Rock Boat 16 review - Sixthman charter

With the start of the spring charter season on the Pearl, I've decided to write a review of The Rock Boat. We don't sail until Jan 26, but I thought I'd put up a bit of pre-trip discussion and to answer any questions that people might have about the charter experience.

I started a review of Rock Boat 14, but only got a couple days in before life took over. I'm hoping to complete the review this time. I'm also sailing on the Lebrewski Cruise, a music and beer themed charter, run by a different charter company in early March, so interested in comparing the experiences. TRB16 will be my 5th Sixthman cruise and you can see from my signature that I'm not new to cruising as a vacation.

Plans so far:

I'm flying to Orlando the Friday before TRB to spend the weekend and visit WDW. I was planning to drive to Miami, but found a flight for $63 so decided to save myself the time and aggravation.

I'll be in a Deck 11 mini-suite near the forward stairs, which is my favorite location on a music cruise as most of the venues are adjacent to the forward stairs and we're just below the pool deck.

The schedule for the boat has been posted: http://www.therockboat.com/schedule/

I'm busy doing my rock boat homework by listening to the bands that are new to me since, as you can see, choices must be made.

All shows on TRB are general admission. They even remove the first few rows of seats in the Stardust to create a standing room area for people to watch and dance like most concert venues.

Any questions?

Well, I guess I'll just keep going and hope someone enjoys this thread.

When TRB was announced to be from Tues to Sun, I knew I'd fly down to FL the weekend before. And boy was I glad for that. While I had a direct flight that was not affected by the storm, plenty of other folks had to scramble to find new flights or just get in a car and drive in order to get to Miami.

I spent the weekend in Orlando for some Disney fun. January plus good use of fast pass plus meant we did all of Future World in EPCOT in about two hours and we rode all the rides at Magic Kingdom in about 9 hours. The longest wait we had at MK was for Small World, of all things, because that was stand by, and it was maybe a 10 min wait.

It will be interesting to see your comparison.

What's up with the Lebrewski cruise? It's cheap, like dirty dirty dirty cheap.

It will be interesting to see your comparison.

 

What's up with the Lebrewski cruise? It's cheap, like dirty dirty dirty cheap.

I don't know exactly. My theory is that it's all over the place - Big Lebowski, beer, jam bands, alt rock, southern rock. And a lack of casting the net wide enough.

I'll be on the Cayamo cruise this upcoming weekend. It's my first music charter. I've been very discouraged by the lack of information/reviews of past Cayamo cruises on the forum boards. But I'm hoping for the best, and greatly looking forward to this weekend.

I was on Cayamo last year. The problem is that you're looking in the wrong place. There's a wealth of information in the Facebook group called Cayamo Family. It's open, so anyone can join and you might be able to read the posts even without an account. There's a link on the Cayamo web page if you're not familiar with Facebook.

we are just off the Sixthman Walking Dead cruise and they do a great job,

Make sure you try the Headphone disco, it was very very cool

I am very much interested in your review. We are on the Sixthman Outlaw Country Cruise February 7-11th. It is our first charter cruise.

Please let us know how the boarding goes. I'm curious as to whether the boarding process is slower than a regular cruise.

Good thing you flew down early. We hesitated to book our cruise not knowing if a winter storm might keep us from making it to Miami. Keeping our fingers crossed that the weather cooperates.

I signed up for the Pitbull cruise next March. Awaiting an email from Sixthman that we can start our booking. I'm assuming these chartered cruises are more expensive than a regular 3 day, but how much more?

I signed up for the Pitbull cruise next March. Awaiting an email from Sixthman that we can start our booking. I'm assuming these chartered cruises are more expensive than a regular 3 day, but how much more?

we just did the walking dead cruise and we had an inside cabin for a 3 day cruise, 2 adults and 2 kids and we paid 3200 not including any extra charges like autographs and pictures .

Not sure what your pricing will be but ours was very expensive

I'm sure you are having too much fun to report while on the cruise. Hope you do a review when you get back.

My phone becomes a camera when I cruise, so I didn't not update at sea at all.

Pricing - I would expect the Pitbull pricing to be in line with Walking Dead. It is a lot more, but you're paying for a music festival on top of the normal cruise. I find it well worth it for TRB, but we all place value at different places.

Boarding - happens just the same as a normal cruise. The jam cruise right before TRB was a bit slower to debark so we didn't start boarding until 12:30 on Tueaday, but people were running around saying hello to friends and artists were playing music to entertain us as well.

Sixthman always has an Ask Sixthman session during their cruises and you can literally ask them anything. I went this year, so will talk more about it in my review.

I will post links to the daily schedule, pics, and videos as I go, so hopefully I'll have this review finished before I turn around and go back to FL in a month for Lebrewski.

I'll be on the Cayamo cruise this upcoming weekend. It's my first music charter. I've been very discouraged by the lack of information/reviews of past Cayamo cruises on the forum boards. But I'm hoping for the best, and greatly looking forward to this weekend.

I tried to book this year's Cayamo cruise back when it first became available and received a "time slot" to book, but unfortunately was away from my computer at that assigned time. By the time I made it back (just a few hours later) the cruise had sold out. I DJ a radio show in Richmond, Virginia called the Lost Music Saloon where I've aired a lot of music by the artists who are on this year's Cayamo, so this cruise would be right in my wheelhouse, musically-speaking.

Write a review if/when you get a chance!

Cayamo is boarding later today. In Rock Boat, the atrium is a dancing venue. For Cayamo, it's now lined with chairs. A very different feeling.

Enjoying the thread.

Keith

Thanks for the boarding information. Hopefully we won't have too much of a wait as the Cayamo cruisers debark. Sounds like your waiting time was fun.

Looking forward to your review.

It will be interesting to see your comparison.

 

What's up with the Lebrewski cruise? It's cheap, like dirty dirty dirty cheap.

Holy crap...I'm tempted to book. I have a BOGO airfare burning a hole in my pocket.

Holy crap...I'm tempted to book. I have a BOGO airfare burning a hole in my pocket.

Lebrewski is selling so poorly they have an amazing deal on groupon right now. Sad I can't take advantage. Hoping the charter company (On the Blue) upgrades those who paid full price, but that remains to be seen.

OK, here goes.

For those wondering what the schedule on a music charter looks like, here's a link to our schedule: http://www.therockboat.com/schedule/

The groove cruise before us apparently had music 24 hrs a day and Cayamo after us tends to end each day by midnight, so each is different.

We arrived at the port around 11 am and there were a lot of Groove cruise folks looking very rough out front. I suspect too much fun and too little sleep. We'd been warned that debark was expected to take awhile. And the ship staff told many people that the Groove cruise folks were rude and destructive. I personally think charters like that aren't worth it for the cruise lines, but I don't run their world.

Artists and Sixthman employees were about to board around 12:15 and we were on board (in group 5) before 1pm. We carried on a case of wine and the corkage process was easy this year. It's taken a LONG time in the past, but there's now a form you can fill out before arrival that really speeds things up.

I avoid the buffet at all costs. I was sad that the MDR was not open for lunch, but O'Sheehans was. And since the first show was in the Atrium, that was perfect. We finished eating just as the show started, so we could hear the first song or two before going down to 7 to see as well.

I need to figure out how to post photos here and then I'll show y'all what the venues look like when set up for shows.

The atrium has anything movable removed for TRB. The stage is set up against the screen, the left side is shut off for staging, and a sound board is set up by the stairway. The coffee bar and shore excursion desk operate as bars. People watch from the floor, the overlook on 8, the stairs, anyplace you want.

Our safety drill location was the theater. The woman with a microphone on the stage kept threatening us that noise while we waited to begin could result in us being punished and forced to do the drill again the next day. It was annoying because muster hadn't yet started and we all knew she was bluffing. Unlike normal cruises, we were allowed to bring drinks in. Unlike prior years, we were well behaved. No one started the wave or a sing a long.

This Groupon deal seems a bit too good to be true (they say it includes the taxes and fees minus service charge ). I may just book ... I like beer. Not so much music.

How do these chartered cruises work? Are the restaurants and everything the same? Are the same type of activities offered. Like a daily compass?

Can we add beverage passes? Children seem to be allowed, but will the normal teen programs be running? Seriously seems like a fantastic deal ...

This Groupon deal seems a bit too good to be true (they say it includes the taxes and fees minus service charge ). I may just book ... I like beer. Not so much music.

 

How do these chartered cruises work? Are the restaurants and everything the same? Are the same type of activities offered. Like a daily compass?

 

Can we add beverage passes? Children seem to be allowed, but will the normal teen programs be running? Seriously seems like a fantastic deal ...

Resteraunts likely vary based on the charter company. On previous Rock Boats, Le Bistro was closed and used as an office. This year, my understanding is Le Bistro was open but Indigo was closed (I didn't go, but three of my best friends did).

UBP is generally not an option for charters.

Generally, you get a daily program of some sort. It may be a freestyle daily, or it may be specific to the charter. Depends.

There are some children's programs, but very limits because not many children. The kids club staff are still there though. Last year, I had to visit the latitudes office during the rock boat (sixthman assigned me a new latitudes number), she said I was her only person all day, but she loved having the view of all the bands.

Lewbrewski is really tempting me, too. Those prices are a amazing! I'm just stuck caring about work and my dog, who we left for two weeks back in December.

To expand on the freestyle daily - you will have some events, but likely charter events. Probably not much trivia, art auctions, or towel animal folding classes. But yes to bingo, casino, live music, and theme events.

Moving on with the review..... We just finished muster, I think.

Sister Hazel started TRB with a partial charter in 2001. There are two people who have officially attended all 16 and one who was a regular passenger on the first, so technically attended all 16. Sixthman rewards loyalty by giving 5 timers track jackets and 10 timers robes. Last year, the 15 timers got guitars and this year it became back packs. The robe ceremony takes place right before sail away and with the numbers growing, it moves pretty quickly these days.

Cabo Wabo is a sponsor on TRB, so wait staff passed around hundreds of tequila and margarita shots and the whole ship toasted together. Sister Hazel plays a sail away show. Here's video of their set and you can see the beach balls flying as we start to move.

A few friends decided to all do the 3 meals specialty dining package. In years past, Le Bistro was closed during TRB for storage - there isn't much space to keep all the gear and such for the shows, so it has to go somewhere. This year, Le Bistro was open, but Indigo was closed. Indigo was a favorite of mine, but I was ultimately fine with my food options. Many people complain bitterly about the food, but those same people tend to only eat at the buffet at peak times, when food quality isn't at its best.

Le Bistro was yummy. There's no dress code on charters, so it did feel a bit odd to be in casual clothes in there. There was a couple acting really inappropriately - she was feeding him, sitting on his lap, demanding a discount on wine because they didn't have what she wanted. Thankfully, I had my back to them.

Dining reservations were a hassle. We had six women who wanted to eat together. Each in a triple. So we had 3 from one room, 2 from another, and 1 from a third. The system kept wanting to force us into reservations for 9. And when we tried to make reservations before sailing, they wanted to charge us for any numbers more than 3 on the reservation because we were in a triple. Do people never eat with other cabins? It was a headache, but everything worked itself out. We got to eat when and where we wanted to for those three meals.

Looking forward to the rest of your review. I love Sixthman cruises, they are really well run.

Sounds fun. Thanks for the information you have provided so far. Hope to hear more about the cruise.