Dave Koz and Friends at Sea 9/26/12, a Smooth Jazz Cruise on Royal Caribbean’s Serena

Dave Koz and Friends at Sea – Mediterranean -- Italian and French Riviera Cruise

September 26 - October 3, 2012 on the Serenade of the Seas

This is a smooth jazz cruise with truly fabulous musical entertainment.

Jazz legends; Dave Koz, Marc Antoine, Rick Braun, Norman Brown, Jonathan Butler, Brian Culbertson, Michael Lington, Michael Bolton and Fourplay. Fourplay features: Bob James, Nathan East, Harvey Mason and Chuck Loeb

I have also posted this cruise on the Cruise Critic, Roll Calls–Royal Caribbean “Meet & Mingle” Rolls—Serenade of the Seas Roll Calls-- Sept. 26, 2012 - Serenade of the Seas French and Italian Riviera Cruse RT from Barcel. It has been posted since April 19th 2011. Please be sure to check there also.

Because it is a “Special Theme Cruise" and already almost sold out you will not find the cruise listed on the regular RCC home pages. It is however listed in great detail on Dave Koz’s web site.

As follows:

Dave Koz and Friends at Sea – Mediterranean -- Italian and French Riviera Cruise

September 26 - October 3, 2012 on the Serenade of the Seas

Love to hear from all you jazz lovers and cruisers soon.

Jim & Kathie

Albuquerque, NM

Jabby: good job. Hope you get some traffic. It is almost a year away. Some folks may also have a cruise planned for earlier in 2012 and just can't get excited about this one until the other is over. My concern has always been how ridiculous the airfare may be by 2012 and the availability of flights. The airlines are cutting back on flights because of the bad economy so our choices may be limited. How early do you plan to buy your tickets? What was your impression of Athens, Greece? Have you been to Mykonos? Shakergirl

We are planning to do the 2013 Koz cruise out of Rome....huge fan of Michael McDonald..air fares to Europe in the fall are usually less but you have to stay alert for a bargin or look to a hub....i.e. Brussels, that has low cost European carriers operating out of it....

Congratulations hattack on your 2013 cruise with Dave! Thanks for the advise on airfares. We saw Dave and Friends for their Christmas Smooth Jazz concert last night in Cleveland, OH and Dave, Rick Braun, Jonathan Butler, and Candy Dulfur were absolutely fabulous!!!!!!!! Rick Braun not only played the trumpet, he also sang. The man has a good singing voice. We go to this event every year and they manage to make it different, yet spectacular every time. We also loved the backup band members, Andre Berry, Randy Jones, and Brian Simpson. The only "something" missing from our 2012 cruise will be one of our most favorite performers, Keiko Matsui. Hattack, you will have the privilege of seeing her in 2013! Shakergirl

Love Keiko...saw her on the smooth jazz cruise a few years ago...she is awesome

Shakergirl, Your Christmas Smooth Jazz concert in Cleveland sounded fantastic. We’ve seen Dave and Rick Braun both in separate venues. Both are very entertaining performers. I can’t imagine the two of them together. What a great primer for the cruise. We too are much focused on the 2012 cruise and have been for some time. As for the 2013 cruise, the artist line-up is superb, but we’ve been to every location other than Mykonos, Greece.

Hattack, Thank you for the excellent advice on airfare. We are watching and waiting on airfares. I don’t know if the Euro problems will be a benefit or not. The dollar conversion to Euros has been improving. It’s the best I’ve seen in several years. Of course all that could change by Sept of 2012 and by Sept 2013, who knows. We really enjoy every artist on both cruises.

Mykonosos Greece is awesome and has great nude beaches but the end of Sept it may be a tad chilly...lol.....we are looking at Europe By Air going to Rome and taking the high speed overnight train with a sleeper car, from Rome to Paris on our return

For your 2012 cruise, is there not a jazz festival in Barcelona while ou are there

Hi, we are going on the 2012 Dave Koz cruise -- finally talked my husband into going on a cruise -- he couldn't resist the incredible line-up of entertainment. Can any of you tell us a little more about what a Dvae Koz cruise is really like?

It is incredible...Koz, the artists and hosts make you feel that you are a loved and cherished friend visiting in their home....very well organized, much attention paid to even the smallest details, incredible music, many chances to interact with the artists, you have the chance to see them perform in several types of venues.....the ships staff really enjoy hosting the cruise (remember many of them are smooth jazz fans also)....the beauty of this type of cruise is that you are with 3000 like minded music lovers, which makes it a great week....if you have never been on a full charter smooth jazz cruise before, you are in for a treat and will never go on a normal cruise again...incredible value for ones dollar...dont forget to bring your cds to be signed

Jazz Fans, I did the Dave Koz Alaska cruise last September and it was off the hook. I have already booked for 2012 and 2013. The plus to me is that we are seeing the world through jazz -- Dave's phrase! I love the Caribbean, but it is great to get to go to other places too. :)

Hattack and IBCrusin’

Both of your posts sound absolutely perfect as to what we were hoping for. We love Jazz and this particular line up is perfect. Have a couple questions; there are so many performers, are you able to take in all the performances and have time to do shore excursions? I don’t want to miss anything, just curious how they put it all together.

when we are in port there are no schedule music activities so everyone can take advantage of the shore excursions (including the artists and their families)...it is possible to see all of the artists, when there is more then one event at the same time, you split your time between them....the bonus is that you can see the artists sitting in with other artists at the shows of other artists and various allstar jams and at the q&a sessions

This sounds so perfect, I can't wait!! Great to know you don't need to miss any time on the shore excursions. We love Jazz, love cruising, and travel so for us it’s the perfect combo. Hattack, Thanks for your posts they are very informative.

Have fun...see you in 2013 in Rome

I am SOOOO envious!!! im just lurking here, and wishing I could go too.. Jazz cruises are soooo wonderful... I hope each and every one of you have the most wonderful time. we have been on a few jazz cruises, LOVED it.. its AWESOME!! the line up is awesome too.. have seen most of everyone there..

enjoy yourselves!!!

Koz just announced that Brian Culbertson and Kirk Whalum have been added to his 2013 cruise out of Rome

I've seen both in concert multiple times and they are spectacular! We are very fortunate to have Brian on our 2012 cruise, he is quite a wild man. Are any of you researching private tour companies? After 13 months of researching tour companies, my sisters and I have settled on Spanish Trails Day Tours for our 3 days in Barcelona, Rome in Limo for all 3 Italian ports, and Riviera Premium Private Tours for the Villafranche/Nice and Toulon/Marseilles port excursions we're doing. We'd like to share the 8-passenger limo van were getting with each company; there's only 3 of us so we would like 5 others to share costs. With 8, the fee per person is very reasonable. Because its our first trip to Europe, we'll be touring the traditional spots. If anyone out there is interested in sharing the van with the sisters, please let me know. I'll share more specific details. Shakergirl

I'm just lurking here, but hope you all have a great cruise. We're headed to the Caribbean with the Smooth Jazz Cruise.

Vivavegas: My sisters and I were also on the Smooth Jazz Cruise on the Noordam 1/16/2011. It was terrific and we may go with them again in 2014. The 9/2012 Koz cruise will be our 2nd smooth jazz cruise. I fear these music cruises will spoil us against taking any more generic cruises, because you have so much fun all day long and far into the evenings with a jazz cruise. Do you have a favorite cruise line? Shakergirl

Vivavegas: My sisters and I were also on the Smooth Jazz Cruise on the Noordam 1/16/2011. It was terrific and we may go with them again in 2014. The 9/2012 Koz cruise will be our 2nd smooth jazz cruise. I fear these music cruises will spoil us against taking any more generic cruises, because you have so much fun all day long and far into the evenings with a jazz cruise. Do you have a favorite cruise line? Shakergirl

I've probably done Carnival the most, but I have done a few others. I'd like to try Royal Caribbean sometime soon to check it out. Can't really say I like one more than the other, just as long as I'm on the water, that's fine with me.

Vivavegas: My sisters and I were also on the Smooth Jazz Cruise on the Noordam 1/16/2011. It was terrific and we may go with them again in 2014. The 9/2012 Koz cruise will be our 2nd smooth jazz cruise. I fear these music cruises will spoil us against taking any more generic cruises, because you have so much fun all day long and far into the evenings with a jazz cruise. Do you have a favorite cruise line? Shakergirl

Have you checked out your air fare for September yet?:eek::eek:

Thanks for the airfare tip Hattack....we are also going to Dave Koz's 2013 cruise and will be looking for airfares.

Evening Jazz Cruise Friends! Hope ya'll had a good day.:)

Evening Jazz Cruise Friends. Hope you have a Happy Easter!:)

The Sisters have their airfare tickets and have moved on to excursions. We brought our tickets at a big discount through Pleasant Holidays and would advise folks to step up now and get that done. I've been researching the whole port excursion situation for some time now and have finalized reservations. I picked private tour companies for 3 reasons: they are cheaper than the cruise line's sponsored excursions, better itineraries that the cruise line, and you travel in cars and minivans, not full-size buses that many of the cities we're visiting require to be parked in a bus park 1 to 3 miles outside of the central part of the city. You heard me right!!! 1 to 3 mile walks before your tour even gets started. Cars and minivans are not restricted. I have made reservations with Barcelona Day Tours for full day tours (8 hours) in a minivan for Barcelona: (city of Barcelona and Montserrat) on Monday, September 24, and (city of Girona and Dali Museum in city of Figueres) on Tuesday, September 25. I have reservations for all 3 Italy ports with the private tour company Rome in Limo and am looking to share the minivan tour Pompeii & Amalfi Coast (Pompeii, Sorrento, Positano) in Naples port, Rome Highlights in Rome port, and Florence and Pisa tour for Livorno port. See the website http:www.romeinlimotoursharing.com/

if you are interested. For Pompeii and the Vatican Museum tours, a guide has been added. There is only room for 5 more people in my vans so don't wait on this if you'd like to join us. Fees per person in USD: $116 Naples; $124 Rome; $100 Florence. I am presently working on the French ports and will keep you posted. My tours are titled Craighead. Shakergirl