This was our second Capital Jazz SuperCruise and like our first one, we had a fantastic time! Capital Jazz chartered the Carnival Freedom for an 8-day Western Caribbean cruise filled with the concerts of award-winning artists in the genres of smooth jazz, R&B, gospel, and hip-hop. In addition to the concerts, there were artists Q&A sessions, contests, seminars, parties, and theme nights. We really had to pace ourselves so that we did not crash and burn too early in the week.
Because of the popularity of the Capital Jazz SuperCruise, we had to book almost a year in advance to get a good cabin. It helps to book before January; otherwise, the price goes up. Special interest cruises such as this almost always cost two to three times more than a general cruise doing the same itinerary. But then again, you are not likely to have the opportunity to attend live concerts of so many award-winning and legendary artists on a general cruise. Here is a list of the performers:
Patti LaBelle
Everyone we met whether passenger or artist was so friendly. Most of the passengers appeared to be middle-aged. There seemed to be a lot more people from the west coast of the U.S. this time. I saw no children or teenagers. I would venture to say I probably saw no one in their 20's. Many of the passengers we met had done this cruise in previous years or had done other theme cruises such as Soul Train, Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage, Festival at Sea, Dave Koz, Smooth Jazz, One Love Gospel, and others. Traci and I have done the Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage Cruise several times as well as the One Love Gospel Cruise several times. We have enjoyed ourselves on all of them. We have seen some of the same artists perform on the different theme cruises we have done.
Around 6 PM each evening, the ship became a gigantic music festival. The concerts took place in the 425-seat International Lounge or the 1,400-seat Victoriana Main Show Lounge. On sea days (days when the ship does not stop at a port), there were afternoon parties and concerts outdoors on the Pool Deck. There were normally CD and autograph signings immediately following a performance. Most nights included a midnight jam session and/or Get Down Club performance at which musicians who were performing on the ship would come together to improvise on a variety of tunes. This was quite a treat especially for someone like me who has played music for most of my life. When the artists were not performing, it was not unusual for us to see them relaxing on the ship like the rest of us passengers.
Spyro Gyra
The SuperCruise left from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. The ports of call were as follows:
Capital Jazz SuperCruise 2014 Itinerary
We had 4 sea days on this cruise. We kept ourselves occupied with the many activities Capital Jazz offered. There were games such as “Name That Tune”, workshops such as Gerald Veasley’s Bass Boot Camp master class, artist interviews, and much more. There were also ship amenities such as the pool, casino, the spa, and fitness center.
There were party theme nights in which passengers wore the attire designated for the evening. There are no formal nights on this cruise. The party theme nights were:
We enjoyed our second Capital Jazz SuperCruise. Here is the journal of my week Continue...