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)!