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What Are Sixthman Cruises?

Cayamo Cruise 2019 (Photo: Will Byington)

Melinda Crow

Contributor

Sixthman is a theme cruise charter company, now owned by Norwegian Cruise Line.

Originally a music festival company, Sixthman began its venture onto the high seas in 2001 with a charter for 400 rock music fans at an onboard event dubbed "The Rock Boat." The company quickly followed that with "The Rock Boat II" in 2002, launching them into the full-ship music cruise charter business.

The company continued to create and promote both ship and land-based music events throughout the early 2000s, but in 2012 became a wholly owned subsidiary of Norwegian Cruise Line, turning their loyal music festival customers into new passengers for the cruise line.

Sixthman continues to host music-themed cruises across a variety of genres but has added theme cruises from the sports and entertainment world as well. Sixthman CEO, Anthony Diaz, says the company is looking at branching into almost any area of interest where there is a "pocket of passion" that can translate into a vacation experience. He specifically mentioned possible future festivals surrounding stars of TV, film or sports.

Onboard, the Sixthman team transforms the wide-open Lido Deck onboard into open-air, full-blown stages. Passengers line the deck rails to see headliner shows for entertainers like Jon Bon Jovi, Kiss and Melissa Etheridge as the ship cruises through the night. Other venues on the ships are utilized throughout Sixthman cruises for both performances and events that allow fans to interact with the performers.

Members who have shared their experiences onboard Sixthman cruises on Cruise Critic Message Boards agree that a festival atmosphere pervades the cruise, with the caveat that there are so many events planned during the cruise that you can't see and do everything included in the experience.