When we get the chance, my family attends the Buckhead Church in Atlanta. They have a live rock band that performs two or three songs each week before the sermon. This morning was just as any other except for when they rolled out a keyboard at the end of the sermon, a young woman walked out, sat down and blew us all away with a spiritual song. I had no choice but to walk to the stage afterwards against the traffic of people leaving to tell this woman how amazing she was. As I approached, I was thinking that I had to hear this girl sing again and was racking my brain as to how I could make that happen. When I got to the stage, she bent down to say hello and I said, “Hi, my name is Andy and that was unbelievable”. She said, “I know who you are and thank you for having me on Cayamo”. I immediately kicked myself for not recognizing this woman and then kicked myself a second time for not seeing her perform two weeks ago when I had the perfect chance. I have met her before and been given her CD yet I had not listened to discover how good she was. So thank you Meghan. I am looking forward to seeing you play again soon.

It made me think that there are probably some great stories out there about discovering an artist for the first time when you least expected it. Feel free to share…..

We spent most of the week getting well needed rest and replaying the last month over and over in our heads. The post event guest surveys have been sent out and we are thrilled to see so many people taking the time to let us know how much they enjoyed themselves and sharing ideas about how to make it better for the future.

We always get anxious when its time to review comments from the survey. As we were watching the feedback roll in Wednesday afternoon, we got a call from Gordy and Sheila (guests on our Simple Man Cruise) saying they were sending lunch over for the staff as a way of saying thanks for the great time they had on the cruise. We did not know what to think but on Friday around 12pm, the folks from Fox Brothers Barbecue in Atlanta knocked on the office door with all the barbecue and fixins we could handle. We all sat around telling stories about the cruises for an hour or so while we enjoyed a good lunch from these kind people.

I will say that after 23 days of pizza, soft served ice cream and cheeseburgers, good southern barbecue really hit the spot.

Andy

PS-this is not a sad attempt to solicit lunch for the staff. It’s just a cool story I wanted to share. We actually get to eat Carnival food all year for free in the office. They deliver it to us daily.

Coming to you live from the Miami Airport after 4 long weeks of cruising our asses off…

We’re exhausted and ready for a day off, but these five cruises were absolutely magical. I’m so pleased to be part of a team that pulls together when it really matters. I hope Sixthman was able to deliver each and every one of you a dream vacation. Perhaps a more detailed wrap-up blog will follow, but for now, here are my most memorable (and hilarious) moments from the last month…

Koosh drama. Tony sleeping in the office in his silk pjs to ward off intruders. (Not so) secret crushes. Getting sea-horsed too many times to count. Beach party photo-ops. Finding a great friend in Chris Kappy after knowing each other for years. My new found craps addiction (or was it crabs?). Biloxi is only a 5 hour drive! “Peepers! PEEPERS!” My mom finally seeing what I do. Blackjack with Doug and the hidden $100 chip. Crew bar! Pure exhaustion. Confetti cannons. Excalibur hand dryers. Finding that moment on each cruise. John Mayer in a Borat bathing suit. Kissing Bandit. The Mardi Gras parade that could. Peanut butter jelly time. Grilled cheese sandwiches with bacon and tomato. The Junk Department. The Craptastic Four. Jet skiing with Barb. Free laundry. Not breaking any fingers. Rock Shots. TRB alumni show. Being recognized by people. Gelato milkshakes. Ticketing shows. Perfect weather. Seeing the same 5 minutes of Die Hard on the in room TVs. Having Ashley as my partner in crime. Rudy, Alina, Loi, and Bogdon. Cankles. “Ah! Nipple in the eye!” Singles Party dance moves. Ate-ing contests. Bingo with Carbon..errr…Oakhurst. Pity parties. The dollar slot machine of doom. Brandi Carlile improv sets on Promenade. I need a pedicure. Too many Rachels. Spending pre-flight time at Chili’s. Not playing hard to get. Onion rings. Tears of joy. Learning how to block. Eighter from Decatur. The real meaning of Cayamo. Making friends with the Carnival staff. Champagne explosion dream come true. Pulling it off.

We’ll get news about the 2009 cruises to you soon (yes…they’re all coming back for another round!) I hope I’ll see you all again next year.

I’m so excited to see my dog. And my Peepers. And my bed.

Cayamo is the cruise for me that I was the least familiar with on the artist side.  I have heard their hits and have seen their records in my parents’ collection, but was never too confident to say I was really familiar with them or their fan bases. Knowing that the majority of passengers onboard Cayamo are longtime-loyal-dedicated fans of Emmy Lou, Patty, Lyle, Shawn, Buddy (etc) got me to thinking about how much this experience is helping them interact with these artists who have for so long inspired them musically and personally.

The past four cruises were amazing and the musicianship was unlimited from the artists, but I already knew that before we set sail.  On this cruise I am seeing a different side of these events. For the first time during these five cruises I feel like I am the one discovering these legendary musicians through their shows and through the guests.   Rather than having a guest ask me about a band playing on the lido deck, I have been the one learning about these acts through our guests.

On stage tonight Patty Griffin brought out tour mate and friend Emmy Lou Harris for a song.  Watching the excited reaction from the fans was so inspiring to me, I saw what I felt on my first Rock Boat when two of my favorite artists were on the same stage.  I have never felt limited musically and would like to say I give all music a fair chance.  Seeing what I saw onstage tonight encourages me to keep open eyes for these amazing groups of musicians and fans who I have yet to encounter.  I feel that connection is what encourages us at Sixthman to put on these events.

Gotta run, hope to catch the encore….

My favorite moments of Cayamo thus far have been overhearing the conversations of people walking out of the Lyle Lovett and John Hiatt shows. “That one show was worth the price of admission” (I quickly got this man’s name and told Andy we should charge him full price per show next year), “I can’t believe what I just saw,” “I’ve never been happier,” and “THAT was [expletive] awesome!”
Tonight, I watched as Lyle and John decided to join each other during their respective sets. Hearing Lyle’s “If I had a Boat” live instead of on my iPod, and then watching John come out to play “Have a Little Faith in Me” for an encore sent chills down my spine.
I do have a bone to pick with Gaelic Storm, my new favorite people. They took the stage at the Casino Bar the first night onboard and completely blew everybody away. Due to three back-to-back cruises, I was all ready to go to bed around 1:30 AM (early for Sixthman cruises)…I made the mistake of walking by the Casino to check it out, and heard Patrick and Twigger announce that they could only play a few more songs. I decided to stick around and catch the rest of the set, which lasted for another hour and a half. Thanks jerks.
Two days down, 4 more to go…and we still got Patti Griffin and Emmylou Harris as headliners coming up over the next couple of days. I think this cruise will continue to put smiles on people’s faces and make memories that will last a lifetime. Despite being away for over 3 weeks and living out of a suitcase, I really can’t believe that the 2008 cruises are coming to an end. I realize these cruises are FILLED with “once in a lifetime” moments, so I will continue to forgo sleep in favor of experiencing as many of them as possible.

caution! here comes the cheese. the marketing team had its weekly meeting last night, which wrapped with (sorry, steve, selling you out a little here) steve talking about how much he has loved this whole experience so much it is insane, maybe because he is new and green, blah, blah…..but the point is, we ALL feel the same way steve does. this is hard work, in every way you can imagine. (i am so tired at this point i can’t even bother to capitalize anything.) we do it because we love it, and we love it a lot. we love being here, we love doing everything we can to make this the trip of a lifetime for everyone on board, and we love it even more when it actually works. and i think it is working.

so… as with mayer’s cruise, we really didn’t know what to expect with the Cayamo crowd.
i was imagining an older Rock Boat crowd, with a little more life expereince, and a little less 6am-jam tendencies.

well, we haven’t hit a six-am slot yet… so ill update you on that at a later time. but as far as the similar-to-rock-boat crowd, who are full of life, i was right on. through talking to numerous guests and artists (and even our crew), the people on this boat have the most intense appreciation for music ive seen yet… and its only been 6 hours. every show is packed, every artist leaves their shows feeling warm, every song ends with an enormous applause, every mention of ‘cayamo’ causes chills, and every thought of tomorrow leaves people wondering how it can get better. these people really get it.

i am confident that between the discovery of new music, and the intrigue and amazement of the music we know so well, these people will go to bed hungry for more.

lucky for them, this is only day 1.

John Mayer came, saw, and conquered the Mayercraft Carrier.

The Deck Show was easily one of my favorite moments from all 5 of these cruises. To see virtually all of the 2820 guests on board up on the deck for a single performance was quite the sight. I heard some people spent the night sleeping (or more likely passing out) on deck chairs to make sure they woke up in the front row. I heard other people woke up at 7AM for the 3PM show only to find out they were already in the second row behind the deck sleepers. I heard the last people showed up at 2:45PM and had to stand up by the water slide on deck 12 to make sure they could still have a clear view of our Master of Ceremonies. Then, I sauntered my way through the crowd to the backstage area and heard some kick ass guitar playing as 80% of the crowd (the women) screamed along to every song while the other 20% (the husbands/boyfriends) tried to look as cool as possible by just nodding their heads.

I knew John was good, but GOOD LORD can he shred on the guitar. Though he played a mostly acoustic set with his buddy David Ryan Harris at his side, John still tore it up out there and left every single fan with eyes wide and jaws open. Nobody will ever forget when John decided that he needed that a bathroom break was in order, so he ran off the stage halfway through the set and left David to entertain the crowd with a few solo songs of his own. After taking care of business, he hustled back onto stage, grabbed his guitar, and proceeded to rock everybody’s faces off with the rest of his set. I can’t imagine how many women left that deck dreamy eyed…not just because of his performance, but also because of the fact that John was unfortunately unable to find his shirt before coming up to the deck, and had to play in board shorts. Poor fella.

We packed enough stuff into the three days of the Mayercraft Carrier to kill a small horse (luckily no small horses were harmed in the production of the Mayercraft Carrier), so it’s no wonder how many worn out, exhausted, hung over, tired, but ultimately extremely happy faces I saw this morning when we got off the boat.

John Mayer, you threw one hell of a party (with our help, of course), and for that I salute you.

We’re 27 days into this cruise adventure, and while we’re all exhausted, it’s the best kind of exhausted.  If there is such a thing.

We loaded up the Mayercraft Carrier yesterday and had an amazing day!  This trip is extra special for me because my mom, my sister, and my Peepers (don’t ask) are onboard.   After being away from home so long, it’s great to have a couple of familiar faces around.

The weather was perfect as we sailed away and John welcomed everyone on the Lido deck, and the Carnival staff passed out free drinks in hypercolor cups (maybe my favorite invention ever).  Brett Dennen played the sail away party, and another trip was underway.

We hosted a Local 83 Happy Hour that I attended, and it was so awesome to meet people I’ve been talking to all year.  Almost all Mayercrafters are new to me, since this is a first year cruise.  I’ve spoken to a ton of people throughout the year via phone or e-mail, but  have met very few in person.   It was a great time!  And I’ll never get tired of introducing myself to people and hearing the excited response, “Oh!  You’re Lauren!?”  It’s pretty cool knowing you had a hand in making people so happy.

Lots of great shows yesterday – Colbie Caillat on the deck, Dave Barnes and Oakhurst in the Casino Bar, good ol’ Fran in the atrium, and (of course) John’s main stage show.  It was probably one of the best concerts we’ve seen in that room since our cruising began.  But the show that really gave me chills (and, actually, the only concert that I’ve seen that I wasn’t scheduled to work all month) was Brandi Carlile.

She played right after John in the same theater, and she wasn’t afraid to let people know she was nervous.  The first thing she said was, “Great, I’m the chick who has to follow John Mayer with nothing but an acoustic guitar and a cello player.  Fuck.”   Let me tell you – she didn’t need anything else.  There were only a couple hundred people in the room, but while she played, everyone was perfectly silent and completely in awe of her voice and stage presence.  She played a bunch of her own songs and threw in some of the best covers I’ve ever heard – Creep, Bohemian Rhapsody, and Hallelujah.  I can’t wait to see her again tonight.  Brandi – if I could, I’d marry you.   And make you sing to me every minute of every day.

Yesterday was one of the best days I’ve had all month.  Thanks, Mayercrafters.

Get ready to go bonkers over the Best Cruise Ever! All aboard with “John Mayer Superfans” Michelle Collins and Brian Faas as they sail the high seas with The Mayer himself!!! And plenty of Cougars to hoist the sails!! So run through the halls of your high school, scream at the top of your lungs, and fathers be good to your daughters, because Michelle will be live blogging from the ship! It’s like Cloverfield on a boat! Except this time John Mayer is the monster and Manhattan is your heart!

Make sure to read all about it on BestWeekEver.tv [link to: http://www.bestweekever.tv/category/mayercraft-carrier