"My, my, my, once bitten..." (Great White)

My, my, my...I do believe I've been bitten by the (rock) cruising bug (or maybe in this case, it's a shark...ha!).  I can't wait for next year's cruise! 

For all of you who are looking for photos, go to my previous post -- I've included 2 photos and a link to some more.

Well folks, I think it's time to wrap this up for, oh, about 10 months or so.  I've actually enjoyed doing this blog thing, and it's been fun sharing my excitement for and experiences of this particular adventure.  But I feel I've milked this cruise just about as much as I can for blog material, so I'm signing off until it's time to get ready for Monster Cruise Adventures II (Wooooo!).  (You may have noticed, I've also updated the blog title from "Monster Cruise Adventures" to "Monster Cruise Adventures I".)  But first, a few final notes...

The final count was (according to my calculations): 20 bands, 3 solo artists, and 3 media celebrities on board for the inaugural cruise. Two of the bands, Cinderella and Stryper, were even the original lineups!  And the band members and celebrities, for the most part, did just hang out amongst the rest of us enjoying the music and the cruise as well. It was really cool to see them in the crowd (Steve Whiteman, Brian Vollmer, Eddie Trunk), in line at the buffet (Ron Keel), in the dining room (Eric Brittingham), walking around (Michael Sweet, Jeff Keith), or catching other bands in the bars (John Corabi) or in the theatre (Ted Poley, Jeff LaBar, Brad Gillis, a member of Lynch mob, and all of Stryper).  It was the first time a lot of the musicians had been on a cruise, and the first time also for a lot of the crowd, although there were a fair number of both who had been on a cruise before too.  And though there was plenty of drinking, music, and good times, virtually everyone was well-behaved and respectful.  The celebrities and fans alike (even the staff!) seemed to enjoy it all.  So very cool.  If any of you are interested in or considering something like this, I would highly recommend it!

After the cruise, my husband and I met up with a couple of his dive buddies, and headed back down to Key West.  While I was in one of the shops on the main street there, I got to chatting with one of the staff about the cruise.  They told me that when the ship left Key West (it was the only one in port that Sunday), it could still be heard long afterwards, even though it was a few miles offshore and could barely be seen.  Now how's that for shiprockin'?

The Monday that we were docked in Nassau, we were one of 4 ships in port there, 2 of the others being Disney family cruises...I wonder what they thought of us as their neighbours?


Just in case some of you have not yet scoped out next year's cruise on the Monsters of Rock cruise website (hard to believe!), here's the info to date:

 March 16 to 20, 2013 (one day longer!)

Still 2 ports of call (as yet unknown), and 1 rockin' day at sea!

Bands confirmed and announced:  Tesla, Enuff Z'Nuff, Great White (yay!), Helix, Kix, Y&T, XYZ.  That's 7 -- obviously, there'll be MANY more to come, based on the numbers from this year.  How exciting!!

We had a fantastic time!  What a blast!  I can't wait for the next one!

Until 2013, ciao for now!

\m/  (devilhorns emoticon/symbol)

P.S.  Only 364 more days!!  Less than a year away!!

Kidding!

Sort of.  :)