If you are in need of ideas for a last-minute Christmas gift for your loved one, do I have the gift for you. How about a cruise? I’m no expert when it comes to cruises … I’ve only cruised around our fine harbor once or twice … but four days on the ocean blue in one of those six-story floating hotels would be perfect. Don’t you agree?
A perfect choice would be the newly announced 2024 Taylor Swift Cruise. Marvelous Mouse Travel Agency (it’s real and it is not even affiliated with Disney), in association with Royal Caribbean International, has put together the perfect package where you can plan your entire vacation around the pop star’s Eras Tour.
According to the agency’s website, you can “Join us as we celebrate all things Taylor, make new friends, dress up in our favorite era’s duds, trade friendship bracelets and enjoy everything this amazing ship has to offer.” Plus, you will also visit Royal Caribbean’s private island. Now you’re talking!
Did I mention dear Taylor will not perform, nor will she be on board or is even affiliated with the cruise? A small detail.
I suspect she will be raking in a few bucks dropped on the voyage by her “Swifties” fans, for the use of her name and image. Still for a starting rate of $1,573, including coffee and tea … what a deal.
If you choose not to partake in this amazing experience or miss the opportunity as a Christmas gift, fear not, it doesn’t sail until next October. I bet you can catch another pop star’s adventure cruise, which I expect will be sure to follow soon enough.
No doubt Beyoncé will soon be getting on board with a cruise of her own, and Lady Gaga, a shrewd entertainment megastar, will see the opportunity to bring her “Little Monsters” together on the ocean blue for a small profit. They are getting older and don’t need chaperones anymore.
I might even consider signing up for a Bruce Springsteen or a Rolling Stones harbor cruise myself if it has a stop here in Mattapoisett.
Apparently, this popstar, sea-cruise thing is not new. Flower Power Cruises will have a floating party for “Groovy ’60s music fans” on the Celebrity Summit sailing in March. It features The Rascals and Tommy James and the Shondells, who all must be older than I am.
Disney had a “Halloween on the High Seas” Cruise. Sorry I didn’t let you know sooner.
There is a cruise for everybody. An ’80s music cruise on the Mariner of the Seas sails in February … a nice winter respite from the cold and snow. It is billed as a “totally tubular” sailing event. Confirmed acts include Air Supply, Soft Cell and Debbie Gibson! Don’t miss that one. Also in February, the “Rock Legends” Cruise sails on the Independence of the Seas featuring The Circle, Billy Gibbons, Collective Soul, Geoff Tate and the current incarnation of Jefferson Starship. Legends?
There is a “Star Trek” cruise, presumably exploring the ocean, not where no man has gone before. That adventure is left to a “Sci-Fi” cruise, a Doctor Who (the British TV franchise) themed sail on the Wonder of the Seas. It features several cast members who apparently are all retired collecting residuals. I wonder if they’ll check out the Bermuda Triangle.
I must say, I just discovered these amazing vacation choices. I guess I missed the boat.
Editor’s note: Mattapoisett resident Dick Morgado is an artist and retired newspaper columnist whose musings are, after some years, back in The Wanderer under the subtitle “Thoughts on ….” Morgado’s opinions have also appeared for many years in daily newspapers around Boston.
Thoughts on…
By Dick Morgado