My Tarrytown experience

Yeah, there was a representative from the cruise line there at least part of the weekend. This one sails out of Boston and sails around Maine and Nova Scotia. Lara and Kathryn are along for the ride. The price is astronomical. The inside cabins start at $1126, with suites costing over $3000. I realize that I am preaching to the choir here but this is far, far beyond the budget of most DS fans.

Those prices for a New England/Maritime cruise are ridiculous.  What cruise line are they using?  Royal Gold One Percent Class Line (RGOPCL)?  I've seen New-England/Maritime cruises sailing out of NYC for a week with specials where staterooms start in the hundreds-of-dollars on the ultra-luxurious ocean liner Queen Mary 2.  Seems that TPTB lacks a person who can find a good deal.  Either that, or somebody's getting a kick-back (hate to say it). 

Gerard

Gerard, I don't know if I would exactly call it a kickback but one of the reasons for the high price tag is to pay the cost of the cruise for KLS and Lara (and most likely TPTB). Last year, a few of the more enterprising fans booked a cruise on the same ship, without the DS add-ons, at a substantially reduced price. After the ship left port, they were invited to join the DS festivities at no charge because their numbers were so low.

How interesting, Uncle Roger!  It seems TPTB don't know diddly about using a cruise that would not only make money for both a DS venue, but for the cruise line itself.  I helped organize a few cruises as a fund-raiser for whatever.  What's needed is volume.  The more people that participate, the more money is made.  The way to do that is negotiate with the cruise line and then establish a lower price for those participating.  That will encourage more people to book and fill empty berths.  An unused bed or cabin brings in nothing for the line; the ones that are filled at almost half-cost of the normal charge brings in moola.  Groups use this method all the time.  Are there kickbacks?  Why, of course.  I and a friend who helped organize these fundraising always got our cabin for free.  Granted, it would one of the smallest inside ones, courtesy the cruise line, but so what?  Two of us got a free cruise, hundreds booked at a reduced rate, the cruise line made lots of money and donated a portion of it back to whatever organization for which we organized the cruise.  The DS PTB don't know about this?  Enough money would be made to pay for the celebs without gouging the fans.

Gerard

Gerard, the Festival should hire you to organize that cruise!  In addition to your salary and a free stateroom, you could tell them they need to give you a DVD of the 2004 pilot as part of the deal.

G.

I like your idea Gerard.  They really should consult with you!

Just got home and still decompressing after visiting Salem and Newport after the fest.Going thru all the paperwork I brought back, the cruise flyer says it is on Royal Caribbean's Serenade of the Seas. Dates Oct 1-8 2017 with departure and return to Boston and stops in Halifax, Saint John, Portland and Bar Harbor Maine. Details at:

www.vbdusa.com/darkshadowscruise2017

Sounds like the Fest was a blast! Wish I could have made it, but when I received my SASE back in the mail it said there was no more space for the Saturday festivities (see attached).

I've had the pleasure of meeting Midnite and she is a true delight!

Thanks, Gothic and CastleBee!  I can't understand why TPTB don't know about using cruises to raise money to not only pay for expenses, but even making a few $$$.  It's done all the time.  Even if no money is raised, negotiating for a "theme" at reduced rates would bring participates for a few dozen to several hundreds, bringing $$$ to the cruise line.  They always like that.  The price for the cruise, to pay the way for the stars (who certainly won't be accommodated in the cheapest, inside staterooms) is simply outrageous.  And I won't comment on what I think of RCCL's ships.  It wouldn't be prudent to use language like that here.

Gerard

And if KLS says they will continue, she basically overrules anything Pierson might say. We definitely learned that in the past whenever Pierson has hedged and hawed...

Perhaps we should change her epithet from TLATKLS to She Who Must Be Obeyed.

As an addendum to my original post, I have since learned that former child actor Stefan Arngrim was at the Festival. Stefan is best remembered as Barry Lockridge from Land of the Giants and is the brother of Allison Arngrim, best known from Little House on the Prairie. He is somewhat of a DS fan and came with his girlfriend who has been attending festivals for some time.

Was there a tribute to Humbert Allen Astredo?

Humbert was mentioned in a video tribute to the DS personnel who had passed away. The video was shown during the luncheon. As far as a tribute to him specifically, I didn't see one, though it's certainly possible that I was somewhere else when they did.

There was no separate tribute, which I thought was unusual as other prominent cast members (Louis Edmonds, Dennis Patrick) have been so honored in the past.

ProfStokes