Mental health at sea: HeartSupport on the Emo’s Not Dead Cruise
HeartSupport kicked off their 2026 deployments in a big way with a presence on the boat for the Emo’s Not Dead Cruise, a cruise with a lineup stacked full of classic emo bands including The Used, Underoath, Dance Gavin Dance, and August Burns Red.
It might be easy to think that when you’re on a Caribbean cruise ship surrounded by some of your favorite bands, there isn’t a moment to consider mental health. But the truth is that it’s often in those moments of removal from every day life when the things that have been bothering us internally have a chance to catch up with us.
That was true of one attendee who came to the Support Wall carrying a heavy burden: she had just lost her brother two weeks earlier.
“One of our last positive memories was talking about the E.N.D. cruise,” she confessed on one of the red tiles. “He was difficult, but I loved him. I miss him, even knowing our relationship could be awful. Love your people, even when it’s hard. Even when they make you furious. We are all temporary. Be kind. Love each other.”
She was met by an immediate outpouring of support from fellow cruisers who have been through their own grief journeys.
“Grief comes in waves,” one anonymous replier said, fittingly enough. “Be gentle with yourself and allow yourself to feel it all.”
That advice could have set the tone for the cruise experience as a whole. Whether it was riding the highs of incredible performances together or sharing heartfelt moments of pain and catharsis at the support wall, HeartSupport and the Emo’s Not Dead community built something special over the three-day cruise. Every single day, the Support Wall ended up fully filled.
Because of the unique, contained environment, HeartSupport was also able to facilitate something new: a pen pals program. 117 cruisers signed up and were matched as pen pals, responding to each other throughout the cruise on a daily basis.
Lauren was one of the music fans who participated in the pen pals program, and it left a lasting imprint on her heart.
“It allowed me to really pour my heart out into those letters,” Lauren says earnestly. “I really like being honest about how I had suicidal thoughts growing up a lot of the time. My pen pal also did. We bonded over that, and expressed that we’re both in therapy. So I could be less worried about how they were. I definitely feel like I’ve made a friend.”
Lauren ended up leaving her Instagram handle in the final note so that her pen pal can find her later, if they want to. All pen pals had the option of staying wholly anonymous, if they preferred it, giving them a safe space to share about experiences they may never have talked through before.
Lauren says, “It gave me something to look forward to every day… it made me feel like I was part of a community.”
The success of the pen pals initiative is a natural extension of the myriad ways HeartSupport builds community amid music fans. In addition to the Support Wall and pen pals, E.N.D. cruisers had the chance to learn about Support Calls and other ways they can engage in healing the scene in community with other music fans.
HeartSupport and the Emo's Not Dead Cruise Impact
The Emo’s Not Dead cruise was a strong start to a year in which HeartSupport plans to be on the ground, facilitating mental health help at 18 festivals. Will you be a part of making that possible?
