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Independence of the Seas plays host to a Beatles cruise.
They love them … Yeah! Yeah! Yeah! And Beatlemania is heading out to sea to prove it.
With the world’s most influential musical group introduced to a new generation of fans through “The Beatles: Rock Band” video game, a Beatles-themed cruise seems like a natural.
So there you have it - the Beatles Tribute Cruise, a six-night musical adventure aboard Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas in March 2010. That’s one of the world’s biggest ships, hosting a cruise honoring the world’s all-time biggest band.
It makes perfect sense to the cruise’s promoter Woody Lifton, a self-admitted Beatles junkie since he watched the group’s historic performance on “The Ed Sullivan Show” on Feb. 9, 1964 – at age nine.
“Let’s be honest, they’ve influenced every band for the last 40 years,” Lifton says. “They created stuff that’s never been done before. The techniques they created in ’66, ’67 and ’68 … are still being used today. What they did was incredible.”
The boys from Liverpool influenced Lifton as well. The Beatles are his passion. He qualifies as an expert, having studied the group’s existence for decades to the point of creating a website on Beatles history.
That wealth of knowledge has put him close to many people considered on the periphery of the Beatles; and it happens that Lifton’s next door neighbor is a travel agent.
“She said ‘with your contacts we can put together a Beatles-themed cruise,’” he said. “Next thing you know I’ve got five or six terrific Beatles-related people, a great band … and we’re cruising.”
Bookings completed through Oct. 15 include a 30-percent price break for the March 28 cruise, with cabins ranging from $570 to $818 per person, double occupancy. The trip can only be booked through the Beatles Tribute Cruise website or the travel agent online.
Registration is $200 for all Beatles events on board and must be completed at the Beatles Tribute Cruise website before booking the cruise.
The cruise sails out of Ft. Lauderdale with stops at Cozumel, Mexico; Belize City, Belize; and Costa Maya.
No Beatles cruise would be complete without music, much of which will be provided by BritBeat, a Beatles tribute band down to the details of the look, accents and costumes.
Other guests include a trio of Beatles photographers – Shannon, Jorie Gracen, Paul Saltzman – as well as former John Lennon girlfriend & author May Pang; and Ringo Starr friend & photographer Nancy Lee Andrews.
The Beatles group will never die even though only two members – Paul McCartney and Starr - are living.
But why is today’s generation of fans – who obviously weren’t around when Beatlemania swept the globe in 1964 – turning back the musical hands of time?
“What they hear are great songs, catchy tunes, beautiful melodies, beautiful harmonies; you don’t hear that today,” says Lifton. “They have a very interesting story attached to it, but it all comes down to the music.”
Before “The Beatles: Rock Band” debuted Sept. 9, the group had sold an eye-popping one billion albums, cassettes, CDs, 8-tracks and 45s combined.
As Lifton says, “No one’s ever gonna come close to that.”
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