Everyone I’ve talked to while rolling on the Tom Joyner Fantastic Voyage calls the cruise the absolute, can’t miss, crème de la crème of African American experiences. They almost plead with listeners to add this cruise to their life’s bucket list — along with things like going to Africa or starting your own business — and make sure you accomplish it before you leave the earth.
Interviewees light up like Christmas decorations as they wax poetic about how the TJFV puts them in this rare state of nirvana. They regale me with tales of the spectacular islands they’ve seen (this year it‘s Cozumel, Mexico, and George Town in the Grand Cayman), the parties they’ve attended, the concerts they witnessed and (gulp!) they things they’ve done. And they know these things cannot be duplicated in any form in any other sector of American society — or in the world for that matter.
These reasons, plus more, are why couples, singles, married folk and groups should join the “party with a purpose” on the Tom Joyner cruise:
1. Imagine taking a luxury liner into the open seas and having every activity, event, party, theme, musician, comedian, food and spiritual experience developed just for you. There’s no such comparable event in the history of this country.
2. Speaking of which, I hope you have your internal organs in order because they’re going to get shuffled around with Joyner’s entertainment contingent. Musicians like Fantasia, Salt-N-Pepa, Tank, Charlie Wilson, Men of Soul and Foxy Brown will rip it on the stage while George Wallace, Sinbad, Tony Rock, AJ Jamal and Gary Owen will make your liver quiver uncontrollably.
3. The Love: The TJFV is the modern version of the classic 1970s TV show “The Love Boat,” but with a funky black twist to it. It’s a “Love Boat” in the sense that there’s a spirit of genuine brotherly/sisterly love and camaraderie that permeates the entire cruise ship. The cruisers only wish they could bottle up some of this love and spray it all over their homes and places of business.
4. Party with a Purpose: It’s extra special to know that you’re dancing and gyrating to the beat of a good cause. Every moment spent in the open waters on the TJFV goes to help fulfill a young person’s dream of attending an HBCU, one of Tom Joyner’s most passionate causes.
5. The African Diaspora: We hear the term often in black history classes. But it’s not until you venture to the islands of the Caribbean and Central America that the term “African Diaspora” really crystallizes and penetrates your soul. Seeing black people who only speak another language and know only another way of life really does something to your spirit and creates an emotional bond that will never be broken.
With TJFV partners like Ford, Budweiser, Southwest, Farmers Insurance and Centric, TV One, Crest plus Scope Outlast, Novo Nordisk and BlackAmericaWeb.com on the team, the stage is set for a nonstop party ride of a lifetime. –terry shropshire
