Another 80s Cruise has come and gone. And it went way too fast, of course. In most ways.
Tragedy struck early. Our first show in Studio B on Sunday night was Faster Pussycat, a band I knew only one song by, which is not uncommon for some of the harder rock/metal bands. Russ and I had considered leaving the show, but right after we had proposed doing so, we realized they were in the middle of doing a cover of Carly Simon’s “You’re So Vain,” and we were so taken with it, we decided to stay and hear what else they had in their set. We left glad we had stayed.
Our first Main Stage was Squeeze, upstairs after Faster Pussycat. Squeeze put on a fabulous show. Shortly after we left their show, though, around 10:30, the ship’s PA system announced that there had been an earlier announcement (while we were still in the Squeeze show), that there was a woman overboard, and that the ship had turned around and had returned to that area to search for her.
My heart sank. This is something you never imagine happening on a cruise ship you’re aboard. Yes, you read about it happening, but that’s on other ships; it’s not on your ship. I immediately prayed for her safety. Against all odds. And, as the writer I am, all sorts of questions began going through my head. On a ship, it doesn’t take long for news – or rumors – to travel.
Bits and pieces of “information” started floating as the ship’s floodlights pierced the dark waters that stretched on in all directions. Russ and I went up to Deck 11 and watched the lifeboats and two other nearby cruise ships searching in the same vicinity.
I’ve always found some sense of comfort and mystique in the ocean waves at sea. All of that changed that night. All I could think of was how vast and dark it was out there. How, if by some chance, she was still out there, the chances of her being found were so slim because of that vast darkness.
The waters were relatively calm that night, unlike many nights we’ve been at sea when we were literally rocked to sleep. We searched for at least four hours, until the Coast Guard arrived, then we left, heading on to Nassau, our first port of call, where we arrived late the next morning. Shore excursions were adjusted. But what did that matter when someone was dead, I kept asking myself?
By Monday afternoon, not only were the rumors running rampant onboard, but social media had picked up the story. Apparently, the woman was the fiancée of Faster Pussycat’s lead singer. I’ll skip all the drama they built up. I’ll skip it because the simple truth is that a woman stepped off her Deck 8 balcony to her death and, at the time this is being written, still hasn’t been found. It was a tragedy, whatever led up to it. It affected a ship full of cruisers who signed up for a week of good times and nostalgia.
It took two full days for me to stop crying and I didn’t even know her. On that cruise, especially for that week, you become a sort of family. Someone in our family took her life. Someone else in our family lost his fiancée. Others lost a longtime friend. And all of us were thrust in the social media spotlight that resulted. It wasn’t what we expected or wanted, ever.
Most of us go there to escape the real world and its issues for a week. And reality came crashing into our midst when we least expected it. That was hard to get past… But we had to. I wrote my way out on Tuesday afternoon on a break. It meant missing something onboard, but it was a necessary miss. I had to find my focus again in order to give myself permission to truly have fun again. Survivor’s guilt is a hard thing…
Most of the shows were great. My favorites were Sheila E. (who did a divinely inspirational show that focused on bringing people together, starting with “Come Together” by The Beatles and included “When the Saints Go Marching In” as a nod to Mardi Gras the next day), Tiffany (who BELTS it out and mingled with the audience for two or three full songs), and Men at Work.
Colin Hay, the lead singer of Men at Work, also did our Alumni Concert as an acoustic set. I just love him. He’s a quirky, humorous little man who is so giving to his audiences. I’ve met him a couple of times before and got to meet him and have him sign a few things. He’s so generous.
And I got to meet Tiffany at an autograph session and got a couple of things signed by her. I met the two guys who are still touring as Musical Youth in the elevator on the last day and told them how much I enjoyed their cover of Duran Duran’s “The Reflex” two days earlier. (They’re from the same hometown as Duran Duran and did a tribute of covers of several bands from Birmingham, England.) I told them I’d posted it on Facebook and my Duranie friends loved it. They got all excited and asked if they could see it on my Facebook page. I ended up getting a friend request from the younger one, so he could see the videos I posted! (I totally geek out when someone famous does something like that, too, or someone I admire!)
A few of the shows were NOT great. I wasn’t impressed with Naked Eyes — he sounded just awful, but he had apparently been fighting some throat issues. To his credit, he did the two popular songs first, in case he had no voice by the end. Which was nice. But even at that, they sounded pretty awful!
Adam Ant performed both shows in one night and we had the second show — he had great stage presence and his faithful followers loved every minute of it. I keep an open mind about performances (if Russ doesn’t like it, he just gets up and leaves), but he was really pitchy and, although I do not condone autotune, he really could have used something like that! It was pretty rough in places.
Andy Bell of Erasure did both of his shows the same night, too — again, our tickets were for the late show. And he had problems hitting the right notes, too, especially the high notes. I think he legitimately can’t hit the high notes that he could hit when he was younger. He slides all over the place trying to get there. But, IMHO, these artists shouldn’t be doing two shows in one night. Most of them can’t pull it off. One show is about 1.25-1.5 hour long. That’s a good length. Pushing it to double that amount is tough. None of us are young – the 80s are far behind us. We can go on a ship and pretend for a week, but if you’re the bands who are performing, you have to do more than pretend.
We left Dokken early. It just wasn’t my thing. He kept saying he didn’t like rock music, so I figured I was justified to think, “Well, I don’t like your music,” and go somewhere else until the second show started, lol! He sounded pretty good, but had no stage presence, in part because of an injured foot. I only stayed for a couple of songs by Honeymoon Suite. They sounded good, but it was a really late show and I was exhausted that night. Warrant was pretty good. Firehouse sounded great with their new lead singer – their original lead singer died last year.
I missed Information Society’s show, but caught their Behind the Music interview, which was excellent. I never did catch Kurtis Blow, as he was either late or left early for both shows I tried to get to – my timing and his just didn’t match up.
Squeeze were really good, too. I’d never seen them before. The lady from T’Pau sounded excellent. I didn’t agree with some of her politics (I went to the Behind the Music interview with her), but she sounded really good. Christopher Cross sounded really good, too. He’s 74 now! He can still hit the high notes and is truly the king of Yacht Rock.
Three MTV VJs were there — Mark Goodman, Alan Hunter, and Downtown Julie Brown. I love Alan and DJB!
And we got the line-up for next year’s cruise. I’m not thrilled about a lot of the bands, but the ones I’m excited about, I’m REALLY excited about. Bret Michaels, Nile Rodgers & Chic (even though I’ve seen them about sixteen times, I’m excited to see them again!), Billy Ocean, Berlin, OMD, Taylor Dayne, Glass Tiger (those are the ones I’m really excited about); Gary Numan, Quiet Riot, Men Without Hats, Dazz Band (these are the ones I think will be interesting or have potential); Steven Adler of Guns N Roses, Sugarhill Gang, Donnie Iris and the Cruisers, Heaven 17, Aldo Nova, Rob Bass, and Kool Moe Dee (those are the ones I’m not crazy about or just don’t know enough about to form an opinion — I know GNR and like their hits, but know nothing about Steven Adler). But I love going on the cruise and getting lost in my favorite decade, so we are going again next year. And, lots of times, I end up really getting into some band I thought I wouldn’t like – like Sebastian Bach turning out to be my favorite from last year! Next year, they’re having something called Rocking the Docks at the Nassau Amphitheater. The lineup for it is Donny Iris & the Cruisers, Billy Ocean, and Nile Rodgers & Chic. That’s going to be different from our usual fare, and I hope it’s as cool as they’re billing it will be.
But all in all, it was a great year, with the exception of the tragedy on Sunday night. I’m excited to be going again next year. It will be our sixth year, but the 10th 80s Cruise overall. I’m hoping they announce more great acts in the months to come. They usually announce three to four more artists over the course of the year. Fingers are crossed that they’ll be more acts I’m excited about! February 27-March 6, 2026, I’m anxiously awaiting your arrival!
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