The Jazz Cruise 2008 Testimonials | Jazz Cruise Comments from Guests and Jazz Musicians

Special Thanks to Linda Coffman, who profiled us on her website, www.cruisediva.com.

We have provided a small excerpt from her article about the most recent sailing of The Smooth Jazz Cruise. For the complete article, please click here.

-by Linda Coffman

" January 2008 — It's no secret that this Cruise Diva loves cruises. What you may not know about me is my passion for music. Although I won't divulge what I'm listening to on my iPod, I'm happy to share some recent down time with an upbeat tempo when Mel and I immersed ourselves in music while relaxing at sea.

Like other music lovers, we appreciate music festivals where the artists really connect with their audiences. Unfortunately, for most of us that means traveling to distant cities where the hottest musicians are most likely to appear. It was relatively easy for us to attend the New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival when we lived nearby, but we've found an even better way to enjoy concerts without the hassle of parking and crowds—one of the full-ship charters presented by Jazz Cruises LLC.
Come along as we sailed for a week-long Smooth Jazz Cruise aboard Holland America Line's Westerdam...

Embarkation Day
Even on a dreary afternoon in port Everglades we felt the electricity generated by fellow passengers during embarkation onWesterdam. Many were repeat Smooth Jazz Cruisers and looked forward to hearing their favorite music and artists live on stage. Later, as we waited in the Sports Bar for our after-dinner show, one music (and football) enthusiast told me this was his fourth Smooth Jazz Cruise—he’d only missed the first one.

To kick off the Welcome Show, Rick Braun and his trumpet made a grand entrance, giving the audience a close-up as he literally played his way to the stage. While the music swept over the Vista Lounge, everyone was on their feet, moving and clapping to the beat. A few bars of “won’t you let me take you on a sea cruise” were met with approval.

Smooth Jazz Cruise posters awaited on our beds when we returned to our cabins—pillow gifts that are great for collecting autographs, as are the beautifully designed combination program-and-journal books we received earlier. We’ll have plenty of opportunity to use them. "

Thank you Linda!

We are lucky to have the time to attend a lot of live music and none compare to a smooth jazz cruise. We booked for 2009 making it our 4th one. I think it was mentioned that the cost to bring this much talent to the stage at one time other than on a cruise would make the ticket price so high we could not afford to attend. We have sponsored and attended hundreds of concerts in the past 20 years and none are as much fun or as enjoyable as the nightly shows on the cruise. We commend the hard work behind the artists that make the shows go on time. Love the guys in the band for learning 100’s of charts and making the artists look and sound so good and being a musician I know that is not easy to do. Noting better than live jazz on a cruise. Wish you and the staff a wonderful and successful 2008 and hope to see you at some of the events in S Cal this coming year.

DW
Brea, California

From: JA
Sent: Tuesday, February 19, 2008 7:35 PM
Subject: thank you

Hello,

I wanted to share with you that I had a spectacular time on the Smooth Jazz Cruise in January. Evening after evening after the concert I was totally drained emotionally and energetically because of the wonderful and talented performances. This was my first cruise of my lifetime and I confess that I was a little apprehensive about being on board a ship for 7 days. But I must admit that I had the best vacation of all time! It was unforgettable, truly unforgettable! I will definitely do it again someday.

Thank you for all your help during the past year in planning our vacation.

Smiling at you,

JA