As a teenager I longed to visit faraway places like London, Paris and Rome. So much so that when I turned 21, I applied for the coveted and glamorous job as a TWA flight attendant at a time when only one out of a thousand girls was hired. The day I was accepted remains one of the most important moments of my life.
Every week for four years, I traveled to European cities I’d only dreamed about. It left indelible memories and life-altering experiences etched in my mind and on my heart.
Several decades later, I was working as a celebrity journalist with my own monthly column in a luxury magazine, interviewing the biggest names in entertainment, sports and fashion.
One of those celebrities was smooth jazz saxophonist Dave Koz, a 10-time Grammy Award nominee, who for the past 15 years has hosted the sold-out Dave Koz & Friends at Sea cruise, which is a private floating music festival.
Truth be told, I had no desire to go on a cruise and rub shoulders with 2,000 people. But recently I reconnected with this incredible entertainer and learned that in addition to his Friends at Sea cruises, he now offers a more intimate, luxurious and curated cruise experience called Somma. After hearing about it, I was ready to pack my bags.
This year, for the first time, it will be on the stunning new Silversea Silver Nova—a ship that only accommodates 700 people—each with their own superb, spacious suite.
The photos had me drooling, imagining a week at sea, waking up in some of the most gorgeous ports in the world, partaking of the finest food and best wines, and listening to and interacting day and night with acclaimed musicians like Koz, Brian McKnight and David Benoit.
From Nov. 6 to Nov. 13, Koz and his guests will travel to Greece, Italy, Montenegro and Croatia on Somma’s Jewels of the Adriatic cruise.
The ship will start off in Piraeus, the chief sea port in Athens, Greece—the birthplace of democracy and home to Socrates, Plato, the Acropolis of Athens and the Parthenon—ruins I walked amongst during my days with TWA.
The next stop is Bari, the capital of Italy’s Puglia region that forms the heel of the boot. Bari is home to the 11th-century Basilica di San Nicola, a pilgrimage site that holds some of the relics of St. Nicholas, the inspiration for Santa Claus.
Then on to the small town of Kotor in Montenegro, nestled at the edge of a fjord-like bay, where mountains rise like cathedrals. The cobbled streets of Old Town, Saint Tryphon’s Cathedral, Our Lady of the Rocks and the San Giovanni Fortress, reveal Kotor’s soul to be so much larger than its size.
Next is the World Heritage Site of Dubrovnik, a shining jewel in what was formerly part of Yugoslavia until it became Croatia in 1991. This medieval city on the stunning Adriatic coastline—surrounded by thick medieval walls and the bluest water—was a filming location for the HBO fantasy drama television series Game of Thrones. Dubrovnik is like living poetry.
Split, in Croatia, is a city born of an emperor’s dream along the dazzling Dalmatian Coast. There’s something deeply moving about walking through Diocletian’s Palace, a 4th-century Roman retreat. Yet this city is no museum. It hums with cafes, shops and everyday life.
“Sitting by the waterfront promenade with a glass of Croatian wine, watching boats drift and time slow down, is the kind of moment that makes you want to write a song,” reflected Koz.
From the air, Zadar, also in Croatia, is heart-shaped. Once a Roman colony and stronghold of Venice, Italy, this coastal town carries the marks of every era in its ancient structures and medieval churches where old blends with new.
It features the Sea Organ, which opened to the public in 2005. Hidden beneath its broad marble steps are 35 pipes that capture the movement of the waves and transform it into sound. Part art installation, part instrument and part magic, it is a reminder of how deeply the sea shapes life.
“The first time I heard the Sea Organ it stopped me in my tracks,” recalled Koz.
Another sign of the future that is right next to the Sea Organ is a masterpiece of modern design known as “The Greeting to the Sun,” a vast circle of solar panels set flush into the pavement that releases energy after sunset in a dazzling display of shifting colors.
The final stop on the cruise is the floating city of Venice, where Koz enjoys “the silence of the canals at night; the glow of lanterns on wet stone; and the feeling you get when you lose yourself in a maze of alleys and emerge into a sunlit piazza where someone’s playing the violin like it’s a love letter.”
Life is precious and the bliss of enjoying it at a slow pace is exquisite. Cruising with Dave Koz is filled with such sweet music.
