So, what's a 'rock cruise' really like?

One boat, six days, 25 bands ... and a New Zealander determined to have a bucket list experience.

David Clegg had spent most of his six-day rock cruise passing on the drinks. Everyone around him was knocking back beers, often from the moment the first band plugged in just after midday. But Clegg is gluten-intolerant, and when he’s travelling, he finds it hard to find a beer he’s able to stomach.

On the last night, he cracked. At a bar alone one night, soaking up the final moments of his “bucket list” adventure, as the cruise ship he was on steamed back to port in Miami, a bartender offered him a whisky. “Sure,” replied Clegg. “Make it a double?" asked the bartender. Clegg nodded his head.

When he went to pay, he received his bill. That single top shelf drink cost him $US85, or, at the current exchange rate, about $NZ140.

It didn’t matter, because this wasn’t any old cruise. Along with 2500 others, Clegg had embarked on a journey he’d been dreaming about for months. Also on board his boat were 25 of Clegg’s favourite prog-rock acts, bands like Haken, Marillion, Queensrÿche and Riverside, all scheduled to play multiple shows a day for close to an entire week.

Clegg is an engineer for an American software company. He spends his days in his West Auckland home office with a turntable cranking records from his favourite bands. Many of them were on the bill for Cruise to the Edge, a “music festival on a boat” that began before Covid, then took several years off for obvious reasons.

Every event since has sold out. He had to go. “I was like, ‘Holy shit. This is my nirvana,’” Clegg says. “These bands don’t come to New Zealand.” The only problem? His wife doesn’t like prog-rock. But he mentioned the cruise to her, and to his surprise, she said: “Why don’t we go to that?”

So, in early March, the pair flew 17 hours to New York, then took a second flight of four hours to Miami. There, they spent a day recovering from jet lag, then headed down to port and got in the queue to board their boat, the Norwegian Pearl, for a Cruise to the Edge experience that was costing them about $5000 each.

That first night, across multiple stages, bands began plugging in and playing their first sets of what would be many. Fans were given timetables, wrist bands and seat allocations, just like any outdoor summer music festival. “It was pretty hectic,” Clegg says. “I didn’t get to bed till 2am”.

Yacht Rock: Bands could play on one of several stage. (Photo: David Clegg)

Putting bands on boats is a bit of a trend. You can probably find a genre of music being played on a cruise ship that you’re into. There are country, blues, EDM and reggae-themed cruises. This year’s Monsters of Rock cruise had The Darkness and Quiet Riot. Sail Across the Sun, a cruise departing in February 2025, has Train, Living Colour and KT Tunstall, and is already sold out.

The biggest music trend right now continues to be nostalgia. It has infected radio stations, streaming services, concert tours and festivals. Putting acts onto cruise ships is a way to tap into that and charge top dollar.

But it also gives fans a chance to have an experience, allowing them to get up close and personal with their favourite musicians in a space unlike anywhere else. It sounds weird, strange, unique. So what’s a rock cruise really like? I had to meet Clegg to find out.

It turns out fans and musicians would interact all of the time. They bumped into each other over the breakfast buffet and at the bar. They could ask questions, request autographs or photos, or share a drink.

Clegg caught up with his heroes constantly, even sharing an elevator ride with one of them. “I’m buzzing out. I’m like, ‘Holy shit, that’s Neal Morse!’” His wife would shrug her shoulders. He’d tell her: “He's a really really big deal … in this world.”

Sailing Away: A band performs at Cruise to the Edge. (Photo: David Clegg)

Soon, Clegg’s days settled into a rhythm. Breakfast would be followed by lunch, then the music would start. It was like any other festival, only this one lasted six days, and it was on a boat. His wife would relax by a pool while he scanned his timetable, worked out his schedule, and began running between stages. Sets lasted up to 90 minutes, and over the boat’s many venues, fans were allocated seats. You could swap seats or gain entry through overflow queues. “If you’re lucky, you get in.”

All told, Clegg saw dozens of performances during his trip. It was, he says, everything he’d dreamed of. “You finish one kick-ass show then Queensrÿche are playing down at the pool, so you finish your set and catch the end of theirs,” says Clegg. “You can be watching a band while sitting in the spa pool. That’s a real cool vibe.”

You’d think six days of prog-rock would be enough, but Clegg wasn’t ready for it to end. “On day six we're getting back into port. I’m like, ‘I’m not done yet!’” He’s already eyeing up the 2025 event, but, this time, his wife said no.

It’s her turn to choose the next holiday. “She wants to go to Europe,” says Clegg. It’s unlikely any prog-rock will be involved.

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