My husband and I have been on many cruises, two of which were "quilting cruises". I enjoyed both of the, but the first one had four teachers, and we could only take one 3-hour class with one teacher. We did have evenings with the group and that was fun. The best cruise was one with Eleanor Burns, a 10-day cruise to New England to see the foliage and make a sunflower throw quilt! machines were provided and the room was available 24/7 - classes were held only when we were "at sea". We had a terrific time - there was plently of time to sightsee, and we were fortunate enough to find some quilt shops along the way. Eleanor included the husbands in several activities, as well. Most of the 25 participants got their quilt top completed, and several even got theirs quilted before the cruise ended.

Sorry this is so long, but I'm all for quilting cruises. Just make sure that you will have enough class time with the teacher to make it worthwhile.

I went on one out of Galveston, Tx. Royal Carribean. Went with one of our local Quilt shops -- Quilter's Emporium. Robin Pandolph was one of our Guest speakers along with Paul Barnes and a few local quilt teachers. We signed up for various classes that were offered during the time the ship was cruising. You had a choice to go on shore at each destination or stay in and sew. All the Janome sewing machines were set up on the ship. You did not bring your own. The classes were great -- learned a lot of techniques and even bought my Janome Embrodiery Machine on this cruise. This quilt shop is actually on their way back to Galveston from another cruise. I believe they sponser two a year. This one is the big one. We had right at 100 quilters and I think they were close to this amount of quilters on this trip. The other one is during the summer. I don't think this one is as big. Because the quilt shop is a Janome dealer she is able to sell all these brand new machines at used/discount prices. If you are looking for a Janome this would be a great deal. All the machines come with the same warranty as a brand new one. I would love to go on an Alaskan cruise. Maybe when the kids graduate from high school.

Then in January our quilting guild had a seminar here called Quilting at the Lake, . After the several days of lessons we have our regular meeting , I was findindg my seat when I spied two ladies that I was on the cruise with , What a surprise, , Next year we are goign to spend some time together here with them , maybe a big BBQ, we exchanged E-Mials so we could keep in contact with each other , My sister and I are in our 70's , what a memory we have , thanks to my great husband of 6 years :thumbup: , :lol:[/quote]

How FUN for you!! For ALL of you! --- happy quilting and lasting friendships!

I would absolutely love to go on a cruise but unless it was one that sat the quilting times for when you are at sea only I wouldn't want to do a quilt cruise. I wouldn't want to miss the sites myself.
So I would rather go on a cruise for the cruise experience and then just go on a quilting retreat with some friends.
Muriel

Muriel: Classes are when at sea. check out the site Fons and Porter Love of Quilting Cruise for info. There are others in 2011

Where are the quilting retreats? I'd like to do that. Silvia

I can't imagine having to carry all the things you need for a class on the ship with yome.My hubby and I have been on quiet a few cruises but can't imagine that I would enjoy it if I had to worry about a class. Now cruising to the quilting stores, that would be fun.

We did not carry any thing but our scissors and some rulers , everything else was provided by the seminar providers, if you forget something someone will help you out, it is OK to carry scissors if you put in your lugggage, not your carry on

Where on Cape Cod? There are a couple of quilt shops I go to in the summer--Heartbeat Quilts in Hyannis is a must--Let me know if you plan to go there and I'll meet you there. I live about 45 min. from the shop--Sharon J