Cruisers Spent the last day of ShipRocked at Carnival’s private island Half Moon Cay, named for its crescent-like shape. The crowd soaked up the sun and the perfect weather in the Bahamas, enjoying the crystal-clear waters and clear skies. Jigsaw Youth and Silly Goose provided the musical entertainment on the beach stage. Jigsaw Youth is an all-female punk rock band from New York and Silly Goose is a nu-metal group from Georgia. Both groups packed the beach for their performances.
Beach Wars took place as teams competed for dominance with group leaders Austin Meade and his band members. Cookie stepped up and led the beach wars competitions, directing guests through a number of friendly competitive games. We all got very lucky that the weather was in our favor!
The 30 seconds to shred contest took place at 3 p.m. back on the ship on the outside deck where fans competed through the week to make it to the finals. After some greuling competition and tons of guitar shredding talent, the Kramer Guitars USA Shred Master Champion 2025 was awarded to Paul aka MR. PURPLE.
Buckcherry took over the deck stage at 3:30 p.m. for their final performance on ShipRocked 2025. The five-piece Anaheim, California based band opened with “Lit Up” and made sure to include crowd favorites “Say F*ck It” and “Sorry.” They closed out their final set with the award-winning “Crazy Bitch” with the crowd singing along. The song is currently celebrating its 20th birthday and is featured on the 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition of their album 15.
Around 5 p.m., the artist Q&A took place in the Aft Lounge. The panel of artists answering questions was Brandon Saller (Atreyu), Eric Vanlerberghe (I Prevail), Jerry Gaskill (King’s X), Joey Belladonna (Anthrax), Luke Spiller (The Struts), and Moriah Formica (Plush). The artists got to talk about how they came to be as artists, the moment they realised they had made it big, and how the undying support from their family and friends is what propelled many of them into stardom.
The Ghost Inside’s lead vocalist Jonathan Vigil sang “Southtown” in a light rain with P.O.D. during their set on the deck stage. They sang a single from their newest 2024 album VERITAS called “AFRAID TO DIE” as fans swayed their cell phone camera lights in the air. They also rocked out to No. 1 hit “Youth of The Nation” and ended their set with the powerful and energy-filled “Alive.”
Other events of the day included a battle of the bands in the atrium and a cornhole tournament between Hollywood Undead and Parkway Drive in which Parkway Drive won. At 7:45 p.m., Lansdowne played the Ocean Plaza and covered Backstreet Boys’ “I Want It That Way” and closed with “One Shot.” At the end of their set, a lucky concert goer won a golden guitar.
The Stowaways closed out the night on the deck stage with an all 80’s metal set for the Headbanger’s Ball. Some hits included Journey’s “Anyway You Want It,” The Scorpions’ “Rock You Like A Hurricane,” and “Thunderstruck” by AC/DC. As part of the celebration, pizza and ice cream cones were being enjoyed as ShipRockers partied for one last time.
At midnight, I went to the Jesse Leach DJ set in the Vibe Lounge with a performance by his wife Goddess Purple. Everyone danced together to the music to end our ShipRocked experience with a bang.
This year’s cruise was amazing and we can’t wait to see what next years’ will bring!