Dave Koz and Friends at Sea 9/26/12, a Smooth Jazz Cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Serena

[shakergirl]

The Sisters have booked a 9-hour excursion for the Villefranche port stop (Monday, October 1) with Riviera Premium Private Tours to the towns of Nice, Eze, Monaco/Monte Carlo, St. Paul de Vence, and St. Jean Cap Ferrat. Our minivan will hold 8 passengers and with 3 already confirmed, we are looking to share with 5 additional persons. The fee is 69 Euros per person, to be paid in Euros the day of the tour which begins at 8:00 AM. Our Toulon port stop (Tuesday, October 2) is with Revelation Tours to the towns of Avignon, St. Remy, and Les Baux. We'll have an 8-passenger minivan and the tour will be for 8 hours, starting at 8:00 AM. As previously stated, 3 seats are already taken, but we would like to share with 5 additional people. Please let me know if you are interested and we can discuss any further questions/details that you may have. Shakergirl

[shakergirl]

I had to edit the last day of touring, October 2, at the Toulon port. Revelation Tours is taking us to Cassis, LeCastellet, and Aix-en-Provence. The fee for this 8-hour tour is 87 Euros ($116) per person. We have 5 seats available in the 8-passenger minivan if some of you would like to join us. The tour starts at 8:00 AM. I've requested one of the most noteable Revelation guides in Provence, Michel Legrand, as our guide on this tour. This tour will show us a good mix of landscapes: small city, town, and village with great sights, history, architecture, and shopping opportunities. Feel free to ask me any questions. Shakergirl

[Jabby]

The Sisters have been busy! Great work! Have you thought of a career as a tour guide? We are definitely interested in at least a couple of the tours you mentioned. We are doing research on all the data you sent and will respond as soon as possible. We have our airfare and hotels done and also need to move on to excursions. We concur with you on private tour excursions; they are the best in every way. Jabby

[shakergirl]

Jabby, the sisters and I would very much like to share the various minivans with you and your wife. Let me know ASAP on which specific ones to add your name as I'm keeping close tabs on availability. For the Italy ports, please sign up on the romeinlimotoursharing.com website listed in one of my earlier posts as RomeinLimo handles the minivan sharing for me. On the October 1 Villefranche port stop, the Riviera Premium Private 9-hour tour to the towns of Nice, Eze, Monaco/Monte Carlo, St. Paul de Vence, and St. Jean Cap Ferrat, is 69 Euros ($91.00) per person. All the minivans I am using have an English-speaking driver/guide and air-conditioning, though we may not need it for the Autumn season. Revelation Day Tours confirmed recently that the driver/guide assigned to my October 2 Cassis, LeCastellet, and Aix-en-Provence tour will be their Provence specialist, Franck. He has been much tauted as per posts on the Trip Advisor website. Please remember that these tour fees do not include admission and entrance fees (i.e., Vatican Libraries, the Coliseum, Leaning Tower of Pisa, and museums). I will send a follow-up message on making advance reservations and paying entrance fees to avoid long ticket lines and being shut out at some popular venues. Shakergirl

[SXM54]

I'm interested in going on this cruise in 2013. I love all the jazz artists that are planning on playing on this cruise and love all of the ports.....what an awesome trip this would be. My dilemma is my DH does not like jazz or cruises and my GF says the cruise is too expensive. Can I go on this cruise solo.....how does this work with my room? Any advise in advance is appreciated.:confused:

[vivavegas]

Rooms reserved for Solo travelers are generally the inside rooms and go for about 150% of the standard inside rate. If you're looking at something other that a single room, most likely you'll pay double.

[IBCruisin']

I may be interested too. I am traveling with my daughter and cousin. I'm not that savvy. Is there a way to private message or something on this board? Does anyone know?

[vivavegas]

I may be interested too. I am traveling with my daughter and cousin. I'm not that savvy. Is there a way to private message or something on this board? Does anyone know?

 

I don't think so... Most likely' date=' if you want to send a private message, you'll probably need to send them an email.[/color']

[shakergirl]

Folks: if you're interested in joining my minivans, you can email me at sgcraig1@aol.com if you have any questions and for the Italy port excursions (Naples, Rome, Florence) you can sign up at the website http:http://www.romeinlimotoursharing.com/ -- all the details are there and you simply sign up to be in the tours under the party named Craighead. Shakergirl

[vivavegas]

Morning Fellow Jazz Cruise Friends! Hope ya'll have a great day!:)

[angelor]

Just got my PJs for the Pajama party - how bout you? :)

 

Going to see Dave Koz this weekend in NJ :)

[shakergirl]

The Sisters all have their Pajamas, a Red outfit, a Formal outfit, and a Neon outfit. Our SetSail Passes have been printed. Reservations and tickets to a Flamenco Dinner Buffet Show in Barcelona have been made and paid. Other than filling up our shore excursion 8-passenger tour vans, we have prepped as much as can be done at this stage. If anyone has any questions about the excursions and/or wants to be included in a van, please email me at sgcraig1@aol.com. I am receiving inquiries, but still have some availability. Shakergirl

[angelor]

The Sisters all have their Pajamas, a Red outfit, a Formal outfit, and a Neon outfit. Our SetSail Passes have been printed. Reservations and tickets to a Flamenco Dinner Buffet Show in Barcelona have been made and paid. Other than filling up our shore excursion 8-passenger tour vans, we have prepped as much as can be done at this stage. If anyone has any questions about the excursions and/or wants to be included in a van, please email me at sgcraig1@aol.com. I am receiving inquiries, but still have some availability. Shakergirl

 

 

Woooo! I have red, Im still deciding on formal and Neon...

[Jabby]

Hi Shaker Girl,

 

We really appreciate all the work you have put into researching the ports of call! Jim and I have reserved seats with your group in Naples and Livorno. We would also like to join your group for the Cassis, LeCastellet, and Aix-en-Provence tour. If there is anything we need to do to make reservations for the France port cities named above, please let us know.

 

Jim and I are so excited about this cruise--this is something we have never done before! We have not had a chance to focus on the theme nights (Red, formal, pajama and neon). If you have the time, could you give us some idea of how to dress for the various theme nights? Any help in that area would be greatly appreciated. I can't tell you how excited we are about this trip.

[shakergirl]

Jabby (Kathi and Jim) - Great! The vans are filling up. I am glad you went to Rome in Limo and reserved seats in the Craighead party vans for Livorno and Naples. I am encouraging people who email me on the Italy ports to do it that way. Kathi, for the Toulon port excursion where we take the van to Cassis, Aix-en-Provence, and LeCastellet, I will need an email message from you (sgcraig1@aol.com) stating you wish to reserve 2 seats on the Toulon port van (Craighead party) and list both of your full names. I will then forward that email to Revelation Tours so they can keep track of who I've added in the van. Please do this ASAP as they are accepting reservations on their end. On another note, specialty days: from other cruises, I know pajama and formal days are pretty standard; because its fall when we cruise, I'd probably where a light robe over the pajamas. Formal wear is not a strict rule to the formal wear of days gone by. For females, you don't have to wear a long ball gown -- short cocktail dresses and dressy pantsuits (anything with glitz on dressy material) will do. Fellas wear a dress suit and tie. Red day and Neon day are new to me. A red tshirt, blouse, or shirt with black or white pants would work. Or red pants would work. Neon is difficult to define. I've seen loud/bright tie dyed tshirts in yellow, lime, orange and pink that would suffice. These are cheap $6 tshirts that you can find in discount stores. Wear them with a pair of jeans. If you have the time and inclination, you can "**** out" the tshirt by fraying the hem and adding some beads, studs, and glitter to personalize it -- its your shirt! On a previous smooth jazz cruise, they gave us tshirts with the name of the cruise and date on it and a list of the musicians on the back, a really nice quality tshirt. Does anyone who was on a previous Dave Koz cruise know if they gave out cruise tshirts? Tall coffee mugs? Every day of the cruise a freebie gift was left in our cabin -- does Dave do this? Shakergirl

[Jabby]

Thanks so much for the info. We are bursting at the seams with excitement about this cruise. I just wish we weren’t quite so busy so that we could spend more time thinking about the cruise. At least now we can begin to assemble our attire for the special days. Fabric stores have a lot of neon colored fabrics, so maybe I will pick some up. Sounds like lots of bling is in order too.

[angelor]

Saw Dave Koz last night in NJ...WHAT A SHOW!! I am no officially VERY excited about going :) He also had Bebe Winans sing with him...what a great show, but Bebe isnt scheduled to be on our cruise (yet! ;-))

[angelor]

Saw Dave Koz last night in NJ...WHAT A SHOW!! I am no officially VERY excited about going :) He also had Bebe Winans sing with him...what a great show, but Bebe isnt scheduled to be on our cruise (yet! ;-))

 

Um that was NOW officially very excited about going :)

[vivavegas]

Evening fellow jazz cruisers! Hope everyone is doing well tonight! Sure wish I was on this cruise with you guys! :(

[vivavegas]

 

Hoping all my fellow jazz cruise lovers have a gret 4th!

[angelor]

Happy 4th to you as well :) 80 more days until my friends and I get on the plane to Spain :) I ordered the most amazing shoes as part of my formal outfit and hopefully they will fit and be comfortable!

[kimocat]

Hi all -

 

Being new to cruising, I was wondering if someone could tell me a little about this pajama, red, and neon nights stuff. Is this for after show parties, dinner or what? And what do eople really wear????:)

[angelor]

Hi all -

 

Being new to cruising, I was wondering if someone could tell me a little about this pajama, red, and neon nights stuff. Is this for after show parties, dinner or what? And what do eople really wear????:)

Hi Kimocat!

Well, theyre just theme nights - on pajama night, you wear pj's, on red night, wear a red outfit and on neon night, wear neon.

 

For pajama night, Ive already bought 4 different silk pajama sets - not sure which I'll wear yet. Red night - Im going to wear just a really nice red blouse I have and on neon night.....I got something really cool Im not telling yet ;-)

[shakergirl]

Jabby: I've been busy with the miscellaneous facts regarding sites and museums being visited during shore excursions. On September 29 and 30, Italy is celebrating "Giornate Europee del Patrimonio" by waiving entrance ticket fees to State Museums. They are still charging a small booking fee. To make those reservations and get advance tickets to avoid lines, go to http://www.tickitaly.com/shop/ for Naples, Rome, and Florence. Ticket cost for the most popular sites are as follows: Pompeii 33.50 Euros; Vatican Museums 19 Euros; The Collosseum no charge; The Uffizi Museum 8 Euros; David at The Accademia 8 Euros; the Medici Chapels 8 Euros; and the Leaning Tower of Pisa 22.50 Euros. As we are going "off season," we may not face the long lines seen by those traveling in July and August, but why take a chance, advance purchase will secure immediate entrance. Shakergirl

[jazzycruiser1945]

Hello, Shakergirl. Just read your posts and would love to get more info from you regarding the tours you're looking at. I'm traveling alone and am looking to link up with others for some touring. I've been to Europe many times and specifically want to get to Pompeii (from Naples) and definitely would be interested in the tours you're doing in France, since I haven't been to those places. Also will be in Barcelona arriving Sept. 23, staying at the Tryp Condal Mar. where are you staying?

 

Can't wait for this cruise - just so excited about the fab music we're going to hear.

 

Jazzycruiser1945