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Rise and Rhythm Cruise | Capital Jazz SuperCruise | One Love Gospel Cruise | Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage Cruise
ONE Voyage Cruise(formerly Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage Cruise)
October 26 - November 1, 2026
Traci and I did the ONE Voyage Cruise which was formally known as the Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage Cruise. It had been 16 years since we had last done a Tom Joyner Cruise. There were two things that influenced us to do this cruise again. First, it was the fact that ONE Voyage would be using a Virgin Voyages ship. Traci and I had always wanted to try a Virgin Voyages cruise. The second thing that influenced our decision was that Traci and I were celebrating our 30th wedding anniversary. The ONE Voyage cruise offered a Wedding Vow Renewal Package that included serenades by the artists themselves. The cruise, along with the wedding vow renewal, turned out to be an awesome vacation experience that we will not soon forget.
Things I Really Enjoyed
ONE Voyage - Specific
- Concerts: The concerts were great! They featured more than 30 R&B, Hip Hop, and Gospel artists such as Teddy Riley, T.I., and Erica Campbell throughout the week.
- Theme Nights: People go all out to dress up for the theme nights. Even if you don't participate, it is still fun to see how much effort your fellow passengers put into their attire.
- Friendly Atmosphere: It really feels like a family event on this cruise. Everyone speaks to you regardless of whether they are a celebrity or not.
- Vow Renewal Package: This cruise was a gift to ourselves for our 30th wedding anniversary. We signed up for the Vow Renewal Package along with 22 other couples for a memorable ceremony officiated by Warryn and Erica Campbell. Additionally, we were serenaded by Major and Tony Terry.
- Comedians: The comedians who did comedy shows, hosted events, and/or did ship announcements were all hilarious!
- DJs: Whether working a party, games, or karaoke, the DJs were top-notched. They knew how to choose the right music to keep the crowd hyped.
- Rickey Smiley Karaoke: This being a music-lover cruise, the passengers who participated in the karaoke events could really sing! What made this karaoke so much better than others that I've seen was Rickey Smiley a his comedians who hosted. Their wit and antics kept everyone laughing.
- R&B Bingo: I really enjoyed this challenge. It was kind of like playing Name That Tune and Bingo at the same time.
- Celebrity Chef Offerings: ONE Voyage invited celebrity chefs Cheo Garabito, Antonio Tate, and Richard Ingraham to create a custom menu of their southern delights to be offered in the ship's Test Kitchen restaurant. What an amazing culinary experience!
Virgin Voyages - Specific
- No Buffets: Virgin Voyages does not have a buffet. Instead, they have a cafeteria style dining option in which the staff serves you. The lines move a little slower but my germophobic self was glad to sacrifice speed over the unsanitary buffet etiquette of passengers I've seen on other cruise lines.
- Soft Drinks Included: I like that you don't need to purchase a drink package to have a soda on a Virgin Voyages cruise. I don't drink much soda these days but it was nice to have the option.
- Wi-Fi Included: Virgin Voyages offers free basic Wi-Fi. It was useful for texting, checking email, and checking social media. If you need more than that (i.e., streaming) then you need to purchase one of the ship's enhanced Wi-Fi packages.
Things I'd Like to See Changed
ONE Voyage - Specific
- Seating for the Evening Concerts: The ONE Voyage concerts took place on the ship's pool deck where there is very limited seating. It would be nice to have somewhere to sit occasionally, One night, I stood for 5 hours!
- Live Bands Only for Main Stage Concerts: Lol! Traci calls me a music snob for this one. I realize that I might be in the minority on this opinion, but when I see a live concert on a main stage, I want to see the artists perform in front of a live band instead of backing tracks. A few of the artists (not all) on this cruise performed to tracks on the main stage. They sounded good but I was missing the show elements of accents, breakdowns, and crescendos that come along with live musicians. Maybe ONE Voyage could hire professional musicians to learn the shows of artists who don't bring their band. I've seen this done effectively on other theme cruises.
Virgin Voyages - Specific
- Expand the Character Limit for the Daily Itinerary Items: There seems to be a character limit on the daily itinerary items on the Virgin Voyages app. This caused some of the items to be truncated. There was not an option to click the truncated item for an expanded description.
Trip Report
NOTE: I am in the process of writing this trip report. Check back later of Like/Follow my Facebook page so that you will get notified when the trip report has been completed.
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Rise and Rhythm Cruise | Capital Jazz SuperCruise | One Love Gospel Cruise | Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage Cruise
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