Shiprocked Recap

Since we got home from Shiprocked I hadn't even sat down to write about our experience! Not just any experience but AMAZING experience! I'll try to cover a decent amount but there is just SO much you have to just experience it for yourself!

Day 1: Embarkation

When we arrived at the Port of Miami we were greeted by this Shiprocked banner that they had hung outside of security. I knew at that moment that it would already be a stellar trip. They made it feel welcoming but set the tone throughout the check in process for what was to come! After we boarded we decided to go grab something to eat and have a few beers while we were waiting for our rooms to be ready.

Although we didn't stay in a Balcony our friend did, so we went to her cabin to check out the view, got jealous and went back to our room to get ready for the evening and Sevendust performance on the deck stage that afternoon. I've seen Sevendust a few times already, and they still blow me away everytime that I see them. Actually I feel like that's an understatement honestly. They just get better and better with time! 

We couldn't have asked for a better spot to watch them during Embarkation! We even found out a professional photographer had taken our picture while we were listening to the open events, pretty cool. One night we were able to even grab a photo with the singer of Sevendust when he was just hanging out on the ship talking to everyone. (Of course I fangirled some).

That's what I loved about Shiprocked too, not just everyone becoming like a family, seeing great shows, and so much more...but just seeing bands hanging out doing the same things that you are doing. If they had been on before they already knew quite a few people from previous years. It was quite surreal. Even after we saw Breaking Benjamin perform in the Theater we were walking back to our cabin, and Ben (the singer from Breaking Benjamin) was walking back from his cabin on the same floor, so we stopped and told him what a great job he just did and we really enjoyed the show. We exchanged handshakes, and he thanked us for coming out to see it. How cool!

Left: My husband, Brandon, got a picture with John (the drummer) from Avatar after we played some Roulette with him in the Casino. Right: Brandon also got to meet Tremonti, and I "did not" stalk to get this picture with Jacoby from Papa Roach after their deck show. Speaking of Papa Roach, they played later on after Sevendust the first night on the deck, which was amazing:

 

They even had Sunny from POD come out as a special guest to sing a song with them! I would have the say, the first night was pretty wicked and set the tone for the rest of the week. I was stoked to start day 2 already!

Day 2: At Sea

    Welllll...day 2 didn't start out as expected, come to find out, it wasn't a hangover I experienced that morning, it was seasickness. Yuck! I do NOT wish that upon anyone else honestly. Every time I tried to stand up I would feel like I was leaning and swaying. Thank goodness after several attempts to make it go away, Carnival gave me something to help calm it down and take away the dizziness! I wouldn't have survived the week if they hadn't given me something! After I took the meds, got food in me, and drank some water finally, I was able to go wait in line to meet a very inspirational woman of mine. Lacey Sturm (previously from Flyleaf). Although I have a picture of it, I don't have it yet. I will post it later once I get it though. 

    Most people know I have a tattoo on my side that comes from the book Lacey wrote called, "The Reason", to me it's the signature stance that Lacey does when she reaches for the sky while she's singing. I HAD TO show this to her because I didn't know if this was the only time I would ever get to. To say this was a cool moment, would also be an understatement. She couldn't believe it, she even had me turn around to show the parents of the girl who drew it. They took a picture of us and me showing my tat with their phone to send it to her. Lacey was so in awe seeing it! Then we did our regular picture with the professional photographer and went on our way. She's SO stinkin cute!! Here's a picture of what I was talking about with her signature stance during her performance, this was when she was performing in the theater one night. 

Even during her deck stage performance Sunny from POD was enjoying her set (It was awesome seeing the other bands enjoying some of their favorite bands performing):

Now here is when the days become a little blurry, but I will do my best to remember the order of things. We spent a decent amount in the casino playing slots and Roulette, we really didn't do too shabby to be honest! We left with more than we put in so that's a win in my book! I guess since I can't remember who played what day right now, I'll just put down what happened instead of breaking it into days:

Day 3: Turks and Caicos

I can remember Turks and Caicos though, we enjoyed laying on the beach, watching the pool wars withe the bands they had going on, eating at Margaritaville and having some strawberry margaritas on the beach too! We enjoyed the warmth, and the atmosphere. We did a little shopping for family and friends, then headed back to the boat before they headed back out to sea. A quick nap, and we were back at it. The rest of the next day was at sea too just like day 2, so there was ALOT going on!

Breaking Benjamin, Avatar, Stowaways, Pop Evil, Wilson, Letters from the Fire, Stitched Up Heart, 12 stones, and SO many others played. You would sometimes watch a whole set, sometimes you would go literally from one to the other, stop in the middle of one or see two songs, then go somewhere else. The theater was a real intimate experience, it was different than the deck stage where things were really loud and windy. Each band would do 2 sets, mainly on the deck stage and threader, but if they were a little less known they would play in the Atrium or another smaller theater. Although I've been a 12 stones fan since they first came out, I'm still wondering why they played a smaller room inside the ship. I mean they aren't has big as they were way back when, but they are still well known! Avatar though, I've seen them once before, but we saw them BOTH nights they played...if you haven't ever heard of them, you need to:

We ate, we watched some of our favorite bands, we got to enjoy a day at the beach, warm weather, meet some of the amazing bands/people that do this for a living, and even made some really awesome new friends. Like I said, this is an experience that you CANNOT miss, even if you can just go one time in your life...GO! 

After the cruise we stayed a night in Fort Lauderdale to go to the after party at Revolution Live to see Non-Point. We were able to see the sound check and do a meet and greet with the band since we went on Shiprocked. We ended up not staying for the show because it started about an hour late, but that's ok because we were super tired from traveling all week and having a blast!

Now I must go, but here's some other pictures from the cruise, enjoy!