[caddee313]

Does anyone have a predictions on who the "M" band may be?, and when the announcement drought will end?

A couple months away and many slots to fill......

Word on the street is the M band is Mother of Graves with an announcement date between thanksgiving and new years eve.

Mother of Graves would be a worthy "M"idwest act to add to the boat

[toby]

Does anyone have a predictions on who the "M" band may be?, and when the announcement drought will end?
I saw that a recent fest in Belgium had (2) "M" bands on the bill. Moonspell & The Monolith Deathcult.

A couple months away and many slots to fill......

I have completely given up on trying to predict Skipper. I'll just say that these would all be great "M" bands:
Mercyful Fate
Meshuggah
Metal Church
Moonspell
Mors Principium Est
Myrath

I think out of these, though, that Moonspell is the most likely, but Myrath would make me the happiest.

[MedolicVaralin]

Does anyone have a predictions on who the "M" band may be?, and when the announcement drought will end?
I saw that a recent fest in Belgium had (2) "M" bands on the bill. Moonspell & The Monolith Deathcult.

A couple months away and many slots to fill......

I have completely given up on trying to predict Skipper. I'll just say that these would all be great "M" bands:
Mercyful Fate
Meshuggah
Metal Church
Moonspell
Mors Principium Est
Myrath

I think out of these, though, that Moonspell is the most likely, but Myrath would make me the happiest.

And Manticora!!

[DeadPoet]

Not a lot of 'M's on my wishlist. 'M'unicipal Waste would be nice.

I would like to see Municipal Waste on the boat too. But they are touring with Kerry King during the same dates as the boat. Ironically, they will be playing in my city while we're on the cruise...

[toby]

Does anyone have a predictions on who the "M" band may be?, and when the announcement drought will end?
I saw that a recent fest in Belgium had (2) "M" bands on the bill. Moonspell & The Monolith Deathcult.

A couple months away and many slots to fill......

I have completely given up on trying to predict Skipper. I'll just say that these would all be great "M" bands:
Mercyful Fate
Meshuggah
Metal Church
Moonspell
Mors Principium Est
Myrath

I think out of these, though, that Moonspell is the most likely, but Myrath would make me the happiest.

And Manticora!!

Plenty of M bands, but the ones I listed are off my wish list.

[sflheadbanger]

Not a lot of 'M's on my wishlist. 'M'unicipal Waste would be nice.

I would like to see Municipal Waste on the boat too. But they are touring with Kerry King during the same dates as the boat. Ironically, they will be playing in my city while we're on the cruise...

Damn, I missed that.

[AverageMetalDrummer]

Múr from Iceland is another good M candidate. I really enjoyed their debut album.

[BoltThrower]

Looks like we’re going to get 26 bands from Florida at the last minute.

[bodomdragon]

Looks like we’re going to get 26 bands from Florida at the last minute.

26 bands and 63 days to go.

We've seen MUCH worse.

I wouldn't be surprised if the silence remains for a couple of weeks or even more.

And no, the gap is never filled by Florida bands, not for the most part anyway :)

[slayergeek]

Looks like we’re going to get 26 bands from Florida at the last minute.

26 bands and 63 days to go.

We've seen MUCH worse.

I wouldn't be surprised if the silence remains for a couple of weeks or even more.

And no, the gap is never filled by Florida bands, not for the most part anyway :)

Andy has very intentionally been making an announcement a week for almost the entire time. This has never happened before, so this is new this year. Now the announcement is not always a band, sometimes it’s 90 days on sale, but he has made an extremely reliable effort this year to have some official word, other than total marketing BS, every week. Because we’re approaching the holidays and New Year’s I expect this to potentially change, but I think we should assume this at a minimum going forward.

But who really knows, that’s my theory that seems to have been true from my observations for this entire round with I think only one exception. See you guys on board

[toby]

Looks like we’re going to get 26 bands from Florida at the last minute.

26 bands and 63 days to go.

We've seen MUCH worse.

I wouldn't be surprised if the silence remains for a couple of weeks or even more.

And no, the gap is never filled by Florida bands, not for the most part anyway :)

Andy has very intentionally been making an announcement a week for almost the entire time. This has never happened before, so this is new this year. Now the announcement is not always a band, sometimes it’s 90 days on sale, but he has made an extremely reliable effort this year to have some official word, other than total marketing BS, every week. Because we’re approaching the holidays and New Year’s I expect this to potentially change, but I think we should assume this at a minimum going forward.

But who really knows, that’s my theory that seems to have been true from my observations for this entire round with I think only one exception. See you guys on board

The only predictable thing about Skipper is the unpredictability. I've already gotten the most wishlist hits this round than any other, maybe even more than previous rounds combined. I would like to see a couple more Thrash and Melodeath bands, but I can already be happy with the number of sets on my dance card. I just always have a little FOMO with this many announcements to go. I know there are going to be some bands that I've never heard of that will have a banger of a set, and if I skip them, but find out later that I would have loved them, it's disappointing.

[cegr80]

Do you think Andy's gonna announce that M before the end of the year?

[toby]

"M"aybe. lol

[slayergeek]

Yea, I am a little surprised by the late drought here, but I suspect it will break within the next 2 weeks...though I am hoping more for the next 2 days.

Let's see what happens. Obviously he knows what the next band is....or else he thought he did and Mesguggah or someone turned him down and now he is scrabbling for another "M" band, who knowns what is going on behind the scenes :)

[DeadPoet]

To be fair, the last announcement (Symphony X) was less than a month ago. We have seen worse in the past with months on end with radio silence. This year, the announcement pacing hasn't been as bad as the last few years. Can it still be improved? Big time. Let's see what happens next.

[MMatti]

Every time someone suggests it is about time for an announcement, someone else will come out and say how much worse it was in previous years. That may well be the case but I’ll never get used to getting the bands so late. 7 weeks or so until we sail and still 26 bands to go. But that’s just the way it has to be apparently.

[toby]

Every time someone suggests it is about time for an announcement, someone else will come out and say how much worse it was in previous years. That may well be the case but I’ll never get used to getting the bands so late. 7 weeks or so until we sail and still 26 bands to go. But that’s just the way it has to be apparently.

Maybe Andy's trying to avoid visa cancellations by waiting until they're actually got theirs to make announcements. lol

[BiffMeatslab]

"M" for Macabre. Please and thank you.

[mooyagi]

Now that the cruise is starting to populate on the Royal Caribbean app, I'm starting to get excited. Looks like check-in is available starting the 16th. Now would be a good time to start filling in more of the lineup, Skip!

Sad to lose the tacos going back to Indy but the waterslides are back!

Does anyone know if unused coffee card punches always carried over to a future cruise or is that a new thing? Maybe I've just missed that over the years.

Plenty of good M options out there...

[toby]

Does anyone know if unused coffee card punches always carried over to a future cruise or is that a new thing? Maybe I've just missed that over the years.

I never did a coffee card before, so I had no idea. Good to keep in mind, though.

[cowboy71]

Now that the cruise is starting to populate on the Royal Caribbean app, I'm starting to get excited.

This news has the opposite effect on me

Sadly 70K 2025 is 100% out for me, and TBH 2026 is already looking shaky! With Trump's return the Australia Dollar has plummeted against the US and experts are predicting it will fall even further.

[toby]

Now that the cruise is starting to populate on the Royal Caribbean app, I'm starting to get excited.

This news has the opposite effect on me

Sadly 70K 2025 is 100% out for me, and TBH 2026 is already looking shaky! With Trump's return the Australia Dollar has plummeted against the US and experts are predicting it will fall even further.

Ugh. Thanks Murdoch media empire.

[DeadPoet]

With the number of days left before cruising vs number of bands remaining to announce, we should be on a rate of roughly 1 band every 2 days. But we all know that's not how it'll work out. We will probably not hear anything until mid-January and then cram the remaining bands in like a couple of weeks. Bummers...

[toby]

With the number of days left before cruising vs number of bands remaining to announce, we should be on a rate of roughly 1 band every 2 days. But we all know that's not how it'll work out. We will probably not hear anything until mid-January and then cram the remaining bands in like a couple of weeks. Bummers...

That's the rub with averages. History shows that there have been few band announcements until closer to the end of December, so it seems likely that the same trend will continue, and we'll get the remaining bands in the final month before BOAT. I'm assuming at least a couple 3 pack announcements. Then there's always the last minute "you should have booked" announcement or two.

[MMatti]

This news has the opposite effect on me

Sadly 70K 2025 is 100% out for me, and TBH 2026 is already looking shaky! With Trump's return the Australia Dollar has plummeted against the US and experts are predicting it will fall even further.

You will be missed! A 70k without Dallas won’t feel like a 70k. I hope fate will throw you a bone and make it happen after all!

[Pellaz]

This news has the opposite effect on me

Sadly 70K 2025 is 100% out for me, and TBH 2026 is already looking shaky! With Trump's return the Australia Dollar has plummeted against the US and experts are predicting it will fall even further.

You will be missed! A 70k without Dallas won’t feel like a 70k. I hope fate will throw you a bone a make it happen after all!

I'm still expecting him to swan his way into the Meet'n'Greet after booking last-minute.

[cegr80]

I'm still expecting him to swan his way into the Meet'n'Greet after booking last-minute.

My thoughts, exactly. I won't believe it until the day I don't see him onbroad

[cowboy71]

Yeah I'm pretty sure even Andy would be thinking that, and will be shocked when he doesn't see a last second booking from me

[toby]

Yeah I'm pretty sure even Andy would be thinking that, and will be shocked when he doesn't see a last second booking from me

It will be weird to not have you or StoverKill onbroad, but both of you are pretty unlikely.

[mooyagi]

I'm still expecting him to swan his way into the Meet'n'Greet after booking last-minute.

My thoughts, exactly. I won't believe it until the day I don't see him onbroad

It's all a ploy to get his wishlist bands in the later part of the announcements again. See you on broad, Stats!

Really though, it definitely won't be the same without you there.

[MuzakMaker]

Well, I went away from the internet for nearly 3 weeks and that's generally when Andy starts dropping bands.

I tried

[BoltThrower]

We’re getting close to coming up with our own bogus announcements.

[AverageMetalDrummer]

We’re getting close to coming up with our own bogus announcements.

I agree, that was a fun way to deal with the drought last year.

[DeadPoet]

Down to the last 40 days left. Assuming we get a total of 60 bands without any bonus bands, and 3 x 3pack announcements like the previous years, that means we still have another 20 announcements (17 bands + 3x 3packs) to fill up the remaining 26 bands. So on average 1 announcement every 2 days. Or in 70k math, no announcements until mid-January and then all 26 in the last 10 days with no time to listen to any of them and potentially missing out on hidden gems/cripper-award candidates.

[aleyeahed]

Band gets announced with 10 days until embarking, that's 10 days to listen to 3 songs.
Band gets announced with 9 days until embarking, that's 9 days to listen to 3 songs.
Band gets announced with 8 days until embarking, that's 8 days to listen to 3 songs.

etc

This is a common complaint but one I've never quite understood. You'll know within a couple of listens of songs if the band is for you. Will you be intimately familiar and able to sing every lyric of every song much to the chagrin of the person next to you in the lounge? Prolly not, but there is time to catch a couple of songs, even two days until embarking, while usually the last minute bands are established bands.

I also like discovering the smaller bands, so perhaps I'm the odd duck, haha.

[bodomdragon]

Band gets announced with 10 days until embarking, that's 10 days to listen to 3 songs.
Band gets announced with 9 days until embarking, that's 9 days to listen to 3 songs.
Band gets announced with 8 days until embarking, that's 8 days to listen to 3 songs.

etc

This is a common complaint but one I've never quite understood. You'll know within a couple of listens of songs if the band is for you. Will you be intimately familiar and able to sing every lyric of every song much to the chagrin of the person next to you in the lounge? Prolly not, but there is time to catch a couple of songs, even two days until embarking, while usually the last minute bands are established bands.

I also like discovering the smaller bands, so perhaps I'm the odd duck, haha.

If I like a band I'm going to watch live, I prefer to be MUCH MORE familiar with their songs than just giving a couple of spins to three of them. I don't need to "be intimately familiar and able to sing every lyric of every song much to the chagrin of the person next to me in the lounge" but dude, I promise there is some middle ground, which is very hard to be at when you only have a few days to get familiar with the band's discography or at least with the expected setlist.

[MMatti]

If I like a band I'm going to watch live, I prefer to be MUCH MORE familiar with their songs than just giving a couple of spins to three of them.

Same here. The reality of our beloved music genre is that it is unfortunately quite difficult to reproduce accurately in a live setting. So it definitely helps to know the music. Generally, the better I know the music, the more I enjoy the live show, assuming I like the band in question of course.

But having said that, we can wish for more lead time all we want, we simply ain't going to get it, as long as 70K is being run the way it is.

[toby]

For me, it's more about making decisions. Since there might be 3 bands playing at the same time, I want to be able to make an informed decision about which one I'm going to take the time to see. Especially this round where I have a limited number of must bands, but a whole lot of maybes.

[sonatadork]

It has been sometime. Being new to the cruise, I was getting used to the one announcement per week they had going a month back. So much for that! It will be an exciting month coming up! There are already quite a few must bands on the lineup for me, so I know I will already be busy on the cruise.

But I do agree more time to check out unfamiliar bands would be cool.

[MuzakMaker]

It has been sometime. Being new to the cruise, I was getting used to the one announcement per week they had going a month back. So much for that! It will be an exciting month coming up! There are already quite a few must bands on the lineup for me, so I know I will already be busy on the cruise.

But I do agree more time to check out unfamiliar bands would be cool.

And it really sucks for the smaller bands. I think back to 2023 and Empress both getting a late announcement and in a 3-fer really didn't do them favours. On a boat with a bunch of Nightwish fans their sets shouldn't have been so empty

The delayed announcement process is why I really lean hard on my band spreadsheet. Just going off genres and past tour partners I can generally get a good idea if I should even do a dive.

What really hurts for me is the delayed running order publishing. When you know what bands are playing when, you can prioritize the research you need to do. If a band you've never heard of in a genre you don't generally like is playing up against your favourite bands on the boat, you don't really need to spend the time digging in to them