What do you get when you combine The Walking Dead and an epic cruise? The Walker Stalker Cruise! I got to sail on the Norwegian Pearl in the beginning of February for the ultimate Walking Dead and zombie-lovers adventure. Guys, I got to touch Norman Reedus (aka Daryl). Literally hug him. I never dreamed that would ever happen. I sailed the high seas with other Walking Dead fans in an epic 3-day Bahamas cruise.
Who was there?
Norman Reedus aka Daryl
Jeffrey Dean Morgan aka Negan
Chandler Riggs aka Carl
Alanna Masterson aka Tara
Tom Payne aka Jesus
Ross Marquand aka Aaron
Michael Cudlitz aka Abraham
Katelyn Nacon aka Enid
Michael Traynor aka Nicholas
Greg Nicotero (Executive producer)
Amazing, right? I could not believe that these awesome actors were going to be on a cruise ship interacting with fans. It was such an amazing experience seeing them outside of the show.
Onboard Activities
The cruise had panels with some of the cast members. Fans were able to ask the actors questions. I enjoyed the panel with Greg Nicotero, Norman Reedus, and Jeffrey Dean Morgan. It was nice to see them interacting with their fans and answering questions. The Walker Stalker podcast panel with Alanna Masterson was great. I think she is so down to earth! She is so funny!
You can’t have The Walking Dead cruise without costume contest! The cruise had themed nights – Night of the Living and Night of the Living Dead. Some people are seriously creative! We saw little Negans, zombified mermaids, Andrew Lincolns, and much more. Did you know you can use glue and tissue paper to create zombie bites?
Alanna Masterson and James Frazier judged a belly flop competition.
Michael Traynor lead a pub crawl around the ship. You basically get to taste different drinks from around the bars on the ship.
Ever dreamed of dancing Thriller? They had a Thriller dance class!
DJ Soulman played awesome music on the pool deck every day. It was GOOD music. Speaking of music, Headphone Disco lead fans celebrate through the night with their awesome mixes. If you aren’t familiar with Headphone Disco, you basically receive headphones when you enter the club which allows you to list to whatever DJ you want. You can only hear the music being played when you wear the headphones. It is a pretty cool concept. Many of the celebrities participated and mingled with party-goers.
Professional makeup artists transformed zombie-fanatics into ZOMBIES! The makeup was amazing. They even had tattoo artist doing real tattoos right on the ship.
Did you know that Katelyn Nacon sings and plays instruments? It is true and we got to see her perform with her friend April. It was amazing! She is so talented.
Photo Ops
First things first, any photo ops or autograph sessions have a cost. They did range from $30 to $100 per celebrity. I purchased photo ops in advance for Norman Reedus (Daryl) and Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Negan). We received a professional printout of our picture with each of them. The photo is quick. I totally understand as there are a ton of people who want pics with them, even though you get a time slot to get your picture taken – it is chaotic. But it was worth the wait! Meeting them was surreal. I see these people on TV and they are right in front of me. It was amazing and worth the cost. Jeffrey Dean Morgan got so close to my face, I couldn’t breathe. (ha!). I got to hug Daryl twice!
Fans had other opportunities to meet the other celebrities for selfies or autographs. These had to be paid for separately. We decided to do a selfie with Chandler Riggs (Carl) and Alanna Masterson (Tara). We did opt for Norman Reedus’ autograph but he ended up giving us a selfie (for free!).
The only negative thing I have to say about the photo ops was the time that it took away from other activities we wanted to do. There were some panels I really wanted to see but couldn’t because of the photo ops. But when you see the amount of people travelling – it makes sense that they can’t do it any other way.
Great Stirrup Cay
We sailed to Norwegian’s private island, Great Stirrup Cay, in the Bahamas. The island is beautiful – crystal clear blue waters, tons of lounge chairs, and many water activities. We didn’t do any of the shore excursions, we really just wanted to relax. We’ve also done many of the shore excursions they offered. The water was definitely cold. I ended up not going in at all but my husband snorkeled. He said he saw fish and some coral. The island has cabanas that can be rented along the island. The cost is pretty steep, in my opinion, but many people were enjoying them. It provided shade from the sun and many other amenities. The island has a small straw market but nothing impressive.
I know what your thinking any celebrities spotting? Yes! While walking to the straw market, we saw Norman Reedus and Greg Nicotero. We unfortunately couldn’t take pictures with them since they were with their families. At the far end of the island, many of the celebrities were enjoying the beach with their families. We were not allowed to take pictures here either because of their families. We got to see Chandler Riggs (Carl) on a paddleboard. We saw Jeffrey Dean Morgan (Negan) playing with his son. Katelyn Nacon sunbathing. We saw Tom Payne (Jesus) with his girlfriend.
Apocalypse football and Flip cup took place on the island. They played football with a zombie head!
The Bad
My only complaint was the smoking. I feel some people definitely took advantage of the smoking policy. People were smoking everywhere even though they had a designated smoking area. Listening to the panels and I would inhale smoke every so often and we were not in a smoking area.
The panels were held at the pool deck. It was hard to hear some of the panels because the speakers faced a certain direction. The stage was right in front of the pool so there was a huge hole in the middle of the where people could not gather. We would have loved to be closer but you are limited. Definitely feel it would’ve been better in the theater – more comfortable, bigger space, better sound quality, and no smoking!
As I mentioned before, the Photo Ops were scheduled. We had to go to an area on the ship at our designated time to take our picture. It was so chaotic. We were all crammed into this little room while they called our time. It was running behind so people from earlier time slots were still there. People whose time slot was approaching were in there too. There really wasn’t a line so it was complete mess. People were hot and confused as to where to go. Once you got to the area were the pictures were being taken, it moved a lot more smoothly.
Conclusion
The cruise was a dream come true. I’m a huge The Walking Dead fan and to have the opportunity to meet some of my favorite actors was amazing. Definitely an unforgettable experience that I hope to do again next year (if they have it).
Is the Walker Stalker Cruise something you would do?
