User:MatthewStevens/Entertainment Cruise Productions (ECP)

Entertainment Cruise Productions, LLC (ECP) is a privately-held company specializing in themed music cruises. Founded in 2000, ECP holds seven annual cruises, each chartering a full ship holding about 2,000 passengers. Each cruise addresses a different musical genre, such as jazz, smooth jazz, R&B and country. The company is the world’s largest operator of full-charter programmed entertainment cruises. ECP is based in St. Louis, USA.

Business Model
ECP chooses to completely take over a ship—not only the ship itself, but also the hiring of its crew, staff and entertainers. Furthermore, it operates its own reservation center, and programs its own entertainment. This integrated model is unusual, and possibly unique, in the cruise industry.

History
In the mid-1980s, Norwegian Cruise Line (“NCL”) began sponsoring an annual jazz cruise on the SS Norway. This program was a special "group," meaning that it shared the ship with other passengers. During the early years of NCL’s Jazz Cruise, Anita E. Berry quickly became the largest group leader in terms of the number of guests she produced for the cruise. This resulted in Berry becoming increasingly influential, with NCL asking her to become involved in the production of the cruise, the selection of the artists, the ports-of-call and other aspects of the cruise’s development.

In 2000, NCL decided to terminate its theme cruises. By this time, Berry had accumulated significant proprietary assets: a guest list, cruise expertise, relationships with musicians, and finances. She calculated that these were sufficient resources to continue offering jazz cruises on her own. With these, she founded ECP.

ECP began by chartering complete ships for jazz cruises. When Berry’s son, Michael Lazaroff, joined ECP, its offerings expanded. Lazaroff developed The Smooth Jazz Cruise, hosted by Wayman Tisdale; Dave Koz & Friends at Sea; the 2007 North Sea Jazz Cruise, hosted by Marcus Miller; The Playboy Jazz Cruise™; The Signature Jazz Cruise on Seabourn; and, with StarVista Time Life, the Malt Shop Memories Cruise, Country Music Cruise and Soul Train Cruise. Lazaroff now is ECP’s Executive Director. Other past formats included Rock ‘n’ Roll and Elvis.

From 2000 through mid-2014, ECP chartered 52 full ships.

Offerings
ECP currently offers the following cruise formats, sailing annually unless otherwise noted:
 * The Jazz Cruise: ECP’s original offering, focusing on jazz as interpreted by musicians like Billie Holiday and Frank Sinatra. The 2015 cruise will present 43 musical acts, including the Arturo Sandoval Band, Monty Alexander, Gregory Porter and the Clayton Brothers Quintet.
 * The Smooth Jazz Cruise: Two annual sailings. The 2015 cruise will present 38 musical acts, including Natalie Cole, Marcus Miller, David Sanborn, and Boney James.
 * The Signature Jazz Cruise on Seabourn: A luxury cruise experience, the Signature Jazz Cruise features a Riviera-centered itinerary with expert-guided excursions .  The 2015 cruise will present nine musical acts, including Diana Krall, Karrin Allyson, Shelly Berg, and Randy Brecker.
 * Malt Shop Memories Cruise: Focuses on American pop music from the 1950s through the mid-1960s. 2014’s cruise will present 18 musical acts, including the Beach Boys, Dion, The Temptations and Brenda Lee.
 * Soul Train Cruise: A survey of classic rhythm and blues. 2015’s cruise will present 16 musical acts, including Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Gladys Knight, James Ingram, and KC & The Sunshine Band.
 * The Country Music Cruise: 2015’s cruise will present 16 musical acts, including Martina McBride, The Oak Ridge Boys, Charley Pride, and Larry Gatlin & The Gatlin Brothers.