Calling all jazz cruisers

[Honolulu Blue]

48 minutes ago, NinS said:

And here's the 2024 Jazz Cruise schedule which has been officially posted on TJC website:

 

http://thejazzcruise.sched.com

 

What a packed schedule! Even though there is a 5pm dinner break I see very few evenings where I'll actually have time to go to the MDR for a full dinner. I'd rather eat at the buffet and get a good seat for some of the small venues shows that start in the 6pm hour.

Thanks for sharing!  The schedule format looks very familiar - it's the same as the StarVista cruises I've explored.  And you're right, that schedule looks PACKED with performances and performers.  I wonder how I'd handle a schedule like that.  Rock and Romance looks challenging, but that official schedule isn't out yet and probably won't be for several weeks.

[SpicyP]

3 hours ago, NinS said:

And here's the 2024 Jazz Cruise schedule which has been officially posted on TJC website:

 

http://thejazzcruise.sched.com

 

What a packed schedule! Even though there is a 5pm dinner break I see very few evenings where I'll actually have time to go to the MDR for a full dinner. I'd rather eat at the buffet and get a good seat for some of the small venues shows that start in the 6pm hour.

 

Also, you didn't hear it here, but:

 

https://thesmoothjazzcruise1.sched.com/

 

https://thesmoothjazzcruise2.sched.com/

 

and finally, just the first day so far, but:

 

https://bottiatsea.sched.com

Ooh thanks so much. We're on the BottiAtSea and since it's our 1st of such cruises, we were anxious to see how it all works. I was able to download the app to see the schedule for the 1st day. So excited!!!

[wwcruisers]

On 1/8/2024 at 3:48 PM, SpicyP said:

Ooh thanks so much. We're on the BottiAtSea and since it's our 1st of such cruises, we were anxious to see how it all works. I was able to download the app to see the schedule for the 1st day. So excited!!!

One piece of advice (which I am STILL trying to take, myself):PACE yourself. You cannot possibly attend every concert, autograph, and 'behind the scenes' session. So, look at each day's lineup, and highlight the things that are 'don't miss' for you. Most importantly, get some rest whenever you can -- 'cause you are in for some late nights!😎

[SpicyP]

3 hours ago, wwcruisers said:

One piece of advice (which I am STILL trying to take, myself):PACE yourself. You cannot possibly attend every concert, autograph, and 'behind the scenes' session. So, look at each day's lineup, and highlight the things that are 'don't miss' for you. Most importantly, get some rest whenever you can -- 'cause you are in for some late nights!😎

Good advice because I suspect there's going to be a lotta singing & tooting going on!! I'm a 'night-bird' so should be able to keep my eyes open. My husband, not so much but I'm bringing toothpicks!!

[NinS]

As promised TJC schedule is being updated in real time. There's already been one change: the legendary Houston Person has been replaced by another saxophonist, Lew Tabackin. Lew will play with Houston's band and in the time slots (including an interview) originally slated for Houston.

 

Everyone will miss Houston who I think has been on every single TJC but Lew is a great replacement. He also subbed for Houston at a club show in NY a few days ago. The venue posted that Houston is "ill but okay."

[NinS]

If @SpicyP and anyone else going on Botti At Sea rechecks the app (or bottiatsea.sched.com) they'll see the full schedule now. As usual there is plenty going on. Two or three of the headliners seem like they'll only be on for half of the cruise which is not surprising.

[SpicyP]

1 hour ago, NinS said:

If @SpicyP and anyone else going on Botti At Sea rechecks the app (or bottiatsea.sched.com) they'll see the full schedule now. As usual there is plenty going on. Two or three of the headliners seem like they'll only be on for half of the cruise which is not surprising.

Got it….thanks so much!!

[Honolulu Blue]

I received an email with a full announcement of Botti at Sea II for 2025. It includes the initial lineup. This cruise's special guest I will discuss more in my personal thread on my music experiences.  Suffice it to say I think they're great and any cruise is lucky to have them, but some of the people on this particular cruise may not think so.

 

Other instructions on how to book are in the email, which I assume everyone reading this got.  All these details and more are probably online at this point. 

[NinS]

I am just off a spectacular edition of The Jazz Cruise. The amount and quality of music was just unbelievable -- I had an hour of work to do and it took four days before I found that hour in the day! I only had time for a Main Dining Room dinner twice. And I didn't see a bad set all week.

 

Two of the musicians, Houston Person and Lewis Nash, got sick at the last minute and couldn't make it. Houston was replaced by Lew Tabackin who got Covid a few days before the sailing, so Houston's band just played without him.

 

Michael Lazaroff did a Q&A. Many of the questions were centered around the transition of Blue Note at Sea to Botti at Sea. While it wasn't explicitly stated, one came away with the impression that BNAS isn't coming back any time soon. Asked how many years are on Chris Botti's contract Michael smiled and said "a lot." 

 

The other big news was that Jazz Cruises is looking to expand with a European and/or West Coast cruise in either 2025 or 2026. The cruise concept was not discussed, although given how popular the Smooth Jazz Cruises are my money would be on that format. There are apparently 2000 people already on the waitlist for the 2025 SJCs.

 

A slide shown in between cruise photos stated that the 2025 TJC cabin availability is:

Penthouse 0 

Suite 0 

Concierge/Aqua 105

Veranda 149

Oceanview 119

Interior 75

 

With several hundred pre-sale reservations already made this number should shrink considerably once the pre-sale starts, although one images that as usual TJC cabins will remain for several months before eventually selling out as happened this year.

[wwcruisers]

Thanks so much for the report, NinS. BTW -- those of us who were on last year's BNAC were clearly of the impression that it was the last one. Nobody talked about more than one Botti cruise, at the time, but there was no discussion of a Blue Note return -- ever (not even from Don Was). 😢

[Honolulu Blue]

8 hours ago, NinS said:

I am just off a spectacular edition of The Jazz Cruise. The amount and quality of music was just unbelievable -- I had an hour of work to do and it took four days before I found that hour in the day! I only had time for a Main Dining Room dinner twice. And I didn't see a bad set all week.

 

Two of the musicians, Houston Person and Lewis Nash, got sick at the last minute and couldn't make it. Houston was replaced by Lew Tabackin who got Covid a few days before the sailing, so Houston's band just played without him.

 

Michael Lazaroff did a Q&A. Many of the questions were centered around the transition of Blue Note at Sea to Botti at Sea. While it wasn't explicitly stated, one came away with the impression that BNAS isn't coming back any time soon. Asked how many years are on Chris Botti's contract Michael smiled and said "a lot." 

 

The other big news was that Jazz Cruises is looking to expand with a European and/or West Coast cruise in either 2025 or 2026. The cruise concept was not discussed, although given how popular the Smooth Jazz Cruises are my money would be on that format. There are apparently 2000 people already on the waitlist for the 2025 SJCs.

 

A slide shown in between cruise photos stated that the 2025 TJC cabin availability is:

Penthouse 0 

Suite 0 

Concierge/Aqua 105

Veranda 149

Oceanview 119

Interior 75

 

With several hundred pre-sale reservations already made this number should shrink considerably once the pre-sale starts, although one images that as usual TJC cabins will remain for several months before eventually selling out as happened this year.

Thank you for your thorough report. I'm glad you were saturated with good music and still had time to do essential work.

 

It's good to hear that TJC is mostly reserved for next year already. It confirms my impression that interest in music charter cruises all over is spiking.

 

Your discussion of possible alternate locations for future jazz cruises made me think about a couple of things. First, one of the music cruises I've been on (not from Jazz Cruises) tried a west coast embarkation and itinerary. TPTB in their onboard Q and A were not impressed by the reception they got for that cruise and AFAIK have no plans to ever go back there.

 

Also, it made me think how far I would be willing to follow these music cruises. West Coast? Sure. Alaska? I have no interest in going there otherwise, but maybe. Europe? I don't think Europe and I are ready for each other. That would be a choice I wouldn't want to have to make.

[NinS]

Likewise, HB, the Outlaw Country Cruise, which sells out every year, tried a West Coast version in 2022. It made perfect sense since many of the most popular bands on the cruise are CA-based. For whatever reason (and Covid certainly didn't help) it was not a success and I've heard nothing about any future editions. 

 

A European cruise is probably out of my budget for the foreseeable future (although ironically I've taken land trips to Europe from here on the East Coast that were far less expensive than flying domestically). It might be a great way to get a taste of the continent while seeing some of your favorite artists, although I'd also worry that I'd have to choose between the music and seeing some sights that are more unique than just another Caribbean beach (not that I didn't enjoy the warm weather last week).

 

On The Jazz Cruise so few of the passengers got off at the first port that the few shows programmed during the day were overflowing. In the middle of Emmet Cohen's B-3 organ set when the ship was in Labadee Michael Lazaroff handed Emmet a note saying there would be a repeat performance while the ship was in Puerto Plata the next day, and by the time the set was over the app had been updated with the added set. Another show slated for a smaller venue while the ship was at the second port was moved to the theater due to expected demand. TJC probably has the oldest demographic of any music cruise I've been on except for Malt Shop Memories, and in talking to them I've found that many are very experienced cruisers and have a "been there, bought the t-shirt, don't need to get off again" attitude about the ports. I got out to Labadee early to make sure I could get a chair and umbrella at the beach and discovered there were hundreds and hundreds if not thousands of unused chairs and umbrellas in prime spots, with crew members and musicians vastly outnumbering paying passengers on the beach.

 

One thing I forgot to mention from Lazaroff's Q&A is that he said that new environmental regulations mean ships can't go as fast, diminishing the ports available for a 7-day cruise, so if you think the music charter itineraries have been repetitive in the past, they're going to get even more limited. This was also the explanation for why we were somewhat oddly (for a music charter with lots of afternoon programming) in St. Thomas between 1pm and 7:30 pm. I imagine this has been widely discussed elsewhere on CC.

[Honolulu Blue]

@NinS, thank you for your further comments. I had forgotten about OCC. I think the west coast one was in addition to the regular one that year. I'm sorry to hear that Sixthman was disappointed by it.

 

I find it very interesting that the musicians on your cruise were willing and able to add extra midday sets on the fly. I wish some of my upcoming music cruises would do that.

 

I'm not too surprised that you get a lot of older and more experienced cruisers on TJC and MSM. The passengers on the  ones that I go on are generally younger, newer to cruising, and less cynical about the ports. This will change as the years go by.

 

There has been a little discussion of the environmental impact of reduced speeds on cruising. There's grumbling about reduced times in port, earlier embarkations, fewer stops, and later returns to port.

[jojo_obrien]

Great comments. Nins.  it was a great cruise -- an incredible quantity of jazz music.  Labadee was virtually empty.   We stayed on the beach all day long - it was like having a private beach to ourselves!!   We are in our 40's and was glad to get off the ship at every port.  It's a blue hair crowd, no doubt -- some passengers easily into their 90's.   Lots of canes, walkers, scooters, feet shuffling, hearing aids.......Good for them for getting out and about and enjoying life.   I found they're all very respectful of the music which I certainly appreciated.  Very , very little to NO conversation while musicians are playing.  Just the way I like it!!    If you want to have a convo ,go to the cafe!  

 

We didn't sign up again......but we may in the future.   I don't have interest in the smooth jazz and I heard the last Botti was a bit contrived.  I was hoping BNAS would come back but everyone on the ship said it probably won't.  Sigh.......

 

I wish we had had  bit more time in the ports.  

[NinS]

You captured the vibe very well, Jojo. I'm also in my 40s. I've been on a bunch of music charters and they do tend to skew older regardless of genre in part because you need both the cash and at least 8 days off to go -- plus there's the aging audience for jazz, particularly of the straight ahead variety (which may explain why the more modern Artemis and Latin jazz star Chucho Valdes often played to modest audiences despite being major theater attractions on land). But the year I went on Blue Note at Sea the audience wasn't considerably younger despite the likes of Robert Glasper being on the ship.

 

And yes, I met a woman on an excursion who was there with her 93 year-old mother. The mom skipped the excursion but when I saw her back on the ship she was having a blast.

 

There was one elderly gentleman who was there with what appeared to be his adult grandchildren. The kids were always quite drunk and grandpa would talk loudly through the music, much to the annoyance of those around him. I saw him get into four verbal altercations and Jeff Hamilton refused to start a song until he was quiet! Luckily he didn't swat anyone with his cane. Considering that there were 2000 people on board it's not surprising that there was one outlier, and I certainly wasn't going to let him ruin my vacation -- but I did try to avoid sitting anywhere near him.

 

After doing two TJCs in a row I'm also not booked for next year. Chucho and Paquito, Artemis (especially Allison Miller), Kenny Barron, Eliane Elias and Anat Cohen were all really big draws for me. I also love Charles McPherson and Bill Charlap but they're not quite enough to make me pull the trigger yet (and I've seen both in past few months on land). Plus I'm going to try for a Soul Train Cruise cabin (which is far from a sure thing) and I wouldn't have the time or money to do both. But regardless I wouldn't hesitate to sail on TJC again in the future.

[jojo_obrien]

7 hours ago, NinS said:

You captured the vibe very well, Jojo. I'm also in my 40s. I've been on a bunch of music charters and they do tend to skew older regardless of genre in part because you need both the cash and at least 8 days off to go -- plus there's the aging audience for jazz, particularly of the straight ahead variety (which may explain why the more modern Artemis and Latin jazz star Chucho Valdes often played to modest audiences despite being major theater attractions on land). But the year I went on Blue Note at Sea the audience wasn't considerably younger despite the likes of Robert Glasper being on the ship.

 

And yes, I met a woman on an excursion who was there with her 93 year-old mother. The mom skipped the excursion but when I saw her back on the ship she was having a blast.

 

There was one elderly gentleman who was there with what appeared to be his adult grandchildren. The kids were always quite drunk and grandpa would talk loudly through the music, much to the annoyance of those around him. I saw him get into four verbal altercations and Jeff Hamilton refused to start a song until he was quiet! Luckily he didn't swat anyone with his cane. Considering that there were 2000 people on board it's not surprising that there was one outlier, and I certainly wasn't going to let him ruin my vacation -- but I did try to avoid sitting anywhere near him.

 

After doing two TJCs in a row I'm also not booked for next year. Chucho and Paquito, Artemis (especially Allison Miller), Kenny Barron, Eliane Elias and Anat Cohen were all really big draws for me. I also love Charles McPherson and Bill Charlap but they're not quite enough to make me pull the trigger yet (and I've seen both in past few months on land). Plus I'm going to try for a Soul Train Cruise cabin (which is far from a sure thing) and I wouldn't have the time or money to do both. But regardless I wouldn't hesitate to sail on TJC again in the future.

NinS - thanks for your reply.  There aren't many people on here talking about the cruise.   Considering the average age (now)......well, now I know why! 

I don't have much interest in Cozumel or Grand Cayman.   It's gotta be a "must have" cruise for me.  To your point:  1.) it ain't cheap - we stayed in the concierge class  2.) it's hard taking time off when the year is starting in Jan - at least for me.   it was well worth it, though.  

 

that's interesting about seeing this older drunk guy - i must have never run into him/them.  i didn't even see anyone so much as buzzed on the ship let alone drunk. 

 

funny you should bring that up......we had breakfast with Jeff Hamilton (he lives in LA -- so we had something in common) -- we talked about the talking issue during performances -- difference between europe, US, LA/NY etc etc.   really cool guy. 

 

i'm glad we went - it was absolutely worth the effort and the ship was fantastic.  great staff - hardly anything to complain about. food was great -- although we ate in the buffet more than i thought we would.  i don't particulary need to be "served" when going out and it's a bit cramped with the seating arrangements. 

 

we'll watch prices and see if want to pull the trigger.  chucho was a big pull for me.  his last set was all time!   i love arturo sandoval -- but i've seen him so many times.  i'm not a big diane reeves fan...... but i could listen to kurt elling every day - he's so fantastic.   really enjoyed sean jones -- had never seen him and he was even better than the recordings.   and so many other artists i can't mention that were world class........

 

[NinS]

Speaking of the demographic, there were at least two major medical emergencies. The first night I noticed that many hours after departure the lights of Miami could be seen and my phone was working. I assumed it was just a matter of whatever route we were taking and didn't think much of it, but a passenger I spoke with claimed that we had to go back due to a medical issue. (Perhaps a smaller boat came out and met our ship to transport the passenger?) 

 

When we were nearing the end of our time in Labadee I was watching Emmet Cohen's B3 set (which was jam packed because so few people had gotten off the ship) and I noticed from the window of the Sky Lounge that there was a helicopter parked on the dock and that no one could go to or from the ship. Eventually a passenger was wheeled out and put into the copter which took off. Only a handful of the audience seemed to notice.

[jojo_obrien]

yep i saw that helicopter.  we had just come back from labadee and were at the pool.   they stopped everyone from getting on the ship and wheeled someone out.    must have been expensive!  hope they're ok .....but probably ended up taking a flight out back home from the capital i assume.......

[jojo_obrien]

i tried to get a seat for that set -- no luck!    standing room only.  i hope it was good!   we loved every moment of labadee -- it was like having a private beach almost to ourselves ! great rum drinks, band was playing island music -- lunch was excellent ......it was paradise !   

[NinS]

I just noticed that Boz Scaggs has been added to Botti At Sea '25.

[Honolulu Blue]

The one noteworthy item from the latest newsletter, IMHO, is the declaration that both editions of the Smooth Jazz Cruise for 2025 are fully reserved. Color me impressed. 😍

[SpicyP]

Just arrived this morning (and do mean morning…flight landed at 8:30am) in Miami for our 1st Botti At Sea Jazz Cruise, which leaves Thursday. Very excited 😆 Looking forward to some amazing music 🎼 

[jojo_obrien]

 SpicyP the lineup is all time.  you're going to have a great trip!  https://2024.bottiatsea.com/daily-schedule/

 

Just an insane amount of music.   Can't wait to hear the trip report! 

 

[SpicyP]

1 hour ago, jojo_obrien said:

 SpicyP the lineup is all time.  you're going to have a great trip!  https://2024.bottiatsea.com/daily-schedule/

 

Just an insane amount of music.   Can't wait to hear the trip report! 

 

Yeah Mon!! We are ready🎷🎺

[NinS]

While our Botti At Sea friends are enjoying their cruise I noticed that Boz Scaggs was removed from the 2025 lineup, while David Foster with Katherine McPhee were added for a return engagement.