All Hands On Deck Benefit for Jamaican Hurricane Melissa Victims

The 2025 Jamrock Reggae Cruise was supposed to be another fantastic experience. For five days, passengers were going to be immersed in Jamaican music, culture, and philosophy, as they had been on the previous ten sailings of the Jamrock Reggae Cruise. Unfortunately, the 2025 edition coincided with the landfall of Hurricane Melissa, which devastated Jamaica, killing 45 people and leaving thousands homeless.

This Friday, December 5, Damian Marley and the other organizers of Jamrock Reggae Cruise are putting together a fundraiser to support Jamaican Hurricane Relief. The festivities begin at 1 p.m. at Coral Gables Art Cinema with a screening of the documentary All in the Same Boat, which chronicles the first ten Jamrocks and its cultural impact on Jamaica and Jamaican music. That’ll be followed from 2-5 with a reception across the street at Books & Books, featuring music by DJ Jazzy T. Admission to the event is $100, but it also includes entry into a drawing for a free cabin on the 2026 Jamrock Reggae Cruise, held November 11-16. More importantly, all that money goes toward Ghetto Youths Foundation: Hurricane Melissa Relief. 

“Jamrock Reggae Cruise has benefited Jamaican culture in so many ways,” explains Reshma B, the director of the documentary, All in the Same Boat. “It brings people to artists who can’t travel. You come on the boat and experience everything from Jamaican culture, from food to music to meditation.”

The 2025 cruise was a harrowing experience for all those aboard.  Reshma B told New Times, “Jamaica had closed all their airports so many artists couldn’t make it. One of the artists on board, Warrior King, learned their home was washed away. Worse, they couldn’t find their children for days.”

Thankfully, the children were located and reunited with their parents, but the travails of Warrior King and so many other Jamaicans became a rallying call for many of the passengers. “All the people that love this culture asked how can we help, how can we give back?”

This All Hands on Deck benefit is one way people can give back. The movie screening of All in the Same Boat will be the centrepiece of the festivities. “It was supposed to go out to film festivals, but it only felt right to show it first for hurricane relief. We screened it on the boat the day we were supposed to go to Jamaica. It shows footage of all ten years of the festival. Damian, Stephen and Julian Marley are all interviewed.” Afterwards, people can socialise at the Coral Gables Books & Books with one of the island’s greatest exports, their music. 

“This is a way to give back,” Reshma B says. “It’s also a chance to get on a boat that is often sold out. For $100 you can help people out and maybe also win a cabin that normally costs thousands of dollars.”