JoCo Cruise 2018

Those of you who follow me on social media probably know that for the last several years, I’ve been a part of the JoCo Cruise. What’s more, over the last couple years, they’ve brought on Worldbuilders as their official charity, and they donate a portion of the proceeds every year. (More on that later, for those of you who are fans of Worldbuilders.)

For those of you who don’t know, (and why would you, because I haven’t ever written a blog about it, though I’ve meant to for years) JoCo Cruise is kinda like a convention, except it’s on a cruise ship. So you can go to a panel about writing, go to workshop about game design, then go and drink rum out of an actual Pineapple on a beach. Or go snorkling. Or sit by the pool. Or go listen to some live music. Or hang out with your fellow geeks and play games. By the pool, at the bar. With, and I cannot stress this enough, rum.

If that wasn’t cool enough, last year the cruise took over the *entire* boat. So not only are there no normal cruise-goers giving us the side-eye. But we have full control over all the event spaces, so the amount of programming has become truly insane.

You can see the full schedule from last year right here, just so you know the scale of what I’m talking about.

(Some of the guests from a previous cruise.)

This year is only going to be bigger and better, and booking has been going on for a while now.

It’s a chunk of change. But if you’re in the habit of going to conventions, you know that after you factor in hotel rooms, taxis, all your meals, badges, and extra events, you can easily spend as much as the cruise just attending a 4 day convention. More if it’s a convention like San Diego Comic con…

And this cruise isn’t just four days. It’s a 7-night, 8-day trip, with stuff going on literally at all hours. And the price includes all the JoCo Cruise events, 24 hour room service, all your onboard meals, use of the onboard gym, etc etc.

• But Pat, I hear you say, “What sort of things happen on the cruise?”

Honestly? So much stuff. It’s almost ridiculous to try to mention all of it.

There’s performances every night. Dozens of musicians. Last year there were some cool magicians I’ve since seen on TV. Last year we had Nightvale on board, and I participated in one of their shows.

I myself usually do some panels, some readings, some performances.

Well, there’s usually a fair number of podcast recordings, like the one I did with Max last year…

“Hey Pat.”
“Yeah Max?”
“Hey Pat.”
“YEAH MAX?”@JoCoCruise @MaxTemkin @PatrickRothfuss #unattendedconsequences #jococruise2017 pic.twitter.com/j0IcyFemXT

— Kerry (@kerryforward) March 15, 2017

This year, I’ve let Paul and Storm know that I want to sing at least once…. So there will be that train wreck to watch as well…

Tak made its debut on the Cruise, and was first playtested there. This year Travis McElroy is going to be there. So I’m guessing we’ll have some fun and games with him. And some D&D if I have anything to say about it…

There are things like the Gaming Room and Library, where you can settle in and play a board game with anyone who happens to pass by.

There’s concerts every night that have performers like The Doubleclicks, Paul & Storm, Jonathan Coulton, and so many more.

(Jonathan Coulton, complete with Zombies trying to eat his brains, here.)

(Jean Grey here. I became a fan of hers *because* I saw her on the cruise.)

And, I mean, you’re on a CRUISE.

For those of you curious about the price, here’s someone’s complete breakdown of all of the costs associated with this trip:

Today on @thebillfold: The Cost of Attending #jococruise2017 https://t.co/sb3gXAoB8w

— Nicole Dieker (@HelloTheFuture) March 14, 2017

“But Pat!” I hear you cry. “The cruise isn’t until February, why would I want to book so soon?”

Well, there are a few reasons…

First of all the sooner you book, the more options you get for booking your cabins. Actual cabin placement is made in order of booking, with preference for folks who have booked early.

There’s also a “Refer a Friend” program where folks who already booked on the 2018 cruise can refer a friend. When both of them make their booking they’ll each receive a $125 onboard credit to their accounts, which they can use for fancy food, adult beverages, or buying merch and swag in the stores onboard. You can read up on the full info here, but it’s a limited time offer, so book soon.

If you don’t already have a friend sailing on board, there’s another special opportunity you can take advantage of: the Worldbuilders Charity Booking.

If you enter the offer code “worldbuilders” when booking a new cabin, two things will happen:

1. Worldbuilders will receive a $250 donation on your behalf
2. Everyone in your booking will have guaranteed attendance at a special onboard meetup with me.

This doesn’t count if you make a booking and cancel, obviously, and there’s a couple of other rules and restrictions as well (all of which you can read here) but once again, it’s a limited time offer, so if you’re hoping to get in on this one you should book now.

There’s also ALSO a Child discount of $250 per child under the age of 3 (at the time of sailing). That’s gonna be true the whole time, but it was still worth noting. I almost always bring my boys, and it’s a ton of fun to have them there. Oot wants nothing more than to spend as much time as humanly possible in the on-ship pool.

Anyway, there’s a whole bunch of options, all broken down on their Pricing Page, but, as with everything, the sooner you book, the better off you are.

So… yeah. There’s a reason I go on this every year. It’s a lot of fun.

One thing I learned in working with Nerdcon is that no matter how cool something is, there’s no guarantee it’s going to last forever. So if you’ve been thinking about it for a while, maybe jump in and try it this year.

Here’s the booking link one more time.

Hope to see some of you there,

pat