Sixthman

Sixthman has tried to make nice. A month later. I guess better late than never. I’m posting the letter that I received. What is super disappointing is the lack of apology. This will never change my opinion of the company. The letter talks about how the staff should be better at treating people like humans… well, part of that is knowing when to apologize. After getting out of the hospital, being laid up and in excruciating pain, and then being told I have to miss out on a vacation with my best friends seeing one of my favorite bands was horrible enough but then being talked down to by a bunch punk kids was the icing on the cake. After receiving the email today, I had to call to let them know the correct address to send the refund check for my excursion and fees. I stated my correct address and that was it. Again, no apology. No questions like, «does this make us good?» Nothing. Just a simple, «I’m sorry you were treated poorly» or «I apologize the staff acted like a bunch of a**holes» would have totally softened my opinion of them. Anyhow, here is the letter:
Dear Kara,
Thank you for your recent feedback on our Unilocal page. I realize that it was written over a month ago and do apologize that it was not brought to my attention until today or else I would have responded sooner. After reading the account of your attempt to cancel yourself from the reservation and after talking to the staff involved I do agree that there were multiple missed opportunities here and deeply regret that this was your only interaction with our company. Like any other company we do have set policies which are there for a reason, but unlike every other company we do foster an environment which allows our team to treat guests with empathy and understanding.
I’m sure the last word you want to hear from me is «insurance,» and I don’t blame you. What my team could have made more clear when invoking that word is that a full refund to a guest who did not purchase insurance is not fair to those who did. As you mentioned, we have definitiely found oppurtunities where it was the appropriate and «right» thing to do to bend or make an exception to a policy. This would be on a case by case basis where we take into account extenuating circumstances. For a variety of reasons it does become more difficult to make exceptions as we get closer to sailing. I tell you this to give you background not because it’s anything that you should have or could have known. Your experience is unique to you and I think we could have done a better job here of remembering that instead of making assumptions that you were just someone else trying to «bend the rules» and failing to connect with you on a more human level.
To thank you for helping to make us a better company and as a token of goodwill I’d like to refund your $ 20 Shore Excursion and $ 215 taxes and fees payment. I do not expect you to take down your original review, nor do I want you to. I just thank you for giving me the opportunity to address your experience head on. Please do not hesitate to call me directly at 404-​***-**** with any questions or to discuss further.
Please let me know if the address we have on file for you below is correct so that we may send you a refund check in the amount of $ 235:
What irritates me about this letter is that I was ready and able with doctors notes, hospital discharge papers, and whatever else these guys would have wanted to prove I wasn’t someone just trying to back out. I offered that to them MULTIPLE times. No one anticipates having a kidney start to shut down before going on vacation. I know I should have been more vigilant about making sure there was insurance on the trip. My bad. My opinion of these guys has not changed one bit. The funny thing is, if I had received an apology and full refund it would have been used to give them another try. My friends do the cruise every year it comes around and it sounds like an awesome time.

Sixthman has made a business of 2 of my loves; music and cruising! If you are a fan of music, you should definitely check out the many artists that are playing on music cruises now. We decided in September to go on the KISS Kruise at the end of October. I went on the website and saw there were still rooms available. I called Sixthman to ask if I could reserve a room for a day or two but they said no. I contacted our cruise travel agent and she contacted them and was able to reserve a room for a week.
Our travel agent got us a great balcony room, which we prefer. But for the music cruises, an inside room would be fine too as you aren’t in the room too much with all the activity around!
Before the cruise, we received emails from Sixthman with information about the KISS show onboard, photo, and how to keep it cool on the ship when seeing band members. They also had information about cruising on their website which would be helpful for first time cruisers.
The boarding day, there was a Sixthman staff greeting us on board. They had a desk right beside the guest services desk and hours were listed in the dailies. Throughout the cruise, there were various activities (Halloween costume contest, haunted house, book reading, and pick throwing to name a few) with and without KISS and lots of shows with the other musicians.
We were assigned the first KISS theatre show but we didn’t have a seat and were standing room only at the back of the balcony. We lined up early to get in the theatre so we could stand along the glass and see the band better. I felt bad for those who came in later as they had to stand behind the seated people who were standing and it would not have been a good view of the stage. I don’t know if they could see the band at all!
For the next evening’s show, they called our room and offered tickets to see the show from seats. We said yes as this was a very nice gesture. Before the show, we went to see the Sixthman staff and they printed us new seapass cards with our seat numbers on it.
That was great that Sixthman offered seats to us and we got to see the show twice. But it’s too bad they didn’t have enough seats for everyone in the shows. They did offer $ 250 ship credit for those who wanted to give up their seat to the show.
There was also an issue when we went to pick up our welcome package and it wasn’t there. It was eventually delivered to our room a few days later but would have been nice if they were organized to have them for everyone. When we went to pick it up, there were at least 2 others who also didn’t have their welcome package.
The KISS photo was organized fairly well and we waited about 45 minutes until our photo. It’s a very brief moment and they take one photo. Some people weren’t happy about this, but when you have thousands of people taking photos with KISS and a few hours/​day to do so, you have to work fast. I think the cameraman did the best he could with all the people that had to go through. We were happy with our photo that was posted online within a week after getting off the ship.
A few glitches, but overall organized. I would sail again on a Sixthman organized cruise but hope it wouldn’t be the same ship and cruise line as this one (please partner with RCCL!)

I choose to go on a Sixthman cruise for my very first cruise experience and boy do they deliver. Went on the Sail Across the Sun cruise Feb 2014 to Grand Cayman. I’m now hooked on cruising and wonder how anything will measure up to the fun I had cruising the Caribbean with Train, Matt Nathanson, Michael Franti and so much more. Can’t wait to go again. So much fun. They even made is possible to arrange our hotel for they night before our departure as part of their package. Great, great, great experience. I wish I was there right now.

Have I really gone all this time without ever reviewing Sixthman? How did I let that happen?
Seriously, if you’ve never been on a Sixthman cruise then you’re missing out on an amazing experience. Others have described some of the events. I’ve personally been on 4 Rock Boats and a VH1 Best Cruise Ever, and it really is the best vacation I could ever ask for. The only way for someone to NOT have a good time on any of these events is if they either don’t like music or don’t like cruising.
There’s no way I could do these folks justice in a review on Unilocal!,but there’s a reason why, with only 5 vacations under my belt, I’m far behind some of my friends who have taken 10 to 15 in the last 10 years. Check out the website, browse the events — I bet there’s one with your name on it.

Here’s an organization that creates big events, with a splash! Their mission: «…is to connect passionate music lovers with the artists and bands they love as well as the ones they have yet to discover. Our goal is to break down walls between our artists, fans, and partners to invent unique experiences that cater to our community’s infinite affinities.»
Rock Boat (9^th year)
The Simple Man Cruise (? years) — Lynrd Skynyrd
Ships n’ Dips Cruise (5^th year) — Barenaked Ladies
Cayamo Songwriters Cruise (2^nd year) — Lyle Lovett headliner
Mayercraft Cruise (2^nd year) — you guessed it, John Mayer
Getting up to 3,000 guests, artists and event staff coordinated for these highly entertaining cruises is a huge task to say the least, but being an attendee for the first time in 2008 on the Cayamo maiden voyage — we enjoyed ourselves and the entire experience so much we couldn’t wait for the announcement of the 2009 cruise offerings to decide which one to take. One of our favorite moments: sitting down in your lounge chair on the Lido deck, only to find out you are right beside Edwin McCain and his family — and chit chatting the afternoon away till the afternoon music begins!!! The cool thing… everyone just hangs out and enjoys being there… no celebrity oogling, the artists are just as much guests on the ship as we are… so play on!
Love music? Love sunny destinations when its cold and snowy at home? LOVE waking up and being handed the «drink of the day?» Then what Sixthman has to offer is just what the doctor ordered!

Sixthman, if you haven’t had experience with them is an organization that connects musicians with their fans through various events. Primarily, they schedule cruises with groups of musicians and allow fans to book a vacation on the cruise. You get to spend the entire time on the cruise, both relaxing, enjoying a vacation, and seeing your favorite bands (and some new ones) perform. As well, you have several chances to spend time wtih the band members as they are also on vacationing on the cruise with you.
Several of the bands that have been featured on Sixthman Cruises are:
Barenaked Ladies
Guster
Great Big Sea
Gaelic Storm
John Mayer
Lynyrd Skynyrd
And MANY MORE.
Now, all of these bands aren’t together — for instance, BNL has their own cruise, which for the last two years featured Guster and other bands — that cruise is known as Ships and Dip. John Mayer has his own cruise, known as Mayer Craft, and the others have their own cruise.
If you have never been on a cruise, this is a great way to break in your cruising experience. I for one attended Ships and Dip and spent time with several members of both Barenaked Ladies and Guster. It was an incredible time. Check out Sixthman’s site to learn about their upcoming cruises for 2009!