Looking forward to JoCo24

[Shalandara]

Final payments have been made and we are eager for March and our JoCo cruise.

 

I don't hear about them much here on these forums.  I'm actually kinda interested to see how a whole ship charter differs in the standards when compared to a normal sailing for a cruise line.

 

[moriarty00]

I was also thinking that there isn't much about JoCo cruises here. I guess they have a Discord and other discussion forums, and most people who go on those don't know (or need to know) that there are active cruise forums here. Shalandara, I'm curious what you learn about the differences.

 

I'm excited! I just booked going on the 2025 JoCo cruise. I've wanted to go on one of their sailings for a long time, but this will be my first, as well as my first cruise of any sort in 12 years!

[GreySkies]

Look up JoCo 2024 on Facebook and you'll see the community group there.  Lots of stuff is going to be coming up between now and the cruise.  I, sadly, will not be on the cruise for a variety of reasons.

[GreySkies]

For this particular cruise, all of the entertainment is done via THO (The Home Office) of JoCo.  There are also shadow events run by other cruisers that make up the bulk of the activities.  There's a game library for the duration of the cruise, if that's your thing. 

Food wise, most of it is the same as any other cruise on that ship, but they will occasionally have a special dish.  In 2018, they had a dessert that was like a Tide Pod.  In 2022, there was a food made out of beets.  I forget what the title of the dish was, but it was amusing.  They also typically will have a specialty drink.  Don't be shocked to hear "Wang Wang" quite frequently.  It was the drink of 2020 and became the typical bar call.

Tons of history and inside jokes.  Don't be afraid to ask anyone about something you don't understand.  They will happily tell you about it.

[Shalandara]

Oh I am in several of the facebook groups.  I also have several friends who long term attend so I am very up to speed on the history and culture.  And since I am a veteran of old school sci-fi cons I know my way around almost all of it.  Add in my day job as a librarian and believe me, there is little I do not already know about it before stepping onto that charter.

 

[TeeLee530]

I recently discovered JoCo cruises online. And it seems like it would be amazing. Definitely on my bucket list for the future.

[Shalandara]

On 3/29/2024 at 10:18 PM, TeeLee530 said:

I recently discovered JoCo cruises online. And it seems like it would be amazing. Definitely on my bucket list for the future.

I had a good time.  It is different from a regular cruise ..... so if you love all the gimmicky sales things that happens on a regular HAL cruise you will not like it.  But the other things make up for it I think.  I did find it oddly quiet in the evenings if you were not in the main theater -- nothing else going on usually.  And definitely runs later in the night than other HAL cruises and cruise demographics!!!

We booked again for 2025 -- mainly because hubs is a big They Might Be Giants fan.  In 2026 they will sail out of San Diego which is a no-go for us (plus we have other travel plans that year).