While some cruise and river cruise lines offer special themed sailings for the whole ship to enjoy, World2Sea Travel, a Cruise Planners franchise, and W2S Events (a new company supporting the event side of the business) are curating and hosting their own themed onboard events to bring together clients with a shared passion.
First up will be The Boy Band Cruise, sailing Nov. 13-16 onboard Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Reflection out of Fort Lauderdale, Florida. Featured performers for the sailing include Chris Kirkpatrick (from NSYNC), O-Town, LFO, BBMak, Ryan Cabrera and DJ Tommy Carlucci. Special activities will include daily live performances and guest appearances, lip-sync battles, themed dance parties, karaoke, boy-band bingo, a boy-band dance class and more.
The Season at Sea (inspired by the show “Bridgerton,” but not sponsored by Netflix or hosted by any talent), meanwhile, will set sail Jan. 15-18, 2027, also taking place onboard Celebrity Cruises’ Celebrity Reflection and cruising from Fort Lauderdale. Guests will enjoy an activity lineup featuring candlelight concerts, needlepoint or painting, book exchanges, high tea, Regency-era dance classes and a final masquerade ball.
To get the full scoop on these voyages — including how travel advisors can make commission selling them — we chatted with Tawnee Sons, COO of W2S Events and World2Sea Travel.
/Tawnee-Sons-COO-of-W2S-Events-and-World2Sea-Travel.jpg?tr=w-768%2Ch-432%2Cfo-auto "Tawnee Sons, COO of W2S Events and World2Sea Travel")
Tawnee Sons, COO of W2S Events and World2Sea Travel
Credit: 2026 Tawnee Sons
How are these event cruises similar to, and different from, typical theme sailings?
Theme cruises can be somewhat like adult summer camp: a weekend full of fun group activities, but adding the theme, music, food and some great beverages. We also don't just want typical activities; we choose games and events [related to the theme] that appeal to the audience. Think: “TRL [Total Request Live] Night” instead of a cocktail party, or “Needlepoint and Sip” instead of arts and crafts.
Feedback from our events is they have a great flow of different activities and entertainment all day long, so guests stay engaged the whole time they’re onboard. Theme cruises build all kinds of new communities.
Theme cruises build all kinds of new communities.
How many onboard guests are part of the theme groups?
These are not full-ship takeovers. They are smaller groups of 400 to 600 guests.
This allows us to make each cruise really intimate and engaging. On the Boy Band Cruise, for example, instead of attending a concert hall, you get to experience a more private-style concert with only 400 guests.
How will the group members be isolated from the rest of the ship’s passengers?
We utilize privatized venues throughout the ship. Our parties and games are all for our guests only, but they are able to enjoy the entire ship, as well.
This also allows us to be as fun and energetic as possible without disturbing other guests enjoying their vacation.
How was Celebrity Reflection chosen for both voyages?
We have partnered with Celebrity for many of our large group and theme cruises. They are an excellent partner with incredible onboard group teams, and Reflection has a lot of amazing venues we are able to privatize.
We also love a short sailing for a theme cruise, as this is likely to be more of a bonus vacation than something a guest plans their annual vacation around.
As these are already agency-hosted, is there any way for other agents to get in on the action?
Yes — we actually pay commission to agents who want to book their customers into our group. We have an easy process if they want to work with us, and we pay them 13% of the commission on the cruise fare.
