Raging Open Waters: 7 Ways Festivals on the Open Seas Are Different

While the music festival explosion is a relatively recent phenomenon,

the predecessors laid the foundation in the 20th century. A music
festival on a boat, however, is a new sort of rage - a development of
the 21st century appetite for excess or possibly just the logical
consequence of the brilliant minds at Cloud 9 Adventures taking
advantage of an abundance of cruise ships.
INSERT JAMCRUISE VIDEO: https://youtu.be/QQYwT37D9Dc
With the original leader of the boat festival scene, Jam Cruise, sailing
for its 13th consecutive year and celebrating its proverbial Bat Mitzvah
earlier this year, it is evident that festivals on the open waters are here
to stay. Even though they are here to stay --- it is also true that they
have undergone some rapid development and growth since their
introduction in the early 2000s.
Early festival cruises were a virtual free-for-all of raging intoxication in
international and lawless waters. Cruise staff unprepared for the
festival experience, including the intense demand for alcohol and
blatant disregard for publicly acceptable norms of open consumption of
consumables, made it more of a this can only be happening here
experience. As the buzz for these floating festivals built, the events
grew and other cruises popped up (and sometimes failed to continue
sailing (R.I.P. Xingolati and S.S. Coachella)
INSERT XINGOLATI VIDEO (https://www.youtube.com/watch?
v=BwUFmlCZ-XI )
Bands like 311 and New Kids On The Block, with legions of ravenous
fans, have also bought into the boat festival paradigm. Once the
electronic music community discovered the idea of a quasi-utopia in
international waters, the game was forever changed. Holy Ship!
increased the demand for aquatic bass, Mad Decent Boat Party
attempted to further satiate that demand, and gliding into 2015, it
seemed a flood of floating festivals were the logical domino effect.
However, a few questionable passengers overboard, destruction of a
protected reef and the unfortunate disappearance and presumed death
of an attendee at Mad Decent Boat Party in November 2015 have put a
little bit of a cloud on the otherwise ocean of amazing experiences that
can be realized on the open seas.
Even with a few floating festivals in the books for 2016 already, the
waters are by no means crowded yet. While Jam Cruise caters to a
funk and jam music set you may ordinarily find on Frenchmens Street

at 4 am during Jazzfest, Holy Ship! and Mad Decents Boat Party have
found their success catering to the meteoric rise in popularity of
electronic music. There are plenty of local night only cruises in New
York, Chicago, New Orleans, Los Angeles and elsewhere but the multiday rager on a cruise liner is truly the way to go. S.S. Coachellas
failure signaled that trying a traditional festival line-up may be a
stretch, but it may have just been before its time. Artists with crossgenre appeal like Chromeo, Lettuce, Major Lazer and Pretty Lights may
be the key to sustainability. A hip-hop centered cruise is still a
possibility. Why not recreate the video for Big Pimpin IRL?
HOLY SHIP RECAP VIDEO: https://youtu.be/VJwEjCxk5GM
If youre a veteran of floating festival culture, you are probably still
committed to going again sometime in the future. If youve never had
the experience, Id urge you to add it to a bucket list and consider the
following before making your decision on what port to party out of
Travel:
It requires a lot more planning. A floating festival often requires a valid
Passport. It also requires some flexibility for arrival and departure
because you dont want to miss your voyage due to inclement weather
or a missed flight. Planning to arrive to port a day before the ship
leaves and a late departure when you return is advisable.
Security:
This is not your average festival security for a 5,000 person or less
festival. The security at entrance point is more serious than EDC; more
serious than your average airport departure. You are dealing with CBP
(Customs and Border Patrol). There are x-ray machines, metal
detectorseven contraband sniffing canines. If youre the type of
rager that requires an illicit turn up youre going to need a detox
program, a game plan or some friends willing to take a serious risk for
you to be able to turn up.
That said, once you are on board and cruising, security is way more
relaxed. Boat security is not used to the rage and festival organizers
typically hire seasoned staffers that know how to let their core crowd
have a good time. Recent ships have featured more security, canines
on board and more calls for safety first (as opposed to third) but it
seems much more of a cover your ass tactic from the cruise-liners and
event producers catering to a largely American (and potentially
litigious) clientele.

Alcohol
Prior to your departure, you will be repeatedly reminded by festival
organizers and the cruise operators that you cannot bring alcohol on
board. You very well may have any alcohol you try to bring on board
confiscated before it gets to your stateroom. If you put alcohol in your
bag it is like playing the lottery. If it arrives, you saved some loot. If
it doesnt arrive they usually hold it for you until you disembark.
Either way, you also have a stocked minibar in your stateroom and the
alcohol on the ship is priced about the same as alcohol at a
midwestern bar. For those unfamiliar with that pricing structure- that
means it is pretty reasonable. Beers are $3-$5, including high-end
and quality microbrews from the likes of Bells, New Belgium,
Lagunitas, Sweet Water and more. Cocktails are rarely more than $10
even with top shelf liquor. A bar tab for one night in New York, Miami,
Los Angeles or San Francisco is more than an entire day of intoxication
at a floating festival. This is not a traditional festival where festival
organizers also make a proportional vig on the food and beverage, the
festival organizer has collected their kings ransom up front with your
stateroom fee(s).
Food
Food seems to be the lowest priority in the floating festival
marketplace. Whereas terrestrial festivals are beginning to distinguish
themselves with a plethora of more luxurious offerings of food and
libations like the sit-down service at Coachella or the micro-brew and
vineyard options at Outside Lands Festival, the floating festival market
offers a 24 hour buffet and a sit-down restaurant or two. Passengers
paying an extreme premium get access to some more catered and
room-service options, but unlike a traditional cruise, passengers do not
rave about the food. It equates with a basic, low grade Las Vegas
buffet. You have a ton of options; they are just all mediocre (perhaps
with the exception of the fresh tropical fruit). In recent years,
organizers have shifted to having some featured chefs and some of the
cruise liners have had more accessible quality restaurants (including
Eataly on the MSC Divina), but the most dominant complaint of
attendees is the low quality of food at the floating festival.
Performances
Many of the most epic performances I have witnessed in over 20 years
of seeing live music have been at a floating festival. There is
something magical about hearing Pretty Lights drop Im On A Boat
(Remix) while youre on a boat, getting a flawless cover of Talking

Heads by some jam lords in the middle of the Caribbean or hearing

Ivan Neville stroke the ivory and ebony as he and 300 Jam Cruisers
sing Dave Matthews Bands Crash in the atrium. Maybe it is the
breeze, maybe it is the fact that the musicians are on a quasi-vacation
or maybe it is just the cosmos but the energy, attitude and
excitement of the performers and performances are on a different
level. The setting is intimate, there are more unexpected
collaborations than you could imagine and the sets are not your
traditional festival set. Unlike a traditional festival, which is more like a
showcase to potential new fans than it used to be, a floating festival is
really more about pleasing your die-hard fans and elevating the
performance and experience to a whole different level.
Line Up Diversity
Because the price tag is not cheap, these events cater to a core,
aficionado fan base. The events bring back similar people every year
because they are appealing to that same core audience and the artists
typically play multiple sets. On Jam Cruise Galactic, Karl Densons
Tiny Universe and now Lettuce and George Porter Jr. are virtual shoeins for the lineup on an annual basis. Mad Decents Boat Party always
features some incarnation of Diplo, whether it be he as himself, as Jack
U, as Major Lazer or some combination thereof. Holy Ship! is really
HARD on water and can be guaranteed to have, at the very least,
Destructo. The cruises helmed by a particular band always feature
multiple sets from that band.
Connecting with Artists
Going on a floating festival is kind of like a quasi-backstage pass. The
musicians are getting drinks from the same bars, food from the same
places and sometimes even staying in cabins on the same floor
(depends what event). You ride the same elevators, you go to the
same port excursions and you even enjoy the other musicians sets
together. By the end of your festival voyage, you see the artists for not
just the amazing talent they are, but as people and fans, with many of
them bringing their spouses, significant others and/or children. On
Jam Cruise the artists are a bit more accessible than Holy Ship! but in
all likelihood your best chance for a selfie with a music celebrity is on a
floating festival.
Fan Interactions
At a show in your hometown you may meet strangers vibing out to the
same feels, but they rarely become your friends. On a floating festival,
you see the same faces for multiple days in a row and end up leaving

with a new family of friends founded on a mutual love of music. You

come to know these passionate fans and establish friendships with
people from all over the country and world. Its a great way to build
your network when you love music
Medical Care
Do not get seriously injured on a floating festival. I repeat. Do not get
seriously injured on a floating festival. If you end up being the person
that has to be airlifted from the ship, you (1) will have an expensive bill
waiting for you and (2) probably will not be allowed to attend the
festival again.
If youre already convinced you need to attend, you can prebook for
JamCruise 15 here
(https://www.cloud9reservations.com/Booking/Reservation/Start?
tripID=4438), get details on upcoming Holy Ship excursions here
or even consider your Groove Cruise options
(http://www.thegroovecruise.com/la).