There are three main stages. The pool deck, Ships main theater and a lounge. For the pool deck (14th floor), they close one of the pools and place a hard cover over it for standing room. Then build an elevated stage and massive speaker racks. Youll see the dockside crane and loading of equipment on the first day while boarding. Theres plenty of standing room in front of the stage (open to the weather), on the covered sides and deck above (with an outdoor running track). It will be packed the first day for Teslas sail-away performance. But if its like last year, John Corabis electric performance (which is only once during the cruise) is the one to see. His later acoustic sets are nice but he kicks major butt on the one plugged in set. The ships main theater is in the bow and occupies three decks including a balcony (Pantheon Theatre accessed on the 6th and 7th floor). Theres a small half-circle in the front for standing, the rest is sitting. Like I stated before, the sound is muddy on the floor but up by the temporary mixing board platform (in the middle of theater) is the best sound. Finally, theres a decent sized lounge in the stern (Black & White Lounge on the 7th floor). It has a low ceiling and a small stage, which is elevated about a foot. So only the first few rows of people can actually see the bands. Needless to say this is not the best place to see a band. And if you are lucky enough to get a room right above it, forget about sleeping until after 2 AM. Sometimes there will also be bands in a small lounge towards the middle of the ship (Golden Lounge 7th floor). If most of the people sit on the little cushioned squares (foot stools), theres a good view of the band. I saw a great rock/blues set with Ritchie Kotzens band at this lounge. It ended with Billy Sheen and Mike Portnoy joining him for a couple of covers. Frequent acoustic sets and Eddie Trunk hosted Q&A of bands occur in the lower Atrium (5th floor). Ive never attended the signing sessions (not my thing) or extra planned activities (i.e. Guitar Shed competition, classes, or relive your prom).
Frequently the main three stages will have bands playing around the same time, just not starting at the same time. However, as with any festival, starting times start falling behind as the day gets longer. Some end up being pushed back 30 minutes to an hour. So there are frequently lines to get into the main theater. Schedules are not provided until maybe two weeks before the cruise. Many times not finalized until the day of the cruise. And there are always last minute and impromptu performances announced from the stage (aka join us in the Golden Lounge where were going to jam with other musicians). A lot of these musicians know each other and like to hang together. The bigger bands will play once on the main theater and once on the pool deck (but not the same day). The lesser bands might get one of the two but otherwise are stuck to the small lounges. Every band will play twice (with a rare exception). Inevitably, two bands you want to see will conflict and so its decision time. Also just as inevitable, start and end times will get pushed back and occasional cancelled for weather or other problems.
Just like Atlanta and other venues, beers are not cheap at $5 to $7 a bottle. Less if you buy a pre-paid drink ticket and/or bucket. But both are limited to certain beers. On the last evening, fellow cruisers are giving away their tickets to get rid of them.
Heres an example of last years schedule (the first day). The original is a nice color PDF. It's also printed and delivered to your room the night before.
1:00 pm - 2:30 pm Atrium 5 Will Doughty of Poison
2:45 pm 4:00 pm Atrium 5 Gabbie Rae
3:00 pm 4:30 pm Black Crab 6 Meet and Greet with Killer Dwarfs, Autograph and Charm City Devils
4:00 pm 5:00 pm Pantheon Theatre 6 John Corabi
5:45 pm 6:45 pm Black & White Lounge 7 Dangerous Toys
6:15 pm - 6:45 pm La Luna Piano 7 Will Doughty & Gabbie Rae
7:00 pm Pool Stage 14 Blackout at Sea photo shoot
7:15 pm 8:30 pm Pool Stage 14 Tesla
8:00 pm- 8:45 pm Atrium 5 Killer Dwarfs Q&A
8:00 pm - 9:00 pm Black & White Lounge 7 Tyketto
8:15 pm 9:15 pm Pantheon Theatre 6 The Winery Dogs
9:30 pm - 10:15 pm Golden Lounge 7 John Corabi
9:45 pm 10:45 pm Pool Stage 14 Vixen
10:00 pm 10:45 pm Atrium 5 Autograph Q&A
10:30 pm 11:30 pm Black & White Lounge 7 The Moby Dicks
10:45 pm 11:45 pm Pantheon Theatre 6 Red Dragon Cartel
11:00 pm 11:45 pm Golden Lounge 7 Gabbie Rae
11:00 pm 2:00 am Indoor-Out Pool 16 Naughty Nite-T & PJ
Pool Party
11:15 pm Midnight Atrium 5 Cinderella Q&A
Midnight 1:00 am Pool Stage 14 Winger
12:15 am 2:00 am La Luna Piano Bar 7 Gong Show Karaoke
with Izzy Presley
12:30 am 1:30 am Golden Lounge 7 AJs Bravehearts
12:45 am 1:30 am Pantheon Theatre 6 Slaughter
12:45 am 2:00 am Black & White Lounge 7 The Iron Maidens