Hardly a day goes by without someone asking me “How much longer are you going to work?” Do I look that old? The question bothers me for that reason, but there are other concerns I have when asked. I never know which answer they are rooting for! I have chosen to assume that they want me to continue. And, to those with opposing views, I know who you are!
Here is my unequivocal response to the question. As long as producing the cruises remains exciting and fun as they are now, and, as long as my contribution to the programs remains helpful, I am “all in.” I have a hard time filling the 5-hour gap on Saturdays between finishing playing tennis and going out to dinner. More free time than that would be difficult. Most importantly, I would miss the guests, the musicians and my colleagues. Notice there was no mention of agents, managers or credit card processing people.
It has been two weeks since we arrived home from Journey of Jazz ’25, one of my favorite experiences of all time. Upon returning, we have been working hard on the programming for the upcoming five sailings in January and February ’26. David Foster: The Hitman Cruise was our first meeting. His team has been fantastic to work with and, though this cruise is only 5 days long, it has enough talent and shows for an entire week. We spent some time adding up the GRAMMY® Awards won by this lineup and we stopped counting at 30.
Coordinating the huge amount of talent on Christian McBride’s World at Sea, which sails next, was very challenging. The cruise combines the music of Christian’s amazing ensembles with some of the top vocalists in the world (Ledisi, Samara Joy, Cècile McLorin Salvant, Angèlique Kidjo, Josè James, Melissa Walker). Christian insists upon being a part of almost every show. He is an amazing performer, musician and human being.
David Foster: The Hitman Cruise and Christian McBride’s World at Sea are sailing for the first time. To encourage our guests and fans to enjoy these new programs, now, for a limited time, select staterooms on both programs are available at favorable prices.
Use the Promo Code: BESTVALUE for either David Foster: The Hitman Cruise or Christian McBride’s World at Sea. For those who want to sail on both cruises, there is a special offer (Promo Code: DOUBLEVALUE) just for you.
We try to think of every way possible to help you enjoy the music.
The next three sailings need no introduction, are virtually fully reserved and have been for decades. Working on the performance schedule for The Jazz Cruise ’26 is the ultimate puzzle. What does 100 musicians, 220 hours of music and 6 different performance venues create? Right now, the answer is “havoc,” but we are sorting through the best way to make this program work for all. Which shows are in The Theatre? Who performs late in the evening? Can the guests catch all the stars they wish to see? We spend a lot of time going round and round on these issues.
There was a time when I did this by myself. I would take pieces of paper and write the names of the groups upon them. Then I would create a daily grid that had times and venues. I would place the name of a group in the appropriate slot and see how that fit into the overall schedule. I would photograph that day and then do the same process for the next day of the ship. If this sounds tedious, trust me, it was.
Moving on to The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’26.1 & ’26.2, here, too, it is Waitlist Only and has been for months. In fact, The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’26.3, which does not sail for 342 days, has fewer than 90 staterooms remaining. Working on the performance schedule for those sailings is fun. All that talent in one place. You could almost randomly place the artists in a schedule and it would be great. But, we are working to refine and redefine those shows, with the goal of having more music during the day and the earlier parts of the evening.
Those are our immediate projects. We have three more cruises to plan for ’26 and, though we have already launched two sailings for ’27, we have another SIX to offer, including one brand new program. One of my jobs is to select and sign the talent for each cruise. For ’27, we will enter almost 400 contracts with musicians. Each one requires care and diligence. Thankfully, though I do most of the “selection” work, we have a team of folks who handle the documentation.
The placement of the cruises on the calendar requires a process of its own. In ’27, Journey of Jazz ’27 will sail immediately after The Jazz Cruise ’27 and just before The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’27.1. Why? Because our Journey of Jazz guests are also interested in both The Jazz Cruise and The Smooth Jazz Cruise. This placement allows them to sail on both. Very few guests sail on both The Jazz Cruise and The Smooth Jazz Cruise, so separating them by a week does not create any displacement.
The point of all this is to share with you how much fun we have producing the cruises for you. It is a big puzzle, but unlike most puzzles, the various pieces move and change from time to time. That is why we have a team to produce the programs, a team that I am very proud of and thrilled to be a contributor to. And that is why they will have to drag me out of here kicking and screaming, if at all.
By Michael Lazaroff, Executive Director of The Jazz Cruise, The Smooth Jazz Cruise, Chris Botti at Sea, Christian McBride’s World at Sea, Journey of Jazz, David Foster: The Hitman Cruise and Top Shelf Country Cruise. Feel free to express your views or pose questions to him at michael@scecruises.com.
Ron-tober: Ron Carter at Birdland Jazz
Ron Carter, who recently performed two magnificent sets at the SFJAZZ Center for our Journey of Jazz guests, will be in-residence at Birdland Jazz Club in NYC during the month of October. The legendary bassist has played there at Birdland during the month of October since the late ’90s. “We made it a month-long celebration showcasing all of his different ensembles around 2015 or 2016, about the same time the jazz world started collectively calling him ‘Maestro,’” explains Gianni Valenti, owner of Birdland. “I’d say our love of Ron Carter is balanced between his incredible past accomplishments and his ongoing and relentless vibrancy.
“Long club stints are mostly a thing of the past in the jazz world, but Ron Carter is one of the few artists who leads a variety of ensembles, each with its own distinctive personnel and repertoire. Ron has the reputation and notoriety (and stamina) to keep the music fresh as well as sustain sold-out shows for three or four weeks or more.”
Those weeks include performances by the Ron Carter/Bill Frisell Duo (October 8-11), Ron’s New Jazz Trio (October 15-18), his Foursight Quartet (October 22-25) and his Great Big Band (October 29-November. 1).
Journey of Jazz ’25 Photo Album
The photos from Journey of Jazz ’25 are ready for viewing. We know that the guests on that cruise will be eager to check them out, but anyone sailing on The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’26.3 or Botti at Sea III (’26) should sneak a peek as well. Many of the photos show our guests attending the various special excursions we curated for Victoria and San Francisco.
Those events were enjoyed universally. Like all programs, we learned a lot from our first set of on land excursions. We are modifying some of the excursions, adding a few and dropping the ones that were not well attended.
Spoiler alert! The events that featured music, wine and/or food were the most popular. Pretty insightful!
Signature Cruise Experiences Program Update
’26 Cruises
- David Foster: The Hitman Cruise (on sale)
- Sailing Dates: 1.15.26 – 1.20.26
- Remaining Inventory: Veranda/Ocean View/Inside Staterooms
- Cruises Prices: For Best Cruise Prices, call office or email us at BestPrices@scecruises.com
- Christian McBride’s World at Sea (on sale)
- Sailing Dates: 1.20.26 – 1.27.26
- Remaining Inventory: Concierge/Veranda/Ocean View/Inside Staterooms
- Cruises Prices: For Best Cruise Prices, call office or email us at BestPrices@scecruises.com
- The Jazz Cruise ’26 (on sale)
- Sailing Dates: 1.27.26 – 2.3.26
- 90%+ Reserved
- Remaining Inventory: Concierge/veranda/Ocean View/Inside Staterooms
- Cruise Prices: As shown on website
- The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’26.1 (waitlist only)
- Sailing Dates: 2.3.26 – 2.10.26
- 100% Reserved
- Remaining Inventory: Waitlist Only (All Categories)
- Cruise Prices: Not applicable
- The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’26.2 (waitlist only)
- Sailing Dates: 2.10.26 – 2.17.26
- 100% Reserved
- Remaining Inventory: Waitlist Only (All Categories)
- Cruise Prices: Not applicable
- Top Shelf Country Cruise (on sale)
- Sailing Dates: 2.27.26 – 3.6.26
- 75% Reserved
- Remaining Inventory: Concierge/Veranda/Ocean View Staterooms
- Cruise Prices: As shown on website
- The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’26.3 (on sale)
- Sailing Dates: 9.11.26 – 9.18.26
- 85% Reserved
- Remaining Inventory: Concierge/Veranda/Ocean View Staterooms
- Cruise Prices: As shown on website
- Botti at Sea III (’26) (on sale)
- Sailing Dates: 9.18.26 – 9.25.26
- 50% Reserved
- Remaining Inventory: Concierge/Veranda/Ocean View Staterooms
- Cruise Prices: As shown on website
’27 Cruises
- New Cruise TBA
- Sailing Dates: 1.12.27 – 1.17.27
- Announcement: 11.4.25
- The Jazz Cruise ‘27
- Sailing Dates: 1.17.27 – 1.24.27
- Announcement: 11.13.25
- Journey of Jazz ‘27 (on sale)
- Sailing Dates: 1.24.27 – 1.31.27
- Guests on Journey of Jazz ’25: Now through 11.26.25: Past Guests may Rebook Stateroom from Journey of Jazz ‘25
- Guests Not on Journey of Jazz ’25:
- Starting on 9.30.25: New Guests may complete a Pre-Sail Reservation
- Starting on 12.15.25: Guests with Pre-Sail Reservations may start to select Staterooms
- Open Booking Starts: 12.30.25
- Cruise Prices: As shown on website
- The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’27.1 (on sale)
- Sailing Dates: 1.31.27 – 2.7.27
- Guests on The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’26.1: Now through 11.26.25: Past Guests may Rebook Stateroom from Journey of Jazz ‘25
- Guests Not on The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’26.1:
- NOW: New Guests may complete a Pre-Sail Reservation
- Starting on 12.4.25: Guests with Pre-Sail Reservations may start to select Staterooms
- Open Booking Starts: 12.29.25
- Cruise Prices: As shown on website
- The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’27.2 (on sale)
- Sailing Dates: 2.7.27 – 2.14.27
- Guests on The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’26.2: Now through 11.26.25: Past Guests may Rebook Stateroom from Journey of Jazz ‘25
- Guests Not on The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’26.2:
- NOW: New Guests may complete a Pre-Sail Reservation
- Starting on 12.4.25: Guests with Pre-Sail Reservations may start to select Staterooms
- Open Booking Starts: 12.29.25
- Cruise Prices: As shown on website
- Top Shelf Country Cruise ’27
- 4.9.27 – 4.16.27
- Announcement: TBD
- Botti at Sea IV (’27)
- 10.6.27 – 10.13.27
- Announcement: TBD
- The Smooth Jazz Cruise ’27.3
- 10.13.27 – 10.20.27
- Announcement: TBD