Re: "Keeping the Blues Alive At Sea" Cruise
Snow day so I have time to relive the cruise a bit. First we decided to make a week of it and flew down on Sunday and stayed on South Beach till the cruise departed. It was very Crocket and Tubbs and also the best weather we saw. High 70's on Monday. Thought it might be a good idea to pick up some shorts for the cruise since I didn't pack any. Well I got a few pair but didn't need em because the weather basically sucked the entire cruise. I also picked up a Marshall Ipod dock at Best Buy for late night partying in the room but didn't use that either since the party was never in my room. The whole boat was used for those purposes.
Mama Moody had agreed to accompany me on the cruise mainly because she had never been on one and this may of been her only chance to at least see what one was like. She isn't into live music but enjoyed her time on the boat anyway relaxing and although we got off the boat at the two ports a couple of hours the weather being less than perfect and by the time we hit the shores we only saw the touristy spots. Bought some T shirts because that is about all there was to do. Ate at a lousy restaurant in Key West of course I picked it, so we didn't bother in Nassau which had less charm and more shops with the exception of a Hard Rock which might of been a good choice for lunch but we ran across that about the time it was time to head back. You might need to get off the boat before noon to actually have time to do a whole lot on shore. FYI
Of course the ports were never even considered when the decision to go on the cruise was made and I had seen all of the bigger names at shows here. JST, Ana, SIMO, Ryan, Robben, and of course Joe and Rock Candy. I thought John Hiatt was great I saw him in the Stardust Theater which was my favorite venue on the cruise. Probably one of the best sounding theaters I have been to anywhere and it seated about 800 and it was possible to get a seat for all the shows there with not a bad seat in the house. I saw Ana, Joanne, John, and Robben there as well as the artist jam and Robert Randolf with Joe sitting in.
Now the deck stage which the first night was Joe and the second RCFP with Joe on the final night was Joe and guests was not my favorite stage because I was basically too lazy to get there early to get a good spot. However the new set is perfect for the high energy needed to keep a standing crowd engaged. Joe rocked the hell out of that deck in a bluesy way with the last nights show the coolest night both temperature wise and show wise, the captain did a good job keeping the wind at bay.
The atrium bar seemed to be the second best indoor stage. It was located at the center of all ship activity with the information desk which was basically like a hotel lobby with a bar and stage on one level and a pub overlooking the stage with tables and chairs a buffet that was the late night snack location for me. Highlight was SIMO's set the last night with Joe and Kevin looking on.
Bar City stage was a standing room only kind of place with a small stage where I caught Steve Costello with Carmine sitting in. All the KTBA contest winners were playing that stage regularly and caught bits and pieces of their acts walking through to the casino where I would go to find a friend of mine just to see what dinner plans were. That was really the biggest problem to work through was on ship communication. If you were there with a cabin mate or two there would of been no problems but with 10 to 20 people spread out all over the ship to stay in touch with and the on board app being pretty much worthless for texts it was a bit of a challenge coordinating dinner and show schedules you might want to attend together. It ended up that you would just bump into people at odd times but in the usual places such as the elevator lobby up to the 12th deck buffet or the atrium bar.
One last venue that I really didn't spend much time in but was really cool the Spinnaker lounge which was at the front top of the ship and set up like a Vegas show room. It had a small stage but the seating was laid out in tiers with tables and a bar at the top. Didn't see anything there but the Ded Nugent Jam. Now for those unfamiliar with Ded Nugent they are the mythical opening band for Joe World Wide. They play every venue Joe does just a few hours before the doors open. Now many people showed up for the Jam which wasn't really a jam the joke is the band just jams. Jam in E or F or G you get the picture it is pretty much one chord or riff and in some cases an actual Ted Nugent based song like Stranglehold. Either way they weren't there to host a jam they just jammed with a few special guests. Bernie Marsden being one. So Ded Nugent comprised of the techs Mike, Colin, Dan and guesting on keys Roy Weisman who is an unofficial member always welcome to join when he is in the town they are in. I have been lucky enough to guest a couple of times in my town only because I know someone in the band and he humors me. That was late Thursday I believe and in hindsight I would of seen more shows there as it again was probably my second favorite stage and venue on the ship.
Now to quickly summarize. Everything about the KTBA cruise was as good as advertised and I believe will keep getting better and better as it appears to be an annual event. It was a great vacation and first cruise and probably the only cruise I would ever do. I have done many music centered vacations mainly Joe related and this was a great experience as they all are but for those that want a chance to just experience a floating festival then Sixth Man are certainly pros that know how to make it happen and make the experience enjoyable with the Norwegian crew helping feed and keep your room tidy there as well it was just a great experience and it didn't really matter the ports of call. I would just hope they would head a little farther south next year to warmer waters other than that I had no complaints.
