The universe of dance music festivals is filled with amazing events, and most people would think first of Ultra Music Festival, EDC Vegas, and Tomorrowland. These festivals have incredible lineups, huge layouts, and outstanding production, but at the end of the day, they’re just music festivals. Groove Cruise is something more than that, and more comparable to Burning Man and a Tomorrowland travel package because it’s an A-to-Z experience. After attending Groove Cruise 2025, it’s easy to see why the event just adopted the tagline “A Transformational Journey At Sea”.
I’ll admit, it sounds a bit cheesy at first. “OMG life changing!” is a cliche of dance music festivals, especially as the industry has become so mature and so commercial. While it’s true that most of our readers have had a life-changing festival experience, that wow factor fades over the years when it comes to most events. However, Groove Cruise is life-changing because it’s so much more than a music festival. Last year, I described it as a magical utopia that appears every year for 4 nights in January. At that time, I emphasized how the magic of Groove Cruise only appeared in January when the event took place. What I realized in 2025 was that the magic of Groove Cruise extends far beyond just January and beyond the decks of the Groove Cruise ship.
A New Tagline
Groove Cruise’s founder and President, Jason Beukema, lives and breathes the Groove Cruise mantra. Far more than just a company CEO, he is the proud leader of this GCFAM community. Ahead of the 2025 event, he explained that GC had taken on a new tagline and he had been thinking deeply about the meaning of Groove Cruise. He shared an extremely lengthy and detailed post explaining what he described as “The 8 Waves of Groove Cruise”.
While it’s A LOT to take in and absorb, I came to find my own understanding of this new era of Groove Cruise. Groove Cruise can be as surface-level or as deep as you want it to be. The deeper you dive into the experience and into the community, the more you get from it, and the more it impacts your life. You might be a 1st time (aka virgin) and go on Groove Cruise as you would any music festival, just barely dipping your toe in. You’d avoid the daily dress-up themes, skip the attendee-only Facebook Group, and intend on keeping a tight-knit group with your cabinmates. What you’d find, however, is that you’ll have way more fun and make lifelong friends by diving in to the experience and exploring all it has to offer.
A New Ship Class
At the outset, it’s important to note that Groove Cruise itself has transformed in 2025, to nearly its “final form”. It’s not literally a final form, but Groove Cruise has now taken over the 2nd largest ship class at sea. Groove Cruise 2025 hopped aboard the Allure of the Seas for the largest music festival cruise in history. For the first time, Groove Cruise had the massive Aqua Theater, the massive Promenade, the incredible Studio B, and the split-superstructure pools to play with. Allure of the Seas is actually the oldest ship in its class in terms of upgrades. The older Oasis was refurbished some time ago, and Allure will be refurbished this Spring.
Next year Groove Cruise will take over the much newer Wonder of the Seas, but the overall layout and list of amenities will remain the same. From at least the next few years, Groove Cruise will be able to iterate on this formula with this class of ship. The latest ship in this class is Utopia of the Seas, and it was just launched in 2024. It’s safe to say we won’t see Groove Cruise on Icon of the Seas until at least the next anniversary.
The scale of Groove Cruise in 2025 is something to behold. The ship’s size allows for enough attendees and budget for a super-stacked lineup of heavy hitters across the musical spectrum. The venues allow for multiple gangbusters shows to be going simultaneously, all while you have a fully featured spa, multiple dining venues, bars EVERYWHERE, along with your room and gorgeous ocean views.
What sets Groove Cruise apart the most from the music festival is the community (GCFAM). I’ll admit, it might seem a bit much at first. Once you join the attendees-only Facebook Group ahead of the event, your Facebook will be bombarded with posts and group messages. You might be young enough to find the mere use of Facebook to be cringe but just roll with it. The biggest thing about Groove Cruise is that this community is without pretension. Nobody thinks they’re better than anybody else and nobody judges anybody. You can dress literally as ridiculously as you want, and you’ll only get props from people across the ship. People will make the silliest posts on the Facebook Group, and they never devolve into anything mean-spirited.
It’s been said before but it bears repeating; PLUR is still treasured and protected at Groove Cruise. If you’re a virgin, everybody will chat you up and show you the ropes. People will hand out little trinkets or stickers or friendship bracelets or whatever. On the first night, my group met a girl and her friends from Chicago who were incredible shufflers. We were watching, impressed with their moves. The shuffler girl came up to us, introduced herself, and said she was self-taught and then proceeded to give my group a little dance lesson right there in the middle of the Aqua Theater. It was her first GC, but not her last. It’s those fun light-hearted moments that are the most memorable about Groove Cruise.
Now that girl and her friends will return in 2026 and we’ll party with them again. Even among the media members that attend, we have all become friends and now we see each other across various other festivals, but our friendships began on Groove Cruise. The community starts before the event even begins. You join the attendee-only groups and start chatting with people. They introduce themselves, ask questions, and talk about all sorts of topics. Since the chat is for attendees only, it’s like your student body from college or something. You can only join the group once you are booked. Then on Groove Cruise, you see these people everywhere you go, so by the end of the trip you feel like you really know the community as a whole. By the way, some artists will be in the groups as well, because they are also part of the community. The Facebook Group and the related chats continue long after the event ends, and your connections continue on as well. It’s very different from a festival where everybody goes home each night, or some only go for a portion of the weekend.
Because of that, it’s more like a membership club than a music festival. The vast majority of Groove Cruises return year after year. Out of all of my friends who attended in 2025, each of them booked for 2026 before the trip had ended. People meet their future spouses on GC, get engaged, and even get married on GC. There were over 6 weddings hosted in 2025 and engagements galore. It says a lot about the strength of the community and the event itself.
The Crowd
The Groove Cruise crowd is consistently renowned as one of the best aspects of the trip, and that’s because of the community. Even among music festival cruises, Groove Cruise is universally considered to have the best crowd. It’s the most mature crowd, which means everybody can handle themselves responsibly. That also means that PLUR is mostly respected, with only a few bad apples in the mix. It also means that there is a wide appreciation for all aspects of dance music, not just the latest fads. The crowd is definitely mid-30s and up for the most part, and not what you’d find at most festivals. It’s one of the few festivals where you’ll see parents and adult children partying together.
The Music
As Groove Cruise has evolved into this advanced form, it can cater to a wider variety of music tastes. In 2025, Groove Cruise touches most aspects of the dance music spectrum in one form or another. The nice thing is that it doesn’t completely shift to only cater to the latest trends. Groove Cruise nurtures a healthy trance community, something that is disappearing from many regions in the dance music world. There is house, techno, bass music, trance, some good old-fashioned EDM, progressive house, deep house, throwbacks, you name it!
The amazing thing about Groove Cruise is that the artists almost all play multiple sets, with each one being different. You get to see Layton Giordani in 3 different venues with 3 different vibes. You get to see Jeremy Olander, Yotto, Cristoph, Yotto b2b Cristoph and finally Cristoph b2b Jeremy Olander b2b Yotto. The artists love it as much as the fans, as they get to stretch their legs musically and you can tell that they’re having just as much fun as the crowd is. This year had heavy hitters like Eric Prydz on the outdoor Aqua Theater stage, MEDUZA multiple times, Nicole Moudaber multiple times, Layton Giordani multiple times, Markus Schulz continuing his residency, and many many more.
The artists are all hanging out with the crowd, enjoying their vacation along with you. Groove Cruise selects artists who appreciate this vibe, and there are no divas allowed. You can talk to your favorite artist like a regular person instead of feeling like a star-crossed fan, and the artists truly enjoy it. It’s one of the only events where anybody can do this.
Groove Cruise has even developed its own crew of resident DJs over the years, from names you’ll only see on Groove Cruise to big names you’ll see everywhere. So you see that even the DJs find the experience to be addicting and love to come back, year after year. Markus Schulz is one of the most well-known “residents” along with Gene Farris, Anthony Atalla, and Adam Scott but there are many more that you’ll come to know and love. We hope Nicole Moudaber, Yotto, Cristoph, or Layton Giordani decides to take up a residency too.
AAA For All
One reason Groove Cruise can have such a mature and unique community is that it provides amenities that most festivals don’t (or charge triple to provide). Groove Cruise is for the ravers who attend fewer events but buy VIP or a table because they no longer want to stand in a field or a parking lot for 8 hours. They appreciate having all of the creature comforts at their fingertips. No matter what, you have food, bars, bathrooms, and your hotel room within 5 minutes. Where else can you wake up for the breakfast buffet with Gene Farris still going on his marathon set that started hours earlier? Where else can you watch MEDUZA perform from a hot tub at 4am? Where else can you watch Eric Prydz perform from your prime viewing location at your very own VIP balcony in your cabin?
There is no VIP because everybody has VIP. There’s no need for AAA either because the only difference between the crowd and the crew is being behind the DJ booth. Since you can meet the DJs anyway there’s no need for AAA. Many Groove Cruisers remark that Groove Cruise has ruined all other festivals for them, and this is just one of the reasons why, but it’s a big one. You can party and disco nap on your schedule, and that’s how anybody can power through 4 days of nonstop action. Groove Cruise is accessible to all party levels, which makes for a totally unique mix of people.
The Experiences
Besides the music and the amenities, Groove Cruise arranges hundreds of artist activations and other events to participate in. Again, the deeper you dive in the more you benefit. There’s a ping pong tournament with Nicole Moudaber, zip lining with another DJ, tequila tasting with another, and dinner with a dozen more. Not everything has to be a party, but it’s incredible nontheless. There are also events to help people meet new friends, music industry panels, and even a very solemn but cathartic ceremony honoring those lost in the prior year.
There’s also the Whet Oasis which focuses on rest, relaxation, therapy, mindfulness, and more. This year the setup was a bit confusing since it shared a space with the after-hours venue, but it’s a vital tool in finding your time to relax and recenter during a marathon bender. There is truly something for everyone here.
The Destination
While the journey is the most important thing, the destination being gorgeous doesn’t hurt either. Labadee, Haiti provides a breathtaking backdrop for a private beach party. By the time the ship arrives there you’ve already made a dozen new friends and you all just let loose in this utopia that is an entire island beach dedicated to ravers watching the DJs perform while playing in the ocean or on the sand. It’s truly the most unbelievable aspect of an unbelievable adventure, and the second it ends you’ll be counting down the days until you return.
The Team
A crucial part of what makes Groove Cruise so special and unique, even among cruise festivals, is the team behind it. There is nobody working for Groove Cruise that is off-limits to you, literally. You’ll meet Jason, the head honcho, and you’ll feel his passion for this event in everything he does. You’ll meet Skeeter who books the lineup and frequently participates in the Facebook group discussions (and looks out for who people want to see). You’ll meet Adam Scott either in his DJ capacity during a set or in his marketing capacity for Groove Cruise. You’ll meet the resident DJs more than once, to the point where they truly become friends as opposed to festival DJs. The team is really listening to the attendees and values their input. Each year a survey goes out with a million questions, and Jason reads every single one of them to constantly improve on the experience and provide the best value. It doesn’t feel like you’re paying a company for a music festival like you might find on EDSea, but it feels like you’re part of the club that comes together each year for this amazing journey.
What’s Next
Groove Cruise is already on the largest ship class on earth besides the Icon of the Seas so there isn’t much more room to grow right now. As of now, 2026 is already 75% sold out, and Skeeter expects the ship to fully sell out before the lineup is even announced. Don’t sleep on Groove Cruise. Head on over and reserve your cabin today before prices go up on February 7! If you use code edmtunes you can receive up to $200 off the price of your cabin. You can guarantee yourself a transformational journey at sea that you will never forget!