In what promises to be a good thing for MacMania attendees, Geek Cruises’ Perl Whirl II cruise conference, now underway, features the first ship-wide wireless Internet access for attendees.
This network will allow attendees to download conference files, communicate with speakers and other attendees, keep informed of any change in conference venues and participate in activities using state-of-the-art groupware. Plus, the wireless Internet link allows attendees to surf the Web, send and receive e-mail and transfer files to their own laptops using the ship’s satellite connection.
MacMania is the upcoming seven-day Alaskan cruise that combines pleasure with 20 hours of conference courses. There’ll be conference tracks for both developers and end users. The trip is being arranged by Geek Cruises, a company that schedules “cruise conferences” that combine work and play.
“For the first time, conference attendees with laptop computers are able to remain connected to each other and conference speakers from many places on the ship, including all conference rooms and most public areas,” Geek Cruises captain and CEO Neil Bauman told MacCentral. “But I’m so dedicated to making a wireless network with Internet access work for MacMania.”
The MacMania cruise — which is co-sponsored by Mac Publishing — will depart May 27 from Vancouver for Alaska’s Inside Passage. Room for MacMania is limited to approximately 400. Cruising prices are: inside cabins: US$1,050-$1,100 (depending on category) and outside cabins: $1,350-$1,550 (ditto). Prices will go up on Dec. 31. The conference price is $600 for the End Users Track and $1,250 for the OS X Developers Track. Port taxes would be additional and are $184 per person.
MacManiacs will sail on Holland America’s Volendam, one of the newest members of Holland America’s “next generation” of cruise ships. The Volendam combines classic and state-of-the-art features including an alternative restaurant, mini-suites with verandahs, an Internet cafe and Club Hal, a camp and children’s play center. For more info go to the Geek Cruises Web site.
“If you own a Macintosh you’ll want to join us on the cruise,” Bauman said. “Not only have we assembled an incredible cast of speakers but the program really covers the gamut: from a two-day iMovie workshop to ‘A Unix Guide to OS X’.”