The Comic-Con Cruise Sounds Like A Bad Idea

Cruise Ship photo

Every year, after a big convention like Comic-Con, attendees lament over the dreaded “con flu”, an illness that one gets after attending a tightly packed convention hall and rubbing shoulders with potentially sick people for three days in a row. It’s one of the worst parts of conventions, but it could always be worse. Take, for example, Comic-Con: The Cruise, a four-day cruise that’s exactly what it sounds like.

Earlier this year, Comic-Con announced its first ever cruise event, and while it’s mostly flown under the radar, it’s gained some attention in the last couple days on social media. It is, ostensibly, a four-day cruise from Tampa, Florida to Cozumel, Mexico and back, with a host of Comic-Con features and amenities, due to take place in February 2025.

Much like any other Comic-Con, there will be vendors, Q&A sessions, panels, competitive tabletop and video gaming, and more, as well as karaoke, trivia, theme nights, cosplay events, and a bunch of special guests. Among the attendees will be Warwick Davis, George Takei, Felicia Day, and quite a few more, with even more said to be announced in the future. It does, at least, sound like a pretty packed event.

The problem, of course, is that it’s a cruise, and cruises are definitely not for everybody. They have a bit of a reputation for fostering illnesses, especially gastrointestinal illnesses like norovirus, although the CDC says that acute gastrointestinal illness is “relatively infrequent” on cruise ships. It’s worth noting the CDC also says that close living quarters like those on a cruise ship “may increase the amount of group contact,” so the risk is probably just a little bit higher than that of a regular convention.

And just think about all the family and friends you know who’ve been on cruises. Pretty much all of them will tell you stories of illness on the ship. And combine that with con flu – and the fact that attendees won’t be required to be vaccinated for covid – and it seems like a pretty bad idea to me.

Still, if you somehow think that you want to be locked up on a ship with a few thousand other comic book, video game, and pop culture fans for the better part of a week, tickets are still very much available. Cabins range from $990 for an interior cabin with no windows, all the way up to the Royal Suite at $5,620, though that seems to be on a waitlist at the moment, so you might just have to go for the $4,550 Owner’s Suite instead.

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