Malt Shop Memories Cruise 2011: Good News/Bad News/Good News

A Special Message from Time Life

Time Life, the folks behind the Malt Shop Memories Cruise, are dedicated to making next year's version the absolute best music vacation experience possible. Unfortunately, the original dates they announced for Malt Shop Memories 2011 were a challenge for many of the artists who want to share the experience with fans and passenger alumni as well.

To make sure they could attract the very best line-up of artists possible, they decided to move the date for Malt Shop Cruise 2011 from May 8-12, 2011 to Sept 15-19, 2011. The cruise will depart from Tampa, Florida on the Carnival Inspiration and will sail to Freeport, Grand Bahamas.

The good news is that the cruise has simply been postponed and not canceled. Time Life is working diligently on the line-up and expects to announce it by mid-October, when a new web site will also be launched.

The bad news is that booked passengers will have to change their travel plans and Cruise Diva has already received feedback from readers about the new date being "in hurricane season." Yes, September is indeed in hurricane season, which lasts a full six months of the year; however, course alterations are routinely made as necessary to avoid storms on those relatively rare occasions that they occur.

Now, more good news. There's plenty of time to change your schedule if you've already booked and plenty of time to get onboard if you haven't. Time Life wants you to know, "We apologize to you for changing the dates and departure point for the cruise but we truly felt that we could not bring you the line-up you deserved with our original sailing date. We are looking forward to you rebooking with us for September, and those of you who do will enjoy a special status on the cruise." Additionally, they are working on a new, robust alumni program to honor all of their past guests.