News & Views

Geek Cruises' MacMania 04 / Photoshop Fling 03: Cruising With My Friends and Heroes

Several years ago I noticed the Geek Cruise advertisements in Macworld magazine. Having just taken my first cruise with my non-geek husband, I was intrigued by the concept of spending a week on a ship taking classes from the people whose books and magazine articles I read. These are the same people I travel to Macworld Expo to see in sessions and seminars.

The opportunity to book passage on the MacMania 4-Photoshop Fling 3 Geek Cruise presented itself this past summer. Although my husband was not interested in the trip, my sister and a close friend were ready to set sail.

Neil Bauman, the Captain of Geek Cruises and his wife, Theresa were a joy to work with in planning our trip. They were there to answer questions, help with filling out the online forms and to provide encouragement throughout the booking process and through the cruise itself. They thoughtfully suggested we plan to arrive in San Diego, our embarkation point a day or two early since we would be departing in early February and I live in the Washington DC area where snow storms can close the airports for several days.

We were booked into the Westin Horton Plaza hotel in San Diego for the night before our cruise. It is a beautiful hotel, right in the middle of the tourist area of San Diego. Our room was well-appointed and spacious, if a bit above the price I would normally pay for a hotel room.

That evening there was a pre-cruise cocktail party held in the hotel for Geek Cruise faculty members and students. The food was tasty and plentiful and the party gave us a chance to meet many of our fellow travelers and the people who would be teaching our classes for the next week. While a number of cruisers did not attend the party, it was a valuable experience for those of us who did attend.

Since we could not board the ship before 3 p.m., and the hotel checkout was before noon; a tour of San Diego had been arranged by Neil and his staff. Although I had lived in San Diego for several years on two different occasions, the tour was fun and interesting and our travel-mates were fellow Geek Cruisers, so we had another opportunity to get to know each other before the cruise began.

Our luggage was stowed under the bus and at the end of our tour; we made our way to the cruise terminal. Once again, the preparations Neil and his crew had made for our embarkation made the process quick and easy. For those who have not been on a cruise, the first order of the day is a mandatory lifeboat drill before the ship leaves the dock. Following that, we attended a Bon Voyage party aboard the ship were we received our name tags, Geek Cruises ball caps and schedules for the busy week ahead. This was a wonderful opportunity to meet and mingle with still more of our cruise mates and the faculty.

While there were over 140 people signed up for the Geek Cruise and they were accompanied by another 100 spouses and partners, we were only about 15% percent of the total passengers on the cruise. Our cruise took place on the MS Osterdam, a Holland America ship.

Our accommodations on the ship were wonderful. Our room was spacious with a large veranda, adequate closet space, and a good-sized bathroom. While there were three of us, we were not crowded in our Deluxe Stateroom. However, it was the second largest type of room available on the ship and rooms such as ours were far more expensive and much larger than the least expensive cabins offered. If you plan to share a room with three adults, consider such an upgraded cabin.

Our first day at sea, a Sunday, was filled with class sessions and activities as our ship headed for our first port of call, Cabo San Lucas, Mexico. There were two class periods that first day and there were four different classes offered during each period. Attendees were encouraged to move to a different class if we knew the material, found the topic too difficult or felt the urge to try something else. I attended Power-User Productivity in OS X Tiger, given by Bob LeVitus in the morning. However, that meant missing classes being taught by Bruce Fraser, Andy Ihnatko and Deke McClelland teaching with Derrick Story. Hard decisions had to be made immediately!

In the afternoon, I split my time between Deke's second class and Automator taught by Sal Soghoian. Since it was the day of the Superbowl, most of the cruisers found their way to televisions after classes to watch the game. After a wonderful dinner, and a trip to learn my way around the ship, it was time for bed.

However, since I am addicted to the Internet and email, I first signed up for wireless access and shuddered at paying $100 for 240 minutes of Internet access. The service was via satellite, and it was as slow as I had been led to expect it would be, but email and selected web surfing were possible!

The morning found us making our way into Cabo San Lucas. On the days that the ship is in port, Geek Cruise classes are not held. You can spend the day; however you want. We decided to take advantage of the tours that could be booked through the cruise line. In Cabo San Lucas, we boarded a wooden "pirate" sail boat and went whale watching after spending about an hour wandering around in the shops at the wharf.

In Mazatlan we took a city tour that included a visit to a cathedral, shopping and a visit to a local cultural show and a chance to see a cliff diver. It was definitely tourist fare, but as first time visitors to Mazatlan, we did get a chance to see the area and learn a little about it.

The next day we went to Puerto Vallerta, the southernmost city on our trip. Once again we took a bus tour. This one stopped at a tequila factory, a farm, and another historic church with stops for shopping along the way. Once again, we saw many of the sights, even if many of them were viewed from a bus seat.

Each evening, upon our return to the ship and before dinner, Geek Cruisers and their traveling partners was invited to attend special activities. One night, it was a Mac Gems shootout between Bob LeVitus, Leo Laporte, and Steve Wozniak. The MacMania Trio, made of up Bob LeVitus, Andy Ihnatko, and Chris Breen presented short concerts on two evenings and we had special presentations by Steve Wozniak and Andy Inhatko. Other evening activities were a Macworld/ Apple question and answer session, and a presentation by Bert Monroy on "The Evolution of Digital Art." All of these sessions were wonderful and added to the Geek Cruise experience. Since they took place "after hours," they were open to our Geek Cruise traveling companions. On four evenings Leo Laporte and various faculty members hosted "The Ingenious Bar," a time to ask questions and visit with the group before dinner. Once again, these sessions enhanced the Geek Cruise experience.

The final special program was a photo-session with the entire faculty. The Geek Cruise photographer took each Cruiser's picture with the group. I will treasure that photo of me and my Geek heroes for many years.

While I have high praise for the work of Neil Bauman and the rest of his staff, there were a few things that could have been better on the cruise. We ran into a few scheduling conflicts with the shipboard activities and had to move two of our after-hour sessions at the last moment. This meant some cruisers were unable to find the event. When dining aboard ship, cruisers are assigned to a specific table. While this worked well at larger tables, it was not a good arrangement at smaller tables. We saw fellow Geek Cruisers dining alone because their tablemates had chosen a different dining option for the evening. Dining alone is seldom fun and shipboard considerations did not allow for easily changing tables. At the end of the cruise, we had the opportunity to fill out a survey, and Neil has assured us that he is listening to and acting on our suggestions for improvements on future cruises.

Would I take another Geek Cruise? Most definitely! I had a wonderful, educational week. I had the opportunity to get to know my fellow passengers and make some friends I am sure I will keep in touch with. I also got a chance to meet and spend time getting to know some of my favorite authors and lecturers; The whole faculty was friendly and available to the Cruisers. It was an opportunity not to be missed!

The cost ($795) of the Geek Cruise portion of the trip was certainly in line with other training programs and the content offered something for everyone at many different levels throughout the week. At each session, there was enough variety that I had a difficult time choosing which class to take and which ones I would regrettably miss.

While it is not possible to book the shipboard accommodations through a third party cruise discounter, the Geek Cruise staff was able to offer me an upgrade to a nicer cabin without adding to the cost of the trip. This type of consideration is not available on every cruise though, so book the type of cabin you feel you need.

Traveling aboard the Holland America Line was very pleasant and comparable to my other cruise experiences. The ship was clean and well-maintained. The food was very good, and the services provided by the staff were above reproach. The two shipboard shows I managed to attend were very good. I cannot tell you much about the pools, spa, casino and night life. I was too busy having fun with my fellow Geek Cruisers to spend much time in those.

As for the question, am I a good candidate for cruising without the Geek Cruise program? My other two experiences were on short cruises where we visited a different port each day. Although I might be able to be happy with one unscheduled day at sea, just lying around by the pool or watching the sea for two or more days would NOT make me happy. I am a person who keeps busy and the stimulation of classes about my favorite subjects was exactly what I needed to really enjoy a week on a cruise ship. Next time, I will encourage my husband to travel with me. He would enjoy the days with nothing to do, but he could still join me for Geek Cruise activities after-hours.

If all of this sounds fun to you, contact Neil Bauman and tell him I suggested you join in the fun. You never know, I may be on your Geek Cruise!

For more information about future Geek Cruises, check their web site at www.geekcruises.com. To see photos of the fun we had, search MacMania on Flickr.com Several cruisers have posted some of their pictures there.

Attribution Information:

Copyright 2006 Pat Fauquet. This article may be reprinted by any Macintosh User Group in their newsletter or publication distributed on paper, CD,
or online, with credit given to the author (Pat Fauquet, Washington Apple Pi, <patf.fauquet@wap.org>). Commercial or other publication prohibited unless the author grants specific permission.

Pat is the Vice-president for Programs, and the Pi Fillings CD editor for Washington Apple Pi.
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Pat Fauquet
pat@mac.com

Vice President for Programs
Editor, Pi Fillings, The CD
Washington Apple Pi, Ltd.
www.wap.org
vpprograms@wap.org