I never saw the appeal of going on a cruise.

Sailing at sea for a few days without wi-fi and nothing much to do but eat and gamble isn’t the most appealing holiday to me. Besides, cruise ships are for old people, amirite?

I was wrong. Not this one.

The second edition of It’s The Ship – which calls itself “Asia’s biggest rave at sea” – sold all its cabins. With a lineup of EDM heavyweights like Peking Duk, Kaskade, and Ferry Corsten performing from Nov 20 to 22, how could the commercial dance music fans of the Asia Pacific region not lap it up?

Here’s what it looked like.

ROOM
This is what a typical twin cabin looks like.

Pro-tip: Get to Marina Bay Cruise Centre at 1PM to avoid queuing for two hours to clear immigration.

CASINO

FOOD

The cafeteria is open 24 hours, and the food flows buffet style. This is where you stuff your face. There were all kinds of food: Chinese, Indian, pasta, paella, burgers, fries, sandwiches, salads, desserts, and more. Whatever you wanted, they had it.
Pro-tip: Avoid 5PM as the food might have been sitting there since 1pm, and would’ve gotten a little stale by then. The cooks will also start clearing the leftovers to prepare for dinner at 7pm.

DECK 12

MAIN STAGE
Night fell and it’s time to check out the action. It’s EDM galore on the ship, but that was to be expected.

HOT TUB TIME MACHINE
This was where an emcee called DJ Biggie rapped over some hip-hop tracks, and a girl twerked.

POOLS AND JACUZZIS
We woke up and we were already in Langkawi. There was a BBQ going by the poolside and damn, it smelled delicious. After a night of boozing, you’re gonna need to chow down on some pork ribs, chicken wings, and sausages.

Pro-tip: Check if there’s a BBQ going before having lunch in the cafeteria or you’re gonna be eating the same food for three days.

BEACH PARTY

We were supposed to have been on the beach before the sunset, but by the time we actually got on the beach, it was already 8PM. Thanks, immigration. They ran out of drinks, so we decided to go back on the ship. It took longer for us to get off the ship than the duration we stayed on the beach.

SAINT TROPEZ STAGE

We went to the Saint Tropez stage, where the boys of Black Butter records were spinning. Woz, Applebottom, and My Nu Leng delivered some bass-heavy, grimey grooves till 4AM.

UK producer Doorly and German producer Oliver Dollar played a back-to-back set here as well, which was sadly rather empty like the night before. That being said, this stage wasn’t for EDM mainstreamers, because it was house music all night long with these two.

After they ended their set, the Black Butter crew did an impromptu takeover of the decks and played till sunrise on Monday morning and people who were still looking for a party came to this previously empty dancefloor to dance till the sun came up.

BEFORE YOU GO
Wake up and go for breakfast. There’s nothing better than scrambled eggs, crispy tater tots, and bacon after three consecutive days of boozing.
Pro-tip: Get off the ship ASAP before 10AM so you don’t get stuck in a bottleneck with all the other passengers disembarking at the same time.

Event photos courtesy of The Livescape Group & Colossal Photos.