Shadows at Sea

[DLA75]

Jim Pierson announced at the Luncheon that Next Years "even" may be a Dark Shadows New York based Cruise. Cruises can cost $1000 and up (i guess you can spit it with a roommate). But so can a trip to California. West Coast fan will have to pay for both the airfare to New York and the Cruises it's self. What do you think of this Idea? Will some not be able to afford it?

[Bette]

I love cruising, and have been on several in the last few years. It is much more expensive though. Unlike hotels, where you can split the cost, cruise prices are per person (double occupancy with extra costs for 3rd and 4th in a room), since the price includes almost all your food. So you will need a second person for the room and each will be paying the same cruise rate.  Solo cabins, if available, are very expensive. I'm afraid there are many who won't be able to manage it.

Also booking a cruise requires much planning and working with the cruise line. I can't see the DS volunteers who put together the Fest actually being able to pull off all the details which must be dealt with. Maybe Jim Pierson and Warner Brothers would be able to put this together.

All that being said, I would still love to go on a DS cruise. I think it would be great fun!

Bette

[Janet the Wicked]

I went on a Star Trek cruise from Boston to Bermuda several years ago. I loved every minute of it. Went snorkeling with George Takai, had breakfast with him, met several of the stars. There were panel sessions, a pub crawl on the island and still there was plenty of things to do that did not involve the show and plenty of space on the ship to get away from that venue if you so desired. I'm all for a DS cruise, though I probably couldn't afford it.

[michael c]

it might not end up being a multi-day cruise with overnight stays...


there are lots of new york cruises that just circle the island a few times and dock again at the end of the day. it's more of a day trip. i've been on a few for birthday's and things and my tenth high school reunion did it.

they're often called "booze cruises" because of the party-heavy atmosphere. maybe that's what's being planned for next year?

[Lydia]

If it were just a day cruise, would participants be expected to shore accommodations on their own?  I think multi-day cruise would make more sense.

[michael c]

sounds very $$$...

i'm wondering why they would scale the whole thing back so massively this year only to expand it to a much larger format next?

[Nancy]

Helen Samaras, long time festival volunteer and travel agent, has a travel agency called Classic Cruises and Tours and cruises is her specialty.  I imagine the festival will be working with her on such a project.  She's done this kind of work for decades.

[Gerard]

Like Nancy said, a very knowledgable tourist agent/agency would do most, if not all, the coordinating.  I and a friend for years went through a travel agent/agency in organizing cruises as fund-raisers for various non-profit groups.  Most often, the cruise lines would offer cheaper rates for the participants (one needed a certain minimum of people for it to be a go).  After that, the lines would cut a check out of the percentage of their profits to the non-profit groups.  Of course, a DS-based cruise would not be considered a fund raiser for some non-profit organization (unless, maybe, it ties it in with raising funds for some worthy cause, like the Alzheimer's Association or some such, just like it often does with proceeds from its auctions going to a cause), but I'm sure there would be a decent lowering of cabin rates, just as hotels used for DS fests offer lower rates to participants.  It wouldn't even have to be a full week (Saturday-to-Saturday) cruise.  There are many lines that run three day (Saturday-to-Tuesday) and four day (Tuesday-to-Saturday) cruises.

Gerard

[Gothick]

I would think the "Festival" committe folk (or whoever calls the shots) would want to do some sort of survey of everyone on their mailing list as to just who would be up for the cruise if it was something like a four day Caribbean sojourn (to Martinique, perchance?).  My personal perception is that only a small minority of the people who normally attend the "Festival" events are in the kind of income bracket where they could afford such a splurge.  I could be wrong, though.

I would think at the very least that they would have to make the cruise contingent on having enough people sign up by such and such a date.  If not, then it would automatically be canceled.

G.

[Uncle Roger]

Gothick, you make some excellent points. A multi-day cruise is not going to be cheap and the expense will keep a lot of people from going. You can minimize festival expenses by commuting in or staying somewhere else. But you can't do that on a boat.

It would be very thoughtful if the festival were to put out a survey to see what their fan base is really interested in as far as an event. However, I don't see them doing that.

[Gerard]

Again, don't forget (and let's say we're talking about a three/four day cruise), most often people booked as part of a special group will usually get a discounted rate.  And for that rate, virtually everything is included - room, food, non-alcoholic/soda drinks (juices, milk, coffee, tea) as well as transportation to the various ports.  The package price might seem high, but break it down to hotel room, meals, etc., and one will find that it is comparable and in many cases cheaper.  (Don't forget, you can also eat as much as you want, anytime you want, 24-hours-a-day [use the free gymnasium for 30 minutes to alleviate the guilt].)  Once on board, you technically don't have to spend another penny on anything; you can even have the tips automatically charged to your account removed.  I spent a month on the Queen Mary 2 and my total ship-board expenses came to less than $125 for the tips, drinks in the bars, books I purchased and soveniers and gifts from the shopping mall stores and a dinner in the extra-tariff restaurant.

Yes, it may appear daunting and even a bit frightening and overwhelming, but if the committee listens carefully to the tourist agent/agency putting it together and shows, penny-for-penny, that the cost is actually economical for the whole package - the proof is in the pudding (and, on the ship, you can eat as much pudding as you desire).  Yes, that doesn't take into account airfare to the port of departure, but when one attends a fest, one usually has to fly anyway.  But just to give a word of warning about that - never, ever book a flight that arrives the day of sailing, especially the way airlines operate today.  If the flight is delayed or canceled, or if your luggage ends up Omaha while you're in Ft. Lauderdale, there goes your cruise.  Better to spend extra and fly in the day before and book overnight in a hotel. 

Anyway, if this can be pulled off, considering how much work would be necessary by the committee, etc., how often is this going to happen, if ever again?  Consider it one time splurge, indulgence and adventure.  Everyone deserves to go wild and crazy just once in their lives.  After that, it's back to Anaheim, Brooklyn, Lyndhurst; Anaheim, Brooklyn, Lyndhurst; Anaheim, Brooklyn, Lyndhurst; Anaheim, Brooklyn, Lyndhurst; nary a hot-tub to soak in or a deck chair to relax in with a steward bringing you some delicious libation with fruits poked through by a stirrer.

Gerard

[arashi]

Sounds like it will be a fun time for those of you who go! Myself, I suffer from terrible sea-sickness and have a bone freezing fear of the open ocean, so I will not be attending.

[KMR]

Because of other travelling I do throughout the year, I haven't been able to justify attending a fest since way back in 1991 (yes, I'm that old--even older...).  But I've always wanted to experience a cruise, and this sounds like it would be a wonderful way to do it.  I'm eager to hear further developments!

[Gerard]

Sounds like it will be a fun time for those of you who go! Myself, I suffer from terrible sea-sickness and have a bone freezing fear of the open ocean, so I will not be attending.

I love cruising and crossing and anything to do with being on water, Arashi.  But I have one problem - I get seasick if I stir my coffee too fast.  What works like a charm is the transderm patch.  I get my prescription every time I go on board a cruise ship or ocean liner.  Almost always it's never needed because of the vessels' stabilizers, but there are those occasions when the weather turns wild and the captain has to allow a certain amount of pitching because driving a ship flat through monstrous seas can be detrimental to the hull.  One time, when I crossed the Atlantic on the now-retired Queen Elizabeth 2, we were in a storm with 40-foot waves.  Again, the captain had to allow for pitching (while ceasing all rolling).  Most got sick, and when I went to dinner in the 800-seat dining salon, only two-dozen people showed up - those of us with the patch or immune to mal-de-mar.  We had a riotous time.  The stewards divided us, dressed in suits and ties and evening gowns, into two competing groups for a "war" - we tossed dinner rolls at each other, using stewards' serving trays as shields.  It was hysterically fun.  Then I went to the QE2's disco (they canceled the formal dancing in the Grand Salon because of the pitching, especially after a drum rolled off the stage) for more fun and frolic.  They had contests where those who could stand perpendicular to the floor the longest as the ship pitched with various prizes.  The next day, all was calm and quiet, with flat seas and beautiful blue skies and people swimming in the pools and erstwhile enjoying merry-making.

Does this scare people?  Remember, we were on the North Atlantic which can experience that.  I've crossed the North Atlantic two more times and both times the water was as smooth as glass, and if things got whipped up, the stabilizers kept the ship on even keel.  However, let me reiterate:  the transderm patch.  If someone who gets as sick as me if my sinkwater gets too rough when I do the dishes can enjoy a sailing with no nauseau or discomfort whatsoever, then anyone can.  A DS cruise would be in the much calmer water of the Caribbean (or maybe a New England cruise out of New York).  But get the patch.  It's the greatest miracle since the parting of the Red Sea.

As for the water being bone-freezing, if it's the Carribean, the water is warmer than any swimming pool.  And I'm fickle when it comes to the temperature of the water.  Unless it's like bathwater, I don't like it (and I teach adaptive aquatics at our local Y).  But in the Caribbean, it's like a jacuzzi.  Even when I was in Bermuda on a cruise, the water was wonderfully warm.  I sat in it near a beach with crumbs from rolls I took from the ship's cafeteria and hand-fed beautiful, colorful fish that swam about me, even letting me gently pet and stroke them.

You'll love a DS cruise, Arashi.  Trust me.  Being pampered for anything you want aboard a luxurious ship is like nothing in the world.  Just get the patch, and you'll be in heaven.

Gerard

[arashi]

Thanks Gerard! It sounds like you had a hoot and a half! Maybe one day I'll give it a shot, but it isn't so much the temperature of the water I'm afraid of as the vastness and the depth of it!