[Andy]

Survivors! Like every year it has been a blast and makes me feel so good to sail the Caribbean with my Metal Cruise Family. Seeing that you have such a great time is the biggest motivation for me to continue and keep on improving what I do.

Last year we had 70 Nations from around the Globe on board 70000TONS OF METAL, The Original, The World's Biggest Heavy Metal Cruise and I truly thought there is no way we will beat that. But you proved me wrong! This year you brought that count to 72 Countries! Wow, fucking awesome! All you Survivors from ANDORRA, ARGENTINA, AUSTRALIA, AUSTRIA, BAHAMAS, BELARUS, BELGIUM, BOLIVIA, BRAZIL, BULGARIA, CANADA, CHILE, COLOMBIA, COSTA RICA, CROATIA, CUBA, CZECH REPUBLIC, DENMARK, ECUADOR, EGYPT, EL SALVADOR, ESTONIA, FAROE ISLANDS, FINLAND, FRANCE, GERMANY, GREECE, GUATEMALA, HONDURAS, HONG KONG, HUNGARY, ICELAND, INDIA, IRAN, IRELAND, ISRAEL, ITALY, JAPAN, JORDAN, KYRGYZSTAN, LUXEMBOURG, MALTA, MEXICO, MOLDOVA, NETHERLANDS, NEW ZEALAND, NICARAGUA, NORWAY, PALESTINE, PANAMA, PERU, POLAND, PORTUGAL, PUERTO RICO, QATAR, ROMANIA, RUSSIA, SERBIA, SLOVAKIA, SLOVENIA, SOUTH AFRICA, SPAIN, SRI LANKA, SWEDEN, SWITZERLAND, TRINIDAD AND TOBAGO, TURKEY, UKRAINE, UNITED ARAB EMIRATES, UNITED KINGDOM, USA and VENEZUELA made 70000TONS OF METAL 2016 once again truly feel like the United Nations Of Heavy Metal At Sea! My apologies for overlooking Malta in the first count onbroad! Sorry about that!

A special Thank You to all the members of my incredible crew! Despite the storm and the resulting last minute rescheduling, you made it possible that all 60 Bands could play their second show! Last but not least, Thank You to all the Artists and their Crew for 121 fantastic live performances including Jamming With Waters In International Waters, the Clinics, holding all the Meet & Greet and Signing Sessions and participating in all the other Special Events.

Survivors! I am looking forward to welcoming you back onbroad for Round 7 of 70000TONS OF METAL, The Original, The World's Biggest Heavy Metal Cruise sailing from Miami/Ft. Lauderdale to Labadee, Haiti and back, February 2-6, 2017.

Thank you and Cheers! Your Skipper

[Razor Ramon]

This wait for 2017 is taking forever!!

[Pellaz]

A few thoughts about this year compared to last year (my only two years....so far).

Storm and rescheduling. This really fucked me over because Insomnium was one of my favorite bands on the boat, and their second performance was shifted from 1:15 am to 3:45 am the last morning. (Their first show was also very late at night.)
.....So, this exchange took place on Deck 5, with me looking at the new schedule:
Me: "Boy, Andy must really HATE Insomnium."
Vincent (from UMC, weakly): "Well, they're Insomnium. They never sleep!"
--Seems like a pretty pathetic excuse to fuck over a band's set-times....but whatever.

Considering the real possibility of the pool-deck stage having weather issues in the future, I think Andy should drop back to 50 good/well-known bands and schedule them no earlier than 11 am and no later than 3 am. Bonus: this would allow some slip-time toward the end of the cruise so if a stage has to close, there would be slots available to move those shows to.
(Andy will NEVER do this -- he'd regard it as a retreat or a surrender -- but it makes good sense logistically as well as financially.)

I thought the food was overall better this year than last year. Dining-room service was MUCH improved the first time we went there, and a little less prompt -- but still good -- the second time. I liked the choices in the Windjammer more this year also, and some of the sandwiches in the Promenade Cafe -- particularly those big turkey sandwiches -- were really good! Johnny Rockets was once again a good late-night stop and were open 'til 3 am. ($7 is a good cover charge for it.)

I encountered some really good staff people both years, but this year was the first time a Customer Service desk person told me effusively that they really loved us as a group and wanted to keep us onbroad forever. THAT was cool.

The porters never came to us to collect our luggage for checking...and I saw a lot of people schlepping their large suitcases onbroad besides us. That was weird, because usually the porters are Johnny-on-the-spot to collect luggage and tips.

Boarding was very swift -- we were onbroad by 11:30 -- and debark was also really fast; we were back at the hotel to pick up my car by 9:30. After boarding with all of our large luggage we followed some other cruisers down to our stateroom corridor to drop off our excess luggage. The corridor doors were open and so was our stateroom door, and the room had already been made up, so we thought nothing of it...until some Royal hotel-services officer came by and hassled us for going there before 11 am. That was pretty annoying.

I saw more shows than last year, but not as many as I'd wanted to. Still, it was a great year for me band-wise and it was awesome seeing so many friends from last year, even if briefly, and a lot of friends who came for the first time this year. All in all, it was pretty awesome!

[elj4176]

Thoughts from a first timer:
Despite any criticisms below I had a great time onbroad and am looking forward to 2017! Let's reset that timer on the main page!

1. Even though there were only a handful of bands I wanted to see I found it to be a challenge to see them all twice, eat and get some sleep. As long as we get a few solid death and thrash bands for 2017 I'm in. Something stoner/sludgy like Monolord or Electric Wizard would seal it for me.
2. Food in the dining room was below average compared to previous cruises I have been on. A steak should not resemble a pressed burger in any way. The italian restaurant was much better. Didn't try Chops or Johnny Rockets. Promenade cafe was pretty good!
3. Smoke in the pub was gross but there were plenty of other places to sit and have a beer so no big deal there. Beer selection was okay.
4. Didn't get a chance to meet any of the usual forum posters here but did meet some cool people from around the world.
5. Falmouth - no - just no. I don't wan't your drugs/girls/boys and I'm not getting in a car with any of you. Will Haiti be better? I hope so.
6. Missed a lot of the rescheduled bands on the last night because I wasn't paying attention. Missed karaoke and part of the all-star jam. Bummed that Fleshgod didn't get to finish their pool deck set and their makeup set was in that tiny lounge. Didn't play Through our Scars as far as I could tell. Anyone know why they stopped their pool deck set?
7. Thought it was cool to have metal playing in the hallways and elevators. Staff seemed to enjoy the fans and the bands.
8. Embarkation and debarkation were smooth. Merch line wasn't bad when I finally got around to it.
9. Respect to the bands that were mingling with the fans and posing for pic after pic.

Did anyone get wifi to work on a droid? Was unable to do so and waited at the front desk while someone was on the phone with Verizon trying to figure it out. I left after about 45 mins and just put my phone away (not a bad thing).

[cowboy71]

Did anyone get wifi to work on a droid? Was unable to do so and waited at the front desk while someone was on the phone with Verizon trying to figure it out. I left after about 45 mins and just put my phone away (not a bad thing).

My wife has an android mobile - had no issues using wifi on it!

[elj4176]

My wife has an android mobile - had no issues using wifi on it!

huh..wonder if it's a Verizion thing then. I could connect but couldn't get the initial login page to come up. The other guy was having the same problem and we both are on Verizon. Could be their VZProtect app maybe. Laptop worked fine as did my friends iphone.

[capacitator51]

huh..wonder if it's a Verizion thing then. I could connect but couldn't get the initial login page to come up. The other guy was having the same problem and we both are on Verizon. Could be their VZProtect app maybe. Laptop worked fine as did my friends iphone.

I have an Android phone with Verizon as well, and I could not connect either. It listed me as connected but I wasn't able to use the service for anything.

[Pellaz]

For those who actually managed to connect with ship's WiFi, how was the speed?

[slayergeek]

For those who actually managed to connect with ship's WiFi, how was the speed?

Mostly bad, sometime passable. It was inconsistent, sometime it was usable, sometimes it wasn't.

[Shadow Son]

Bummed that Fleshgod didn't get to finish their pool deck set and their makeup set was in that tiny lounge. Didn't play Through our Scars as far as I could tell. Anyone know why they stopped their pool deck set?

Based off what I can tell, their ochestral / choir recordings weren't playing properly for some reason. To add on to that, their pianist uses an actual piano, not like a keyboard workstation to play their orchestral stuff. Although he does make all the orchestral arrangements. Even so, it meant they couldn't continue since they couldn't fix it.

This is actually a good example as to why bands shouldn't do things in the studio that they can't play live.

[cowboy71]

Just remembered the only really negative experience for me the entire cruise - other than the sucky blinding lights in the theatre, and the strobes in the ice rink.

Up on deck for the Gamma Ray show up there, hanging around after they've finished hoping to grab a set list, as you do.

One of the 'crew' (Merrett i think his name was), is taking up the set lists. Make a half hearted attempt to throw one out to us and the wind blows it away.

He shrugs and goes 'well I tried', grabs up the rest of the setlists, screws them up into a ball, AND THROWS THEM IN THE BIN BEHIND THE STAGE!

Seriously what the fuck dude? Could have like, thrown that to the people waiting, or I dunno maybe handed them to the security guys to pass out to the crowd.

Seriously fucked up that.

[Razor Ramon]

For those who actually managed to connect with ship's WiFi, how was the speed?

I think they were splitting a 56K connection between the whole ship.

[Gratch]

I'm hoping the guy who got dropped over the barrier while crowdsurfing during the November's Doom set in the Pyramid actually survived. I don't know if security just didn't see him or what, but he went straight from above the crowd to the floor. The back of his head came down right on the corner of the metal barrier. I was surprised he was actually able to stand up afterwards...it looked really nasty.

[Razor Ramon]

That happened to a guy on the pool deck too. They threw him over the barrier and no one was there, dude folded in half, security helped him up and took him to the other side of the barrier, then a minute later he came back yelling "Fuck you mother fuckers!!" and tried to lift himself up on the barrier but ended up flipping over it and face planting into the deck, then all of us up front had a good laugh.

[Madkill]

I have to echo the comments on the RC staff. They're AWESOME. Always friendly, helpful, smiling, and I'm sure quite a few have turned into Metalheads, judging from their reactions at some shows.

[spooky]

^^^^maybe it was the dude who landed on my head during the epica show. my head cannot support a 180+ lb human.

[Stained Class]

I actually remember the bartenders in the theater being completely blown away by Eluveitie, they were really into it.

[Razor Ramon]

There were a bunch of crew watching Epica in the theater and the one guy said he was blown away and didn't know such music even existed.

[taketheday]

Well, except that I wasn't really happy that Twilight Force had to sing the both times at the Pyramid Lounge where, for a short disabled person like me, it was almost impossible to see the stage, but thanks of some nice people, I was finally able to go the closest possible of the side of the stage for their second set, where I was finally able to take some pics and film. For the rest of the cruise, all went well and, probably thanks of the bad weather, I was finally able to attend more shows than expected in a first time, 20/31

A little bit sad that I wasn't able to meet Andy at the Theatre, but as I can't go downstairs, I had to stay upstairs... hopefully the next year

That was great to meet again some friends and make new ones, before and while the cruise See you the next year everyone! Now, back to the real life, with the jet-lag effect and the PCD is at the door

[EvilDan]

Had a blast, as always, but it'll take me a little longer to digest it. It's the first time I came off the ship and had no desire to return next year. However, I have some friends that have never gone, who are planning on next year, so who knows?

I was pretty lit up on Sunday, and I don't recall much of the evening from Nervosa on. Hopefully, I didn't do anything too stupid.

I was also a bit surprised at the music that was played in the background. I heard a lot of Steve Vai and TSO. I don't recall hearing Vai in previous years, and it seemed a little out of place, so I wonder if that's a tip-off for next year with Vai filling the guitar god role that was empty this year.

Fuck the strobe lights.

[MissTool]

I kept saying I was going more for the experience than the lineup but in the end I saw a lot of gigs and had pleasant surprises with certain bands like MDB and Moonspell, which I had seen before and got bored.
I ended up not talking to a lot of people as I was expecting but I got sick on day 2 and was feeling pretty miserable to be social. It was a miracle I managed to see as many gigs as I did. I remember at one point entering the rink and the cold air hit my brain and I had to get away, that strobe light was awful as well.
I was able to go to the main restaurant every night and it was cool sitting on tables with different people every night (I actually divided a table with the same couple twice, which was a coincidence). Everyone was very nice and I had a good time on those dinner. It was the time I felt more social.
I got extremely lucky with my cabin mate. We both were terrified with could end up with someone crazy, so when we met each other we were super relieved. We had the same taste, so we ended up together in many gigs.
Overall was a pleasant experience. I am not sure if I will be back in 2017. Since now I already have the experience, it will depend a lot on the lineup since is not cheap for me to go and lineup wise I have other preferences when it comes to festivals. Roadburn still has my heart.

[bodomdragon]

I was also kind of pissed for the rescheduling of Insomnium, being postponed until 4 am, but all in all I think UMC did a great job fitting all the bands in the indoor stages, so we didn't miss a single set because of the fucking storm. So cheers on UMC anyway. And who cares if they play later anyway, it was the last night of the boat, get some red bull and rock it till the very end! The final hours with Dragonforce, Turisas and Insomnium were legendary for me.

The one thing that sucked big time is Falmouth. Man, what a shitty port. We've had enough Jamaica already. There was nothing good of it. Hopefully Labadee will be better, and it does indeed look better in the pictures, so fingers crossed.

[Mr.Kito]

Hopefully Labadee will be better, and it does indeed look better in the pictures, so fingers crossed.

I was just checking it out, it does look like a good port.

[deathmetalpat]

Hopefully Labadee will be better, and it does indeed look better in the pictures, so fingers crossed.

I was just checking it out, it does look like a good port.

Labadee is basically a captive cruiser port of call ,I think this will work out well for the cruise.I have been to Coco Cay http://www.royalcaribbean.com/findacrui ... rtCode=CCA and it is very cool in a way ,but will disappoint people who like a cultural exportation or a visit to an ancient site.Haiti is the a 3rd world epic shithole country and they have a border fence and security separating this port and the natives.I believe you take your cruiser sea pass to pay for some things in the port and you use cash at a "flea market" that Royal Carribean controls who sells.There won't be any cheap drinks but a lot of places to lay on the beaches and cool water sports that are expensive but fun.Plus if 70,000 is the only boat there ,the cruise will rule the whole port probably could have a band or two play an stripped down concert and the music in the port could be metal also.

[Mr.Kito]

[
could have a band or two play an stripped down concert and the music in the port could be metal also.

This sounds awesome!

[dioxin]

I went to one of those sites where you can mark all of the countries you've visited just to put the locations of the 70k participants into a visual perspective. It's really impressive.

[Metalwrath]

Despite what happend on the last day to me on the cruise i still had a fun time.Was a rough day for me and i'd like to thank the fellow cruisers for being there and cheering me up.
Jag Panzer,Thyrfing and Ancient Rites were deffintly the highlghts of the cruise for me.

As always was great seeing so many faces again from all over the years.I could have missed every band and still had fun.

Also the crew was a lot better than last year.They were friendlier,They seemed to know the kind of clients they would be serving and handled it well and even made effort to engage in conversation with us when they didn't have to.
In general it was mostly a great experience.
The pool deck stage being set up faster this year was a bonus.Although honestly i just don't think the layout of this bigger ship works well with the pool deck stage.But i'm still grateful we have it.

Now for the issues:

Even though i ended up smoking on the cruise i don't feel that the English bar it should have been allowed in.It was the only the bar on the boat that sold good beer so it was quite busy and don't think it was fair on other cruisers considering how small and cramped that bar can get.

The way the merch stalls are setup if you are not getting merch is just plain fucking annoying.It's a stupid place to have the qeues and gets in everyones way on the prominade.People getting blocked to use the casino stairs and to get into the badger pub.Honestly take the merch stalls off that fucking floor out of eveyones way..

The place for the preparty this year was garbage.It was just annoying for people to get around it because it was so confined.
Words need to be also had with the mongos crushing empty beer cans and leaving them on the beach.First time i saw this but if people keep it up we'll end up having the parties getting banned in the future.

And last but not least.If Children of Bodom are going to continually act like dickheads on the cruise to both fans and stage crew(in particular Alexi) maybe it's time Andy tells them they are no longer welcome on the cruise.

[Mark]

And last but not least.If Children of Bodom are going to continually act like dickheads on the cruise to both fans and stage crew(in particular Alexi) maybe it's time Andy tells them they are no longer welcome on the cruise.

What happend there? Saw their complete 1st set and ~80% of the 2nd set and didn't notice anything

[Razor Ramon]

I didn't see anyone from Children Of Bodom on the cruise aside from onstage.

[Monmisreal]

I didn't see anyone from Children Of Bodom on the cruise aside from onstage.

Alexi got into the elevator with me one day and wow. I knew he was a little guy but its not surprising you never saw him. He's an itty bitty of a thing, kind of like the main guy from starkill haha.

[cowboy71]

I didn't see anyone from Children Of Bodom on the cruise aside from onstage.

Alexi got into the elevator with me one day and wow. I knew he was a little guy but its not surprising you never saw him. He's an itty bitty of a thing, kind of like the main guy from starkill haha.

LOL yeah - he is minute. I stood next to him queuing to get on broad the first time they played 70k. He had someone carrying his carry-on for him So lame.

But yeah I'd say he is probably only 5 1/2 feet tall tops.

[cowboy71]

Despite what happend on the last day to me on the cruise i still had a fun time.Was a rough day for me and i'd like to thank the fellow cruisers for being there and cheering me up.

What the heck happened to you on the last day dude :O

I don't think I saw you that day.....

[bodomdragon]

I didn't see anyone from Children Of Bodom on the cruise aside from onstage.

Alexi got into the elevator with me one day and wow. I knew he was a little guy but its not surprising you never saw him. He's an itty bitty of a thing, kind of like the main guy from starkill haha.

LOL yeah - he is minute. I stood next to him queuing to get on broad the first time they played 70k. He had someone carrying his carry-on for him So lame.

But yeah I'd say he is probably only 5 1/2 feet tall tops.

I met Alexi and he was ok with taking a picture with me. Besides being very small, he also looked kind of sick to me. Like TOO skinny, I don't know. I've seen him on stage like 7 or 8 times and he's never looked that bad imo. Hope he's alright.

[cowboy71]

I think that's just the way he is. He looked pale, too-thin, and gaunt back in 2012.

[nekrobarr]

[metalmaciejmetal]

I didn't see anyone from Children Of Bodom on the cruise aside from onstage.

So what is the story about Children of bodom? Where they being rockstars? I've heard people complaining about them. Any specifics? Jjust curious

[Mark]

I didn't see anyone from Children Of Bodom on the cruise aside from onstage.

So what is the story about Children of bodom? Where they being rockstars? I've heard people complaining about them. Any specifics? Jjust curious

Aye I'd like to know as well. Had a beer and a longer chat with them a long time ago (2002) and they seemed to be really cool guys back in the day.

[bodomdragon]

I didn't see anyone from Children Of Bodom on the cruise aside from onstage.

So what is the story about Children of bodom? Where they being rockstars? I've heard people complaining about them. Any specifics? Jjust curious

Wrong quote, dude, I never said that :)

[TEKWRX]

Did any of the other meet and greets besides My Dying Bride end early? I was so bummed that we got to the labyrinth at least 15 minutes before the meet was scheduled to end only to find out they weren't there. The lady running is said there were no fans there for a while so they just let the band go. I was annoyed because I had brought some MDB vinyl with me to get signed. At least I was able to wait for Aaron after their theater set and get a quick picture and tell him how much Turn Loose The Swans meant to me. Otherwise I didn't see anyone from MDB walking around during the whole cruise except for the disembark line (and I would never bother an artist while waiting in that hell)

[cowboy71]

Did any of the other meet and greets besides My Dying Bride end early? I was so bummed that we got to the labyrinth at least 15 minutes before the meet was scheduled to end only to find out they weren't there. The lady running is said there were no fans there for a while so they just let the band go. I was annoyed because I had brought some MDB vinyl with me to get signed. At least I was able to wait for Aaron after their theater set and get a quick picture and tell him how much Turn Loose The Swans meant to me. Otherwise I didn't see anyone from MDB walking around during the whole cruise except for the disembark line (and I would never bother an artist while waiting in that hell)

Yes the Children of Bodom one also finished early.

I think that is definitely something worth commenting on when we get the feedback survey.

If they are going to jam meet and greets with 60 bands into a single day, they should make the bands stay for their alloted time.

With in some cases 6 or 7 bands doing their meet and greets at the same time all over the ship plus shows on as well, if you are someone wishing to catch them all then you will need every last minute of a bands allotted timeslot.