Rock Boat 16 review - Sixthman charter

[rigs32]

After dinner, we all raced up to the pool deck to see Red Wanting Blue. We told the waiter at 7:45 we had someplace to be at 8. The restaurant was dead, and it still took him 20 min to bring our cards back with receipts to sign. This became our typical experience. Frustrating. The show was great, though a bit windy.

 

Video of one of my favorite songs. Once the sun went down I realized how great the new pool deck stage is - lighting, sound, everything.

 

[rigs32]

I then concert hopped for awhile. Kristy Lee was playing bar city and I watched Michael Franti watch her play. He's a very well known musician if you're familiar with him and he was thrilled to watch her and listen to her unique voice.

 

Then it was time for Humming House, a band I discovered on Cayamo last year. As expected, there were a huge hit. They played the atrium stage to a packed room.

 

Then back up to the pool deck for Michael Franti. And back to the Atrium for the Trews.

 

This clip shows how the atrium is cleared out and sight lines from the floor above. It's also a collaboration between the Trews and Red Wanting Blue - very typical on these sailings.

 

 

I'd woken up at 5 to start the journey to Miami so I needed to go to bed a little after 1am that night.

 

End Day 1

Edited February 5, 2016 by rigs32

[rigs32]

Continuing on....

 

TRB also had a sponsorship with neuro water this year. We got various flavors delivered to our staterooms throughout the cruise and they were giving away the rest on the last day on the pool deck. I've learned to avoid desalinated water as much as I can to avoid cankles, so I appreciate the additional flavored beverages to drink beyond the water and Diet Coke I'd brought on.

 

Wednesday was a sea day. I'd meant to go to Yoga with Michael Franti on the pool deck at 10am, but I needed sleep, so missed out. Breakfast at O'Sheehans runs until 11, so I went there to grab an irish breakfast (sans beans). I like grilled tomatoes and they were easy to find at breakfast time.

 

I headed to the Great Outdoors (the outside part of the buffet, aft) to see Colony House. All GO sets are acoustic and I wasn't quite ready for the full rock experience. The view and the sun there isn't terrible either.

 

I then went to catch the last half of artist vs. artist Family Feud. Wild Adriatic played against The Rocketboys and the survey questions were all rock boat themed. Ex: What song do you most look forward to hearing covered on the boat? It was funny, but annoyingly, people were talking near where I was sitting so on the video I captured it's not easy to hear.

 

Then I scooted down to the Stardust theater to see Bronze Radio Return.

 

Did I talk about the theater before? On most ships, sixthman removes the first five rows of seats in the theater to create a pit. The install hand rails at the front of each step to avoid falls. You can fit a lot of people down front if you prefer to be up close to the stage. We learned that since storage on board is minimal, the seats removed are actually craned off the ship and remain in Miami until they are reinstalled. I know that they were put back in place after TRB as Cayamo was next up and that is a seated ship with most shows in the theater having assigned seats.

 

Then it was time for flip cup. My team won the first few rounds handily, somewhat to our surprise. We got knocked out during the elite 8 round, but the team that beat us went on to win the whole thing, so we were OK with that. Sixthman provides the beer and the prize for winning is playing a round of flip cup against one of the bands. Some teams go all out with matching T-shirts. And the names are typically clever or not so family friendly.

 

Once that was over, there were literally six shows going on at once throughout the ship. I headed back to the theater for Red Wanting Blue. They handed out pins themed to their show, so that was a nice little bonus.

 

Because we'd had issues with dinner reservations, we showed up to Cagney's very early in hopes that they'd seat us so we wouldn't miss too much music. The restaurant was barely half full, so they took us right away.

 

That night was zombie themed, so some people had fake blood and such on. There was a bit of an uproar about the theme as not everyone likes blood and guts coupled with there being a haunted house, so many people chose to dress in the alternate unicorn theme. I'd say the split between the two was almost 50/50 for those who chose to participate. I wore unicorn socks with a black dress and some zombie buttons on my cardigan.

 

Dinner at Cagney's was delicious. But again, it took the waiter 20-25 min to swipe our cards so we could leave. We assumed a 10-15 min window to get out of there, so missed the start of the next shows because of the delay.

[rigs32]

On a la carte dining -

 

The Pearl menus had switched to a la carte. With the 3 meal package, we were allowed to order as you used to - 1 entree and whatever else you wanted. Previously, certain dishes were still subject to a surcharge even with UDP, but that has gone away. The lobster we all ate at Le Bistro used to be an upcharge and was now included. That was a bit of a bonus.

[NSinMG]

Thanks for the links. It gives me an idea of the setup for our cruise. I imagine we will be doing concert hopping too since there are so many different artists to see.

[rigs32]

Zombie night after dinner....

 

I'd intended to stay for the majority of the Melodime set on the pool deck, but I didn't for two reasons.

 

First, I've seen them many times. Typically at small venues or house shows. A house show is where a band plays at your house and the host provides the band with a set fee, food, and housing. Guests BYOB and pay a modest fee to attend. It's a win win as the band minimizes expenses and you get an intimate experience with them. I know several indie bands who make music full time as these house shows help them tour. On the large pool deck stage, I just wasn't connecting to them as much. It felt like they were dwarfed by the stage a bit. And I'm not the only one who felt that way.

 

Secondly, the next band on the pool deck stage was NeedtoBreathe, a contemporary Christian band. Melodime also has Christian influences, but not all their songs are in that vein. As a Jew, I can appreciate the sound of NTB and enjoy a couple of their not-so-overt songs, but the lyrics can make me feel uncomfortable and excluded. Melodime was playing more of their overtly Christian songs that night and I think it was to connect with the NTB fan base.

 

So I moved along to the theater to catch some of Will Hoge. He has a deep catalog and will not repeat a song on the boat. I really wanted to catch a couple of his songs and I suspected that the theater would be the venue where he played them.

 

I walked through bar city on my way to the theater and got distracted by Hey Monea. They were playing a song of theirs I liked, so I stayed to listen. I was able to grab a peak at their set list to see that I liked the next song, but that they'd already played my favorite song of theirs, so I stayed 1.5 songs before moving on.

 

 

The link above is from that show. It was not one of the songs I heard, but it shows just how intimate the stage/space is in bar city. Not so great when it gets crowded, as the stage is barely off the ground.

 

Will Hoge in Stardust. Such a great show. He wrote Even If It Breaks Your Heart that was re-recorded a couple years ago by the Eli Young Band. It hit #1 on the Country Charts and got him award nominations years after he himself recorded the song. He's actually one of the many rock/country hybrid artists. He also released an EP of politically progressive songs, but more about that later.

 

 

This is one of the songs I really wanted to hear. When I saw Will at a smaller venue several months ago, I took a peak at the set list when the tech taped them to the stage. He teased me about that and I commented I was disappointed my favorite song of his wasn't on the list. We talked further and he told me it was sometimes played and sometimes not. At the end of the show, to my surprise and delight, he ended the show with this song. It's such a crowd pleaser and high energy. My apologies for the audio on the clip. It was the only one uploaded to youtube from this particular show. You can see how the Stardust is without those front seats. This was taken from what would have been the 3rd or 4th row of seats.

[rigs32]

There was a haunted house going on in Bliss during all this, but I have a bad startle reflex, so that was not on my agenda. I'm not sure I talked with anyone about it, either, to hear how it was.

 

Once I got my fill of Will, I went up to Spinnaker for the Alternate Routes. I was glad to grab a seat for awhile as my feet were tired by this point.

 

I knew friends were on the pool deck for NeedtoBreathe and I was ready to get back outside, so I went out there. They happened to play my three favorite songs of theirs all in a row just after I walked outside, which was strange, since they aren't all on the same album or anything.

 

They have a song with Gavin Degraw, who was also on the boat. He joined them for Brothers. Here is a link:

 

 

I chose this one because it's shot from the back of the pool deck on 13 (one deck up). Which is where I tend to hang out if I don't want to be up front. You can still get great sightlines and sound. Someone shot most of this set from the side of the stage on 13 which gives great views, but you can tell the sound isn't great because it's behind the speakers. I did go behind the stage to get some great pics with the lights at the crowd, but it was *super* windy and I had to hold my dress down tightly.

[rigs32]

I poked my head into Michael Franti's show in the theater, but then went to the Atrium for Sister Hazel's Zom Petty set (zombie themed Tom Petty). It got very crowded, but I know I can tuck myself in behind the staircase near the stage. Glass walls mean no issues with sight lines and the glass blocks some of the sound waves so I don't blow out my ear drums. There also seems to always be a bit of wiggle room over there.

 

Here is their entrance and Last Dance with Mary Jane:

 

 

I'd gone to bed about halfway through. It was 1am and I was exhausted, sweaty, and we had an early day the next morning. But I love American Girl, which I missed, so including the link anyway:

 

[rigs32]

Sidenote - I'm doing a happy dance today. Decided to follow up with OTB regarding an upgrade for Lebrewski. Was able to go from a deck 11 interior to a minisuite for a modest upgrade fee.

 

The woman I spoke with indicated that they'd been planning on auto upgrading interiors to balconies, but then they sold all the balconies on groupon. Me thinks they should have done the upgrading first and then release the remaining cabins to groupon. I prefer deck 11 forward, however, so my choices in that location are interior, minisuite, or 2 bedroom suite. So I'm quite content with how it played out.

[rigs32]

Continuing on..... I'd just gone to bed after Zom Petty.

 

Thursday was our first port stop, Costa Maya. I went to Maya Chan with a very large group of rock boaters. Typically, the resort only takes about 50 guests per day. Our group alone was 75ish. But we didn't all need beach chairs. Most of us spent the day floating in a large group, at the bar, eating lunch, etc.

 

The blender drinks were great - not overly sweet. I asked on two occasions for a mixed drink with a shot on the side and they happily served what I asked for. Lots of people really liked the house tequila. I thought it was OK. Apparently we were the first group to ever drink the whole of the small batch they made for the day.

 

The water was murky and there were some unpleasant odors at times, but storms had just come through the area so there's not much they can do. They were working on the sea grass all day.

 

Wait staff came into the water to take orders and deliver drinks. They also had two local musicians at the resort for us that day and they even came out into the water to visit. This is where I wish I knew how to attach photos to my post.

 

The lunch was fantastic. Fresh, local food. I don't want to say it was simple, but it was tacos. Meat, cheese, salsa, veggies, guacamole. Everyone - even the vegans - loved it. And when they say the salsa is spicy, they really mean it.

 

Transportation to and from the resort was easy. They had cabs for 10 waiting. The only frustration I had was that I walked out to meet them at the port about 10 min before the rest of the group as I just wanted to get off the ship and get outside. They made me wait for more people to get in a cab. It wasn't too long, but if I'd had to wait more than 10-15 min, that would have been frustrating.

 

They also had massage therapists at the resort. $25 for 30 min and $45 for 60 min. I got a 60 min massage.

 

The only thing I wish was different was to have more time there. We were in port 7-4. We got to the resort around 8:30 and had to be in a cab to go back at 2:30 to be safe.

 

Gavin Degraw was actually at Maya Chan as well, in their VIP area. He wanted nothing to do with any of us, which was typical of his behavior on TRB. Many other artists would have acted differently (as you'll see when I talk about Grand Caymen).

 

I would 100% go back to Maya Chan if we dock in Costa Maya again.

Edited February 10, 2016 by rigs32

[rigs32]

The only downfall of the open bar at Maya Chan was my need for a nap when we got back to the ship. I missed out on two shows I'd wanted to see, but sometimes sleep is more important.

[rigs32]

Lots of views, few comments. Just wanted to check in to see if I should continue. I know I read lots of reviews without commenting, but just wanted to see.

[mrskmk]

I'm loving this review, rigs32 - it sounds like so much fun! I've long contemplated on cruising TRB, as Collective Soul is my favorite band and they've performed a couple times on TRB, if I'm not mistaken. Never did follow through and book, though :( Maybe next year

[theriac]

The lebrewski cruise looks amazing. Hopefully they do this next year. I was reading the website and got my card out to book, but I'm going to be in Montana during the cruise. I won a trip to the Crazy Mountain Ranch from Marlboro and can't miss that as that looks like the trip of a lifetime.

 

If this cruise happens again next year I will certainly be on board.

[rigs32]

mrskmk - I'm not a huge Collective Soul fan, but Ed Roland's side project (Sweet Tea Project) played at a small venue near me and I loved them.

 

Just finished Maya Chan.....

 

I'd intended to see Gavin Degraw's sail away show and Humming House, but the need to nap won the day.

 

The first evening show I went to was Songwriters in the Round. They do it on every TRB and it involves 4 singer/songwriters playing their songs, telling back stories, and since they know each other, it gets pretty funny at times, too.

 

This year the 4 songwriters were:

 

1) Scott Terry from Red Wanting Blue. I love his lyrics and his voice. He's very emotive when playing with the rest of the band.

 

Oh Me, Oh My, a song that they have not recorded:

 

The Air I Need to Breathe:

 

2) Tim Warren of the Alternate Routes:

 

Your Father's Son, which hasn't been recorded. The pre-song storytelling has been included in this upload:

 

Let Me Stay Young:

 

3) Will Hoge

 

Turn It All Around, another new song:

 

4) Colin MacDonald of the Trews

 

Highway of Heroes:

 

This session is always one that people rave about for the rest of the boat. It is one of the very few shows the whole trip that is more listening then rocking out. There were a couple of drunk folks down front this time that were even distracting to the artists.

[rigs32]

Weather became a factor this night. I went to the pool deck for Sister Hazel, but the rain started coming down and their set got pushed back and the last pool deck show was cancelled and eventually rescheduled for another day.

 

I saw most of the Alternate Routes show in the stardust and went to Headphone Disco for a bit, but another "early" night to bed for me around 1am.

 

Alternate Routes premiered a brand new song, One Dance Left:

 

They are best known for their song Nothing More which played during the Winter Olympics. The second verse, the one about heroes, always makes me cry. You can hear the audience singing along.

[hlb76]

enjoying this review. Ive always wanted to do a Chartered trip especially a music one!! Once day I will suck it up and do it and deal with the sticker shock later. I know its really not as bad as the sticker price once you include the cruise and concert tickets but ..... Maybe when the kids stop cruising with us :rolleyes: