Cruise to the Edge 2025

Hi all

I'm a newbie here so please go gentle . I'm will be on the Cruise to the Edge for this year for the 1st time so have no idea what to expect. There is quite a lineup of acts of which some will be more popular then others. There are some which for me are a must see but am worried that it may be on a 1st come 1st served basis and might miss out. How does ut all work.

Kind of confused . Is their a reccomended forum or a link somewhere that might help clarify it for me?

Thanks in advance

Tony

I went back in 2014. I'm not sure how it's changed since then, but here are my observations...

The headliner acts usually play in the big auditorium, two shows per night, but you can only go to one show based on your badge. Sometimes if there is standing room, they MIGHT let you attend the other show, but don't count on it.

All of the other shows are first come, first served, so once you know the schedule (it will be published on the CTTE website, I think) -- sit down and plan your entire trip. Many of the bands will play multiple times, so you will have a couple of shots at seeing them. Many acts overlap, so you may have to leave one venue early to get a good spot for your next selection. There might be 3-5 bands playing at the same time on different parts of the ship. Many acts are in small clubs and don't have much seating (or standing) room, so plan accordingly. I showed up 15 min early for one act and the venue was already packed full, so I missed the show.

The ports of call are usually nothing. The bands will still be playing while you're in port, so you have to decide if you'd rather go ashore and miss some acts, or stay on ship. I recommend staying on ship -- you're on this cruise for the music, not tourism.

The food was good, but not as good as a regular cruise. The ship had thousands of people trying to squeeze in a bite to eat during lulls in the action. Work your meal plan into your overall schedule of attending concerts. You're there for the music, not fine dining.

They may have opportunities to get your photos taken with the bands. You'll stand in line forever, then get about 30 seconds to shake hands, pose, and get your picture taken. It's a nice souvenir if you have the time. My photo with John Wetton (just a couple of years before his death) is one of my prize possessions.

Other than hiding in their staterooms, there's no where else for the bands to go when they aren't playing, so you'll see them all across the ship -- in the clubs, dining rooms, pools, etc. Stop and say hi! I lounged around the pool with Tony Levin one afternoon. We joked about my putting a towel across my legs to prevent sunburn, while he did the same with his head! Later I did a photo-op with him and he joked that the towels did their jobs because neither of us were sunburned!

Some of the bands will choose to eat their meals in their cabins for privacy and down-time, but many will eat in the cafeteria or dining rooms with everyone else. It's a good opportunity to hob nob and eat with band members. I ate breakfast with members of the Strawbs one morning.

I don't know if they still do it, but after hours (usually after midnight), they have amateur hour in one of the clubs. Budding musicians can pull together impromptu (or sometimes rehearsed) performances of their favorite prog songs -- often with the original composers sitting in the audience. I remember John Wetton watching some enterprising prog wannabe's cranking out King Crimson numbers. They were actually quite good. I think the ship supplied a basic complement of instruments, but I know a lot of people brought their own aboard.

Besides planning time for meals, my wife and I found it helpful to plan some time to just relax in a quiet spot (the balcony in our stateroom) -- our ears being saturated from 12 hours of non-stop music day after day.

So my big message is get the schedule and plan ahead. You don't want to miss your favorite acts. And keep in mind it's not a normal cruise -- it's a floating multi-day music festival.

Incidently, on the 2014 cruise we had: Yes, Marillion, Steve Hackett, Genesis revisited, UK, Tangerine Dream, Renaissance, Saga, Three Friends (ex Gentle Giant), Patrick Moraz, PFM, Stick Men, Strawbs, Pineapple Thief, Soft Machine legacy, Electric Asturias, plus many others. They haven't had a better lineup (IMO) since.





Edited by wiz_d_kidd - 5 hours 28 minutes ago at 08:38