Theme Cruising: Two Passions in One (excerpt)

Theme cruising....passion for cruising with passion for a hobby, interest, culture, or lifestyle, be it jazz, poker, quilting, wellness, or whatever. Or, even more esoteric pursuits: there are cruises aimed at bikers (yes, your motorcycle is loaded on the cruise ship), cruises for cat lovers (Meow Meow Cruise), cougars (not the cat variety!), couples seeking stronger marriages, swingers, and recovering substance abusers.


...there is a staggering array of themes covered by these special interest cruises. Essentially, if a theme cruise purveyor is willing to invest money, time, and other resources necessary to design, organize and market the theme cruise—and assume the risk of the cruise failing to generate the requisite demand—it can be arranged. The nature of theme cruises I have seen marketed run the gamut. Passionate about motorcycle riding? ETA Motorcycle Cruises tagline is “Bring your bike with you on a cruise.” (Chapter 25). Love poker? Card Player Cruises is run by a couple of Poker Hall of Famers (Chapter 24). How about craft beers? The California Beer Festival at Sea. Knitting, quilting, health and wellness? Yes, there is a cruise for you. Recovering substance abuser? Want to strengthen your marriage? Celebrate and rejuvenate your religious faith? All are covered by theme cruises. Yes, there are even clothing optional cruises—either geared more towards cruisers seeking risqué fun, or others appealing more to naturalists.
I could go on and on. The opportunity to network with other like-minded cruisers can be arranged around essentially any pastime, avocation, or interest...


There are many formats for carrying out theme cruises ranging from the cruise line offering it directly to customers, to a theme cruise purveyor such as a travel company or a group of independent entrepreneurs chartering a cruise ship, to various iterations in between. For instance, a cruise line may choose to bring on board a performer, celebrity chef, sommelier, author, orator, thought leader, or other celebrity. Often these cruise line theme cruises are in conjunction with sponsors and feature celebrities who the sponsors are in partnership with. For instance, Celebrity Cruises partners with Fine Cooking magazine and their Emmy® Award nominated PBS series, Moveable Feast with Fine Cooking. Celebrity Cruises’ Moveable Feast passengers participate in cooking classes and demonstrations, and even can opt for excursions to shop for local ingredients in preparation for a private dinner on the ship. In early 2019, Holland America Line and O, The Oprah Magazine are partnering on a Girls’ Getaway cruise featuring Oprah Winfrey on Holland America’s newest ship, Nieuw Statendam which launched in December 2018 with a transatlantic voyage. Oprah, is the Nieuw Statendam Godmother. The Girls’ Getaway cruise sold out in three days after it was announced. In these instances of cruise line theme cruises, passengers may choose to partake or not in various performances, demonstrations, or presentations. Such cruises may be arranged entirely by cruise line staff or a collaboration between a cruise line and a sponsor, or with a separate theme cruise operator.


Alternatively, the theme cruise may be a music fest, or beer fest, or nudists, or whatever the theme is that takes over the entire ship; partaking is largely unavoidable and the theme and the cruise are for the most part inseparable. Generally, in these instances the theme cruise operator “rents” or charters the ship and its staff from the cruise line—at a cost of approximately $1 million to over $10 million depending on ship, season and duration of the cruise—and the cruise line is otherwise not directly involved in the theme cruise except to offer the food, ship services and amenities, and standard entertainment such as lounge acts, and activities....


Music-related cruises are by far the most popular type of theme cruise. Jazz, rock, R&B, country, reggae, even classical—virtually every music genre has one or more dedicated cruises. For many well-established music artists, performing on theme cruises offers a stable source of work and a way to bring their music directly to fans at a time when radio is dramatically different as a means to get music to fans than in the past, and retail music is virtually extinct. For the fans, it is an opportunity to see artists who may no longer be regularly touring, or not accessible in a cruise passenger’s home town. Music cruises can focus on a single artist who performs a couple of concerts and the remainder of the cruise activities are around meet-and-greets, DJ’s and parties, and themed activities. Popular single artist cruises include the Kiss Kruise, New Kids on The Block Cruise, and The Backstreet Boys Cruise. At least one single artist cruise takes place without the actual artist! One successful theme cruise revolves around a legendary artist that has been deceased for over 40 years—the Elvis Cruise, an homage to Elvis Presley, celebrates his music and the musicians who performed with him. More typical is the music festival type theme cruise featuring numerous performers and accompanying comedians, celebrity hosts, and activities that are in keeping with the music genre featured by the cruise.


Particularly with music theme cruises, there is a contingent of cruisers who after experiencing a theme cruise choose never to go back to traditional cruising due to the cruise mates they meet, and more importantly, getting an intense dose of whatever it is they are passionate about. Imagine what it must feel like for a person into music of a certain period, say, the 50’s and 60’s, to experience that music live, performed by the original artists daily for a week! Why wouldn’t someone want to keep repeating that experience without giving up any of the benefits of a traditional cruise—the ship amenities; experiencing all the joy that comes with being on the ocean; and, getting to stop at wonderful destinations? It is of little surprise that theme cruises have very high retention rates....


There are now websites that track upcoming theme cruises. So, a cruiser who is passionate about some interest could look for cruises that cater to him or her. Alternatively, some cruisers use these sites to inform themselves about cruise ships’ future full or partial-ship charter plans so they can modify their own travel plans accordingly. It is possible to be “bumped” when a ship gets chartered after you book, and I have heard of passengers who wish to avoid a theme cruise that they find themselves on the same ship with, in the case of non-full ship charters. They might have had an unpleasant experience or heard about one from another cruiser. These unfortunate stories are relatively rare occurrences though. In fact, Chapter 22 Festival at Sea, tells the happy story of Ms. Dorothy, 80-something cruise passenger who experienced just the opposite: Ms. Dorothy found herself on the same ship as a theme cruise that she was not a part of, and was aimed at a very different demographic—and yet the theme cruise became an annual tradition for her....

Read the complete chapter, Theme Cruising: Two Passions in One, in The Joy of Cruising. Available now...