November Blues Cruise w New Orleans Port Call

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Has anyone ever done a blues cruise? I am excited about the itinerary, ship and line up of blues and similar artists, but this one is quite expensive. Having never been on a music themed cruise, I am wary. Has anyone here had particularly good or some bad experiences with such a cruise? Are there any caveats or any special advice you would care to share.

[Honolulu Blue]

10 hours ago, Silvery Seas Cruiser said:

Has anyone ever done a blues cruise? I am excited about the itinerary, ship and line up of blues and similar artists, but this one is quite expensive. Having never been on a music themed cruise, I am wary. Has anyone here had particularly good or some bad experiences with such a cruise? Are there any caveats or any special advice you would care to share.

I haven't done a blues cruise, but I've done four music charter cruises so far and have three more scheduled for next year.  They were a lot of fun with oh so many good experiences, but they've all been pricey.  

 

I'm pretty sure I know what cruise you're talking about.  I've done two of the charters I mentioned above with the same charter company (StarVista Live) and I'll vouch for them.  They do very good work on both the front end and back end.  My only advice is if you like the theme and the bands, and can handle the price, I say go for it.

 

Here's a random picture of one of my StarVista Live cruise experiences from earlier this year:

Edited July 17, 2023 by Honolulu Blue

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Thank you for your response. I do appreciate it. I'm a big fan of several bands on this cruise and really like the New Orleans port call. My friends were all excited too but one can't get away an entire week and the other is balking at the price. If there is a will, there is a way. Must decide soon. Star Vista emailed me today saying the cruise is already 70% booked!

[Honolulu Blue]

On 7/20/2023 at 9:05 PM, Silvery Seas Cruiser said:

Thank you for your response. I do appreciate it. I'm a big fan of several bands on this cruise and really like the New Orleans port call. My friends were all excited too but one can't get away an entire week and the other is balking at the price. If there is a will, there is a way. Must decide soon. Star Vista emailed me today saying the cruise is already 70% booked!

I'm glad to be of assistance.  Please keep us (well, me) informed of your adventures on this cruise.

[Bluesmama]

On 7/20/2023 at 9:05 PM, Silvery Seas Cruiser said:

Thank you for your response. I do appreciate it. I'm a big fan of several bands on this cruise and really like the New Orleans port call. My friends were all excited too but one can't get away an entire week and the other is balking at the price. If there is a will, there is a way. Must decide soon. Star Vista emailed me today saying the cruise is already 70% booked!

Did you end up booking?
My husband and I are on this cruise along with friends.
We love cruising (a good value by the way) and we’ve been to New Orleans before and have seen maybe half of the bands on the cruise. So we are very excited!
While we go to lots of blues music festivals (and I’ve been to New Orleans JazzFest three times), this is our first music cruise. This is our first cruise post COVID also we are very curious to see how it goes. We have been to all the ports.
We have been on two theme cruises before and enjoyed them. 
Keep us posted if you do book!

Margo 

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

We have decided to wait and hope that a similar cruise is offered next year. I know that is a risky proposition. Part of the reason is that we are booked on Celebrity Constellation's Mardi Gras cruise to New Orleans next February, a 12-night cruise that stays a little longer in NOLA than this cruise. We really like that great city, but two cruises so close is a big expense.

 

We did soul searching on this. Constellation will definitely not have all those wonderful blues bands. Furthermore, a lone time ago, I used to play in a blues band. We couldn't hold a candle next to these wonderful bands, but the experience did instill a great appreciation in me for the blues. 

 

I hope you have a fabulous time. Oh, by the way, we have cruised several times during the COVID period when cruises tried to start up again. We only caught COVID on board once! (Oh well, the fun cruise was worth it.) But I suspect your chances of getting COVID now are slim. 

 

I would love to read about how you liked the blues cruise and which bands you enjoyed the most.

 

 

[Honolulu Blue]

9 hours ago, Silvery Seas Cruiser said:

We have decided to wait and hope that a similar cruise is offered next year. I know that is a risky proposition. Part of the reason is that we are booked on Celebrity Constellation's Mardi Gras cruise to New Orleans next February, a 12-night cruise that stays a little longer in NOLA than this cruise. We really like that great city, but two cruises so close is a big expense.

 

We did soul searching on this. Constellation will definitely not have all those wonderful blues bands. Furthermore, a lone time ago, I used to play in a blues band. We couldn't hold a candle next to these wonderful bands, but the experience did instill a great appreciation in me for the blues. 

I'm sorry to hear you won't be going on the cruise this year.  There's a good chance it will be offered next year with (mostly) different performers.  Good luck in your travels. 👍

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

How soon does Star Vista release next year's schedules, so we can plan ahead?

[Honolulu Blue]

14 minutes ago, Silvery Seas Cruiser said:

How soon does Star Vista release next year's schedules, so we can plan ahead?

Normally they release cruises about 12 to 13 months before they're due to sail. For example, we could hear about the 2024 sailing of The Big Easy Cruise as soon as late September, but probably closer to October. Keep an eye on your emails. 🙏

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

20 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Normally they release cruises about 12 to 13 months before they're due to sail. For example, we could hear about the 2024 sailing of The Big Easy Cruise as soon as late September, but probably closer to October. Keep an eye on your emails. 🙏

 

20 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Thank you for you quick answer. I will definitely stay posted. I also signed up for their mailing list. But that doesn't always guarantee they will mail, so I will check their web site too. Hopefully next year we can make this work. It sounds like such fun. Maybe I'll get lucky and next year they'll have Christone Kingfish Ingram. Fingers crossed. 

 

[Silvery Seas Cruiser]

Whoops!! Looks like I accidentally posted my response to you in such a manner that it looks like you wrote it. I do apologize for this mistake and hope it doesn't cause you any embarrassment.

[Honolulu Blue]

3 hours ago, Silvery Seas Cruiser said:

Whoops!! Looks like I accidentally posted my response to you in such a manner that it looks like you wrote it. I do apologize for this mistake and hope it doesn't cause you any embarrassment.

No problem. 😆 I know what you and I said. I hope the other hat are following along have done the same.