Frank & Cheryl's TRB Experience

Although we've been wanting to get on The Rock Boat for the past couple years -- ever since my friend Beth told me about it, something has prevented us from going until now.  Cheryl and I both love Sister Hazel -- we would have gone just for them.

We were supposed to be on TRB '05, last October, but it got cancelled due to all the hurricanes, and in fact, that ship became one that FEMA was using for housing...so we were lucky enough to get on TRB '06 in January.

We were TRB virgins, among many 2nd, 3rd, 4th and even 5th time "alumni", but we felt as welcome as anyone.  The entire crowd was friendly, and everyone was in such an "up", and happy mood.  It was great.  You would see artists in various places all over the boat, chatting, eating, relaxing.  I wanted to go up to Ken Block (of Sister Hazel) and thank him personally for TRB and in general for Sister Hazel's music, which I could listen to constantly, and whose lyrics have on multiple occasions really spoken to me....but being a shy weenie, I didn't, and now I wish I had (plus he seems like the coolest & nicest guy on the planet)...so Ken, if you're reading this, THANK YOU!

Our cruise was out of Galveston, after having been switched from New Orleans due to its devastation.  We were supposed to stop at two ports: Playa Del Carmen and Progreso (both in Mexico).  Cheryl and I decided to just rest up and stay on the ship at Playa Del Carmen, since we were booked for a 7 hour trip to the Chizen Itza Mayan ruins the next day at Progreso.  Unfortunately, the next morning, the captain decided it wasn't safe to dock at Progresso due to an approaching storm, so we didn't get to take our tour, and instead, headed out to sea (hoping to avoid the worst of the storm).  We never got off the ship.  On the bright side, that meant more concerts!  The word "selfish" could not be applied to the artists, who, without being scheduled, gave up their time to entertain the guests.  The shows were great.

The storm hit us late afternoon, while Sister Hazel was performing outside on the stage near the pool.  They just picked everything up, went inside to the Atrium stage where everyone followed, and picked right up where they left off!  Maybe you had to be there, but it was very cool.  And the ship was rocking and rolling physically as well as musically all night long.  When walking, I felt like I was really drunk, but without the slurred speech or stupid acts.  From the balcony of one of the music venues, it was kind of funny to watch the audience all swaying and bobbing in unison, not to the music, but to the ship being tossed about.  (No, neither Cheryl nor I got seasick.)

The "bigger" concerts were on a stage near the main Lido deck pool, and in the larger "lounge" areas, where the cruise ship would normally have Vegas-like acts.  But "big" was still pretty close-up.  I thought the size was perfect.  There was also a small stage behind the bar in the atrium, as well as a couple small venues that were mostly "unplugged" (acoustic or nearly acoustic)....and no matter where we went, everyone was friendly.  As you'll see in the pictures, sometimes people even just started playing in the hallways!  It was very cool.

There were big name artists such as  Sister Hazel, Better Than Ezra, Shawn Mullins and Mark Broussard as well as lesser known ones, and we enjoyed every show we saw.  In fact, we were blown away by several we hadn't even heard of before, such as Aslyn, Wideawake, and Daniella Cotton just to name a few.

It all ended up with a concert by Sister Hazel on the main indoor stage, where at the end, they led everyone out to the atrium bar stage, where then every artist got up and played one song.  We left at about 3:15am out of exhaustion, but it lasted well beyond that.  I don't know who thought of that (or if they've been doing it for years), but it was a fantastic way to end it all, so kudos to whoever came up with that.

We, along with many others, I suspect, were sad when the cruise was over and we had to go back to reality.

There is only so much I can put into words, so instead, go look at the pictures (and video, once I get that done), using the menu at the left.