March 2017 marks the seventh sailing of JoCo Cruise, an annual weeklong cruise that began as a fan cruise for alt rocker Jonathan Coulton back in 2011. (See founder Mitch "Storm" Courtenay's writeup about the 2015 cruise.)
The experience is equal parts nerdy convention and music festival – and it has developed a cult following. The cruise is known for its daily concerts, 24-hour game room, welcoming “Sea Monkey” community, more geeky onboard events than one could possible attend, and the wide variety of high-profile, awesome guests on board, including actors and writers whose shows you'll recognize.
The next JoCo Cruise will take place March 4-11, 2017, on Holland America’s ms Westerdam from San Diego with ports of call in Baja California. For the first time ever, the entire ship is chartered for the event, meaning everyone on board will be participating in the geeky fun.
The cruise's organizers have announced the first wave of musicians and performers. Here's the latest lineup:
Headliner
Jonathan Coulton, co-founder/co-producer – geek rock musician, and his band.
Actors & performers
Rhea Butcher – standup comic, actor and writer
Cameron Esposito – standup comic, actor and writer seen recently in Garry Marshall’s Mother’s Day
Paul & Storm, JoCo Cruise co-founders/co-producers – musical comedy duo
Peter Sagal – NPR’s "Wait Wait… Don’t Tell Me!" and PBS’s "Constitution USA with Peter Sagal"
Adam Savage - actor, educator and TV personality, former co-host of Discovery Channel’s "MythBusters"
Janet Varney – actor known for "The Legend of Korra," "Burning Love," "You’re the Worst"
Wil Wheaton – actor, blogger, gamer & writer known for "Star Trek: The Next Generation" and guest turns on "The Big Bang Theory"
Writers
Ed Brubaker – writer for comics, film and TV, including HBO’s "Westworld" and Marvel’s "The Winter Soldier"
N.K. Jemisin – award-winning writer of speculative fiction, including "The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms"
Maureen Johnson – New York Times bestselling author of a dozen young adult novels
Mary Robinette Kowal - Hugo Award-winning author of "The Glamourist Histories" fantasy series
Patrick Rothfuss – author, podcaster and gamer, known for bestselling novel, "The Name of the Wind"
John Scalzi – science fiction author, known for "Old Man’s War" series & Hugo-winning "Redshirts"
Matthew Weiner – creator, exec producer, writer and director of the Emmy Award winning "Mad Men"
Musicians
Jim Boggia – Philly-based pop singer-songwriter
The Doubleclicks – aka Angela & Aubrey Webber, are sisters and geeky musicians
Jean Grae – hip hop recording artist from Brooklyn, New York City, fka What? What?
Zoë Keating – cellist, composer and one-woman orchestra
Ted Leo – singer, songwriter known for his years in the American punk underground and The Both
Molly Lewis – ukele player, internet sensation
Aimee Mann – rock singer, singer-songwriter and bassist known for solo works and as member of ‘Til Tuesday, The Both and Rush
John Roderick - musician, writer, & podcaster known as the singer and guitarist for The Long Winters
More guest artists will be announced in the coming months.
2,000 participants expected in March
The 2017 JoCo Cruise will be the biggest one yet, with more than 2,000 people expected to attend.
Co-Founder/producer Paul Sabourin says: “The cruise has gotten exponentially better every year. And now that we’ve increased the volume to an entire ship this year, simple math and geometry tells us that JoCo Cruise 2017 will be more fun than the human psyche can comfortably withstand.”
Past attendees say it’s the participants of the JoCo Cruise — the welcoming community of self-designated “Sea Monkeys” who attend every year — that make the theme cruise especially impressive. Sea Monkeys live all over the world and come together to celebrate each other and their unique interests and to explore what makes them alike and different.
A central feature of JoCo Cruise are the daily live performances, both large scale (in the ship's main theater) and smaller scale (in the ship's various other lounges and public spaces). Every year the cruise assembles an eclectic mix of entertainers, experts and personalities: musicians, comedians, authors, game designers, webcomics and more.
Wide range of activities on board
Beyond the daily main performances, there’s a TON of other stuff to do while you’re on the JoCo Cruise. Some of you may even want to hang out with other people! Below is just a sampling of the many ways you can do just that:
- Celebrity “Office Hours”
- Panels and Q&As
- Karaoke nights
- Dance parties
- Open mic nights
- Cocktail parties
- Movie nights
Featured in the New York Times, NPR, and Slashdot, headliner Jonathan Coulton's songs cover an eclectic range of subjects, from zombies and mad scientists to marriage and parenthood. What does the inspiration for the JoCo Cruise have to say about the community?
“The JoCo Cruise has always had that magical, alternate reality quality you get anytime you put a bunch of enthusiastic nerds together in one place," Coulton says. "But having the entire ship means we can really make the experience our own. It becomes this giant, weird, shared creative space for all of us.”
Booking a room on JoCo Cruise
You can book your weeklong, geeky vacation now at one place: www.jococruise.com. This cruise starts in San Diego with stops in Cabo San Lucas, Loretto and Playa Pichilingue, near La Paz, Mexico.
For updates and more information:
- Follow @JoCoCruise on Twitter & Instagram
- Like JoCo Cruise's Facebook page and JoCo Cruise 2017 Facebook group
- The JoCo Cruise 2017 FAQ
- The Sea Monkey Primer
- See what guests on past sailings have posted on the Internet. #jococruise
