Victoria proved to be idyllic in terms of its gardens, architecture and ambience. Guests went whale watching and visited the Butchart Gardens. Tours of the city were popular and many guests took advantage of the weather to roam the center of the city enjoying the hundreds and hundreds of flower displays, beautiful sidewalk cafes and views of the government buildings and the Empress Hotel that define the city.

Just over 300 guests joined us at the iconic McPherson Theater in Victoria for a private afternoon concert that featured Warren Wolf with the Sullivan Fortner Trio. I attended the show and enjoyed every minute of the overlap of modern music being performed in an old-world venue. No matter what a guest chose to do that day, they were scurrying back to the ship for our Diana Krall shows. I said that I would leave that to Lee, but I cannot help myself.

A couple of days later, we arrived in San Francisco. Our crack team was ready to launch our excursion portfolio and led groups to several different wineries, the Napa Valley Wine Train, tours of Alcatraz as well as escorted visits to topflight restaurants for dim sum and seafood, curated by. Former San Francisco Chronicle food critic, Michael Bauer.

Nearly 400 guests boarded our coaches and headed to SFJAZZ, perhaps the most beautiful jazz venue in the world, for a private afternoon show featuring the SFJAZZ Collective (Chris Potter, David Sanchez, Mike Rodriguez, Warren Wolf, Edward Simon, Matt Brewer and Kendrick Scott). Besides enjoying 90 minutes of captivating music, our guests were treated to an introduction and presentation by Terence Blanchard, Executive Music Director of SFJAZZ. That was a pleasant surprise.

That night, Michael Bauer hosted several groups to exclusive dining experiences at top notch restaurants around the city. No complaints, only raves so far! In each case, we provided the transportation from the ship to the restaurant and back. The restaurants provided either private rooms or separate areas just for our guests.

Most of the tours and excursions were repeated the next day, including five winery tours, another Napa Valley Wine Train event and three dining events including a visit to Yank Sing, San Francisco’s #1 dim sum restaurant. 

The show at SFJAZZ featured Ron Carter with Renee Rosnes, Jimmy Greene and Payton Crossley. Every seats in the venue were filled! Since this event was not “on the ship,” I can talk about it without breaking my promise to Lee regarding music reviews being his domain. The quartet was fabulous. Ron Carter’s aura was in full bloom. Our own Marcus Miller did the introduction as Ron Carter is one of Marcus’ idols. Heartfelt and honest as always, Marcus was the ultimate emcee.

At 6PM, we left the port of San Francisco and headed for our last stop, Los Angeles. The final day being a day at sea was filled with more music than any other day of the week, a bittersweet ending to one of the most memorable cruise programs in our 25-year history. 

Journey of Jazz will sail again during the last week of January ’27. This time the “Journey” will be headed to New Orleans, the undisputed home of jazz. Marcus Miller and Gregory Porter will return as hosts and we are excited to announce our star-studded lineup soon.

Just as jazz continues to be the center of our music focus, Journey of Jazz will continue to meld the music with the jazz life experience. 

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.

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