Day 4 – Docked in Ocho Rios, I Prevail & The Stowaways Perform On The Deck
On Wednesday, we woke up docked in Ocho Rios for a second day, due to weather and Carnival technicians inspecting the ship. Many of us woke up in good spirits as we processed the day before.
Our room attendant was cool, calm, and collected when we asked about his day during the boat collision. “The ship can handle almost anything. We were ok, we are ok” he said. The carnival crew including our incredible room attendant were professional, and helpful and eased any residual anxiety we had from yesterday. The staff and crew are part of what makes ShipRocked special and feel like a true vacation.
So is the food! The delicious Seaday Brunch was served again during our bonus day in Jamaica. Part of our brunch included yummy powdery beignets from Carnival’s new Emeril Lagasse menu selections, which were a treat with coffee.
Performances onboard commenced. Dorothy and Dayseeker delivered special acoustic performances at the VIP party where the rum punch flowed freely! Dorothy had a busy day as she also had to host an epic Zombie Beauty Pageant.
After days of rescheduling, headliners I Prevail finally got to perform on the Deck Stage in the late afternoon! It was their first and only performance on the boat. Eric took the stage holding a giant tropical drink from the Red Frog Pub onboard.
The Michigan outfit cranked out notable songs, “Bow Down,” “Scars” and “FWYTYK.” They also performed snippets of System of a Down’s “Chop Suey” and Limp Bizkit’s “Break Stuff.”
ShipRocked supergroup The Stowaways also had their first set on the deck. Highlights included Crobot’s Brandon Yeagley belting out “Give It Away” by Red Hot Chili Peppers. And he crushed this performance in gold pants and hair flying. Another funky dresser included Steel Panther frontman Michael Starr who donned a leopard shirt and leather pants while he sang his incredible rendition of “You’ve Got Another Thing Comin'” by Judas Priest
Dead Sara vocalist Emily Armstrong began belting out “My Heart Will Go On” the Titanic number by Celine Dion (too soon Em!). Armstrong’s ferocious rendition of “Bullet With Butterfly Wings” by The Smashing Pumpkins was one of the best performances of the day. Nonpoint singer Elias Soriano took to the stage to deliver an extra obliterating version of Slipknot’s “Wait and Bleed.”
Other guests featured in The Stowaways included talented musicians such as Ron “Bumblefoot” Thal, drummer/bassist Roy Mayorga of Ministry and Keith Wallen of Breaking Benjamin to name a few. Wallen pulled double duty as he played the theater later on that evening debuting songs off his upcoming solo project.
Later in the day fans could also do meet and greets in the Music Experience Lounge with artists like LUNA AURA. She was a new music discovery for us this week and we can’t wait to see more of her in the future.
The Deck Stage saw a lot of enthusiastic sets throughout the day including from Black Stone Cherry. These Kentucky boys are no strangers to ShipRockers and they are a fan favorite. Wherever they go the party starts! They cranked out hits like “White Trash Millionaire,” “Blind Man” and new tracks such as the title song “Screamin’ at the Sky” and “Nervous.” They also did an incredible rendition of Tracy Chapman’s “Give Me One Reason.”
Later in the evening we also caught ShipRocked Newbs Winona Fighter in the Ocean Lounge as they played their hard hitting set.
Even though “Night of the Rocking Dead” was the theme, lots of undead looked alive as we got ready for day Five.
Day 5: Meet & Greets, Highly Suspect, Dorothy, Second Killswitch Show & More
The morning started interesting as codes were announced on the loudspeaker at around 4:30 a.m. but thankfully it was just a false alarm as we continued to sail on. Every guest on board also received a $300 onboard credit from Carnival for the inconvenience in Jamaica and having to skip the Grand Cayman port stop. (More booze and fancy pressed juice, here we come!)
ShipRockers were up early anyway for Seaday Brunch and a series of meet and greets! Meet and greets In the morning included bands Badflower, Beartooth, Crobot, and Eva Under Fire. In the Afternoon I Prevail, The Warning and members of The Stowaways took their photos and met with fans.
There was also a Q&A with the ShipRocked captain and founder Alan Koenig. He talked about interesting stats such as males and females making up ShipRockers on board pretty evenly and that there were more kids on board than on any other previous cruise. Koenig also said ShipRocked 2026 is ready to go because he books the ships and ports two years out. “This cruise is a success because of you,” he told the crowd.
Right before the music started on the deck stage, The Music Experience hosted the finals of the 30 Seconds to Shred contest where Cody and Fitz went head to head for their chance to win a guitar.
Dorothy crooned bluesy rock tracks on the Deck Stage. Her voice is a mix of classic rock, soul, and even a sprinkle of doo-wop. The nostalgia in her voice is something familiar but she has a sound all her own as she belted out “Down to the Bottom” and “What’s Coming to Me” just a couple of tracks out of her hearty setlist.
Heavy Hitters Beartooth and Black Stone Cherry knocked out their second performance of the day as did Killswitch Engage. As Killswitch knocked out their last set “The Poseidon Adventure” played throughout. They also kicked off their set with “My Last Serenade” which was cut from the first set. It was a special performance because fans chose some of the songs that were played by filling out dream set list cards earlier in the week for the band.
Highly Suspect played in the theater with dreamy lighting to delight ShipRockers. The songs and sounds that Johnny Stevens delivers are deeply personal. Echoes of “Serotonia,” “My Name Is Human” and “Lydia” rang throughout the venue.
“They Live” was the theme for the night and let’s just say we saw some aliens and some unicorns, you decide who wins and lives on for eternity!