on that date. Let's see what they come up with.

I eat at the trough all the time on the Celebrity ships I've been on (only the Summit and the Millie). I like both the selection and the quality there. Unfortunately for the OP, I rarely bother with pasta or burgers at the OVC, so I don't know how often they're served there.

Thanks for sharing this. Two thoughts: 1) This is an impressive collection of games for a cruise ship these days, IMHO 2) OF COURSE they had "Cat in the Hat"! 🙂 I wonder if they had any other of Dr. Seuss' books. My vision isn't that good. ☹️

Panama's currency IS the U.S. dollar. They call it a "Balboa". Another suggestion to the OP is that some vendors in some ports sell blister packs with local coins or currency. They're very pricey for what you get, but it is an option. I have bought a few of these over the years from various countries.

Thanks for the clarification on NCL. Your New England cruise story sounds interesting. I have a Princess cruise in that area in a couple of months. By "fearless leader", did you mean one of the passengers or someone on the crew?