In these credit crunched times it should be no surprise to anyone that the once magical concept of smooth jazz cruising is coming under increasing financial scrutiny. With the major providers finding it ever more difficult to fill ships and retain a fan base there is a whole range of offers to be had. Two cabins for the price of one and ‘cruise now pay later’ deals are all out there while LLC Cruises, who built on the glorious legacy bestowed by the godfather of themed cruising, Warren Hill, has already made the decision to pare down its 2009 offering by merging its Dave Koz and Wayman Tisdale events. Elsewhere, Smooth Music Cruises is probably rueing its decision to schedule the Norman Brown hosted January cruise just seven days after LLC’s Tisdale sailing yet perhaps this was a problem waiting to happen.