My Holy Ship! 13.0 Experience

It didn’t feel real when I said yes to Holy Ship!. It didn’t feel real when I flew into Orlando or when I was waiting to board the ship. The moment I walked onto that ship and was greeted by Ship Fam and read Holy Ship! above the staircase, I knew this was really happening.

Holy Ship! is one of those bucket list items. A music festival on a cruise ship?! Amazing. I told myself I’d get there in 2020, but by some stroke of luck I found myself there on 13.0 to kickoff 2019. What a wild ride it was. You fall into a rabbit hole unlike any other where three days felt like a whole week had gone by and I lived to tell the tale. I could be all cute and coy and say “what happens on ship stays on ship”, but I’m here to tell you this is the best festival out there and here’s why.

Overall Experience

I got 10 hours of sleep the entire three days and while my body should have been deteriorating it was worth it. I was running on pure adrenaline to experience any and all things that were going on. My friend Vania put it simply, “You can sleep 362 days out of the year, you need to be experiencing it all”.

The Boat

This was my first time on a cruise ship and holy moly this place was HUGE. Every time I was walking to a different stage or different part I discovered something else. A casino, an ice bar, gym, tons of restaurants, and so much more. There was so much to see and do on this boat. It makes the price of the ticket not seem as bad because there is so much at your disposal. Did I mention that artists are just casually walking around the boat?! I ran into so many of my favorite artists and either got to snag a pic or got to have a conversation with them. That doesn’t just happen at any festival.

The Rooms

We had an interior cabin (no balcony) room for me and my cabin mate. It had a king sized bed, a bathroom, mini fridge, blow dryer, plugs and a mini closet with a safe inside. It seemed small at first, but like I said I slept 10 hours TOTAL so I was only in the room to get ready and to sleep so size really didn’t matter to me. It was a total maze to get to the room because they have odd and even rooms down different hallways and we made the mistake of going down the even hallway first (oops haha). The rooms were still really nice and we gave our room attendant a nice tip so he tidy’d our room with fresh towels and such every day.

The Activities

I went to one activity the whole weekend: Pamper Party with Manila Killa. He is one of my favorite artists and it was cool to get walked through a skin care routine that had my face feeling refreshed and got to interact with Manila Killa as well. The activities are a great way to get intimate with the artists as well as interact with other Ship Fam. I walked past a talent show that FISHER, Solardo and Chris Lorenzo. I highly recommend checking out the activities if you can. Definitely adds more to the experience in making the most out of your ticket.

The Food

PSA THE FOOD IS FREE!!!! Unless you go to one of the restaurants aboard, there are buffets of free food available to everyone. There are also two complimentary restaurants aboard where you can get full service and is also free. One of them is called O’Sheehan’s which is more American bar type food where the wings are AMAZING. Then there’s Noodle Bar with bomb Chinese food. You won’t go hungry on this. You can also grab food from the grab and go area outside near the Pool Deck stage so you can grab some food and go to a set on Deck 15.

The Stages

Seven stages of pure top tier production and all had a vibe of their own. You mainly play at the Pool Deck and Spice H2O on Deck 15 during the day. Then when the sun goes down you’ll bounce around Deck 6 where four stages live: Theater, Manhattan, Headliners and Spiegel. I mainly was at Theater and Manhattan and those were probably my favorite stages. The Theater had Louis the Child’s Playground Takeover and Manhattan had Green Velvet’s La La Land and AC Slater’s Night Bass. Finally on Deck 7 there’s Bliss where I went for 12th Planet’s Dubstep Dungeon and Ghastly and Friend’s Party. Each stage had its own vibe which added to any set.

The Music

Pheeewwww I don’t even know where to begin every set I saw was A M A Z I N G.

Day 1

Sets I saw: FISHER Sail Away set, Tchami x Malaa, Chris Lake b2b Solardo, AC Slater b2b Chris Lorenzo, Justin Martin, Camelphat, GRIZ, Walker & Royce b2b Ardalan

Top Sets: GRIZ (my favorite the WHOLE festival) & AC Slater b2b Chris Lorenzo

My first time seeing GRIZ and omg is that guy talented. Unreal set that I’ll always remember. AC Slater b2b Chris Lorenzo had me grooving the whole time I hope that set was recorded.

Day 2

Sets I saw: Louis the Child Daytime H2O Spice Set, Solardo, GRIZ Sunset Set, Claude VonStroke, Zhu, Malaa, What So Not, Barclay Crenshaw, Saymyname, Noizu, Illusionize, Manila Killa, Whethan, Ghastly, Ekali, Louis the Child Theater set, AC Slater, FISHER sunrise set

Top Sets: GRIZ Sunset Set, What So Not (played an entirely house set!!!), Noizu, Manila Killa, Ghastly (played a whatever he wanted set), FISHER sunrise set (went from 5:30 AM-8:30 AM!!!)

Like I said I’m a huge GRIZ fan after ship, his sweet and sexy saxophone while the sun was setting was magical. What So Not went b2b with his brother and played an entire house set which had me shuffling the whole time. Noizu was the biggest surprise and I am so excited to see him blow up in 2019. Manila Killa has always been a favorite of mine and he played probably the best set I’ve seen by him. Ghastly’s set was just him messing around playing whatever and it really took the crowd on a journey. It was cool to see what other music Ghastly likes. Finally, FISHER’s sunrise set was one of the best times of my life. There is nothing like seeing the sun rise while drinking a bottle of champagne and house music playing. It honestly felt like such a feat to have made it to 8:30 AM, but I had to for my favorite artist.

Day 3

Sets I saw: Dombresky, Camelphat, Tchami b2b Zhu (surprise set!!!), Yultron, Ardalan, FISHER, Get Real, Honey Soundsystem, Devault, Slumberjack, 12 Planet, Will Clarke, Walker & Royce, Troyboi, Blacklizt

Top Sets: Tchami b2b Zhu, 12th Planet, Walker & Royce

Tchami b2b Zhu was the SURPRISE SET LIKE WHAT. We were not worthy of that at sunset on the last day. I moved away from the house stage to catch 12th Planet for the first time and he did not disappoint. It was honestly rude that was the last day as it took the rest of my energy away from me. Finally Walker & Royce threw the best set I had seen from them. I was also near Seven Lions and his group for this where I thoroughly enjoyed watching Seven Lions get down to some house music.

Overall I never saw a set I didn’t like. It was awesome getting to see artists I’ve seen multiple times try and switch it up like What So Not playing house and Ghastly playing whatever the heck he wanted. The music was killer my heart was very content.

Ship Fam

Ship Fam is honestly the best fam out there. Everyone is SO nice. I scrolled through the FB page afterwards and there were some unfortunate disrespectful things that happened on the ship (harassment, rude people, etc.), but I had ZERO issues. I was gifted with so many things for being a first timer and I was always greeted with a hello and smile. I had space at any stage I was at and people were polite. I made so many friends and already can’t wait to reunite at different festivals throughout the year before Ship 2020.

Pros & Cons

Pros

• Literally something to do for everyone at any and all hours of the day
• Music is amazing
• Running into your favorite artists is dope
• Stages are top-notch
• Ship Fam
• Free food that is actually good
• Amenities and activities that come with the ship
• Merch and drinks were reasonably priced
• Comfy bed

Cons

• Rocky boat which was the worst it’s been so I’ve heard, I got sick on day 2, but was fine after taking Dramamine.
• Cancelled island party: due to choppy waters we didn’t get an island party BUT not a total loss. If we had the island party I would’ve gotten NO sleep as Fisher’s set ended at 8:30 AM and the first island set was at 10:00 AM. With the change the first set I wanted to see was at 2:30 PM so I got more sleep.
• Waiting to get off the boat took a while. They told us we could get off starting at 6 am, but we didn’t actually start until 7:30 AM (a.k.a. I could’ve gotten more sleep).

Lessons Learned for Next Year

• I’ll probably pass on the pre-party ticket as that extra sleep the night before was prime
• Getting to the port at 9 am the day of boarding is the move
• Always get the drink of the day (saves you some money) and don’t get drink tickets if you aren’t a big drinker (a.k.a me)
• Go to the autograph signing and go to the line early
• 24 bottles of water for the room was a bit ambitious probably only drank a quarter of that lol
• 6 bottle of champagne was perfect
• Total cost was around $2,000 which included the ticket, flights, hotel for night before, merch, drinks on board, shuttle to and from airport, water, champagne, tip for rooms and bags, outfits and other misc. items… I’d still say money well spent and I can cut back on things next year like water and the pre-party ticket

Holy Ship! 2020?

See you there.