UDC 23, 80s Cruise, and beyond - my musical journey continues

[Honolulu Blue]

StarVista Live put up images from the UDC yesterday.  It's earlier than last year.  I don't know what it means (if anything), though I was happy to review them.  They actually got a nice photo of me relatively close up.  No, I'm not posting it.  I'm much too modest.  😶  All I'll say is that if you go through all 2000 photos, you'll find me.  

 

I did want to post a couple of photos of people that improve of images I posted here.  First was KC's "stunning" dancer.  The second is the neon butterfly lady.

 

[Honolulu Blue]

A couple of small things... first, I found a link to another article with some lineups for upcoming music festivals on land at Music Festival Lineups 2023: Who's Playing Which Music Festival and When - Thrillist .

 

It made me appreciate how good we have it on these ships.  For example, I think if I combined my favorites from all of them, I'd have about as good a list as what I had on this year's UDC or TEC/

 

And second, I'm still deliberating about whether to do the R&R thing next year.  It may be out of my hands; if I can't get one of the allocated single cabins, then I'm going to have to pass as it would be hard for me to justify the $1000+ extra for purchasing in any other class.  Maybe the waiting list would be an option.  We'll see about that.

[Honolulu Blue]

I got a small but nice upgrade on my upcoming 80s themed cruise on the Ruby Princess.  I went from a basic interior closet to an obstructed OV.  I've been upgraded for free on all of my Princess cruises so far.  I guess they like me. 🙂

[Honolulu Blue]

I successfully made the booking on the 70s Rock and Romance Cruise.  They had 10 single-class cabins available for me to book, so I took one.  The price was as expected.  I'm looking forward to finally getting on this cruise after being unsuccessful way back in 2020.  I'm looking forward to all the good music that will be provided for me.  I'm looking forward to finally meeting @George C, who's been so invaluable to me as I've made my musical journey

[George C]

1 hour ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I successfully made the booking on the 70s Rock and Romance Cruise.  They had 10 single-class cabins available for me to book, so I took one.  The price was as expected.  I'm looking forward to finally getting on this cruise after being unsuccessful way back in 2020.  I'm looking forward to all the good music that will be provided for me.  I'm looking forward to finally meeting @George C, who's been so invaluable to me as I've made my musical journey

Cool looking forward to meeting you , we will give you a tour of our royal suite. Love this lineup for next year.

[Honolulu Blue]

8 minutes ago, George C said:

Cool looking forward to meeting you , we will give you a tour of our royal suite. Love this lineup for next year.

I'm looking forward to our meeting also.  Let me know if you and the better half would like a tour of my basic interior room on deck 2.  I'll get rid of the rats before you come. 🤣

[George C]

1 hour ago, Honolulu Blue said:

I'm looking forward to our meeting also.  Let me know if you and the better half would like a tour of my basic interior room on deck 2.  I'll get rid of the rats before you come. 🤣

We did our share of inside rooms many years ago , had bunk beds once 😁😁

[Honolulu Blue]

Just now, George C said:

We did our share of inside rooms many years ago , had bunk beds once 😁😁

I'm sure you have.  Well, if you ever decide to go slumming, just let me know. 😊

 

BTW, I've only had interiors for these music charters.  I prefer at least a porthole for every other cruise.

[Honolulu Blue]

I got an email from Jazz Cruises about a special charter cruise they've created. It's all about Michael McDonald and Patti Labelle. It's only three days and sails April 10-13, 2024 out of Miami on the Norwegian Pearl. Here's the link to the main page: https://mcdonaldlabellecruise.com/

 

The pricing isn't half bad ($1250 for a solo interior and $1500 for a solo OV), and I respect the headliners. If I had limitless money and unlimited time, I would pull the trigger on this. For now it's something to roll around in my head. I'll keep you posted.

 

Also, I'm on the 80s themed cruise on the Ruby Princess RIGHT NOW. I apologize for not reporting on it. I've done some scattered posts in other threads. I think I'll do a summary in this thread, but it might be a few days before I do that. For now, suffice it to say that I'm having a wonderful time, the music has exceeded my expectations, and the other stuff has mostly been good.

[Honolulu Blue]

A few quickie notes:

 

* I received an email from StarVista Live about Flower Power. It said they're over 90% booked already AND they're adding the Four Tops to their lineup.

* I heard from an interview with one of The 80s Cruise managers that they were at 88% full as of two weeks ago 

* I haven't heard any similar booking figures from Rock and Romance, which means they're probably not at 90% yet

* Michael and Patti ..still thinking. But I'm on a cruise, so forgive me if I don't spend too much time on it yet. 🙂

[Honolulu Blue]

I'm back from my 80s themed cruise on the Ruby Princess.  You can read about some of my adventures on that cruise at 

 

[Honolulu Blue]

I'll do a summary of it in this thread in the next few days.  In the meantime, check out the new thread I've done about my upcoming 2024 musical adventures:

 

[Honolulu Blue]

I did a summary post on the general Princess board.  I'll link it below.  TL,DR:

• I saw DSB (Journey), WANTED (Bon Jovi), and Red Corvette (Prince) on this cruise.  I saw Red Corvette twice.  All were great in their own way, the highlights of this adventure.
• DSB ("Who's Crying Now") and Red Corvette ("Take Me With U") both played my favorite songs from their respective artists.  Red Corvette played it during both concerts and was a huge surprise.
• I continue to recommend these cruises for fans of the 80s

 

 

[George C]

On 4/13/2023 at 7:41 AM, Honolulu Blue said:

I got an email from Jazz Cruises about a special charter cruise they've created. It's all about Michael McDonald and Patti Labelle. It's only three days and sails April 10-13, 2024 out of Miami on the Norwegian Pearl. Here's the link to the main page: https://mcdonaldlabellecruise.com/

 

The pricing isn't half bad ($1250 for a solo interior and $1500 for a solo OV), and I respect the headliners. If I had limitless money and unlimited time, I would pull the trigger on this. For now it's something to roll around in my head. I'll keep you posted.

 

Also, I'm on the 80s themed cruise on the Ruby Princess RIGHT NOW. I apologize for not reporting on it. I've done some scattered posts in other threads. I think I'll do a summary in this thread, but it might be a few days before I do that. For now, suffice it to say that I'm having a wonderful time, the music has exceeded my expectations, and the other stuff has mostly been good.

Wish this was back to back with our rock and romance, I see George Wallace is there he is one of the funniest comedians we ever saw , would love to see Michael McDonald again. 

[Honolulu Blue]

1 hour ago, George C said:

Wish this was back to back with our rock and romance, I see George Wallace is there he is one of the funniest comedians we ever saw , would love to see Michael McDonald again. 

Thanks!  Your perspective is always invaluable.  On my first look I saw Alonzo Bodden, but not George Wallace.  That's a great selling point, and your endorsement is helpful. 👍

 

Sigh, another car payment on my CC.  🚗  When will it end?

 

P.S.  When did you see Mr. McDonald?  Was it on one of your Rock & Romance cruises?  Or on land?

[George C]

1 hour ago, Honolulu Blue said:

Thanks!  Your perspective is always invaluable.  On my first look I saw Alonzo Bodden, but not George Wallace.  That's a great selling point, and your endorsement is helpful. 👍

 

Sigh, another car payment on my CC.  🚗  When will it end?

 

P.S.  When did you see Mr. McDonald?  Was it on one of your Rock & Romance cruises?  Or on land?

We saw Michael McDonald on a rock and romance cruise definitely one of the best shows we ever saw , he also had a very interesting interview on the ship and his wife of many years was there for the interview also and she was one of his backup singers . We have also seen him in Dallas. Wife has a car payment but I drive a 2010 Ford Fusion with 35k miles , currently put on about 2k per year, helps being retired. 

[Honolulu Blue]

On 4/16/2023 at 4:42 PM, George C said:

We saw Michael McDonald on a rock and romance cruise definitely one of the best shows we ever saw , he also had a very interesting interview on the ship and his wife of many years was there for the interview also and she was one of his backup singers . We have also seen him in Dallas. Wife has a car payment but I drive a 2010 Ford Fusion with 35k miles , currently put on about 2k per year, helps being retired. 

Fun fact:  I've never had a car payment in my life.  I've always paid cash for used cars that I run around in until the repairs and their bills stack up too high for my tastes.

 

Also a fun fact:  I booked the Michael McDonald and Patti LaBelle Cruise.  I'm slowly moving up in the world.  I booked an oceanview cabin.  More details are in my new thread at 

 

[Honolulu Blue]

The 80s Cruise let me know that the photos are up from this year's cruise.  From what I've seen so far (it's very slow loading), I'm featured in two photos and in the background of one.  There may be more.  I may or may not share a few pictures here.  Theirs are far, far better than I could ever take with my cheapo cell phone.  Then again, they have better equipment, better training, and better access.

[Honolulu Blue]

Upon further review of the TEC 2023 photos that they took, I found myself in the background of four additional photos.  Not bad.  Here's one of them from the Q&A with ECP:

[Honolulu Blue]

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its inductees for 2023.  Congratulations to all of them!  I'd like to take a few minutes to spotlight some of them:

 

• The Spinners made the cut!  I saw them on the Ultimate Disco Cruise last year.  They were still good, after all these years.  It's all new members now, but still...
• George Michael is finally in. 
• Sheryl Crow is in.

[George C]

On 5/3/2023 at 8:02 AM, Honolulu Blue said:

The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame announced its inductees for 2023.  Congratulations to all of them!  I'd like to take a few minutes to spotlight some of them:

 

• The Spinners made the cut!  I saw them on the Ultimate Disco Cruise last year.  They were still good, after all these years.  It's all new members now, but still...
• George Michael is finally in. 
• Sheryl Crow is in.

Only new member we have seen in concert is Willie Nelson , I like that Al Kooper is there also , we saw Blood Sweat and Tears over 50 years ago and he formed them ., this was at the famous Fillmore East.

[Honolulu Blue]

The Rock & Romance souvenir reel is up and ready for viewing:

 

 

I watched it.  It looked like a lot of fun.  I kind of wish I could have went, as much as a logistical challenge as that would have been for me.  The crowd looked similar to the UDC crowd in age, but those guys were... how do I best put this... more lively as a group?  Anyway, I'll be joining their number next year, so I'll feel their energy up close and personal.

 

P.S.  @George C, how many times did I see you in this video?? 😁

[George C]

29 minutes ago, Honolulu Blue said:

The Rock & Romance souvenir reel is up and ready for viewing:

 

 

I watched it.  It looked like a lot of fun.  I kind of wish I could have went, as much as a logistical challenge as that would have been for me.  The crowd looked similar to the UDC crowd in age, but those guys were... how do I best put this... more lively as a group?  Anyway, I'll be joining their number next year, so I'll feel their energy up close and personal.

 

P.S.  @George C, how many times did I see you in this video?? 😁

I haven’t seen it yet will watch it on our big screen later , I spotted myself in a couple of pictures in the past , helps to be tall. I can’t wait for next year which has one of the best lineups.

[George C]

5 hours ago, Honolulu Blue said:

The Rock & Romance souvenir reel is up and ready for viewing:

 

 

I watched it.  It looked like a lot of fun.  I kind of wish I could have went, as much as a logistical challenge as that would have been for me.  The crowd looked similar to the UDC crowd in age, but those guys were... how do I best put this... more lively as a group?  Anyway, I'll be joining their number next year, so I'll feel their energy up close and personal.

 

P.S.  @George C, how many times did I see you in this video?? 😁

Video is mostly by the pool and we spent no time out there because of the medical issue , they wanted to interview us a few cruises ago and we turned that down. I hope they bring Leo Sayer back he was very entertaining. 

[Honolulu Blue]

57 minutes ago, George C said:

Video is mostly by the pool and we spent no time out there because of the medical issue , they wanted to interview us a few cruises ago and we turned that down. I hope they bring Leo Sayer back he was very entertaining. 

Thanks for the notes. I only spent time by the pool to watch the bands (much easier on the UDC than The 80s Cruise). The R&R lineup doesn't feel full yet, so maybe you'll get your wish. 🙏