stts

OMG the Feb 2024 cruise was spectacular. Bret Michaels was so close to me and my video that it's clear he was singing along to a track when his lips stopped moving. He always keeps his mic to his face so you have to be close to see that detail. Some people complain but these are aging stars and they do what they do to make the show work. Roger Daultry had an unknown ear infection issue that frustrated him and he started songs again. I was front row and going crazy with enthusiasm. He did spectacular and then did it again. Rick Springfield was very annoyed at the ship schedule that allowed him only 30 minutes to setup his whole band. And his annoyance was on full display. But he belted out his whole show anyway and even jumped into the crowd in front of me. I got pics and videos 3 feet away from him as he crowd surfed. Despite his anger venting. I could have done without the anger, but the show was way greater than I was expecting. Im not a big Rick Springfield fan. But he did warm me up to him. I saw Quiet Riot with the original drummer Banali on a pre Covid cruise. And I got lots of pics and videos up close. Then Banali died of cancer. Over the years many of these performers passed away and I got to see them before they did. I got selfies with Phil and Dave from Molly Hatchet and now they both are gone. Phil was kicked out of the same grade school I went to long ago. He was crazy as a kid all hyper and stuff. I never met him back then but others in my class did. They filled me in and I talked to Phil about it on another trip. Phil remembered it like it was yesterday and said he deserved to be kicked out and he was only there for less than one year. It's amazing the access and friendliness. NAHAs RLC has only word of mouth advertising. I accidentally found out about the first cruise after it was sold out and was sailing in 2 months. I got on forums and begged anyone to let me sleep on the floor. Finally I was contacted by a lady whose roomie had to bail for health reasons. Wow, I can say this has changed my life. All the things I do now because I went on 11 of these cruises. The stories I got are just endless. Alice Cooper pausing to decide who to toss his baton too. I was videoing him, so he tossed it to the guy next to me. Like in spite. You can see it in his face, hah. Brad Gillis of Night Ranger handing me his pic because I had a video and could not join the scrum to chase one. I so love Gillis because he did his best to save Ozzy when Randy Rhoads was killed. It takes a god to replace Randy and Brad had a lot of god in him even as a kid. People complain that most bands have few original members. But the members they now have were members of other great bands. So 20 bands on a cruise is like 40 bands on the cruise. I don't know if any other music cruise is as great as NAHAs RLC, but with less bands, you may not get worn out like I always am. I book a hotel day after to beach and sleep just to spin down from what I just experienced. I do get off at the port sometimes, but only if I already saw the bands that perform while at the port of call. 2025 goes to Haiti, but Haiti is a mess and the cruise is looking for another destination. Cozumel is also in crisis, so all the ships stranded are trying to find empty spaces to park. These ships are big. There are now less than 100 people that have been on all 11 cruises. I got my special shirts that lists all the bands that was on all the cruises at the time. I ran into Billy Gibbons of ZZtop on Porto Plato and he looked skinny and frail. He didn;t want me to snap a pic and I didnt. But he was all dressed up for his show. But there is always long lines to scheduled meet and greets, if you don't mind missing shows. Mark Farner of Grand Funk Railroad got Noro Virus on one cruise, as did I, and I videoed 2 songs before he had to quit and vomit some more. I finally got sick as I was disembarking. Then had to stay 2 days to contaminate a Lauderdale hotel room. Noro Virus is terrible. Obviously the cleanliness process has changed ever since. I was on the 2020 RLC cruise when Covid started to go nuclear. We got to our port of call and "anchored" next to another cruise ship and the island would not let us park. And nobody was telling us anything. But the rock and roll continued. I took pics of the island from anchor and the other ship. Later it came out the other ship had Covid and somebody had already died. Our Captain kept everybody on his ship away from all that. The other ship was marooned at sea for months trying to find a place to park. We were so very lucky that year. America went on lock down very shortly after we came home. You see how these stories are simply endless? I used to go to Vegas every year, but it simply doesn't compare.

Theres a bunch of different kinds of these cruises, but I been on all 11 of the Rock Legends Cruises. They are charity run so they seem to attract more of the big names on each cruise. I don't go for the cruise amenities. I go because the aging big names are performing 3 to 20 feet in front of me. That is a thousand plus dollar ticket to any shows on land. And theres over 20 bands per cruise. And if that is not enough, I run my video cameras in their face with 300x zoom. I can count their nose hairs if I want. On land you go thru metal detectors and no video cameras allowed. Only cell phones get a pass any more and those are only now getting better. Then you get meet and greet on elevators and toilets and buffet lines. It's like the legends are just like us. They get pestered abit, but it's not like what happened to the Beatles 50 years ago. So I dont book balconies and opt for a port hole room, since Im not in the room much. I played golf on only one of the 11 cruises and only because a lady asked me really nice to join her there. I rarely do the formal dinning because its small portions and way too slow. I heap it on at the Buffet and wolf it down as I look over the schedule for the rest of the days bands. It's almost impossible to see ALL of the bands so Im always running around to all the venues to see as many as possible. To get up to the front rows you have to wait for over an hour and even longer. 2 hour waits for the theater. I rarely watch at the theator. The Deck stage and the Studio stage is standing room in front of the stage. So that is where I mostly go. It's loud, but they perform right in front of you. It's so amazing. Sammy Hagar pouring his rum into my drink mug. Same with Rick Springfield. They both partnered to make their own rum brand after Sammy sold his Tequila brand. The access to this kind of rock and roll is matched by no other venue. I am so tired when its over in 5 days, but then I play with pics and videos all the rest of the year, and I am floored by what I did. Some people complain about service compared to regular cruises. But Im glad staff stays out of my way. On the first cruise staff came out and sold drinks at the theator all thru the shows. That has never happened again. Fabulous. Room service is as friendly as any other cruise and I leave them a tip. Rock Legends Cruise 2025 will be different. The woman that created this cruise passed away. A young lady has replaced her, and she seems too young for the job. I have not bought an advance ticket and may finally miss a Rock Legends Cruise. They started booking bands much too late and I think most big names have their schedules already finalized. But it has been 11 fabulous cruises. I stand all day every day, but there is plenty of seating for those that sit until everybody has to stand, hah.