Calling all jazz cruisers

[Globaliser]

14 hours ago, wwcruisers said:

Not a big fan of Ms Krall, so -- we'll just stick to the SJC, and the Journey of Jazz cruises in '25! But, that's the beauty of Jazz Cruises -- there's something for everyone! 😎

 

I was reminded overnight that Diana Krall and I have a bit of history in relation to jazz cruises. Back in (I think) 1997, when she still did jazz and she still looked like the publicity photo sent out in today's ECP email (see below), I went to Ronnie Scott's to hear her. It was probably the last time she did a stint in London in a venue of that size, and I was lucky enough to be sitting perhaps a dozen feet away from her. It was rapidly obvious that she is a much better pianist than singer, although it was inevitably "young, pretty, blonde singer" that secured both the public's attention and Diana Krall's fame and fortune.

 

On my table was a copy of Ronnie's house magazine, which had an ad for the ss Norway's Floating Jazz Festival, for which I then signed up. I sort of never looked back, but competing priorities and the ever-increasing cost of jazz cruises have restricted how often I can do them now.

 

But I think that there's a moral to this: those who hear her on Botti 2025 may possibly find that she does play and sing some real jazz again, given the milieu, rather than doing the mass audience-pleasing stuff that she dishes out to the venues and arenas containing x thousand (or x tens of thousands) of adoring fans. I hope she does, and I hope she doesn't disappoint.

 

An interesting bit of trivia that I picked up on the ss Norway way back then: Ingrid Jensen and Diana Krall come from the same town on Vancouver Island (Nanaimo). Wouldn't it be funny if ECP manage to get them together on the same cruise some time?

 

[Honolulu Blue]

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.

[wwcruisers]

Globaliser -- what a great story! And, I did not know that Diana Krall was from Nanaimo (I've been there).

HB -- LOL on the 'screaming wallet' -- but what a cruise that must have been!

 

[NinS]

You can see here what that Sojourn cruise would have cost (five figures!):

 

http://jazzandblues.org/features/2015/05/signature/assets/KJazz-Signature-Jazz-Cruise.pdf

 but wait -- the taxes and fees also went into double digits!

 

 

It seems to have run for three years before disappearing.

[Honolulu Blue]

52 minutes ago, NinS said:

You can see here what that Sojourn cruise would have cost (five figures!):

 

http://jazzandblues.org/features/2015/05/signature/assets/KJazz-Signature-Jazz-Cruise.pdf

 but wait -- the taxes and fees also went into double digits!

 

 

It seems to have run for three years before disappearing.

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.

[wwcruisers]

HaHa -- too rich for my blood, as the saying goes!

BTW -- HAPPY FATHERS' DAY, all of you jazz cruisin' Dads!😎🎵

[Globaliser]

On 6/15/2024 at 2:34 PM, Globaliser said:

But I think that there's a moral to this: those who hear her on Botti 2025 may possibly find that she does play and sing some real jazz again, given the milieu ...

 

On 6/15/2024 at 2:35 PM, Honolulu Blue said:

Mr. Lazaroff told an interesting story in his latest newsletter.

 

Thanks for this, because it made me go back and read all of it in detail. I noticed that it said "Diana Krall ... will be performing with John Clayton and Jeff Hamilton". So this outing could well see her going right back to that late 1990s stuff, which would be a real treat. Having said that, though, that would actually be a better fit on TJC.

[Honolulu Blue]

In Jazz Cruises' latest newsletter, I noticed a couple of items of interest that may be of interest to some of you.  First, Jazz Cruises and their office will be closed July 4-14 this year.  Their sites will be up, and they promise to answer their e-mails during this time - if slowly.

 

Second, the Botti at Sea main headliners were announced for each day of that cruise in February.  Since I'm not too busy and I could use the brownie points with you guys, here's a listing of them:

 

• Night 1 - Chris Botti & his band
• Night 2 - David Foster & Katharine McPhee
• Night 3 - Kool & the Gang
• Night 4 - esperanza spalding
• Night 5 - Diana Krall
• Night 6 - Super Bowl Sunday
• Night 7 - Kamasi Washington

 

I find lists like this incredibly helpful in planning out my days and nights onboard my chosen music cruises.  This is the first time I've heard of a performer list by night being announced this far out, though I have heard some hints about the main performer on one of our nights on one of my cruises.

Edited June 26 by Honolulu Blue

[wwcruisers]

Thanks for posting that helpful information, HB -- and you always have brownie points here!😉

[Honolulu Blue]

Just now, wwcruisers said:

Thanks for posting that helpful information, HB -- and you always have brownie points here!😉

Thank you for your kind words.  I'm glad to be of assistance.

 

Extra brownie points are always good - especially on Judgment Day. 👼😈

[wwcruisers]

Oh, and DH spoke to someone at Jazz Cruises last week, and gleaned the following info:

-- Jazz Cruises-sponsored shore excursions for the Journey of Jazz (fall '25) will be available to book in late July (after they return from their break).

-- Looks like the Smooth Jazz Cruise (Feb '25) is headed for the Dominican Republic, on the day Labadee was originally scheduled. (Note: they have not updated the SJC webpage yet, to reflect this change).

[Honolulu Blue]

19 minutes ago, wwcruisers said:

-- Looks like the Smooth Jazz Cruise (Feb '25) is headed for the Dominican Republic, on the day Labadee was originally scheduled. (Note: they have not updated the SJC webpage yet, to reflect this change).

Did they say which stop they were going to in the DR?  I know of at least three - two in the north serving the Puerto Plata area and La Romana in the south.  

[wwcruisers]

2 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Did they say which stop they were going to in the DR?  I know of at least three - two in the north serving the Puerto Plata area and La Romana in the south.  

HB, IIRC it was Puerto Plata.

[Honolulu Blue]

1 minute ago, wwcruisers said:

HB, IIRC it was Puerto Plata.

Thanks!

[wwcruisers]

OK -- so after being told that Puerto Plata (DR) was replacing Labadee on the '25 SJC itinerary -- we also saw it in writing, in last Wednesday's 'Get Ready' e-mail. But then, I looked at the updated SJC webpage -- and it lists Key West as the new replacement port. And, of course, this is the Jazz Cruises summer break -- so we can't confirm anything, either way!

[NinS]

I think their summer break starts on Wednesday or Thursday, ww, so you might be able to get an answer if you call or email tomorrow. 

[Honolulu Blue]

1 hour ago, wwcruisers said:

OK -- so after being told that Puerto Plata (DR) was replacing Labadee on the '25 SJC itinerary -- we also saw it in writing, in last Wednesday's 'Get Ready' e-mail. But then, I looked at the updated SJC webpage -- and it lists Key West as the new replacement port. And, of course, this is the Jazz Cruises summer break -- so we can't confirm anything, either way!

 

1 hour ago, NinS said:

I think their summer break starts on Wednesday or Thursday, ww, so you might be able to get an answer if you call or email tomorrow. 

Right.  They're not on vacation until Wednesday afternoon.  Until then, AFAIK, it's business as usual down in St. Louis.

 

But I looked at the SJC site and I think I might be able to resolve the confusion.  Look carefully:

 

 

 

Note that SJC #1 has changed to Key West on day 3.  SJC #2 has changed to Puerto Plata on day 4.

[wwcruisers]

Thank you, HB -- I was looking at the wrong sailing (we're on 25.2)! But, how odd that X substituted KW for the first week, and the DR for the second.🤨

[Honolulu Blue]

37 minutes ago, wwcruisers said:

Thank you, HB -- I was looking at the wrong sailing (we're on 25.2)! But, how odd that X substituted KW for the first week, and the DR for the second.🤨

I don't think it's that odd.  Perhaps they couldn't get one or the other of those ports for that week.  Or maybe they wanted a variety of ports for those who are on both Smooth Jazz sailings.

[wwcruisers]

6 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I don't think it's that odd.  Perhaps they couldn't get one or the other of those ports for that week.  Or maybe they wanted a variety of ports for those who are on both Smooth Jazz sailings.

Yeah -- without more info, I would guess that's what X gave them. I have heard that KW limits the number of ships in their port at one time -- so maybe the SJC 25.2 day there was already booked.

[Globaliser]

6 hours ago, wwcruisers said:

I have heard that KW limits the number of ships in their port at one time -- so maybe the SJC 25.2 day there was already booked.

 

A quick look suggests that it's normally only one ship on any one day. There are no ships currently listed on that site as calling on 13 February 2025, but on 20 February 2025 the site lists Explora I. So that may have allowed a slot for Celebrity Summit on 13 February 2025.

 

On the other hand, Puerto Plata seems to be able to take multiple ships each day. On 21 February 2025, it lists MSC Divina (3,502 double) and Norwegian Jewel (2,376 double) already. There are even more ships the day before.

[wwcruisers]

Thanks Globaliser -- that would explain it. I get the feeling that, with the decision to take Labadeee out of its itinerary for the foreseeable future -- RCCL is madly scrambling to find alternate ports for all of the RC, X (and possibly Silversea) ships that were originally scheduled to dock there.

[Honolulu Blue]

A couple of details from today's e-mails from Jazz Cruises:

 

• There's a discount code for $350 off per person for interior cabins on the 2025 edition of The Jazz Cruise.  It's good until July 15.  The discount is not combinable with any other discount and it's only good for new bookings.  I guess they want to fill that ship up ASAP.
• Information on the 2026 Smooth Jazz Cruise(s) will be released on or about August 15.  Circle the date!