SOLD OUT! Alas, our Alaska cruise is now fully sold - there's not a berth anywhere on the ship, and so if you'd like a cabin it's wait-list only. If you'd like to be put on that list, please email our cruise manager Cindy here. As last year's cruisers know, Cindy is super-helpful. On the other hand, the best way to avoid last minute scrambling is to book next year's cruise now.
Following last year's sell-out maiden voyage, we decided to make the Mark Steyn Club Cruise an annual event. And so the second Steyn cruise will leave Vancouver on September 4th and sail aboard Holland America's beautiful ms Volendam through Alaska's Inside Passage to Juneau, Skagway, Glacier Bay and Ketchikan, before docking back at Vancouver on September 11th.
I'll be doing double-duty, hosting the cruise, and also hosting live editions of The Mark Steyn Show at sea - with among others former presidential candidate Michele Bachmann; Michele's near namesake and Canadian rock royalty Tal Bachman; the makers of the film Gosnell Ann McElhinney and Phelim McAleer; and two stars of our free-speech special Kathy Shaidle and Andrew Lawton. We'll address all the heavy geopolitical stuff but we'll also kick loose in the evening with dinner, convivial receptions and some late-night laughs and music. And we'll do a lot of the stuff we do here but this time at sea, including Alaskan-themed editions of Tales for Our Time, Steyn's Sunday Poem and Song of the Week.
There'll also be plenty of opportunity for relaxation and revelry and getting to know your fellow Club members and our special guests. And every day we'll enjoy world class service from Holland America, exquisite dining, all the benefits of a flagship cruise ship, and the spectacular beauty of the Alaskan coast and the Inside Passage.
We've reserved the best cabins throughout the ship - and in all of the various categories so that you can make accommodation arrangements that suit you best. We're excited to welcome you aboard for the second annual Steyn at Sea cruise - but tempus fugit, so don't leave it too long! (As with most travel bookings, the price is better the earlier you book.)
So picture yourself on Holland America's lovely ms Volendam, along with your fellow Steyn Club cruisers and me and my guests, enjoying seven full days and nights of shipboard fun as we ponder the collapse of western civilization. There'll be:
*Live editions of The Mark Steyn Show, including your participation in our Clubland Q&As;
*Plenty of chances to meet, schmooze and hector me and my guests;
*Exclusive Club parties and dining with yours truly, our guest speakers, and your fellow Steyn Club cruisers;
*Exclusive cocktail receptions and Crow's Nest concert parties;
*Accommodations and all meals included;
*Port charges, taxes, fuel surcharges, and government fees all included;
*Most shipboard activities included;
*A fully escorted cruise by Steyn Club staff and the best cruise organizers in the business;
*And a few surprises along the way...
If you're one of those people who have always wanted to come on a cruise but have yet to take the, er, plunge, well, there's never been a better time to stop procrastinating. You don't have to be married, or even going steady: Nearly thirty per cent of our cruisers are single, so, if you fancy your chances with a Steyn Club member as the moon hangs over the Tracy Arm and the sound of me singing "Cat Scratch Fever" wafts up from below deck, give it a go. You'll have the time of your life - from September 4th to 11th, aboard the ms Volendam, or, as we'll rechristen it for the week, HMCS Steyn*.
(*Here's Mark's Club Ship)
PS Our Club has members all over the map - the Czech Republic, Thailand, Vanuatu - so there isn't really any ideal cruise itinerary other than a round-the-world voyage (which we'll consider a year or three hence), and we appreciate that this one is more convenient for Steyn Clubbers in western North America. But I was very touched by the turnout from Poms, Paddies, Aussies, Kiwis, Hong Kongers and beyond on our maiden voyage. Kate Smyth, for example, found it well worth the trip from the Antipodes:
The best thing about the inaugural Mark Steyn Cruise (apart from the host himself) was the people who surround Mark: his brilliant guests, his loyal and attentive staff, and his discerning fans! I have never encountered so many friendly, interesting and sincere (and fun!) people together at a gathering. The daily Steyn-at-Sea 'sessions' were outstanding, needless to say, not to mention the opportunities to chat with so many kindred spirits (to use Anne Shirley's phrase). Richard correctly observed that the location for future trips (wonderful as it was this time around— Quebec City being my favourite) is a secondary consideration.
Not sure Alaska's spectacular glaciers will easily take second place to The Mark Steyn Show, but we'll do our best to keep it competitive. And thanks for making the trip all the way from Australia for that first tentative voyage. By the way, for those jetting in to our port of embarkation from far afield, Cindy, our cruise manager, can help with flight and hotel bookings: If you'd rather speak in person and you're dialing from almost anywhere but Oz (ie, the United Kingdom, Europe, Asia, Africa, South America), it's 001 (770) 952-1959; if you're calling from North America, it's 1-800-707-1634. Or you can email your query here.
TO RESERVE YOUR CABIN OR STATEROOM, CLICK HERE. For queries about the cruise, please call Cindy and her Cruise Authority colleagues on 1-800-707-1634 (or +1 (770) 952-1959) or email us here.
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28 Member Comments
I am certain the local Orca pods and whales are talking up your cruise.practicing their best whistles and fishing techniques to show off what the locals can do. Southeastern and the Inside Passage is just the gateway to the Great Land. Beware... anyone who comes to Alaska can never fully leave.
"It's the great, big, broad land 'way up yonder,
It's the forests where silence has lease;
It's the beauty that thrills me with wonder,
It's the stillness that fills me with peace."
Hasn't changed since Robert Service ... and it never will.... Enjoy!
Is there a rout to alaska some where ? I am very familier withthe area.
Come on Mark. Why not organise a little trip down the Zambezi or the Orange river. You are much beloved by folks in this neck of the woods who cannot afford the type of shindig you propose, and live in the antipodes. Such an excursion would be far more romantic, and probably cheaper than your north American ventures. From Cape Town we can also arrange wild and strange trips to the frozen south.
Mark replies:
Point taken, Mark - and we will do an African cruise one year, although for some reason our more fainthearted North American members were resistant to the idea of the Somali Riviera.
Mark,
My wife and I are going to be "0 for 2" as it were. As a Founding Member, we would love to join you on these but, we had a conflict with the dates of the first cruise and this year, our daughter is getting married and thus this conflicts with your second cruise.
We certainly hope that there will be a 3rd cruise and, if possible, perhaps you wouldn't mind checking with us as to an "acceptable time frame".
We would love to join in the fun and are very pleased to be members.
Thanks,
Ed Braun
Mark replies:
Thanks, Ed. We're planning the third cruise even as we speak, but already I have a grim feeling that you'll be marrying off some second cousin thrice removed, or shampooing the cat - or, as the late Peter Cook said after being invited by David Frost to dinner with the Duchess of York, "Oh, dear, David. I've just consulted my diary, and I see I'm watching television that night."
Looking forward to hearing you live... at last...
This second cruise again, and most regrettably, clashes with our already arranged holiday in Europe. Nevertheless Marianne and I hope to be able to join the third cruise in 2020. Any early hints as to timing and ports of call next year will be much appreciated, as we usually have to arrange our long-distance travel (from way down under) well in advance. Bon voyage.
I will be bringing my copy of Climate Change the Facts on the cruise so that I can more carefully observe collapsing glaciers and drowning polar bears.
Thanks for the idea. I'll bring my copy, too. I've about decided to take the plunge! and sign up. What am I saying?? The news is so bleak these days; I need some laughter and fun.
I will pass on the shlepping...but will be delighted to share my knowledge of Alaska that I can recall from a similar voyage with family some 20 years ago.... and I love to photograph wildlife... they kind of flock to me....
see you both then
and happy Easter/Passover from the holy land
My wife and I would dearly want to join you on the upcoming cruise; yet this year it won't fit our budget and work schedules. I lived in Fairbanks from the summer of '89 through the summer of '92 (then a year at the end of the Aleutians). The Cremation of Sam McGee, by Robert Service is evoked by this FB post of last year (https://m.facebook.com/story.php?story_fbid=10154267187815880&id=522680879) and might be appropriate for Mark to retell as a Tale for Our Time.
Mark, I am proud to tell you that some years ago I sent Phelim McAleer and Ann a few bob to support their effort to expose Kermit Gosnell. Yesterday, the Eve of Saint Patrick's Day. I received a gift from Phelim, a DVD of the Gosnell movie and a gift of his courageous documentary "Fracknation.."
I am so glad that you are on his side. I saw Phelim, years ago take on Al Gore and his lies about Polar Bears.
Phelim was thrown out of the hearing. He's a ballsy guy. Bless him. And even though it's Saint Patrick's Day, and I'm still sober let me comment on "When Irish Eyes Are Smiling."
Back in the 40's, after the war, my Dad owned an RCA, His Master's Voice Gramaphone. You had to wind it up to play. You also had to insert a needle and place in carefully on the record. Damnation! if you scratched that record.
Anyway all of his records were of John MacCormack and Fr. Sidney McKeon. He did have one of Caruso but it was in Italian and my Mom didn't like it
But, my point is Mark,, and I'm glad you brought it up , when McCormick and McKeon sang that song they started with "There's a tear in your eye." Crosby starts with the chorus.
Slainte.
Thank you for the entertaining evening at Rochester. I was one of many grey haired men in attendance. At least for the few 20 year olds who were present, your writings and talks seem to be having an emboldening impact - the one young law student who was determined to have you pay for her tuition was AOC- like.
Had I thought of it at the time, my question to you would be your thoughts on Pope Francis' visit and celebration of mass in Abu Dhabi - genuine sign of tolerance or mere posturing?
"Seven full days and nights of shipboard fun as we ponder the collapse of western civilization."
Now that's my kind of vacation!
Can we rearrange the deck chairs?
Sure.
Meet you on the Lido Deck at Happy Hour.
#AHOY
All aboard! Already booked, and except for "wishing my life away", we can't wait! Sorry we missed the last one, as we were sailing in the BVIs, but since I can't get enough of your wit and wisdom, I intend to make this an annual event. Thanks, Mark, and love the guests as well.
Looking forward to seeing you all again--and meeting new cruisers!
If you haven't done the Alaska cruise before, you're in for a treat. My husband I made this cruise, on the same ship, almost 20 years ago. Gorgeous scenery, along with fun excursions at ports of call, and this time around, all the added fun of a Mark Steyn cruise.
Kathy, somewhere in the morass steynonline.com postings I read that you were married to Blazing Cat Fur. Can this be so? Are you truly Five Feet of Furious Blazing Cat Fur? Or Five Feet of Furry? Or Five Feet of Furrious Blazing Cat Fur? Oh, the humanity! Put me out of my meowsery!
yes it is true! :-) I think it would have to be Five Feet of Furry if I hadn't kept my maiden name.
I'm tempted to cry, "Oh the felinity!", but I won't.
I am delighted to meet you onboard after many years of following links...
and as it happens I was also on this cruise almost 20 years ago...
had trouble getting my mom and aunt away from the slots...except for the excursions...
lehitraot
Sorry I won't be able to make the cruise since traveling to Alaska and meeting Mark Steyn are both on my bucket list. By the way, if you haven't had the chance to read it yet, Bill Asher has a short piece over at American Greatness wherein he refers to Jonah Goldberg as "National Review's encephalitic version of Mark Steyn" whatever that means. I'm not quite sure if it is an insult to Jonah, you, both or neither, but it sounds interesting.
Darn! I live in eastern Washington and this would be a perfect venue for me, except that I committed to teach a course for Washington State University starting in August. So maybe I will sign up for the cruise in two years from now. The only consolation is that it is a course on environmental policy, so I will be teaching my students about the baloney that is "global warming". Eastern Washington has just had the coldest, snowiest February in the past 100 years, with two feet of snow and 1600 cows frozen to death. If this is global warming, how do tell the difference from a new Ice Age?
We're in Eastern Washington too and getting darn tired of this snow. We have signed on for the cruise and looking forward to an interesting time. Too bad you can't make it - would have loved to pick your brain about this notion of global warming.
Well, Raymond, if you're teaching a course "about the baloney that is 'global warming,'" at Washington State, you may actually be free by end of August to make the cruise. I don't know whether to say "hope not," or "hope so."
By the way, Paul, my earlier reply on the other thread - when I spoke on behalf of Mark's extensive Antipodean fan base - was before reading the *personal* mention here. Absolutely thrilled to see the comment about the cruise republished!
As for the Club in general, you summed it up perfectly: "I love that Mark Steyn has provided a format for people everywhere who love what is good and right and decent to "meet" here."
No kidding, you hadn't even seen the most recent reference? Well, Mark is clearly touched by the commitment of the Down Under folks and the rest of us are awed by it. His tribute to you is well-deserved, Kate.
Thank you for your kind comment.
No- I assumed you were referring to the mention last year of the Australian contingent on the cruise!