JoCo Cruise Crazy/JoCo Cruise Crazy 1

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Revision as of 08:19, 5 March 2012 by Mrgoldenbrown (talk | contribs) (updated intro to reflect JCCC2 is finished and JCCC3 announced)
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In October 2009, Jonathan Coulton mentioned the "hypothetical" possibility of hosting a cruise involving entertainment by himself and his "circle of famous entertainment powerhouse friends." After evaluating fan interest in such a venture via the blog, the cruise was announced as a real event in July 2010. In a nod to JoCo's song Tom Cruise Crazy, the event was dubbed "JoCo Cruise Crazy".

The inaugural JoCo Cruise Crazy sailed the Caribbean in January 2011, with approximately 375 attendees (often referred to as 'Sea Monkeys'.) It was deemed such a success by performers and fans alike that the organizers quickly began planning a sequel. JoCo Cruise Crazy 2 was announced in April 2011, and sailed February 19-26, 2012. Joco Cruise Crazy 3 was announced before the ship returned to port, and pre registration made available to those onboard.

Itinerary

The first JoCo Cruise Crazy was a six-day Western Caribbean cruise sailing from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, aboard Holland America's ship the ms Eurodam.

Date Location Arrival Departure
Sunday 01 Jan 11 Sail from Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US 5:00pm
Monday 03 Jan 11 Half Moon Cay, Bahamas 8:00am 4:00pm
Tuesday 04 Jan 11 Sea Day
Wednesday 05 Jan 11 Ocho Rios, Jamaica 8:00am 5:00pm
Thursday 06 Jan 11 Georgetown, Cayman Islands 8:00am 5:00pm
Friday 07 Jan 11 Sea Day
Saturday 08 Jan 11 Debark Ship Fort Lauderdale, Florida, US 7:00am

Entertainment

JoCo Cruise Crazy took over the main show lounge of the Eurodam from 5-7pm each evening (except Sunday) for performances from Jonathan Coulton and his fellow entertainers. In addition there were a few scheduled social gatherings, as well as JoCo karaoke, Rock Band, movies and plays.

Performers

Schedule

The following details are copied from the Master Schedule supplied upon boarding and registering.

Day 1 (Jan 2) SUNDAY Ft. Lauderdale
Start Time End Time Event Location Details
5:00 PM 5:30 PM Shove Off! Land / Not Land Join us and your fellow Sea Monkeys up on deck (exact spot TBD)
5:30 PM 7:00 PM Exclusive Cocktail Reception Crow's Nest Lounge The first 250 attendees who signed on for JoCo Cruise Crazy are invited to join Jonathan and the other performers for a kickoff party.
6:00 PM 7:00 PM The Nearly Just As Good Reception Northern Lights Disco Free beer and wine! Fun!
8:00 PM 9:30 PM Dinner Dining Room Om nom nom
9:00 PM 11:00 PM Table Top Gaming Hudson Room/Half Moon OMG, we're on the real ocean! edition
11:00 PM 1:30 AM Movie Night! (tentative) Culinary Arts Center


Day 2 (Jan 3) MUNDAY Half Moon Cay, Bahamas
Start Time End Time Event Location Details
8:00 AM 5:00 PM Frolicking, Gallivanting, and Monkeyshines
1:00 PM 4:00 PM Table Top Gaming Hudson Room/Half Moon Stayin' Pasty edition
4:30 PM 7:30 PM JOCO CRUISE CRAZY CONCERT Mainstage Theater Wil Wheaton / Paul and Storm
8:00 PM 9:30 PM Dinner Dining Room I'm on ur ship eatin' ur grub
10:00 PM 11:00 PM Paul F. Tompkins Memorial Moustache Formal TBD A gathering for fancy people in fancy clothes (optional), wearing fancy moustaches (required), convened in defiance of Holland America's announcement that there will be no traditional "formal night."

Moustaches will be provided.

11:00 PM 1:30 AM Movie Night! Culinary Arts Center TENTATIVE
Day 3 (Jan 4) TOOSDAY At Sea
Start Time End Time Event Location Details
9:00 AM 10:00 AM JoCO Q&A Mainstage Theater Got questions for Jonathan (or any of the other performers who might show up)? Now's the time!
11:00 AM 12 noon JoCo Cruise Crazy Group Photo At the bow (tentative) Photo will be taken by the shipboard photographer, and will then be available for purchase in the ship's photo store.
1:00 PM 4:00 PM Table Top Gaming Hudson Room/Half Moon WOW, there's a lot of water outside edition
4:30 PM 7:30 PM JOCO CRUISE CRAZY CONCERT Mainstage Theater Jonathan Coulton / John Hodgman
8:00 PM 9:30 PM Dinner Dining Room See if you can guess...what I am now?
9:00 PM 11:00 PM JoKaraoke Culinary Arts Center Here's your chance to belt 'em out like your favorite bearded troubadour! Karaoke rig will be loaded with all of your Jonathan Coulton favorites, maybe some other stuff. If you brought tracks along, we can load them up, too.
Day 4 (Jan 5) WUSENDAY Ocho Rios, Jamaica
Start Time End Time Event Location Details
8:00 AM 5:00 PM Monkeyshines, Frolicking, Gallivanting
5:00 PM 7:30 PM JOCO CRUISE CRAZY CONCERT Mainstage Theater Molly Lewis / Mike Phirman / Bill Corbett & Kevin Murphy
8:00 PM 9:30 PM Dinner Dining Room The spice will flow
9:00 PM 11:00 PM Rock Band Culinary Arts Center Rig will be set up, complete with several different Rock Band edition discs and plenty of Jonathan Coulton favorites!
9:00 PM 11:00 PM Table Top Gaming Hudson Room Pass the aloe vera edition
11:30 PM 1:30 AM DRAMA CLUB with Bill Corbett & Peter Sagal Culinary Arts Center So you want to be a famous screenwriter! No? Well, you should. In "My Monster", his mix of comedy/lecture/theater/MIND-BLOWING REALITY CHANGER, Bill Corbett explains it all for you, along with co-writer Joseph Scrimshaw. Listen, learn, laugh, love! (Well, maybe not that last one) Plus: a staged reading of Peter Sagal's short two-hander comedy "Game Theory", read by the author and that Corbett guy again.
Day 5 (Jan 6) THUN? Georgetown, Cayman Islands
Start Time End Time Event Location Details
8:00 AM 5:00 PM Gallivanting and Monkeyshines, Frolicking optional
5:00 PM 7:30 PM JOCO CRUISE CRAZY CONCERT Mainstage Theater John Roderick / Peter Sagal / Stephen "Stepto" Toulouse
8:00 PM 9:30 PM Dinner Dining Room CHAWMP.
9:00 PM 11:00 PM Table Top Gaming Hudson Room To Heck with Rock Band edition
9:00 PM 11:00 PM Rock Band Culinary Arts Center
Day 6 (Jan 7) FRIP At Sea
Start Time End Time Event Location Details
9:00 AM 10:50 AM Quiz/Panel Show - "Hey Hey...I'm Clever" Mainstage Theater Hosted by Peter Sagal and featuring your JoCo Cruise Crazy entertainers
10:00 AM 4:00 PM Table Top Gaming Hudson Room/Half Moon Last chance for revenge edition
4:30 PM 7:30 PM JOCO CRUISE CRAZY CONCERT Mainstage Theater All request show! Be sure to fill out and submit your request form, detach it from this bulletin, and put it in the collection box we'll have set up at ech JoCo Cruise Crazy Concert
8:00 PM 9:30 PM Dinner Dining Room Oh sir...it's only wafer thin.

Contests and Prizes

An expensive and untested venture like a cruise had a very real possibility of losing money for the organizers, so a number of contests were announced to encourage fan interest and excitement.

First 250 Club

The first 250 passengers who signed up for the cruise were to be granted priority seating at the nightly concerts and admission to a cocktail reception with the performers on the opening night. These privileges were likely meant to encourage fans to sign up quickly and ensure the cruise had enough enrollment to be profitable.

In practice, there were few enough fans beyond the initial 250 that the priority seating was abandoned, and a secondary reception was scheduled for anyone without an invite to the Crow's Nest.

Monarch of the Seas

Another benefit to the 250 Club was being entered into a draw to become the Monarch of the Seas. This title entailed special seating at every concert, a royal regalia (the contents of which were undetermined prior to the cruise), and official declaration that the rest of the attendees had to treat the Monarch as royalty whenever they wore the official regalia.

The winner of this draw was Aileen, who later wrote a blog post about the experience.

Prior to the cruise, a poll on the official website was used to determine how the Monarch should address her "subjects". The winning term was Sea Monkeys, which has since the cruise become the default term to refer to anyone who went on JoCo Cruise Crazy.

Free Cruise Contest

A grand prize of a free cruise for two was awarded by a random draw. Entry required filling out a form on the official cruise website.

Video Contest

Crowd-Sourced Events

From the start JoCo Cruise Crazy was about trying to be as much fun as possible for everyone involved. To that end fan engagement in the organization process was high--Paul and Storm and later David Rees encouraged discussion in the forums and actively solicited ideas for events

Paul F. Tompkins Memorial Moustache Formal

Unlike many cruises, this sailing of the MS Eurodam did not include a "formal night". A few people on the forums were discontent with this state of affairs, and began making plans to hold their own unofficial formal. This event was added to the official schedule and dubbed the Paul F. Tompkins Moustache Formal, referencing Tompkins' signature moustache. Although Tompkins had to bow out of the cruise, his name stayed on the event. In keeping with jokes that Tompkins was now "dead to us", the night was renamed his "Memorial" Moustache Formal.

In order to not exclude those without a penchant for dressing up, formal wear was declared optional, but moustaches required. Adhesive moustaches were supplied on entry to any who did not bring their own.

JoKaraoke

The Fancy Pants Parade

iPhone Handbell Choir

JoCo Cruise Crazy DVD

External Links