From its humble beginnings as a half-ship voyage with 1,500 guests to hosting over 4,100 rock fans in 2024, ShipRocked has grown into one of the most unique and vibrant music festivals at sea. In this exclusive interview, founder Alan Koenig takes us behind the scenes of this floating rock concert, sharing the inspiration behind ShipRocked, the challenges of organizing such an event, and the unforgettable moments that have defined its 15-year journey.
Alan delves into the intricate planning process, the role of fan feedback in curating lineups, and how the event has become more than a music festival—it’s a thriving community of music lovers united by their shared passion. Whether you’re a veteran ShipRocker or a newcomer curious about this one-of-a-kind experience, Alan’s stories and insights reveal what makes ShipRocked a true celebration of music, camaraderie, and adventure on the open seas.
ShipRocked 2025 currently has a few open cabins so there is still time to jump onboard this one of a kind vacation experience and rock out with your favorite artists.
What inspired you to start ShipRocked, and how has it evolved since the first cruise?
I was an artist manager for a number of years, and we did a couple of branded cruises with a client, and I had way too much fun. So I decided to start my company, and launched ShipRocked. It’s grown quite a bit over the last 15 sailings. Our first couple of cruises were just a half ship, with roughly 1500-1600 guests. Our 2024 sailing had over 4100 onboard. We’ve done our best to bring on the best in hard rock, hard alternative, and metal music but purposefully avoid limiting the lineup to a particular sub-genre or generation.
How do you select the bands and artists for each ShipRocked lineup?
That’s the fun part! We look at our guest surveys each year to determine who THEY want to see. We then try to book as many of those artists as we can, making sure to leave room for some up-and-comers and new faces as well.
What has been one of your favorite ShipRocked memories or standout moments over the years?
I’m asked this a lot, and it’s hard to say with 15 years of sailings under our belt. There are a lot of memorable moments for sure. Off the top of my head, Korn’s deck set in 2012, Fred Durst making ship announcements in 2015, Lamb of God playing Redneck in a downpour the last night of 2022, and Parkway Drive absolutely crushing it on 2023’s sailing.
In 2024 we destroyed a pier in Jamaica. While I may not call that memorable given the challenges we faced afterwards, it’s certainly a standout! But honestly, the most memorable moments for me are seeing our guests experiencing a concert and vacation experience with each other that’s unlike any other. It’s a truly special community of music fans.
Can you describe the planning process for an event like ShipRocked? How long does it take to organize each cruise?
Every cruise starts with chartering a ship, running budgets, etc. That occurs roughly 2 years in advance. Then we start working on the next one the day we get off the prior one. Getting together all the new artwork (we re-theme each), website, putting it on sale, booking the lineup, planning our onboard events, putting together a schedule, communicating with our guests throughout, and finally executing the cruise itself, each sailing takes a lot of planning that occupies the better part of a year.
How do you handle the logistics of managing a concert event on a cruise ship versus a traditional venue?
It’s definitely a different animal than a land based venue. We load most of our production on the ship/sailing prior to ours, then start building and decorating the night before we depart. Given that it’s a moving vehicle, there are quite a few safety protocols in place. Then the morning of our sailing we’re loading additional gear, all the bands and their gear, etc. It’s a very fast moving process. The first day is a LONG one!
What are some of the challenges you face with an event as unique as ShipRocked, and how do you overcome them?
We face challenges every year, respond as best we can to those we’ve contingency planned for, and move quickly to address and overcome those we haven’t anticipated. Most years it’s smooth sailing! Our 2024 sailing, however…The night before we left, we had to make a complete itinerary change given some weather, which resulted in a near complete show schedule change.
We had a tornado warning in downtown Miami during boarding, and had to pull the gangway off the ship until that was over. Then we dodged a bunch of inclement weather on our way to Jamaica. Shortly after docking there, more weather came in behind us causing the ship to crash into the pier. We had to pull the ship away for safety reasons, with half our guests on shore. It was quite the day. But, we successfully got around 2000 guests rounded up and back onboard that evening. We missed our 2nd port due to weather, and finished the cruise with a beautiful sunny day in our last port, only having cut 2 shows the entire sailing. A challenging but very proud sailing for our whole team.
How do you incorporate fan feedback and preferences into each new edition of ShipRocked?
We have a very extensive post-cruise survey that we ask our guests to participate in every year. We take their feedback very seriously. It is, after all, THEIR vacation! So we’ve done our best to incorporate many of their suggestions over the years to try and make their vacation experience even better.
What has been the most surprising or unexpected outcome of hosting ShipRocked?
The most surprising thing is that the community of guests really came together quickly in the early years, and has grown so much since. They are this incredible living, breathing, vibrant organism that singularly make this cruise and this vacation so unique. We do our best to nurture that from year to year, but the success of the cruise can be entirely attributed to them. Because of that, the cruise has been able to endure for the last 15 years, with no signs of stopping!
How do you envision the future of ShipRocked? Are there any new ideas or changes you’d like to explore? Any plans to expand?
ShipRocked will continue to evolve. Whether it be lineup, ships, ports of call, events, themes, even our community of guests, we are fully committed to delivering a unique, fresh and never the same vacation experience. We’ve looked at a number of ways to expand over the last few years, and have some ideas. Stay tuned!
What advice would you give to someone looking to create a unique festival experience like ShipRocked?
It’s a lot of work, a lot of risk, and there are no guarantees. Good luck!
What are some of the behind the scenes preparations that people may be surprised about?
There is probably some good inside baseball stuff, but the most surprising thing is that none of this ever really feels like work. We love what we do. This is all we do, and yes, we get to go!