This cruise sounds like a blast, and I’m not someone who would ever want to go on a cruise, at least a typical one. I like that the cruise organizers recognize that not everyone is an extrovert and will need to be able to have aces to quiet spaces to recharge. It’s not a sign of weakness to need this, it’s just something that non-neurotypical people require. I would love to go somewhere where O can just be myself and talk about what Hogwarts house I was sorted into on Pottermore with another adult and not have it be seen as really strange.
As for those commenters making those prejorative remarks about this cruise and large groups of nerds and geeks, why can’t they just let us be? It makes me said that even adults still resort to middle/high school attitudes towards nerds and geeks.
3
It sounds like a great time is had by all, but does anyone on these cruises worry about the environmental impact?
https://www.theguardian.com/sustainable-business/2015/jan/05/cruise-ship-holidays-environmental-impact
When I go to sea, I want to just enjoy the quiet solitude and beauty of the 'blue water'. I really have no desire to have 2000 of my closest friends nearbly[even with quiet zones].
I will be doing freighter cruises; I am leaning towards the 'breakbulk' ships. For 10K, I can do a 4-month circumnavigation of the globe.
And how lovely it will be to just---obviously 'shaded' from the sun--meditate quiety. My eyes closed and the sounnds are the ship moving throught the water, any sea life, and just the sounds of the water.
2
My son characterizes our family as "Nerds who look normal".
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I've been eyeing this cruise for years. My husband and I have plans to attend as soon as we can afford it. It looks like wonderful fun. We know folks who have gone and they just loved it.
1
From Aimee Mann's website:
"Order Aimee Mann's new album, Mental Illness (both CD and LP with die-cut cover & color vinyl), plys limited t-shirts, tote bags, and bandanas. Also available only with the bundles, Aimee Mann Mental Illness Art Cards, a limited edition pack of twenty-five 5'x7' psychological art therapy cards featuring psychological tests to help you discover how you view yourself and how you think others see you, with the option to share your art and findings with Aimee and her fans! The Arts Cards are only available in one of the bundles!"
I'd say that's pretty nerdy, or at a minimum "nerd-adjacent!"
Notice how no one was in the pool in that first picture
People who self identify as "nerds" or "geeks" often impose a negative body image on themselves (despite being people like anyone else, likely to have the same range/distribution of body shapes/sizes.... or more explicitly: no worse than your typical Disnry cruise full of midwesterners)
1
What fun !!!
My only cruise experience was a 14 day re-positioning cruise
from Galveston to Barcelona. It was like an up-market Houston
retirement home fully of very boring people.
At breakfast the first day, the conversation with three well turned out ladies of Houston went like this:
First lady, to my wife: "I've never met a Mexican before."
Second lady: "You Canadian's are socialists."
Third lady: "There seem to be a lot of Hindus."
We parted after I delivered a brief lecture on the sad state of
health care in the US and Texas. This was pre Trump.
Maybe the NYTimes should organize some fun cruises
and visit the Yucatan. In the Port of Progreso, we have
break dancers, folk dancers, buskers, and much more.
The beer is two dollars.
"Nerds" are people with a substantial interest or aptitude in academic-related pursuits — your math-obsessed kid, your spelling bee champ, your 4.0 student who has taken 14 AP courses, etc.
"Geeks" are people with a substantial interest in a specific non-academic subject outside the norm (or inside the norm if the obsession is big enough): comic books, cosplay, D&D, Star Wars (if you're a huge fan rather than a casual watcher), etc.
No doubt some of the people on the cruise are nerds. But being nerds is not the reason they are on the cruise. They are on the cruise because they are geeks with aligned interests.
You can decide if my comment makes me a geek or a nerd.
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I like scifi and fantasy, too, but to be trapped in a floating building with these people seems like fodder for a Sartre play and/or divine punishment for one's sins.
4
Interesting article, but the Theme Cruise Finder linked to doesn’t have many cruises categorized beyond “alternative lifestyles” (62) and wine (50), plus golf and nature (12 each). Most categories consist of 0 entries, so I question the usefulness of this resource.
4
wow... I'm not a nerd, as far as I know, but it sounds completely fun! It would be a real learning experience for me.
4
Great piece. I'm not really a cruise kinda guy, and I'd never heard of this before. But now I want to attend it.
(John Scalzi is one of my favorite writers. His involvement alone is a selling point!)
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John, this was beautifully written! Thank you! I'm sharing with everyone I know. I've tried to explain how amazing this group of people are, but could never get it quite right. You, on the other hand, nailed it!!
I hope you get to join us again next year.
5
It is certainly fun to put all your efforts into dressing up as the best looking elf and mastering D&D until the wee hours of the morning.
One would hope these people would be so willing to put as much effort into real life challenges than their fantasy ones, because this world could use the efforts and imagination from "Nerd" Nation to help tackle the problems that plague the rest of us.
2
@Mike M. So it is fine for "normal people" to spend time and effort to see events involving two teams of people giving each other concussions, but dressing as an elf involving in harmless pursuits is bad?
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It's nice to hear about an event that's such a source of harmless joy for people. Glad you had fun - I've never thought of myself as a cruise person, but maybe I'll try to go sometime!
35
This whole experience sounds extremely positive and delightful. It is simply uplifting to know that this type of thing exists.
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OMG. Saw the promo video. That is the nerdiest bunch of people you would not want to be stuck on a ship with. They have found their people. Very clever to wrangle such free publicity from the NYT.
1
I know this probably makes me sound like an intolerant jerk, but what are 'safe spaces' for some people end up being oppressive for others.
I feel like I'd probably enjoy an LGBT friendly 'nerd' themed cruise, but much like with the various forms of comic-con, I am absolutely put off by cosplay.
People in fursuits make me uncomfortable. People in costumes that I know cost anywhere between 1,000$ (a basic stormtrooper) to 20,000$ (Darth Vader) [prices based on the 501st Star Wars Legion cosplay page] are just not really the people I wanna hang out with.
I think part of it is that I am happy as myself and don't need to be another person. Maybe I just am otherkin-phobic.
But just once I'd like a 'nerd' experience that didn't involve adult dress up.
4
@Eli. This is a hilarious comment, and I completely understand where you are coming from. Do you feel the same way about elf ears? (Both prosthetic and (gulp) surgically altered?)
2
Hilarious piece.
Wish I could have been there to witness this amazing lab experiment in human behavior and group dynamics.
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It's no Star Trek Cruise.
3
A lot of comic con people are swingers and into fantasy role playing etc.
Bet that cruise heats up at night.
Not too hot at night... seems like anyone with a 6 or higher rating is kept out.
1
Yay for happy people!
12
What happens? they eat, drink, dance get drunk - have sex and multiply. Then we have another 1000 nerds for the next cruise.
Are 65 year old nerd wannabes allowed to come?
14
We’re 58 & have already paid a deposit to go next year. It will be our first time but we’re big fans of Jonathan Coulton. We’re not into cosplay at all but we love interesting music & word games & hard science fiction. It sounds as though there’s plenty to do for all kinds of people. We had never thought about going on a cruise either (except maybe a scientific or environmental one) but this just sounded like something different & fun. Come join us & we can do cryptic crosswords together!
3
What happenes? Someone who owns a big boat stuffs his/her wallet.
1
As someone who has felt like a square peg in a round hole for most of her life, I may only be "nerd adjacent," but I now know there are others like me. I just have to find them.
35
i remember seeing Jonathan Coulton back in the long ago days when he sang his songs at a little dive on the far west side, where the entry fee was buying two drinks. he was a geek (NOT "nerd") god right from the beginning. these days tickets to his shows (ones on dry land) have gone beyond what i can afford, which makes me sad for me, but really happy for him. his cruise sounds like a great fan convention on the water, with great entertainment for the geek crowd. long may he -- and the sea monkeys -- sail!
6
If you own the boat, you make a sweet profit.
1
As you have said.
I’m really looking forward to my first JoCo cruise in 2021. It’s a celebration of 30 years of friendship between my bff and myself. This just makes me more excited.
3
I resent the use of the word “nerd” for this. I love the fantasy and sci-gi genre. Nerd puts a negative connotation that we are separated and freaks from the rest of society. The word does nothing to describe the beauty and complexity of people interested in this genre. If anything, I consider people who negatively view this world as unimaginative.
@Josephine
Sadly, if you read some of the comments on this article, you have the feeling of being separate from society reinforced. Nerd is not the best word, but we've been called far worse so I suppose it's progress. The neurotypicals out there don't seem to be that accepting.
1
I used to mock nerd cults. Now I think they are great. In trying times they are a way to find a bit of joy in a community of folks with whom you have something in common.
4
The game mentioned in the article as "JoustMania" is a commercially available game called Johann Sebastian Joust by Die Gute Fabrik. It was played in a tournament setting, which is typically how fans of the game play it in large events.
While I appreciate this story, I am struck by the harshness of labeling people nerds. This is not high school circa 1983, and isn’t it time we moved on from mocking people who play certain games or wear certain things? It’s not only archaic, it’s divisive.
5
@Beth B.
Lots of folks embrace the label, and celebrate their nerditude.
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@Beth B.
I appreciate your concern for us, but I'm proud to call myself a nerd or a geek, depending on my mood. The JoCo cruise was wonderful fun, and we're planning to go again next year.
21
Nerd, which was an insult when I was a kid, is now a label of pride. People made fun of those who liked computers and video games when I was a kid, and now those things are normal and cool.
26
Paul and Storm were part of a quirky a cappella group- Da Vinci’s Notebook-in the DC area that our family saw as often as we could. They had a varied, but cohesive group of fans, some of whom followed Moxy Fruvous.
I can’t imagine spending a week at sea, but would gladly visit JoCo and others for Nerdcore at Kennedy Center or other venue.
1
Don’t get me wrong... I absolutely love Diane Rehm , but I thought the answer to this question would be an NPR cruise.
4
What a fun article to start my day! Thank you for running it!
10
Sounds like a floating science fiction convention—a really *good* science fiction convention. Sounds more fun than a typical cruise, and makes more sense than other themed cruises (perhaps because cons have been their own thing for so long).
6
This cruise sounds like wonderful fun. That Re: Your Brains song is a great song. I am not familiar with his other work. My own cultish devotion is to a musician my own age, Todd Rundgren - I am now reading his autobiography. Todd wrote both "Love is the Answer" - a radio hit for England Dan and John Ford Coley - and sports anthem "Bang the Drum All Day".
One gets similar feelings at other temporary intentional communities - to name a couple I have participated in, the Southeastern Unitarian Universalist Summer Institute - SUUSI, and various week-long workshops at the Omega Institute in Rhinebeck, NY. As Thomas Hanna told us at one of those workshops - "People compare this to the 'real world' - but actually, THIS is the real world". What he meant, I think, is expressed in Todd Rundgren's song "Secret Society" -
"I never see you in the waking world
We make an effort to avoid each other
But every night we penetrate the veil
Where everybody acts like sister and brother"
May it be so, from time to time, and more and more often.
3
I was a New Monkey in 2016, the last year that they shared a boat with regular passengers. I had a blast, and will be on the 2020 cruise with two friends. It's a wonderful experience, and I've made some great friends from it.
8
Sometimes affinity cruises only sell out a portion of the ship and the rest of the ship is for non-affiliated cruisers. As the article mentions there are affinity cruises for conservatives and liberals. My wife and I were on a 14 day cruise which was actually two back to back 7 day cruises going to two different sections of the Caribbean. It was a strange trip because the first 7 days had cruisers associated with the Weekly Standard (conservative) and the second 7 were with cruisers for The Nation (liberal). There were probably 500 to 800 cruisers from each group on a ship holding 2000 passengers.
I haven't been on an affinity cruise but would consider it if it were something I was interested in. I would pass on the described cruise even though I an a science fiction fan.
6
This just makes me so happy. A boat full interesting nerd people doing interesting nerd things and being wholeheartedly accepted for it.
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