Earlier this year, convention juggernaut Wizard World announced that they were going to start a convention on a cruise ship. Scheduled for December 2nd-5th, they were planning to put a full convention on the cruise ship The Norwegian Sky.

Since the initial announcement, the guest line up changed repeatedly (I don’t think anyone was super surprised when Norman Reedus cancelled), but it seemed to be chugging along. The fact that it cost $749 to attend the event though was a major deterrent for a lot of people. Probably too many people.

You see, the Wizard World Cruise is dead in the water.

This week Wizard World quietly announced the convention cancellation on the Cruise’s official website, citing issues with guests schedules as the primary reason. It’s a reason I don’t really buy, mind you, as the event had handled earlier guest cancellations without issue. New guests would have been fairly easy to book for the event.

Frankly (and this is just speculation) this probably has more to do with Wizard World’s ongoing financial issues which led to the resignation of John Macaluso as Wizard World CEO earlier this year. The cruise was a ridiculously expensive proposition, and I’m sure most people balked at the price tag. While geek cruises, like the JoCo Cruise, can work, trying to put an entire Wizard World style convention on a ship was a pretty terrible idea.

Cancelling it is the first real hope I’ve had that Wizard World may finally be making smart financial decisions again.

Via FanCons.com

Over the last few years, Wizard World has been on a binge of expansion, launching new events in city after city. And while they’ve started to scale back this year, cutting shows that weren’t as financially viable, they’re still milking that ambitious streak. Having tried out almost every major American city at this point, Wizard World has set their sights on a new venue…

…the ocean.

Yesterday Wizard World announced they have partnered with Rose Tours to run the “Wizard World Cruise.” The ocean-bound event will take place December 2nd-5th later this year on board the ship The Norwegian Sky, launching from Miami. The event will feature most of the standard convention features like a cosplay contest, panels, an artist alley and a vendor room. Guests include The Walking Dead‘s Norman Reedus, Barry Bostwick, and (of course) Ernie Hudson.

It’s a con. On a boat.

While it’s definitely not the first geek cruise, and probably not even the first attempt to put a full convention on a boat, it is the first time a large promoter like Wizard World has attempted to do so. I’m honestly not sure how well plopping a show like this on the ocean will work, but it’s interesting to find out what will happen.

Packages to attend start at $749, which limits the appeal (and I’m trying to figure out how it would make economic sense for most artists in the Artist Alley), but it might end up being a fun time. Also, is it really that high a price to pay for an opportunity to bite Norman Reedus in a setting where he can’t escape?

Think about it.