Cruise to come?

elliomeg

Latest Paul and Storm podcast, at 25:45...

7 day cruise.

Maybe Alaska? Maybe this summer? (or am I so despairing of having not been able to participate in the last one that I'm hallucinating?)

Time to start saving.

chicazul

Based on conversations I had on the ship, I strongly doubt an interval of less than a year. Consensus among Sea Monkeys was once every two years so they could afford to save up for each one, but people closer to organizers hinted at annual plans.

Six months just doesn't seem like enough time to do all the organizing and ticket selling, especially when the first crop of Sea Monkeys would mostly not be able to attend. And you want us to be there; the fans are the best part! I threw my vote for Alaska, though, since me being able to afford it is pretty high on my priority list. (:

Angelastic

I haven't listened yet, but I agree six months doesn't seem long enough; for this JoCo Cruise Crazy, I booked my place on July 17, 5 and a half months before the cruise, and I'm pretty sure everything had been planned before that. From what I recall, every time the performers mentioned future cruises (except for that time that JoCo announced there would be a new cruise leaving from Fort Lauderdale on January 9th: old nerds out, new nerds in), they referred to it as a yearly thing.

But whenever it will be... it's time to start saving.

villicious

Yes, in my fantasy world it's an Alaska cruise in summer of 2012. As awesome as it would be to do it annually, that does seem like a stretch in terms of both planning and people having moneys to go. (And, yeah, I booked my ticket in June or July for the January cruise, so trying to have something this summer just seems a little too soon. Like when DLC comes out for a game you're not anywhere near the end of yet.)

RandalSchwartz

Just a bit of behind the scenes... Neil books the cruise ship typically two years out, to give him six to nine months to sort out the speakers before putting it live a year ahead on the website. It's a bit easier given that the performers will be sorting themselves out, but I can't see a cruise less than 15 to 20 months from JoCo1. Definitely not anything in 2011.

Angelastic

Well, there's already been one cruise in 2011.

MJPM

All I know is come the middle of March (after PAX unfortunately), I'll be able to afford another one and will need the extra time to save up for a better camera!

Bry

Overheard at the Triple Door: they're tentatively targeting the first quarter of 2012. I wasn't actually in this conversation, so I didn't press for more.

frithuswith

villicious - I'm with you on that one - would love to do a summer 2012 Alaska cruise! Not that the Caribbean was *bad* per se...

RandalSchwartz

I think we can all agree on one thing though... "F" Jamaica.

Honestly, that's the first time I've been to Jamaica since 2005, at which point I told Neil "I'm not going to Jamaica unless someone pays me handsomely!". Apparently, that promise was good for only 5 years.

You might note that I didn't get off the boat in Jamaica though.

Angelastic

Randal, you might like this comic I made about Jamaica.

I think that if we do the same cruise again, the gaming session during the day at Jamaica should be the 'giant finger floating away edition' or the 'F Jamaica edition'.

RandalSchwartz

Yeah @Angelastic - already saw that. Very good stuff.

chicazul

I have word from JoCo himself that booking for JoCo Cruise Crazy 2012 is underway, and they expect to be announcing something "in a few weeks."

Paul and Storm further teased in their April 14 podcast "Nethercandy" (starting at 24:50) that it will be less than a year before the next cruise. This implies that they've pinned down a date.

Just throwing that out there.

kate

SQUEEEEE *hug Sara*

Grimoire

I am somewhat ambivalent about an early 2012 cruise. While I really want to go on another, it seems just a tad too soon. I started saving up right after the first one, but cruises are very pricey, especially if you "do it up right".

I was hoping for a Summer 2012 cruise to Alaska out of Vancouver. Save me a lot in flights and hotel. :D

chicazul

I know exactly how you feel Grimoire; a Pacific Northwest cruise would be significantly easier for me to swing. (:

I talked to many people on the cruise about "the next one", and almost everyone said that a year wasn't quite enough time to save up money and vacation time. I expect no more than half of the original Sea Monkey cohort will make the 2012 cruise, which is a shame.

I still want to go though.

Grimoire

It would be quite unfortunate if the vast majority of Sea Monkeys could not make the second cruise. Hopefully word of mouth advertising of how awesome the first one was will fill out the attendance.

I will definitely be going, no matter when it is. Being on the older end of the JoCo fan spectrum, I have a job that provides me a decent amount of disposable income. I can imagine for a lot of other fans, anything less than 18 months could be a serious financial burden.

chicazul

I so far have a good track record of guessing attendance at JoCo events, so I'm going to lay out some predictions: There will be more Sea Monkeys this go round, but likely not more than 450. Many fans who desperately wanted to go last time will find a way to make it work (especially after all the good press we've been giving it) but they'll be offset by the veterans who can't justify another cruise so soon.

I could be wrong; there are a corps of us who have maintained such strong ties that we might peer pressure each other into going, despite all protestations of fiscal responsibility.

I have been street-teaming and evangelizing the next cruise ever since I got back, to the point that Paul and Storm joked there should be some sort of lame prize for referrals (a non-prize like getting 15% off when you buy $50 or more in merchandise was the specific suggestion.) At this point I outright cannot afford another cruise, but maybe if I get enough other people to say I convinced them to go, I can inveigle my way into some kind of subsidy. (:

Grimoire

Details are out, Southern Caribbean, Feb 19-26, 2012. My guess is that it is this cruise (caution, complete speculation): Southern Caribbean

RandalSchwartz

If that's the run, it's a good run. Been on that run twice. There's free wifi at bars within walking distance of the both Aruba and Curacao.