The Jam Cruise Forum

Let me preface by saying, as others have said that JC11 was the best yet...kudos to Cloud9 and MSC for all their hard work to make the best week of the year even better!

1. Actual dealers at each table for the poker tournament. Having the players deal isn't just unprofessional for a $ tournament, it made it actually hard for those of us seated at the end of the table to even see what was going on when the button was on the other side of the table. Also there needed to be a set time for registration. Depending on who you asked, it was anywhere between 5pm-8pm this year. Acutal registration didn't start until around 7:30 and the tournament started about half an hour late. (I know MSC was running it for the first time this year, but assuming someone can pass that on).

2. Guessing we'll be on a different ship next year, but if by chance the second pool stage is configured the same way it would be great if they could turn off the waterfall so it doesn't drown out the acoustic music. Guessing it's on a timer to turn off at night because it turned off right at the very end of Nathan Moore's set this year and for the last half song or so you could finally hear him.

3. Magic Crap sucks my will to live. The IPA was the only one that was decent and because of that bars on the ship were constantly running out (they didn't even have them to start with in Coco Cay). Please give us more variety back next year. Sweetwater, New Belgium, just about anyone would be better than just Magic Hat.

Please feel free to add your own. Payday is tomorrow...may have to go ahead and pre-book!

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JC 11 was so full of awesomeness that I hate to even ask, but did anyone get seriously itchy bug bites in the theater? On the very first night I was sitting near the middle about halfway up and got bitten at least 3 dozen times on my legs (wearing a dress) and arms before running out of an amazing Kimock/Worrell set. From then on I stayed in the front dancing when I was in the theater. Benadryl didn't work . . . and came home with scabs all over my arms and legs. This little incident in no way impeded one of the most wonderful experiences of my life. Thank you again Cloud 9!

Please stock more non-sparking bottled water. This is the second year in a row I was unable to find water at any bar for many hours. I don't care how awful it is for environment, I'm not going to drink the ship's tap water. Period. It makes me sick.

It's really my only complaint, but hydration is IMPORTANT!

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coming soon...

Janis0314....Really? Like, bedbug bites? Oh man...that really creeps me out. I came back to my room one night and found a dead bug on my bed. I'm almost positive it wasn't a bed bug though. I figured it came in through the vent. I inspected the bed & I didn't have any bites of any sort either.

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"Aslan....It's pronounced D-Sizzle"

Most things were better than last year.

Better - Food.
Better - Seats removed from Theater.
Better - Embarkation / Debarkation processes.
Better - The crew had a much greater understanding of what customer service means.
Better - Wifi worked in more places. I had great access in my cabin.

Suggestion - Agree with more beer selection. Also, many of the bars ran out of the Magic Hat/Brews At Sea beers on Friday. I was told by two different bars that I had to go up to 13 (from the zebra lounge or on 6) in order to use my drink ticket. They wouldn't even give me a budweiser for it.

Suggestion - Look at doing drink packages (like Royal Caribbean). My wife doesn't drink alcohol, but a soda package would make a lot of sense.

Suggestion - More atrium sets!!!!

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Sam & April

JC 10, JC 11, JC 12 (pre-booked)

I was in the middle of the theatre a lot and had no issues with itchy legs. Perhaps some sort of allergic reaction? I do wear tennis shoes most of the cruise because I walk around with heavy gear a lot.

I drink the ships water every year and though I have gotten off the boat sick many years I never felt like it was the source of my illness. This year I got my flu shot, raged harder than ever and am happy to report am 100% healthy now. Flu shots every year from now on!

More cloud nine staff so they have to work shorter shifts.Having HOLY SHIP! the cruise before jamcruise makes good business sense since you don't have to load out equipment twice but it resulted in your staff being extremely tired by the last day or two of jamcruise.It also affected the MSC staff negatively as well,the bartenders we're toast (no pun intended)by the last day.Wouldn't it make more sense to do Holyship out of LA???Maybe not but i think some changes are warranted.

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livin' my life like it's golden

I agree with longhairedfreak, Cloud 9 and MSC staff were overtaxed. How about we switch Holy Ship! and Jam Cruise, so that we get the fresh staff?

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I agree with this one 1000%. I played in the tournament, as did my other half. We both ended up making the final table, and she placed and won money. That being said the tournament was very very poorly run. The players cant deal. Some didnt know how to deal. Others had odd variations to dealing rules they insisted on. Keeping track of side pots for these rookies was a nightmare. The tournament would run a lot better / smoother / be more enjoyable if they had dealers.

My only other real gripe.... and I know this gets said a lot.... but seriously, WTF is going on with the food. The food is terrible. All of it. So gross. I have..... a friend..... who has done some serious time in the slammer, and I can honestly say without exageration that prison food is often better than what you could find on that cruise ship. Total slop. Reminded me of the buffet in National Lampoons Vegas Vacation.

go ahead and double the food budget by spending an extra 5 cents per person per day. There is no reason all the food has to be so so terrible.

Another thing I would love to see on JC12 is a comedian. I go on a number of cruises as it is, and on a normal cruise one of my favorite things is always the comedians. Nice to go watch a good standup set or two. I bet there are some stellar comedians that would do a couple of 1 hour sets for a free cabin.
I think it would be pretty cool to throw some standup into the mix.

Let me first agree and say that JC11 was amazing! I had the time of my life and hope to do it again. As a northwest girl, I would have to say a major beer overhaul is in need. I know I'm not the only beer lover on that boat, and Magic Hat left you wanting for something, anything else. I realize having an east coast beer makes the most sense, but there has to be better out there! Only one last thing....stock up! The last night it was almost impossible to find a drink and I saw some poor cruisers out there drinking Michelob Ultra as a last resort. Thanks for listening.

Also going to preface my suggestions by saying the cruise was incredible. Kudos to everyone at Cloud 9, the artists, the crew, the cruisers -- it was right up there with the best of them.

Noted improvements over the last few years:
-Much smoother embarkation/disembarkation!
-Taking some of the seats out of the theater was a GENIUS move. Whoever thought that one up deserves a raise.
-The food, while still not great, was a bit better
-The activities like Gong Show and the dance-off were a blast, as always. Wouldn't recommend Jamily Feud again though: it was reeeeally slow moving as the crew changed up the answers, and Karl D, god bless him, wasn't familiar with the rules of the game at all.


Suggestions:

As Serk mentioned there was a lack of non-sparkling water. Most bars didn't have them, and we all know how important hydration is. This was a BIG deal for me.

Having other craft beers at the bars besides Magic Hat would be huge. I know they are a big sponsor so they probably have some sort of exclusivity rights, but for most craft beer drinkers, Magic Hat is not close to top tier. Dandelion flavored ale, reallly?!? Brews at Sea fixes some of the problem, but they only had a decent variety during the free beer times (a total of 2 hours on the boat maybe). Even Sweetwater would be better. Why not make Lagunitas a full fledged/at every bar participant, or a different east coast brewery like Long Trail? And yes, I was one of the unfortunate ones that had to resort to Michelob Ultra on the last night.

MSC staff was totally burned out by Day 5 after 9 days of Holy Ship/JC, and a few were even downright rude by the end. Some of them wouldn't take my Brews at Sea drink tickets, when they were out of Magic Hat on the last night. I understand they are "lower $ value" than the domestic/import beers, but if thats the only beer you have left at your bar, come on! I'm not going to miss 15 - 20 mins of music just to hunt around the ship for a bar that still has beer. I ended up with 4 drink tickets I couldn't even spend anywhere!

Multiple atrium sets per night maybe? There's always a rush for sit-down dinner before or after these sets, which means a ton of people "waste" way too much time waiting for their food during the atrium crunch.

Moot point now, but a screening of Spinal Tap at some point would have been glorious. Something to do after the sunrise? And +1 on a comedian or two. Get Reggie Watts back on board, he's hilarious AND can jam.

PLEASE FOR THE LOVE OF GOD DON'T MOVE TO A BIGGER SHIP. THAT IS ALL.

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Shredding the high seas since 2007

I think we might be hosed on that one, but it is one I fully endorse.

And please, more bottled water, the last 2 days were hellish. You want me sober, yes?

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