I'm on a gospel cruise? (Westerdam Jan 18-25)

[Fouremco]

I was on a gospel cruise last year and it was the BEST cruise I had been on. The people were not gospel singers, they were just gospel music fans. The cruisers were all from Canada and couldn't have been nicer. Check out where they are coming from. If you have to be on a cruise with a big group, Canadians are the best group to be with.

Give the lady a free beaver tail!!! :D

 

[nana51]

oooh, Beaver tail. As long as it's not poutine.

[Fouremco]

oooh, Beaver tail. As long as it's not poutine.

So you won't be asking for poutine in the MDR?

 

(Oops, cross-thread post. :D)

[cruisinjudy]

We were on a cruise with some kind of Gospel group years ago. We were traveling with a group of friends all with children. In our case the gospel group took all of the early seating, which is what we wanted with a group of kids in our group. The Kid's club arranged their activities around early seating and there was no dinner in the lido way back then.

 

No accommodation was made for our group of kids who were required to have late seating. Room service back then was extremely limited. There was one kind of sandwich offered which was what the kids ate mostly as they didn't want to miss the kids club activities. I admit this was in the late eighties but I am still leery of large groups.

 

One good aspect, if you like to hang out in the bars, they were mostly empty.

[HALGirl]

I looked up your cruise on the internet. You can find the Gospel Cruise. I looked for Inspiration Cruises for Jan 18, 2014 and found web site http://www.inconcerts.com/even.php Looks to me like they WILL be taking ove rthe ship and the entertainment may just be the Gospel Groups. I would rebook. Go up higher and get someone to listen and see the website.

[jer_l]

I looked up your cruise on the internet. You can find the Gospel Cruise. I looked for Inspiration Cruises for Jan 18, 2014 and found web site http://www.inconcerts.com/even.php Looks to me like they WILL be taking ove rthe ship and the entertainment may just be the Gospel Groups. I would rebook. Go up higher and get someone to listen and see the website.

 

Since this is not a full charter, the group will present entertainment ONLY for their group. Sometimes groups will welcome others to their group concerts, but that is not the usual case. The regular entertainment for all guests will still be available. In fact, prime seating will most likely be more available since half of the guests will have other entertainment to occupy much of their free time.

 

We were on a cruise with a large jazz group. While it was evident they were on board, I can't really say it was a major impact on the cruise. In fact, we would often walk by the Queen's Lounge when they were having concerts and be able to stop outside the doors and enjoy the music for a few minutes before continuing on our way.

 

Obviously, a group this size will have an impact, but you may find the the negative impact and the positive impact will balance out. Some public venues may not always be available. On the other hand, many members of this group will not frequent the lounges and bars nor the casino which might actually have a positive impact on your cruise.

[nascargalinfla]

Thanks taxmantoo. That is good info. I called HAL and they were unwilling to waive any cancellation fees so I think we are going to have to go ahead with it.

 

I guess we will try to convince them when we get on the ship to let us eat at a normal time. As when you sailed, it looks like the late seating is full and there is no open seating past I think about 6:45. :(

 

 

So sorry to hear this, of course final payment was due 3 days ago (when penalties started). I would certainly attempt to go higher up the chain on this.

[brazilgirl]

I was on a Gospel cruise when we visited the Caribbean on the Carnival Dream.

 

Two observations...I am not religious ( very spiritual though !)

Didn't think I 'd like Carnival.

 

While Carnival had some drawbacks , there was a lot of good. We were never bothered by the Gospel group. In fact , my Grandma made friends with them and was invited to watch some private performances , which thrilled her.

 

Wouldn't be a dealbreaker from our experience.

[BJane]

The gospel musicians who will be on your cruise are some of the most talented people that you will find on a cruise ship. I have been involved with music most of my life and have come to be a big fan of a lot of the southern gospel music although I'm a West Coast Episcopalian. Your cruise will include The Booth Bros. whose harmony is just amazing. The mother of the Collingsworth Family is an amazing pianist. Give it a try. I think you'll be surprised.

[taxmantoo]

The gospel musicians who will be on your cruise are some of the most talented people that you will find on a cruise ship. I have been involved with music most of my life and have come to be a big fan of a lot of the southern gospel music although I'm a West Coast Episcopalian. Your cruise will include The Booth Bros. whose harmony is just amazing. The mother of the Collingsworth Family is an amazing pianist. Give it a try. I think you'll be surprised.

 

That is usually not an option. If you are not part of the group, you are not invited nor can you attend their sessions. The group has already paid a supplement to the regular cruise fare added to their total fare and allowing anyone to attend would be unfair to them.

[caribsun]

A lot of phobias going on here, almost mass hysteria. :o

[coaster]

I will be serious on this which is rare for me. We were on a cruise years ago in the early 90's on the SS Norway and it was a gospel music cruise. Did not know until we boarded because this internet thing was pretty new.

 

Anyway, we were invited to see the performers that were onboard even though we were not part of the group. We enjoyed the extra shows that were scheduled early in the day in addition to the regular ones. Ferlin Husky was one performer I saw that I enjoyed. I would not be concerned. People are people and you might just be thankful to see folks who are just onboard to have a good time like you .

[Typhoon1]

Hope you enjoy gospel music.

 

If not, give it try, you many enjoy it.

[localady]

My Sis and I were on a Gospel cruise on the Oosterdam to Mexico with the same group two years ago.

 

We were told fixed seating late was totally taken by the Gospel group. When we got to the ship we received a late seating as we had originally requested. We were in a suite so perhaps that influenced it.

 

I fret as you are that it would ruin our cruise. It didn't whatsoever. People were very pleasant, normal shows were still held, and overall it was a positive experience in retrospect.

Edited November 6, 2013 by localady

[Wakepatrol]

A lot of phobias going on here, almost mass hysteria. :o

 

Welcome to cruise critic.

[mancunian]

I don't think it is mass hysteria at all. If you have paid for a cruise you don't want to be disappointed by having it restricted. We were on a HAL cruise a couple of years' ago with a jazz group. Now I actually enjoy jazz and as we go for open dining this didn't affect us.

 

What did affect us was the fact that a number of their concerts were in the crow's nest and I found that infuriating as it happens to be our favourite bit of the ship. They did not let others in freely to the concerts, but we got a tip off from the bar staff there that if you were already there and established before their concert set up they would not necessarily like it but would not throw you out. So whether we paid for the jazz cruise or not this is what we did with the view that we had paid for the use of the crow's nest. No-one did throw us out though a comment was made later in the cruise that several people had enjoyed their concerts who were not an official part of the jazz cruise and they felt we would perhaps like to buy their tape in payment. In our case we had no problem with that.

Edited November 7, 2013 by mancunian

[cruisin'girl]

I don't think it is mass hysteria at all. If you have paid for a cruise you don't want to be disappointed by having it restricted. We were on a HAL cruise a couple of years' ago with a jazz group. Now I actually enjoy jazz and as we go for open dining this didn't affect us.

 

What did affect us was the fact that a number of their concerts were in the crow's nest and I found that infuriating as it happens to be our favourite bit of the ship. They did not let others in freely to the concerts, but we got a tip off from the bar staff there that if you were already there and established before their concert set up they would not necessarily like it but would not throw you out. So whether we paid for the jazz cruise or not this is what we did with the view that we had paid for the use of the crow's nest. No-one did throw us out though a comment was made later in the cruise that several people had enjoyed their concerts who were not an official part of the jazz cruise and they felt we would perhaps like to buy their tape in payment. In our case we had no problem with that.

Exactly. And I would not have felt the least bit obligated to buy their tape.

[SeaBands]

They will be empty but I bet the bartenders will pour a better drink so they get extra tips.