Are Festivals at Sea set to become the ‘new big thing’?

I’m not talking here about the type of music themed cruises offered by the likes of P&O, rather more modern music infact; Royal Caribbean have teamed up with some of Europes major party brands to offer something quite unique, blending luxury cruising with a music festival while cruising around the Med.

Jewel of the Seas has been chartered for a week in June next year, sailing from Monaco to Rome and calling in at the beautiful ports of Santorini, Mykonos and Cannes, and during the cruise there will be music from some, yet to be named, world-famous DJ’s. A real party cruise! I do wonder if the beautiful ports of call are going to be wasted on these particular cruisers who will surely be up all night and abed all the following day?

It will certainly be a far cry from anything your usual festival goer has experienced before. One of my sons is a huge music fan and usually attends 5-6 festivals each summer, in muddy, wet conditions, sleeping under canvas. Not the most glamorous way to spend a few days! I expect many of these festival goers have never experienced a cruise in their lives so they will be in for a pleasant surprise. For one the weather should be much warmer than the English summer, and they will be able to laze around the pool sipping cocktails while enjoying the music rather than swigging tepid beer from a can.

One of my son’s is a huge festival goer, probably going to five or six each summer, and I have just been telling him about this cruise. Whilst he thought it sounded fabulous with Inside Cabins starting from £999.00 per person then the cost of drinks on top of that, not to mention flights and transfers, it would be considerably more expensive than your average festival so I don’t think he will be booking.

I have checked the availability online and already some of the cabins are sold out, including the Royal Suite and the Owner’s Suites, so it looks as though this new venture is proving popular and may be the start of something big, and also something to attract the younger generation who probably wouldn’t otherwise consider a cruise. Good shout Royal Caribbean, never a cruise line to tread water.

Going back to my previous post there has also been a certain amount of discussion about Pokemon Go! on cruise ships. At the moment it is proving challenging to put into place as PokeStops and gyms are tied to GPS coordinates so a constantly moving cruise ship is proving tricky to overcome. However if the cruise lines do manage to resolve this then the festival goers can kill two birds with one stone while on board. Happy Days! I will keep you posted on the Pokemon Go! front.

Happy Cruising Folks!