Dave Koz & Friends at Sea Cruise, Part 4: The Cruise Wraps Up In Reykjavik

by Kevin Wierzbicki

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We had an absolute blast on the Dave Koz & Friends at Sea cruise and we've had additional fun as we've recounted our experience with you with our series of articles. Alas it is time for us to finish up but before we go we wanted to tell you about a few more things that took place during the smooth jazz festival at sea.

There were two Dave Koz & Friends at Sea cruises this year and they sailed back- to-back in mid-June, the first (which we sailed on) left Rotterdam, the Netherlands bound for two ports in Norway and two ports in Iceland before ending in Reykjavik, Iceland (the second cruise retraced the route back to the Netherlands.) Both cruises took place aboard the Holland America Line ship "Rotterdam." As always, Dave brought along a stellar batch of "friends" that included stars of the smooth jazz scene like Vincent Ingala, Rick Braun, Richard Elliot, Mark James, Marcus Anderson, Adrian Crutchfield, David Benoit, Jenny Langer, Jonathan Butler and so many others. Every performer on the cruise had incredible stage presence and each concert was truly a "show!"

Koz has long been involved in charitable efforts to raise money for the Starlight Children's Foundation, an organization that brings critically-needed programs to hospitalized kids during their most challenging moments. In fact, Dave's efforts have raised more than two million dollars for Starlight since 1993 and even more was raised with the silent and live auctions that took place during the cruise. Besides being something to help children in need the auction presented a great opportunity for fans to bid on some unique items, like a pair of sunglasses designed by Blake Kuwahara, a Tweety perfume and lipstick set from the House of Sillage, a custom pen set signed by all artists and valued at $1000 and a really cool item: a set of paintings of Herbie Hancock's handprints by artist Cameron Smith and autographed by Hancock. For those interested in taking home music as a souvenir, a merch shop that was open during the entire cruise offered a wide selection of CDs, vinyl LPs and even a few cassettes by many of the performers.

Some of the special events that took place during the cruise were comedy shows by Loni Love, a CD release party for the Boneshaker's new album Live to Be This, Chill by the Pool shows with DJ ReelSound, Guest Bartender events hosted by the likes of BK Jackson, who also hosted a late night Rep Your City party, a Best of '70s Yacht Rock show, a tribute to beloved TV show "Soul Train," a drum circle that fans could participate in (and jam session talent searches for fans too), a Jazz Organ Party helmed by keys man Gregg Karukas, a Gambling with the Stars event in the ship's casino, an amazing spotlight concert featuring Rick Braun and Richard Elliot, a pajama party with Eric Darius, and on and on and on! Many of the artists have a strong tie to Spaghettini, the restaurant featuring live jazz in Seal Beach, California and there were lots of Spaghettini at Sea shows featuring the likes of Eric Darius, Richard Elliot, DW3, Vincent Ingala, Julian Vaughn, Jazmin Ghent, Kayla Waters, Kim Scott and others. The shows ended on a strong note on the last night of the cruise with Jonathan Butler's "Ubuntu" show focusing on music from his native South Africa, a Last Laugh comedy show from Love, an acoustic blues set from the Boneshakers and a James Taylor sing-along with Javier Colon and Friends. Earlier in the cruise it was Marcus Anderson who, with BK Jackson, Adrian Crutchfield and Marcel Anderson, performed a song that could have easily served as the theme song for the entire cruise. During the Marcus Anderson Hometown Throwdown show the guys played George Benson's 1980 hit "Gimme the Night" with its totally appropriate lyric of "'Cause there's music in the air/And lots of lovin' everywhere..." Indeed, the feeling of love in the air for the music and those who created it was palpable throughout the cruise. Cruisers disembarked in Reykjavik, Iceland with a boatload of precious memories and hopes to do it all again next time.

The 2026 Dave Koz & Friends at Sea Cruise to South America is already sold out but fans can join the wait list and keep up with everything else Dave has going on here.

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