Gangway! With Doug MacLeod playing to the crowd of over 1,200 Blues lovers who were in the process of embarking on the Veendam, a luxurious Dutch cruise ship docked in Tampa, Florida, the air was electric with excitement. Our publisher, Dan Jacobson, and I were ready to see what all the fuss was about. First of all, we noticed that there were three distinct categories of passengers: Virgin cruisers, Returnees, and Blues musicians. Since we were in the former category, we watched with amazement as the majority of cruisers, who were Returnees, called out to one another. It felt like a huge family reunion. 49 states were represented on the cruise as well as several European and Scandinavian countries. It really didn't matter where you hailed from–the common denominator was simply: The Blues!

Once on board, you had a choice of about any kind of food to eat or Blues music to hear. Sleep, however, became a commodity that was in sparse supply. The crowd was casual and the usual decorum that comes with a cruise i.e. Formal dinners, reserved seating, was not necessary. This was one huge weeklong party! Actually, a more accurate name for this adventure could've been called a "Booze Cruise" instead of "Blues Cruise". With pleasant Indonesian wait staff available to you with just a nod or a beckoning finger; you could imbibe at your heart's content. A typical cruise goes through 11,000 gallons of alcohol. This trip had consumed over 38,000 gallons of booze by Tuesday!

Two main stages were playing music from about 11:30 am through midnight. At 1:00 pm each night, there would be an amazing jam by members of various bands on the stern of the ship that would last till whenever. Oh, here was the lineup: Taj Mahal, Little Milton, Susan Tedeschi, The Derek Trucks Band, Roomful of Blues, Charlie Musselwhite, Curtis Salgado, Tommy Castro, Walter "Wolfman" Washington, Rosie Ledet, Anthony Gomes, Ronnie Baker Brooks, Doug MacLeod, and Todd Sharpville. Special guests included Mark Hummel and the Rev. Billy C. Wirtz.

Dan and I carefully looked over the week's schedule and made sure we timed our visits to the two stages so that we would catch every act at least once. The 1:00 am jams, however, exceeded our expectations as they were both spontaneous and awesome. Where else could you see Tommy Castro jamming with Ronnie Baker Brooks and Derek Trucks, along with horn players from other Blues bands all on the same stage? Picture a calm Caribbean night with warm winds a'blowin' and a bright moon–some stage, eh? Fortunately, our West Coast body clocks found that 1:00am felt like 3 hours earlier.

We met so many wonderful cruisers at the mealtimes, friendly and interesting couples from New Hampshire, Kansas City, and even a contingent of West Coasters. Food was available via room service 24/7 and you could literally eat in the dining rooms almost constantly. Dinners were especially fantastic. Each night you had a five course meal with entrees like Filet Mignon, Lobster, Duck, Steak, Mahi-Mahi, and other choices too numerous to mention. One night, the entire cook staff paraded around the two story dining room with Baked Alaska topped with sparklers to serve to each table.

As a diversion and a rest for the musicians, there were side trips available at Roatan, Belize, and Cozumel. Dan and I decided to visit the Belikan Brewery in Belize (all the product that you could consume was part of the tour) and learned that it is the 3rd best rated brewery in the world and was built by a German brewing company and that their operations are monitored via computer from that country. I never saw so much stainless steel in my life. We learned that enough of their beer is sold in Belize for every man, woman, and child to drink four bottles of beer a day! Just say no! We had to leave the ship in boats holding about 30 people each to reach Belize as the port wasn't deep enough for the Veendam. We were told it would take about 30 minutes each way. Wrong. What pulled up were boats with three 200hp motors on the back. One passenger noted that our boat pilot had a tattoo of Jim Hendrix on his calf. I politely corrected her by noting that it was Bob Marley instead just as the pilot mashed the throttle wide open and we were in Belize in 8 minutes flat!

Dan and I chose to play golf at the Cozumel Country Club at a fantastic Jack Nicholas course. As we were the only two of the 1200 who had chosen this option, we made several married men jealous when we regaled them with our adventure back at the boat as they looked at their wives and were shot a look like "not on your life were you gonna play golf while I'm on this cruise with you". It was a beautiful course except for two things: the crocodiles on the 13th hole and the fact that we were warned not to try to retrieve any balls that landed in the jungle surrounding each hole. The reason?: Tarantulas, snakes, feral pigs, and more crocodiles. I lost 6 balls but I guess I saved two.

The musicians seemed to enjoy the cruise as much as the rest of us and their performances seemed to show it. On the last night, Ronnie Baker Brooks brought the crowd to their feet by playing his Strat all around the 2 story indoor lounge, climbing the stairs and then playing his guitar with his teeth on the balcony. Anthony Gomes also got the crowd up with his youthful enthusiasm and serious sounds from his custom Telecaster. When asked for a certain song request, Doug MacLeod retorted, "I don't know, let me ask the band". He then held his fingers out as "the band" and then went into the requested song. The Rev. Billy C. Wirtz was a special treat with his own brand of music–he was taught piano by Sunnyland Slim in Chicago and his less-than-sacred topics warrant him a visit to Southern California so that we can share in enjoying his talents. Little Milton was backed by his hot L.A. guitarist, Paul Gomez, who is married to the Veendam's Registered Nurse. Like I said earlier, it was like one big family reunion on the ship.

You can get more information on next year's Legendary Rhythm & Blues Cruise at Bluescruise.com. Consider that a majority of cruisers have already booked this event before they even left the ship so act fast if you're interested.