Brainstorming SteamPunk Cruises

[Captain]

Update (2/28/19) planning for the 8th SP Cruise is going well and we have had a surprising number of confirmed reservations already for 4/28/20 departing Fort Lauderdale, FL for the "ABC" islands. 

There have been six Steampunk cruises so far and another scheduled for March 2018:  http://welcometosteampunk.com/events/steampunk-naval-expedition-6th...

It is such an expensive ordeal to travel to the l. 48 in the winter that we aim for big events like the SP Cruises which sometimes overlap with a large favorite SCA event, Gulf Wars so that we vacation to the point of exhaustion.  In a good way. 

The short story is that the original SP Cruise was started as a commercial venture that never engaged enough bodies to be profitable for the original organizers.  Many of us had never been on a cruise of any sort and wanted the bragging rights of at least being on the 1st besides the performers were hard to pass up.  Cpt Robert Brown, Unwoman, This Way to Egress, etc...

To our surprise we discovered an unadvertised benefit to these cruises which is the fantastic opportunities to socialize with most excellent people.  It is sort of the opposite of a traditional weekend convention in a very good way.  Activities just get worked in in the most comfortable way possible.  For those who have presented at other cons try to imagine a situation with no stress.  Unfortunately, despite creating a very loyal base of repeat offenders we never achieved the investor's desired attendance. 

Not willing to let a great thing go and SPs being all closet pirate mutineers we took the reigns ourselves.  As much as we enjoy each others' company and activities we are not growing with only a handful of new cruisers each year.  It is frustratingly difficult to explain to most people the math of cruising over a weekend con.  I keep trying, of course.  With a few employment changes, family obligations, and separations (this does favor couples) our reservations are very low for 2018.

Being a glass half full sort and so impressed with the quality we have achieved so far, I still see this as an opportunity for greater adventure.  We reserved a nice cruise schedule for 2018 in order to take advantage of discounted early bookings but where we really wanted to go was so new and uncertain that we could not schedule it - CUBA. 

It is hard to not be morbidly fascinated with the idea of visiting such a forbidden port.  What your SP persona might really do but with the extreme comfort of the modern cruise which is also rather steamy.  We may have a chance today to switch to Cuba after all (insert happy dance).  Of course everything comes with a price which in this case is not a higher cost but rather finding competing cruise options not previously available either because they had not been scheduled or because some of our regulars (who unfortunately had to drop out) could not get away that long.  An excellent example is a 12 night cruise out of Baltimore visiting some past favorite and new to us countries.  Gotta love those fancy passport stamps.  This 12 day cruise is just a couple hundred more even though it is nearly twice as long.  BTW they have excellent laundry service onboard and really know how to press clothes. 

This long rant/rave/free association is me rehearsing my sale pitch to our veteran and new cruisers.  I am not getting my hopes up but any constructive input from folks, even if you also think that you will never go on a cruise, is very welcome. 

These are the parameters at this time:  We are booking with Royal Caribbean (RCCI) even though we are aware that there are other perfectly good cruise lines these folks have been excellent to us and our veterans have collected so many bribes in the form of discounts, upgrades, and ship credit that we can't afford to move.  We are limited by regulars to roughly February to March and the Caribbean mostly due to where people live and can fly into such as Canadians and Alaskans who do not want to miss summer at home and our home airlines fly to specific airports.  As much as we would love to hire professional performers again, until our numbers grow enough to afford them we are using the group discount perks to reduce cruisers' fees.  Besides we are fairly content with our own activities and ability get into trouble.  You know that old saying about what happens on an underground river full of Mayan ruins stays in in the cavern full of Mayan ruins.   Yes, we tend to stay in SteamPunk clothes especially for dining, often for swimming, and half the time for shore trips (it is kind of hot). 

So from that too long "short" lead in, what would your dream cruise be if leave, family, fear of water, fear of flying, and under-employment were issues? 

[Captain]

The 2020 cruise option that was winning the poll sold out completely over a year out.  We must have found a good cruise I guess.  The above is similar and a less expensive possibly since it departs on a week day and is just over a week long so a little harder for some folks to manage vacation time.  If this one "wins" we probably need to book or at least put a small deposit down really soon. 

The other cruise option that we are looking at is Honduras and Belize again.  This was a neat cruise especially the Honduran iguana dish and the impressive underground river tubing and Mayan ruins in Belize but I am jone'sin for those new passport stamps. 

[Captain]

This March 28th, 2020 Aruba cruise out of Ft Lauderdale won the poll and has at least four rooms booked as of this morning.  I'll post an even shortly. 

[Captain]

It is time to start planning the 2021 SP Cruise.  So far this is the most popular suggestion:

FastDeal       43278    https://www.vacationstogo.com/fastdeal.cfm?deal=43278
7 nights departing March 7, 2021 on
Royal Caribbean's Oasis of the Seas

Brochure Inside    $759
Our Inside    $759
You Save    0%
   
Brochure Oceanview    $803
Our Oceanview    $803
You Save    0%
Brochure Balcony    $942
Our Balcony    $942
You Save    0%
   
Brochure Suite    $1,932
Our Suite    $1,932


Date    Port    Arrive    Depart
Sunday, March 7    Fort Lauderdale, FL       4:30pm
Monday, March 8    At Sea       
Tuesday, March 9    At Sea       
Wednesday, March 10    St. Kitts    8:00am    5:00pm
Thursday, March 11    St. Thomas, U.S. Virgin Islands    7:00am    4:00pm
Friday, March 12    At Sea       
Saturday, March 13    CocoCay, Bahamas    10:00am    7:00pm
Sunday, March 14    Fort Lauderdale, FL    6:15am    

Basically the thought for 2021 is that Oasis of the Seas is one of the maybe four largest cruise ships in the world and as a group that has cruised together we have come to enjoy the amenities available on these city-like cruise ships a little more than the smaller ships.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mwLOG87OOGA

[Captain]

A lot of SP cruising has & hasn't happened during our plague times.  Three cruises were cancelled but the generous credit system eventually allowed us to book back-to-back Caribbean cruises and gain "diamond" status with cool perks like a private bar, fast embarkation, & free hooch.

The 9th & 10th SP Cruises are already booked out due to the many returning cruisers.  The 10th SP Cruise will be especially exciting this October 2023 since it will be through the Panama Canal and we might be meeting up with local SPs in some ports like Panama, Costa Rica, Columbia, & Tampa.

We are beginning the planning process for the 2024 SteamPunk Naval Expedition.  While it is sad that some of our SP cruisers with health issues that prohibited them from flying are no longer with us this also expands our options tremendously  (Diamond Club perks doesn't hurt either).

So far some of the proposed 2024 itineraries include: Singapore to Bombay, Australia to Hawaii, Antarctica out of Buenos Aires, & Amsterdam around Scotland & Iceland then back.