2019
2019 Land, sand, sea and Spain
It started out like any other year for Sixthman – lots of back-to-back Caribbean cruises starting in January and continuing through March. We took on several returning events, and added some new faces to our roster with Kesha’s Weird and Wonderful Rainbow Ride, our third-ever TV-show based event with the Trailer Park Boys, and welcomed Melissa Etheridge and Jon Bon Jovi to the Sixthman artist host family.
After a running start, our year...
- The Outlaw Country Cruise ·
- The Rock Boat XIX ·
- Impractical Jokers Cruise ·
- Cayamo ·
- Kesha's Rainbow Ride ·
- Walker Stalker Cruise ·
- Blues Alive At Sea ·
- 311 Caribbean Cruise VI ·
- Trailer Park Boys Cruise ·
- The Melissa Etheridge Cruise ·
- Runaway to Paradise Caribbean ·
- Kid Rock Beach ·
- The Boaty Weekender ·
- Blues Alive at Sea Mediterranean ·
- Runaway to Paradise Mediterranean ·
- The KISS Kruise IX ·
- Brantley Gilbert Cruise ·
- All The Best Fest
Runaway To Paradise with Jon Bon Jovi: Caribbean
Rock royalty joined the Sixthman family with Jon Bon Jovi’s Runaway to Paradise.
2018
2018 Conquered the quest to 1 million
Over the years, we’ve kept track of how many days we spend at sea as a company – and we encourage our guests to do the same! We call it Saltiness, and if you’ve ever sailed with us, you can find the information in your Sixthman account. We’ve had our sights set on conquering that huge “1 Million Days at Sea” milestone for years, and we finally hit it onboard the 18th sailing...
- The Outlaw Country Cruise ·
- Walker Stalker Cruise ·
- The Rock Boat XVIII ·
- Cayamo ·
- Blues Alive at Sea IV (2018) ·
- Pitbull After Dark Party ·
- Sail Across the Sun ·
- PARAHOY! ·
- Kid Rock Cruise ·
- Brantley Gilbert Cruise ·
- Chris Jericho Cruise ·
- The KISS Kruise VIII
PARAHOY!
Hayley Williams kicks off Parahoy in 2018.
2017
2017 Two ships and a dream
Over the past several years, Norwegian Pearl had truly become our home away from home, and we continued to make modifications and staging improvements so it was even more suitable for our events. However, Norwegian Jade, the Pearl’s sister ship, was relocated to Tampa and became a brand new venue option for us. There were a few differences, but the majority of the ship was the same footprint and Norwegian agreed to outfit the...
- Walker Stalker Cruise ·
- Blues Alive At Sea III (2017) ·
- The Rock Boat XVII ·
- Sail Across the Sun ·
- Cayamo ·
- The Outlaw Country Cruise ·
- 311 Caribbean Cruise ·
- Pitbull After Dark Party ·
- Kid Rock Cruise ·
- Warped Rewind at Sea ·
- Impractical Jokers Cruise ·
- The KISS Kruise VII
The Walker Stalker Cruise
Greg Nicotero poses with a guest on Walker Stalker Cruise.
2016
2016 Expanding our reach
For over a decade, we’ve pioneered the festival cruising industry and have continued raising the bar across the board. So what happens when we expand into industries beyond music, our tried and true? In 2016, we found out as we took the leap by jumping into the realms of entertainment and sports. Brand new to the Sixthman roster, The Impractical Jokers Cruise, Walker Stalker Cruise, and Gronk’s Party Ship made their inaugural journeys across the Caribbean. New communities were formed and we learned...
- Impractical Jokers Cruise ·
- Walker Stalker Cruise ·
- The Rock Boat XVI ·
- Cayamo ·
- The Outlaw Country Cruise ·
- Sail Across the Sun ·
- Blues Alive at Sea II (2016) ·
- Gronk's Party Ship ·
- PARAHOY! ·
- Kid Rock Cruise ·
- The KISS Kruise VI
Walker Stalker Cruise
Norman Reedus high-fives a fan during his autograph session.
2015
2015 New office, new beginnings
As we entered a new year, we found ourselves getting settled into a brand new office. The team members that we’d brought on months prior had gone from timid toe-dippers, to salty sailors eager to explore greater depths of our expanding company. Based on what we learned in 2014, we scaled back the number of events with the intention of working smarter, not harder. The Rock Boat hit the high seas for it’s milestone 15th...
- Sandy Beaches Cruise 21 - ·
- Cayamo ·
- The Rock Boat XV ·
- Sail Across the Sun ·
- Blues Alive at Sea I (2015) ·
- 311 Caribbean Cruise ·
- Kid Rock Cruise ·
- The KISS Kruise V ·
- Florida Georgia Line Cruise ·
- Mad Decent Boat Party
The Rock Boat XV
Honoring our three 15-timers with custom TRB guitars.
2014
2014 Back to back to back to back
One of the unanswered questions in our industry is this: What is the growth potential if we were to have a partner to invest with us, allowing us to take more risk? At the beginning of 2014, Norwegian brought a new ship to Miami and the Norwegian Pearl was available for an 8 week window between January and March, so we took it. We produced our annual cruises and added some new ones...
- Sandy Beaches Cruise 20 - ·
- Mountain Song At Sea ·
- Cayamo ·
- Sail Across the Sun ·
- Progressive Nation at Sea ·
- The Rock Boat XIV ·
- LIVE LOUD Festival ·
- Kid Rock Cruise ·
- PARAHOY! ·
- The KISS Kruise IV ·
- GRAMMY Festival at Sea ·
- Florida Georgia Line Cruise ·
- Mad Decent Boat Party ·
- Simple Man Cruise
Simple Man Cruise
Lynyrd Skynyrd performs in the Stardust Theater.
2013
2013 The beat goes on
Norwegian made investments in the Norwegian Pearl to make it more “Music Cruise Friendly” and we moved all of our cruises over in 2013. It was nice to be such a priority on board and be able to work closer with the ship to deliver a world class experience to our guests and artists. While our guests preferred the Norwegian Pearl, there were little things that they missed from other ships we had...
- Cayamo ·
- Mountain Song at Sea ·
- The Rock Boat XIII ·
- 311 Caribbean Cruise ·
- Kid Rock Cruise ·
- Simple Man Cruise ·
- ALABAMA Festival at Sea ·
- The KISS Kruise III ·
- Rombello
The KISS Kruise III
Kids meet & greet with KISS.
2012
2012 The missing puzzle piece
In the summer of 2011, we were approached by Norwegian Cruise Line to become a part of their family via an acquisition. After months of discussions and negotiations, we agreed to become a Norwegian owned subsidiary in February of 2012. We produced 8 cruises in 2012. It was less than 2011, but our roster was strong - The Rock Boat, Simple Man Cruise, KISS Kruise, 311 Cruise, Cayamo, TCM and Kid Rock Cruise were all solid,...
- The Elvis Cruise ·
- The Weezer Cruise ·
- Cayamo ·
- The Rock Boat XII ·
- Kid Rock Cruise ·
- 311 Caribbean Cruise ·
- Simple Man Cruise ·
- The KISS Kruise II
Sixthman Sessions
The Rock Boat XII
Pre-Party: Guests parade through the streets of New Orleans led by a brass band.
2011
2011 Moving in the right direction
Kid Rock and VH1 returned for their 2nd year and we were fortunate to be able to start partnerships with 311, KISS and Turner Classic Movies to create new festivals. 311’s fans crashed our servers for the first time ever during their presale signups, but the band and their excitable fans created the most amazing, energy-filled atmosphere for any Sail Away Show we had ever witnessed. KISS attracted fans from 30 countries and...
- The Rock Boat XI ·
- Simple Man Cruise ·
- Ships and Dip 4 - ·
- Cayamo ·
- 311 Caribbean Cruise ·
- Kid Rock Cruise ·
- VH1 Best Cruise Ever ·
- Rombello ·
- The KISS Kruise I ·
- TCM Classic Cruise
Sixthman's Summer Road Trip · Sixthman Sessions
Kid Rock Cruise
Kid Rock takes the stage for the Sail Away show.
2010
2010 Getting stronger in more ways than one
After holding at 5-6 festivals a year in 2008 and 2009 to build our foundation and process, we had the opportunity to take on new events in 2010. We moved all but two cruises to Tampa and spread them out over 5 months to give ourselves a better chance for success. We brought the VH1, Zac Brown Band and Kid Rock cruises to life for the first time and we also ventured into lifestyle cruising with...
- The Rock Boat X ·
- Simple Man Cruise ·
- Cayamo ·
- VH1 Best Cruise Ever ·
- Kid Rock Cruise ·
- Malt Shop Memories ·
- Sailing Southern Ground ·
- Ultimate Wellness Cruise ·
- The Elvis Cruise
Sixthman Sessions
The Rock Boat X
Sister Hazel and Sixthman celebrates 10 years with a giant "X" cake.
2009
2009 Now we groovin'
We applied our lessons from 2008 and were able to execute the Simple Man Cruise, The Rock Boat, Ships & Dip, Cayamo and Mayercraft Carrier to our standards. We had only worked with Carnival in the past but selected Norwegian Cruise Line to host two of our cruises this year. The idea of going to a new cruise line was daunting but our team did an excellent job. Getting to work with two different...
- Simple Man Cruise ·
- The Rock Boat IX ·
- Ships and Dip V - ·
- Cayamo ·
- Mayercraft Carrier ·
- The Elvis Cruise
Rock Fore! Dough · Sixthman Sessions
Cayamo
John Hiatt and Lyle Lovett.
2008
2008 SOS we did too much
With 10 months to prepare, we felt that producing 5 cruises in one month was doable. In the end, it nearly brought us to our knees. The funny thing about our experience is that we were constantly in a position with our guests where we were asking them for a chance to make something right. While it took a huge emotional and physical toll on all of us, that experience had a profound impact...
- Simple Man Cruise ·
- The Rock Boat VIII ·
- Ships and Dip III - ·
- Mayercraft Carrier ·
- Cayamo
Rock Fore! Dough · Sixthman Sessions
The Rock Boat VIII
TRB Family Photo.
2007
2007 Going in some new fun directions
Going from one cruise a year to three in one month was overwhelming. Lynyrd Skynyrd went first followed by the the Rock Boat and then the Barenaked Ladies. We pulled it off and both Lynyrd Skynyrd and the Barenaked Ladies committed to doing it again because they loved it so much. That was a huge moment to see all three events become annual festivals instead of just one-offs. That’s when we really knew we had a business we...
- Gimme Three Days ·
- The Rock Boat VII ·
- Ships and Dip I -
Rock Fore! Dough
Gimme Three Days
Lynyrd Skynyrd hosts an autograph session.
2006
2006 Turning it back up again
The Rock Boat was hosted in January out of Galveston, TX due to the port of New Orleans still being closed from Hurricane Katrina. We allowed guests who had been booked on the cancelled TRB V to transfer to TRB VI, and ended up with a great crowd on board. One day, we hit some bad weather on the way back from Mexico and had to move all the shows indoors. The band Wideawake...
- The Rock Boat VI ·
- The Rock Slope III
The Rock Bus · Rock Fore! Dough
The Rock Slope '06
Steamboat Grand Resort
March 29 - April 2, 2006
2005
2005 Caught in the eye of the storm
The Rock Boat was set to sail out of New Orleans at the end of September and sold out months in advance. We decided to add a 2nd Rock Boat in January of 2006, thinking we would have one event every 6 months. One month before we were scheduled to sail, Hurricane Katrina hit New Orleans and Carnival rented our ship to FEMA so they could use it to house relief workers and families...
- The Rock Slope II ·
- The Rock Boat V (cancelled)
Rock For Relief · Rock Fore! Dough
The Rock Slope II
Steamboat Grand Resort
March 17-20, 2005
2004
2004 Narrowing our focus
We put The Rock Boat on sale in November of 2003 and it sold out within a few weeks. The hard work and patience had paid off. Gavin DeGraw joined us for this sailing with 20+ other artists. Zac Brown performed on his first cruise with us after winning a Battle of the Bands contest in the Southeast. We were learning so much about producing a vacation rather than just a concert. We didn’t have...
- The Rock Slope I ·
- The Rock Boat IV
The Rock Boat IV
Carnival Imagination
October 7-11, 2004
2003
2003 This may just be a good idea
We couldn’t wait to announce the next Rock Boat. We invited a lot of the same bands and Tonic jumped in on the fun. The event grew a little, but it didn't sell out. It was a lot of risk and work, so we had a meeting afterwards to vote whether to keep it going or shut it down. In the end, we determined that we'd give it one more year.
- The Rock Boat III
The Rock Boat III
Fred LeBlanc of Cowboy Mouth.
2002
2002 First full-ship charter
We launched the first Rock Boat and sailed out of Tampa on Labor Day Weekend. We made so many mistakes, but we had over 2000 guests and a festival was born. We even ran out of beer and had to borrow some from another Carnival ship when we were in the Bahamas. Pat McGee led an all night jam playing covers, and Edwin McCain delivered a Braveheart speech while standing on the bar, inspiring the...
- The Rock Boat II
The Rock Boat II
Guests hang out on the plank in the pool between shows.
2001
2001 Getting the game plan together
During a weekly message board chat with the Sister Hazel street team, fans requested a weekend hang with the band since they had been working so hard to promote them. Andy relayed the message to the band and they simply said, “lets do it”. Andy didn't know where to start, but while traveling on a flight from New York to Atlanta, fate placed him in the seat next to a travel agent who suggested a cruise. So......
- The Rock Boat I
The Rock Boat
Otherwise known as "Rock & Roll at Sea"
Carnival Jubilee
August 30 - September 3, 2001
EARLY
EARLY Let's get this party started
Andy Levine played in a band called Waterdog with Jett Beres and Ryan Newell from Sister Hazel. He wasn’t very good, but he booked all the gigs so they let him stay in the band. When the band dissolved in the Spring 1994, Andy began promoting concerts for a local Gainesville club called Richenbachers. Sister Hazel was starting up and Andy had a great relationship with the band so they decided to work together. ...
Sister Hazel
Promotional shot of the band.
