BY: Sandra “The Dutchess” and Red Carpet Shelley
Team RCS was thrilled to be in attendance for the third time to celebrate the 5th anniversary of Damian “Junior Gong” Marley’s Welcome to Jamrock Reggae Cruise (WTJRC). On Saturday December 1, Royal Caribbean’s Independence of the Seas set sail from sunny Ft. Lauderdale, Florida to the beautiful ports of Ocho Rios and Falmouth, Jamaica. There were so many fantastic moments but alas we only have space to highlight a few!
The first night at sea featured a solo Jr. Gong performance. RCS has seen “Gongzilla” perform many times, but this performance was special. He put a lot of work into the planning and preparation for this cruise and when he performed it was as if he was saying to us this is it, this was worth it. He would take the stage several times throughout the cruise — with his brothers (more on that later), Kabaka Pyramid, with Cham, Tarrus Riley. Check the RCS video below of Junior Gong, aka Gongzilla, aka Damian Marley dancing, skanking, and having a blast as did we.
Cham, one of our favorites was not billed to perform but when he took the stage during Bounty Killa’s performance we went wild along with the rest of the Jamrockers.
RCS interacted with many fellow cruisers and most felt every artist brought their A Game. Memorable mentions goes out to the veterans like Skatalites, Leroy Sibbles, Ken Booth and DJ Black Scorpio.
SOUND CLASH AT SEA
Each year Sound Clash at Sea is one of the most highly anticipated events aboard the WTJRC. Mighty Crown the “Far East Ruler” was retired after winning three straight championships in a row. This left arch nemesis Tony Matterhorn in position to finally take home the coveted trophy…and that he did. Tony Matterhorn defeated Italian Sound system Heavy Hammer in the final round. It was a hard fought chune fi chune round.
At one point, I believe Matterhorn was down 4 to 1 and some of us went to bed thinking it was a foregone conclusion. However, Matterhorn came back swinging to take home the prize almost bringing the braggadocios DJ to tears. Nuff biggups to Heavy Hammer, WTJRC Sound Clash newbies because it was no secret that no one really expected them to place. They even made self deprecating jokes about it. The other contenders were Bass Odyssey and Renaissance Sound. Nuff reespec to all participants.
Caribbean Girls Rock
RCS was happy to see several women on the lineup this year. Jah 9 gave a great performance as did Shenseea. Queen Ifrica always gives a stellar performance and many cruisers said she was the best performer of the cruise. We also saw the return of Kamp Kamila led by fitness guru Kamila McDonald.
The Show Must Go On
Jah Cure, Konshens, Aidonia, Dexter Daps all gave brilliant performances and had the audience in the palm of their hands.
Big shout out to my favorite performer this year, Mr. Vegas! Mr. Vegas, a 9th inning pinch hitter who stepped in to replace Elephant Man (who couldn’t attend because his mother recently passed), hit it out of the ballpark! He gave a ship-tilting, floor jamming, high energy performance which included a personal sit down serenade (I’m pretty sure had he seen me in the audience, he would have chosen me instead LOL). I’ve seen Mr. Vegas perform countless times but this was for sure Mr. Vegas’ “A Game” on steroids!
So Much to Do, So Little Sleep
There was so much to do on the ship with day parties, day performances, night performances, sail away parties, meet and greets, domino tournaments, soccer games, yoga,Nyabinghi drumming and, of course, the requisite smorgasbord of food, food and more food. Due to all the goings on, It was hard to catch every single artist. Tarrus Riley is famous for saying “if you snooze you lose”. Well, Team RCS snoozed a few times and missed some performances including Pinchers, Shine Head and Admiral Bailey but saw video highlights of their acts afterwards.
When not at parties, one could attend lectures, Team RCS attended two, one given by a friend of Bob Marley and one give by Cindy Breakspeare, mother of Damian Marley. She spoke about how they met, their love affair, her relationship with Bob’s wife Rita Marley, and how she and Rita cut his locks as they were falling out due to his chemo treatment. A poignant moment during this discussion was when Ms. Breakspeare relived receiving news of Bob Marley’s passing. Despite it being 30 plus years since the reggae icon’s death, Ms. Breaksheare became emotional and the raw emotions in the room was palpable. Tears came to my eyes when she said at his funeral, she had to sit at the back of the church.
One of the most thrilling nights for me was going on stage as one of the “choir members” for Tarrus Riley aka Singy Singy. Every now and again Tarrus likes to sing a slow version of his hit song “She’s Royal”, its not my favorite version. Apparently, I am not the only one! The audience wants to hear the original version. He attempted to sing a slow version and we were having none of it. We proceeded to sing our version, He kept telling us to stop. When the audience stopped the VIPs in the back kept on singing , we were backstage Riley invited the unrelenting “choir” to come on stage. I was thrilled and ran on stage with Kabaka, Agent Sasco, Queen Ifrica, Damian Marley and many others to sing back up.
5th Year Anniversary Jamrock Commemorative Booklet
Almost forgot to mention the other huge highlight…Red Carpet Shelley landed smack dab in the middle of the 5th Anniversary Commemorative Booklet! I had no idea needless to say I was pleasantly surprised
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The Marley Boys
The most exciting moment of all was seeing all the Marley brothers perform together. RCS has seen them many times separately, but it was truly magical to see Ziggy Marley, Stephen Marley, Ky-mani Marley, Julian “Juju” Marley and Damian Marley on the same stage, at the same time, singing their own songs and their father’s songs replete with Flagman Judah waving the requisite Red Gold and Green Banner high in the sky with pictures of Bob Marley on the giant screen above their heads. Bob’s spirit was in the house, on the ship, and in the atmosphere.
To sign up on the 2019 WAITLIST or to UPGRADE an existing cabin reservation, please visit www.welcometojamrockreggaecruise.com. See you in 2019! God’s willing…
The Dutchess and Red Carpet Shelley
2018 Lineup
Marley Brothers (Ziggy, Stephen, Julian, Ky-Mani, Damian) Damian “Jr Gong” Marley Mykal Rose with Sly & Robbie Bounty Killer Jah Cure Chronixx Tarrus Riley Third World Konshens Elephant Man Aidonia Queen Ifrica Agent Sasco Kabaka Pyramid Shenseea Skatalites Ken Boothe Leroy Sibbles Horace Andy Jo Mersa Marley Jesse Royal Dexta Daps Spragga Benz General Degree Red Rat Buccaneer Jah 9 King Jammy’s Johnny Osbourne Admiral Bailey Pinchers Bunny General Pad Anthony
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