This post is about my experience on board Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas, celebrating the inaugural Comic-Con: The Cruise. I’ll cover what I liked and didn’t like, the events and activities, the attendee demographics, and how it compares to a more traditional comic convention that takes place at a convention center. This is going to be long, but I’ve organized this into sections so you can skip around to what interests you.

Cruise Ship vs Convention Center

Serenade of the Seas is a smaller cruise ship with a capacity of less than 2,500 passengers. On a small ship it’s very easy to get to any panel or event that you want to attend. Since everything from dining to rooms to panel room is all included in the booking, it’s relatively stress free. Having everything self-contained on the ship is much more convenient than a convention center where you generally have to book a hotel that requires walking or other transportation to get there, and you don’t have to scan in and out. The entire ship was chartered for this cruise, meaning that everyone on board was there for Comic-Con: The Cruise.

Lines

I didn’t experience any lines except for two cases. First, when the artist alley and merch store opened for the first time it had a long line almost all day. The artist’s alley and merch store were set up in the same small room which meant that maybe only a dozen people could be in there at once. I’m not completely sure why it was so crowded that first day because the rest of the time it never had a line; you could just walk right in. I’m under the impression that a lot of people were concerned about missing out on limited edition / limited quantity items. The other place that had lines, of course, was the photo and autograph area.

Photos and Autographs

Photos and autographs were all done during a specific time period. You could pre-purchase a photo or autograph ticket before the cruise, which was cheaper, or you could buy it on the cruise ship, which was a little more expensive. From my understanding in speaking to the Epic Photo Ops people, the ops wouldn’t really “sell out,” so as long as that area was open you could make a purchase.  

The lines were very manageable and did not require waiting very long. In fact, since the lines were so short, attendees would have much more time to talk to celebrity guests than at most other conventions. I only did one autograph, which was with George Takei, and I ended up getting his graphic novel signed. It was really wonderful being able to have a conversation with him and his husband. 

Celeb Interactions 

Compared to a traditional comic con, there are many more opportunities on board to see and interact with the celebrity guests and artists, and not just in the autograph and photograph formal settings. I was walking into the buffet on my first day and suddenly Warwick Davis zoomed past me. Later, I saw Felicia Day just walking right past me. At one point, I was eating lunch, and Yaya Han was sitting next to me. When I was attending a panel, Sam Jones sat near me. That was probably the coolest aspect of the cruise.

Panels and Activities

Every morning, we would get a schedule of all of the Comic-Con related events. Nothing started earlier than 9:00 in the morning and most nights events ran until maybe around 2:00 in the morning. Those later events were mostly parties. There were also regular cruise activities which could be found in the app, like casino events, games at the shops, and activities at the gym. There were overlapping events so sometimes I would have to choose between two options, but for the most part it wasn’t a super packed schedule. There was a lot of breathing room and since I wasn’t interested in attending every panel, I had a lot of free time in between. For example, I don’t know anything about Love Boat; I think that’s a little before my time, so I skipped that panel. During those times, I had more free time, and I was able to explore the ship, read in the library, hang out in the pool area, or have a game of mini golf.

Main Shows

The larger events and panels mostly took place at three different locations: the pool deck, the Centrum stage, and the Tropical Theater. The main shows of the evening also took place at the tropical theater. Because the tropical theater can’t hold everyone on the ship at the same time, those main shows are split into two different viewings. Depending on whether you have a blue sea pass or a red sea pass, you would attend either the earlier show or the later show. Since I had a red sea pass, I attended the second viewing of the main show every evening. 

The main shows are shows that include the celebrity guests and generally feature audience interaction. For example, there was Hollywood Squares, which included nine different celebrity guests, and they pulled two audience members on stage to participate in the game. They also had Family Feud, which again pulled audience members on stage, and they were able to interact and be on teams with the celebrity guests, which in this case were George Takei and Warwick Davis. There was also a musical performance by The Action Figures, and a variety show on the last day.

It wasn’t necessary to be familiar with the celebrity guests in order to enjoy the game shows, and even though I didn’t know everyone’s name at the beginning, I had learned them by the end! I looked forward to these shows each evening and they were an opportunity to learn more about the talent on board.

Artists’ Alley and Merch Store

Just like a regular convention, Comic-Con: The Cruise had an artist alley, a merch store, and an exhibitor room. The artist alley and merch store were combined into a single room. On one side of the room, you had the artist tables, and there were only eight artists who attended. 

On the other side of the room was a second table where merchandise was laid out. They had pins, patches, magnets, and along the wall there were shirts hung up along with other apparel like hats. If you wanted to get something autographed, you could pick up a book written by Felicia Day or George Takei from the merch store and take it to be signed. That was really handy. 

Exhibitor Room

Similarly, the exhibitor room had only seven different vendors (which is probably why it’s called an exhibitor room and not an exhibitor hall). Some of those vendors included Insight Editions, Bat City Comics, Composed Dream Games, and Limited Run Games. You could find comic books, RPG starter sets and core books, video games, stickers, and other miscellaneous books and fandom items.

Artist Hosted Events

In addition to the activities and shows that are included in the cruise package, there are also optional artist-hosted events which required an additional fee to attend. For example, you could make your own chain mail with Cowbutt Crunchies, do a mixology class with Ted Lange, or do a paint-like Bob Ross class. I didn’t personally participate in any of those, but they seemed really popular because the daily schedule always indicated that they were sold out. If you are interested in artist-hosted events for future Comic-Con: The Cruises, make sure to purchase those sooner rather than later because they do sell out.

Excursions / Cozumel

Once we got to Cozumel, Mexico, we had the opportunity to get off the boat at the port and explore the local area. The excursions offered were standard for a cruise, rather than being “Comic Con” related, which makes sense because the excursions are run by local tour guide companies rather than Entertainment Cruise Productions. I expect this will be the case for future cruises as well. 

We could either just wander around the island ourselves or pay to go on a tour, go on some kind of activity, and have someone drive us around. I ended up doing a tour of a cacao company and a tour of some Mayan ruins, which I thought was pretty cool. Other people did excursions such as beach visits, snorkeling, or swimming with manatees. Otherwise, it was possible to stay on the ship and there were a few activities available to participate in while everyone else was off the ship.

Attendee Demographics

Comic-Con: The Cruise is a 21+ cruise and, while teens 13 and up can attend with an adult, the attendees were mostly middle-aged and older adults. There weren’t any families or kids running around which significantly affected the vibe and the panel topics.

I’m in my thirties and I felt like this cruise was geared more towards people older than me, especially based on the theming of the ship, the panels, and the talent. The ship had an entire lounge converted to a Flash Gordon theme, a restaurant converted to Snoopy’s Beagle Bistro, and a bar area reskinned as Popeye’s Anchor Bar.

There were also panels and activities related to these properties and older shows like Love Boat. I either wasn’t very familiar with these properties or wasn’t interested in them. I was more invested in the cosplay guests, such as Yaya Han and Cowbutt Crunchies, and their cosplay panels.

Price / Overall Cost

Another factor that probably influenced the demographics of this cruise is the pricing. I ended up with an ocean view stateroom, which was what was offered in the sweepstakes that I won. That would have run me about $2,000 for me and my husband. I paid for my own travel, a hotel night the before, an excursion, and miscellaneous expenses. Because I live in California, the round-trip flight was the biggest part of my budget and, with layovers, the traveling took a lot out of my vacation time. If I’d had to pay for the cruise out of pocket, it would have cost easily over $5,000, which is wild. I don’t think I’ve ever paid that much to attend any convention anywhere, not even New York Comic Con or San Diego Comic-Con, and those hotels are expensive.

However, there are ways to reduce the price: there are cheaper cabin options, purchasing early will get you a discount, there is a referral program offering $200 onboard credit per cabin for every reservation made using a referral code, and those who attended Comic-Con: The Cruise Vol. 1 received additional discounts for rebooking. Especially for folks who are local and don’t have to factor in travel costs, this cruise could be more affordable with some planning and recruitment.

Would I Go Again?

I would not go again. While it was fun, I don’t think I’m the target audience for this cruise. I am much more interested in cons that showcase current and upcoming TV shows, comics and books, and cons that offer exclusives and unique experience like SDCC off sites. I wasn’t especially interested in the cruise aspects, and the cost of travel is too high for me. I also was disappointed at the number of artists and vendors; I’ve been to tiny local conventions that had more than this cruise.

However, I could see this being more worthwhile if you’re local because you don’t have to pay for flights and hotels, so that would make it significantly cheaper. I could see this if you regularly go on cruises and want something different from a normal cruise. This seems like a cool opportunity to do something different while still enjoying your regular cruise amenities. If you like the idea of conventions but don’t like all of the chaos and stress of big conventions, this is definitely a more chill environment where you can relax. If you do happen to be the target audience for the celeb guests, this cruise could also be a fantastic opportunity for you to have interactions with them that isn’t possible at other conventions.