On normal cruises, deck chairs are scarce. People wake up at dawn to go put their towel on a chair to reserve it. There was even a note in the Celebrity Silhouette staterooms warning that this is against the rules.

There was definitely no need for it though. The first leg of the SS Coachella was at less than half capacity. Plus, with shows going till 2 or 3am every night, this crowd needed to sleep in. Above all, the vibe on the SS Coachella, as it sailed from Ft. Lauderdale to the Bahamas and back, was relaxing, which is surprising considering how hot and intense land-locked Coachella can be.

One of the main appeals of concert cruises is to be able to see small shows by famous artists and get right up close. As Pulp played the voyage’s headlining performance, the balcony in the ship’s main theater was empty. One fan described seeing the British band that helped define the ’90s in such an intimate setting, as “a religious experience.”
In addition to all this personal space, the Silhouette was just completed just last year, and it really shows. The ship is pristine and stylish, with artwork that makes you stop in the stairwell and colorful, dim lighting everywhere. The food is excellent.

The dreamlike environment caught me off-guard. I arrived with my back up–ready for chaos–and it took a while for the luxury to sink in. The Black Lips blaring garage rock in front of a spray-painted banner helped me get some of the wildness out of my system. “This is the original electronic music,” said bassist Jared Swilley, holding up his bass. Note that I traveled within vomiting distance to take this photo. I emerged unscathed.
I wasn’t the only one blowing off some steam at that show. Actor Haley Joel Osment was there too. He was kind of the toast of the ship. People kept spotting him. Meeting him was kind of like winning bingo on a normal cruise.

Everyone was also talking about Warpaint. This all-female band was a lot of people’s favorite discovery on the cruise. Their powerfully mellow jams suited the atmosphere perfectly.
There was so much space to go around on the ship, that the second night’s headliner, James Murphy, was able to fit pretty much his entire audience on stage with him. It felt like a little night club raised four feet off the ground even though it was in the ship’s main theater.

The downside of the small crowds was that the cruise lacked the sort of unifying moment that defines other concert cruises. Unlike the 311 cruise, there was no big show on the top deck where everyone gathered together with the sea all around them. There was no big beach concert for helicopters to photograph. When the ship docked at the Bahamas, everyone went exploring on their own.
The access to performers was pretty unparalleled though. It seemed like the artist to fan ratio on the ship was about 1:25. Special events, like wine tasting with James Murphy, were either lightly attended or capped at small numbers. You could be sitting in the hot tub with someone for half an hour before realizing they were famous. Even Pulp frontman Jarvis Cocker mixed and mingled with the “Common People.”

As I disembarked on the last morning of the cruise, I asked the sleepy sailors around me if it was worth it. They overwhelmingly said yes, typically nodding thoughtfully as they did. It seemed they had yet to fully wrap their minds around the blissed-out and leisurely music festival experience they had just had. I’m told the second leg of the cruise, which is at sea right now, sold much better. I hope so, and I hope the SS Coachella returns to try to break their own record for a classy, relaxing and hip cruise experience.