Have you ever been on a cruise with your family or friends? Unlimited food, awesome ocean vistas, beautiful Caribbean ports of call – what’s not to love? Then you arrive and 80% of the ship is over 60 or under 16 and you’re stuck listening to “Cupid Shuffle”, the Black Eyed Peas Bar Mitzvah song, “Sweet Caroline” and Pitbull on loop. Ugh. What if there was a cruise that was actually cool, featuring DJs playing dance music and everybody on the ship was 21+? That’s Groove Cruise.
Are you a festival veteran that is getting tired of the GA life and ready to indulge in the VIP perks like clean bathrooms, easily accessible bars, and nice accommodations? Groove Cruise gives that to everybody. Oh yeah, and there’s an open bar drink package. That’s more like artist level access for everybody on the ship.
The Ship Experience
Groove Cruise is the refined ravers paradise, where everybody is a relatively experienced rager (yes, rager) and the music is on point 24/7. From the minute you step foot on the ship you are enveloped in an atmosphere that is basically like Miami’s Club Space. There’s tech-house playing over the ships PA system at all hours, DJs like EDX and Markus Schulz hanging among the #GCFAM. While there is a snooty bottle service package that a handful of people partake in, the rest of the ship is non-pretentious and ready to party. Each day is themed (like Cowboys or Walking Like an Egyptian) and you better believe everybody takes it seriously.
With the drink package you’re all set to get basically any drink you want (including those vacation favorites like Pina Coladas) and you have unlimited food around the ship with your clean room with AC only an elevator ride away. For that festival veteran who is tired of spending 8 hours in the sun with only porta potties, expensive food, and massive bar lines this is next level. That’s why the crowd on Groove Cruise is older than you’d expect, with the average age probably in the early 30s.
Also for 2019 Groove Cruise got a major ship upgrade and went with Celebrity, known for its excellent food and service. After some years with much smaller and older ships, the Celebrity Infinity was amazing.
The Sets
Groove Cruise is like Club Space because the music never stops, and you’ll find a huge crowd raving into 7am or later every night. The pool deck pops off during the day with sets from the likes of EDX, MK, Markus Schulz, or Hot Since 82 and then at night you have your pick of trance like Simon Patterson and Fisherman or tech house like Chus & Ceballos. The theater played host to the headline sets like Markus Schulz’ open to close set, but the best venue is the top deck at the back of the ship where the vibes and the views are unbeatable. This stage popped off literally until the ship docked back in Ft. Lauderdale at 7 or 8am. You have to schedule your disco naps wisely.
The Ports
Groove Cruise Miami didn’t just go to a private island in the Bahamas, we got Key West and Cozumel. In Key West there was an early morning bar crawl (why not) that ended with banging sets by EDX and Technasia at one of the city’s biggest bars. For a few hours all of Key West was bumping EDM, and you know that’s normally not the case. Then in Cozumel the entire ship was transported to Playa Mia resort for a 3 hour beach paradise set from Kaskade just feet from the turquoise blue water. Best of all? The whole party was unlimited food and open bar.
The GCFAM
Like Holy Ship, Groove Cruise has its own hashtag movement #GCFAM and its own culture around it. The first day is color themed based on how many you’ve attended, with some hitting 15 Groove Cruises. This is a more discerning veteran raver, not phased by the buzzworthy subgenres of the day. You won’t find bass music on Groove Cruise, but nobody seemed to mind. Everybody is there to party, and the ship crew loves every second of it. It’s only on Groove Cruise that you’ll see women in costume and pasties at a fine dining restaurant eating filet escargot while one of their tablemates is blasting an Ultra set on a full sized speaker so that the entire ship restaurant is dancing along in their seats.
After Groove Cruise you’ll honestly have trouble ever going on a regular cruise again, and you very may well join the annual pilgrimage. They say “what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” but that’s even more true on Groove Cruise. Especially since WiFi or cell service is so expensive. Don’t sleep on Groove Cruise in 2020 (and you won’t sleep much if you go).