INCREDIBLE!

What could be better - my favorite lady, our favorite group on a 3 day getaway Bahamas cruise over Valentines Day!!!

Then how about a full 7 day package - yes, 6 phenomenal night s worth - well, keep in mind that they do have 200+ tunes the could play for us....hmmmmmm

Pinch me and say it's too good to be true! Y'all remember what your old Dad taught you, don't you? Yadda yadda....

So the two $32,000 questions are - who else has booked, and who else plans to go?

Good morning...I have my cabin booked! There is an advantage to booking early. You will get preferred seating at the shows by being allowed to enter prior to the remiander of the audience. Should be an awesome weekend and one that no Ripps fan should miss! Cya there!

Does anyone know if it will be a full-ship charter?
Thanks,
Steve

Hey Steve;

Royal Caribbean's Monarch Of The Seas is not a mega-ship. It's one of their older shorties at less than 900 feet, but with a passenger capacity of 2,744. Considering RCCL has 2, or 3 crew members for every passenger, it's a pretty good size vessel. It could be a full ship charter, but I don't know for sure. Here's a link to the agency handling the cruise. http://www.floridasmoothjazzcruise.com/ You must book your trip through them to get benefit of The Ripps, fellow islander and former Ripp; Paul Taylor and former islander and former Ripp; Jeff Kashiwa.

My wife and I are cruiseaholics and RCCL is our line of choice. Unfortunately We already have cruises planned for January 09 and I don't think it's wise to take 3 cruises in 30 days on my budget. I will say that ANYONE taking the trip will absolutely L*O*V*E RCCL's private island Cocoa Cay. I'm pretty sure that's where Ears is hanging out with his sax, snoozing under that palm tree. We have been there several times and it's the closest experience one could ever have to being on Gilligan's Island. There are no natives...nobody "lives" there other than crew members assigned to service the guests. The only buildings on the island were erected for the purpose of entertaining guests and lodging crew members. You will find a straw market there hosted by citizens of neighboring islands. Once while walking in the shallows on the beach I nearly stepped on a Stingray as it buried itself in the sand. All the beach areas are nothing less than great. There are many areas for one to get very secluded. The island has scuba, bars, snorkel, jet ski, bars, kayak, paddle boats, bars, volley ball, oh somebody stop me....did I mention bars? It's paradise. And then to be able to finish off the day with the Ripps...wow; 3 days JUST AIN'T ENOUGH!

Hi Ripps cruisers:

I'm Roland Guilarte, I'm producing the 2009 Smooth Jazz Valentines Cruise with Russ, Jeff Kashiwa, Paul Taylor and company. Just wanted to let everyone know that my company has been promoting national smooth jazz artists for 15 years. Please log on to http://www.jazzseries.com to look at our concert roster list if you wish. I'm not here to toot my own horn, rather just to say that my partners, Cathy & Mark Powers - Florida Smooth Jazz Foundation, as well as our associate, Daphne Lacy at Travel By Ginny, are all smooth jazz lovers first and committed to this cruise. We chose Valentines weekend because it fits well with smooth jazz AND that Monday, February 16th is also President's Day so schools and government workers are off, allowing more folks to possibly come enjoy this cruise.

We hope to offer lots of fun, tons of great entertainment at a price and time frame that will allow many smooth jazz lovers to join us. I know that being a single dad I can't afford a 7 day cruise. We hope that the three day option with a holiday on Monday will allow families and single parents like me to enjoy cruising and the music we all love.

If anyone has any additional questions or concerns I hope you'll feel free to email us through this site or at http://www.floridasmoothjazzcruise.com. Thanks!

Now that's cool. Thanks for sharing the strategy.

Thanks all. Got a nice email from Roland. So far its a half-ship charter, but they're hoping to sell out the while ship. Should be very cool. Hope we can make it.
Steve

If you look on the Smooth Jazz Cruise site http://www.floridasmoothjazzcruise.com/faq.htm, you'll see questions 4 and 5 "What if too many people sign up for the smooth jazz cruise?" and "Can the other regular passengers already on the cruise sign up for the smooth jazz concert package?" to which they reply: "We have a limited number of smooth jazz cruise packages that we will sell to insure that all of our guests will have an experience of the highest quality. After we reach that number, the jazz cruise will then be “sold-out” and will only take names for a waiting list" and "The smooth jazz packages will only be sold at the current price by booking your cabin through our exclusive travel partner, Travel by Ginny. Depending upon availability, other passengers on the cruise may be allowed to purchase smooth jazz packages, but at a much higher price. However, as we expect a sell-out, it is highly unlikely that any of these packages will be available to other passengers on this particular cruise"

Seeing that this ship has a capacity of about 2,700 people, I just don't see how the whole ship could be "chartered" to Ripps fans - and if it was, where on the ship could they seat all 2,700 of us for a single performance at the same time?

For clarification purposes, just maybe a phone call to the Travel Agent is in order....

We've been on the Smooth Jazz Cruise twice, and its a full-ship charter. The way they do is it 2 concerts nightly; with half the ship seated in the theater for the 1st concert, while the 2nd concert seating is eating dinnner. Then during the 2nd concert, the 1st audience goes to dinner. Seems to work. Although the Holland America ships they use are smaller, about 1800 guests if I remember correctly.

I contacted the exclusive travel agent, Travel By Ginny, asking several related questions. Their answers are as follows:

1) There will be a single performance each night.

2) It is a half ship charter.

3) The capacity of the theater where performances are held is 1,081.

This math all adds up......

I booked our spot on the cruise a while back - worked with Daphne at Travel by Ginny. She was/is very helpful and happy to answer any questions....I am still emailing her with questions all these weeks later and she sends a prompt response each time. I can vouch for the accuracy of the info in the previous email as I recently asked the same questions and received the same answers! It sounds like they have it all under control - if only they could guarantee that there won't be a winter storm here in the NE on the day of my flight to Florida, I'd have nothing left to worry about! I am so looking forward to being a true "Tourist in Paradise" in 2/09!

I have known Roland and attended concerts he has promoted for years, going back to the first time I saw Bamboo Forest in 1995. I live 150 miles north of Melbourne, his home base, but I will drive down there to see an artist even if they are playing here being promoted by one of the big corporate promoters because when you attend a Brevard JazzSeries event you are always treated well. You feel like part of a community of music fans and you will be taken care of and treated well. I've attended concerts all over the east coast since I was a kid and never had such consistently positive experiences. I am not a cruise person. I don't like structure when I'm on vaca..and Valentines day gives me the creeps (should you have to buy stuff to show people you care??) but if I was going to do a cruise this is one I would really trust. Plus it's not huge and overhyped so you won't have to worry about feeling like you're being herded.

is this for real, or is it a fanstasy thread?

if it stops in antigua, and has the ripps and spyro playing, i will be there!

Yes, it's for real, check this link out:

http://www.floridasmoothjazzcruise.com/

And no, SG will not be aboard, it's ONLY the Ripps....so ya better book quick, this one will quickly sell out!

This would be a great time. Cruising is my favorite vacation, Royal Caribbean is my favorite line and The Rippingtons are my favorite jazz band. Then why don't I sign up? Well first off I have two cruises planned next year, in April on a western Caribbean for 7 days and to Hawaii in December for a week as well. It is very tempting to sign up. But there is another reason and I am sure I will be flamed for this, but the price being charged for this cruise is out of sight. The rate for an ocean view stateroom on RCCL.com for this cruise is $389.00 per person. TravelByGinny is selling that same room with the concerts for $752.00. Two person occ. is a total difference of $726.00. I realize it the Rippingtons, but come on, why are you charging such a premium. Also, the Monarch is the worst of the fleet. RCCL does a nice job of keeping it shiney, but I have been on this boat. It is not the class of ship I like to cruise on. Call me a snob, but I am certain the suites that the band members will be staying in are no where as nice as the suites on RCCLs other ships. I would still love to go since it is the Rippingtons. In the past I have scheduled my vacations around their concerts, last time was in Las Vegas, and I would do it again, but not for a surcharge of $726.00. Is anyone else with me on this??

The travel agent's cost of $499 PP for an interior stateroom is not to shabby when the RRCL cost for the same room is $349 PP. Over 3 nights worth of concerts, the difference boils down to $50 PP per night to see the Ripps - basically what you'd pay if you were to attend one of their local gigs.

As for wifey and I, our favorite vacation is also cruisin' and we'll already have done a 7 day Western Caribbean the week before Thanksgiving '08 on the maiden voyage of the Ruby Princess. Now I'm sure that an interior room on the old Monarch won't hold a candle to a brand spankin' new Ruby mini suite balcony, but the Ruby won't have the Ripps playing aboard either...

The long and short of it is that we have no doubt that this will be one of our most memorable Valentines' Days!

While I'm sure most of us appreciate the info about the non-Ripps part of the cruise and the age of the ship when compared to the rest of Royal Carribean - the bottom line here is that the cost of this cruise includes events which are not available to the rest of the passengers.

My understanding is that the events will not be sold a la carte, and so if you're a Ripps fan - you are paying for access to the shows and events as well.

And if you live in a snowy section of the country, a cruise in february seems very tropical.

So, Kat - does this mean that you will be there? We can make a tropical toast with tropical drinks on a tropical island in the middle of February!?!?!?!?! A bit different than greasy fries in the grass in Detroit - but that was fun too!

Cheers to Life in the Tropics!

dunno yet, Carol. I haven't been on a cruise in 20 years.... and that was with the ex-hub.... he hated it and I loved it, so cruises stir up memories.

I have been considering either this cruise or another one... depends upon how much time I can take off from working... this one is easier in terms of scheduling.

I've never been on a smooth jazz cruise before, but I've been tempted to go many times. What's the experience like in general?

What kind of interaction might you have with the artists? And are there any ancillary activities for music enthusiasts, like jam sessions, music clinics with the artists etcetera? Any other planned activities of note, whether music oriented or not?

Just curious -- my wife's been insisting we go on one for several years, although she's afraid I'll get all wrapped up in the music and forget her

Well, we've been on two of the Smooth Jazz Cruises. The first one, hosted by Warren Hill, was very open. Lots of interaction with the performers. Had a nice conversation at breakfast with Mile Gilderdale of Acoustic Alchemy one morning. Kept running into Euge Groove, who was with his kids and very funny. Spent about 20 minutes chatting with Everette Harp on one of the ship's tenders to one of the islands; he was just super down to earth. There were question and answer events with the performers, midnight jam sessions that were well attended by the performers and a real delight.

The 2nd cruise was hosted by Wayman Tisdale and seemed very corporate. The performers seemed to be sequestered away from the guests for the most part. Only a couple jam sessions, not as many afternoon events. We wouldn't do another one.

As I indicated in an earlier post, if we are able, we will definitely do the Rippingtons cruise.

Steve

Thanks Steve -- guess it depends on the artists and the people managing them. I decided not to go as, for some reason, I think watching the artists on video or DVD is enough....and I've seen all of these people on DVD or live (Paul Taylor came to Orlando with the Ripps and did some Steppin' Out stuff).

I forgot to post this earlier, but Me & Mrs. Fender are going on the cruise

See you guys there. Just booked it.

This cruise won't be corporate and the artists won't be isolated from the fans. Roland never runs his concerts that way. In fact I've attended concerts he promoted where artists are signing everything when they usually have the (extremely self destructive) policy of not signing anything except CDs purchased on site

Booked the cruise with my wife just over a month ago after catching the Ripps in Reno. Also hope to catch them again in DC in late October.

Three days on a Ripps cruise and couple of days with The Mouse in Orlando in the middle of February away from cold, snowy St. Louis - Priceless!

Thanks, Shannon. Really looking forward to it!

I will probably bo0k this cruise too, I can never get enough of the Ripps. I just saw them at Las Vegas and Oakland, planning on see them in Newport Beach and Temecula next month.

Hope to meet some of you fans on the ship!

Mike

I just booked this cruise today. We (wife and I) are looking forward to an excellent vacation. Still trying to figure out what to do while in Florida (we'll be flying in a day or three prior). Maybe a couple of days on the beach, soaking up some rays 'n rum with my iPod listening to the Ripps.

Any possibility of Russ introducing us to some new stuff? I've been wondering when he'll release another album. In the meantime, the countdown is on.

We (me, my husband and our two teenage boys - they happen to have a long weekend off from school so it will be a family trip for us) booked the cruise a while ago - and we more recently booked a room at the "Radison Resort at the Port" as we will fly into Orlando the night before the cruise. I have never stayed at this hotel before but it looks as if it has some nice amenities - they also offer free parking and a shuttle to and from the port - we are not sure if we will use the shuttle or park at the port - $15 a day, I believe - as it may be easier for us to carry our luggage off of the ship, get in our car and head directly to Orlando, to catch our flight home. In any case, you might want to check out their website and see if it offers up any activities for your pre-cruise stay. Port Canaveral is also nearby - might be worth a trip if you have not been there before - and of course, there are the beaches (my inlaws used to live in Fla - although a bit further north - and we would often visit in February & December - from that experience I will warn you that it is not always as warm as you might hope in the winter - but it is still better than the northern winter chill). And I am sure that we will feel a tropical breeze once we get closer to the Bahamas.

The Ripps will be traveling through my neck of the woods in November - a great warm up to the cruise for us! My boys also happen to have that as a long weekend from school (great timing all around Ripps!), so we will also take a family trip to Boston for that weekend (and also visit colleges - yikes)!

We're still trying to decide if we want to fly in the night before or drive (from NC). I would love to get a really good deal on a flight as opposed to driving all that way. Going down wouldn't be too bad, but driving back would be a drag!

Good luck finding a good deal on a flight! We waited and waited to book - my husband finally bit the bullet when the rates went down a little , but it is still VERY expensive to fly....but I suppose that the airlines have to make money too. It's a bit too far of a drive from here, so we have to fly. I am a little nervous about the weather - a winter storm could really mess us up....but it's a risk that we are willing to take!

Check out AirTran. They have some very good fares. I flew from VA to NY for $69!