Cruises With The Most Bizarre Themes You'll Ever See
Cruise culture has become a significant part of the travel world, so much so that any and every theme you can think of has been applied to a cruise. If it's your first time going on a cruise, finding one that matches your vibes can help ease you into the world of cruises. Considering that you'll be at sea for a week or even months at a time (depending on the itinerary), it's a good idea to pick out a theme that sounds appealing. To some travelers, a Disney cruise is already too much of a gimmick, but those cartoony trips are nothing compared to some of these fabulous themed cruises.
Several of these cruises are trips you can still take, though others were one-offs or traditions that no longer sail the high seas. Even so, we wanted to bring them all together to really showcase how far-reaching cruise themes can be. From zombified sailings to Trekkies at sea and workouts to crafty cruising, our list shows that there is not just one type of cruiser.
The Walker Stalker Cruise
If we're honest, the last place anyone would want to be during a zombie outbreak would be a cruise — unless the cruise managed to avoid exposure. Yet fans of shows/comics like "The Walking Dead" gathered on this cruise year after year until its final voyage in 2019. According to Skybound, the Walker Stalker cruises had three sailings before its final run, and there were upwards of 2,500 "The Walking Dead" followers aboard to celebrate their fandom and all things zombie apocalypse.
The final Walker Stalker expedition was a four-day cruise from Tampa to the Bahamas with many celebrity guest appearances from "Walking Dead" cast members, per Cruise Radio. The outlet notes that folks like Norman Reedus, Jeffrey Dean Morgan, and even Laurie Holden would be aboard. With so many celebs aboard, passengers had ample time for photos and autographs between special events, nightly activities, and music. And while the theme for this cruise may be gruesome, it was still family-friendly to a degree with kid-friendly activities, if such a thing was possible. Yes, you read that correctly; child-friendly zombie apocalypse activities.
The Meow Meow Cruise
Cat lovers rejoice! There is a themed cruise aimed specifically at kitty-cat aficionados. Sadly, your cats are not allowed on board, but you can spend the entire week talking nonstop about their furry hijinx. All feline-friend guests receive a Meow Meow Cruise Kit when they board and get to participate in activities like trivia, group dining, and the Meow Meow Mixer, per the cruise's website.
Founded in 2015 by Anna Conway, the cruise was thought up for folks who love to talk about their furry buddies. The founder told Travel Pulse, "This is a cruise for people who love cats. I find every time I go on a cruise I run into some people who loves cats as much as I do and we end up sharing photos and talking about their personalities. So, I created this group cruise to bring us together."
Each year brings a different itinerary and destination. The 2024 cruise (with Virgin Voyages) leaves Miami and sails for four nights to the Caribbean, while the 2025 cruise will be a journey to Alaska with Carnival.
Cruise and Crop
Often, scrapbookers will spend countless hours recounting their vacation after they get home. On a Cruise and Crop voyage, you can scrapbook while on the ship, ensuring that no detail gets left unglued. Cruise and Crop has been hitting the high seas since 2006, helping cruisers who also love scrapbooking to enjoy both simultaneously. But the company doesn't just host scrapbooking cruises; they host a wide range of crafty cruises for things like card making, knitting, photography, and even quilting.
They also work in conjunction with other crafting cruises to bring crafty folks together. One of the 2024 sailings is from June 2 to 9 with Royal Caribbean, departing from Port Canaveral, Florida, to the Caribbean. Scrapbooking blogger Paige Taylor Evans notes that every participant gets a 6-foot table to work with during the cruise and access to the cropping room all day, every day.
The June sailing also includes four scrapbooking classes taught by Evans. These classes include two mini-albums and four layouts, and cruise participants also receive a goodie bag. Who doesn't love a goodie bag?
Rock 'N' Wrestling Rager at Sea
Rock music? Check. Professional wrestling? Check. On the Rock 'N' Wrestling Rager at Sea, guests can enjoy the wildest matches on the open ocean. Who needs pirates when you have legends like Chris Jericho, Big Show, and others? This annual event, which first set sail in 2018, brings together rockstars and wrestlers for the ultimate fan cruise celebration. According to Cruise Critic, Jericho has said that his inspiration for the themed adventure came about after he played with his band Fozzy aboard the KISS Kruise.
The outlet notes that these cruises often set up a wrestling ring on the pool deck so everyone has excellent views. In addition to the wrestling, there are performances by Jericho's band (Fozzy) as well as other rock, blues, and metal musicians. Musical guests on the January 2024 cruise included The Georgia Thunderbolts, Femme Halen, and Amongst the Giants, to name a few.
On top of those shows, the cruise also hosts comedians and podcasters for guests to enjoy. Each night also has a themed celebration like Decades Prom or Favorite Wrestler/Rockstar. It almost goes without saying, but if you are a wrestling fan, this is the cruise for you.
Star Trek: The Cruise
Spruce up on your Klingon, folks, as the annual Star Trek: The Cruise brings the galactic adventure to the high seas. If you're ready to trade journeys through the stars to sea stars, this cruise might be for you. Like the aforementioned "Walking Dead" cruise, a ton of fan-favorite celebs come aboard this cruise adventure. In 2024, these guests include Levar Burton, Walter Koenig, Gabrielle Ruiz, and Michelle Hurd, to name a few.
This unconventional voyage with Royal Caribbean is a week-long adventure into ports like Aruba and Curaçao. This cruise is so immersive that even the special guests are referred to as the cruise's crew, as they would be in the show. Many guests bring their "Star Trek" cosplays aboard to really get into the fun, though that's not required.
Every night, there is a different themed party, and each day is nonstop fun with shows, panels with scientists, trivia, karaoke, and actor Q&As, per the cruise website. Over the Hillier mentioned that on the "Star Trek" cruise he attended in 2022, there was even a show costume museum for guests to enjoy.
Craft Cruises
Crafting aboard a watercraft — if that's not meta, we don't know what is. Knitting cruises are a particular specialty for the Craft Cruises folks. We can't imagine a more calming place than the ocean to knit a lovely afghan for those cold cruising evenings. In addition to knitting cruises, the company also offers themes like needlepoint, beading, mixed media, and even kids crafting cruises.
These cruises first set sail in 1998 when founder Melissa Gower decided to marry a love of knitting and travel. There are several sailings throughout the year, with some crafting cruise types taking place annually, bi-annually, or every few years. Besides having plenty of time to craft along with other crafty cruisers, you'll also be able to learn about local culture at sailing ports and even shop for local products like luscious yarn from New Zealand.
Craft Cruises heads all over the world throughout the year. Some of the featured sailings this year include 16 days in New Zealand and Australia, two weeks in the Baltics, 28 days in Alaska and the Arctic Circle, and two weeks across Iberia.
The '90s Cruise
Fellow Millennials, don't get mad at us for this, but the '90s were weird. And theming a cruise after them? Well, that's weird, too. Royal Caribbean is capitalizing on our nostalgia for wonky geometric patterns and pastels with their five-day cruise from January 31 to February 5, 2025. This awesome excursion will start in Tampa and head to Cozumel and Costa Maya for a fly adventure back in time. The '90s Cruise will have nightly-themed parties, celebrity encounters, and activities centered around the '90s.
On The '90s Cruise, you can expect ship pub crawls, '90s-style karaoke, lots of trivia, movies, and even Macarena dance competitions. And don't have a cow, but there will be some killer musical performances. Some of the performers aboard include Blues Traveler, Gin Blossoms, and Collective Soul, to name a few. So stock up on those "Fight Club" and "The Sandlot" references, because you're gonna need 'em!
WOD On the Waves
Crossfitters who do Crossfit while talking about Crossfit were the perfect demographic for the WOD (Workout of the Day) On the Waves cruise. Why? Because it was all about Crossfit. Hosted by the Royal Caribbean in January 2019, it was advertised as the "ultimate fitness cruise" by the company.
The five-day cruise with Royal Caribbean traveled from Miami to the Bahamas. While aboard, guests had access to fitness classes, nutrition, and training workshops on top of everything else the standard cruise had to offer. Cruise Critic says that several areas of the Royal Caribbean's Mariner of the Seas were transformed for the WOD participants. Places like the sun deck, helipad, and mini-golf course were turned into gyms, making more space for the guests to do their workouts.
Further, Cruise Critic notes that the second WOD on the Waves was supposed to set sail in April 2020, but the pandemic derailed those plans. The cruise has not happened since that first sailing in 2019. Will it ever return? Crossfitters, watch this space.
Flower Power Cruise
As the name implies, the Flower Power Cruise is all about music from the '60s. With artists like John Kay of Steppenwolf at the helm (not literally), this is bound to be a groovy time. This annual cruise is in its seventh year of bringing cruisers together under the flower-clad umbrella of '60s bops and melodies. In addition to music, guests can enjoy theme nights, panels and Q&As, wine tastings, and even a celebrity-hosted Make Love, Not War Vow Renewal if partners are up for it.
According to Ann Peck at Business Insider, who attended the 2023 Flower Power Cruise, the extravaganza was sold out for the week-long excursion. Peck noted that there were almost 2,000 people aboard the cruise, with the majority of cruisers aged between 65 and 75. She also said many cruisers really embraced the theme and dressed for it, whether it was a themed night or the middle of the day.
The 2024 voyage will set sail from Miami, head to San Juan, Puerto Rico, and then stop at St. Croix (United States Virgin Islands) before returning to Miami. If you love all things '60s, this is the cruise for you.
NASCAR The Cruise
Don't worry; unlike actual NASCAR, NASCAR: The Cruise doesn't just go in a left-handed circle. For race fans, this race-centered cruise checked all the boxes on the checkered flag. This one-time cruise took off on January 29, 2017, for five nights in the Caribbean, according to License Global. Per the outlet, the cruise began in Key West and visited Nassau and Great Stirrup Cay before returning, and the cruise was hosted by Norwegian aboard its Norwegian Pearl ship.
NASCAR celebrities partook in this cruise, too. Among them were Dale Earnhardt Jr., Richard Petty, Bobby Allison, and Rusty Wallace, according to USA Today, and the cruise host was none other than NASCAR TV analyst Kyle Petty. This racing cruise wasn't without entertainment, as the lineup featured The Beach Boys, 38 Special, and many more. Folks were bound to have the best time. Joining the musicians was "Last Comic Standing" winner John Heffron. That's one heck of a lineup, NASCAR fan or not.
Let's Get Ship Faced!
A more family-friendly way to describe making use of the all-you-can-drink bars on cruises, Let's Get Ship Faced! is hosted by the stars of "Impractical Jokers." Cruisers set sail with James Murray, Brian Quinn, and Sal Vulcano, as well as actor and comedian Eric Andre, for a week that is almost guaranteed to be debaucherous.
Each year, this cruise sets sail with the pranksters on board, ready to carve out a whole new genre of cruise. Some of the activities include lip sync battles, beer pong, and even a bellyflopping contest, according to the Brooklyn Vegan. The 2024 sailing from January 22-26 carried cruisers from Miami to Nassau aboard the magnificent Norwegian Pearl. Each guest also received two show tickets to use while aboard. One ticket was for "Impractical Jokers Live," and the other for "The Eric Andre Show." Both groups perform three identical shows during the sailing to provide ample time to see both, in between all the fun, games, and frolics.
Hallmark Christmas Cruise
If you spend every December wrapped in a flannel blanket, hot cocoa in hand, watching endless Hallmark Christmas movies on a loop, this is the cruise for you. Aboard the Hallmark Christmas Cruise, you can do all the favorite pre-holiday activities and even see a premiere of the newest Hallmark Christmas movie! From November 5 to 9, 2024, Hallmark will set sail aboard the Norwegian Gem for their Christmas Cruise celebration in the Bahamas. A second sailing was also added from November 17 to 21, though both are completely sold out.
According to People, the announcement of the cruise was so popular that the first sailing sold out on the first day of the presale, which is why Hallmark added a second. The outlet also noted that there will be beloved Hallmark movie stars onboard for guests to see in various panels, meet-and-greets, and even photo opportunities. Hallmark notes that the movie stars may differ from the first and second sailing and has not yet confirmed who those people might be yet. No matter which stars show up, this cruise has "fall in love with a complete stranger" written all over it.
Emo's Not Dead Cruise
Fellow millennial emo music lovers, start growing that fringe back out because it is time to rock. On the Emo's Not Dead Cruise, the clock turns back to the early '00s, when angst was king, and the choruses were soaring sky-high. The inaugural sailing was in 2022, but the cruise is back for another sailing. Aboard the Norwegian Pearl, Emo's Not Dead sets sail for five days to a private Bahamian island, according to Consequence Heavy.
"We'll be moshing all day, screaming all night while we brush shoulders with emo legends on the sea of tears!" cruise founder Matt Cutshall (Your Broken Hero) said in a release via the outlet. "Trust us when we say, you'll be down bad if you miss this one!" Some 2024 headliners include Yellowcard, Mayday Parade, and Story of the Year, but the lineup is stellar from top to bottom. Armor for Sleep is playing, and we still say "What To Do When You Are Dead" is one of the genre's greatest moments.
Some of the cruise activities include a belly flopping contest (what's the deal with these cropping up on these cruises?), a dodgeball tournament, and the Ultimate Drinking Triathlon. The 2024 sailing is sold out, with an open waiting list.
Conspira-Sea Cruise
As the name implies, this cruise catered to conspiracy theorists of all kinds. The cruise went so far as to bring special guests in to hold panels and chat with guests about their various theories. Sadly, this cruise did not go through the Bermuda Triangle, although that would have been perfect. In January 2016, aboard the Ruby Princess, a group of conspiracy theorists took to the open ocean about the Conspira-Sea Cruise.
In an article for Popular Mechanics, journalist Bronwen Dickey wrote, "But the Ruby Princess was no place for casual wonderers. The Ruby Princess was for people who scraped together three grand to be reassured that their fears and suspicions and theories aren't the lonely fever dreams of basement-dwelling outcasts, that those fears and suspicions are valid, and that others share them. It would be like a weeklong, in-person internet chat room." Per Dickey, conversations covered a swath of conspiracies from UFOs to chemtrails and the Illuminati. Dickey said the seminars throughout the week were also wildly varied. She wrote that some of the titles included "How to Control the World with Mind Machines" and "Vaccinations: Do You Really Know What's Coming Through That Needle?"
The cruise even inspired a short horror film in 2019 entitled "Conspiracy Cruise." Who knows, perhaps that was the point of the whole thing — a conspiracy of Conspira-Sea. The rabbit hole is deep, but how deep?
Saw at Sea
Horror-themed cruises aren't new. After all, horror fans need vacations, too! Even so, a cruise themed around the film "Saw" is an interesting choice. Especially since the first film highlights isolation in a room, the isolation aboard the cruise is definitely a creepy tie-in. This adventure was called Saw at Sea, though we're disappointed they didn't just call it Sea-Saw. It set sail with the Carnival Glory from New York in August 2011, according to Crew Center.
What is particularly neat about this cruise is that rather than going to sunny islands, the cruise traveled up to Canada, where the "Saw" films were made. The outlet also mentioned that guests were able to hang out with some of the actors from various "Saw" films, like Costas Mandylor, Ned Bellamy, and Anne Green. There was also a tattoo contest onboard.
Crew Center reported that the whole cruise came about because John Raybin, who operated the online "Saw" store, kept receiving fan emails about making a themed cruise. VIP tickets were on sale to guests who wanted a more elevated Saw at Sea experience, and those tickets included everything regular tickets did, with the addition of private meals with the actors from "Saw," cocktail parties, and mini golf and volleyball tournament spots. Maybe it wasn't so scary after all?