REVIEW: SHIPROCKED 2014 DAY 4 - 1/29/2014
Gweedo

For whatever reason all good things come to an end, ShipRocked being no exception. After four days of fun you finally start getting into the swing of things and submit you could stay on this boat forever. Four days of being unplugged was quite refreshing. This day started out a little tedious with three long Meet & Greets. This was a little annoying to stand in lines half the day. It would have been nice to move at least one to a prior day. Maybe try having two Meet & Greets on one of the beach days. But anyway it is what it is and Meet & Greet one had Five Finger Death Punch, Sevendust, In This Moment, Young Guns, and Mistress Juliya. This was another event that had zero planning. The line was snaked all through the boat and for whatever reason looped back on itself in the same hallway giving people no way to use that hall for any other use. Then they took the end of that line and merged it with the front which was extremely frustrating since people in the front had been waiting at least an hour. Like I said, poor organizing. This was a pretty decent Meet & Greet, the only things I’ll say about it is that Five Finger Death Punch didn’t really seem to care. You lined up with some other random fans behind them for the picture while they sat. They didn’t say hey or anything just talked amongst themselves, snapped a photo, and continued talking to each other. My greetings were ignored and it was a very rude situation. Bassist Chris Kael at least shouted a bye as I walked on to the next band. The other odd encounter was with In This Moment. There was a girl that told you where you could stand before you entered into the picture and she wouldn’t let you set any of your stuff down that you were carrying. Also there was a bulky guy standing behind Maria Brink creepily. Turns out he was back there to make sure you didn’t grab her ass. It was a very awkward situation. The band didn’t seem like they wanted to be there at all and Chris Howorth was complaining about having to do it afterwards. In their defense I will say they had played the night before so the planners should have placed them in one of the later Meet & Greets so that they didn’t have to get up early and prep for this.

REVIEW: SHIPROCKED 2014 DAY 3 - 1/28/2014
Gweedo

Rise and shine, day three of ShipRocked has arrived!! Today brings the dawn of “Washy Washy, Happy Happy, Smiley Smiley, All the tiiime!!!” The cadence of cleanliness that has been ingrained into everyone’s soul. Delivered to the masses at every boarding and before entering the buffet area by the energized and overly enthusiastic crew. I think it was very effective in getting people to remember their hygiene. Everybody on the boat and at this point even off the boat was saying it to each other. As for activities for the day, we were still off the coast of Great Stirrup Cay where we would stay one more day. As the day before, there was another early Meet & Greet this time with Jim Breuer, Nonpoint, Crash Kings, Scorpion Child, & Wilson. As most learn from their mistakes the organization of this event was much better but very rushed. It seemed like the person in front of you had barely cleared the frame before they were snapping your shot. Not sure why the rush since both of these greets didn’t have a lot of people showing up to them. Wandering around there were less artists that came to the island this time. It seemed like they got their fill the day before and were relaxing on the mostly empty boat.

REVIEW: SHIPROCKED DAY 2 1/27/2014
Gweedo

SHIPROCKED DAY 2!!! At least that’s how some felt as the sun crept in and they started the next adventure, with some dark sun glasses. Others were more ambitious and attended the T25 workout at 9am. A few others had the call time of 11:30am to be on Great Stirrup Cay for the first Meet & Greet of the voyage. The private island needed to be tendered to which took a little bit because they packed the little boat most of the time before leaving. This day was more relaxing than past ShipRocked ports because there wasn’t much happening on the island so you could just enjoy some sand between the toes. It seemed like a perfect size because there wasn’t much of a crowd to mess with and there were tons of available beach chairs. There were big inflatable platforms you could rent to sit out on the water on. The beach had a little stage next to the water and three bars to partake at. An alright buffet lunch was the only food on the island. Everything was paid for with your cabin card except for little shacks that had souvenirs.

REVIEW: SHIPROCKED 2014 DAY 1 1/26/2014
Gweedo

Finally! After a long wait it was time for ShipRocked 2014. This was a very special year because there were new locations, a new boat, and new dates. Norwegian Cruise Line’s Pearl was our new vessel which took us to the private island of Great Stirrup Cay, Bahamas for two days. Our port was out of Miami, FL. Due to the new ship and location our trip was from 1/26 to 1/30. This was a much welcomed change. I and others that I talked to were much happier on the Pearl. Even the boarding process was quicker and smoother. My comrade and I got on as soon as we could to partake in some beverages and food. It was nice to get comfortable on the boat before the schedule ran your life.

REVIEW: SHIPROCKED 2012 DAY 4 – 11/30/2012
Gweedo

The fourth and final day of ShipRocked was spent at open sea. What lay ahead was a day of sun, drinking, meeting, greeting, and rocking. The day started out with a quick breakfast before people hopped right in line for an 11am Meet & Greet. This Meet & Greet consisted of Godsmack, P.O.D., Lit, Helmet, Geoff Tate, and Gilby Clarke. Sully Erna of Godsmack was still looking a little ill, but fans were very excited that he showed up. Most of the bands were happy to meet their fans for the photo op. Concurrently throughout the ship, the morning brought a 10am show with Tory Stoffregen and Java Monster drinks along with Ben Moody hosting a yoga session. At the time of the Meet & Greet, there was Noodle Jousting, Mini-Golf with Pop Evil, and Beer Pong Finals.

REVIEW: SHIPROCKED 2012 DAY 3 – 11/29/2012
Gweedo

Hello day three and hello Nassau, Bahamas. If you did go to sleep the night before, you awoke to paradise. This was a much longer port stay lasting from 9am to 6pm. When you got off the boat, there was a giant market and locals hounding you with offers for transportation, snorkeling, Segway tours, etc. We opted to explore the island on foot and unguided. Our objective was to find food and experience the area on the way. I’m not sure how far we went but it was probably over five miles all together and off the beaten path. We hopped from beach to beach, saw a lot of stray dogs running about, and stumbled upon Bahamas Speed Week, which had a couple Ferrari trailers. Unfortunately, there were no activities during the time period we were at port. Across from the event, we ate at a fish joint that had some awesome grilled and fried fish. I had some fried Escovitch (Red Snapper) that I would gladly have again with beans and rice, a block of mac and cheese, and coleslaw. The gem of the journey was finding Saunders Beach. It is a long beach that had two people and a small local wedding. There were little coves created by piles of rock that made it look like you had your own private beach. Seashells were everywhere with white sand and a small tide. We took a dip and the water was great; however, the rocks on the cove floor were not. Throughout the walk, we saw lots of coconuts on the ground and a couple Christmas tree lots. I was surprised Christmas was so big there and wasn’t quite sure how to feel about a Christmas with no snow.

REVIEW: SHIPROCKED 2012 DAY 2 – 11/28/2012
Gweedo

Day two of ShipRocked brought us to the small island of Key West, FL. Disappointingly, this was a very short stay. If you had any fun the night before, there was little time to take in the port. I had enough time to shop, take some pictures, and eat a little. My new experience at this stop was eating Conch Fritters. To sum it up, they are like a grisly, seasoned hush puppy. They tasted good, but I could only handle a few in a sitting. The island was interesting with chickens running around everywhere. It isn’t very big and has a huge Navy base. Our boat was actually docked at the base, and you had to take a shuttle to leave the boat until you were off government property. There was no beach to visit where we were but tons of bars. It seemed like the night life would be fun, but we weren’t sticking around long enough. Also, liquor was kind of moot here since a paid drink package beckoned you on the boat. Walking around, you saw various band members checking out the sights and restaurants as well.

REVIEW: SHIPROCKED 2012 DAY 1 – 11/27/2012
Gweedo

First rule of ShipRocked: Don’t talk about ShipRocked.

Second rule of ShipRocked: There are no rules!

With that out of the way, let’s get to what we can talk about – the bands. This is my second year attending ShipRocked, and it is addictive to say the least. For the Colorado folks, I would compare it to Rock Jam except on a boat. Sailing from Ft. Lauderdale, FL on the MSC Poesia, this year took us to Key West, FL and Nassau, Bahamas. There was a stellar lineup to accompany everyone – Godsmack, Korn, Five Finger Death Punch, P.O.D., Sevendust, Filter, Fuel, 10 Years, Pop Evil, Lit, Helmet, In This Moment, Geoff Tate, The Halo Method, Gilby Clarke, The Letter Black, Pianotarium, and Andy Wood along with a slew of special guests that I’ll mention throughout the reviews. This year was an epic year for ShipRocked. This was the first year that the entire boat was occupied by ShipRockers. How can you tell me that a boat full of rockers is a bad time? You just can’t.