It has been a week now, yet we’re still not quite over it.
This year’s edition of Asia’s largest festival at sea, “It’s The Ship”, was arguably its most successful year to date. On 17th November, a whopping total of 4,000 shipmates and over 80 artistes boarded the newly-made Genting Dream cruise ship at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre in Singapore.
Over the course of a few days, the ship – captained by none other than Tyson Beckford – hosted multinational partygoers, energetic performances, as well as unique side activities that included everything imaginable.
When asked about their favourite moments/things about being on the ship, Finnish trance music duo Super8 & Tab gushed, “It’s always great to be back here in Asia, what more on a cruise ship. The crowd in Asia is always amazing and always so up for it! We also heard that there are waterslides on the ship and we’re looking forward to trying those out.”
Echoing Super8 & Tab’s excitement, trance DJ extraordinaire Omnia said, “It is definitely the people here. They have an open mind for the music and it’s the best a DJ can expect. What more on a ship! I really feel the energy from the people.” while power EDM duo Krewella told us exclusively, “We’re really looking forward to the whiskey and cigar side activity!”
It is without a doubt that “It’s The Ship” raised the bar even higher this year, with ticket sales skyrocketing and headlining performances by top class talents from around the world. But here’s what was great (and also not-so-great) about “It’s The Ship 2017”:
What was great
- Scoping out the bigger, better ship
The newly-made Genting Dream cruise ship is everything that its name says – a dream. Redefining luxury travel, the ginormous vessel features all the comfort of authentic Asian hospitality, combined with the finest experiences from around the world. In fact, over 70% of the Genting Dream staterooms feature private balconies, and pure comfort with European bed linen and designer brand bath amenities. And, aside from hot tubs and pools, it also houses 6 waterslides. Six!
2. Finally getting some sand between our toes
After 2 days of journeying along the Straits of Malacca, nothing pleased us more than finally getting some sand between our toes. With a stop-off in Phuket, Thailand, crew members had the chance to party at the Kudo Beach club and partake in beer yoga before getting back on the ship for the return leg to Singapore, with over 1,700 shipmates disembarking. It may have been blistering hot, but shipmates were grateful to have had the chance to walk on dry land for a couple of hours!
3. An assortment of fun side activities
What’s a cruise without variety? Perfect for those who needed a break from the pounding beats (read: partying), “It’s The Ship 2017” also offered an assortment of side activities. From a morning yoga session with Tigerlily to soccer with the Playboy Thailand bunnies, a mini-golf event and even rock-climbing for the adrenaline junkies, shipmates were kept well entertained. Psst! One shall not forget to mention 2 shows from legendary male strip troupe, The Chippendales.
4. Spotting a pod of dolphins
It was during “It’s The Ship 2017” that we learnt that there are dolphins in the Straits of Malacca. They exist! On the ship, mornings are made for chilling at the cabin’s balcony while staring at the endless blue, which is exactly what we did that one fine morning. Coffee in hand and all that jazz, of course. Little did we know, there was a pod of dolphins beneath all the blue! Cue, dolphins chasing the waves. Cue, shipmate excitedly screaming and jumping while pointing at the dolphins. Unfortunately, in our excitement, we forgot to whip out our smartphones to document the rare sighting. So the above gif will do. Believe us please ?
5. High energy all around
Headline performances from EDM power duos Krewella and Yellow Claw lit up the Crown stage on Friday and Sunday nights, with other crowd favourites like Peking Duk, DJ Craze, Third Party, and Tigerlily rocking the boat until sunrise. Regional talent was also widely represented, with Livescape proving once again that promoting South East Asian artistes to the world is high on their agenda with acts like Bangkok Invaders, Joe Flizzow, and Shigga Shay flying the flag for Thai, Malaysia, and Singapore.
The not-so-great
- The queues getting on to the ship
While this was not particularly the fault of the organiser (Livescape Asia), there’s still much to do in terms of efficiency and traffic control at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre in Singapore. Scores of artistes (yes, artistes), journalists/members of the media, as well as participating shipmates rocked up to the centre from as early as noon, but could only get on to the ship about 3 hours later (and that’s the earliest!) after standing around in snaky lines quite literally waiting for something to happen. It was draining, to say the least.
2. Can we go home now please?
The “jam” getting out wasn’t any better. Again, this was probably not the fault of Livescape Asia but just to give you an idea of the chaos that ensued: picture hundreds of tired and likely hungover shipmates desperately needing to disembark the ship only to find that they’re pretty much stranded in the Genting Dream’s Zodiac Theatre (a 999-seat theatre) for more than an hour. And then going through to motions once again at the Marina Bay Cruise Centre (immigration, bag scans, bag collection). It wasn’t a pretty sight, hey.
That aside, to cap off what was already an incredible weekend at sea, “It’s The Ship” also saw a couple get engaged on the Saturday night and 6 shipmates who have already secured their places at the 2018 “It’s The Ship” sailing by getting their very own”It’s The Ship” logo tattooed on them.
So, what say you? You game for the next edition of “It’s The Ship”? Head on over to www.itstheship.com to pre-register for next year’s party!
