Remembering ShipRocked ’25 as Tickets for Next Year’s Cruise are in Pre-Sale
(Editor’s note: In a bid to get more metal cruise coverage on the site, we’ve had Sean Matthews out on this year’s ShipRocked taking photos and documenting his experience along the way. With the cruise now firmly behind us and pre-sales of next year’s cruise up now, we figured this would be a good time to share his experience.)
This past January, the fifteenth iteration of ShipRocked set sail from sunny Miami, Florida aboard the Carnival Magic for six days of non-stop music and mayhem. With expectations set high after last year’s dock wrecking incident, roughly 3,000 fans known amongst ourselves as “Shiprockers” converged as mix-n-match group of people unloading out of ride share vehicles and shuttles. For hours, they could be seen hugging and greeting each other like a yearly family reunion.
Spearheading our near week-long adventure to St. Thomas USVI, and the Bahamas, was Australian metalcore band Parkway Drive, with assistance by Hollywood Undead, Nothing More and many more.
Sunday
Upon boarding, each guest was greeted with a badge (somewhat of honor) that states NEWB, or Survivor depending on whether they’d attended a ShipRocked cruise or not. The family reunion continues for hours, through muster drills, and finally culminates with a “Family Photo” on the upper deck at main stage, with the event organizers, ASK4.
Once all pleasantries are out of the way, we are immediately given a sneak preview into the following year’s itinerary, including ports, ship and dates. With the all-clear signal from the bridge, we tugged offshore, and our sail away band hit the stage. This year, newcomers Hollywood Undead brought the party atmosphere to the forefront almost immediately as they played us out to sea with an infectious mix of songs that spanned their entirety as a group.
What followed was an onslaught of bands that, on their own, fill theaters around the globe. Plush played in the theater, while Atreyu hit the deck stage in the early evening. P.O.D. would overflow the theater, and Nothing More (who hit the stage at nearly 11 p.m.) put on a set that would see the Deck stage impossible to get near.
If not at one of the two main stages, fans could catch smaller or newcomer groups playing in random spots throughout the ship, like Ice Nine Kills rhythm guitarist Ricky Armellino’s new project HAWK, who played in a lounge mid-ship just off the casino and made navigating anywhere on the floor a daunting task. Silly Goose played an aft lounge, in the wee early hours of Monday morning, and from rumors was the only band in ShipRocked history to get a mosh pit going, if only for a few moments.
Monday
For early risers, Metal Yoga was an option, while long time sailors got gifts a plenty. The 666 club (6-time guests) were given a long black robe with the logo (Skully) embroidered into its back, while 10th years got a gold record plaque, and lifers (those whom have sailed every sailing since its inception) received a bar sized neon Skully light to hang at home.
While the faithful sailors received gifts, trivia, a guitar clinic, and various meet and greets took place for anyone else to get a slower start to the day. Devour The Day took to the deck stage just before noon to start the music for our first day at sea, while Hollywood Undead, and Parkway Drive went head-to-head in a friendly game of Family Feud that made one of Hollywood Undead’s stagehands almost immediately infamous for the rest of Shiprocked.
The music and meet & greets didn’t stop with bands like Goodbye June, The Glorious Sons, 10 Years, and The Ghost Inside all playing, while Plush and Silly Goose met with fans. Comedian Big Jay Oakerson had a dedicated show that had the entire audience in complete stitches for more than an hour, before headliner Parkway Drive played their first set of the week. Winston McCall, lead singer for the group, took moments throughout the set to thank fans and explain why they came back for a second sailing only two years after their first, stating the idea was the most fun their group had ever been a part of.
The evening ended with a three-way choice, Ghostkid playing in a small lounge, Mad Max 2 movie night in the theater, or Rock Star Karaoke in the casino lounge, where you are the lead singer of a live band.
Tuesday
Our second full day at sea started off with a choice of a Hairy Chest contest, or Aerobicise. I guess it all depended on what type of vacation you were going for really.
Spiritworld kicked off our music today, while most people prepared for a long wait to meet the headliners. On full days at sea, ShipRocked organized a monster meet and greet, where one line meets four groups all at once (one after another), gets a photo (supplied for free post cruise), and then goes about their day. Today’s first time slot was Parkway Drive, The Glorious Sons, Des Rocs and Kid Kapichi. Immediately following them was another with Nothing More, Atreyu, 10 Years, and Big Jay Oakerson.
For those who didn’t like standing in line, Plush & Des Rocs played on stages while games of blackjack, beer pong, and dodgeball were all in full effect. Starting the evening with Flat Black, it was a nonstop selection of live music until the wee hours of the morning, with The Glorious Sons, Devour the Day, Lansdowne, The Struts, Jigsaw Youth, and Nothing More all playing back-to-back.
Wednesday
We arrived at St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands early and were able to go ashore and take part in excursions, or just roam the area, and grab local food and drinks. For those who preferred to sleep in and stay aboard, trivia was offered as a mid-day option until all guests were back on the ship.
Our sail away from St. Thomas was ShipRocked’s own supergroup The Stowaways. Known in the beginning as the All-Star Jam, it was once a time when members of groups could just get together and jam. Now it is a full production set curated by Ask4 to coincide with the theme of the cruise that year. This set was geared to an 80’s mix tape with songs like Starship’s “We Built This City”, Tears for Fears’ “Everybody Wants to Rule the World” and DEVO’s “Whip It”.
DED, and Buckcherry both put on great sets, while Ukrainian heavy metal group Jinjer took to the stage for the first time this trip. Lead singer Tatiana Shmayluk seemed to be having a good time throughout, with the crowd being as rowdy as they were allowed to be. Hollywood Undead followed, closing out the deck stage before The Ghost Inside packed the theater taking us well into Thursday morning with a 16 song setlist.
Thursday
Starting this morning off was Captain’s Quarters, a chance to ask questions directly to the main man himself, the Captain of Shiprocked, Alan Koenig. In a no holds barred conversation, guests can talk and discuss any, and all issues cruise related and inquire about future cruises.
Being our last full day at sea, the monster meet and greets were back, with Hollywood Undead, Jinjer, Buckcherry and Flat Black up first. Followed directly with The Struts, P.O.D., The Ghost Inside, and The Stowaways.
Jesse Leach of Killswitch Engage was the guest host of the Cancer Sucks charity auction and ended up raising over $100,000 in just over an hour, with fans pouring money into custom signed guitars, and one-off prizes, like offsite concerts, and even a cabin on next year’s Shiprocked.
Diamante started our day off music wise while all the other activities were in full effect. DED, Oxymorrons, Des Rocs, Kid Kapichi and the native Howl kept it going into the late afternoon. Atreyu got our evening started in the theater with lead singer Brandon Saller jumping off stage, roaming the crowd drinking drinks, and allowing fans to sing throughout the set. 10 Years and British rock band The Struts kept the party going, before Parkway Drive ended the evening on the deck stage. Lead singer Winston McCall jumped offstage and roamed the ships multi-deck open area while never dropping a note, heavily interacting with the fans, just as he did while not on stage all week long.
Friday
Our last day, started with a small ride to Carnival’s private island in the Bahamas, named Half Moon Cay.
While most people went ashore to bask in the sun and play on the beach in the ocean. Jigsaw Youth, and Silly Goose went all out with their island sets, seeing total chaos with full beach and water mosh pits running simultaneously.
Back aboard in the late afternoon Buckcherry played us off to sea, while smaller bands held intimate meet and greets throughout the ship. The Stowaways second set of the cruise was aptly named Headbanger’s Ball, and featured songs like AC/DC’s “Thunderstruck”, Dio’s “Rainbow in the Dark”, and Motorhead’s “Ace of Spades” which could be a simple nod to ShipRocked’s humble beginnings as Motorhead’s Motorboat.
Recap
As the music died out near midnight, some went to their rooms to pack and sleep, while others chose to roam the ship one last time, take in some karaoke, or have a drink at the piano bar with friends. Tomorrow morning, we will wake up in Miami, disembark and go our separate ways for another year. A family reunion as dysfunctional as any other, held yearly for all those who chose to attend.
Most people take the chance to spend their money with a once in a lifetime intention, only to find out they now have a yearly duty to return in fear of missing something amazing.
ShipRocked is currently in pre-sale status with information being released in the coming weeks, and hopefully a lineup thereafter. Check out the official website here, for more information, or to get onboard for 2026.
