MacMania II participants will see all the major attractions at Pearl Harbor during the upcoming “working vacation.” Dubbed “An Hawaiian Escape,” the cruise will be held June 1-8, 2003. It’s handled by Geek Cruises, a company that plans high-tech conference-cruises,
MacMania combines pleasure with 20 hours of conference courses. Ports of call will include Honolulu, Oahu, Hilo (“The Big Island”), Fanning Island, Maui and Kauai. Participants will get to see such sites as Pearl Harbor, USS Arizona Memorial, USS Missouri Tour, Diamond Head, Waikiki, Hanauma Bay, Hawaii Maritime Center, Iolani Palace, Waimea Falls Park and many others.
Participants will have a chance to snorkel, scuba dive, beach comb, bike (down the slopes of Haleakala, for instance), explore the islands, and sail, kayak, and go four-wheeling. There will be a beach barbecue, beach volleyball, and folklore shows of singing and dancing. You can tour a Macadamia nut plantation, participate in a festive Polynesian luau, take a helicopter ride for a breathtaking view of the West Maui Mountains and Molokai. And there’s more — but you get the idea.
On Saturday, May 31, tour participants will spend five hours at Pearl Harbor, hitting all four major attractions: the USS Missouri, the Bowfin submarine wreckage, the Pearl Harbor Memorial, and the Museum. After this they’ll stop in at the Hawaii Village Plantation.
Several speakers have confirmed their intent to participate, including Glenn Fleishman, Jesse Feiler, Andy Gore, Rick LePage, Bob LeVitus, Ben Long, Tom Negrino, David Pogue, Randal Schwartz, Rich Siegel, Sal Sohogian, and Jason Snell. Seminar sessions will cover such topics as GoLive, Photoshop, Microsoft Office, Dreamweaver, Webloggin, iMovie, iPhoto, Mac OS X, DVD authoring, useful shareware-freeware and more.
Additionally, Drs. David Greenwald and Wendy Forman will be running several personal development seminars (six in all) during the three days at sea. These talks are designed for the spouses and guests of the attendees and are offered at no extra charge. One of the seminars will be “Weathering the Storms,” which will focus on stress reduction practices, strategies and techniques.
The MacMania II conference fee is $895, though previous Cruisers get a $50 per person discount. It’s subject to the following cancellation fees: $100 prior to March 1, 2003; $375 if canceling between March 1, 2003 and March 30, 2003; $750 if canceling after April 1, 2003.
Cabin prices range from $1,049 (inside cabins) to $3,249 for double occupancy. Port charges/taxes are $175 per person plus a 2.4 percent Hawaii tax on the Cruise Rate plus a $71 Gratuity fee. MacMania II will take place on a new ship, the NCL Star (just out of dry dock as of December).
More registration information and a registration form can be found at the MacMania II Web site. More info on the trip itself can be found at the Geek Cruises Web site. MacMania is co-produced by Macworld.
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