Vampire Cruise

Fans of the undead in all their guises may be in for a treat! Holland America is offering a “Vampire Cruise” aboard the luxury liner “Zeuderdam” in June 2012, a round trip beginning in Vancouver British Columbia and lasting one week (June 23-30). You can learn more at their official website here: http://vampsatsea.com/

“Zuiderdam” is a Vista-class luxury liner designed for 1,916 passengers, with eleven decks, and several different dining options including the Pinnacle Grill (Pacific Northwestern cuisine, reservations required) and Lido Restaurant, a more relaxed eatery, the Terrace Grill (luncheon fare) and of the course the main Vista Dining Room. There are also pools, a casino and a live theater, as well as a cinema. For those who’ve never gone on such a cruise, these places are the equivalent of four star hotels but afloat. Meals are included, as is much of the entertainment. Jacuzzis dot the ship while spas await those so inclined. Some might fear the feel of being on the water, but one gains sea legs in less than two hours — while the gentle roll of the sea at night is almost as if you’re being rocked to sleep.

But for the Vampire Cruise, events are planned as a virtual convention a la the Bram Stoker Festival in Whitby for the VampireCon in Los Angeles. Dacre Stoker (co-author of “Dracula, the Un-Dead”) has been confirmed as a guest. Events include those expected at any such event–movie screenings, a vendor’s room, trivia contests, a Vampire Ball, a charity auction and a scavenger hunt! Vampire scholar John Edgar Browning (author of “Dracula in Visual Media”) is scheduled to host a vampire movie festival.

Similarly themed cruises have proven very popular in the past. One such, organized via a Los Angeles travel agency, was aimed at “Twilight” fans (another at fans of “Star Trek”) while there was a famous episode of “The L Word” that dealt with yet another themed-cruise.

Although the schedule is subject to change, as of now the itinerary is as follows:

Depart 5pm from Vancouver BC on June 23, 2012
Cruise the so-called “Inside Passage” June 24-25
Visit Juneau Alaska June 25
Visit Skagway Alaska June 26
Cruise Glacier Bay June 27
Visit Ketchikan, Alaska June 28
Cruise the Inside Passage June 29
Return to Vancouver June 30

Ironically enough, this would be the time of year when days are very long, and nights extremely short in Alaska. Perhaps the planners hoped to discourage the object of the cruise’s interest from attending to dine on…er, with…the attendees?