This last month my oldest daughter landed a cabin on the JoCo Cruise and invited me to come along!  “Sure, honey, I’d love to.  What is the JoCo Cruise?” I learned it is also known as the Nerd Cruise.  It is a whole boat filled with nerds and nerdy things.  There were nerd musicians, comic writers, comedians, podcasters, novelists (mostly of speculative fiction), tabletop game creators, computer game developers, puzzle hunt makers, scriptwriters, actors and more.  These folks made music, did stand-up, gave presentations, read their latest drafts, recorded live podcasts, sat on panels, held office hours, taught their craft, led music circles or monster sewing workshops, designed puzzles to be solved during the cruise, and taught their games at the 24-hour table-top game library. And the eclectic nature of the celebs on board attracted eclectic cruisers who were also unabashedly nerdy.

This is a cruise where formal night means wearing a fez (like Dr. Who) and a mustache, no one really cares about ports of call, and day 7 is always pajama day, “‘cause who still has clean clothes?”  This is Comic Con meets Gen Con, and don’t forget your cos-play, which could mean the green unitard, or perhaps a 1860 period Victorian ball gown, or not!  The group is welcoming and encouraging.  Dinner conversation is spirited, funny and intellectual. Truly a fun time was had by all!