Rock The Boat

we have made the final payment for the 'Rock The Boat' cruise in October on the Radiance of the Seas. At the price, we could only afford an inside cabin, but hey, we are only there to sleep right?

Anyone else doing this cruise? I have searched but not found any reference to this particular cruise.

cheers,

shazz

I haven't heard of a 'rock the boat' cruise. What is it?

I haven't heard of a 'rock the boat' cruise. What is it?

A cruise where they have special entertainers, sometimes for the whole cruise sometimes just for a charter group.

We did a great one once, with Glenn Shorrock, Ross Wilson, Joe Camilleri and some other acts. It was great as was meeting them as people over a drink dinner or whatever.

we have made the final payment for the 'Rock The Boat' cruise in October on the Radiance of the Seas. At the price, we could only afford an inside cabin, but hey, we are only there to sleep right?

 

Anyone else doing this cruise? I have searched but not found any reference to this particular cruise.

 

cheers,

 

shazz

 

Have you checked your roll call?

I'd love to do that. A couple of my teenage-year favourite singers/bands will be on it. I think it was initially only advertised through TAs. It certainly wasn't showing on the Royal Caribbean website when I checked.

Pricey though. :(

I'd love to do that. A couple of my teenage-year favourite singers/bands will be on it. I think it was initially only advertised through TAs. It certainly wasn't showing on the Royal Caribbean website when I checked.

 

Pricey though. :(

I notice Glenn and Ross again, they seem to make a habit of this sort of cruise.

The travel agent (the some one who booked the Ovation inaugural) books the whole ship and then charges a premium. They also run country music cruises.

Next years, British Invasion looks OK too.

It's not a travel agent who charters the ship - it's Mick Manoff and his business partner. The itineraries do not appear on the normal Royal Caribean website etc and the existing mailing list of past attendees ensures the trips are 3/4 sold out before the artists are even announced.

My friends have done every Rock the Boat to date and I did the Bravo theatre opera one last year. On board I met tonnes who had done every single Manoff Charter since the group started.

Because it's 99% Aussies booking - the roll calls have not been very big on CC but the Facebook pages for each voyage have thousands of members.

If you search FB for the current rock the boat number (is it 5 or 6 now ?) you will find them.

These cruises are run by an adelaide company called Choose Your Cruise. They are more expensive than normal cruises but the quality of the entertainment is second to none. There are four types of cruises. Rock the Boat, Cruisin Country, Bravo - cruise of the performing arts, and Cruise and Groove. The music is non stop all over the ship. We have done all of these cruises and sometimes it is hard to go back to normal cruising. An inside cabin is all you need as you only go there to sleep. There is so much happening all the time. We are happy to answer any questions about these cruises as we have done so many and are doing another 3 this year.

Its good to see a charter company doing well.

Just goes to prove that if you supply the goods, people will pay extra for something they want.

Its good to see a charter company doing well.

Just goes to prove that if you supply the goods, people will pay extra for something they want.

Must be doing very well because charters are from 9/10 - 21/11 inclusive, with 100% surcharge for single supplement.

You must be a real fan of these music cruises, cruise collector, to have been on so many.

Must be doing very well because charters are from 9/10 - 21/11 inclusive, with 100% surcharge for single supplement.

 

You must be a real fan of these music cruises, cruise collector, to have been on so many.

Love all live music from rock to opera and everything in between!

we did Cruisin' Country 1 and 2 in 2011 & 2012 and loved them. Been doing some different cruises lately which have conflicted with doing the Cruisin' Country ones, but they are certainly a great trip - all that entertainment and the chance to get up close with some of the best performers around.

They are, as some have said, relatively expensive compared to a 'regular' cruise, maybe 2.5 times the price of a regular cruise, but T&G's are included and you are paying for top rate entertainment.

Good luck to the Manovs et al. They take the risk with shelling out the $s and then have to sellout the ship! All power to them.

Its good to see a charter company doing well.

Just goes to prove that if you supply the goods, people will pay extra for something they want.

...Until there's competition, people start comparing, and then niggling over details. ;)

Here's some info about next year's Rock the Boat, as featured on Cruise Critic's Australia blog.

http://www.cruisecritic.com.au/blog/qa-rock-the-boat-6-music-cruise/

The one we did wasn't Rock the Boat, but was a similar arrangement. It was on the Pacific Princess, when she sailed here regularly. A real plus was we got to spend down time with some of the performers. They were paid little [some of the lesser artists nothing] but got a free cruise, they thought it was a great deal. 2 or 3 performances in a week, generally a very short set each, and free cabin or two. I know one of the headliners took his whole famly another his wife and mother in law.

Not sure why my iphone kept insisting on spell checking Manov to Manoff!

The main thing I would do different from here on - compared to the first time with the Bravo cruise - originally I booked the very day the artists were announced. Big mistake.

Most of the artists were announced prior to contracts being exchanged (this I know from being friends with 2 of them). Their faces were used in all the advertising right up until a few weeks prior to the voyage - despite them not actually confirming and signing on. When they were then advertised as "cancellations" many people who had booked specifically for that artist were of course disappointed.

While the existing mailing list means a heck of a lot of pre bookings are already made prior to the itinerary being released - I did meet quite a few folks who had booked just a couple of weeks pre sailing and managed to get last minute cabins (note that there are no last minute discounts - the pricing stays the same throughout the year).

So my plan is simply to watch the artist announcements through the year and if around a month before there are still enough artists listed that I want to enjoy - I will just book and go - rather than booking 14 months in advance like the last one. And I will be far less fussy about the cabin because the balcony one was pointless - it was always too windy to have it open !

And as CruiseCollector says - the music is non stop ! We were quite literally sprinting (and racing the flippin mobile scooter mob) to get from one end of the ship to the other to get from one gig to the other from 10am til 3am ! With sleeping and eating squeezed in here or there.

There were no "bad" artists. And the A listers would join the "B" (tho not B in our opinions) listers to jam in the Schooner or Colony till 2 or 3 am.

So you were never quite game to give up and go to bed because just about anyone could show up and start entertaining you.

The A listers main shows in the theatre - people were skipping deserts to start queing - the queue 5 or 6 people wide stretched thru the lobby, the photo display area, the shops (who complained massively), and into the centrum. Then it was a mad sprint (leapfrogging over the mobile skooters) to get to a decent seat. It was total madness - especially considering there were only about 20 of us under 50 and about the same under 70! the 70plus brigade were manic !

The brother in-laws band Jump n Jive (Vic) is performing on Rock the Boat 6 out of Brisbane.

Pity it's so damn expensive.

Not sure why my iphone kept insisting on spell checking Manov to Manoff!

 

The main thing I would do different from here on - compared to the first time with the Bravo cruise - originally I booked the very day the artists were announced. Big mistake.

 

Most of the artists were announced prior to contracts being exchanged (this I know from being friends with 2 of them). Their faces were used in all the advertising right up until a few weeks prior to the voyage - despite them not actually confirming and signing on. When they were then advertised as "cancellations" many people who had booked specifically for that artist were of course disappointed.

 

While the existing mailing list means a heck of a lot of pre bookings are already made prior to the itinerary being released - I did meet quite a few folks who had booked just a couple of weeks pre sailing and managed to get last minute cabins (note that there are no last minute discounts - the pricing stays the same throughout the year).

 

So my plan is simply to watch the artist announcements through the year and if around a month before there are still enough artists listed that I want to enjoy - I will just book and go - rather than booking 14 months in advance like the last one. And I will be far less fussy about the cabin because the balcony one was pointless - it was always too windy to have it open !

 

And as CruiseCollector says - the music is non stop ! We were quite literally sprinting (and racing the flippin mobile scooter mob) to get from one end of the ship to the other to get from one gig to the other from 10am til 3am ! With sleeping and eating squeezed in here or there.

There were no "bad" artists. And the A listers would join the "B" (tho not B in our opinions) listers to jam in the Schooner or Colony till 2 or 3 am.

So you were never quite game to give up and go to bed because just about anyone could show up and start entertaining you.

 

The A listers main shows in the theatre - people were skipping deserts to start queing - the queue 5 or 6 people wide stretched thru the lobby, the photo display area, the shops (who complained massively), and into the centrum. Then it was a mad sprint (leapfrogging over the mobile skooters) to get to a decent seat. It was total madness - especially considering there were only about 20 of us under 50 and about the same under 70! the 70plus brigade were manic !

The Bravo Cruise was an inaugural so it was unknown to many as to how it would go. If you were to leave your booking for Rock the Boat, Crusin Country or Cruise and Groove you would be very disappointed as it sells out very quickly.

There is no artist advertised that has not already been signed. If you are referring to John Waters, he had the opportunity to perform "looking through a glass onion " in New York so was released from his contract for this amazing opportunity. This years Bravo also advertised Katherine Jenkins, but a month after the promotion release, she was pregnant and has been replaced by Anthony Warlow. What a score.

Also I agree with you that it was an older age demographic but this is due to the type of artists e.g. Elaine Page, and negotiating the scooters was not easy. Once again this is only on Bravo. As for a decent seat in the theatre, I would suggest there are no bad seats. They all have a great view. We have never had a bad seat, or not been able to get a seat, but I guess if you want the front row you would need to queue.

In saying that they are expensive cruises, I would have to say if you were paying for each individual concert you be paying at least $100 p/p, and with that you wouldn't get the impromptu jam sessions and the up close and personal encounters. The sessions in the Schooner Bar and The Colony Club are Gold, and would not be seen anywhere else.

Bring on the music,we will be there.

The Bravo Cruise was an inaugural so it was unknown to many as to how it would go. If you were to leave your booking for Rock the Boat, Crusin Country or Cruise and Groove you would be very disappointed as it sells out very quickly.

There is no artist advertised that has not already been signed. If you are referring to John Waters, he had the opportunity to perform "looking through a glass onion " in New York so was released from his contract for this amazing opportunity. This years Bravo also advertised Katherine Jenkins, but a month after the promotion release, she was pregnant and has been replaced by Anthony Warlow. What a score.

Also I agree with you that it was an older age demographic but this is due to the type of artists e.g. Elaine Page, and negotiating the scooters was not easy. Once again this is only on Bravo. As for a decent seat in the theatre, I would suggest there are no bad seats. They all have a great view. We have never had a bad seat, or not been able to get a seat, but I guess if you want the front row you would need to queue.

In saying that they are expensive cruises, I would have to say if you were paying for each individual concert you be paying at least $100 p/p, and with that you wouldn't get the impromptu jam sessions and the up close and personal encounters. The sessions in the Schooner Bar and The Colony Club are Gold, and would not be seen anywhere else.

Bring on the music,we will be there.

I know considerably more about Johns situation than you would that I will not divulge publicly here out of respect for his privacy. Suffice to say - the NY contracts were done a month after the first ads for the Bravo cruise before contracts were even proffered. In addition to John I am also friends with several of the other artists and their feedback afterwards was not so positive an experience. Which I fed back to Mick. So some definite wrinkles to be ironed out before the next one I hope.

I don't really think the cruises are expensive. If I was paying for tickets to see each of the artists on stage it would have come to at least half the cabin price or more so the rest was "hotel" and food costs. Not sure when you last paid for a tik to any of them but $100 is a stretch - Elaine's were going for $450 and any production with Hobbo or Prior or Teddy is an average $150 for a so so seat - more for premium seats.

Personally if it was me organizing these charters (soooooo wish I had the money!) I would make them cruises to no where. The crowds booking these trips are doing it 100% for the non stop entertainment - not for a day on an island. Most people I chatted with on Bravo didn't go ashore at all. And my pals that have done all the Rocks haven't bothered going ashore since their first trip. Only so much of Il Des Pines that anyone can see !!

I concur that the late night Colony and Schooner gigs were just magic and more often were the highlights well and truly above the "A listers".

Warlow is definitely a catch but given his strong commitments in the U.S. at present I would still not be booking solely to expect to see him so I will stick to my theory of last minute purchasing based on the final artist list.

Mick himself said sales go thru the roof when he lists Aus artists and drop when he names internationals - so the original Bravo2 list had me baffled considering how much talent there is available in Aus.

On the whole they have come up with a good strategy and it's working year after year. Aussies love their music and a genre cruise is a great way to enjoy it in abundance.

Just released details of next years cuise n groove with John farnham as headline act can't wait!

Yes got the alert yesterday and the rest of the artist list is released on Monday so it will be interesting to see who is in the line up.

I have a pal who is hinting madly that his band is reforming for it but until I see it in print I dont believe it haha !

For those that were interested - this is the full line up.

Not enough A list names for my liking - to many cover bands. Can see them in any local pub.

JOHN FARNHAM

JOHN PAUL YOUNG

& THE ALLSTAR BAND

JON ENGLISH

PSEUDO ECHO

THE EUROGLIDERS

THE CHANTOOZIES

ABSOLUTELY 80’S

THE BEST OF THE BEE GEES SHOW

THE CLASSIC KINGS

THE BEST OF CLASSIC ROCK – 1960’S – 80’S

JOHN BETTISON BAND

JAMES MORLEY BAND

DOWN UNDER THE COVERS

FIELD SEE AND MASON

THE UNFORGIVEN

GANG OF BROTHERS

JELLY BEAN JAM

ONE HIT WONDERS

NEW ROMANTICS

THE PARDONERS

FLAMING SAMBUCAS

THE FLAMES DUO

ANTONIO AND KATE VILLANO

POP FICTION

ZOLTON

AM2PM

DJ JAKI J AND MC CAPTAIN KIRK

We have booked. We did the Rugby World Cup B2B on the Rhapsody in 2011 and the Cruise n Groove in 2013, both totally different cruises but both by the same company who for obvious reasons, shall remain nameless. Different RCI rules applied;)

This is a great line-up and looking forward to it. I rang "the company" today asking if the quarter finals for the Rugby World Cup will be screened and he told me that they would endeavour to show them but it was subject to satellite. I remember on the Rhapsody they (did their best to) unscramble the games and then show them.

He also ensured me that in the meantime there would be would be great entertainment:). As the games will not interfere with the entertainment, it will be a bonus.

Cheers

Di